Other Men's Flowers

When terseness is called for the French can be extremely, well, terse; there are examples HERE and HERE . But they can also express themsel...

There is a website devoted to the "Spenser" novels by the American author Robert B. Parker. Spenser is described as "the mos...

I am in general much less than fascinated by the world of nature and not an avid reader of Country Diaries and the like, but my interest was...

"Look, if it means having to wear this stupid hat then I say the hell with Christmas." And grandfathers don't have much choice...

This crook was conned into dressing himself up like this, which took up time he would otherwise have spent sending out scam emails. [419 Eat...

I often reflect on the richness of our language compared with others, and enjoy irritating those who do not have it as their mother tongue b...

Christmas cards are such a lovely way of renewing old friendships!

At this time of year, if you repel chuggers they may hit you with: "But it's Christmas!" From an essay by Nicholas Fearn in Th...

Last February I posted a note about the now famous website of a man who works hard—and has a lot of fun—in wasting the time of the crooks w...

I used to think this was a silly word, but after glancing through some current glossy supplements I realise that is a necessary one as it ac...

I mentioned some time ago that comments on anything written in Other Men's Flowers are welcome, especially those that consist entirely o...

Sunday newspapers nowadays are substantial affairs, and only a very devoted reader (or an extremely idle person) can make more than a token ...

Last Tuesday I spent half an hour in the Strangers Gallery of the House of Commons behind the new glass screen which has been fitted to disc...

Our house is comfortable enough, but outstandingly so in only one respect. We have a luxury, particularly valuable during cold spells, which...

"Civil words!" cried the girl, whose passion was frightful to see. "Civil words, you villain! Yes, you deserve 'em from m...

You can tell just by looking at the photo that here is a boring, conceited, talentless prat, can’t you? His name is Nicholas Parsons. He ha...

The longest singing career ever was probably that of Danshi Toyotaki of Hyogo, Japan, who sang in Musume Gidayu for 91 years from the age o...

Like many of the posts in Other Men's Flowers, this one is of little interest to Americans or anyone born after the Reichstag was set on...

Imagine waking up long before sunrise, walking for more than two hours to the nearest river or borehole and then carrying a bucket full of ...

(William of Wykeham: motto of Winchester College and New College, Oxford. Not really relevant but I couldn’t think of another title) I was h...