Jonathan Self

Jonathan Self: 'To be in a foreign country is thrilling. Everything is new. One is constantly on one’s mettle. It is like being a child again'

Jonathan Self's scuppered plans force him to reflect on how the joy of travel mixes with the delicious ambivalence of wanting to go home.

Jonathan Self: 'In Ireland, summer smells sweet, effervescent and damp. In Tuscany, one almost has to push one’s way through it'

Jonathan Self's recent move to Italy has brought a fresh challenge. Or rather, a hot and heavy one.

Jonathan Self on switching banks after 50 years: 'I was in such a fury that it was fully an hour before I came to my senses'

Oh dear — poor Jonathan has had a bit of a time of it. We'll leave him to explain more.

Jonathan Self: What I found out when I finally read a book I'd been meaning to read for 40 years

The author finally plucked up the courage to read Montaigne — here's what he made of it.

Jonathan Self: 'Shoes are part of what it means to be human — they were invented 4,000 years before the wheel'

Giving away his suits was one thing, but Jonathan Self struggled when it came to his classic brogues.

Jonathan Self: The greatest novel of the 20th century? Maybe, but 'Ulysses' still sent me to sleep within three pages

Jonathan Self looks back on some of the great books published exactly a century ago.

‘I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade'

Jonathan Self on the Three Kings, gloomy January days and the joy of marmalade.

12 best Christmas films to watch with the family

Nothing violent, nothing unpleasant: think drama, comedy, romance, adventure, inspiration and, above all else, schmaltz, says Jonathan Self, as he presents the 12 films you simply must see this Christmas.

Jonathan Self: 'Town folk know pleasures, country people joys'

Live in a village and you'll live longer, says Jonathan Self — just be prepared for everyone to know your business.

Jonathan Self: Was Eve's apple really a pear? Because I'm pretty sure it was

Jonathan Self points out that the Good Book doesn't actually specify what fruit Eve plucked from the Tree of Knowledge. Among other things.

Jonathan Self: The collections that made me, from pressed flowers to my 416 'do not disturb' signs stolen from hotels

Who knew that pressing flowers could be thrilling and skilful? Jonathan Self, a self-confessed 'obsessive collector', tells all.

Why we're all suckers for the the irresistible allure of a crumbling country house

Our columnist Jonathan Self writes about the crumbling beauty of character houses and the joy of saving them for posterity.

Jonathan Self: 'Our early potatoes aren’t going to be that early'

Between a late start and back-breaking work, Jonathan Self tries his hand at growing the humble spud.

Jonathan Self: Don't measure your life in years — measure it in dogs

Jonathan Self celebrates a birthday for a beloved dog.

The wit and wisdom of snow, from Laurie Lee to Ogden Nash

Snow has always inspired wit and wisdom — and here are some of the best, as picked out by Jonathan Self.

Jonathan Self: 'We blocked every hole, engaged a feckless cat and baited traps with the best Camembert, but still they came'

Jonathan Self tackles a minor infestation, only to miss the hole in his life left by the furry visitors.

Jonathan Self: Our postman delivers 1,000 items a week — and less than 50 are 'real' letters

Jonathan Self laments the fact that we're losing the art of writing letters.

Jonathan Self: The Irish words for a visit to neighbours, from airneál for a sing-song, bothántaíoch for telling old stories — and scoraíocht if you're there to gossip

Jonathan Self on airneál, fiosrú and why the Devil himself is the reason you shouldn't be picking blackberries any more — at least not according to his grandmother.

An entire feature on sarcasm? Oh, yeah, that's a GREAT idea

Well, okay, actually it is. We asked Jonathan Self to write it — and to pick out his favourite examples from history.

10 sustainability myths busted, and six things you can do to make a real difference