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Taking time to live well

Embracing winter Nordic knowhow Big scarves Breakfast pizza

January

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Manufactured at More Works, Bishops Castle, Shropshire

STOCKISTS THROUGHOUT THE UK Brochure Line: 01588 650 123 www.clearviewstoves.com

A could-do list for January Have a digi-break from 8pm onwards Give somebody you love a big hug Make looking after yourself your number one resolution Spend all day in your pyjamas

WALLPAPER: AUDUBON PINK FROM THE ANIMALIA COLLECTION BY EMMA J SHIPLEY/CLARKE & CLARKE; WALLPAPERDIRECT.COM

Try cooking with a new ingredient each week Relish the time to ponder new beginnings

Plan five things to look forward to and put them in your diary now

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ES A SYK R LIS EDITO lething p m si #my

STYLING AND PHOTOGRAPHY: EMMA HARRIS

FRESH Things to buy, cook, read and do this month p7 LIVING Simple style and gatherings, tea and cake p20 ESCAPE Outings, places to explore and city guides p54 THINK Things to make you stop, read and wonder p83 NEST Loving your home inside and out p101 MISCELLANY The practical and the playful p123 Looking for a particular article? Our index is on page 128.

GETTING IN TOUCH

MEET THE TEAM

thesimplethings@icebergpress.co.uk 020 3950 1835 thesimplethings.com

Editor Lisa Sykes

We have moved! Iceberg Press Exchange Workspace 1 Matthews Yard Off Surrey Street Croydon CR0 1UH

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Wishlist Editor Louise Gorrod Books Editor Eithne Farry Commercial Director Guy Foreman Subscription Manager Terri-Jane Dow Publisher David Parker

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CONTRIBUTORS Oivind Haug Photography, page 24 @oivindhaug

Lisa Evans Illustration, page 91 @ﬁreﬂuff

Kate Hackworthy Cake in the house, page 51 @kateveggiedesserts

Phoebe Smith Outing, page 66 @PhoebeRSmith

Erin Spens Backpacking, page 80 @ErinSpens

Brontë Aurell Ideas, page 84 @Scanditwitchen

Taking time to live well

Embracing winter Nordic knowhow Big scarves Breakfast pizza

January

Co-founders David Parker, Guy Foreman, Lisa Sykes icebergpress.co.uk The Simple Things is published by Iceberg Press, printed by William Gibbons and distributed by Marketforce. We print on chlorine-free paper from suppliers that have been independently certiﬁed by

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A day of lazing & grazing • Magical deer • Travelling mindfully Good mood foods • Reflecting on dreams • Dry cocktails Why we love a diary • Small hill adventures • Japanese calm

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FRESH THE SIMPLE THINGS TO BUY, COOK, READ AND DO IN JANUARY

Spinach, sausage & orzo soup

RECIPE FROM LEON HAPPY SOUPS BY REBECCA SEAL AND JOHN VINCENT (CONRAN OCTOPUS). PHOTOGRAPHY: STEVEN JOYCE

This super soup offers a whole meal and a big dose of comfort in one bowl for those midwinter days when you want dinner on the sofa and minimal washing up. For the recipe, turn to page 126.

Ahlmann candleholders | £14.90–£24 each Like a forest floor bursting with mushrooms. aram.co.uk

Soni Spot cushion | £60 100% linen with hand printed spots. gailbryson.co.uk

THINGS TO WANT AND WISH FOR Many dreamy things to covet and buy, from candles to pyjamas, carefully selected by LOUISE GORROD

Bird vessels | £49–£105 Limited edition collaboration between Abigail Edwards and Muck Ceramics. abigailedwards.com

LOUISE GORROD Our Wishlist Editor blogs, bakes and photographs at Buttercup Days: buttercupdays.com. On Instagram: louise_buttercupdays

Atlas candle | £39 The warm, woody and comforting smells of winter in a candle. laboratoryperfumes.com

TSF01 toaster | £99.95 Beautiful retro styling and two extra-wide slots. smeguk.com

FRESH | JANUARY THINGS

Stelton collar cocktail shaker and cup | £69.95 A chic way to get the party started. stelton.com

Star piped pyjamas | £49.50 Flannel pyjamas to guarantee maximum cosiness. hush-uk.com

Love Love gloves | £35 A friendly nod to knuckle tattoos. quintonchadwick.com

Cutlery pocket | £25 for two Tuck your knives and forks in one of these. finchandcrane.com

Kindness prompt cards | £10 Little nudges to encourage compassion and empathy. theschooloflife.com

FRESH | JANUARY THINGS

THE MONTH

Nick James makes furniture that is built to last and last Nick James’ handmade furniture, lighting and home accessories are an antidote to today’s mass-produced versions. His studio in Newcastle creates furniture that lasts a lifetime. “A machine can’t pick up a piece of wood, study the flow of the grain, or make a decision about how to use it,” he says. Top of our wishlist is the Oak Stool, £285, and Oak Bench, £495, above, but smaller products such as lamps, from £50; clocks, £35, and a framed woodcut of the iconic Tyne Bridge (£35) are also very tempting. jamesdesign.co.uk

EYES WIDE OPEN BOOK REVIEWS: EITHNE FARRY

The mind is broadened in gritty travel book Departures by Anna Hart Anna Hart has a fondness for travelling to gritty destinations. “I’ve come to relish that askance glance, which I now see as a harbinger of a memorable trip” when she reveals that she’s heading for Manila or Detroit, Naples or Belgrade. A firm believer that travelling is one of the very best things you can do, her book is a rallying cry to reluctant adventurers – an

honest, funny account of the challenges that might be faced, especially if you’re a woman heading off alone. It’s also an inspiring reckoning of all the benefits to be gained from arriving somewhere new and exciting – the trips covered in this book include Poland, the Amalfi Coast, Glasgow and Holland – and seeing all there is to see. (Sphere) 11

WARMTH, LOVE & LAUGHTER For the love of time spent together.

An Arada stove is a living breathing thing, sparking passion in those who own it. The rituals of feeding and caring for it become part of family life. The scent and sound of it become part of your home. This is why an Arada stove warms not only the bones, but the heart as well.

aradastoves.com | Find us on Facebook Putting warmth at the heart of the home

FRESH | JANUARY THINGS

Ceramic teapot | £45 Each of Rebecca Williams’ handmade, stoneware teapots is unique and lovely. rebeccawilliams ceramics.co.uk

BOOK OF CALM

The benefits of mindfulness in How To Be Human: The Manual by Ruby Wax Ruby Wax has been candid about her depressive episodes describing them with a fearless honesty. After practising mindfulness for a year, she’s an enthusiastic advocate for the improvements it has made to her wellbeing. It has helped her become “more focused, more flexible, more aware, less distracted, less addicted, faster, healthier” and “more compassionate”. Backed up by neurological research, she explains how “hungry yearnings” scupper chances of happiness. Ever in search of the new, we “treat ourselves like machines and less like humans” – and Ruby aims to redress the frantic pace with some much needed mind-body awareness exercises. (Penguin Life)

Green Birds storage jar | £25 Features David Weidman’s classic 1960s Family of Birds print. ariashop.co.uk

FRESH | JANUARY THINGS

Chesil Peg Rail | £85; Chesil Bench | £595 Simple oak furniture named after the beach near where it is made. oggetto.com

SHOP OF THE MONTH

Homeware and jewellery sit side by side in Mono Mono in Brighton Cherise Blythe and Natasha Cooke share a background in design, jewellery, textiles and sculpture and a love of art and architecture. All of which led them to open Mono Mono, a shop and studio in Brighton. The shop showcases Cherise and Natasha’s jewellery, which includes earrings, necklaces, brooches and bracelets (from £20), alongside a curated selection of products from emerging, like-minded young designers and makers, including handmade Portuguese rugs by GUR, organic and ethical products from Honest Skincare and bold homewares from Darkroom. monoandmono.co.uk

STORY TIME

A journey through literature in The Written World by Martin Puchner We are made up of stories; they shape our imaginations and help describe the way we fit in to the world. In this fascinating book, Professor Martin Puchner heads off on an a whistle-stop tour of the world on a mission to discover how literature came to be – from the epic tales of the ancient world, to the compendium of tales in Scheherazade’s One Thousand and One 14

Nights, to the elegant insights of courtly medieval Japan, gleaned from one of the world’s first novels – Tale of Genji by Murasaki. Puchner also looks at how advances in technology, such as the invention of paper, and today’s modern tablets (an update of the clay tablets of Ancient Mesopotamia), have made stories today more accessible. (Random House)

ET N 00 B I ,0 A £8 C D K EN N SP S I OU EE N Y

FR E

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neptune.com For full terms, visit neptune.com/kitchenoffer

THINGS TO PLAN AND DO

Once upon a time..

Tell a story, upgrade your cheese on toast, have a starlit adventure and gorge in Grasmere. By Rebecca Frank

P R O U D LY HOMEMADE

MARMITE & CHEDDAR WELSH RAREBIT Winter comfort food doesn’t get much better than this Serves 2 4 slices sourdough 20g unsalted butter 20g plain flour 200ml amber ale 100g mature cheddar, finely grated, plus extra for sprinkling 1–2 tsp Marmite, to taste

1 Preheat grill to high. Toast the sourdough, either under the grill or in a toaster. 2 Put the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Once the butter has completely melted, add the flour and beat to a thick paste with a wooden spoon. 3 Still on the heat, add a splash of the ale and beat in. The mixture will turn into a very thick paste but just keep beating. Add the ale gradually, beating well after each addition. As the mixture gets looser, switch to a whisk and whisk continuously, while pouring in the ale – it’s easier to get rid of any lumps while the mixture is thicker, so whisk like your life depends on it and add the ale gradually. Allow the sauce to come to

a boil then reduce to a gentle simmer and leave it to cook for about 10 mins, stirring occasionally. 4 Once the floury taste has cooked out of the sauce – test it to be sure – add a generous pinch of black pepper (I wouldn’t use any salt until the end as Marmite can season this enough). Add the cheese and stir over a low heat until melted. Add the Marmite a little at a time, to taste – you may think more is more, but do go carefully; a little goes a long way. Taste for seasoning, adding more pepper and salt if required. 5 Spoon the sauce onto the slices of toast and sprinkle over a little more grated cheese. Place under the hot grill for a minute or two, until the sauce bubbles up and burnished, blackened little flecks appear.

Recipe from Comfort by John Whaite (Kyle Books). Photography: Nassima Rothacker

Many of us stop reading aloud or making up stories when we don’t have children to read to, but there’s nothing to stop you from reading to your partner or a friend – it can be a surprisingly bonding experience, great for a winter’s night. Or, you could offer to read to an elderly relative or neighbour or volunteer in a local care home. To Read Aloud by Francesco Dimitri (Head of Zeus) is a collection of 75 extracts from different writers with time taken to read aloud from just 3 to 15 minutes. Choose from themed chapters (change, love, nature etc). As you get more confident with reading aloud, try making up your own stories. Base them on your own experiences if you find it easier and visualise (rather than write) the beginning, middle and end, before you start. For inspiration, try going to a storytelling event – there are plenty this month (see sfs.org.uk). For a bit of fun at home, play a storytelling game, such as Rory’s Story Cubes, where you roll the ‘dice’ and create a tale using all the pictures. Board games such as Tell Tale (for younger families) and The Awkward Story Teller (for adults and teenagers) work well, too.

ILLUSTRATION: MARGAUX CARPENTIER

…we used to tell stories and now we probably don’t so much. It’s National Storytelling Week this month (28 Jan–3 Feb) – a great reason to rediscover the delights of the spoken story

FRESH | JANUARY THINGS

EMBRACE CHANGE Change happens to us all, it’s how we deal with it that matters

Set reasonable expectations and you’ll be better able to manage change and cope with disappointment. Instead of resisting, allow change to unfold and try to understand what’s transforming and why. Notice the change in nature and how it can be a wonderful thing. Learn to live with uncertainty. It’s necessary sometimes, if you want to move forward. Remember that when you accept and learn from change, you inevitably grow stronger.

Vietnamese lemongrass tea A simple, aromatic brew that’s brilliant for taming achy tummies, soothing coughs and helping to prevent colds and flu Makes 2 x 250ml servings 4 lemongrass stems 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger ½-1 ttbsp coconut sugar or raw honey, to taste Lime slices to garnish (optional) 1 In a medium saucepan, bring 600ml water to a boil over a high heat. Bash and cut the lemongrass into thin shreds. Peel and julienne the ginger. Add both to the water and boil for 5 mins. 2 Reduce the heat to low and simmer the tea for an additional 5 mins. Sweeten to taste with coconut sugar or honey. 3 Serve warm, or refrigerate and serve over ice, garnished with lime slices.

SEED SHARING The sociable side of growing your own

WHY LEMONGRASS? With its distinct lemon flavour and citrussy aroma, lemongrass offers an impressive array of medicinal benefits. The main component of the grass is lemonal, a compound that has powerful antiseptic and astringent qualities. It’s widely used in Southeast Asia for its well-reputed health benefits that also include lowering cholesterol, treating insomnia, improving respiratory function and aiding digestion.

Recipe from Tonics & Teas by Rachel de Thample (Kyle Books). Photography: Ali Allen

Sign up for the secret seed swap and send a packet of seeds to a mystery recipient – sharing your decorated packet on Instagram, #SecretSeedSwap. Register at whatyousow.co.uk.

FRESH | JANUARY THINGS

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Ideas to brighten up the darkest days

CAN WE TELL YOU ABOUT...

Forest Side, Grasmere, Cumbria When even the rugged fellsides and glorious Grasmere are overshadowed, you know you’re on to a good thing. And the tasting menus at Forest Side most definitely are a good thing. Forest Side on the face of it looks like a beautifully restored, traditional country house hotel. But quirky, modern touches abound; from the tweed uniforms of the staff to the ‘rocks in a box’ petits-fours where rock look-a-like chocs are tucked in among the local hard stuff. ‘Critter fritter’ amuse-bouches raise a smile and a question – the answer is revealed when you’ve eaten your tasty squirrel nibble. But there is serious eating here, too; the umami of a seaweed broth, slithers of venison pastrami, Herdwick hogget with hay custard. And virtually everything produced a mere 500 metres from your table. The mastery in Kevin Tickle’s very Cumbrian kitchen – he grew up on 18

Elsewhere O The Pig at Combe,

Devon

the west coast – is matched with wines knowledgeably explained by staff, along with the freshest produce picked from the huge terraced kitchen garden that’s yours to wander through. The emphasis throughout is on the local, the individual and the understated. Table arrangements sum it up nicely – moss, flowers from the garden and a flickering tealight; no need for a fussy backdrop when the food will soon steal the scene. Encore, please. theforestside.com

The latest Pig is housed in a large Elizabethan manor house with acres of surrounding countryside and a kitchen garden menu that never fails to impress. thepighotel. com/at-combe O Tuddenham Mill,

Suffolk

Slick modern interiors in a beautiful converted mill with an awardwinning restaurant that offers style and substance in bounds. tuddenhammill.co.uk

Big skies up north The Dark Skies Festival (Northumberland, North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales, as well as South Downs, 9–25 Feb) is bigger and longer this year, offering many ways to experience the dark sky from nighttime zip wires to nocturnal wildlife walks and astronomy. darkskiesnationalparks. org.uk London in lights The festival that brings extraordinary light sculpture to the capital’s famous landmarks; 18–21 Jan. visitlondon.com/lumiere Wakefield illuminations The wonderful Hepworth Wakefield museum is showing artist Anthony McCall’s latest light installations in the exhibition Solid Light Works alongside permanent sculpture by Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore; 16 Feb–3 June. hepworthwakefield.org

PHOTOGRAPHY: JENNY HEYWORTH

HOTELS FOR FOODIES

COMPETITION

WIN!

M E AT B OX ES F OR A YE A R

WE’VE TEAMED UP WITH COOMBE FARM ORGANIC TO OFFER ONE LUCKY READER MONTHLY DELIVERIES OF ORGANIC MEAT AND MORE

nce you’ve gone organic, it’s hard to go back. And when it comes to meat, it’s comforting to know where your chops and sausages come from, and that livestock has been raised in conditions that meet the highest farming standards. An online butcher, like Coombe Farm Organic, makes going organic simple. The Soil Associationcertified farm, in the Somerset hills, sells all of its meat online, delivering straight to your door, in fully recyclable packaging, as soon as the very next day after ordering. M O R E T H A N M E AT The Coombe Farm range is accompanied by some fantastic products from likeminded organic producers, including

salmon, bone broth, puddings and soups. A range so good, in fact, it was awarded the BOOM Best Small Organic Retailer award this year, adding to their Great Taste and Taste of the West Awards. Growing ‘real food’ in a sustainable way, and providing complete traceability while nurturing the environment is key to everything the farm does. Providing a real alternative to conventionally reared meat, Coombe Farm strives to deliver on taste without busting your budget. Enter our competition for your chance to win a year’s worth of organic meat. The winner will receive one delivery a month for 12 months, on the day of their choosing, of award-winning organic goodies – a great prize, worth more than £400.

How to enter Enter online at thesimplethings.com/blog/ coombefarm. Competition closes at 11.59pm on 14 February 2018. The winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries after this date and notified soon afterwards. The prize is a monthly delivery of Coombe Farm Organic goodies for 12 months. You can’t swap it for cash but you can choose the day for delivery. Find out more at coombefarmorganic.co.uk

JAN UARY

LIVING THINGS TO CONTEMPLATE: A COSY DAY INDOORS, THE RISE OF NON-DRINKING, FOODS THAT BOOST YOUR MOOD AND LEMON CAKE BARS 20

PHOTOGRAPHY: STOCKSY

SIMPLE STYLE THE WINTER SCARF

hatever the vagaries of fashion throw at us, during the winter months scarves remain steadfastly looped around our necks. This is mostly because they are very good at doing what they do best: keeping the wearer warm by withstanding chilly gusts. But it is also because they are an affordable and easy way to update a weary winter wardrobe. Easy, that is, if you know the right way to wear one. The scarf is a versatile garment and can be worn in countless ways – it can be draped, tossed over one shoulder, tied in knots, or simply dangled – but the danger is that not all of these are fashionable. The days of wearing your scarf folded in half with the loose ends pulled through the loop, for example, are long gone. And no one wears a scarf like a neckerchief (folded into a triangle and tied behind the neck) any more, unless perhaps, they’re a cowboy. These days, it’s all about the loose dangle. In recent winters, scarves turned voluminous and shawl-like, smothering wearers’ heads in fold upon fold of woollen fabric. There is still much to recommend this snug and muffled look, but if you want to look ‘up to the minute’, this winter it is all about the long knitted scarf. Preferably this

Doctor Who (Tom Baker) in his 20ft of knitted warmth, with K9

“These days it’s all about the loose dangle, preferably in multi-coloured stripes”

scarf should be of multi-coloured stripes, as pioneered by Tom Baker, right, in seven series of Doctor Who. (Interesting aside: Baker’s scarf was knitted by Begonia Pope, who used all the wool given to her in a great big bundle by the costume designer, resulting in the 20ft legendary garment we all came to love and that Tom Baker has never been able to shake off.) Although the scarf’s origins date back to Roman times, when they were used to mop sweat from the necks of men, they didn’t become fashionable until the 19th century. During the Victorian era, they indicated wealth and status, although these were usually made of silk and chiffon and tucked into bodices or worn as a cravat. Before you buy one of your own, though, take heed from the story of dance pioneer Isadora Duncan. A champion of both the long scarf, which she often involved in her dances, and of the convertible car, the two combined disastrously when the former caught in the hub cap of the latter and strangled her. Be careful where your scarf dangles, you never know where it will end up. Just saying.

THE UPDATE

TWO GREAT TWISTS

THE CLASSIC

Islay Breton Stripe Pom scarf | £70 Channeling the spirit of Tom Baker’s original but a lot nicer, actually. jigsaw-online.com

Bow neck tie | £22.50 A neat solution to scarf management: just pull one end through the other and you’re sorted. seasaltcornwall.co.uk

Forest green pom pom scarf | £35 Who can resist a pompom? Not us. And certainly not this tasteful pom pom fringing. sophieallport.com

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

Words: CLARE GOGERTY

ALL-DAY MENU

Pizza for breakfast

Hearty oxtail soup with parsnip & potato mash Twilight apple-ginger toddies Baked veg crisps with sour cream dip Citrus & pomegranate salad Goats’ cheese & walnut salad Roasted cherry tomatoes

Homemade chocolate

Lazing & grazing GOOD FOOD AND EASY COMPANY CAN TURN A DAY INDOORS INTO SOMETHING DREAMY. HERE’S OUR RECIPE FOR STAYING PUT AND STAYING HAPPY Photography: ØIVIND HAUG/TAVERNE AGENCY Recipes & styling: ANNE MAEHLUM

LIVING | GATHERING

ou don’t need to be in the depths of snowy Norway to appreciate that some January days are just made for hunkering down and staying cosy indoors. Let this be your excuse to dedicate time to small pleasures – a good book, a long-awaited boxset and, of course, sharing good food. Our menu shouldn’t eat into your sofa time too much. There are tasty snacks, salads and slow-cooked soup that’s worth the wait. Less a gathering – more like an indulgent retreat for one, or two…

Good morning pizza START THE DAY WITH A BREAKFAST WORTH LINGERING OVER Serves 2 Readymade pizza dough, halved to form 2 circles 2 eggs Baby spinach Grated cheddar or mozzarella Pine nuts 1 Preheat oven to 220C/Fan 200C/ 425F. Spread about 4 tbsp grated cheese over each base. Top with roughly chopped baby spinach leaves making a slight ‘nest’ in the centre. 2 Carefully break an egg in the centre. Sprinkle the pine nuts around the egg. 3 Bake for 15 mins, or until the base is brown and crisp and the egg has set. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper, and serve. »

Oxtail soup with parsnip & potato mash RICH, MEATY SOUP… OR CASSEROLE? LET YOUR TASTEBUDS DECIDE Serves 2–3 750g oxtail Olive oil 1 onion, peeled and chopped 1 carrot, peeled and chopped ½ garlic bulb, whole cloves, peeled 120ml ox fond (or beef concentrated liquid stock) 750ml water 200ml red wine 1 bay leaf ½ tsp dried thyme Sprig of fresh rosemary 1 tbsp tomato ketchup 3 or 4 shallots 1 or 2 parsnips 3 small carrots 3 or 4 small potatoes For the parsnip & potato mash 3 medium potatoes 3 parsnips 2 tbsp butter 120ml double cream 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 Season oxtails all over with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a lidded casserole, sear the oxtails on all sides until golden brown. Remove the meat from the pan onto a plate. 2 Add the chopped onion and carrot to the pan. Cook for a few mins until the onion is translucent, then add the garlic cloves, stock, water and wine. 3 Add the herbs, ketchup and a pinch of salt, and return the meat to the casserole. Bring to simmer and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 3 hours, until meat is tender. 4 One hour before the meat is done, preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/ 400F and prepare remaining veg. 5 Toss the prepped shallots, parsnips, carrots and potatoes in olive oil in a roasting pan. Season with salt and pepper, and roast for 30 mins or until lightly browned and cooked through. 6 When meat is tender, remove

oxtails from the cooking liquid. Skim the fat off the top with a spoon. Pour the cooking liquid through a sieve into a bowl or wide jug. 7 Return the sieved liquid to the casserole, along with the oxtails, and add the roasted veg. Simmer over a low heat for 30 mins to allow the flavours to meld. 8 To make the mash, peel the parsnips and potatoes and chop into cubes. 9 Boil until soft and drain, then mash together with the butter, cream and garlic. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and serve with the oxtail and roasted veg soup.

LIVING | GATHERING

Apple-ginger toddies WITH GINGER AND VANILLA TO WARM YOU DOWN TO YOUR TOES Serves 2–4 2cm peeled fresh ginger, thinly sliced 1 apple, thinly sliced 2 cinnamon sticks, plus extra to serve 1 vanilla pod 2 star anise, plus extra to serve 1 litre apple juice ½ lemon, sliced 1 Add the ginger, apple and spices to the juice, heat and bring to a simmer over a medium-low heat; simmer for at least 5 mins. Remove from the heat and leave to steep for about 10 mins. 2 To serve, strain the liquid and pour into cups. Garnish each serving with a cinnamon stick stirrer, slices of fruit and a star anise.

Citrus & pomegranate salad A FRUITY SIDE DISH THAT’S AS REFRESHING AS IT IS RAINBOW-LIKE Serves 2–4 2 tbsp agave syrup 4 tbsp orange juice 2 oranges 1 pink grapefruit 2 clementines 1 lemon 1 small red onion ½ cup pomegranate seeds Black olives, sliced Kumquats, to decorate (optional) 1 In a small bowl, stir together the agave and orange juice. Peel and thinly slice the citrus fruits and red onion. 2 Arrange fruit on a platter any way you like. Drizzle the orange and agave dressing all over, and garnish with onion rings, kumquats, slices of olives and pomegranate seeds. »

As wintry as salads get, this dish is a celebration of seasonal citrus

Baked vegetable crisps with sour cream dip WINTER ROOTS TURNED INTO A COLOURFUL, MOREISH SNACK Serves 2–3 2 beetroot 1 sweet potato 1 parsnip Olive oil For the dip: 240g mayonnaise 480g sour cream Handful chopped parsley Handful chopped chives ¼ tsp sugar 2 garlic cloves ½ tbsp lemon juice 1 Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/ 400F. Slice the vegetables 1–2 mm thick (a mandoline works well). Toss them in a large bowl in olive oil, salt and pepper. 2 Lay them singly on a baking sheet or wire rack. If you use a baking sheet, turn the crisps halfway through cooking. Bake for about 30 mins or until the edges are crisped up and most of the slices have dried out. 3 Meanwhile, make the dip: in a bowl combine all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve (this dip tastes even better if made the day before).

‘Chips ’n’ dips’ is surely the definition of food made for grazing? Sofa friendly, too

LIVING | GATHERING

Goats’ cheese & walnut salad BITTER LEAVES MELLOW WITH CREAMY CHEESE AND A TANGY DRESSING

Roasted cherry tomatoes Serves 2–3 270g (approx) punnet of cherry tomatoes 2–3 tbsp olive oil 2 whole garlic bulbs, halved widthways Fresh thyme 1 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/ 350F. Wash the tomatoes and spread them out, whole, with the garlic, on a baking sheet or in a roasting tin. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt, pepper and a sprinkle of thyme leaves and toss or shake to coat well. 2 Roast the veg for approx 30 mins until tender and the tomato skins are beginning to split. Serve with bread, pasta or as a side dish.

Serves 2–4 1 small head red leaf lettuce, such as radicchio, washed, drained, and torn Yellow cherry tomatoes Small cucumbers* Walnuts Figs, quartered 200g soft goat’s cheese For the vinaigrette: 80ml balsamic vinegar 2 tsp dark brown sugar, optional ½ tsp salt ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper 180ml olive oil 1 To make the vinaigrette, beat the vinegar in a bowl with the sugar, salt and pepper, until the sugar and salt dissolve. Then beat in the oil a drop at a time, whisking constantly. Taste and adjust the seasonings. 2 In a salad bowl, combine all the salad ingredients; season and toss gently to mix. Drizzle with vinaigrette and serve immediately. » * Available in some supermarkets and Middle Eastern delis, or use batons of standard cucumber.

LIVING | GATHERING

Homemade chocolate A PROJECT FOR A LAZY AFTERNOON — WITH SWEET REWARDS

Chocolate with the added satisfaction of having crafted it yourself

Cook’s note: This recipe can be adapted to suit your tastes. We made two kinds of plain chocolate: one with roasted almonds, pink peppercorns and sea salt; the other with roasted cashews, chilli flakes and orange zest. 1 Chop the chocolate into small pieces and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Melt it in the bowl over a pan of boiling water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water. 2 Once melted, stir in most of the nuts and spices, reserving some for later. Spread the melted mixture evenly onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Scatter over your reserved toppings, then carefully transfer to the fridge for a few hours to set completely. 3 Once set, break up the slab into chunks to serve. For even more decadence, enjoy with hot chocolate.

PHOTOGRAPHER’S ASSISISTANT: PER TORE MOLVAER. MODELS: FREDRIK AND INA @ ROXY

Plain chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids) Roasted nuts of your choice (such as hazelnuts, cashews or almonds) Flavourings of your choice (such as pink peppercorns, chilli flakes, orange zest)

TURMERIC OLDEN goddess of herbs. Rooted in the fairest fertile organic soils. Feel her majestic glow light your way. Discover nature's golden powers.

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“If you look after yourself, you’re better able to do things for others. You can’t just keep pouring out like a teapot” Bouts of depression prompted journalist Rachel Kelly to explore the relationship between mood and food. Mental health, she tells Rachael Oakden, starts with your stomach

healthy eating book that says we should eat more food. That sounds like the sort of healthy eating book that we’d all love to read. Especially when one of the foods it suggests we eat te. Its author, Times journalist turned mental health advocate Rachel Kelly, includes dark chocolate as one of her top three “good mood foods” alongside oily fish and green leafy vegetables. “We’ve got so used to hearing that certain foods are ‘bad’ and that we ‘shouldn’t’ eat things,” she says. “But food is your friend and food is on your side.” Harnessing the nutritional power of food to boost mental wellbeing is at the heart of The Happy Kitchen, the book Rachel co-authored with her nutritional therapist Alice Mackintosh. Five years in the making, the book is her way of sharing the knowledge she has gained during her recovery from severe mental illness. “I was so lucky to be able to speak to Alice,” she says. “But not everyone is going to have that access.” HOLDING ON TO NORMALITY When Rachel first met Alice, she was recovering from the clinical depression that had floored her in 1997. An Oxford graduate and daily newspaper reporter married to a city banker, she was living what she now describes as an “overly traded” life in West London, when mild anxiety suddenly spiralled into a crippling depressive episode. Soon after the birth of her second child, thinking about returning to work, a chance remark from her husband about whose turn it was to look after the baby 32

brought on a terrifying panic attack. “I thought I was having a heart attack; when I got to the hospital I thought I was going to see a cardiologist,” she says. “When the psychiatrist introduced himself, I said, ‘Oh no, I’m not mentally ill. I’m a positive person.’ Mental health was not in my vocabulary.” She recovered, returned to work and had three more children. But in 2003, shortly after the birth of twins, she suffered a second, more devastating breakdown. “It is so frightening, the most unpleasant thing that’s ever happened to me,” she says. In the busy café, where we’re discussing The Happy Kitchen 14 years later, she grips hold of the table to demonstrate the physical sensation that she’s been trying to hold at bay ever since. “You have this feeling that you’re falling and you’re just trying to hang on, to hold on to normality.” D I S COV E R I N G H A P P Y F O O D S With the help of antidepressants and therapy, Rachel recovered for a second time and began to learn techniques, such as mindfulness, which helped her to avoid a recurrence. But, as for many women in the so-called sandwich generation – growing children, ageing parents – anxiety and insomnia were always circling. These old foes she now recognises as triggers for her depression, so she visited her GP. “She asked me if I’d heard about ‘happy’ foods.” She hadn’t, but research led her to Harley Street nutritional therapist Alice Mackintosh and the gradual discovery that brain and stomach are linked. “In modern medicine, you’ve got a problem with your mind or a problem with your body,” she explains. “But our heads and stomachs are in a loop, they are not

LIVING | WISDOM

PHOTOGRAPHY: LAURA EDWARDS/SHORT BOOKS

Rachel (front) and nutritionist Alice Mackintosh spent five years testing and refining recipes to keep your ‘second brain’ happy

separate. In the book, we reference some 150 studies by experts, including Dr Michael Gershon, who calls the stomach ‘the second brain’. At the workshops I run on good mood food, people are electrified to learn that 90% of our serotonin is made in our stomachs.” She is the first to admit that nutrition alone cannot beat the blues. But awareness of how food affects the brain is part of the holistic approach she advocates. “You might not have thought that what you eat affects your mood,” says Rachel, who’s an ambassador for several mental health charities, including Sane and Young Minds. “But here’s telling you that there’s a massive connection, and you can benefit from it.”

Rachel and Alice tested recipes in their own kitchens, publishing the best in The Happy Kitchen alongside advice on how to eat mindfully, to cook meditatively, to eat with pleasure rather than guilt. “We’ve included a dark chocolate brownie recipe,” Rachel says. “Eating a dark chocolate brownie with focus and really enjoying it, that’s a very different experience from scoffing a packet of biscuits without even thinking about it and then feeling terrible.” C A L M I N G T H E STO M AC H We all know that anxiety can affect our stomachs: that gnawing knot that takes hold of our guts before a job » 33

LIVING | WISDOM

MOODBOARD The Rachel Kelly CV 1965 1984 1989 1997 2003 2014 2015 2016

2017

Born in London Studies History at Oxford University After jobs at Vogue and Campaign magazine, begins work at The Times Has anxiety-related depressive illness and is briefly hospitalised Suffers a second depressive episode Her memoir Black Rainbow becomes a Sunday Times bestseller Publishes Walking on Sunshine: 52 Small Steps to Happiness Becomes ambassador for Young Minds and Rethink Mental Illness (in addition to her role at Sane) Publishes The Happy Kitchen

interview, work presentation or long-haul flight. If an anxious mind can send the stomach into freefall, it follows that an anxious stomach can do the same for the mind. “When I had my first major depressive episode, I felt so sick, I had to throw up,” says Rachel, who described the physical pain of her mental illness in the bestselling 2014 memoir Black Rainbow (for which all author proceeds were donated to Sane). “Our stomach sends messages to our brain all the time. So the takeaway from that is that improving your gut health can improve your mental health.” Maintaining a strong population of friendly gut bacteria is key to Rachel’s approach. “Research shows that our ancesters ate around 150 different ingredients each week, moving around on the savannah and eating seasonal berries and game,” Rachel says. “Our digestive systems were designed for this. But modern Western man eats around 20 ingredients each week, and if you strip away sugar, wheat and soy, that number shrinks. It’s a really positive, hopeful message that we need to eat more and different kinds of food. It’s not about cutting foods out; it’s about adding them.” BEGINNING WITH BEETROOT Boosting mental clarity – Rachel recommends beetroot risotto with goats’ cheese and walnuts – and improving sleep are key. Both are tackled after the first stage: getting back energy. “Anxiety and low mood are really draining,” Rachel says. “When I first saw Alice, I was having a two-hour rest after lunch every day.” Establishing a routine, planning meals and avoiding blood sugar spikes were at the heart of Alice’s advice. That meant cutting out sugar and refined carbs and replacing them with fibre-rich vegetables and wholegrain carbohydrates. Not because kale is ‘clean’ and sugar is ‘dirty’, as certain high-profile ‘experts’ would have it – “We don’t use the sort of language that makes value judgments,” Rachel stresses – but because eating foods that release sugars more slowly into the bloodstream makes us less tired and less jittery. “I clearly remember one day, it got to four o’clock and I hadn’t needed my rest,” Rachel says. “It was a lovely feeling. When you’ve got more energy, you start to 34

exercise, you eat well, you sleep better: it’s a virtuous circle. It’s hard to say what I was like five years ago, but now I’m like a different person.”

R AC H E L’ S CUT OUT AND KEEP MOOD FOOD GUIDE

PAT H T O P R E V E N T I O N Rachel now focuses on sharing the healing power of good mood food, mindfulness and words (her love of poetry was vital source of solace during her depression; each chapter of The Happy Kitchen begins with a few lines of verse). She runs workshops for local mental health groups, volunteers in prisons and talks in schools. “Prevention is better than cure,” she says. “That’s why I am doing this stuff. If I’d known some of this, maybe I wouldn’t have been so ill. I love my workshops and my charity work and the journey I’ve been on, but I would not wish it on anyone.” Through her campaigning, writing and appearances on radio and TV, talking so openly about her problems, Rachel has helped to tackle the stigma still associated with mental illness. “A privileged life doesn’t mean a privileged mental health,” she says. “I was the classic woman trying to be all things to all people: a good daughter, a good friend, a good mum. It never occurred to me that my body would just turn round and say right, that’s it. It can happen to anyone, it really can.” SIMPLE PLEASURES The spectre of depression will always be lurking, she says. “It never completely goes away. I feel like I’ve built another person. But I’m careful.” Among the daily strategies that this busy campaigner, wife and mother of five employs is relishing two squares of her favourite organic dark chocolate with a cup of herbal tea. “I make it in my best china mug, I don’t rush, I savour it,” she says. “As soon as I put the kettle on, I know I’m about to have a nice calm pause. It’s like putting the oxygen mask on first. If you look after yourself, you are better able to go out and do things for others. You can’t just keep pouring out like a teapot. You’ve got to fill back up.”

Taken from The Happy Kitchen: Good Mood Food by Rachel Kelly with Alice Mackintosh (Short Books)

MOOD FOOD CHECKLIST

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B AY

THEREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NO SNIFF AND TELL WITH THIS HARDY HERB. BUT LIA LEENDERTZ RECOMMENDS BAKING IT AROUND FISH OR INFUSING IT IN CUSTARD TO DISCOVER ITS FRAGRANT FLAVOURS Photography: KIRSTIE YOUNG

LIVING | KITCHEN GARDENING

P LIA LEENDERTZ is a freelance garden and food writer and was recently shortlisted for Cookery Writer of the Year by the Guild of Food Writers. Her new book, The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2018, is out now.

ick a leaf of bay and give it a good, deep sniff and you will get... nothing much. Bay is the most impenetrable of herbs. Where others send tempting wafts your way if you so much as brush past them, bay keeps it all locked away, looking and smelling perfectly leafy, but that’s about all. But, given heat and a little time, it reveals hidden depths. Bay contains all sorts of subtle flavours that emerge in layers, most often uncovered when incorporated in a long-cooking stew or soup. There are eucalypt and camphor-like notes that slowly mellow into something slightly tannic and tea-like over time. And, when used in sweet

dishes, its tea-like quality turns floral, with hints of vanilla and nutmeg. All these flavours are subtle, but bay adds interest wherever it’s used, and can even take a starring role in desserts. It can be a neat and sweet plant or a bit of a beast in the garden. Plant it out into soil and it will thrive, and then thrive some more, until it’s a dark, looming tree-sized shrub. The way to keep it in bounds is to buy it as a little lollipopped tree and then harvest little and often, always nipping out the growing tip so that the plant stays small and bushy. It does well in a pot, too, and can form the backbone of a container herb garden, ideally placed just outside the kitchen door for reaching and snipping.

Brush past a bay tree and you’ll hardly notice. The hardy green leaves only release their subtle flavours as they are cooked – preferably slowly, on a Sunday with a glass of good red in your hand and The Archers omnibus on

Bay and lemon wrapped salmon Use bay to protect delicate salmon from the heat of the oven, and to infuse it with its fragrant notes. Serves 2 2 salmon steaks 2 bay leaves 1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2 lemons, thinly sliced (youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll need 8 slices) Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/ 400F. Lay each piece of salmon on a piece of baking parchment, around 25cm square. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and then lay on bay leaves and lemon slices alternately and drizzle with a little olive oil. Fold the paper around each piece of fish and tie with string, then place on a baking tray and bake for 25 mins. Serve hot alongside a salad or with salad potatoes and green veg. Âť

Fish baked with lemon and bay makes a simple supper

Rhubarb & blood orange crumble with bay custard For a herb so associated with savoury food, bay works wonderfully well in sweet dishes and produces subtle and warming notes of vanilla and nutmeg. Serves 2 35g butter 50g plain flour 25g oats 35g demerara sugar Zest of 1 blood orange 25g chopped walnuts FOR THE CRUMBLE FILLING

Segments from 1 blood orange 2 sticks rhubarb, chopped into 5cm lengths 3 tbsp of orange juice 1 tbsp demerara sugar FOR THE CUSTARD

250ml full fat milk 50ml double cream 5 bay leaves 3 egg yolks 60g caster sugar Zest of 1 blood orange 1 Preheat oven to 190C/Fan 170C/ 375F. In a large bowl, use your fingers to rub together all of the crumble topping ingredients except the walnuts, only incorporating them once the mixture resembles rough breadcrumbs. 2 Arrange the blood orange and rhubarb in a small oven dish, pour over the orange juice and then sprinkle with sugar, making sure that some of the sugar falls through to the lower layers. Top with the crumble and pat down lightly, then bake for 30–40 mins. 3 To make the custard, put the milk, cream and bay leaves into a saucepan and bring up to boiling point, then remove the pan from the heat and leave to infuse for at least an hour. 4 In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and orange zest. Remove the bay leaves from the milk and cream and pour the mixture over the sugar and eggs, whisking as you go. Tip it all into a saucepan and place

over a low heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, for at least ten minutes. The custard will slowly start to thicken up and should be ready when you can draw a clean line through the thickened mixture coating the back of the spoon. If at any point the custard starts to split, plunge the saucepan into a basin of ice-cold water – making sure none of it spills over into the custard – and whisk until it is smooth again.

LIVING | KITCHEN GARDENING

CARING FOR HERBS IN CONTAINERS Plants such as bay can grow long term in containers, but there are a few tricks to keeping them happy. When plants are small, they should be potted on into a slightly larger pot each spring. However, as they get larger, this becomes impractical. Instead, give them a freshen up once a year. Remove weeds and moss from the surface and scrape away some of the old spent compost, water the plant thoroughly and deeply, and then cover the surface with a fresh mulch of well rotted compost. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll also need to feed with a liquid fertiliser (comfrey or nettle tea are good homemade alternatives to chemical feeds) throughout the summer. Âť

If you freshen up your bay tree with compost each spring, it should continue to provide you with robust flavours for soups, stews and more for years to come

LIVING | KITCHEN GARDENING

Bay gimlet Bay makes a beautiful herbal syrup that can be poured over ice-cream, drizzled over cakes, or used to make excellent cocktails, including this elegant number. Makes 1 2 shots gin 1 shot fresh lime juice 1 shot bay syrup (see below) FOR THE SYRUP

1 cup* granulated sugar 1 cup water 5 bay leaves 1 First make the syrup: tip all of the ingredients into a saucepan and, over a low to medium heat, stir until all of the sugar granules have dissolved. Simmer over a low heat until the liquid turns syrupy, then remove from the heat and leave to cool and infuse. 2 Once the syrup is cool, tip it into a jar, leaves and all, and store it in the fridge until needed. It will continue to infuse there and the flavours will continue to develop, but the bay flavour never gets too strong. 3 To make a bay gimlet, chill a stemmed cocktail glass in the freezer. Measure the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with some crushed ice and shake for 30 seconds, then strain into the glass and garnish with a twist of lime. * It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matter how big the cups are, as long as you use equal measures of sugar and water.

IN THE HERB GARDEN NOW

• Move parsley plants into a coldframe or greenhouse or cover them with a cloche if you want them to keep cropping. They are hardy but growth will slow during the coldest months, and any tiny increase in temperature helps keep them going. Putting them undercover also stops the leaves from being toughened, damaged and mud-splattered during harsh weather. • This is the ideal time for herb garden planning and soil preparation. Make a list of all of the herbs you would like to grow and identify a sunny spot in the garden. Clear it of weeds and prepare the soil with well rotted compost, and with horticultural grit to improve drainage if the soil is heavy. You’ll then be ready to go when the weather warms. • Buy seed trays and seed compost. It isn’t time to start sowing yet but the spring rush comes on suddenly and it pays to be prepared. Look at catalogues such as Chiltern Seeds for unusual herb varieties and get some ordered.

LIVING | WELLBEING

Come on lads, one more Fever-Tree before bedtime Crikey! One Evian and she’s anybody’s!

Your round, Enid. Mine’s a triple Vimto

Good health!

HIGH & DRY WITH BENEFITS FOR YOUR HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND WALLET, COULD NOW BE TIME TO CONSIDER A BREAK FROM DRINKING?

LIKE-MINDED DRINKERS If you’re giving up or cutting down, there’s no need to go it alone Club Soda For those wanting to stop or cut down, with motivational emails, online courses and mindful pub crawls. A no-pressure approach; joinclubsoda.co.uk Also check out hipsobriety.com. Dry January app Download the app for a progress calendar, money and calorie tracker and support to prevent slip-ups. One Year No Beer Originally an online forum, now there’s a book The 28-Day Alcohol-Free Challenge by Andy Ramage and Ruari Fairbairns (Bluebird) packed with practical advice and motivation; oneyearnobeer.com. This Naked Mind There’s a book, podcast or the ultimate month-long coaching programme. Read The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober by Catherine Gray (Aster).

Words: REBECCA FRANK

here was a time when, if you went out with a group of friends and turned down an alcoholic drink, people would assume you were either pregnant, driving or just weird. Nowadays there are likely to be at least a couple of people not drinking, maybe for that night or week, or just as long as they feel like it. Go out this month and that figure rises significantly. Last year 5 million people in the UK attempted Dry January and it’s likely to be even more this year, adding to the one in five adults who already don’t drink. With support available at a click of button, a fast-growing array of non-alcoholic drinks, and an increased general acceptance for nondrinking, a high proportion of them will succeed and go beyond the initial 31 days. “More and more people are cutting down their drinking with varying motives,” says Laura Willoughby, who set up the mindful drinking movement, Club Soda, when she stopped drinking after “having never found my off-switch!”. “Most of our members are over 35, grew up in a drinking culture where women were determined, equality drinkers, matching men pint for pint. Now we want to live longer, feel better, have the energy and

focus to do the things we want to and have realised that alcohol doesn’t necessarily fit into our lives any more.”

MINDFUL DRINKING Some people cut down or stop drinking while working towards a fitness or weight-loss goal, for others it’s initiated by a charity campaign like Go Sober for October and, for many, alcohol can be the last and yet possibly most obvious piece of the jigsaw in the wellness puzzle. “People are becoming increasingly mindful of what they put in their bodies and where their food and drink comes from and drinking less or drinking better is very much a part of this,” says Ben Branson, founder of Seedlip, the first alcohol-free spirit. Andy Ramage, co-founder of One Year No Beer agrees: “I was juicing, eating healthily and meditating, but still drinking because that’s what I’d always done. A friend and I decided to do a year without drinking just to see if we could do it really. There was no big epiphany, I just wanted to be a better dad, feel healthier and sharper at work and I really hated hangovers. The biggest thing I noticed was that I had much more time, which unlocked lots of other changes. I suddenly could exercise and meditate and do things I’d always intended » 45

I’ve swapped my G&T for a gym and tone-up

DRY (BUT NOT DULL) DRINKS Seedlip The first alcohol-free spirit comes in two flavours – spice (wintry and smoky), and garden (savoury and herby). Drink with tonic or in a cocktail. From Ocado and Tesco. Kombucha is fermented tea in a slightly tart sparkling drink a bit like cider. Real Kombucha contains only natural ingredients and no added sugar; realkombucha.co.uk. Crodino Bitter Aperitif from the company behind Campari, great for making an alcoholfree Apérol Spritz. Big Drop makes a stout, pale and spiced ales, with no artificial extraction methods used. bigdropbrew.com. Lager lovers should try Heineken 0.0, Estrella Damm Free and Big Drop Nix Lager. Cold-brew and nitro-coffee are big trends for this year. They are brewed cold to create a sweeter, less bitter taste and the latter is infused with nitrogen to create a silky coffee with a foamy head. Try drydrinker.com for more ideas. They can also create taster packs.

to but never quite managed as I was tired or hungover. I’ve never looked back.”

A W E L L- E A R N E D B R E A K And you don’t have to be a heavy drinker to feel the benefits of having a break. Even a couple of glasses of wine, three or four times a week, affects how you sleep, look and feel. According to a survey by Alcohol Concern, of the people who gave up drinking last January, 62% said they slept better and had more energy, 79% saved money, and 49% lost weight. “Until you take a month off, you don’t know how you’ll feel without it,” says Laura. “I definitely wouldn’t have started a business if I hadn’t stopped drinking.” Most people start with a month or a ‘sober sprint’, but both Andy and Laura recommend 90 days to experience the full benefits. “In three months, you can’t just hide away and focus on getting plastered at the end of the month,” says Andy. “You have to go to real events like a party, wedding, birthday. That’s when the change in mindset kicks in and you realise you can do it without alcohol.”

THE FUTURE’S DRY The shift in our drinking culture has perhaps been most dramatic among the young, many of whom have a very different attitude to alcohol to their parents. A recent survey of students’ spending habits shows alcohol

expenditure decreasing each year, with the average student now spending almost double the amount on health and fitness than they do on booze. “Vertical drinking (standing up at a bar all night) is just not that good a night out any more,” says Laura. “They’re more money- and healthfocused and they’re more interested in Instagramming a pretty cocktail than they are in drinking it. They don’t want to be photographed drunk. It’s just not that cool any more.” Another indication of the rise in non-drinking, is the booming non- or low-alcoholic drinks industry, named as the fastest-growing drink trend for 2018. With more than 70 beers, several wine varieties and even a spirit, in Seedlip, you don’t have to feel you’re missing out. And, contrary to popular belief, a good nonalcoholic beer is often the next healthiest choice after water, as it’s hydrating, low in calories and contains the nutrients found in beer, without the sugar and alcohol. If all this is making you sober-curious, why not give it a go? As Andy Ramage says, “If someone offered you a pill that would help you sleep better, work better, lose weight, look better, feel healthier and have a sharper mind, why wouldn’t you try it?”

LIVING | WELLBEING 2

Bottoms up!

3 1

COCKTAILS WITHOUT THE HANGOVER 1

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES; TOPFOTO; JASON INGRAM/BANTAM PRESS

Blood orange & sage margarita Makes 1 125ml blood orange juice 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice 1 tbsp hibiscus syrup (see below) 2 sage leaves, plus another to garnish Ice cubes A wedge of lime Himalayan salt For the syrup (makes 500ml) 500ml water 90g granulated sugar 35g light brown sugar 12g dried hibiscus flowers Zest of 1 lemon You will need Cocktail shaker Chilled coupette 1 First make the syrup. Add all the syrup ingredients to a pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until sugars dissolve and the flowers soften (about 10 mins). 2 Remove from heat and steep for 5 mins until the flavours combine. Strain into a sterilised bottle* through a fine-mesh sieve. Press any solid bits with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible before discarding. 3 Put the blood orange juice, lime juice, hibiscus syrup and two sage leaves in a shaker

with ice and shake thoroughly until chilled. 4 If you like a salt rim, run a wedge of lime around the rim of the chilled glass and dip into a saucer of salt. Strain the mixture into the glass and garnish with the third sage leaf.

Pear & rosemary on the rocks Makes 1 60ml pear juice from 2 small pears, or good quality shop-bought pear juice (not from concentrate) 30ml freshly squeezed lemon juice 25ml simple herb syrup (see below) Ice cubes Sparkling water A spring of rosemary, and a slice of pear to garnish For the herb syrup 200g sugar A few good sprigs of rosemary You will need Cocktail shaker 1 For the syrup, put sugar and 200ml water into a pan. Stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer, add rosemary and simmer for a further 5–10 mins. Remove from heat, allow to cool then strain into a sterilised bottle*. This recipe will make 400ml

of syrup and keeps in the fridge for a week or two. You can add herbs for different flavours. 2 Combine the pear juice, lemon juice and rosemary syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice, and shake well. Strain into a rocks glass (short tumbler) and top with a splash of sparkling water. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary and a slice of pear. For a longer drink, add more water and a dash of lemonade.

Pomegranate negroni Makes 1 200ml pomegranate juice 2 tsp Montmorency cherry concentrate** Ice cubes 3 good dashes of angostura bitters A twist of orange peel Pour the pomegranate juice and cherry concentrate into a glass of ice, then stir well before shaking in the angostura bitters. The drink should have a bitter-sweet tang, so add more angostura if needed. Twist the orange peel on top of the drink to release the oils.

Recipes from Dry by Clare Liardet (Bantam Press). Photography: Jason Ingram

* To sterilise a bottle, preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/350F. Wash with hot soapy water, rinse thoroughly and dry in the oven for 10 mins. Fill while still warm. **Cherry concentrate gives an extra layer but isn’t essential. However, once you have some it’s great to keep in the fridge as a sugar-free cordial. It’s also delicious with hot water. Try Holland & Barrett, hollandandbarrett.com.

A JOB WELL DONE

CRAFT FOR EVERYONE A lifelong passion for sewing inspired Kate Smith to set up Bath-based craft business The Makery with her husband Nigel Words: RUTH CHANDLER

The Makery sells all manner of pretty craft items as well as running workshops

Craft is hugely empowering. I’ve known that since I was at school, when I ran little workshops showing my friends how to make a slipdress, having been taught to sew by my mother and grandma. After studying for a degree in French, I worked in film and TV for 11 years, which was great, but I always wanted to get back to making things, so when Nigel and I decided to set up our own business, craft was the obvious choice. Then there was a massive increase in sewing-machine sales during 2008 and we knew the timing was right. Some 80,000 people have now learned a new skill in our classes, which range from calligraphy to curtain-making. Don’t let doubters put you off pursuing your dream. There were so many people,

especially husbands of friends, who just didn’t get the idea for The Makery at first. Craft got a bad rap ten years ago – its image was still twee – and they just couldn’t see a 48

space teaching workshops and hosting parties doing well. Then we got our first booking before we’d even opened our doors, which was amazing. It was for a children’s birthday party, making soft toy plushy monsters. So we launched that day – 6 December 2009. Visualising what you want your life to look like is important. Nigel and I have

always done this. In an early collage picture we made, depicting our aims and dreams, is a village that looks very similar to where we now live, just outside Bath, and a dog that’s just like our working cocker spaniel Rufus. Visualising helps you to focus on your goals. Even terrifying experiences can be good for business. Nigel and I were approached

by the BBC to appear on Dragons’ Den with just 11 days’ notice. We needed to have a project to present to the dragons, so I

LIVING | LIFE SKILLS

worked on the craft kits I’d been putting together at home. During the pitch I went to pieces, forgot all my numbers and didn’t get any investment – I’ve never been able to face watching that episode. The timing was brilliant, though, as the programme aired the night before my book went on sale. It sold out on Amazon, the phones went mad, we got a licensing deal and I was signed up to write a collection of sewing projects. Being able to reach more customers was really exciting. Our mission has always

been to make craft accessible, so when we were offered the chance to teach workshops in John Lewis on London’s Oxford Street two years ago, it felt like a very natural next step. So now we have a mini Makery there; it has exposed us to so many more people and I also feel as if it’s given us the stamp of approval. It’s easy for the boundary between work and life to become blurred. When our

daughter Lyra was three months old, I felt I was near to having a breakdown. She’d been going everywhere with me, sitting in on meetings and being ever so good, but I couldn’t do it anymore, so arranged for her to spend some time at nursery. Now, I make the distinction between business and family – I regularly shift the balance one way or the other, but I just can’t mix the two things together. Doing research at the beginning is really worthwhile in the long run. I spent six

months writing our business plan, it was incredibly detailed, down to deciding who my different customers were, giving them names and ages, matching them to a workshop or service that I’d offer, and even imagining what kind of media they were likely to access in order to hear about us.

TRY IT OUT

Vegan cooking SPEND A DAY LEARNING A NEW SKILL. MINDFUL AND MIND FULL (IN A GOOD WAY) By REBECCA FRANK

YOU MIGHT THINK there’s little point in going on a vegan cookery course if you’re not even vegetarian but if, like me, you want to include more plant-based foods in your diet and cook more imaginatively without using meat, then you’ll find inspiration in bounds. For an education in meat-free cooking, you can’t get much better than Demuths Cookery School in Bath and my course mates came from far and wide. Our day course was ‘Vegan Gourmet’ and we were given the task of creating a restaurantstandard menu with a mix of demos and plenty of practical work in the spacious, light-filled kitchen. We started by chopping and pickling veg for kimchi (a great thing to have in your fridge to give stir fries and soups extra oomph) and a fennel, carrot and lime salad, then went on to make malfatti (spinach gnocchi) using homemade soya ricotta – made with

soya milk and lemon juice and a (cheese-free) basil, hazelnut pesto. Desserts can be tricky for vegans and everybody was amazed at how delicious our vanilla cashew icecream was and that meringues made from chickpea water (yes, really) looked and tasted like the real thing. There’s a lot to get through, but you learn loads and pick up bags of tips and ideas on flavour combinations and cooking methods from very inspiring and encouraging teachers. And the best thing is you get to sit down and eat everything you’ve made at the end with your lovely new friends and a glass of wine or two. demuths.co.uk

The rise of other creative spaces is fantastic. The fact that we’ve inspired

businesses to do something similar can only be a good thing. I love that there are now plenty of places to learn new skills. Teaching crafts in schools would be wonderful in the future. It’s so sad that

some don’t include them in classes or clubs at all. It’s an area that I’d like to be involved in, though I know budgets will be an issue. There’ll be something we can do anyway… For a 15% discount on all workshops at The Makery, quote code SIMPLETHINGS until 31 January; themakery.co.uk. 49

Rural Workwear & Accessories. Handmade in Norfolk, England. carriercompany.co.uk +44 (0)1328 820699 Church Farm House, Wighton, Norfolk, NR23 1AL, UK

CAKE IN THE HOUSE News just in: you can get your greens from eating cake. No, really. Cake that tastes nice. These lemon-curd filled bars get their green stripe with the addition of spinach to the shortbread base. Almost virtuous!

SPINACH AND LEMON BARS Makes 16 75g spinach leaves 75g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing 2 tbsp caster sugar, plus extra to finish 115g plain flour FOR THE FILLING

4 large free-range eggs 200g granulated sugar 150ml lemon juice (from about 4 lemons) 3 tbsp lemon zest 40g plain flour 1 tbsp butter 1 tbsp icing sugar, to serve 1 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/350F. Grease and line a 20cm square baking tin. 2 Wilt the spinach in a pan with a small amount of boiling water, then run under cold water to refresh, before squeezing out the moisture. Purée with a hand blender until smooth. 3 In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth, but not too fluffy and aerated. Add the spinach pureé and beat well. Sift in the flour and mix gently. 4 Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spread to the edges and press down firmly with the back of a damp spoon. Be sure

that the mixture goes right into all the edges and there aren’t any holes. Bake for 25 mins, or until the edges begin to turn golden. 5 Meanwhile, make the lemon filling by whisking the eggs and sugar in a saucepan until well combined, then add the lemon juice and zest and gently whisk until completely incorporated. Gradually sift in the flour, whisking gently to combine, and add the butter. Heat the mixture,

stirring constantly, until thickened and the butter has melted. 6 Spoon the mixture over the warm crust, spread evenly to the edges and bake for 25 mins, or until the edges begin to turn golden. The filling will firm up as it cools. Leave to cool completely in the pan, then dust with the icing sugar and cut into squares to serve. Recipe and photography from Veggie Desserts + Cakes by Kate Hackworthy (Pavilion)

11am

2pm y ups WE ASKED CERAMICS ENTHUSIAST LEYLA FOLWELL O DESCRIBE HER DAY IN CUPPAS

LEYLA FOLWELL is a ceramicist at wigwamceramics.com, who spreads her love of pottery through teaching at the Ceramics Studio in Warwickshire. She makes an effort to try and appreciate all the simple things. theceramicsstudio.co.uk

Firrst cuppa of the day and what are you doing?

Kettle is on. What do you fancy?

I’vve got a small balcony from which I can see the sun nrise. I like to greet the sun with a cup of pep ppermint tea and mind clearing meditation.

‘Princess’ tea please! That’s a mug of lapsang souchong with a large helping of oat milk.

Lov vely! And then how does your day unfold?

If it’s a nice day, I will sit in the peace garden. It’s a great place to clear your head.

I ru un my own ceramics studio in the rwickshire countryside. When I’m not teaaching people to love pottery, I work on my gwam ceramics – pots made to be used and to briing brightness to everyday life. Wh hat happens when you get to the studio?

I witch on the kettle. Then we check the kiln to seee what’s in store. It’s usually a mixed bag: some unexpected joys, some disasters, but that’s the thrrill of pottery – you have to go with the flow. you have a favourite mug?

A pint-sized p cream slipware vessel made by a loccal potter Dylan Bowen. It’s the only mug big eno ough to hold all the tea I want!

How do you enjoy a break with a cuppa?

What’s for lunch?

It’s generally a homemade soup or salad and usually a speedy affair between classes. For a special treat (which seems to happen pretty regularly), we visit Talton Mill across the road, which serves delicious locally produced food. Do you have any tea-related disaster stories?

Once my brother, looking for my signature on the bottom of a mug of mine, tipped the whole cup into his lap. How does your day wind down?

I like an early night after a long day of clay play: a herbal infusion helps me to drift off.

JAN UARY

ESCAPE THIS MONTH WEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;RE APPRECIATING SMALL HILLS, BRINGING JAPANESE STYLE HOME, AND ENJOYING RECIPES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

PHOTOGRAPHY: PLAIN PICTURE

MY CITY*

PHOTOGRAPHY: TANIA CONNOLLY

PERTH FOR A MOOD-BOOSTING DOSE OF SUN, SEA AND BIG SMILES IT’S HARD TO BEAT TANIA CONNOLLY’S HOME OF PERTH

ESCAPE | MY CITY

*There’s no better way to get to the heart of a city than through the people who live there. Every month, we ask someone, clearly in love with their city, to take us on a personal tour and tell us what makes it so special. You may feel inspired to visit one day or to rediscover the charms of a city closer to you, but for now just sit back, relax and enjoy some armchair travel. How long have you lived in Perth?

Always. My family spent every holiday and long weekend swimming, fishing and crabbing when I was a child – I may have salt water running through my veins! The beach is only five minutes from my house.

What makes your city unique?

There is so much space. Even when the temperature hits 40 degrees and the whole state flocks to the coast, there’s always room to pitch a sun tent without covering your neighbour in sand. People surf, fish and kite-surf all along the beaches and cafés are crowded with barefoot patrons. We’re lucky because our weather affords the chance to explore the city day and night. What’s it like in January?

January is the ideal time to visit. On balmy nights you can get involved in the many outside activities at the annual Fringe Festival – eat at an open barbecue pit while ‘mermaids’ frolic in their tank and bathing belles parade through the crowd, or enjoy a drink under a canopy of stars while watching comedy and circus acts. What time of day do you most enjoy?

Bang on the west coast, Perth has vibrant sunsets that look as though they’ve come direct from an artist’s palette. From early afternoon, I like to be sitting outside by our pool, a cold drink in my hand, the glass clinking with ice cubes, while the sun slips below the horizon. What’s the nature like?

Abundant. There are parks and lakes dotted all around Perth. A rainbow of wildflowers greets you in Kings Park. Rolling hills replace flat terrain as you venture into wine country in Swan Valley. Large groups of kangaroos graze on local golf courses and in the beautiful grounds of Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park. Where’s your favourite outdoor space?

1 Sailing boats dotted across the Swan River. 2 Perth’s skyline from the river. 3 A likely tail: mermaids watch over the annual fringe festival. 4 The Sculpture by the Sea exhibition takes place on Cottesloe Beach. 5 The Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park is one of the best places to spot kangaroos

Hillarys Boat Harbour is a great place to spend a summer day. It’s always busy, full of families, and just has a great vibe. When my children were small they splashed around in the shallows of the tiny protected beach; no waves, no dangerous creatures and no » 57

“During the day the sky is often a cloudless baby blue... but at night it’s painted orange, red and purple” dodging surfers or Jet Skis. Now they are older, I take them to one of the restaurants for a leisurely lunch or we grab ice-creams and chill out on the sand. I sometimes meet friends for dinner or drinks at the Breakwater Bar or just wander around the shops and stalls on a weekend. What are the light and colours like?

During the day the sky is often a cloudless baby blue and sunglasses are a necessity. But at night it’s painted orange, red, pink and purple. Perth is full of parks, native bushland and towering trees, which are home to a range of birdlife including vivid green twenty-eights (parrots), pink and grey galahs, rich red rosellas and, of course, the graceful black swans. Tell us about the people who live there 2

Easily identified by their salt-encrusted hair, deep tans and wide, white smiles are the surfers who live on the coast. Lots of creative types call the West home and artists display their works at regular pop-up craft stalls. Our year-round, mild weather means Perthites are a genuinely happy, friendly group of people. Where do you gather with friends?

Fremantle is just 20 minutes away from the Central Business District. There are many heritage buildings, including the Fremantle Jail, Roundhouse and the supposedly haunted Fremantle Arts Centre, which was originally an asylum. My husband and I like to have a few drinks with friends upstairs at the Sail and Anchor while buskers perform below, outside the Fremantle markets. From there it’s only a five-minute walk to Cicerello’s for fish and chips, or pizza at Little Creatures brewery, both on the waterfront. What’s the restaurant scene like?

In recent years the restaurant scene has exploded. There are now loads of little places to eat tucked away in the city centre like The Secret Garden Cafe, The Trustee Bar & Bistro and the Cereal & Sandwich Bar (so you can eat cereal all day!). I like being by the ocean so I regularly eat at Scarborough Beach Bar, Spinnakers Restaurant or Mullaloo Beach Hotel for scenic views and delicious food. And for delicious kebabs and fish and chips in Perth you can’t go past Peter’s By the Sea, in business since 1952. What’s your favourite way to get about the city? 3

If I need to go into the city, I catch a 10-minute train. Once in the city I enjoy walking so I will wander to wherever I need to go.

ESCAPE | MY CITY

What types of shops do you most like to visit?

You’ll usually find me browsing in new or second-hand book stores and I never leave empty-handed. 78 Records is a great shop if you love music. I make the most of the warm nights during summer, visiting twilight markets and craft stalls, as you never know what little treasures you might find. Where do you like to escape to?

Houghtons Winery is just 10 minutes from the city centre. The huge expanse of lawn, shaded by enormous trees, is a wonderful spot to enjoy a picnic while being entertained by local musicians. There’s also an on-site art gallery, museum and café. Catching a ferry to Rottnest Island is a must-do day trip. See quokkas (smaller member of the kangaroo and wallaby family described as the world’s happiest animal!), snorkel in the bays and cycle the island before finishing the day in the beer garden of the Quokka’s Arms. What do you miss most if you’ve been away?

I miss the lack of congestion on the streets and roads, the unpolluted air and just knowing my way around. What would surprise a newcomer?

I think people would be surprised at the amount of things there are to do and see, from swimming with dolphins to hiking trails, music and wine festivals. We have state-of-the-art theatres and entertainment venues, like the heritage-listed His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth Cultural Centre, The Heath Ledger Theatre and the Perth Arena. If you could change one thing about the city, what would it be?

The only change I would make is the proximity to other cities in the world. Perth’s isolation is a definite plus in so many ways but when you want to travel, you realise just how far away you are.

1 An incredible sunset view over City Beach. 2 A barbecue stall at the Perth Fringe, which runs for a month this year from 26 January. 3 View of the Central Business District from Elizabeth Quay. 4 A kite surfer on City Beach. 5 The Riverside Brewhouse where they promise ‘the brews are as good as the views’. 6 Elegant black swans on Lake Monger

Where would you recommend somebody to stay?

Scarborough is right on the beach and only a 20-minute drive to the city and Hillarys. There’s a variety of accommodation, from the luxury of Rendezvous in Scarborough to the more affordable Indian Ocean Hotel. For a more palatial experience, stay in the heart of the city at COMO The Treasury, voted one of the best hotels in the world by Condé Nast Traveller. It’s walking distance from the station and Elizabeth Quay. What keeps you in Perth and where else would you like to live in the world?

The weather, my family and friends keep me in Perth, but if I couldn’t live here, I would move to Melbourne on the weekends for the accessibility to Australian Rules Football games and theatre shows, after spending the week in Bora Bora! »

TANIA CONNOLLY writes about amazing people for Offspring, Inside Football, Paper Sea, and Tiger Tales magazines. When she’s not doing that, you’ll find her in a café by the ocean. taniaconnollywriter.wordpress.com

TANIA’S PERSONAL TOUR Favourite shop CRYSTAL REFLECTIONS Have your fortune read, buy gemstone jewellery or joss sticks. Gothic dragons and castles are also available. A fairy figurine and her wolf sit on my bookshelf. crystalreflections.com.au

Favourite gallery 2

Rottnest island is a popular holiday destination and home to the native quokka. 2 Sunset drinks at Clancy’s. 3 Fremantle Markets – a great spot to potter for a morning. 4 Fancy ice-cream at Hillarys Boat Harbour 1

THE ART SPACE COLLECTIVE Exhibitions by local and international artists as well as life-drawing classes, kokedama lessons or macramé in a friendly, community environment. theartspacecollective.com

Favourite bar CLANCY’S FISH BAR Only metres from the waters’ edge, watch the sunset from the alfresco area or through the huge windows with a large glass of

crisp, cold semillon. clancysfishpub.com.au

Favourite restaurant MIA CUCINA Generous portions of delicious food. Intimate and relaxed, everything on the menu is cooked to perfection. miacucinawa.com.au

Favourite market Wander the markets for clothes, food, art, soaps and crafts, buy fresh produce and then rest your legs in the bar and listen to local talent. fremantlemarkets.com.au

Favourite hotel THE FLYING SCOTSMAN Live jazz, acoustic sets, comedy, quiz nights and a cocktail bar. theflyingscotto.com

Way to spend an hour COTTESLOE OR CITY BEACH Reading my book and eating an ice-cream in a shady spot on either of these beaches is bliss.

Place to see by night ELIZABETH QUAY Night noodle markets, pop-up bars and mini golf are enhanced by the coloured fountains surrounding the Bell Tower.

Best view WEMBLEY GOLF COURSE Mini golf and a great restaurant, plus the city views from the driving range is magic. wembleygolf.com.au

The one thing you must see Perth as it just wakes up. It truly is a beautiful city.

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JAPAN

ARMCHAIR TOURIST IN THE FIRST OF OUR VIRTUAL DESIGN TRIPS, WE EMBRACE THE QUIET SPIRIT OF WABI-SABI AND BRING A LITTLE JAPANESE CALM AND MODESTY INTO THE HOME Words: CLARE GOGERTY

ESCAPE | HOME STYLE

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he Japanese have always known how to do minimalism – if you disregard the crazy, multi-sensory experience of their cities, that is. True Japanese style is all about modest, careful choices and the possession of a few, good-quality items. The ancient philosophy of wabi-sabi, which accepts impermanence and imperfection rather than resisting it, encourages living humbly and simply. In the home, this means the introduction of raw, natural materials such as wood, bamboo, linen and clay, that get better as they are battered by

age, and being selective about what items you buy. The point is to fill the home with things that don’t demand attention but rather sit unassumingly and serve their function well. It’s a style that we can at least aspire to if not wholeheartedly embrace. The introduction of a few carefully chosen things – a handmade bowl or a bamboo steamer, perhaps, or a single chrysanthemum (the emblem of Imperial Japan) laid on a table – could do it. At its heart, wabi-sabi encourages a slower, quieter approach to life and that’s an idea we can all get behind.

Kenmore hand-textured vase, £50, habitat.co.uk 2 Mount Fuji print, £120, kingandmcgaw.com 3 Tokyo Design Studio plate gift set, £40 for 6 pieces, johnlewis.com 4 Fish trap pendant light, from £60, oggetto.com 5 Salad bowl, £30; servers, £19.50, both oggetto.com 6 Kimono gown, £115, toa.st 7 Kokka Japanese floral print fabric, £22 per metre, johnlewis.com 8 Two-tier bamboo steamer, £9.49, robertdyas.co.uk 9 Go Cook meat cleaver, £16, tesco.com 10 Oriental tea cup, £7.50, decoratorsnotebook.co.uk 11 Pink chrysanthemum, £16, abigailahern.com 12 Naoko grey and yellow armchair, £595, habitat.co.uk 13 Wabi-sabi Welcome by Julie Pointer Adams (Artisan Books) 1

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The other Algarve EXPLORE THE QUIET SIDE OF SOUTH-WEST PORTUGAL WITH INNTRAVEL

he Algarve’s more obvious attractions are well known: sun, sea and sandcastles, villas with pools and water parks galore. And while there’s nothing wrong with these, Inntravel, the Slow Holiday people, take a different approach to this beguiling corner of southwesternmost Europe. They get well off the beaten track, and use footpaths – and some wonderful places to stay – to help you discover some of Portugal’s lesser-spotted delights. COA ST O F M A N Y CO LO U R S Inntravel are the UK’s leading provider of self-guided walking holidays. Their hotel-to-hotel route, A Coast of Many Colours, takes you across the Algarve

– from its honeyed, southern coast through an agricultural heartland to the wilder, western shores – and is one of the most enticing in their entire collection. A world away from the region’s busy resorts, you can discover for yourself the unspoiled landscapes of the Costa Vicentina Natural Park, characterised by dramatic cliffs, pristine coves and quiet, rolling pastures. The colours are many and varied: long stretches of golden sand give way to grey-and-red jagged rocks before softening to a paler orange and rose as the coastal edge turns northwards. Inland, the green hills are home to drifts of winter blossom, plantations of

quince and oranges, and flower meadows carpeted with citrus-yellow Bermuda buttercups. It all feels delightfully remote. F R O M R U I N S T O R E T R E AT When he first set eyes on the village of Aldeia da Pedralva, visionary developer António Ferreira saw past the deserted houses, decaying walls and neglected streets... “I discovered Aldeia da Pedralva when I was looking for a holiday house. I worked in advertising, which was very stressful. I felt tired and my health wasn’t brilliant, so I thought that renovating a holiday home would be a good project to distract me. A colleague told me to go and see Aldeia da Pedralva, an old

“This region of rolling hills and broad, sandy beaches perhaps needs little introduction; but few visitors take the time to explore its heart and soul. A walking holiday is the very best way to do that” James Keane, Inntravel’s expert on Portugal

In low-season, exploring on foot, it’s easier to get to know the Algarve’s wild beauty and quiet spots such as Pedralva (top)

rural village in ruins, where he had already bought a house to rebuild. “I went there with my wife and we instantly fell in love with the place, so much so that we actually bought three houses. It made me look at the village from a different perspective and made me realise that there must be other workaholic people like me who need to disconnect from the real world. Pedralva (pictured above) was the perfect place to make this happen – a tourist project based around nature,

detoxing – and surfing. Pedralva lies in the ‘other’ Algarve, part of a Natural Park with amazing wildlife, landscapes and wild beaches. It’s a place where you really feel that time has stopped.” Today, António’s dream has become a reality, though it remains fundamentally a traditional place at heart – the houses are simply furnished in keeping with the spirit of the original village. Thanks to the vision, passion and tireless work of one man, Aldeia da Pedralva is alive once more…

SEE FOR YOURSELF... Choose Inntravel’s walking holiday, A Coast of Many Colours (including a night in Pedralva), to discover the Algarve’s ‘quiet side’. From £670pp, inc 7 nights’ B&B, 4 dinners, 3 picnics & detailed route notes. Until 31 May 2018. Visit inntravel.co.uk or call 01653 617000; visitalgarve.pt.

ESCAPE | OUTING

The hills are alive with the sound of walkersâ&#x20AC;Ś discovering the pleasures of a less-ambitious ascent

(little) OFTEN OVERSHADOWED BY MOUNTAINS, OUR LESSER PEAKS ARE EASIER TO GET TO, TAKE LESS TIME TO CLIMB, AND ARE, OF COURSE, MASSES OF FUN Words: PHOEBE SMITH

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he clouds were thick in the sky like giant balls of grey cotton. Looking towards the mountains of Snowdonia, I felt my heart sink – today was not going to be much fun up in the mountains. If I went up Snowdon or Tryfan or any one of the highest peaks in Wales’s most famous national park, it would mean several hours of being tossed by the wind like a Gore-Tex crisp packet. But then I looked to the north and spotted it: Moel-yGest – a small 263m peak that no hardened lover of the outdoors would take the time to visit. It sat blissfully free of the swirling mist that its taller brethren were attracting like magnets. It was then that I made the decision that would change my entire way of thinking. I abandoned the glory of the higher summits and made resolutely for this little lump. It had been many years since I’d climbed anything less than 700m and I was surprised how fast I made progress. I started under the canopy of evergreen trees, passed the smooth and dramatic lines of a quarry beneath the trail and heard the scuttle of a squirrel running to hide. I decided I was missing the point, going fast – so I slowed my pace. Then I began to notice more: gulls swirling on the thermals, the sprawling blanket of russet heather saving its energy to explode into purple come summer, boulders strewn like confetti making the route ahead one requiring the use of hands as well as feet, flattened areas just right for nestling in with my bivvy bag. I made out the impossibly steep remains of a boundary wall, and foundations of an Iron Age hill fort. When I finally reached the top, the views floored me. Out in front was the sliver of water

that is Glaslyn estuary and, beyond, the expanse of Tremadoc Bay. I felt the same excitement of climbing a giant, but with only a fraction of the effort. When I got home, I dug out a photograph of me, aged six, standing atop a tiny hump called Bryn Euryn – a massive smile glued to my face. Despite its diminutive 131m height, it had felt like a proper adventure. It was then I recalled a quote by Robert Brault: “Remember the little things, because one day you’ll realise that they were the big things.” It may have taken bad weather and my six-year-old self to make me realise it, but finally I got it. The small hills that peppered my childhood had set the stage for the adventurer I would later become. And, now, it was time to revisit them, slowly, mindfully and deliberately, to rediscover the joys pintsized peaks can offer us all.

1 Little hill, big views: the vista from the top of the mini-mountain of Ben A’an, Scotland. 2 Ruining the view: the remains of Castel Dinas Bran, Llangollen, North Wales. 3 Winter on High Peak in Derbyshire

ESCAPE | OUTING

LESS LOFTY AMBITIONS

PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY; PHOEBE SMITH

From wildlife to local history, there’s plenty to recommend a wander on a smaller hill BIG VIEWS The immediate joy of a little hill is the sheer amount of pay-off you receive for such a small amount of physical effort. Most take just an hour or two to reach the summit – some even less – meaning you can squeeze them in before or after work, or even in a lunch break. Mam Tor in the Peak District is ideal for this. It rises to 513m, but you can start from a car park just 100m from the top, meaning a climb takes just minutes. Yet, from it, you can see the entire Eden Valley, the little villages in its folds appearing like miniatures. It’s not alone: Ysgyryd Fawr in Monmouthshire rises to 483m, but from

the handily placed start, it’s a little over an hour until you can enjoy a far-reaching vista of the Brecon Beacons, the Black Mountains, Somerset’s Mendips and the Forest of Dean. Up in Scotland, Ben A’an in Stirling offers a modest mount of 454m, but gaze down from it and you’ll see the entire Trossachs range sprawl into the distance above Loch Katrine. SMALL HILLS ROCK Not only are far-reaching panoramas guaranteed but, on closer inspection, small hills are home to an unexpected number of fascinating geological features – ones so prominent that you don’t have to »

Entice the unwilling Ways to ensure your outing isn’t all an uphill struggle Make it a treasure hunt Do the walk yourself first and hide sweets or treats under rocks or in trees, and then draw a map. Kids will love it. Share your kit It’s hard to surrender your favourite waterproof, but you want your friends/family to have a great time and come again, so make sure they stay warm and dry. Plan rewards Surprise companions with their favourite chocolate bar or sandwich – or take them to an unexpected point of interest or time your arrival for sunset – it will make them yearn for more.

ESCAPE | OUTING

1 Placing a stone on the summit of Yr Arddu in Snowdonia. 2 Peering into Millican Dalton’s cave, hidden in the lower flanks of Castle Crag, Lake District. 3 Powdery snow topping Roseberry Topping in North Yorkshire

Slopewatch A few of the species you might see trotting, flying and scampering alongside you on your walk Deer From red to roe, fallow to muntjac, especially during the autumn rut. Wild ponies Both Dartmoor in Devon, and the Carneddau in North Wales are home to wild breeds. Birds of prey Thermals are common near small hills, making sightings of the native species that soar on them, such as buzzard, hen harrier and peregrine falcon, a possibility; you can find out more about this at rspb.org.uk. Wild cats Very hard to see but possible, especially in Scotland. Butterflies Found all over the UK, from red admirals to dark green fritillaries.

remember your igneous from your sedimentary in order to appreciate them. The Whangie in East Dunbartonshire is home to a 100m corridor of rock – essentially a landslip – offering the feeling of walking through a Lord of the Ringsstyle chasm. A little further north is a hill that sits on the Highland Boundary Fault – a literal line you can see running from the top of the peak called Conic Hill, across the loch beneath, continuing with the island of Inchcailloch and the smaller islets beyond – which is the physical meeting point of the highlands and the lowlands. But the geology isn’t all above ground. Some little hills are home to caves – little

Carreg Cadno in Powys, for instance, houses Britain’s second longest cave. LO C A L LO R E Many come with tall tales. Devon’s Sheeps Tor hides a special feature known as the Pixies Cave. It’s a little shelter made up of the granite that adorns the lower flanks, which locals have said is the home of the mischievous, invisible creatures. Mythical creatures also abound north of the English border. Scotland is home to the Cu Saeng (a monster whose very gaze can kill a walker out in Glencoe), as well as the much more famous Nessie on the eponymous Loch Ness – best spotted »

ESCAPE | OUTING

Wild Carneddau ponies on the small hill of Mynydd y Dref, aka Conwy Mountain

Up the adventure Make a day (or a night) of it or use your hill walk to learn a new skill Bivvy Take your waterproof sleeping bag cover and consider a night out under the stars on one of the summits. Picnic Go after work with your food for sunset- or starlit-dining – no reservation required. Scramble Choose a hill with little rocky outcrops and you can practise ‘scrambling’ – climbing without ropes – for added excitement. Use multiple routes Got time? Explore the hill by walking up one way, down another, then going back up another path – an exercise regime that beats any gym. Navigate It’s much harder to get lost on small hills, so use them as training grounds for the bigger peaks – take your map, compass and don’t forget your sense of adventure.

from the little lump known as Meall Fuar-mhonaidh. R OA D S TO R U I N S Physical remains can be equally fantastical. Dinas Bran in Wales’s Llangollen is home to crumbling stairways and arches of a castle that once sat on its summit. Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh hosts the remains of St Anthony’s Chapel, empty stone window arches hauntingly framing the countryside. In the south, there are equally beguiling sights, from Cornwall’s holy wells and Bronze-Age settlements around the eyebrow-raisingly named Brown Willy, to the grassy barrows known as the Devil’s Hump on Bow Hill in the South Downs. HIDDEN HISTORY Finally, there are the real-life stories that accompany the vertically challenged peaks. Ben Hiant, on the remote Ardnamurchan

Peninsula, is home to the ghost village of Bourblaige, a once-thriving community whose inhabitants were turfed out to make way for cattle grazing during the infamous Highland Clearances. In the Lake District, Castle Crag also boasts a legendary residence, a man called Millican Dalton – a self-styled professor of adventure, who gave up a full-time, well-paid job in London to live in the cave that sits on its lower slopes, for the best part of 50 years. Perhaps the most noteworthy, though, is North Yorkshire’s ‘Matterhorn’, aka Roseberry Topping. It was this little 320m hill where one young Captain James Cook climbed in 1736 and, whilst sat at its miniscule summit, decided to become an explorer and travel the world. Proof, if ever more waere needed, that the little hills can make the biggest impressions. Phoebe Smith is author of Britain’s Best Small Hills (Bradt).

A P P R E C I AT I O

N O F DE ER

Words: LISA SYKES

ILLUSTRATION: ZUZA MIŚKO

eer can seem like our most wild creature. Their large size, yet ability to hide, and picturesque arrangement when spied grazing in a herd all support their status as the closest we have to the exotic large creatures found in other parts of the world. Without elephant, giraffe, zebra or moose, deer are our standout vegetarian animal. Or herbivore, if you insist on being zoological, which isn’t easy because it’s so tempting to anthropomorphise a deer. I blame Bambi. The best thing about them is their surprise appearance. And one that doesn’t always involve them running away. I’m not big on poetry but whenever I end up in a staring match with a solitary roe deer in the woods near my home, I find myself mentally quoting the lines from Robert Frost’s ‘Two Look at Two’, about a couple out walking who encounter a corresponding pair of deer – a buck and a doe. “Two had seen two, whichever side you spoke from. /This must be all. It was all. Still they stood, /A great wave from it going over them, /As if the earth in one unlooked-for favour /Had made them certain earth returned their love.” Put aside the poem as metaphor for a troubled relationship; for me it’s all about the locking of eyes. Time truly stands still and a connection has been made. The irony is that most of the deer we watch and wonder at aren’t wild at all. There are six species found in Britain:

red, roe, fallow, sika, Reeves’ muntjac and Chinese water, plus, if you include the single herds of each introduced into the Cairngorms and Highlands, reindeer and elk. Only two – red and roe – are native, the others escapees from deer parks of the landed gentry, introduced by the Romans then again by the Normans, or from Asia in the 19th century. Now and again I spy a shy muntjac at the edge of a copse when walking to the station for my daily commute. They’re so small, for a moment my brain sees a large dog, so un-deer -like are they. No chance to connect with these jittery creatures but the glimpse is enough to make my morning. However, it’s the fallow deer – Bambi IRL – that captures our hearts, its distinctive flattened, huge palmate antlers and white-spotted coat, the fawns lifted from a fairy story. If you think you’ve heard lions roaring across the plains of Norfolk or the grasslands of the West Country, you are tuned in to the full-throated rut – the battle for does* in late summer and autumn. And those antlers (never horns), mainly from males, but not always – shed and re-grown each year – left for us to find and wonder at in a pile of leaves or a quiet resting place at the edge of a field. So, there’s something very Britishly wild about deer – wild but not really, making their presence felt but not dangerous. However, though deer in Britain may not be truly wild, they were never domestic animals – something that wild cattle, pigs and ponies can’t shake off. Oh deer.

* Only male red and sika are called stags, the females known as hinds. The other species found in Britain are bucks and does.

TA S T E B U D T R AV E L S FOOD AND DRINK CONJURE UP HOLIDAY MEMORIES LIKE NOTHING ELSE. HERE ARE SIX CLASSIC RECIPES THAT SAVOUR THE TASTES AND SMELLS OF MEMORABLE PLACES Food photography: IAN GARLICK

1–2 dried red chillies, finely chopped 1 fresh green chilli, finely chopped 1 onion, peeled ond finely chopped 4 tbsp frozen peas (optional) TO GARNISH

Finely chopped fresh red chilli 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander Shavings of fresh coconut

EGYPT

Sahlab Drunk everywhere from Istanbul to Beirut, this recipe originally used ground orchid roots, prized both as a digestif and aphrodisiac. We prize it as a fragrant, hot milky drink. Serves 2 450ml milk 1½ tbsp caster sugar 1 tbsp cornflour 1 tsp rose water TO SERVE

Ground cinnamon 2 tbsp finely chopped pistachios 1 Pour 50ml of the milk into a jug. Pour the rest into a saucepan. Add sugar. 2 Mix the cornflour with the milk in the jug, stirring until completely smooth. 3 Heat the milk in the saucepan until it comes to the boil. Pour into the jug, stirring or whisking constantly and then return the mixture to the pan. 4 Stir constantly over a low heat for 5 mins until smooth and thickened*. 5 Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the rose water. Pour into two heatproof glasses and dust the tops with a little ground cinnamon. Sprinkle over the pistachios and serve.

INDIA

Aloo gobi Homemade rather than takeaway, this dry, potato and cauliflower curry is a revelation. Originally from the Punjab, it is now popular across India and Pakistan.

1 Boil the potatoes in their skins until just tender when pierced with a skewer. Drain, leave to cool completely and then peel and cut into chunks. 2 Blanch the cauliflower in a pan of boiling water for 2 mins. Drain, cool and divide into small florets. 3 Heat the oil in a large shallow pan, add the mustard seeds and fry until they begin to pop. Add the fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds and ground spices, along with the chillies and onion. Stir well and fry over a low heat until the onion is soft and golden brown – approx 10 mins. 4 Add the cauliflower, cover the pan and cook for 5 mins or until almost tender. Add the peas (if using) and potato chunks, season with salt and re-cover the pan. Cook for l0 mins or until the potatoes are heated through. 5 Serve garnished with chopped red chilli and coriander leaves, plus shavings of fresh coconut. »

Serves 2 (or 4 as a side) 3 medium potatoes 1 medium cauliflower 4–5 tbsp vegetable or rapeseed oil ½ tsp block mustard seeds About 12 fenugreek seeds ½ tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp ground coriander ½ tsp each of ground turmeric and ground cumin

* Stirring continuously should prevent lumps from forming. If it does begin to feel lumpy, remove from the heat and stir or whisk briskly until smooth again.

TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY: EXODUS TRAVELS; THINKSTOCK; SHUTTERSTOCK

ESCAPE | EATING WELL

This curry-house classic is an altogether fresher dish when homemade

VIETNAM

Pho This aromatic broth becomes a meal with rice noodles and strips of meat. It is sold everywhere in Vietnam – from street stalls to smart restaurants. Serves 4 2 litres well-flavoured beef stock ¼ star anise 1 black cardamom pod 4cm piece of cinnamon stick 2 whole cloves 1 tbsp Vietnamese fish sauce 50g piece of root ginger, skin on, grilled until browned 1 white onion, peeled, halved and grilled until browned 100g beansprouts Small bunch of coriander leaves 4 small sprigs of Thai basil leaves 2 tbsp sliced papaya & shallot pickle 1 lime, cut into 8 wedges 500g cooked bánh pho rice noodles 350g cooked beef fillet, thinly sliced 1 tbsp finely chopped peanuts 4 spring onion curls* 1 Bring the stock to the boil in a pan, add the spices, fish sauce, grilled ginger and onion and simmer for 15 mins. Strain through a fine sieve into another pan and return to the heat. 2 Blanch beansprouts in hot water for 30 seconds and divide between four side plates with a few coriander and basil leaves, pickle and lime wedges. 3 Heat the rice noodles in a pan of hot water for 30 seconds, lift out with a draining spoon and divide between four serving bowls. Heat the slices of beef fillet in the same water for 5 seconds, lift out and add to bowls. 4 Ladle over the broth and garnish with coriander leaves, peanuts and spring onion. Serve the soup with the four side plates of accompaniments.

A plate of accompaniments lets each guest customise their pho to taste

MOROCCO

Tagine with prunes & almonds Earthenware tagines condense steam, returning it to the dish and keeping food moist. You can cook this dish in a large saucepan, but you may need to add extra stock along the way to stop it drying up. Serves 4 2 tbsp cooking oil 2 large onions, peeled and sliced ½ red pepper, deseeded and chopped 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped 1 tbsp finely chopped root ginger 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley Pinch of saffron threads soaked in 1 tbsp hot water for 10 mins 600g boneless lamb, cut from the leg and cubed About 600ml lamb stock 150g pitted prunes, halved 1 tbsp clear honey Toasted flaked almonds, to garnish

1 Heat the oil in a tagine and fry the onions, pepper and garlic until soft. 2 Add the ginger, half the coriander, and the parsley, stir well and then add the saffron plus its soaking water and the lamb. Cook over a low heat for 5 mins and then pour in enough stock to cover the meat. 3 Put the lid on the tagine and leave to cook over a low heat for 40 mins. 4 Add the prunes and honey, cook for 5 more mins, and serve sprinkled with the remaining coriander and the toasted almonds. Cook’s note Serve with couscous, to which Moroccans traditionally add diced carrots, courgettes and turnips. If prunes don’t do it for you, you could try apricots instead. »

* Trim spring onions and cut into approx 8cm lengths. Make cuts close together at one or both ends and leave in a bowl of cold water in the fridge until the ends curl.

ESCAPE | EATING WELL

When a riad is out of reach, a colourful tagine can take you there

ESCAPE | EATING WELL

ECUADOR

Tamales These steamed corn wraps are portable parcels packed with Latin American flavour. It’s worth tracking down their specialist ingredients to savour the real deal. Makes 16 Dried or fresh corn husks* 500g boneless lean pork (shoulder or leg), cut into 4 or 5 pieces 1 large onion, peeled and cut into wedges 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped 600ml chicken or vegetable stock 2 tbsp chilli sauce, plus extra to serve 1 large tomato, deseeded and finely chopped 2 tbsp sweetcorn kernels FOR THE DOUGH

150g white vegetable fat 300g masa harina* 1 tsp baking powder

Corn husk packages tied up with strings, these are a few of our favourite things

1 If using dried corn husks, soak them in a large bowl of water for 2 hours. Fresh husks will not need soaking. 2 To make the meat filling, put the pork in a large pan, add the onion, garlic and stock and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 2 hours or until the meat is very tender. 3 When the pork is cooked, lift the pieces out of the pan, place in a bowl and shred with two forks. Strain the cooking liquid and reserve 300ml (the rest can be used another day). To the shredded meat, stir in the chilli sauce, tomato and sweetcorn kernels and leave both the filling and reserved stock to cool. 4 To make the dough, first beat the white vegetable fat until it is smooth and soft. Measure the masa harina into a separate bowl with the baking powder and a pinch of salt. Gradually

* You can find these specialist ingredients online; try souschef.co.uk (The Simple Things, issue 57). Masa harina – literally ‘dough flour’ – is not to be confused with (grainier) maize meal.

Recipes taken from A Taste of Adventure by Exodus Travels (Ebury Press); exodusshop.com. Exodus Travel specialises in active and adventure holidays; exodus.co.uk.

Tiny, tasty pancakes make an occasion out of elevenses

add the flour mixture, a little at a time, alternately with the reserved cooking liquor. 5 Pat the corn husks dry, if necessary. Lay one husk on a board with the smaller end pointing away from you. Spread 2–3 tbsp of the dough thinly over the husk to within 2.5cm of the edges. Top with 1–2 tbsp of the meat filling. Fold in the sides of the husk over the filling and roll up. Tie with thin string to make a parcel. 6 Repeat step 5 for the remaining husks. Stand the parcels upright in a steamer and steam for 45 mins. 7 Serve the parcels hot, snipping off the string with scissors and peeling away the husks. Top with extra chilli sauce to serve.

M A DA G A S C A R

Mofo gasy These sweet, yeasted pancakes translate as ‘Malagasy bread’. They need time for the yeast to work its magic, but are worth a little patience, and are a delight to share over coffee. Makes about 12 60g plain or wholemeal flour 50g rice flour ½ tsp instant yeast 2 tbsp caster sugar l75ml tepid water 2 tsp condensed milk ½ tsp vanilla extract Oil or melted butter, for greasing Icing sugar, for dusting 1 Mix the flour, rice flour, yeast and 1 tsp of the sugar together in a bowl. Add the water, whisking until it is

combined with the dry ingredients and you have a smooth batter. 2 Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in a warm place for 1 hour or until the batter is risen and frothy. 3 Stir well and then mix in the rest of the sugar, the condensed milk and vanilla. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave the batter to rise again in a warm place for about 45 mins until frothy on top. 4 Heat on aebleskiver pan* over a medium heat and grease the holes by brushing with a little oil or melted butter. Spoon about a tbsp of batter into each hole until it is filled and cook for a couple of mins or until the bottoms of the pancakes are golden. 5 Slide a small palette knife around the edge of each pancake to loosen it and then turn it over with two forks. Cook the other side until golden brown. Serve hot, dusted with icing sugar.

* You can buy an aebleskiver pan from specialist cookshops, such as Divertimenti.

B A C K PA C K I N G F O R G R OW N - U P S

he exciting thing about travel, to me, is that a new place is a new place whether you’re 18 or retired, a newbie or a seasoned traveller; the thrill of showing up somewhere you’ve never been doesn’t discriminate, it’s there for the feeling and the taking. The plane doors open, a rush of new sensations hits you, and suddenly, despite the jetlag, you can’t get out into this new world soon enough.

Perhaps one of the best things about travelling when you’re young is that you set off with a wonderful delusion that everything will just work itself out. That you are invincible in a world put here for us to play in. As you get older, there’s a greater awareness of risks and responsibilities – and a perceived need to plan it all out beforehand. Yet, the feeling of being prepared doesn’t compare to the one you get when you first walk out of the airport, or when some of the local language clicks, or when you see how the

light looks when it hits the windows of that building opposite your new favourite bench to sit on. Though I much prefer travelling in my 30s, I miss how long the days felt when I was young, and how I worried less about where I’d be sleeping that night and more about absorbing as much as I could. Maybe the trick to travel is to reclaim some of that feeling, even when the world works increasingly hard to snuff out the flames of our curiosity. I travel a lot for work, which is a different kind of thing. But when I can

PHOTOGRAPHY: ALLISTER ANN; AMANDA PENLEY

EMBRACING TRAVEL AS A MINDFUL, LIFE-ENHANCING ACTIVITY MEANS RECAPTURING A BIT OF THE ADVENTUROUS SPIRIT OF YOUTH, SAYS ERIN SPENS

ESCAPE | EXPLORING

How to travel like a twentysomething (sort of) Erin’s ways to make grown-up backpacking a little easier

“The travel memories I tack on some extra time for exploring, I try to avoid the treasure the most have come manic over-planning that’s out of unplanned afternoons…” possible these days, now that Yelp and TripAdvisor can tell make it a little easier for ourselves you basically anything you want to know sometimes, to go with simpler intentions about a place before you even get there. I also pack light, even for work trips, because like sitting and feeling more. An open-ended travel plan invites I’ve learned how much more you can do spontaneity and happy accidents, such with less stuff. The spirit of backpacking in as getting lost and stumbling into a bar your twenties isn’t so hard to conjure up or a bookstore that will stick with you when you’ve packed light enough to start for-maybe-ever. The travel memories I exploring straight away, and when you leave treasure the most have come out of some things to figure out as you go. unplanned afternoons that turned into In his travel memoir Paris to the Moon, crazy evenings that turned into watching Adam Gopnik says, “There are two kinds of the sunrise and then lazy days in parks. You travellers. There is the kind who goes to see what there is to see, and the kind who has an won’t stumble upon famous paintings in image in his head and goes out to accomplish museums this way. You might not accidentally sit down to the most mindit. The first visitor has an easier time, but I blowing food by a trendy chef, or find the think the second visitor sees more.” I really hippest coffee shop. But it’s also true that wanted to believe that the magic and when you’re on a mission, it’s easy to miss mystery of travel is directly related to how the rhythm of a place and people, and naïve you are when you arrive – that with rhythm is a memory maker. fewer preconceived ideas of a place, you’d be able to see more. But I think I’ve come to Erin Spens is founder and editor of agree with his point that deeper observation BOAT magazine, a nomadic travel and of a place does take some work. I just don’t culture publication that focuses on think we should downplay how nice it is to a different city each issue.

O Ditch the wheelie bag and dig out the backpack. I’m not saying you have to stay in a hostel (though you’ll socialise more and pay less), but there’s no denying: the lighter your bag, the longer your days feel. O Pack light, then cut that in half. It’s hard to be in the moment when your bag is digging into your shoulder. O Try not to plan, at least not every minute of every day. Leave some time to wander. You’ll see a different side to a place this way. O Book accommodation that you’re comfortable in. If it’s a challenge to show up to a new place without all the details planned, I’d let where you stay be your respite from days with less structure than you’re used to. O Bring a towel. More than anything else, it’s changed the way I travel. I have a thin Turkish hammam-style towel that packs up super small and can be used for anything – wiping things down, as a blanket or a bunchedup pillow on a bus, to wrap things in when you pack, or to take to the beach. O To cut down on packing, I simplify my skin and hair care by replacing practically everything with coconut oil. It can remove make-up, moisturise, serve as shaving gel, condition wet hair… O Take just one book. I have only recently become more realistic about how much I actually read when I’m travelling. O Set a goal for phone time. I actually feel less stressed when I am away if I allow myself to check and respond to emails every so often. Do whatever works best for you, but have a loose plan so you don’t end up down an Instagram hole in the middle of a beautiful foreign city. O And finally: be totally and utterly present. Breathe deeply. Walk slowly. Take pictures. Listen more and talk less. Look up.

CHALKBOARD POSTCARDS

Who doesn’t like receiving a card in the post? We’ve turned our favourite back-page chalkboards into postcards – you can buy a pack of eight* from our online shop at ICEBERGPRESS.CO.UK/SHOP * A pack contains two of each design, £5 inc UK p&p (while stocks last). For international postage details see website.

THINK THINGS TO MAKE YOU STOP, READ AND WONDER

The Cinderella of Ferndale Simon Armitage

It was all about shoes. In that small town there was hardly a foot she hadn’t dressed or clamped and sized in the Brannock Device, and barely a toe that hadn’t blenched at the force of her thumb as she prodded and pressed.

Not known for her lightness of touch, riding home one night at the back of the bus she’d bungled a big tin of Dulux gloss and a lurid delta of scarlet sludge had fanned as far as the driver’s heels to be walked by passengers onto the street.

Fifty years later those footprints still stand: on pavements and kerbs, over zebra crossings and under the bridge, round the boating lake, across the surgery’s waiting-room floor, through the chapel gates; footprints in fading red – the same shade as her own front door. Through which no Prince of Wales had ever stepped.

About the author Poet Simon Armitage was born in West Yorkshire in 1963. He has a BA in geography, an MA in social work, and is known for the deadpan delivery of his musical, darkly comic poetry. ‘The Cinderella of Ferndale’, © Simon Armitage, first appeared in anthology The Unaccompanied. Reproduced by permission of Faber & Faber Ltd.

H E L LO DA R K N E S S SCANDINAVIANS ARE EXPERT AT SURVIVING WINTER. HERE, SCANDIKITCHEN’S CO-FOUNDER, BRONTË AURELL, TELLS US HOW TO LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THE DARKER MONTHS

hen you’re Scandinavian, you get used to people asking you how you get through the long, dark winters, just like you get used to having permanently rosy cheeks and a frozen nose. It’s no secret that Nordic winter is harsh, with relentless snow, shrouded in darkness. To outsiders, it can feel like a hopeless existence – and can break newcomers before they’ve settled. However, with a bit of practice and planning, you learn to accept – and even embrace – the cold and darkness and the special times they bring.

WRAPPING UP As unforgiving as it may be, the weather can never be an excuse for not getting on with it – if it was, we’d never get anything done (and we’ve got a reputation for

being quite an efficient bunch!). Staying in when it’s cold or dark isn’t an option, it’s all about getting the clothing right. Until I left Scandinavia, I never really thought it unusual to wear four layers of thermals to pop out for milk (again, planning helps: buy enough milk. You learn quickly). Every Scandinavian mother’s mantra is “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes”. My grandmother said that. So does my mother. I say it to my kids, too, and they know a rain cloud or snowfall is not going to stop anything. With the right shoes, a waterproof jacket, hat and gloves, we maximise whatever daylight there is, and a brisk walk quickly becomes a pleasure rather than a chore. B E AT I N G T H E B L U E S Winter sadness can creep up on you, but if you recognise the symptoms, you can prevent it from biting

THINK | IDEAS

too hard. Fatigue, lethargy and not wanting to leave the house are signs that you actually need to get out as soon as possible rather than hibernate. Most Scandinavians try to spend some time outdoors every day, even when it’s very cold – whether it’s cycling to work, a brisk walk or run (yes, even in the snow). Topping up vitamin D levels helps combat lethargy, so we seek out what little light there is available. People often talk about that dreaded winter padding on the midriff and while we certainly don’t stop enjoying cinnamon buns in the winter (far from it), it is worth remembering the art of lagom (the Swedish concept of ‘not too much, not too little, just right’) that stops it becoming a trouser-fitting issue by March. Plus, you tend to walk faster and with more purpose in temperatures of –15C, which must help in some way to balance the cake consumption. B E YO N D T H E D A R K It may be dark across our lands, but it certainly isn’t without beauty. The lack of light is very magical if you look at it with a different mindset. I remember one winter when I was a child and the sea froze between the islands and temperatures reached a record –25C (which for a southern Scandinavian country is very low). Nobody went out on their bicycles for a while and it was so bitterly cold but I mostly recall how the town became full of ice-skating opportunities as all the lakes froze, and how we made armies of snowmen who stood proud for days. It was also the brightest of

winters because the snow reflected the light and lit everything up, even on the darkest of days. While it’s easy to think of darkness as uninviting or threatening, I tend to think of it as a place where you only need a flicker of light to brighten things up – a feeling that’s surely reflected in our national obsession with lamps and candles. Hygge is much more than just a fad in Scandinavia; it’s a way of living, part of our culture – something instilled deep inside us. We’re obsessed with creating pockets of warmth for us to hygge in – those moments when time seems to stand still, where you feel content and you aren’t interrupted by your phone. Family, friends, a good book, a roaring fire, Netflix – whatever works for you, creating your own hygge is what matters. There’s something about pulling together, whether it’s the warmth of extra bodies, the happy glow it brings from within, or a bit of both, there’s safety to be found in numbers. If ever I start to get down or it feels like winter will never end, I remind myself that light always follows darkness. And while I have memories of bad snowstorms, and our car getting stuck, and genuine fear that my nose might actually fall off, these are far outnumbered by the memories of cosiness, warm houses and time spent in nature, enjoying the weather rather than cursing it. And, at this time of year, you can always take comfort in the fact that it’s getting a little bit lighter every day. Brontë Aurell’s new book, North: How to Live Like a Scandinavian (Aurum Press) is out now.

DEAR DIARIES

iaries. We’ve all used them, whether a secret journal with a lock, kept under the bed, or a slick, small scheduler to record appointments. It might be started in earnest, only to be forgotten about by 8 January, or become a trusted friend for many years. Diaries are places to plan the future, or record the past. As both schedules of practicalities and explorations of the personal, diaries have appealed to us for centuries. Each is unique and as fascinating as the life from which it is drawn. Early diaries were less about a place to explore feelings and thoughts, and more

tools for information. Almanacs, meaning ‘calendars’ in 12th-century Latin, became popular in the late 16th century. The almanacs have more in common with a modern planner. They were not of the ‘dear diary’ type, but more about planning ahead or recording the past for future reference. The charts and maps they contained were often beautifully drawn, while the records made offer insight into how the author saw the world (turn the page to read Lia Leendertz on creating her own almanac). In 1937, the British organisation Mass Observation Project was established – its aim to record the daily lives of citizens. Volunteers were, and still are, encouraged to keep a log of their normal routine and submit it to the

project. A panel of volunteer writers responds to directives, questionnaires and tasks – including writing diaries. Once a year, they expand the project and ask as many people as possible to keep a record of the day’s events. It’s recording the mundane and everyday in order to cast light on society, rather than deep existential questioning or personal examination. Mark your diaries: 12 May 2018 is this year’s Mass Observation Day. Head to massobs.org.uk and look for the ‘Write for us’ tab. For some people, the act of keeping a diary, or journalling*, is crucial for their state of mind. There’s an abundance of self-help books recommending the practice,

WORDS: FRANCESCA BAKER

In January, we look forward and our diaries become our close companions. But, poised between two years, it’s also a time to look back, and diaries, journals and almanacs are also a tool for reflection. As we turn the first page of a new year, we explore their history, purpose and what they mean to us

THINK | WRITING 6

as do authors Marion Milner and Julia Cameron, who have both said that keeping a diary can improve mental health. Studies from psychologists such as James Pennebaker have shown there to be significant therapeutic value to a daily writing practice, including stress reduction, better cognitive functioning and even faster wound healing – so much so that there’s even a Centre for Journal Therapy. As Anne Frank wrote, “I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” Writing daily offers an opportunity of escape. The diary becomes a confidante, a place to have the conversations you can’t with anyone else. Sometimes confessional and at other times conversational, the element of secrecy has been bound up with diaries for a long time. Secrecy isn’t something that we’re used to

in today’s technology-heavy world. Most people now use social media and online as their diary, documenting everything they do for the world. Yet there’s something particularly magical about putting pen to paper. There’s been a boom in the production of journals such as Wreck This Journal, The Daily Greatness Journal and Inner Truth Journals, as more and more people want to experience the physical act of writing. Through doing so they find themselves exploring different aspects of their lives, uncovering thoughts, dealing with feelings and creating new ideas that go on to benefit them in some way. There’s a lot more to journalling than just taking notes. While the start of the year is often when we begin a new diary, starting to journal at any time can signal a fresh start. Why not make your first entry today? »

Exercises to explore what makes you happy, Happiness journal, £21, kikki-k.com 2 Let your ideas shine, Gold ideas gilded journal by Galison, £11.99, thefoxandstar.co.uk For those lightbulb moments in the darkest hours, 3am journal, £10, kikki-k.com 4 Track life’s moments, day by day, line by line, One Line a Day: a five year memory book, £14.99, abramsandchronicle.co.uk 5 Inspiration for activists, March Journal, £12.99, abramsandchronicle.co.uk 6 Daily reminders for outdoors appreciation, Nature Observer: a guide journal, $18.95, timberpress.com 7 Illustrated challenges, with space to record your cycling adventures, The Cyclist’s Bucket List: a Road Bike Journal by Eliza Southwood, £12.95, laurenceking. com 8 Worksheets to calm muddled minds, Brain Dumping journal, £18, paperchase.co.uk 9 To help you stop and appreciate what’s good, Gratitude journal, £21, kikki-k.com 10 Whether a favourite scent or loyal friend, celebrate what makes you smile, 99 Things That Bring Me Joy guided journal by Hiroko Yoshimoto, £11.99, abramsandchronicle.co.uk 11 Developed with the charity Mind to encourage creativity and reflection, The Wellbeing Journal: Creative Activities to Inspire, £9.99, mombooks.com 1

* See Journal Sparks on page 98 for some prompts and projects to try in your new journal.

The story of an almanac Lia Leendertz shares her experience of creating her almanac and suggests how to make your own

y almanac was inspired by a holiday to Cornwall. We were staying in a tiny shack with big views, in the dunes at Hayle. The windows framed a view of the estuary one way, and out across the bay towards the headland of St Ives, the other. As I drank tea on the sofa, or sat at the table colouring in with my daughter, or washed up at the sink in the little kitchen, I could watch the playing out of massive cosmic forces: the tide coming in and shrinking the beach to a strip, or going out and leaving the sand flats wet and shining; the moon rising and laying me a silver pathway across the sea. I wanted to take that connection home with me, so that when I was in my terraced house in Bristol with a view of other terraced houses in Bristol, I would remember that this dance was still playing out around me. I looked to almanacs. Clearly, I am not the first person to want

this information. The almanac is an ancient thing, with the earliest dating from the middle of the second century BC. Back then such things were created for survival: in an agricultural society, everyone would need to know when the stars suggested the weather was about to change. In fact, some pretty old almanacs are still published annually to this day. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is an American publication founded in 1792 and Old Moore’s Almanack is its British equivalent, founded in 1697. Both are still going, but I found them unsatisfying, filled with adverts and odd quirks that must be hangovers of more superstitious times (predictions for Jeremy Vine’s year ahead, anyone?), and certainly not the beautiful objects I had imagined an almanac to be. So, I hurled myself into this centuries-old publishing arena, and created and published my very own almanac exactly as I wanted it: the sky at night, constellation of the month, moon phases, sunrises and sunsets, foraging, seasonal food, festivities, nature notes and recipes. It is a lovely thing to have become a part of this tradition, but it is even better to be able to hold my ideal year in my hand, and to know what is out there and how the world is turning, even – or perhaps especially – if I can only very rarely sit and drink tea and watch it all playing out at once.

1 Nifty household hints with space for planning and pondering Observer’s Notebook: Home by Princeton Architectural Press, £14.99, abramsandchronicle.co.uk 2 Pages for celestial notes and musings, Observer’s Notebook: Astronomy by Princeton Architectural Press, £13.99, abramsandchronicle.co.uk 3 Record experiences, experiments and all things tasty, The Food Journal: A Scrapbook for Food Lovers by Magma and Marco Donadon, £12.95, laurenceking.com 4 The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2018 by Lia Leendertz (Unbound)

How to create a personal almanac Cover your own local area, festivities and personal celebrations, and use it as a guide through your own year. Buy a notebook, mark out the months and divide it into topics that interest you, perhaps…

1 Look up dates for local festivities and fetes and mark them in their correct month in your almanac. Add family birthdays, personal traditions and anniversaries. 2 Are there recipes that you revisit every year? A special birthday cake recipe? Your mum’s twist on marmalade? Even a recipe from a cookbook that you return to again and again for a summer barbecue or an autumnal dinner. Pop it in so that it is easy to find. 3 Moon phases, and moon and sun rises and sets will vary – if only by minutes – by area. Find yours. A great source is timeanddate.com. 4 Leave space to note the flowering of bluebells in your local woods, the arrival of the swifts, and the first touches of autumn on the trees.

THINK | WRITING

W H AT I T R E A S U R E My Dear Dad Journal by Rebecca Muddiman

y dad often spoke of writing his memoirs and, searching for the ideal present, I came across this journal full of questions to jog the memory and dig into your past. Perfect, I thought. Except once I got the book through the post, I realised that it was intended for the recipient to fill in and give back to me. Homework is not what most people want for a gift, especially when said homework includes what I perceived as rather narcissistic questions such as “What do you like about me?” I decided to find another gift to go along with the book. But my dad being my dad, he dutifully filled each page in his spidery scrawl with memories and anecdotes about his own life and mine, and, as a family history buff, also included information and photos about my ancestors, before handing it back to me. Curious, I sat down with it and flicked through, wondering if he’d have answered such questions as “If you were an animal, what would you be?” (He did; it was a bear.) I only intended to have a quick look, to read a page or two at a time, but I soon found myself turning page after page, getting to know things about my dad I’d been totally

unaware of. There were things that made me laugh, that made me cry, his troubles and regrets, stories of youthful mischief and one about the death of a family pet that affected him deeply, explaining his reluctance to form attachments to our pets in later life. We’re not a family of huggers, nor do we say that we love each other. And even though I already knew he loved me and my mam and siblings, through his words in the book it became so much clearer. It might be cringe-inducing to ask someone what they like about you, but it still warms the heart to read a reply that says, “If the world was full of Beckas, it would be a better place.” Of all the (many, many) books on my shelves, this would be the one I reached for in case of a fire. So I keep the book on my desk, dipping in every now and then, staying connected, even though he only lives down the street. And as I flick through now, landing on the question (another cringe alert), “What attributes did I have as a child that I still have now?”, I see part of the answer is that I seem to put “real effort into buying gifts for people that reflect their interests”. Perhaps it wasn’t such a bad gift after all. What means a lot to you? Tell us in 500 words; thesimplethings@icebergpress.co.uk

THINK | PLAYLIST

Soundtrack to January S T O R M Y W E AT H E R S O N G S

‘Brave the Storm’ ‘Why Does it Always Rain on Me?’ ‘Like a Hurricane’ ‘Stormy Weather’ ‘The Lightning Strike’ ‘The Next Storm’ ‘Wild is the Wind’ ‘Dark and Stormy’ ‘Storm’ ‘The Coming Rain’ ‘Riders on the Storm’ ‘I Think it’s Going to Rain Today’ ‘Listen, The Snow is Falling’ ‘Rain’ ‘Gimme Shelter’

Graham Coxon Travis Neil Young Etta James Snow Patrol Frank Turner David Bowie Hot Chip Django Django The Drink The Doors Randy Newman Galaxie 500 Rag’n’Bone Man, feat Kate Tempest The Rolling Stones

stop look listen 90

Hold onto your headphones, there’s a storm a-coming…

DJ: CLARE GOGERTY.

Listen at thesimplethings.com/blog/stormplaylist

HOW IT WORKS AND HOW TO HAVE MORE OF IT Illustration: LISA EVANS/FOLIO ART Words: JANE ALEXANDER

s there anything more delicious than curling up in bed and falling into deep, sweet sleep? On the other hand, is there anything more hellish than tossing and turning all night in the grip of insomnia? Shakespeare called sleep “nature’s soft nurse”, which is true on all levels. Our bodies use sleep to repair and replenish while our minds spend it processing, preparing, organising memories and clearing out toxins. No wonder everything feels better after a good night’s sleep. We spend, on average, about a third of our lives asleep, but what actually is sleep? In prosaic terms, it involves a period of extended rest: our nervous system is inactive, our eyes closed, postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness suspended. In reality, it remains one of the most mysterious aspects of life. What is clear is that we’re in the middle of what has been called “a catastrophic sleep-loss epidemic”. Sleep loss costs the UK economy around £40 billion a year in lost revenue and plays havoc with our health. Almost half of us are surviving on six hours or less a night as compared to less than 8% of the population in 1942. Blame bright lights, our constantly switched-on lifestyle and the bragging of public figures who swear they need next-to-no sleep. Dream on! Anything less than a good seven hours is classed as sleep deprivation. However, getting a good night’s sleep has never been simple. The earliest beds were simply ground-based nests created around 8,000 BCE. By the middle ages, families slept together in communal beds, often sharing their lumpy mattresses with bugs and fleas. Until the industrial revolution and the arrival of artificial light, many people were actually ‘bi-phasic’, sleeping in two segments with a period of wakefulness in-between.

THE BENEFITS OF SLEEP In recent years there has been a raft of research into sleep. The message is crystal clear – those of us who get a good night’s kip are healthier, happier and live longer than the sleep-deprived. There really is no good news for insomniacs. Sleeping less 92

than six hours a night has been linked with high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. Lack of sleep also makes us more predisposed to diabetes and weight gain. Sleep directly affects the immune system and even one night’s poor sleep can reduce our resilience, making us more prone to colds. It can also leave us more at risk of developing dementia and certain cancers. The psychological fallout is huge too – sleeplessness has been linked to anger and rage, aggression, bullying and even suicidal thoughts. Perhaps now’s the time to make good sleep a priority.

THE PHASES OF SLEEP There are four different stages of sleep – three types of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and one stage of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Each sleep cycle lasts around 60–90 minutes. We need to experience all four stages of sleep in order to feel rested and refreshed; a full night’s sleep will include five or six full cycles. NREM1: We can easily be woken from this light stage of sleep. Blood pressure and temperature decrease. We may jerk, twitch or have the sensation of falling. NREM2: Our brain waves generally slow down, as does our heart rate and other metabolic functions in preparation for deep sleep. It becomes harder to wake up. NREM3: Our brainwaves are almost exclusively in the deep, slow delta frequency now. It’s hard to wake up and we may feel disorientated if woken. REM: Our breathing becomes more rapid and irregular in this stage. The eyes move rapidly and limbs become temporarily paralysed. Heart rate increases and blood pressure rises. Dreaming commonly happens.

Glossary Arousal Change from sleep to wakefulness or from a deeper to a lighter stage of sleep. Atonia Muscle paralysis that accompanies REM sleep. Biphasic sleep Sleep broken into two main segments. Circadian clock Biochemical mechanism that regulates daily rhythms – located in the hypothalamus of the brain. Circadian rhythm Daily cycle of biological activity regulated by the body’s internal circadian clock. Melatonin Hormone secreted by the pineal gland that plays a key role in sleep. Narcolepsy Excessive daytime sleepiness or other sleep issues during daytime. Parasomnia Abnormal behaviour during sleep that interrupts sleep. Polysomnography A test that records sleep architecture. REM Rapid Eye Movement sleep: characterised by active brain waves and flitting of the eyes. Sleep architecture The structure and pattern of sleep (the amount of NREM and REM sleep, breathing patterns, movements). Sleep debt Result of recurrent sleep deprivation. Sleep efficiency Ratio of total sleep time to time spent in bed. Sleep latency Amount of time it takes to fall asleep. Somniloquy Sleep talking.

WHICH SLEEPING POSITION IS BEST ? On your stomach Not the best choice as it can lead to back and neck pain. It puts pressure on muscles, joints and nerves. On your side Side-sleeping is kind on your spine, plus it keeps the airways open so it’s good for snorers and sufferers of sleep apnoea. Bad news? It can cause wrinkles.

Foetal position Good for pregnancy and for snorers but curl up too tightly and it can restrict your breathing.

On your back This is the best position for your spine and also helps avoid acid reflux, providing your head is elevated and supported. On the minus side, it’s not advised if you suffer from sleep apnoea, and it can exacerbate snoring.

THE ART OF NAPPING

Sleep kit

Curling up on the sofa with a soft throw for an afternoon nap is one of life’s great pleasures. In hot climates, the siesta was written into everyday life – although the custom is now under threat. But is a nap actually good for you? If you’re a longdistance pilot or driver, absolutely. Studies say that even a very short nap – just 26 minutes – can improve performance and alertness. However the so-called powernap is no substitute for real sleep. We need 90 minutes to get to deep sleep.

With just a few adjustments, you can turn an ordinary bedroom into a decadent den of slumber

SLEEP DISORDERS There are now more than 80 recognised sleep disorders and more are being researched all the time. Nowadays they are broken down into six major categories: Insomnia – difficulty with falling or staying asleep. Sleep related breathing disorders – including sleep apnoea and snoring. Central disorders of hypersomnolence – daytime sleepiness and narcolepsies fall into this category. Circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders – including jet lag disorder, and shift work disorder. Parasomnias – unwanted physical movements during sleep. Sleep-related movement disorders – including restless leg syndrome and leg cramps.

Choose the right bedlinen and bedclothes If you get chilly, brushed cotton is snug and comforting. If you easily overheat (or have hot flushes) opt for silk or bamboo, both of which wick away heat. Silk pillowcases are heavenly – keeping your head cool and preventing wrinkles. Patra (patra.com) has a great selection of all these. Play a relaxation track Headphones are impractical when you’re trying to sleep, so play your favourite music or coloured noise through your pillow. Try the Sound Asleep Pillow (£19.99, soundasleeppillow.co.uk). Spritz your pillow with a sweet-scented mist Try Tisserand’s Sweet Dreams (£12.95; tisserand.com) or Calm Sleep Mist (£19.99; calm.com/ uk/sleep-mist). Wake up gradually with increasing light courtesy of the Lumie Bodyclock (£59.95; lumie.com),

which helps to reset your Circadian rhythm. The fading sunset light is also the ideal wind-down. Combine light, sound and aromatherapy with the dinky Alto Aroma Diffuser (£79.99; madebyzen.com). It mists your bedroom for an hour at a time, and you can play soothing sounds via its Bluetooth speaker. Add slumberfriendly potions to your bedtime bath or shower Try Bloom and Blossom’s Sleep Night-Time Bath Oil (£25; bloomandblossom.com) or Spa Magik Organiks’ Deep Sleep Lavender Bath Salts (£12.50; magikorganiks.com), which also contain sleep-friendly magnesium. Sip a soporific herbal Pukka NightTime (£2.49; pukkaherbs. com) and Free Soul Sleep Tea (£6; herfreesoul.com) sedate and soothe. »

TEN AIDS TO A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP Sleeping pills are a short-term fix but they can be addictive and may even cause memory problems. So what are the alternatives? S U P P O R T YO U R S E L F Spend as much as you can afford on a mattress. It’s a myth that the firmer the mattress, the better for your back. The aim is correct spinal alignment so look for a high spring count plus natural fillings (wool/cotton/silk) to help regulate body temperature. It’s a cliché but Millbrook Beds’ Perfect mattresses (from £2,000; millbrook-beds.co.uk) really do feel like floating on a cloud. The Hilary Devey collection from Duvalay (from £650; hilarydeveycollection.co.uk) is handmade and princess-worthy.

SWITCH OFF Every sleep hygiene programme recommends a digital detox for at least an hour before bedtime. Turn off your backlit devices and switch off the television. Don’t be tempted to check emails on your phone and don’t even think about watching movies on your tablet in bed. The light on all these devices is simply too bright, convincing your body that it’s wake-up rather than slumber-down time. The Lumie Bodyclock (previous page) can help reset frazzled circadian rhythms.

APP ALERT Sometimes your mobile phone can be your sleep’s best friend. Certain apps may help you hit snooze, providing you stick to audio only. Sleep Stories by Calm (calm.com) are soporific bedtime tales, designed to make you nod off mid-story (Stephen Fry is amazing). Sleep Cycle (sleepcycle.com) turns your phone into a sleep tracker and wakes you up at the optimum time. Meanwhile Relax & Sleep Well (relaxandsleepwell. com) uses hypnotherapy.

HERBAL HELP The herb valerian has been the go-to soother for stress, anxiety and insomnia for generations. Its action is gently sedative on the nervous system. Nowadays it’s the mainstay of a host of natural sleep aids. Try Quiet Night (£3.29; superdrug.com), that adds hops and passionflower to the mix.

Dormeasan (£4.15; avogel.co.uk) is a liquid formula (it tastes bitter) that also includes hops. Night Time capsules (£7.45; pukkaherbs.com) add ayurvedic herbs ashwagandha and gotu kola. Note: if you’re taking medication, check with a pharmacist before taking valerian.

W I N D - D OW N R O U T I N E Ideally go to bed at the same time each night. Setting up a soothing bedtime routine signals to your brain that it’s time to switch off. A warm bath isn’t just an old wives’ tale. When you come out, your body temperature drops – giving your brain the cue to prepare for sleep. Keep it short – no more than 15 minutes. A milky drink contains tryptophan (helping produce the relaxing hormone serotonin) – however, a shot of cherry juice is even more effective: it contains a natural source of melatonin, our prime sleep hormone. Try CherryActive (£1.79 a shot; active-edge.co.uk).

mantra Om, a word like Peace). Each time you catch your mind wandering, gently bring yourself back to the moment.

C O L O U R YO U R N O I S E Switch your favourite playlist for ambient noise. Once there was just white noise combing sounds of different frequencies), now there’s nigh on a rainbow of soothing sounds. For example, pink noise is where every octave carries a consistent frequency (steady rain or wind, for example). The drone of pink noise works by slowing and regulating brain waves. YouTube has a vast selection. For something strange, try ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response), which uses a range of bizarre noises to trigger feelings of safety and relaxation (axappphealthcare.co.uk).

FOOD AND DRINK R E S E T YO U R B R A I N CBT-I is cognitive behavioural therapy geared specifically for insomnia. It is usually conducted in person or via Skype over a period of several weeks. You start by keeping a sleep diary. Individual prescriptions may involve Sleep Restriction Therapy (avoiding naps and early nights); Stimulus Control Instructions (pinpointing behaviour that may interfere with sleep) and Sleep Hygiene Education (a customised list of what you need for optimum sleep). It’s not a quick fix but it’s very effective. Your GP may be able to refer you. Or find a private therapist via cbtregisteruk.com.

M E L LOW M I N D F U L N E SS It doesn’t matter what kind of meditation or mindfulness practice you choose; the aim is to bring about what’s known as the ‘relaxation response’, a deep physiological shift in the body that is the polar opposite of the stress response. Dr Herbert Benson, who coined the phrase, suggests practising during the day for 20 minutes, so you can more easily evoke the response at night. Choose a calming focus (your breathing, the

Steer clear of caffeine and alcohol for the best night’s sleep. For some people, the effects of caffeine last for a stonking 12 hours. Avoid eating too late and too heavily – at least three hours before bedtime is ideal and avoid high glycaemic index (GI) foods to optimise your blood sugar and hormone levels. If you can’t avoid eating a late heavy meal, try taking plant-based Tribitor (£25; tribitor.com) 15 minutes before eating – it evens out sugar and insulin levels. Magnesium is a prime sleep mineral, making a banana and a handful of almonds the ideal bedtime snack.

CALL IN THE EXPERTS Yes, there really are places that can teach you how to sleep. The Body Retreat’s Stress Re-Set (thebodyretreat.co.uk) offers pre-sleep hypnotherapy alongside yoga, meditation, gentle exercise and a stressbusting diet. Park Igls in Austria (park-igls.at) takes a clinical approach to diagnose and treat a variety of sleep conditions. At Thailand’s Kamalaya, the Sleep Enhancement Programme (kamalaya.com) uses a mix of naturopathy, traditional Chinese medicine and ayurveda to soothe ruptured sleep patterns.

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Looking back

GOING BANANAS

long with the ink drying on new gym memberships, it’s as likely January will see avocado and kale being stockpiled in supermarkets, as befits today’s superfoods. But it’s always worth taking such claims with a pinch of salt (if that’s what the sodium experts are

Words: FRANCES AMBLER

telling us today). Throughout history, our food choices have been swayed by marketing campaigns. These four fruit and vegetables were once the avocado of their day, whether for ‘health’ reasons or simple exoticism. PINEAPPLE Subject to not one, but two food crazes since 1493 when Columbus brought

the pineapple to Europe from Guadeloupe. After the first example was successfully grown at home, the pineapple’s cultivation became an obsession among the wealthy. It required expertise, and a lot of luck. The pineapple became an indicator of luxury, decorating items as varied as teapots, plates and gateposts. Growing on a commercial scale began in the

PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY; GETTY IMAGES; SHUTTERSTOCK

PRIZED FOR THEIR HEALTH BENEFITS OR AS A SIGN OF WEALTH, MUST-HAVE FRUIT AND VEG ARE NOT A RECENT CRAZE

THINK | HISTORY

the nerves and strengthening a person’s “exhausted nature”. Meanwhile, the original Waldorf Salad – consisting of only apples, celery and mayonnaise – appeared on menus at the New York hotel in 1896. It was downhill from there, becoming known as a ‘diet’ food with the likes of Rivita – a sad fate for the food that once ruled the dinner table.

20th century, proving popular with soldiers in both World Wars. But the second wave of popularity belonged to the tinned version. From the 1950s, pineapples started being bred to better fit tins and became a recipe book regular from the 1950s to the 1970s, appearing in dishes such as pickle and pineapple salad, moulded chicken and pineapple salad and fish sticks with pineapple. And the ham and pineapple of childhood menus? Its popularity is thanks an industry campaign to increase consumption. CELERY Although a useful way of shovelling in hummus, celery doesn’t generally cause the heart to beat faster. Not so for the Victorians, where celery was the fashionable dinner table’s showpiece. For about 60 years from 1830, it was served “in the rough”, that is with leaves still attached, in specially made glass “celery vases” (you can see several examples in the V&A). It was popular for its novelty and initially its rarity. But it was also said that celery had qualities including purifying blood, quieting

BANANA The banana trade is still going strong – more than 95% of British homes buy them every week. It arrived on British soil surprisingly early – 16th-century remains were found during London excavations – although it wasn’t widely eaten until the 20th century, with the first commercial refrigerated shipment. The 1930s pushed health benefits – the opening of M&S’s food department in 1931 featured displays encouraging people to eat more fruit. Bananas were, buyers were told, “44 times more nutritious than a potato!”. While that decade brought the banana cake – helped by the ready availability of baking powder – it also saw recipes including bananas broiled in bacon strips, shrimp and banana salad, and banana toasts (banana, anchovy paste and butter on bread). Somehow bananas remained in favour until Wartime shortages. Its reappearance post-war was proclaimed as the end to austerity, with the Government even declaring a National Banana Day in 1946. During the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germans were similarly eager to be reunited: “Hold our hand and take us to banana land,” they chanted. Today it’s the world’s most popular fruit.

“It was said that celery had qualities including purifiying blood and quieting the nerves”

KIWI FRUIT Originating in China but first grown in New Zealand in 1905. The fruit was previously known as the “Chinese Gooseberry” in the West but New Zealand growers wanted a more marketable name and referenced their national brown, furry bird for their brown, furry fruit: “kiwi” was commercially adopted in 1974. However, its era was truly the 1980s. The kiwi was promoted for its versatility – offered up in fruit tarts, salads, an accompaniment to meat and on toast – as well as its vitamin C punch. In 1992, it ranked among the top ten nutritious foods but has since fallen from grace. Instead you’ll find, yes, kale and, yes again, avocados along with currently less fashionable fruit and veg such as broccoli and apples. FRUIT OF THE FUTURE We’re now accustomed to eating the world’s bounty, yet unfamiliar foodstuffs are still landing on our plates. From jackfruits to baobabs, new fruits and vegetables continue to be marketed for both their exotic appeal and health-giving potential. However, given all the choice, there’s still plenty of goodness to be discovered closer to home. Food trend predictions for 2018 include a revival in interest in both peas and mushrooms. Tuck in!

1 An advertising poster extolling the benefits of bananas. 2 The pineapple: so glamorous it made a 1950 magazine cover. 3 A 19th century celery trade card. 4 Kiwi fruit, aka Chinese gooseberries

A journal is a place to scribble, sketch, collect ideas, capture a moment, stretch your mind, dream and experiment. Each issue we’ll give you creative prompts and projects to encourage you to observe and invent through a journal. Feel free to share your pages @simplethingsmag Prompts and projects by EMILY NEUBURGER

PROMPT

Longitudinal journal challenge ‘Longitudinal’ means you will make it a habit to look at the same thing every so often over a long time. The key is to find something that changes in some way – whether very gradually, daily, or weekly. You don’t have to track it every day or even particularly regularly. Just be sure to continue to observe it, and try to remember to record your observations in the same journal or section of a journal. This way you can see how the thing is changing and how your observations evolve.

Things you could observe: A tree Your desk Someone’s shoes A lake or river A chalkboard A bookshelf A storefront window A garden A street bench The dinner table The sky at night An anthill

Noting tiny differences in the same object over time makes for mindful observations

THINK | CREATIVITY

PROJECT

Constellations Connect your own stars to invent a personal constellation

1 Draw a cluster of stars You can choose to plan your star pattern carefully, or just add stars as you go.

Colourful, random and eccentrically named – the sky’s the limit when it comes to DIY constellations

2 Use a ruler to connect the stars, or go freehand.

O Add colour to your constellation. (Hint: stars don’t have to be yellow!)

Give your constellation a name, and tell the story behind it.

Use tiny shapes other than stars to create the constellation: hearts, little cat faces, circles, Pac-Mans, mini pizza slices, and so on.

3 Add detail to your constellation. If it is a thing, give it another thing that goes along with it: a paintbrush could get a palette; a bowling pin could get a ball; a doughnut could get a cup of coffee. 4 Give your constellation a name!

Taken from Journal Sparks: Fire up your Creativity with Spontaneous Art, Wild Writing and Creative Thinking by Emily K Neuburger (Storey Publishing). The Simple Things readers can buy it for £11.50 with free UK p&p from efcbookshop.com

NEST

PHOTOGRAPHY: HOLLY JOLLIFFE. POT, £14; MARBLE TILE, £18; OXALIS, £9, ALL FROM BOTANIQUEWORKSHOP.COM

LOVE YOUR HOME INSIDE AND OUT WITH THE SIMPLE THINGS

Oxalis For a plant with such theatrical qualities – its purple leaves track the light and fold up at night like butterfly wings – an oxalis is remarkably low maintenance. Alice Howard, owner of Botanique Workshop, artisan store and flower shop, recommends adding grit to the pot, and feeding every so often. And don’t give up on it during winter when it dies back – it will recover in spring and reward you with pretty lilac flowers in summer.

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Dennis (opposite) with wife Valesca and children, Boaz and Indy, describes the style of their home as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;romantic industrialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. He made much of the furniture, including the kitchen table, himself

NEST | HOME TOUR

TIMBER LAND THIS DUTCH COUPLE TURNED AN OLD-FASHIONED HOUSE INTO A CRAFTED, MODERN HOME BY FILLING IT WITH HANDMADE FURNITURE AND ALL MANNER OF WHIMSICAL ITEMS Photography: ANOUK DE KLEERMAEKER Styling: ILONA DE KONING Words: CLARE GOGERTY

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VALESCA AND DENNIS VAN LONDEN live with their children Boaz and Indy and dog Chip in Prinsenbeek, a village near Breda in the Netherlands. They run vanlonden.com a furniture company that uses largely recycled materials

Dennis made the kitchen cabinets from a recycled wooden church floor. The rough wood complements industrial elements in the house, such as the naked light bulbs and coffee table made from an old metal case

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or pure home-making satisfaction, little beats making the furniture that you use each day. Every morning, Valesca and Dennis van Londen eat breakfast with their children Boaz and Indy at the table Dennis fashioned from wood reclaimed from the floor of a bowling alley. “It feels really good to build the things that surround you, and to see your family using it,” says Dennis. “And it’s even better when the material to make that furniture has been recycled. If you keep your eyes open, you can find reusable timber in all sorts of unlikely places. I made the cabinets in the kitchen from a wooden church floor and, in a previous life, the beds were scaffolding planks.” Dennis also uses scaffolding planks for the furniture business, Van Londen (vanlonden.com), that he runs with Valesca. They turn the pieces of timber into various things, including garden

furniture, bar stools and desks. “The planks are made of larch,” says Dennis, “and are robust and durable. They are also weathered and dented. They can no longer be used as scaffolding but they are great for furniture. The fact that they have a past and a story makes them even more appealing.” P R E LOV E D I S B E ST This love of recycled materials and preloved objects with a history, is seen throughout their home in the village of Prinsenbeek in the Netherlands. Dennis also made the beds from scaffolding planks, and the rough wooden furniture sits alongside metal chests, an old factory trolley and recycled factory lights, which are suspended over the table. Dennis’s handiwork is seen throughout the house: whenever the family needs something, his first thought is “can I make it myself?” So far, the results include shutters, plant stands and a wooden deer »

NEST | HOME TOUR

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Boaz (left) with Chip the dog. The industrial elements of the house have been softened by references to the natural world, pastel shades and vintage finds. Dennis made the wooden deer head (below) and created the forest mural from a photograph

NEST | HOME TOUR

VALESCA’S STYLE O Tone down industrial-style furniture with houseplants. Use plant stands to vary their heights. O We picked up the green of the plants throughout the house in cushions and decorative objects. Light green shades complement the pale raw materials such as plaster and timber. O Children’s rooms can look fun and funky without being too garish. We’ve banished primary colours and plastic but the kids both still love their rooms.

head hanging on a wall, papered with a forest scene (also Dennis’s work). His biggest project, however, was the house itself. When the family moved in two years ago, it was tired and old-fashioned. Varnished pine cabinets lined the kitchen, and the walls were covered with anaglypta. A total refurbishment was needed to turn it into a home that met the requirements of a young family. “The hardest part was removing the old tiles on the ground floor, and replacing them with poured concrete,” says Dennis. “But what made the biggest difference was extending the living room by an extra three metres. Now we have room to spread.” To increase the amount of light, a low ceiling was removed on the first floor and freshly exposed brick walls and wooden beams were painted white. Next,

the polystyrene ceiling tiles were pulled down and timber panelling installed, then fresh, smooth plaster replaced the anaglypta. MODERN ROMANCE The result is a modern home with deliberately rough edges: a style Dennis describes as ‘romantic industrial’. He and Valesca have filled it with things that complement the setting: leather suitcases and glass vases found in flea markets sit beside concrete plant pots, a porcelain pineapple and a tin robot. The house continues to evolve with new elements being introduced all the time. Many of these, of course, will be made by Dennis. Making furniture for his family is a simple pleasure he is unlikely to want to give up any time soon.

Bedrooms and study sit snugly beneath the eaves of the house. The ceilings are panelled with timber and the walls have been replastered. This mix of rough and smooth runs throughout the house

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M Y P LOT

The happy patch ONE OF THE JOYS OF GROWING YOUR OWN VEGETABLES IS PLANNING WHAT TO INCLUDE ON YOUR PLOT. BLOGGER AND CHEF KATHY SLACK LIKES TO TURN HERS INTO ART Words and photography: KATHY SLACK

NEST | GROWING

Kathy is one half of Gluts & Gluttony (with business partner Mandy Bisson), a blog and supper business based in the Cotswolds. She grows the ingredients for dinner parties in a veg patch on her neighbour’s farm and writes about what she grows and how she cooks it on the blog lutsand luttony.com.

The story so far I spent 12 years working in advertising but eventually the fun had been had, so I quit. I started my blog, Gluts & Gluttony, which was born out of a passion for growing food organically and an inability to grow sensible quantities of it. The ‘gluttony’ bit came from the food and recipes that resulted. During this time, I retrained as a cook and worked at Daylesford Organic farm for three years, before going full time with Gluts & Gluttony. As the business grew, I needed more room to grow veg. My neighbour let me use a patch on his farm. Now I have six 8x4m beds and two 1x8m beds in a greenhouse. We’re not registered organic, we’re too tiny for that, but we use organic seeds, feed, compost and no chemicals. I also run cookery classes, host supper clubs, write articles and run a private cooking business.

The plan is hatched In my experience, life can be a bit much sometimes. Especially in late winter when the glitter of Christmas has faded. My first line of defence against this feeling is the restorative process of growing veg. Planning a veg patch offers both the anticipation of fabulous food and the opportunity for several lists. There’s nothing so calming as a list. Just for good measure, I crowbar in another activity to soothe the bedraggled mind – I hand-letter my planting plan. Calligraphy is a skill at which I am decidedly mediocre (having only just begun) but which I find restful, contemplative and very, very satisfying. I like to have a theme each year – a priority for planting, or a strategy, if you like. Last year, my theme, in line with my quest for solace, was Grow Yourself Happy.

For Kathy (top), happiness comes from colourful crops (above) and those that are easy to grow. All are managed via her veg plot plan (opposite), which she hand-letters

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Kathy had a great crop of heritage tomatoes (below). Her plan for raised beds (bottom) includes rhubarb and artichoke (bottom right)

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Grow yourself happy I wanted a vegetable patch that made me happy to be in and which produced food that was good for my wellbeing. So, for my happy veg patch, I included the following: O Beautiful crops that look pretty in the ground and even prettier on the plate. Harvests that make me feel like I’ve created something simple and beautiful that cannot be bought – purple French beans, red-flowered runner beans, nasturtiums, red radicchio and so forth. O Food that positively affects mood – I chose vegetables that were tasty first and foremost, but also rich in fibre, potassium (tomatoes), folates and vitamin B6 (spinach). O Crops that are easy and weren’t so troublesome to grow as to be demoralising. (So no melons then. Or Brussel Sprouts. And unquestionably no cauliflower.) O An overall plan that wasn’t fret-makingly ambitious and left time to enjoy just sitting, podding peas and marvelling at the glory of it all. O Everyday veg that made me feel that I was, in my own minor way taking control

of my own survival. At the risk of getting a bit political, even just a nod to selfsufficiency wrestles back some power from the energy-guzzling systems that cause our earth so much trouble. So no more spuds or onions flown from Egypt on my account. The veg patch is where the main bulk of the veg growing is done for our supper business, so we need a bounty; that means the reintroduction of spuds, carrots and onions, mountains of spinach, tomatoes and cabbage, and plenty of easy growers like cucumbers (rampant) and winter squash (ditto). The other plan (below) is for the small raised beds I have in my own garden. They are roughly 80x150cm and are ideal for fruit and perennials. Last year, for the first time, I gave over one bed to raising seedlings. This stops me worrying, as I had spent much of the previous spring fretting about seedlings I’d left in the allotment greenhouse and forgotten to water because they weren’t in front of me to remind me. I tried putting glass over the soil bed to make life easier.

NEST | GROWING

“You are witnessing magic. Actual magic. Proper Jack and the Beanstalk alchemy. It is wondrous to behold”

Winter squash (above) grow rampantly in the greenhouse (far right). Rainbow chard adds to Kathy’s colourful harvest

My simple pleasures One nippy morning in March or thereabouts, you take a handful of unassuming, apparently lifeless seeds and scatter them over the ground in your vegetable patch. By September, if not before, this unpromising handful has turned into a jungle. A jungle. There are gargantuan triffids galumphing about your allotment, tangling themselves up with one another, drooping under the weight of their harvest. And that’s when it really hits you: you are witnessing magic. Actual magic. Proper ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ alchemy. It is wondrous to behold. And even though I’ve been growing food for 10 years, I marvel at it every time.

When it goes wrong Inevitably, not everything goes to plan all of the time. Pests invade, seedlings get scorched or, most recently, pigs escape from the farm and pilfer all the pumpkins. In other areas of my life, things going wrong tend to send me into a flap but, for some reason, allotment setbacks don’t. I think it’s because I know can always try again. The patch is never complete because nature is always changing. And because it’s always evolving, I never feel like I’ve failed to reach a particular goal.

What I’ve learnt I now know that growing your own food is good for you in more ways than one. I eat more vegetables and I’m definitely fitter from all that digging. But also, the act of tending and planning a garden has become a pleasure in itself. I’ve come to see that the joy lies not so much in the end result as the process of getting there.

What happened next Unusually for me, I did mostly follow my planting plan and I was delighted with the results. Sure, a few things didn’t work so well: the sweetcorn failed to set for reasons still beyond me and the bean canes fell down under the weight of the glut. But ultimately, the harvest was fabulous and colourful, especially from the greenhouse where the aubergines and heritage tomatoes were better than I’ve ever known them. Best of all, every leaf picked, pea podded and root crunched made me happy. I was thrown a bit of a curveball at the end of the growing season. After six terrific years, my neighbour needed his patch back. Fortunately, another friend has since taken me in, along with my refugee kale plants. He wants a rest from the garden but still loves homegrown harvests and I’m only too happy to pay my rent with a bucket of veg each week. It’s always sad to leave a piece of land you’ve come to know so well, but I’m filled with giddy anticipation about starting a new chapter of my growing life. 113

N OT E WO R T H Y PLAIN PAPER CAN BECOME JUST THAT BIT PRETTIER WITH THIS DIP-DYE STATIONERY MAKEOVER Project and photography: LOUISE GORROD

NEST | WEEKEND PROJECT

P R O U D LY HOMEMADE

fter all the glitter of Christmas has been packed away, things can seem a bit bare and it becomes all about finding little ways to brighten up the short days. This project is a simple way to make the everyday a bit more special – it only takes a few minutes to dip dye paper (and just a bit longer to dry). So, whether you intend to use it for thank you notes, to keep a resolution to write to people more or for your own notes and observations (see page 36), a little splash of colour can go a long way.

You will need A selection of paper, envelopes and postcards Hand fabric dye powder (we used Dylon) Warm water Measuring jug Vessel for holding your dye (a washing-up bowl, bucket or Tupperware box works well*) Length of twine Clothes pegs Scissors 1 Before you start, tie a length of twine, washing line-style, nearby, ready for hanging your paper to dry. Cover any surfaces with newspaper. 2 Make up your dye solution. Start with pouring 1 litre of warm water into your vessel. Add 4 tsp of dye powder

and stir until dissolved: the amount you use will determine the strength of your colour, so use a piece of scrap paper to test. 3 Once you’re happy with your dyeing solution, take your piece of paper and – slowly, carefully – insert it into the dye solution, only immersing the amount of paper you’d like coloured. Hold it in the solution for a few seconds and then, slowly and carefully again, draw it out of the solution. Hold the paper over for a moment to catch any drips of dye. You can dip again for a slightly stronger coverage. 4 Peg your dip-dyed stationery to your length of twine to dry. If, once dry, your stationery is a little curled at the edges, place inside a heavy book and leave for 24 hours.

* Your dyeing vessel just needs to be wide and deep enough to be able to dip your unfolded stationery.

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NEST | TRADITIONS

THE BIG APPLE SINGING TO APPLE TREES TO ENCOURAGE A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST IS MAKING A COMEBACK. LOOK OUT FOR A WASSAIL IN AN ORCHARD OR ALLOTMENT NEAR YOU Ilustration: ALICE PATULLO Words: SOPHIE SELLARS

or many of us, Twelfth Night signifies little more than the deadline for taking down the Christmas decorations. For others, however, it’s an occasion to pull on the wellies, head out into the cold and wake the fruit trees from their winter slumber through songs, offerings and some cider-fuelled revelry. In orchards and allotments across the country, the ancient tradition of wassailing is making an unexpected comeback. The term ‘wassail’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon greeting ‘waes hael’, meaning ‘be well’. Not to be confused with the house-visiting wassail, which was essentially an early form of carolling, the apple wassail began in the cider-producing regions of southern England, where on Twelfth Night, the country folk would visit the orchards and sing to the trees to encourage a bountiful autumn harvest. The ceremony commonly involved a parade through the orchard towards the largest or oldest tree where incantations were recited, songs sung, and gunshots fired to scare away any evil spirits. The revellers would drink to the health of the tree and to each other, as they passed around a special wassail bowl containing 116

spiced ale or cider, and slices of toast were dipped in the bowl and hung on the branches of the tree as an offering, along with a libation poured at its roots. By last century, the tradition had started to wane, but a renewed appreciation of locally grown food, the soaring popularity of cider, and the need for some joyful community spirit during the dark days of January have kick-started a wassailing revival, and many urban orchards and allotments are now hosting their own events with local breweries and restaurants getting in on the act. The modern wassail can be anything from a small gathering around a bonfire, to a large-scale event such as the one held at Mitcham Community Orchard in South London, which includes a barbecue, fancy dress, torches, live music and folk dancing. Wassails are no longer the preserve of the southern English counties either, with recent celebrations taking place in Hull, Lancaster, and even overseas; the annual wassailing party at Terhune Orchards in New Jersey, US, has become a popular neighbourhood celebration. “Enthusiasm is the only key ingredient for a good wassail,” says Ella Hashemi, a project manager for The Orchard Project, the national charity dedicated to the

* 17 January is Twelfth Night, or ‘Old Twelvey’, following the pre-Gregorian calendar.

DRINC HAEL! Hold your own wassail Traditionally, the wassail takes place on Twelfth Night – either 5, 6 or 17* January, but modern versions can take place at any point between these dates. A back garden can work just as well as an orchard. Torches, wellies and warm coats are a must. Involve the kids. Deck them out with face paint, feathers and foliage and they can lead the parade as the wassail King or Queen. Ensure there’s a generous supply of mulled cider as well as juice for little ones, and encourage participants to bring snacks, such as home-baked apple muffins, to share with the group. Drive out evil spirits by banging pots and pans together before serenading the tree with a wassail song.

creation, restoration and celebration of community orchards. Last year, she helped Downe Community Orchard in Kent hold their first wassail. “One group prepared food, while another researched wassailing songs local to their area, and another organised the bonfire. There was even a Green Man, in full costume, to lead the wassail and toast the trees. It was a spirited and jolly event, reminding everyone that the orchard was a community resource to enjoy

“Serenading a tree does have something of that peculiar English eccentricity” throughout the year, not just at harvest.” Although serenading a tree does have something of that peculiar English eccentricity about it, akin to cheese rolling

or bog snorkelling, the wassail is essentially an occasion to herald the onset of spring, and that’s surely worth raising a glass to? Check with your local allotment or orchard to see if they’re planning a wassail, or organise your own, incorporating elements that are unique to your region. As Claire Morris, programme director of The Orchard Project explains, “It’s about taking the origins of traditions, bringing them up to date and tailoring them to your neck of the woods... or orchard.” 117

THE COMFORT OF THINGS THERE ARE CERTAIN THINGS IN YOUR HOME THAT ARE LIKE GOOD FRIENDS: THEY ALWAYS CHEER YOU UP. THIS MONTH WE FEEL THE LOVE FOR A COSY CORNER Words: CLARE GOGERTY

A cosy corner of your very own. Grey Oslo knitted throw, Â£125, alsohome.com. Cove 2 stove, charnwood.com

NEST | HOW WE LIVE

here are moments in the depths of winter when even the thought of leaving the house seems ridiculous. As the rain pelts the windows and the wind whips in under the front door, the call of the sofa is irresistible. Who needs to go out when everything you require is right there, and can be enjoyed in your slippers? How pleasing to listen to the rain from the warmth and comfort of indoors, wearing your favourite jumper and no make-up. Once you accept that putting on a coat and stepping outside is just not going to happen, your thoughts might turn to making your home even cosier, more cocoon-like, more seductive. What you need is a cosy corner to call your own. Somewhere to retreat to with a cup of tea and a book (or a copy of The Simple Things). A comfortable chair to sink into and a throw to pull over your legs. A place to read, knit, munch a biscuit, listen to music… preferably by a wood-burning stove. Creating this mini sanctuary is an essential element of homemaking in our book and, with a few adjustments and additions, easy to pull off. First, you need the right chair (see below for guidelines), and then you need to create the right mood. Bear in mind that this is a place to curl up rather than sprawl, and is

introspective rather than expansive, so you will need to feel protected and secure. If a sofa is your seat of choice, follow feng shui principles and put it against a wall, ideally with a view of the door, to feel safe. If you prefer a chair, choose one with a high back. Fabrics in different tactile textures are comforting, too: layer up fake-fur blankets, soft woollen throws, velvet cushions… then throw on a sheepskin for good measure, too. Pools of light create an intimate and cosy mood. Go for a task light to read by, and low wattage elsewhere. Candles and tealights will increase the general sense of mellowness, as will flames from a fire. Giving the walls a new lick of paint might also help: colours that echo nature – pale green, smoky grey, heathery purples and log pile browns – soothe and quiet the chattering mind. The one thing you don’t want to introduce is technology. The demands of smartphones and tablets have no place in your haven, but you knew that already.

“Bear in mind that this is a place to curl up rather than to sprawl”

A GUIDE TO EASY SITTING When it comes to creating a place to curl up, getting the chair right is a big deal. Fortunately, today’s high-street retailers offer many options, and a return to old-fashioned styles has seen the return of high-backed chairs and love seats which have plenty of room to nest in. Here’s a brief guide… Wing chair With a high back, side pieces at head height and padded arms, this is the ideal curl-upto-read-in chair. Try

ikea.com (Strandmon, £179); tesco.com (Carrington, £349); made.com (Kubrick, £399). Club chair The comfiest versions are the vintage ones with soft, battered leather that look like they came from a gentlemen’s club. Slouch here after a meal with a brandy. Try argos.co.uk (Salisbury, £449.99); arloandjacob. com (Pembroke, from £850); sofaworkshop. com (Whipper Snapper, from £1,469). Cuddler sofa or love seat A sofa/armchair hybrid

intended to snuggle up on with your other half but just as good to flop into alone. Room for a cat, too. Try willowandhall. co.uk (Lyneham Love Seat Sofa, from £805); sofasandstuff.com (Stourhead, from £890); loaf.com (Crumpet Love Seat, £995). Chaise longue More of a place to stretch out than curl up, but included here because it is intended for one person alone. Try loaf.com (Fats Chaise Longue, £1,145, right); arloandjacob.com (Philo sofa chaise, from £1,795). »

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NEST | HOW WE LIVE

THREE TO MAKE, BUY OR CUSTOMISE A home without cushions is a cheerless place. These pillowy pockets are an affordable and simple way to boost comfort and warmth.

MAKE You don’t need to worry about zips or fastenings: an envelope-style cover simplifies the project. There are many tutorials on the internet: check out Ikea’s video using its Akerdulla fabric on youtube.com/watch?v=nTeJgtZuyGI, or read How to Sew an Envelope Pillow Cover on instructables.com.

A quietly purring cat is welcome. Annoying human beings, less so

H O M E Q UA N DA R I E S

CUSTOMISE Add piping perhaps, or introduce zips or buttons. For an excellent tutorial with helpful, but not free, video (£4.95 for 24 hours), go to sew-helpful.com. Dorling Kinderseley’s Handmade Interiors is a sensible and uncomplicated guide to making cushions and soft furnishings (it also includes bolsters, round cushions and others).

Wool cushion covers, £19.95 each, decoratorsnotebook.com

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There has been many a time when I have retreated to my nook with a book and a cup of tea only to be disturbed over and over again by the other inhabitants of my household. They seem to have no regard for my need to be quiet and solitary. What can I do to keep them at bay? Answer in brief: create boundaries, either real or perceived. This depends on whether the inhabitants are animal or human and what sort of behaviour is involved. No one welcomes a cat persistently pestering to be fed, or a dog bounding all over them when there is a book to be read. But a purring cat on the lap is a restful and companionable thing, as is a dog slumbering on a rug beside you. Train your animals and they will respect your quiet time. Alternatively, shut the offenders in a different room. Human beings with their constant demands, however, are trickier to control. Some people (children, husbands, we’re looking at you) see the stationary you as someone available to be bothered with questions and calls to action, rather than a person to respectfully leave alone. If clear and commanding orders to stay away don’t work, try enclosing the area with soft boundaries like a row of houseplants, a bookshelf or a screen. Alternatively, shut the offenders in a different room.

“A purring cat on the lap is a restful thing, as is a dog slumbering on a rug beside you”

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

BUY The choice is endless, varied and overwhelming. The best approach to a cosy-cushion purchase is to refine the selection by material. Faux fur, sheepskin and velvet are the most tactile and deliver maximum strokeability. West Elm (westelm.co.uk) has a pleasing range of textured bouclé cushion covers, from £29; and sainsburyshome.co.uk has snug, light-grey faux-fur cushions for £12.75.

EASY PIECES Create a snug bolthole in your home with these cosy additions

1 Bendt wire magazine rack, £18, made.com 2 Blush velvet Hampton pouffe, £129, made.com 3 Saffron herringbone throw, £48.95; light grey wool cushion cover, £17.95, decoratorsnotebook.com 4 Lush Mongolian lambskin cushion, £99, modern-rugs.co.uk 5 Light grey Ludwig armchair, £549, swooneditions.com 6 Marble effect table lamp, £30, asda.com 7 Little Parker side table, £175, loaf.com 8 Lambswool woven Pennan throw, £320, donnawilson.com 9 Indigo Drop mug, £12.95, decoratorsnotebook.com

Come join us Oh Comely is a curious, honest and playful independent magazine. It’s a place to meet strangers, hear their stories and look at life a little diﬀerently...

Subscribe to Oh Comely and get it delivered to your door, six times a year. Even better, you’ll save money and get your copy earlier than in shops.

Pay just £12 every three issues/six months. Or try a whole year for £25 To see all our oﬀers for UK and overseas subscriptions, visit icebergpress.co.uk/subscribe. Or call 020 3950 1835 — we are a small team, so at times you may get through to our answerphone. Leave us a message and we’ll call you back. Terms and conditions: this oﬀer is for new UK print subscribers only, check online for overseas prices. You will receive six issues in a year. Prices correct at time of going to print and subject to change. For full terms and conditions please visit icebergpress.co.uk/tandc.

JA N UA RY +

A curious combination of the practical and the playful Compiled by: FRANCES AMBLER

Illustrations by: JOE SNOW

THIS MONTH CAPTION COMPETITION

CROSS A FROZEN LAKE … 123

COSY SLIPPERS … 124

2 3 4 5

OVER TO YOU… Make us giggle with a caption for this flexible gentoo penguin. We’ll send a lovely book to the writer of our favourite. Post your best efforts at facebook.com/ thesimplethingsmag

TRY BAOBAB … 124

DREAMS EXPLAINED … 125 MARTIN LUTHER KING … 126 6

IDENTIFIER: GREAT

MODERN WRITERS … 127

HOW TO…

CROSS A FROZEN LAKE

Inbuilt with clickers, sliders, spinneers and twisters to keep fidgeting fingers busy. Fidget pen, £6.99 iwantoneofthose.com

PHOTOGRAPHY: NATIRE PICTURE LIBRARY

No skating on thin ice, if you follow these solid suggestions

Be prepared Don’t go alone. Carry 15m of rope, an ice pick or ice claws, as well as warm, thick clothes in a waterproof bag. Study the ice Clear blue, black or green ice is strongest. Avoid white, milky ice and danger signs including slush, cracks and seams. Ice underneath snow will also be thin and weak. How to move With your ice pick, measure the ice depth at least every 50 metres. 10cm of clear, newly formed ice can support walking

(20–30cm, a small car). Wear skis or snowshoes and, in a group, walk about 15 metres apart. If you fall in… Keep clothes on but lose shoes. Put your hands and arms on the ice and kick. Use your claws to pull yourself onto the surface, then roll away from the broken ice. Change into dry clothes and seek shelter and hot drinks.

(Spanish) Person particularly susceptible to cold temperatures.

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SAD ANIMAL FACTS

LEATHER BABOUSHKA Made with a supersoft sheepskin base and supple leather. BEST FOR: supporting Brit businesses. They’re proudly made in GB. £49, celticandco.com

TASTY TREND

From Sad Animal Facts by Brooke Barker (Boxtree)

BAOBAB Pronounced bey-oh-bab, this fruit from Adansonia trees in Africa and Australia, is dried naturally and used as a powder in anything from smoothies to gin. It’s rich in fibre, vitamin C and calcium and tastes citrussy. TRY IT: in Yeo Valley’s new Artist’s Edition Baobab & Vanilla yogurt. BUY IT: powdered at hollandandbarrett.com. SEE IT: on our Tasty Trend Pinterest board.

Astound your friends and family with these magical marvels

SLIGHT ADJUSTMENT BLUE PIXIE BOOTIES Booties aren’t just for babies when they’re knitted from a luxe wool blend. BEST FOR: hidden comforts – they’re lined with faux fur. £25, oliverbonas.com

NAVY AND ECRU MULES The classic slipper shape given a contemporary makeover. BEST FOR: added glamour, thanks to silver lamé details. £15, uk.accessorize.com

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This is as much a gag as a trick – making it an ideal interlude to perform between other tricks. EFFECT: Grabbing hold of his head, the magician gives it a quick sideways twist. A loud and certainly unnatural “CRACK!” is heard, as if his impromptu demonstration of chiropractics has gone wrong. After the laughter and worried expressions subside, the entertainer grins, and continues with his performance. REQUIRED: A jacket and a hard plastic drinking glass. The cup must be stiff, so that when squeezed it will crack easily – and loudly. PERFORMANCE: As you address your audience, feign a cramp in your neck. “Give me a moment to work this out,”

you say, as you grab the sides of your face with your hands. Giving your head what appears to be a firm twist, squeeze the concealed cup with the inside of your arm, causing it to crack as you complete the twisting action. It will crack, with luck (and practice) loudly, and everyone will hear it. Shake off the apparent readjustment. “It’s only an upper vertebra,” you say, as you continue with your performance. At an opportune moment – perhaps in preparation for your next trick – reach into your coat, ostensibly to remove something from your inner breast pocket. Instead, remove the broken cup from its hiding place and dispose of it by dropping it to the floor behind your table.

Adapted from Mysterio’s Encyclopedia of Magic and Conjuring by Gabe Fajuri (Quirk Books). More entertaining and diverting titles can be found at quirkbooks.com

H OW H A R D C A N I T B E …

…TO INTERPRET YOUR DREAMS? Looking for definite answers? You must be dreaming

Attempts at dream decoding date back centuries – think of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dream in the Bible (or, indeed, in the Lloyd Webber musical), for example. Although there are hundreds of ‘dream dictionaries’ available, they y are generally lacking any y factual back-up – very broad links is about as far as scientists have got. But while you might not figure out exactly what that particularly vivid dream was supposed to mean, there are other useful ways to consider our dreams that can help us in our everyday (real) lives:

O Because most believe dreams provide insight, they do affect our behaviour. For example, people asked to imagine they dreamt about a plane crash the night before a trip were more likely to cancel than if a real crash had happened. The dream also produced a similar level of anxiety as a real crash. O If a dream has produced a strong reaction, it’s probably worth taking the time to reflect on it, and ask yourself if it bears any logical relation to your waking hours – even if that simply means less cheese before bed.

TIPPLE OF THE MONTH

Why would you pour anything else when there’s haggis to be toasted?

To get a musty smell out of an old book, place it open in a freezer bag with four tbsp of bicarbonate of soda. Leave at room temperature for two to three weeks before removing.

DOGS IN BLANKETS

The secret dreams of sleeping pets SKYE, COCKER SPANIEL, THREE MONTHS And to the right: one, two, three. To the left: one, two, three. Now, grapevine! Just think of me as a Jane Fonda of the cocker spaniel world, helping you go for the burn. And jump! Jump! Over the course of 2018, I intend to become a YouTube fitness guru (branded merch to follow shortly). Time to reach, reach! How are you doing? What do you mean you’ll have no energy left for walkies?! Oh, I see what you’re doing… end of class! Tweet a pic of your #dogsinblankets or #catsonmats @simplethingsmag

Enjoy a dram of this alcoholic tipple on Burns Night (25 January). It’s distilled from water and malted barley, before ageing in oak barrels for at least three years. There are 20 million casks of such whisky in Scotland – almost four for every member of the population. Serving notes Most whisky purists agree adding a few drops of water is fine (ice more debatable). A strong and smoky blend goes well with haggis.

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Lessons from our school days, long since forgotten

THE “I HAVE A DREAM” SPEECH

SPINACH, SAUSAGE & ORZO SOUP Serves 4 6 plump sausages (ideally with lots of onion or garlic) 2 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, diced 1 carrot, roughly chopped 1 stick of celery, diced 2 cloves of garlic, crushed 1 tbsp tomato purée A generous pinch of freshly grated nutmeg A small pinch of dried oregano 800ml chicken or vegetable stock 1 bay leaf 100g orzo or other small pasta 150g spinach, stems removed, roughly chopped 2 tbsp single or double cream TO SERVE: Fresh parsley, chopped Fresh basil, chopped Freshly grated parmesan 1 Remove the sausage casings and shape the meat into little meatballs. Place the oil in a heavy-

based pan with a lid over a medium-high heat and add the sausage meatballs. Brown them all over, then lift out and set aside. Turn the heat down to medium and to the same pan add the onion, carrot and celery, and season; sauté for 10 mins, until soft and beginning to brown. 2 Add garlic and tomato purée and cook, stirring for 2 mins. Next, add the nutmeg, oregano, stock and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 mins. 3 Add the orzo*, spinach and meatballs and simmer for 4 mins, or until the orzo and meatballs are cooked. Remove from the heat, add the cream and remove the bay leaf and check seasoning. 4 Serve in wide bowls, and garnish with herbs and parmesan.

INTERIORS HACK MAKE A SUITCASE COFFEE TABLE

Recipe from Leon Happy Soups by Rebecca Seal and John Vincent (Conran Octopus). Photography: Steven Joyce

VINTAGE ADVICE “The use of leisure can be foolish or fruitful. Its use is not necessarily wasted because it is not directly purposeful… We need to dream as well as to do” Teach Yourself To Live by CGL Du Cann (1955)

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Delivered by Martin Luther King Jr on 28 August 1963 to more than 250,000 at a march on Washington to support proposed civil rights legislation. King apparently stayed up until 4am the night before working on his speech. He deviated from his planned speech after the singer Mahalia Jackson cried out, “Tell them about the dream, Martin!” Over 17 minutes, with impressive ad-libbing, King used the phrase, “I have a dream” eight times including, most famously: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.” A key moment in the Civil Rights movement, the full speech didn’t appear in writing until over 15 years after his death – King was assassinated in 1968.

Suitcase Piece of plywood same size or larger than your suitcase Hairpin legs or similar Coarse thread screws Saw 1 Strip out the interior fittings of the suitcase. 2 Measure the inside dimensions of its bottom

section and cut your plywood to fit (or ask the people in the DIY shop to do it for you). Slot into place. 3 Turn the case upside down and mark where you want to place the legs. 4 Attach the legs to the bottom corners using coarse thread screws. 5 Artfully arrange coffeetable books on your creation.

IDENTIFIER

GREAT MODERN WRITERS

Know your Steinbeck from your Salinger? Our handy guide will help put you on the right page

JD Salinger Holden Caulfield’s 1951 debut gave voice to the teenager. He revealed what they’d suspected all along – the adults are all phonies anyway.

Virginia Woolf Thank heavens Woolf could afford a room of her own. This modernist was a pioneer in stream of consciousness and many feminist matters, too.

Margaret Atwood Atwood’s speculative fiction, The Handmaid’s Tale explores when, “you’re just ahead of reality, but sometimes reality is just ahead of you”.

Ernest Hemingway Hemingway makes it look so easy. His secret? “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

George Orwell With his prescient understanding of the dangers of ‘newspeak’ and ‘doublethink’, it’s like Orwell wrote about 2017, rather than 1984.

Philip K Dick His gloomy views on technology’s impact feel up to date – not least because of the Bladerunner sequel (the original is based on one of his books).

John Steinbeck In 1939 The Grapes of Wrath shocked with its “earthy” language and was widely banned and burned. It’s a masterpiece of the depression era.

James Joyce Ulysses (1922) charts Leopold Bloom’s day in Dublin on 16 June 1904 – or so we’ve been told. We’ve never quite managed to finish it.

F Scott Fitzgerald Drink and despair, flappers and failure: Fitzgerald shaped how we see his post WW1 generation: The Beautiful and Damned.

Taken from A-Z Great Modern Writers by Andy Tuohy, published by Cassell; octopusbooks.co.uk

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WHERE WAS THAT? All the lovely things in this issue – organised with page numbers to help you find them

Fresh Spinach, sausage & orzo soup Proudly homemade Marmite Welsh rarebit Vietnamese lemongrass tea • Lazing & grazing • Breakfast pizza Oxtail soup with parsnip & potato mash Twilight apple-ginger toddies Citrus & pomegranate salad Baked veg crisps with sour cream dip Roasted cherry tomatoes Goats’ cheese & walnut salad Homemade chocolate The Herbery: Bay Bay and lemon wrapped salmon Rhubarb and blood orange crumble Bay gimlet Cake in the house Spinach & lemon bars Tastebud travels Egypt: Sahlab India: Aloo gobi Vietnam: Pho Morocco: Tagine Ecuador: Tamales Madagascar: Mofo gasy Tasty trend Baobab Tipple of the month Whisky

THINK 7 16 17 24 25 26 27 27 28 29 29 30 37 39 40 42 51 74 74 74 76 76 78 79 124 125

BUY Things to want and wish for 8 Book reviews Departures, How To Be Human, The Written World 11, 13, 14 Maker of the month Furniture designer, Nick James 11 Shop of the month Mono Mono, Brighton, East Sussex 14 • Big scarves 22 • Japanese calm Our new Armchair Tourist series 62 The Simple Things chalkboard postcards 82 • Why we love a diary 86 The Simple Things subscription offer 95 The Comfort of Things A cosy corner 118 Miscellany trio Slippers 124

• Good mood foods Wisdom from Rachel Kelly • Dry cocktails The rise of non-drinking A job well done The Makery, Bath My day in cups of tea Ceramicist Leyla Folwell • Magical creatures Deer • Travelling mindfully A poetic pause ‘The Cinderella of Ferndale’ by Simon Armitage • Nordic knowhow The bright sides of darkness Know a thing or two… Sleep Looking back Fruit & veg fashions I used to know that Martin Luther King’s speech Identiﬁer Great modern writers Bedtime story ‘Dream Catching’ by Joanna Cannon

32 44 48 52 73 80 83 84 91 96 126 127 130

DO Things to plan and do Tell a story out loud Competition Win meat deliveries for a year Try it out Vegan gourmet cooking Playlist Stormy weather songs Journal Sparks Prompts & projects Plants in the house Oxalis Home tour Handmade inspiration from Holland Growing Kathy Slack’s happy veg plot planning Weekend project Dip-dye stationery Wassailing A Twelfth Night tradition How to… Cross a frozen lake New tricks Slight adjustment • Reﬂecting on dreams Interiors hacks Make a suitcase coffee table

16 16 19 49 90 98 101 102 110 114 116 123 124 125 126

GO Can we tell you about… foodie hotels My City Perth, Australia • Small hill adventures On Britain’s low peaks

18 56 66

• = On the cover

WALLPAPER: AUDUBON PINK FROM THE ANIMALIA COLLECTION BY EMMA J SHIPLEY/CLARKE & CLARKE; WALLPAPERDIRECT.COM

COOK

FE B RUARY ISSU E

PHOTOGRAPHY: BEN MOSTYN; FLOORTJE VAN ESSEN INGENHOUSZ

BREATHE Gathering

My City

Outing

Hot soup & pasties on the beach

Exploring Kathmandu

Why we love a library

Know a thing or two...

Gardening

Nature

A guide to mindfulness

The joy of pruning

Winter writing on wild places

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS ISSUE… …you can buy the next one at icebergpress.co.uk/shop from 31 January 2018 If you really liked it, might we suggest a subscription? It’s cheaper, too – see page 95

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BEDTIME STORY

D R E A M C AT C H I N G A short story by JOANNA CANNON

“I see,”’ I said. “Or another dress!” We stopped briefly in front of a department store, which spat out a tide of yellow bags from its doorways. “Something I’ve seen, something I want.” I looked at the models in the window. Space where flesh used to be. The celebration of gaps between limbs. “When did we start coveting the absence of something?” I said, but she had moved on. We carried on, past more windows, more bargains. “Or a man,” she shouted. “Which man?” “I don’t know. I’m not really bothered.” She laughed. “As long as he treats me better than the last one.” “So you dream about the things you don’t have?” I said. “Of course. Doesn’t everybody?” We were almost at the tube station. The crowds grew thicker. You could feel a frustration building, as people tried to fight a way home with their carrier bags – all the things they felt necessary to slide into their lives. “Don’t you ever dream about what you have?” I said. “What’s the point in that? You already own them, don’t you? There’s no reason to dream about them any more.” We reached the top of the escalators. Below us, the whole of London seemed to spread itself across the floors of the station. Everyone fixed to their path. Everyone fighting to find a way out. She stood in front of me on the stairway. “What do you dream about, then?” she shouted, without turning. I looked up, and the weight of the street above pressed on to my shoulders. “Perhaps a little quietness,” I said, and smiled. The train was hot. The kind of stifling heat you only get when the pavements are pin-point cold, and we stood, cradled by the motion of the carriage. I watched a child on the seat opposite. She was lost in a dream. In a ballerina world where dolls have conversations with each other, and no one notices the heat and the swaying of the carriage. “I think you should buy that dress,” I said. “You do? Why?” “Because it’s January. It’s a new start…” “And?” she said. I winked at her. “There’s no better time for a new dream.”

Joanna Cannon went back to college in her thirties to complete the ‘A’ levels she abandoned in her teens. She went on to study medicine, specialising in psychiatry. Her second novel, Three Things About Elsie, is published by HarperCollins and her simple pleasure is “walking my German Shepherd Seth each morning.”

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ILLUSTRATION: HANNAH WARREN

“

hat do you dream about?” I said. We walked along the high street. People snaked past us, brushing our legs with carrier bags filled with bargains. Shouting. Laughter. A snatch of music from a busker. Someone crouched in a doorway, begging for acknowledgement. “That’s a strange question,” she said. I smiled at her. “Humour me.” “What does anyone dream about?” She stared into a shop window as she spoke. “I like that dress. I saw it online. It looks much nicer in the flesh.” I glanced and turned away. We moved further down the pavement. It was too noisy. This time of year was always louder, somehow. Shinier. More desperate to be heard. “Or maybe that one would suit me better.” She nodded at another window. Bright, glittery displays that hadn’t quite let go of Christmas, even though Christmas had been and gone. Now everything was reduced, made smaller, to make us feel it was more easily slid into our crowded lives. “You haven’t answered me,” I said. “I don’t know.” She nodded over at a travel agents. “A holiday I want to go on, maybe.”

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