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 Heart

Editor

FEBRUARY ALMANAC • Seasonal thoughts & things to help you enjoy the month

FEBRUARY DEVOTIONAL • Devotionals provide space in your day for thought and meditation. Join us for a quiet moment.

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

The wanderer returns • SIMPLY DREAMING OF AND PLANNING YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER

ARMCHAIR TRAVEL • A mental escape from the routine can give you a lift – without leaving home

Magical creatures • AN APPRECIATION OF THE CURLEW

MAKE A BREAK FOR IT • GET MORE FROM YOUR LUNCH HOUR, EVEN IF YOU’RE NOT IN THE OFFICE, BY EXPLORING YOUR LOCAL AREA OR EMBRACING THE SIMPLE PLEASURES HOME HAS TO OFFER

Books on the menu

CAKE IN THE HOUSE • Make the most of seasonal rhubarb with a cake that works so well with a cup of coffee – that’s elevenses sorted!

My day in cups of tea • We asked forest educator and wild café owner Diane Amey to share just a few of the cuppas she sees over the course of each day.

A simple thing...

“People will try to put you in a box. But it’s important to break out of it” • You can’t take on a much bigger project than trying to start your own bank. Entrepreneur Anne Boden tells Andreina Cordani about the life lessons she’s learned along the way

GAINING CREDIT

A feast of good fortune • CELEBRATE THE DAWNING OF THE YEAR OF THE OX WITH A FAMILY DINNER YOU CAN ALL GET INVOLVED IN

A TOP TRANSFORMATION • TAKE A SIMPLE DESIGN AND GIVE A FAVOURITE ITEM OF CLOTHING A NEW LEASE OF LIFE WITH A BLOCK-PRINT PATTERN

GOOD FIGURES • Where statistics and optimism meet

SMALL CHANGE

It’s official: rainforests are not for sale • INDIGENOUS WOMEN IN ECUADOR HAVE SAVED HALF A MILLION ACRES OF THE AMAZON FROM OIL EXTRACTION AND EXPLOITATION

EXCELLENT WOMEN • Cyclist brings hope (and a bike) to refugees

SAN JUAN • PAULINA SALACH ANTONETTI GUIDES US AROUND THE COLOURFUL STREETS OF PUERTO RICO’S CAPITAL

PAULINA’S PERSONAL TOUR

Borrowing time • Much more than simply the books they hold, libraries are places where ideas can be forged and friendships formed, believes Janet Skeslien Charles, all done under the watchful care of their librarians

Growing habits • FORGET BIG INTENTIONS OR RASH RESOLUTIONS, IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE ANYTHING YOU NEED TO START TINY AND LET IT GROW…

Making new habits stick

Teeny-tiny habits

CRYSTAL CLEAR • CREATE A GEM OF A PENDANT THAT YOU CAN HANG AROUND YOUR NECK OR EVEN AT THE WINDOW

WEARING WELL • Stories of the clothes we love RUFFLES

A simple thing...

DEAR DIARY… • Twenty-five years since we first opened the pages of Bridget Jones’s Diary, we pay tribute to the diary keepers – both invented and real – whose recording of life in all its (v. good and v.v. mundane) minutiae continue to entertain, inform and help readers and writers alike.

BRIDGET BY NUMBERS

ON THIS DAY • A flick through some of the world’s most famous diaries

TIPPLE OF THE MONTH • This classic Italian cocktail gets a bold seasonal twist

MODERN ECENTRICS STEAMPUNKS

FOOD FOR THOUGHT • A simple recipe, with an interesting twist

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