Reading
Reading with a pencil in hand
Marking up a book is not vandalism. It is the oldest way of talking back to a writer, and it quietly changes what you remember.
Clara Whitfield2 min read
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Notes
The same walk, every morning, all winter
Twenty minutes, one route, no headphones. A season of walking the same streets taught me more than any trip did this year.
2 min read
Craft
Mending a moth-eaten sweater with flowers
Three holes, a box of leftover wool and a few quiet evenings. Visible mending turned a sweater I nearly threw away into my favourite one.
2 min read
Guide
How to start a commonplace book
A commonplace book is a notebook for the lines you never want to lose. Here is the simple system I have kept for six years.
2 min read
Kitchen
Why I bake the same loaf every Sunday
Flour, water, salt and a starter called Walter. Making one bread over and over taught me what practice actually means.
2 min read
Notes
Notes on a quieter desk
I cleared my desk down to a lamp, a notebook and one pen. The work did not get easier, but starting it did.
1 min read
About
Written for the quiet parts of the week.
Margin Notes is a small journal about the unhurried parts of everyday life: books read with a pencil, things mended by hand, bread baked on Sundays and walks taken without a destination.
Every post is short enough to finish with a cup of tea, and written to be read slowly.