This week we’re celebrating one of my favourite festivals: Navaratri. More specifically, autumn Navaratri. The name comes from the Sanskrit words for nine (nava) and night (ratri), and over the…

I’m curled up on the armchair by my bedroom window as I write this, watching a red kite gliding through the air. It’s low today. It’s bloody huge! There was…

I’ve been reading a lot about humanism this week; mainly about Niccolò Machiavelli’s take on it versus Lorenzo de’ Medici’s. Lorenzo believed that anything was possible and, therefore, worth trying,…

But it would be a while yet before they could eat. While the gentlemen were settled with hot food and plenty of drink, the servants stood about, each near their…