If you’re looking for ways to comfort and soothe your winter weary mind and body, then pop the kettle on, curl up and join us.

The Simple Things’ Editor Lisa Sykes and Wellbeing Editor, Rebecca Frank, are talking pies, toast and other comfort foods, and how growing veg is a mental and physical tonic. We’ll also be discussing sunrooms and citrus trees and the pillars of good health that will help to keep us on track as winter draws to a close.

Editing and music by Arthur Cosslett. Season 5: Return of the light is supported by Blackdown Shepherd Huts 

Season 5: Return of the light is supported by Blackdown Shepherd Huts

If you are in the UK, you can choose an immediate start subscription to the The Simple Things and receive the current issue straight away. Or buy current and back issues here. 

To read:

Rough Patch: How a Year in The Garden Brought Me Back To Life by Kathy Slack (Robinson) 

How to Sleep Like a Caveman: Ancient Wisdom for a Better Night’s Rest by Merijn van de Laar (William Collins)

On the blog:

Marmite and cheddar Welsh Rarebit

Nettle rarebit

Reinventing the toastie

Easter pie (Torta Pasqualina)

Root veg, Marmite & cheddar pie

Picnic pie

Spring slaw

To do:

British Pie Week (3-9 March 2025)

From The Simple Things:

Issue 141 – Growing a lemon tree

In the new March MEND issue (order via picsandink.com)

Life of pies - our favourite pies for picnics, parties, handy lunches and hearty dinners

Things I learned from the soil: Between the bare beds of winter and the abundance of spring - Kathy Slack finds hope in the veg patch cycle

If you’ve got cabin fever and are ready to head out and about then we’re here to help

Wellbeing editor, Rebecca Frank and author of The Slow Traveller, Jo Tinsley, are taking some deep breaths as they head outdoors to blow (or even rinse off) the cobwebs with a bracing walk or a sauna and a cold dip. We will be also be finding ways to keep warm while appreciating nature and satisfying the urge to get growing again.

Editing and music by Arthur Cosslett. Season 5: Return of the light is supported by Blackdown Shepherd Huts

Small Ways to Live Well is a podcast from The Simple Things, a monthly magazine about slowing down, remembering what’s important and making the most of where you live.

If you are in the UK, you can choose an immediate start subscription to the magazine at http://www.icebergpress.co.uk/subscribe and receive the current issue straight away. Or buy current and back issues here.

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett

To read:

Weathering: How the earth’s deep wisdom can help us endure life’s storms by Ruth Allen (Ebury)

Just Add Nature: Embrace the healing powers of nature and increase your sense of wellbeing by Rebecca Frank (National Trust)

To go and do:

The Eden Project, Cornwall 

Sheffield Winter Garden 

The Japanese Gardens, Tatton Park, Cheshire 

The Japanese Garden, St Mawgan Cornwall 

Jack and Jill Windmills, West Sussex 

Cley Windmill, Norfolk 

The Line, London 

Beach Box Spa, Brighton

Stamner Sauna Garden storytelling 

Oakhill Ponds, Somerset 

Ty Sawna, Gower Peninsula 

The British Sauna Society

Glen Dye Cottages

On the blog:

The Swedish concept of Fika 

Beachcombing: Things you can take home from the seaside 

Yarn Bomber’s Toolkit 

In the February GLIMMER issue: 

Another Country: If holidays seem a long way off, get a tiny taste of travel thanks to landscapes, culture and food from aboard

Jam Jar Gardens: Planting hyacinth bulbs in mason jars

Flavour of the Weeks: Jenny Coates’ nature diary project Jenny Coates’ 52 Weeks of Nature Art

If you’re not yet ready to come out of hibernation then this episode is for you. 

Editor, Lisa Sykes, and wellbeing editor, Rebecca Frank are being kind to themselves, enjoying animal love stories, hugs and other tender gestures, learning how to seek out glimmers, make amends and discovering the importance of saying sorry.

Editing and music by Arthur Cosslett. Season 5: Return of the light is supported by Blackdown Shepherd Huts

Small Ways to Live Well is a podcast from The Simple Things, a monthly magazine about slowing down, remembering what’s important and making the most of where you live.

You can try an immediate start subscription at www.thesimplethings.com/subscribe and receive the current issue straight away, or buy current and back issues at https://picsandink.com/collections/the-simple-things. If you can’t find the issue you’re looking for send us an email [email protected]

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett

To read:

Self-Care For Winter: Seven Steps To Thriving In The Colder Months by Suzy Reading (Aster)

Talk: The Science of Conversation and The Art of Being Ourselves by Alison Wood Brooks (Penguin Life)

How To Have Extraordinary Relationships by Lucy Cavendish (Hardie Grant)

Why Buy Roses in February? Campaign from SSAW Collective about ethical ways of working with seasonal produce. 

To listen:

Vardrypp – from a Norwegian reader, it's about the moment when the snow starts to melt / drip and you know winter is ending and spring is coming (March in Norway)

Sunshine and Moonbeams by reader Louise Ashcroft

Team TST’s mixtape playlist – all about the songs we remembered from mix tapes past

To buy:

Valentine’s Day alternative ideas:

Scented narcissi www.scillyflowers.co.uk

Devil’s ivy (Golden Pothos)

String of hearts (Ceropegia Woodii)

 From The Simple Things:

In the February GLIMMER issue: 

Kitchen therapy: feeding your senses 

Glimmers: small moments of joy 

Animal love matches 

Coming up in the March MEND issue (order via picsandink.com from 20 February)

Making amends: how to say sorry 

Clementine Curd recipe 

Flourish – volume 3 of our wellbeing bookazine

You can try an immediate start subscription at www.thesimplethings.com/subscribe and receive the current issue straight away, or buy current and back issues at https://picsandink.com/collections/the-simple-things. If you can’t find the issue you’re looking for send us an email hello@picsandink.

Join in our special cook along episode as the team make Christmas cakes, large and small and a gluten-free pudding. In between stirring and mixing, The Simple Things’ Editor Lisa Sykes, Wellbeing Editor Becs Frank and regular contributor Jo Tinsley, will talk festive tipples, homemade gifts and advent calendars. As the cakes cook they’ll be reading seasonal microfiction.

 
SPOILER ALERT!

One of our stories in the second half of this podcast involves Santa Claus and if you have little listeners in earshot, it might not be something you want them around to hear if you want to keep the magic of Christmas going that little bit longer!
 
To do:

Listen to our festive playlists – search ‘Christmas Playlist’ on our blog for the Spotify links

To buy:

Gift subscriptions to The Simple Things

Manifesto tea towel

Christmas manifesto cards

Subscribe to The Simple Things 

On the blog: 

• Swedish glogg 
• Simple homemade hanging decorations
• Stollen with dark rum and lemon marzipan
• Bath salts
• Galette Des Rois
• Mulled white wine

 From The Simple Things:

Craft-a peel gathering – November 2023, Issue 137 – Stollen recipe, How to Dry Orange Slices and Painted Candles 

Mulling Spices for Wine gift idea – November 2022, Issue 125 

Christmas microfiction winners –  December 2023, Issue 138 

Back issues are available to buy. If you can’t find the issue you’re looking for, send us an email [email protected]

In the new December Christmas Cheer issue

Hamper swap gathering

Christmas food tidbits trivia

Kitschmas retro drinks & nibbles

To subscribe or order a copy of the magazine visit thesimplethings.com

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett

In our Nourish episode Lisa Sykes, editor of The Simple Things magazine, chats to Wellbeing editor Becs Frank about hearty and healthy comfort food, domestic goddesses, why we all have a favourite mug and how to feed your skin in the winter months.

Small Ways to Live Well is a podcast from The Simple Things, a monthly magazine about slowing down, remembering what’s important and making the most of where you live.

To subscribe or order a copy of the magazine visit thesimplethings.com

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett

To read:

Genius Gut by Dr Emily Leeming (Penguin)

Regrown: How to Grow Fruit, Herbs and Vegetables from Kitchen Scraps by Paul Anderton and Robin Daly (Hardie Grant)

On the blog:

Hasselback Squash with chestnuts, pancetta & mushrooms

https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/hasselback-squash

Bedtime cake
 https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/bedtime-cake

Bonfire treats

Cinder toffee https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/2015/11/4/recipe-cinder-toffee

Rye & apple parkin https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/rye-apple-parkin?rq=parkin

Smoked toffee apple bourbon https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/2015/10/5/recipe-smoked-toffee-apple-bourbon?rq=bonfire

 
From The Simple Things

In the November JEWEL issue

Carrot and Horlicks Tres Leches Cake 

Rye spiced pumpkin loaf

Lemony parsnip houmous with sage

An ode to our favourite mugs

In the October WEAVE issue 

How domestic goddesses changed the way we cook

Flourish – volume 3 of our wellbeing bookazine

Back issues are available to buy at https://picsandink.com/collections/the-simple-things. If you can’t find the issue you’re looking for send us an email [email protected]

This week, Editor of The Simple Things magazine, Lisa Sykes and regular contributor, Jo Tinsley seek out treasures of the season such as berries, hips, haws, pine cones and conkers; making magical land art; guerrilla gardening and seed bombs; growing unusual berries straight out of The Gruffalo; and the subtle art of letting go.

Small Ways to Live Well is a podcast from The Simple Things, a monthly magazine about slowing down, remembering what’s important and making the most of where you live.

To subscribe or order a copy of the magazine visit thesimplethings.com

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett

To read:

The Seed Detective: Uncovering the Secret Histories of Remarkable Vegetables by Adam Alexander (Chelsea Green Publishing)

Finding Quiet Strength by Judith Kleinman (Quickthorn)

Tiny Traumas by Dr Meg Arroll (Thorsons)

The National Trust Book of Crumbles by Laura Mason (Harper Collins)

To make:

Damson cheese, hawthorn berry ketchup and salted sloes

https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/2014/09/10/fruits-hedgerow?rq=sloe

Seed bombs

https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/make-seed-bombs?rq=Seed%20bombs

Pine cone bird feeder

https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/2016/12/14/how-to-make-a-pine-cone-bird-feeder?rq=Goldfinches 

From The Simple Things Magazine:

October WEAVE issue 

https://picsandink.com/products/the-simple-things-issue-148-october?_pos=1&_psq=The+Simple+Things&_ss=e&_v=1.0

November JEWEL issue 

https://picsandink.com/products/the-simple-things-issue-149-november?_pos=2&_psq=The+Simple+Things&_ss=e&_v=1.0

 
Flourish – volume 3 of our wellbeing bookazine

https://picsandink.com/products/flourish-volume-3?_pos=1&_sid=45c0aa519&_ss=r

 
On the blog:

Wellbeing | How to let go of being busy

https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/wellbeing-let-go-busyness?rq=Letting%20go

Recipe | Sticky sloe and nut clusters

https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/sloe-nut-clusters?rq=sloe%20treacle%20tart

Our remedy of the week | Rosehip syrup

https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/2015/10/7/recipe-rosehip-syrup-and-sloe-gin?rq=sloe

Feature references

Seeds of memories, Berried treasure and Let it sloe (with a recipe for Sloe treacle tart) published in November 2022 (issue 125)

Letting go feature published in October 2023 (issue 136)

Fall into place (land art by artist James Brunt) published in November 2023 (issue 137)

Back issues are available to buy at https://picsandink.com/collections/the-simple-things If you can’t find the issue you’re looking for send us an email

Wellbeing Editor of The Simple Things magazine, Becs Frank and regular contributor, Jo Tinsley discuss our fascination with fire, spicy foods for eating and healing, mending winter woollens and ways to make an autumn walk more ‘awe’ inspiring. Plus a short short on creative autumn pastimes.

Small Ways to Live Well is a podcast from The Simple Things, a monthly magazine about slowing down, remembering what’s important and making the most of where you live.

To subscribe or order a copy of the magazine visit thesimplethings.com

Music and editing by Arthur Cosslett

To go:
Somerset carnivals
https://www.somersetcountycarnivals.com

To read:
Enchantment Reawakening wonder in an exhausted age by Katherine May (Faber & Faber)

Awe: The Transformative Power of Everyday Wonder by Dacher Keltner (Penguin)

To make:
Pumpkin projects
https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/pumpkin-beer-keg?rq=beer%20keghttps://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/pumpkin-bird-feeder?rq=beer%20kegDip dye candles:
https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/make-dip-dye-candles

From The Simple Things
October WEAVE issue -
https://picsandink.com/products/the-simple-things-issue-148-october?_pos=1&_psq=The+Simple+Things&_ss=e&_v=1.0November JEWEL issue –
https://picsandink.com/products/the-simple-things-issue-149-november?_pos=2&_psq=The+Simple+Things&_ss=e&_v=1.0

Flourish – volume 3 of our wellbeing bookazine
https://picsandink.com/products/flourish-volume-3?_pos=1&_sid=45c0aa519&_ss=rOn the blog:

Turmeric balls
https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/turmeric-balls?rq=turmeric

Hot cranberry toddy
https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/cranberrytoddy?rq=cranberry%20toddy

Revamp your woollens
https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/revamp-woollies


Feature references
The Christmas Craft Gathering and Know a Thing or Two Spices features appeared in November 2023 (issue 137)

Looking up feature appeared in October 2023 (issue 136)

Know a Thing or Two Wool appeared in November 2021 (issue 113)

Know a Thing or Two Fungi appeared in November 2020 (issue 101)

Back issues are available to buy at https://picsandink.com/collections/the-simple-things

If you can’t find the issue you’re looking for send us an email [email protected]

Editor of The Simple Things magazine, Lisa Sykes and Wellbeing Editor Becs Frank light candles, discuss ways to save daylight and keep melancholy at bay, marvel at autumn colours and the science behind them. The kettle’s on, there is a selection of good cake and time to pause for a seasonal short story.

Editing by Arthur Cosslett.

To go:

Westonbirt arboretum – https://www.forestryengland.uk/westonbirt-the-national-arboretumTo read:

Japanese Art of Living Seasonally: An invitation to celebrate every day by Natalie Leon (Watkins Media)

Damn Good Dumplings by Stratis Morfogen (Page Street Publishing)On our blog:

Apple Cinnamon Rose Cake – https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/recipe-apple-amp-cinnamon-rose-cake?rq=apple%20cake

Bobbing Apples Cake – https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/bobbing-apples-cake?rq=apple%20cake

Nightwalking playlist – https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/nightwalkplaylist?rq=NightFrom The Simple Things:

October WEAVE issue – https://picsandink.com/collections/the-simple-things/products/the-simple-things-issue-148-october

November JEWEL issue – https://picsandink.com/collections/the-simple-things/products/the-simple-things-issue-149-november

The Greenhouse gathering featured in our October 2022 issue - 124 (edited) 

This episode we take a moment to enjoy the final throes of summer before the return to routine and the start of another season. The Simple Things Editor, Lisa Sykes, and Wellbeing Editor, Becs Frank are taking stock and setting intentions but also working out how to make summer stretch a little bit longer.

Expect a tipple or two and could-do lists for the year ahead. Plus a final original short story to wrap up our Everyday Holidays season.

Small Ways to Live Well is a podcast from The Simple Things, a monthly magazine about slowing down, remembering what’s important and making the most of where you live.

To subscribe or order a copy of the magazine visit thesimplethings.com

Editing by Arthur Cosslett.

They don't call August silly season for nothing.

The Simple Things’ Wellbeing  Editor, Becs Frank, is back with Editor, Lisa Sykes eating ice cream and lollies and playing big kid games in the park. They’re going barefoot and trying some messy projects in a bid to find the fun and adventure. A spot of laughter yoga, anyone?

Small Ways to Live Well is a podcast from The Simple Things, a monthly magazine about slowing down, remembering what’s important and making the most of where you live.

To subscribe or order a copy of the magazine visit thesimplethings.com

Editing by Arthur Cosslett.