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 Release

Editoral

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

School’s out! • A BACK GARDEN CAMP OUT FEELS LIKE A HOLIDAY, BUT WITH ALL THE COMFORTS OF HOME

Magical creatures • AN APPRECIATION OF THE BASKING SHARK

Bench mark • It may be a simple invention, but the humble bench allows us more than an opportunity to rest a while; they’re also spaces to appreciate the joys of the everyday, argues Alison McClintock

CAKE IN THE HOUSE

My day in cups of tea • We asked online vintage seller Alana Cherrie Pavy to tell us all about her day in cuppas – and cappuccinos...

A simple thing...

SMALL CHANGE

GOOD THINGS • POSITIVE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

MODERN ECCENTRICS The mermaid

Thanks for the memoirs • We all have an abiding fascination with life stories, from the instantly relatable to the dazzlingly different. Memoirs offer us a chance to dive headfirst into someone else’s universe, and take us to places we might never travel in our own lifetimes. Escape into some of the very best – stories as gripping as the best ‘beach reads’, and all the more remarkable for being true

MY CITY* LERWICK • WITH WILD AND DRAMATIC SCENERY, ARTIST RUTH BROWNLEE SHOWS US AROUND THE SHETLAND TOWN THAT INSPIRES HER WORK

RUTH’S PERSONAL TOUR

The Sparrows

Sundae best • CAPTURE THE MAGIC OF SUNNY DAYS OUT BY CREATING AN ICE CREAM PARLOUR AT HOME – NO CHURNING NECESSARY

WEARING WELL • Stories of the clothes we love GINGHAM

“There’s a beauty to vulnerability and an honesty. I love being able to push beyond boundaries” • Turning established notions about who yoga is for on their head, Jessamyn Stanley tells Sian Lewis about her belief in what it can do for us, far beyond the mat

TAKING A POSITION • The Jessamyn Stanley CV

TIPPLE OF THE MONTH • A punchy cocktail for summer days – despite what its name suggests

THE ART OF GENTLE REPAIR • MOLLY MARTIN CHAMPIONS HAND-REPAIR FOR DEEPENING OUR CONNECTION TO THE CLOTHES WE WEAR AND THE FABRICS THAT WE SURROUND OURSELVES WITH, A SLOW AND RESPECTFUL WAY TO ADD BEAUTY AND MEANING TO TREASURED BELONGINGS

SHORE THINGS • WHETHER YOU’RE A SANDCASTLE ARCHITECT, A ROCKPOOL EXPLORER, OR JUST A SEASIDE SITTER, THERE ARE WAYS TO KEEP EVERYONE HAPPY UNTIL IT’S TIME FOR THE ICE CREAM RUN

A simple thing...

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

Memory game • A RUSH OF MEMORIES CAN OVERWHELM YOU, BUT YOU HAVE MORE CONTROL OVER HOW AND WHAT YOU REMEMBER THAN YOU MIGHT THINK, DISCOVERS JESSICA FURSETH

How to make good memories

ESCAPE ROOM • EVEN IN THE MOST POPULAR COASTAL AND COUNTRYSIDE SPOTS, IT’S POSSIBLE TO FIND MOMENTS OF PEACE AND PLACES TO BREATHE. YOU JUST NEED TO KNOW WHERE TO LOOK

How to discover your own secret places

THE JOLLY POSTERMAN • YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW HIS NAME, BUT YOU’LL ALMOST CERTAINLY RECOGNISE THE WORK OF EDWARDIAN ARTIST JOHN HASSALL, WHO DISTILLED THE GREAT BRITISH SEASIDE INTO TIMELESS DESIGNS

FLOWERS IN THE HOUSE • Bringing blooms indoors: it’s what every home needs

NARROWBOAT NOMADS • LIFE ON THE CANALS HAS GIVEN A COUPLE THE FREEDOM THEY CRAVED AND TAUGHT THEM SOME VALUABLE LESSONS ALONG THE WAY

PETER AND EMILY’S...