Small Ways To Live Well from The Simple Things

Join editor of The Simple Things Lisa Sykes and wellbeing editor Rebecca Frank as they embark on a dawn walk, discuss what they like to cook and eat over Easter and ways to maintain balance at this pivotal point of the year.

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

Thanks to our partner for Season 9, Friends of Glass, an organisation that celebrates and supports glass packaging for food, drink and cosmetics. Find out more about why glass is better for health, taste and the environment and follow them on instagram @friendsofglassuk

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett. 

On the blog

Easter feasting

Eggs en cocotte

Brioche hot cross buns

Rabbit biscuits

Austrian easter cakes Gugelhuph

Italian Easter Pie Torta Pasqualina

Hen keeping fact sheet 

What plants to plant in your garden for hens

In the March issue (165) available to buy here

Looking back: the history of the public clock

In the April issue (166) available to order here

Spring tartiflette

That’s all yolks! From pheasant egg Yorkshire puds to easter egg tiramisu

Left field farms –  where to try willow weaving, goat yoga and llama trekking

Small treasures – mini plants for spring and summer colour

The Big Idea – Lucky People by Nobuko Nakano

The wonder of whimsy 

Flourish (Volume four) our latest wellbeing bookazine available to buy here

Homebird  – our new bookazine about making the most of where you live. Available to order here 

Join The Simple Things’ Editor Lisa Sykes and Author of The Slow Traveller and regular contributor Jo Tinsley. We’ll be capturing that feeling you get when larks and adventures (or even just the possibility of them) beckons you from your bed. We’re getting out and about, doing a spot of foraging, discussing what makes a good walk and because it’s Mothers Day, there are a few mum stories too

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

Thanks to our partner for Season 9, Friends of Glass, an organisation that celebrates and supports glass packaging for food, drink and cosmetics. Find out more about why glass is better for health, taste and the environment and follow them on instagram @friendsofglassuk

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett. 

On the blog

Book-based trails

In the March issue (165) on sale now, available to buy here 

Could do list

Outing – follow-your-nose trails

How to drink magnolia

The fine art of mothering – artist Caroline Walker

In the new April issue on sale from 27 March. Order at picsandink.com from 23 March

Blossom foraging

In previous issues available at picsandink.com. 

Climbing a Small Hill (Issue 67)

Taking a train to the sea (Issue 61)

Sketching (Issue 39)

Lost gardens (Issue 153)

Wisdom: daughters learning from their mothers (153)

In our new Homebird bookazine

Outing - Reading the landscape when you are on a walk

Foraging – Hawthorn and elderflower in spring hedgerows

Learn more

Rivington Terraced Gardens

Lost Gardens of Heligan

Hawkstone Park Follies, Shropshire

The walker’s guide to clues and signs by Tristan Gooley

Britain’s Best Small Hills by Phoebe Smith

The Monsal Trail, Peak District

Slow ways – connecting rural and urban spaces

Make ways – Places you’d like to be able to walk

National Parks in 100 seconds

Join The Simple Things’ Editor Lisa Sykes and our regular co-host, contributor to the magazine and author of The Slow Traveller, Jo Tinsley, as they get thinking about how spring is much better time than wintry new year to take stock of you, exploring realisations and understanding about yourself and others. If you think that sounds a bit serious, do not worry, we’ll also be doing a procrastination quiz, learning life lessons from literature and highlighting a few of the great women and their stories we have featured in the magazine for International Women’s Day.

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

Thanks to our partner for Season 9, Friends of Glass, an organisation that celebrates and supports glass packaging for food, drink and cosmetics. Find out more about why glass is better for health, taste and the environment and follow them on instagram @friendsofglassuk

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett 

On the blog

Quiz | Which member of The Famous Five are you?

In previous issues (on sale at picsandink.com)

Kitchen Therapy: Layers of onions (Issue 164)

Life lessons from Russian Literature (issue 64). Read more in The Anna Karenina fix by Viv Groskop 

Lessons from The Famous Five (Issue 123)

Gifts from the Goddesses – Contemporary retellings of greek myths (issue 122)

Life Lessons from Alice – Be curious, eat cake and never steal jam tarts from royalty (Issue 109)

Procrastination Quiz – Find it hard to Get Stuff Done, occasionally? Take our entirely scientific and extremely focused quiz and find out exactly what type of procrastinator you are and how best to overcome it (or simply live alongside it). (Issue 87)

As Good As Your Word – Using more positive language can make a big difference to your life, reawakening your confidence and boosting your happiness (Issue 76)

Wisdom: women doing what they love across the UK’s paths and roads, bridleways and waters (Issue 156)

Wisdom: Learn with Mother – women who have each inherited unique qualities from their mothers, with childhood lessons carried into their adult lives (issue 153)

Flip-thinking - turning problems into opportunities (issue 129)

Future tense: why some anxiety is good for us (issue 123)

In our Flourish Volume 4

Mental Notes – Life lessons from around the globe

Find out more

Words Can Change Your Brain by Dr Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman (Penguin) 

50 Sentences That Make Life Easier: A Guide for More Self-Confidence by Kari

Join The Simple Things’ Wellbeing Editor Rebecca Frankand our regular co-host, contributor to the magazine and author of The Slow Traveller, Jo Tinsley, as they talk about how these early days of spring bring about a rise in energy, an urge to sort and maybe spring clean and how to bring new life to old and get out in the garden.

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

Thanks to our partner for Season 9, Friends of Glass, an organisation that celebrates and supports glass packaging for food, drink and cosmetics. Find out more about why glass is better for health, taste and the environment and follow them on instagram @friendsofglassuk

 Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett 

On the blog

Koromagae Linen Spray

In the March issue (165) on sale now, available to buy here

Spruce up – As the garden springs back to life, now is the time to rejuvenate neglected corners. 

Magical Creatures: An appreciation of the first butterfly of the year

Home Economics: Tropical Fruits. How to ensure the long journey of these drops of sunshine is worth its while.

Gathering: Clothes swap brunch 

Wisdom: The joy of enough. A change in circumstances made Anna Kilpatrick rethink her life. 

In the Feb issue (164) available to buy here

My Place: linen cupboards 

Change by numbers: Helping to make the world a better place 

In our Flourish Volume 4

Pleasure Garden – Spring seems to arrive sooner when you have fruit trees and blossom

The First Blossom:  a promise of renewal each spring. 

Find out more

Plantlife's No Mow May Movement

Not Needing New: A Practical Guide to Finding the Joy of Enough (Orion)

Join The Simple Things’ Wellbeing Editor Rebecca Frank and Contributing Editor Jo Tinsley as they discuss why this is a good time of year to get started with new projects, the brain-boosting benefits of learning a new skill and the science behind creating habits.

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

 Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett. 

Thanks to our supporter for Season 9, Friends of Glass, an organisation that celebrates and supports glass packaging for food, drink and cosmetics. Find out more about why glass is better for health, taste and the environment and follow them on instagram @friendsofglassuk

On the blog

Match your creative itch to a new class here

Projects using glass on instagram @friendsofglassuk

Making a jam jar garden

Ways with rosemary: 

Rosemary and ginger hinny herbal tipple

Olive oil, rosemary and apricot cake

A guide to rosemary pairings 

In the February issue (164) on sale now, available to buy here

My Living - we chat to Catherine Mugonyi, founder of community arts space Aunty Social in Blackpool

Tarot for therapy – using the cards to help unlock thoughts, feelings and emotions

Tea & Tarot – an afternoon tea with a wellbeing twist

In the March issue (165) available to order here (on sale in shops from 27 March)

More than words – why learning a language is good for our brains and our communities. Find out more at Sign Language Week (16-22 March) 

My City Malaga – a local’s guide to this sunny city in spring

In Flourish (Volume 4), available to buy here

Growing habits – if you want to change anything, start small and let it grow 

Heart, body and soul – rosemary recipes and a soothing rosemary and lemon scalp rub

Join The Simple Things’ Editor Lisa Sykes and Wellbeing Editor Rebecca Frank as they find reasons to celebrate during February, including the returning daylight, time spent with friends and loved ones and joyful occasions from Lunar New Year to Shrove Tuesday. 

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

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett. 

On the blog

Seville & blood orange marmalade 

Blood orange posset

Blood orange Negroni

Vietnamese summer rolls recipe

In the February issue (164) on sale now available to buy here

Foods of love – what we eat and how we eat it has long associations with romance

Friends for life – the mood-boosting, life-enhancing benefits of friendship

Kitchen therapy – Sensory baking (Herb and black olive fougasse and Cavolo Nero Gnochi) and simple embroidered onions

My City Taipei – cherry blossom and feasting during Lunar New Year

What to do with orange peel – from scented kitchen spray to joyful garlands

In the January issue (163) available to buy here

The Big Idea: Could you be an Otrovert? Explore the thinking behind Dr Rami Kaminski’s book The Gift of Not Belonging: How Outsiders Thrive In A World Of Joiners (Scribe)

In our A Year of Celebrations Anthology

Lunar New Year gathering – recipes to share and celebrate with friends

Find out more

Travelling sun sculpture myhelios.org

Thanks to our partner for Season 9, Friends of Glass, an organisation that celebrates and supports glass packaging for food, drink and cosmetics. Find out more about why glass is better for health, taste and the environment and follow them on instagram @friendsofglassuk

In the STAR episode The Simple Things’ Editor Lisa Sykes and author of The Slow Traveller and regular contributor Jo Tinsley celebrate Twelfth Night and look for other reasons to cheer up what feels like the longest month of January.

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

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett. 

On the blog

Candle Holder

How To Wassail Well

How to hold a Wassail

Buttered bourbon apple cider

Tangerine and nutmeg hot chocolate

Blood Orange Posset

Slow Orange Poppy Seed Cake

In the January issue (163) on sale now

The appeal of ice skating

A winter of care and repair

In our In our A Year of Celebrations Anthology

Gathering: Twelfth Night with the La Fête des Rois

Candle holders 

In previous issues, available to buy at picsandink.com

Life lessons from the north: the value of age-old customs and community in enduring the long, dark winters. (Issue 151)

Looking back why we are fascinated by the stars (issue 152)

Snow lanterns (issue 138)

Learn more

Candles: A modern guide to making candles by Ebi Sinter and Emmanuel Sinteh

Watch out for the Quadrantid meteor shower between 28 December-12 January, peeking around 3-4 January 2026

Slow Down And Be Here Now by Laura Brand and Freya Hartas

A Winter Dictionary: A Collection of Words for the Festive Season by Paul Anthony Jones

Thanks to our partner for the Merry Midwinter season, the Marine Stewardship Council, which sets certification standards for sustainable fisheries and awards the blue ecolabel on fish and fish products. Find out more about the best fish to choose at msc.org and follow them on instagram @mscintheuk

If you’ve got some time off, now’s the chance to kick back a bit. Join Wellbeing Editor Rebecca FrankAuthor of The Slow Traveller and regular contributor Jo Tinsley

In Episode 5 PAUSE, as they share ideas for carving out some time to relax and reset in this in-between bit of Christmas.

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

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett. 

On the blog

How to do a jigsaw properly

In the January issue (163) on sale now

Long views from tall towers

Taking cues from the  people, animals and nature that surround us 

Life lessons from David Attenborough

Fish pie and cheddar mash

Learn more

Is a gansey a Guernsey?

Mindwandering: How It Can Improve Your Mood and Boost Your Creativity, by Moshe Bar (Bloomsbury Tonic)

Fish pie hash 

In previous issues available to buy at picsandink.com

Wearing well: Mittens (issue 127)

Panettone French toast (Issue 138)

Favourite annuals (issue 138)

Thanks to our partner for the Merry Midwinter season, the Marine Stewardship Council, which sets certification standards for sustainable fisheries and awards the blue ecolabel on fish and fish products. Find out more about the best fish to choose at msc.org and follow them on instagram @mscintheuk

Join The Simple Things’ Editor Lisa Sykes and Wellbeing Editor Rebecca Frank as we get stuck into festive feasting. We’ll be talking turkey, side dishes, tipples and nibbles, how to explain Christmas Eve to kids with science and just why we love Boxing Day so much. 

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

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett.  

On the blog

 Root veg peel crisps

 Christmas Eve explained 

 Cheese board pairings 

 Brussel sprout bhajias 

 Which Christmas character are you? 

In the December issue (162) on sale now  

Boxing day buffet – roast cranberry and mustard gammon, winter goat’s cheese salad, meringue nests with fruit and boozy cream

Grow your own Christmas Day veg 

Sprout slaw 

Homemade blinis 

In previous issues available at picsandink.com

Kitschmas – snowball, devilled eggs, mozzarella and pineapple sticks (Issue 150)

Why we love Boxing Day (Issue 150)

In our A Year of Celebrations Anthology

Side dishes as celebratory as the roast they surround 

Thanks to our partner for the Merry Midwinter season, the Marine Stewardship Council, which sets certification standards for sustainable fisheries and awards the blue ecolabel on fish and fish products. Find out more about the best fish to choose at msc.org and follow them on instagram @mscintheuk

Join Wellbeing Editor Rebecca Frank and Author of The Slow Traveller and regular contributor Jo Tinsley as they help you discover ways to find your own little pockets of calm in the run up to Christmas. In this episode, we appreciate the quiet of the approaching solstice, press pause and take some time for ourselves before curling up with some winter reads. 

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

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett. 

On the blog

How to solve an Agatha Christie novel

Books that Embrace the Cold

Why We Love Cosy Crime

In the December issue (162) on sale now

Pressing pause: Whether it’s a few minutes to yourself or a day away, giving yourself time to do the things you enjoy this month will help prevent overwhelm 

Kitchen therapy 

Reading: awell-chosen book can bring moments of comfort, calm and cheer over the coming weeks.

Modern eccentrics: Solstice revellers 

My place: Festive foliage

Learn more

Nature’s Calendar: The British Year In 72 Seasons by Kiera Chapman, Lulah Ellender, Rowan Jaines, Rebecca Warren (Granta) 

In previous issues available at picsandink.com

A day in December: images that captured the magic of this month (150)

How to get on with your siblings as grown-ups (and have a more harmonious yuletide). (126)

A winter walk is a breath of fresh air. (150)

Tuning into the month’s micro-seasons (138)

Thanks to our partner for the Merry Midwinter season, the Marine Stewardship Council, which sets certification standards for sustainable fisheries and awards the blue ecolabel on fish and fish products. Find out more about the best fish to choose at msc.org and follow them on instagram @mscintheuk