Ashleylister

LATEST ARTICLES ( 2309 )

• On Coffee And Cafés

  

  Not such a lengthy blog for a change, this Saturday night. Having written essays in recent weeks about curry and kings and tangerines, this post will be as shor... Read more

  Posted on 07 March 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Cafés

  

  Writing about cafés is a bit of a problem because I don’t really know where to start. There are so many places I love going to and a few I wouldn’t go within tw... Read more

  Posted on 04 March 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Cafes

  

  I’m pleased to discover that one of our familiar cafes in Kirkcudbright has re-opened. I think it closed last year and the business was up for sale. Read more

  Posted on 03 March 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Curry

  

  has become a modern catch-all label for pretty much any spicy stew from Jamaica to Jakarta. The word itself is an anglicised form of the Tamil 'kari', meaning... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Curry and My Family History

  

  When I was in the top end of primary school in 1959 or thereabouts, I used to go to Burnden Park every other Saturday to watch Bolton Wanderers home games. Read more

  Posted on 27 February 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Curry

  

  I have a feeling that some of my colleagues on this blog will be delighted to write about curry. Probably go out for one to research in greater depth. Read more

  Posted on 25 February 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Lancashire Dead Good Poets' March Open Mic Night

  

  Sign up for our 5th March open mc night on Zoom, 7.30pm GMT. No headliners, no set theme, just 20 x 5-minute slots on offer. Everyone welcome to two hours of... Read more

  Posted on 23 February 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Charm

  

  Preamble: With royalty commanding so much media attention in the last few days, I thought I'd write my Saturday blog about Henry VIII, considered back in Tudor... Read more

  Posted on 21 February 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Hag Stone Charms

  

  According to the dictionary, charm can mean a quality that makes you like or feel attracted to someone or something. For instance, “she was a woman of great... Read more

  Posted on 20 February 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Charm

  

  I’ve always been fascinated by the following as explained by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN):All matter around us is made of elementary... Read more

  Posted on 18 February 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Charm - In Search of Charm

  

  ‘In Search of Charm’ by Mary Young. This book should have been returned to Palatine Secondary School library in 1970. Oops, my mistake, but now that I’ve dug... Read more

  Posted on 17 February 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Jumble Hole Clough

  

  Some years ago, Adele and I on a grand day out from Blackpool ventured across the old county line between Lancashire and Yorkshire. Read more

  Posted on 14 February 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Jumble

  

  I can think of six second hand bookshops within an hour’s travel of where I live. Four of them are a delight and I have spent many happy hours browsing their... Read more

  Posted on 11 February 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Fruit Tree

  

  It has to be Tangerine. Apples are awesome, bananas are brilliant, cherries are cute (fabulous blossom too), damsons are delicious, entawaks are exotic (look... Read more

  Posted on 10 February 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Vinyl Junkies

  

  For Christmas in 2025 my sister-in-law bought me a mug with the legend “It’s Not Hoarding if it’s Vinyl” emblazoned across it. She knows me well. It now stands... Read more

  Posted on 05 February 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Fruit Tree

  

  When I moved into my previous house in Thornton Cleveleys it was the garden that sold me on the deal. It was an really ugly house, the kitchen was drab and... Read more

  Posted on 05 February 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Fruit Tree

  

  Arboriculture, or the cultivation of fruit trees goes back to the Neolithic period and was developed, perhaps, around 6,000 BCE within the Fertile Crescent in... Read more

  Posted on 04 February 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Fruit Tree - An Apple Tree on St Kilda

  

  It was one of those rare mornings where I didn’t need to be up early. A grandson had stayed with us recently, which meant early starts and walks to school in al... Read more

  Posted on 03 February 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Vinyl(s)

  

  In the beginning was the vinyl. Well, not quite at the dawn of recorded music. Originally, from the 1880s onwards, there were perforated paper rolls for... Read more

  Posted on 03 February 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION

• Friends

  

  . Some come "with benefits", as in the euphemistically titled 2011 romantic comedy about casual relationships. They imply good times. Read more

  Posted on 31 January 2026 BOOKS, CREATIVITY, CULTURE, SELF EXPRESSION