Small Ways To Live Well from The Simple Things

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