The Simple Things

The Simple Things is a beautiful, useful, quirky and fun magazine about taking time to live well. We cover mindfulness and microadventures, eating and growing, forgotten wisdom, home life and slow moments. It's for people who love their lives but want to take the pressure off and remember what’s really important. We like tea & cake, learning stuff, being outside and the satisfaction of a job well done. Do you?

A could-do list Rest

EDITOR

Things to want and wish for • Loving your home, inside and out. Books and treats for you to enjoy.

Markets & fairs

Maker of the month

Looking back, moving forwards • BY CARVING OUT TIME TO REFLECT ON OUR LIVES, WE CAN CREATE A POSITIVE ROAD MAP FOR THE MONTHS AHEAD

Tiny ideas for dynamic reflection

Heart, body and soul PINE • CREATE AND COOK WITH A SIMPLE INGREDIENT TO FEED YOU, GIVE TO OTHERS AND LIFT YOUR SPIRITS

January Almanac • SEASONAL THOUGHTS TO HELP YOU ENJOY THE MONTH

CAKE IN THE HOUSE • A bitter burst of grapefruit cuts through the sweetness, an ideal pick-me-up for grey January days.

My day in cups of tea • We asked Edinburgh’s tea expert Esther Kungu-Cooper to tell us about her day in cuppas – and to fill us in on the secrets of a good brew

A simple thing...

MY CITY* QUÉBEC CITY • AT ITS BEST ON A CRISP WINTER MORNING, MÉLANIE JEAN SHARES THE FRENCH CULTURE AND WILD SPACES OF HER NATIVE CITY

MELANIE’S PERSONAL TOUR

A POETIC PAUSE • New Year’s Omens

A warm glow • BURNS NIGHT IS LIKE A BEACON TO AIM FOR IN THE DARK OF MIDWINTER – AND ONE MORE OPPORTUNITY FOR WINTRY FUN WITH FOOD, FRIENDS AND A WHISKY (OR TWO)

WHISKY FOR CELEBRATING

The 72 seasons • Keen to look closer at changes taking place in the natural world, Lev Parikian applied the Ancient Japanese idea of microseasons to his patch of Britain across a year. Each offered something new to see, smell or hear, an alternative way of paying attention to what’s happening around us

“I may have nailed a life that’s not too big, not too small… but just right. Having few things is both a joy and a freedom” • When Ben Ranyard decided to live on a narrowboat and start a flower seed business, he edited his possessions down to just two metres cubed (and one very large dog). He tells Katy Bravery about a life lived with just enough

At the cutting patch with Ben

SEEDS OF CHANGE • The Ben Ranyard CV

Cold comforts • AS THE MONSTER COLD CONTINUES TO DO ITS ROUNDS THIS WINTER, WE REVISIT OLD-SCHOOL REMEDIES, FROM GARLIC MILK TO GARGLING SALT, TO FIND OUT WHAT REALLY WORKS

Oldies but goodies

Defend yourself

Now what did the old wife say?

WEARING WELL • Stories of the clothes we love TARTAN

A simple thing...

GOOD THINGS • POSITIVE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

GOOD FIGURES • Where statistics and optimism meet

Lighting the way to safer childbirth • SOLAR POWER IS MAKING HEALTHCARE IN RURAL SIERRA LEONE SUSTAINABLE AND SAFE

EXCELLENT WOMEN • Providing wigs to children with cancer

The Happy Broadcast

NOW YOU SEE ME • WHETHER HIDING FROM PREDATORS OR PREPARING AN AMBUSH, THESE ANIMALS ARE WELL PRACTISED AT BLENDING INTO THE BACKGROUND: BORN NATURALS IN THE ACT OF CAMOUFLAGE

The skin you’re in • How do you say thank you to your own body after 50 years? Alison McClintock decided to push herself well out of her comfort zone and pose for a life modelling session

SIGHTS, DRAMA, ACTION • REFRAME A BLEAK AND BARREN LANDSCAPE WITH A MID-WINTER WALK THAT SETS THE STAGE FOR A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON FAMILIAR SIGHTS

WHAT I TREASURE • My skiing polar bear coaster by Nancy Larochelle

THE SPIES WHO WE LOVED •...