Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2022 i The Simple Things

Ten years is no small achievement for a magazine to be part of people's lives, especially an indie one like The Simple Things. So, we hope you'll allow us a moment to reflect a little. There's always debate about our 'best' covers; I've selected 10 here from the last decade* that captured something special or stood for something important. GATHERING is the first cover we made as Iceberg Press and it was cook and photographer Catherine Frawley's first one for us, too. So, it's fitting that she made our 10th Birthday Cake (p22). Celebrating the season is at the heart of The Simple Things; MAGICAL has the anything's possible mood of midsummer's eve, while the snowdrops of CALM are that chink of hope we need at the dog-end of winter.…

WISHLIST Bookshop browse Art critic Hettie Judah’s fascinating book is a geological marvel, brimful of brilliant stories that explore the history of the earth from the fiery beginnings of the planet to the rare minerals that make modern communication possible. Honing in on 60 stones, from alunite to turquoise, Hettie tells her tales with a magpie’s eye for details gleaned from archaeology, mythology, art, science, sociology and philosophy. It’s a book about jewels, gems, jades and marbles, but it’s also the story of power and ritual and technology as she explores ‘how human culture has formed stone and the roles stone has played in forming human culture.’ (John Murray)…

Quayside Market A monthly street food, craft and independent business market at Sheffield’s Victoria Quays, Quayside Market has something for everyone. The next market is on 8 October, 12-9pm and entry is free. quaysidemarket.co.uk The Scottish International Storytelling Festival Every October, the Scottish International Storytelling Festival brings together Scottish and international storytellers and musicians in venues across Edinburgh for performances, workshops, talks and children’s events. It runs 14-30 October, and to find out more, visit sisf.org.uk London Bierfest Grab your lederhosen for the London Bierfest - the capital’s answer to Munich’s Oktoberfest. The event takes place on 6-7 October at Old Billingsgate Market, London. thelondonbierfest.com. For a slightly less full-on version, check local listings for events that’ll be happening across the UK.…

First cuppa of the day: where are you having it? We’ll have coffee in bed, taking it in turns to make it, followed by a long dog walk with our Weimaraner, Barley. The beach at Ynyslas is a particular favourite, with a flask to enjoy a brew ‘al fresco’. What does your work involve? We sell antique and vintage wares, and blog about related topics. We founded ‘H is for Home’ 15 years ago. What do you love best about it? The flexibility in managing our time and deciding which direction to take. We have lovely customers, too! What’s for breakfast? Coffee, fruit and yogurt. Later, we’ll have something substantial like croissants or poached eggs on toast. We sometimes have tea – strong, loose-leaf Yorkshire. Noted. Any favourite mugs? Justin’s…

GOOD THINGS TO EAT Welcome to my veg patch Take a stroll with me in my garden and see it change through the seasons. I’ll share what I’m planting, harvesting and cooking, including my successes… and my failures. We’ll gather the goodies in a muddy bucket and head to the kitchen to make a joyful meal (we’ll even use the slug-nibbled ones). These are the simple, seasonal recipes I make after a day in the garden. I hope they inspire and give you some new ways to celebrate nature’s bounty. The dog’s name is Hadleigh, by the way. In praise of Autumn Autumn, the most abundant time in the plot. The late summer crops are clinging on, but the winter harvest is arriving, too. It’s no wonder harvest festivals happen…

WELLBEING Good posture is one of those attributes that many of us believe to be the sole preserve of ballerinas, army majors and debutantes of days gone by. Sitting with a poker-straight spine feels unrealistic, particularly in this new era of working from home, where it’s possible to spend hours every day bent over a laptop and more hours every night slumped on the sofa. But could improving our posture allow us not just to look better, but to feel better both physically and mentally? THE POSTURE MYTH The first myth to debunk is that ‘good posture’ is not necessarily what you think it is. Osteopath Emma Hayward says that the common perception of “a really straight upright back” can actually be a very stiff position, which does not allow…

List great inventions and what comes to mind? The telephone, penicillin, the internet, possibly? These innovations have undoubtedly altered history, shaping lives throughout the world. But with inventions that have impacted most significantly on women’s lives - rather than universally - it’s notable how many are also by women - often stepping into gaps hitherto overlooked. Many such inventions transformed domestic spaces and responsibilities. For example, Derbyshire-born Valerie Hunter Gordon invented the disposable nappy in 1947 to cut out the “awful labour” of washing nappies. Surprised that no one seemed to have yet addressed the problem, she took matters into her own hands creating a prototype on her Singer. Her story is one of many that reinforce the phrase ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ and, for every Valerie, there…

Beneath the new crescent moon the combine harvester sits dark and silent, a huge crouching shadow creature. Sylvie opens the cab and swings herself up into the seat. The dry scent of the grain mingles with the mineral smell of diesel, familiar and comforting. Soon the night will be shaken by the engine’s roar and the waving sea of barley will be pinned in the glare of the lights, but for a moment she savours the quiet, the hush of the wind in the trees that edge the fields and the bark of a deer away beyond the farm. It is a beginning and an end. A new lunar month; by the time the moon is full, the harvest will be all but over and autumn will be settling in…

Britain used to be covered in a temperate rainforest that was alive with moss, lichens, liverworts and ferns, a home to rare fire-tailed redstarts and the sleek pine marten. Now, after medieval mining, Victorian charcoal burning, hungry sheep and timber production, only tiny fragments of this ‘treasure trove’ of biodiversity remain. Travelling across the country, Guy discovers lichens that look like tinsel, learns about the myths and legends of the forest, and brilliantly conveys just how important this rare habitat is. Elegantly written and enthusiastically researched, this is inspiring work. (William Collins)…

THINGS TO NOTE AND NOTICE Nature project Make a conker door decoration Got a little over-enthusiastic with your conker collection? Turn any extras into a wreath to welcome autumn and ward off spiders. Take a wire coat hanger and straighten it out, or a length of ordinary stiff garden wire. The wreath can be as big or small as you like. Punch a hole in each of your conkers – a drill is best but you can use a bradawl if careful. Paint the conkers with clear nail varnish to prevent them going dull as they age and leave to dry. Bend your wire into a heart shape with the ends meeting at the bottom point of the heart. Thread the conkers onto the wire until it’s full then twist…

Nature is right here, under our feet “You don’t have to travel to a National Park or somewhere exotic. If there’s one thing I want to say in my campaigning, it’s ‘just love what you’ve got.’ You don’t need to look anywhere else. The more you observe it, the more amazing it is.” We must not scare young people about climate change “The worst thing we can do is to teach the next generation that the Earth is a problem to be solved. We are filling them with fear and anger. The challenge is real. But we’ve got to counterbalance that with love and awe and wonder, otherwise we won’t keep working at it.” Nobody can solve the Earth's problems on their own “I won’t do it. You won’t do…

Many of us sit at our desks with our weight in the back of the pelvis and a rounded back. This makes it quite difficult to move in other directions. If we reach across for something or turn to talk to somebody, we put a lot of unnecessary strain on the back. At some point the body isn't going to tolerate it anymore and we end up with pain. A better way to sit is to have your weight more towards the front of the pelvis. This will mean there is a deeper fold at the hips, the tailbone has no weight in it and the lower back is no longer in a rounded position. Once you start sitting better, your spine will thank you for it almost immediately.…

PASSIONS Chances are, the last time you encountered a card reader it went ‘beep!’ and cleared you to leave the newsagent with your bread and milk, rather than requesting its palm be crossed with silver and delivering a tall, dark, handsome stranger forecast. Nevertheless, tarot is enjoying a resurgence, with modern readings as far from the hackneyed image above as your local corner shop is from chequebooks. Truly, tarot isn’t what it used to be. Although it probably wasn’t what you thought it was then, either. For a start, there’s nothing inherently occultish about tarot. Rather, the deck began life in the 1430s in the same capacity as its standard sister: as a game. Indeed, by the time tarot cards were being used to predict the future - about 1780…

HOME TOUR Buying a house when you live on the other side of the world is not for the faint hearted, but Christen Pears and Chris Blake had a clear idea of what they wanted in the UK when they were ready to make the big move here from western Australia. However, despite their meticulous planning, the search stopped short after the very first viewing. “I travelled ahead of Chris with an agreed list of nine properties to view in Cornwall and Devon,” explains Christen. ‘This house was the first I saw and it ticked so many boxes and felt so right, I just knew it was meant to be.” Cancelling the other viewings was a bold move. With Chris still some 9,500 miles away, an 18th-century house near Penzance,…

A PLACE TO STAY One of my favourite authors is Jane Austen, and my mum (a retired English teacher) loves her, too. Which meant when I suggested we visit Austen’s former home (above), now a museum, Mum needed little persuasion. It’s in Chawton, Hampshire, so we’d make a weekend of it, discovering a part of the country I didn’t know, as well as finding out more about the life and times of a writer that we both love. It was also a great excuse for a mother-daughter trip, a chance to spend time with my mum, doing something we both enjoy, after a tough couple of years. Where we stayed The Swan in Alresford, Hampshire, a few miles from Chawton. An 18th century coaching inn, it’s served travellers between London…

Footstool > £445, wintersmoon.co.uk Shopkeeper of the month Folk Stories Bringing traditional Polish folk art to a wider audience Karolina Merska, originally from Poland is a pajaki* maker living in London. She opened her shop Folka - a portmanteau word of Polka (Polish girl) and Folk - in Stoke Newington, London in 2019. Born out of her passion for folk and naive art, Karolina’s idea was to showcase unique pieces like glassware, sculptures, ceramics, paper craft and jewellery. “So many artists I met in Poland live in small, remote villages. Sometimes they feel forgotten and lonely,” explains Karolina. “It’s important for me to support them, share their stories and crafts and for me to revive forgotten crafts. I want Folka to be a place when you come and hunt for…

Kate Young’s celebratory book cheerleads the art of parties as she serves up 50 convivial recipes to share with friends and family. Garden, Dinner, Tea, Wedding and House parties are catered for, alongside delicious mentions of the food served at literary picnics, gatherings, soirées, feasts and marriages from old favourite novels and must-read moderns. Young’s recipes include a Caramel Apple and Sage wedding cake that will feed 80, as well as tasty things on toast, seasonal salads, cracking homemade Sausage Rolls, plus a Soft Cheese Omelette, the antidote to a hung-over morning after. (Head of Zeus)…

BAKING BLACKBERRY AND WHITE CHOCOLATE BIRTHDAY CAKE Serves 8-10 250g butter, at room temperature (plus extra for greasing) 250g caster sugar 4 eggs 250g self-raising flour 1 tsp baking powder 50g white chocolate chunks Zest of 1 lemon 100g blackberries FOR THE FILLING AND TOPPING: 50g blackberries Blackberry jam 250g mascarpone Zest of ½ lemon 1 Pour a glass of fizz to start the celebrations and preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4. Grease two 20cm cake tins and set aside. 2 In a freestanding mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy (about 8 mins), then add in each egg, combining fully before adding the next. 3 Add the flour and baking powder and mix until combined. 4 Fold in the chocolate chunks and zest with a wooden spoon or spatula. Then gently fold in the…

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, but for now just sit back, relax and enjoy some armchair travel. How long have you lived in the city? I lived just outside Belfast until the age of 18 and then because of the Troubles, I couldn’t get out of it fast enough and went away for uni. Today, I split my time between Belfast and London, spending the summer here with my family and commuting back and forth regularly to work and look…

Heather biscotti This recipe is from Amanda who runs the Temple, a beautiful café in Northton on the Isle of Harris. Bringing a Scottish twist to these Italian baked biscuits… maybe we should call them biscotty? This recipe calls for dried heather, which can be made by cutting the spikes of flowers while they’re still in bud, then hanging them to dry in small bunches out of direct sunlight. Makes enough to share 40g whole hazelnuts 355g plain flour 1½ tsp baking powder Pinch of salt 105g caster sugar 150g light brown sugar 3 eggs ½ tsp almond extract 85g olive oil 1 heaped tsp dried heather flowers Zest of ½ orange 1 Preheat the oven to 160C/Fan 140C/ Gas 2-3. Place the hazelnuts on a tray and toast lightly in the oven for 5 mins, then leave to cool.…

As a yoga teacher, Sally Parkes teaches students how to breathe well, feel more grounded and to be at ease in their bodies. She says that how we hold ourselves on a day-to-day basis is very important for good posture. Check yourself regularly and adjust if necessary. The more you do it, the more it will become habit. ✍ Walk and sit with your chin parallel to the floor as much as possible. ✍ When standing, position your feet hip-width apart and with your weight evenly distributed through the feet. ✍ Imagine drawing your tailbone down towards the earth to give a sense of length through your lower back. ✍ Roll your shoulders back and down often. ✍ Breathe broadly and deeply often to create expansion in the ribcage and…

‘In the sunshine and the postie dropped off the newest @simplethingsmag.’ @andhopedesigns ‘Ready to enjoy the simple things in life over a cuppa and some biscuits.’ @culture_bean ‘Reading in the garden… waiting to see the hedgehogs and bats.’ @claire_ives ‘Staying put with a cuppa and a flick through @simplethingsmag.’ @madebymim ‘Something I didn’t really get much of in January. But high hopes for February.’ @katepaveska ‘Sundays are for simple things.’ @little_harrogate_home ‘A Sunday well spent! ’ @heidi_swain ‘Reading my @simplethingsmag, which I hid away when it arrived’ @just_your_average_little_jo ‘Everything for a perfect summer’s afternoon. Look who was hiding!’ @rafelsenrozen ‘Sometimes it’s nice to do nothing at all but just chill and lie in the sun for a while.’ @becbradders1 This beautiful magazine feels like a real luxury.’ @visiontoreality.life ‘A few…

"There was an old, unusable fireplace here, so we removed it and made a desk nook to get the most out of an awkward space. I absolutely love the colour combo. Initially the nook was painted white but it felt like something was missing so I chose this turmeric colour to add some oomph and that’s exactly what it did. We repurposed an old Ikea desk we already had, so it was a budgetfriendly makeover. The space belongs to my 10-year-old son and all his friends think it’s such a cool feature to have. He enjoys sitting here not just to do school work but also to build Lego, work on drawings and daydream.” Sameera Stern-Gillet, Manchester @21_holmfield "I've always believed that a home office space should be beautiful, and so…

DOWN TO A TEA TOWEL This 'Home Grown' illustration takes its cue from designer Sophie Allport's home plot. Whether it inspires you to pick up your trowel or this towel (or both!), is up to you. £10.50, sophieallport.com MATCHBOXES PUZZLE Using one circle and one square each time, put the letters together to form seven six-letter words. The letters in each shape are in the right order, and either the square or circle can come first. When you have finished finding the words, there will be one set of letters left over. This will be the mystery keyword. © Lovatts Puzzles (answers on page 124) “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower" Albert Camus WHAT TO DO WITH A … TURNIP PRACTICAL: grow more turnips! Save…

Chanterelle You've won the forager's cup if you spot these chef favourites. Chanterelle comes from the Greek kantharos, or ‘cup'. The blusher Not so-called because you need to look at its ‘skirt' to tell it apart from the lethal Panthercap - but rather the colour it goes when cut. Parasol Like its namesake, mostly out in the summer months. And like us, when we've been in the sun too long, recognisable by its scaly cap. Porcini Meaning piglets in Italian, also known as penny bun in English, and ‘squirrel's bread' in Dutch, it's a foodie favourite no matter the language. Saffron milkcap Yellow tinged pink and a Northern star, fond of pine forests. Also has orange-y latex 'milk'. Eat a lot and urine for a colourful surprise. Wood blewit Clue's…

Bengali fish croquettes Starter or snack, this popular street food - Macher Chop - is usually piled high on carts and served up hot within minutes. Bengali fish croquettes Serves 4 1 potato, peeled and cubed 2 tbsp canola oil 1 small white onion, finely chopped ½ tsp sugar 1 garlic clove, finely grated 2 × 145g tins of tuna chunks in brine or sunflower oil, drained 1 tsp ground cumin 1 green bird’s eye chilli, finely chopped 2 tbsp chopped coriander (leaves and stalks) 2 eggs Fine golden breadcrumbs Oil, for deep-frying FOR THE PICKLE: 1 carrot and 1 beetroot, both peeled and cut into fine strips (4mm long and 3mm thick) ½ tsp salt Juice of ½ lime FOR THE BARIR BHAJA MASALA: 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp fennel seeds 6 cloves 1 bay leaf 1 cinnamon stick 1 tsp fenugreek seeds 1 tsp coriander seeds…