Squinting through her car headlights in the early dawn, it looked like some sort of surrealist horror. Weighing just short of 30 tonnes, the enormous pile of rubbish had appeared on Elaine Hutchings’ doorstep in Lichfield overnight. “The road was carnage,” she says. The smell of mildew was nauseating. Granted, Hutchings is only 5ft (1.52…
Growing up in a family of refugees, I was raised to approach strangers with caution. After experiencing displacement, my parents instilled in me the idea that trust had to be earned; they had seen the risks that come with being vulnerable in a new environment. Being wary of the unfamiliar was their way of ensuring we…
Sometimes, if you are a straight woman, it can be tempting to see your sexuality as a curse. It is a cliche to talk about the uselessness of men, but I do it anyway: it is a neat way of avoiding the fact that I too can be selfish and cruel to the men who…
Nightmare day at work? Date stand you up? Don’t worry, things really will seem better in the morning. In the most comprehensive study of its kind, scientists have found that generally, the world feels brighter when you wake up. People start the day in the best frame of mind in the morning, but end in…
My sister Jean Perry, who has died aged 77, was a master pattern cutter and technical consultant highly respected within the fashion industry. After working for years as a designer for high-end labels, she was appointed head pattern cutter at Laura Ashley in 1988, where she had dealings with members of the royal family. She…
Vivi Armacost loves Temu. She uses the Chinese online marketplace to buy crafting supplies for her purse-making hobby. “You can get purse detailing and hardware for cents and pennies,” said Armacost, who is 24 and lives in New York. She says it seems like “basically everything” in her apartment comes from Temu. Donald Trump’s 10%…