Except for Carpe Diem, My-father-plays-dominos-better-than-your-father-plays-dominos (said very quickly in a monotone), is all of the Latin that I thought I knew. But it turns out there is another Latin phrase that I know: Vice versa, but now a common English phrase. Curiously while vice is a word in its own…

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” Douglas Adams This was our mantra when we were at university. For me, though, it was more of a case of the sound of deadlines hurtling, seemingly out of…

My father wanted to be an archaeologist but was given no choice but to follow in his father’s footsteps and study engineering. After retiring from a successful career as a local Government Engineer, he completed his Masters in Archaeology. He also took up painting and writing. He continued to volunteer…

Some ideas just pop. Others just fizz out. Some ideas just pop. Others just fizz out. This weeks episode of The Common Creative is Creative Fermentation. Chef Garry Flynn shares a story of his entrepreneurial adventure in making Elderflower Presse (soft drink). The thing about Garry’s story was that it…

Ingenuity; being clever, original and inventive. This magnifying glass was made by a man named Halley, a jackaroo from Brucedale, the property my mum grew up on near Roma. Mum tells me the lens came out of a wartime aircraft. It is made from a lovely piece of silky oak, tapered…

A village tradition Holy Spirit school held their fete a week ago and this year it was called the Spring Fair, maybe to soften the connotation of that four letter F word . But in the end, putting on a fete is hard work no matter what you call it. …

Having a beautifully kept hedge pleases me immensely but reality of having to care for it pleases me less. My Mock Orange hedge to the street, now 7 years tall requires ladders and planks to keep it tidy, and as result is constantly unkempt. I often think a better hedge…

I am often asked, “If there was one message that I could give about creativity, what would it be?” “Try something new. Do something different or differently!” There is lots of brain science that supports the idea of the plasticity of the brain. I have experienced it time and time…

I have been thinking about collaborations. Common salt — Sodium Chloride NaCl, a perfect marriage made in hell! When sodium and chlorine are combined, the reaction is exothermic, producing a bright flame and lots of heat. But the resulting Ionic compound is the salt of the earth (and sea), a…