Today’s queues may be digital, but the fight to secure that must-have present and avoid small, disappointed faces is timeless. Tom Howells looks at the toys topping recent (and less recent) Christmas wish lists

Silverware, with its glistering surface and ornate designs, dresses the table like no other material and has an unmatched capacity for turning a meal into an occasion, as Matthew Dennison discovers

Painting a local cricket match, Sherree Valentine-Daines received an invitation that changed her career and led her to become artist-in-residence at Goodwood

Our round-up of the funny, fascinating and unusual stories this fortnight

Lesley Fernández-Armesto on a superior cake for Christmas

This is an age-old problem. The simplest answer is to start with less, so decluttering is always the first step. Sort through your belongings and separate what you use daily from what you only need se