How to | Have a Proper Lie-In

Leave your guilt at having a lie-in at the bedroom door. Done properly, it’s an artform. 

Oh the joy that is waking up early on a Saturday… and then remembering you don’t have to get up at all; it’s like stealing back a couple of hours from the world. While the element of pleasant surprise is a large part of a truly joyous lie-in, there’s a lot to be said for planning it well so you can really make the most of it. 

Here’s how to prepare thoroughly for a thoroughly decadent hour or two of extra duvet time. 

1. Set a date. If you live with others, let them know about your lie-in so there’s no chance of anyone asking you to help with anything come the time. If you have pets or children that need attention in the early morning, delegate these tasks in advance. 

2. Get to bed reasonably early the night before, and definitely don’t drink too much. A hangover is a total waste of a lie-in, You want to be able to enjoy it properly. 

3. Arrange catering. If you’re lucky enough to have someone willing to help with your lie-in, you could let them know whether your preference is for tea or coffee and what sort of breakfast you would like in bed. In our experience, though toast is the ‘go-to’ breakfast-in-bed item, it is the most crumb-sheddy also. A small fruit salad, or a little yoghurt with granola might actually be a better option. Or even a bacon sandwich. If there are no catering staff available, you’ll have to think a little out of the box; a Teasmade is always a good investment, but tea or coffee in a Thermos, taken up to bed with you the night before should stay nice and warm. In terms of sustenance, a cake tin under the bed containing a bit of banana loaf or something else to accompany your tea might work. No need to worry about what anyone thinks about your breakfast choices - no one else need know. 

4. There are a few things you’ll need to hand that can really make a lie-in. Firstly, a good alarm clock that you can set late but then put on snooze if you feel you want another forty winks before you are awake for the day. A radio is also a bit of a must. You can listen to whatever your choice of station is, but we must say The Rev Richard Coles on Radio 4 on a Saturday makes for excellent lie-in listening. Bonus points if you manage to stay in bed until the end of The Kitchen Cabinet at 11am. Also important is a light cardi to throw over your shoulders should you have a sudden burst of energy and decide to sit up in bed to drink your tea. Do also have a spare pillow to hand - because there’s nothing like a nice cold pillow to press your cheek to - a lie-in, after all, is a new event not a continuation of the night that precedes it, and as such it needs a new pillow. 

5. Consider media. You’ve got your radio, of course, but you might like to read a book or magazine as the sun peeks through the curtains. There’s nothing more annoying than not having exactly what reading material you fancy to hand, so take a good selection to bed with you and make sure they are within reaching distance. If you’re a podcast fan, that might also be a pleasant way to while away an hour or two. 

6. We are not fans of mobile phones in bed. Idle scrolling is not luxurious and won’t feel like a morning well spent. However, if you enjoy a natter of a weekend morning, you might like to have a phone to hand to call a friend. Even better, arrange for your friend to synchronise lie-ins with you and you can hold a duvet conference. Please note, this is no time for video calls - unless you know you happen to look very good first thing in the morning. 

7. Regarding a time to actually, rise, we recommend somewhere between 9am and 11am. You don’t want to be downstairs too early or it doesn’t feel like you’ve given the things a proper go. On the other hand, stay malingering in bed too long and it all starts to feel a bit sweaty and unwholesome. Enough is as good as a feast. 

8. When you’re ready to get up, do so slowly. Perhaps put on a little relaxing music and do a few stretches under the duvet before letting your toes reach out and find their way to your slippers. Morning!

The picture above is just one of the ‘views from my bed’ featured in our My Place pages in the February issue. Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More from our February issue…

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Birdwatch | The Mistle Thrush

Illustration: Christina Carpenter

This month, in the Simple Things bird hide, we look at the mistle thrush…

Mistle thrushes are one of the first birds to begin to sing and build nests, some even start this month

Look for: Tiny brown ‘chevrons’ on their chests, white sides to the tail and a greyish hue on their back, rather than the warmer brown sported by a song thrush.

Spot them: All over the UK, other than the northern and western isles of Scotland, foraging at ground level and singing high in tree tops.

Listen for: A song a little like a blackbird, sung in a minor key, which stops and starts. Their ‘call’ is more aggressive and raspy, like an old-fashioned football rattle.

Birdwatch appears every month on our Almanac pages. Find more seasonal things to note and notice, plan and do in the Almanac each month. Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

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Recipe | Rhubarb & Marzipan Cake

Forced rhubarb is everywhere this month. Make the most of it with this pretty cake made for sharing

Serves 12

150g butter (softened)
150g caster sugar
150g marzipan
3 medium eggs
50-75g plain wheat flour
3-4 rhubarb stalks, washed
30g granulated sugar, plus extra for dusting the tin
10 sprigs lemon thyme, rinsed and roughly chopped

1 Preheat the oven to 170C/Fan 150C/ Gas 3. Cream the butter, caster sugar and marzipan together until smooth, then add the eggs one at a time until combined. Fold in the flour and stir.

2 Meanwhile, grease a spring-form cake tin with a little butter, then sprinkle the inside of the tin with some sugar so that it sticks all the way around. This helps the baked cake to slip from the tin and gives it a caramelised surface. Spoon or pour the cake mixture into the tin.

3 Cut the rhubarb stalks into 1-2 cm chunks and place in a bowl. Toss the pieces in the granulated sugar, then spread the rhubarb across the top of the cake mixture, pressing a few pieces down into the batter.

4 Sprinkle the lemon thyme over the cake and bake for 30–35 mins.

5 Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving with yogurt, whipped cream or ice cream.

Cook’s note: The cake can be made the day before serving as it retains moisture and freshness well.

This recipe is our ‘Cake in the House’ recipe for February. It’s taken from Nordic Family Kitchen by Mikkel Karstad (Prestel). Photography by Anders Schønnemann.

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February | A Could-do List

Our regular could-do lists are designed to add a bit of seasonal interest to your month, with ideas for things to do, see and enjoy that chime with the time of year. You are welcome to do them all, pick one or two or simply read and smile. Or you could make up a few of your own. We don’t believe in to-do lists, so what you do is up to you! These are a few ideas for things to do this month on the theme ‘glimpse’.

Have a good February!

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Recipe | Tattie Scones

Comforting for a hearty breakfast and delicious with a bowl of cullen skink to start a Burns’ Night supper

These scones are made from mashed tatties (potatoes) so are a great way to use up leftovers. They’re part of our Burns’ Night supper Gathering feature in our January issue. You can find the rest of the recipes, including cullen skink, a haggis pie and citrus cranachan… all washed down with a Rusty Nail.

Makes 16

450g potatoes, peeled and diced
60g butter, plus more for greasing
½ tsp salt
125g plain flour, plus more for rolling
1 egg, whisked
1 tsp baking powder

1 Boil your potatoes in salted boiling water for 15 mins, or until tender. Drain and set aside.
2 Preheat the oven to 200C/ Fan 180C/Gas 6. Return the potatoes to the pan and add half the butter, plus salt and pepper to taste. Mash well. When cool, add the rest of the butter, salt, plain flour, whisked egg and baking powder to the mashed potato mix and stir well until the mixture forms a dough.
3 On a floured surface, roll the dough to about 1cm thick. Using a 5cm cutter, cut out around 16 scones.
4 Transfer to a lined and greased baking sheet. Using a table knife, score a cross into the top of each scone. Bake for 20-25 mins, or until golden brown. Serve hot or allow to cool on the baking sheet until needed.

More from our January issue…

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Sponsored post | Tabitha Eve "I want to make it the norm for people to buy reusable"

We caught up with Tabitha Eve founder Debbie Rees to see how keeping your impact on the planet small can produce big results

Morning. What beautiful products – how did it all begin?

I’ve always been aware of the need to make positive environmental and ethical choices and, as a keen scuba diver, I’ve witnessed the impact of plastic pollution in our oceans first-hand. During maternity leave I took up sewing and decided to make some items that could replace single-use or plastic products. One of the first things I made was the ‘None’ sponge – a washable dish sponge – then friends and family started asking me to make the same for them. The rest, as they say, is history – I left my career in finance and launched Tabitha Eve online.

And things just blossomed?

At first it was just me and my sewing machine at home, but it soon became clear that I needed more space – essentially my husband got fed up of living amongst packing boxes – so I moved into a separate studio and hired my first employees. We’re now a team of eight and we have over 500 stockists all over the world, which amazes me to this day.

Wow, that’s really impressive. You sound like a natural

Well, I’ve had to learn a lot of things on the job, such as barcodes and marketing. And something that I wasn’t familiar with was Tik Tok – I’m so grateful to the younger members of the team who showed me the ropes! As a small business, we change weekly – there’s always a new challenge to face or a new opportunity to explore. It can be nerve-racking, but mostly it’s all just part of the fun.

What are you most proud of?

The fact that we go that extra mile by providing products that are not only eco-friendly, but ethically made, too. The majority of our textile products are made by our UK-based team, all of whom are paid at least the minimum wage and have the opportunity to share in the business’s profits. I’m also hugely proud of the fact that we provide flexible working for those who need it – those with disabilities and parents who have to fit work in around childcare. I know I’d have found it almost impossible to return to the career I had before becoming a mum and I want to make sure that we provide an environment that’s 100% non-discriminatory and enables everyone to flourish.

You’re making a real difference

Well, I believe wholeheartedly in the power of business for good, not just for profit. We’ve run various charitable campaigns and have donated to a number of causes, both through product sales and also through wider objectives such as Green Friday. My ultimate goal is to produce beautiful, quality products that enable our customers to lead lives with a smaller impact on our planet – I want to make it the norm for people to buy reusable.

You have a great range, which products stand out for you?

The None sponge will always have a special place in my heart, but another favourite is our Reusable Nail Polish Remover pads. Did you know that one pack of five pads could replace 1,000 single-use cotton pads, saving around 80 bathtubs-worth of water! It’s not hard to see why they’re so popular.

Fantastic, we’ll be popping those on our wishlist. So, what does the year ahead hold for Tabitha Eve?

I want to expand our home and giftware range so that customers can gift more consciously and accessorise their homes ethically.

For info, visit tabithaeve.co.uk or follow on Insta: @tabithaeveco.

The Simple Things readers can enjoy 20% off online by using the code SIMPLE20 at checkout. Valid until 28 February 2022.

Competition | Win £500 to spend at Garden Trading

Give your storage a stylish update or add finishing touches with Garden Trading’s latest
collection of homewares

There’s no better feeling than returning from a bracing walk, kicking off your wellies and settling down for a lazy afternoon of family fun and good food. However, the sight of muddy boots, abandoned hats and gloves and perhaps a dumped dog lead or two can somewhat spoil that feeling of calm. The answer is a well organised ‘boot room’ area, whether that’s great storage in your entrance hall or a space in your utility devoted to keeping all your bits and bobs hidden away. The Simple Things has teamed up with our friends at Garden Trading to offer one lucky reader £500 to spend on its spring/summer collection, a stylish but functional range of furniture, lighting, storage and homewares that is sure to complement any home and lifestyle.

STORAGE WITH STYLE

Keep clutter to a minimum with Garden Trading’s Chedworth welly locker (pictured above), while its extensive range of baskets come in a variety of sizes and finishes, including the new Southwold baskets, which are crafted from felt and the ideal solution to keeping stray hats, gloves and scarves in one place. And when it comes to cleaning up those muddy boot marks and paw prints, keep all your cleaning products easily to hand in the sleek industrial-inspired Hornton foldable storage box. With such clever and coveted products, clearing up will be a pleasure and calm will soon be restored. Your only dilemma? Deciding on what to buy should you win. For more info, visit gardentrading.co.uk or follow on Insta: @gardentradingcompany

HOW TO ENTER

For your chance to win £500 to spend at Garden Trading, click the button below and answer the following question by the closing date of 9 March 2022.
Q. What is the name of the welly locker pictured above?

TERMS & CONDITIONS

The competition closes at 11.59pm on 9 March 2022. One winner will be selected at random from all correct entries received and notified soon after. The winner cannot transfer the prize or swap it for cash. Details of our full terms and conditions are on p125 and online at icebergpress.co.uk/comprules.

Competition | Win flowers for a year

Cheer your home all year round with 12 months of scented blooms from Scilly Flowers

Spring is just around the corner and as the promise of new growth pokes its head through the frozen soil, we are reminded of the joy that flowers can bring to these often dreary grey days of winter. With that in mind, we’ve teamed up with Scilly Flowers to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a whole year’s worth of flowers delivered direct to your front door.

Just imagine receiving a fresh box of 40 scented blooms every month for a year – that’s sure to put a smile on your face and add a burst of colour to your home, no matter what the weather is up to outside. In the winter months you’ll receive scented narcissi with their pretty miniature daffodil flower heads, while in summer, scented pinks – similar to carnations but with more delicate, pastel shades – will perfume the air.

Churchtown Farm on St Martin’s, part of the Isles of Scilly, has been sending flowers for the past 30 years and is now in the capable hands of Zoë and Ben Julian, the latest generation to keep the flower growing tradition alive and thriving. Located just off the coast of Cornwall, the flowers flourish thanks to the tall hedges and drystone walls that provide shelter from the bracing Atlantic winds, allowing them to grow outdoors without any additional heat or light.

The ideal gift to brighten someone’s day, Scilly Flowers are then picked and packed in paper to minimise plastic packaging and, as they are sent straight from the farm direct to the recipient, they don’t clock up any unnecessary ‘flower miles’, keeping their environmental footprint to a minimum. Once on display, these beautiful blooms are guaranteed to bring a smile to your face and remind you of the joy that’s home grown in Scilly. For more info, visit scillyflowers.co.uk or follow on Insta: @scillyflowers.

HOW TO ENTER

For your chance to win a year’s supply of scented flowers (one box of 40 flowers every month), answer the question below by the closing date of 9 March 2022.

Q What is the name of the farm where Scilly flowers are grown?

Terms and conditions

The competition closes at 11.59pm on 9 March 2022. One winner will be selected at random from all correct entries received and notified soon after. Flower substitutions may be made depending on availability. The winner cannot transfer the prize or swap it for cash. Details of our full terms and conditions are on p125 and online at at icebergpress.co.uk/comprules.

Playlist | Feel good tunes

Click here to listen to our feel good tunes playlist on Spotify

Our soundtrack to February. Songs to lift the spirits, no matter how grim it is out there.

DJ: Lilith Hudson

Illustration: Shutterstock

Primer | Spy Gadgets

At the International Spy Museum in Washington DC, some of the world’s most intriguing and ingenious gadgets can be found. Here are just a few…

An unassuming lump of explosive coal was issued with its own dinky camouflage kit so that spies could colourmatch it to local coal.

America’s dog poo homing beacon directed planes to missile strikes in the 1970s. It doesn’t look very convincing, truth be told, but who’s going to be staring that intently at it, really?

The trees have ears! During the Cold War, a solar-powered tree stump listening device was placed near a Soviet airbase to eavesdrop for the CIA.

Pigeons are the world’s most decorated birds, and for good reason – 95% of wartime pigeons successfully completed their missions. Some even wore a tiny camera to spy on the enemy.

The KGB’s lipstick pistol could dispense the kiss of death in a flash. Not one to be fished out of a make-up bag by mistake on a bleary morning, though.

Closer to home, the Derwent Pencil Museum in Keswick has a rather nifty deception device of its own. In 1942, Charles Fraser-Smith – the man who inspired Ian Fleming’s character of Q – asked the Cumberland Pencil Factory to design a special hollowed-out pencil that could house a secret map, to be given to Lancaster Bomber pilots. A compass was hidden under the rubber, something we’d be bound to lose within about three minutes.

These gadgets were collated for our Looking Back feature on spies from our January issue. Read all about some of the world’s most famous spies (and their gadgets) from page 84.

More from our January issue…

More looking back…

Magical Creatures | Weasels vs Stoats

How to tell a weasel from a stoat… because it’s a bit of a must(elid), actually

Weasels get a pretty bad press, don’t they? It’s the weasels we remember squatting in Toad Hall in The Wind in the Willows, eating all of Toad’s food, drinking his drink and generally carousing in a threatening manner. In fact, the Wild Wooders included many a mustelid in its number, including ferrets and - YES - stoats, but it’s always the weasels we remember. And weasels are portrayed no better in the Little Grey Rabbit books, where they peer through cracks in the walls of their criminal lair at passers-by. They don’t get a much fairer hand in etymology either, with all the connotations of weaselling one’s way out of something, or using ‘weasel words’ to dissemble. Cherchez the stoat, we say! Weasels can’t be the only wrong-uns of the mustelid family. 

Since it seems the horse has bolted in terms of weasels’ reputations, we thought the least we could do is ensure you can tell the difference between a weasel and a stoat, so there are no weaselly aspersions cast upon stoats and vice versa.

Size

The stoat is the bigger animal, though it’s a subtle difference. Stoats grow up to around 40cm, while weasels only tend to make it to 27-30cm. 

Gait

Stoats have a bounding movement and arch their back as they run, in rainbow-shaped arches. Weasels tend to shimmy along the ground more.

Coat

Both are brown but some stoats (particularly in Scotland) get a festive white coat in winter. 

Tail

The easiest way to tell a weasel from a stoat is to look at its tail. Stoats’ tails are quite long and have a black tip, like a paintbrush - think of all those black bits in ermine. Meanwhile, weasels’ tails are plain old brown and the shape is much stubbier. 

Habitat

You can find stoats and weasels throughout Britain, although in Ireland there are no weasels; only stoats. However, Irish stoats are known as weasels. Confused yet? Let us put it this way: if you’re in Ireland you are looking at a (British) stoat but you should address it as a weasel. Clear? 

Behaviour

Weasels are far more likely to break into stately homes and scoff all the comestibles and break everything. A stoat might be easily led into such bad behaviour but it’s unlikely he will ever be the instigator. If you have trouble with either stoats or weasels in your home, however, you should send in a badger, preferable brandishing a candlestick. 

The illustration above by Zuza Misko is from this month’s Magical Creatures page on the stoat. It’s in the January issue, which is on sale now. If you wish to, you can buy some of Zuza’s Magical Creatures prints from our online store.

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More from our January issue…

Competition | Win a Unique hideaways break

Win a voucher worth £500 for a unique getaway in the UK

Are you looking for a break away off the well-worn path? Longing for time and space to switch off and actually unwind. Enter our competition and be in for the chance of winning a £500 Unique hideaways voucher.

As the new year welcomes us, our minds start to turn to all the plans that lie ahead for the future months. Whether you long for salt-kissed sandy escapes along the Cornish coast or for a cosy log cabin getaway in the Welsh countryside, Unique hideaways has a wide range of one-of-a-kind places to stay in hidden corners across the UK.

Summertime escape or winter getaway?

Whether you wish for a mid-summer soiree where you wake to the warmth of the morning sunshine as you sip your freshly brewed coffee alfresco, or you prefer to escape to nature in the depths of winter, where you embrace a windswept walk before returning to soak in your own private hot tub and gaze up to the star lit sky. Unique hideaways have a wide range of luxury glamping accommodation for you to choose from, that are just perfect for all year-round escapes.

Choosing your hideaway…

From shepherd’s huts with mesmerising sea views, to converted horseboxes with woodfired hot tubs, Unique hideaways have a bespoke collection of quirky accommodation just perfect for a special break away. Browse their cabins, wagons, airstreams, yurts, safari tents and even houseboats and allow your mind to run wild and free. Make that daydream of escaping the ordinary become a reality.

How to enter

For your chance to win a £500 Unique hideaways voucher, simply click the button below and answer the question: What type of hideaway originates from Mongolia?

A.     A shepherd’s hut

B.     A houseboat

C.      A yurt

Terms & conditions:
Entries close at midnight on 21st February 2022. One winner will be selected at random from all entries received and notified soon after. The winner will win a voucher worth £500 to put towards their stay at a Unique hideaway. If the cost of the stay you choose exceeds £500 the winner will have to cover the extra cost. If the cost of the stay is lower than £500, Unique hideaways will send a new voucher of the remaining total to be spent on a future stay at Unique hideaways. Full terms and conditions are at icebergpress.co.uk/comprules.

Think | Cakeasions

We think it’s ALWAYS time for tea and cake. The question is: which is the correct cake for the relevant occasion?

If there’s one thing we know about January it’s that this is absolutely NO time for giving up cake. Healthy it may or may not be, but in terms of your wellbeing, cake is most certainly where it’s at. Of course, that doesn’t mean one needs to be mindlessly mainlining Mr Kiplings every hour. When we talk about ‘Cakeasions’ what we mean is being able to correctly identify the right cake for the right occasion: that sweet and sticky mess for when your heart is broken, that solid, fruity concoction for rainy days when you need a bit of bolstering against the cold. 

To help, we’ve put together a few occasions that we think benefit from cake and suggestions for matching cakes to problems. Read on and feel both comforted and satiated. 

Cakeasion: A good long walk

Cake: What you need here is parkin for your pocket. Robust (so as not to get squished on the walk) and with a gingery kick to keep you going, a pocket of parkin will be welcome on any winter walk. Thermos of tea recommended but not essential. 

Cakeasion: Fika

Cake: The Swedish concept of Fika (pausing briefly in your day for a spot of coffee and cake) is best suited to something small and light; the Swedes never overdo things. We’d recommend a classic Swedish Almond Cake; nice and light and goes excellently with coffee.

Cakeasion: Well done, you!

Whether it’s a graduation, a baby or simply ‘well done on getting through the week’, cake is always a good way to say ‘Congratulations!’

Cake: Something a little showy and silly. Perhaps a good old Victoria sponge dressed with fresh fruit and edible flowers. Because flowers are lovely, but flowers you can eat (on top of a sugary sponge) are even better, right?

Cakeasion: A broken heart

Cake: Broken hearts require chocolate; no question about it. Whether you’re making a cake for the broken-hearted or are on the lookout for something to mend your own ticker, a chocolate fudge cake should do the trick. Don’t stint on the chocolate fudge icing. 

Cakeasion: Secret cake

Cake: Eaten, standing at the cupboard in the kitchen with your coat still on while everyone else brings the shopping in from the car, or scoffed from a secret tin in the shed while sorting our your seed packets, there’s something special about clandestine cake. For this occasion we would recommend a cake that doesn’t drop crumbs and which can be swallowed quickly in an emergency if people approach: a Jamaican ginger cake or anything else fruitless and baked in a loaf tin fits the bill. 

Cakeasion: Rainy day cake

Cake: This is the kind of cake you pull out of the back of a cupboard on a Sunday afternoon when the doorbell rings. It needs to be a cake that keeps well because you never know when it might be required. We think a rich fruit cake with plenty of nuts on top should do it. Wrap it tightly and freeze it and it could last up to a year.

This blog was inspired by our recipe for Poppy Seed Snack Cake from our January issue. It was taken from One Tin Bakes Easy by Edd Kimber (Kyle Books) Photography: Edd Kimber

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More cakes to bake…

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How to | Ice Skate Without Embarrassment

If it’s been a while and you don’t want to embarrass yourself on the rink, read our quick ice skating primer and you’ll be Jayne Torvill dancing to Bolero in no time (in your head at least).

Assuming you haven’t hit an ice rink since you were in short trousers, but have an invitation to one this winter, fear not. It’s not *quite* like riding a bike but it’s definitely something you can be passable at within an hour or so. 

Getting started

When you first get on the ice, it goes without saying that you should stick to the barriers to begin with. They’re there for you to hold onto, particularly while you find your ice legs again. Now is not the time for a Triple Salchow. Remember: enthusiasm bears no relation to skill. 

Standing on your own two feet

Once you feel a bit steadier, you can let go of the barrier but perhaps stay within grabbing distance for now. Go around the outside of the rink, first taking marching steps with each foot and then beginning to glide on just one foot with each step, as if you were riding a scooter. Then try it on the other foot. Once you’ve got the hang of the step, glide, step, glide business, try doing a little glide with each foot on each step you take. 

A word on posture

As you skate, you should keep your knees just loosely bent and your arms close to your body. This will keep your centre of gravity steady. And you don’t want wibbly wobbly passers mistaking your flailing arm for an offer of support and grabbing it as they hit the ice, either. 

Getting up speed

Now you’ve mastered gliding you can try ‘stroking’, which is basically a long glide. With each step forward and glide you take on one foot, lift the other behind you and as you step onto the foot in the air and glide on it, you lift the first foot behind you. You’re properly skating now. 

How to fall well

Learn to fall with grace, rather than from grace, by getting out in front of the problem and practising falling and getting up. First, make sure you aren’t going to fall in front of another skater. Bend your knees quite low into a crouch, lean forward and then tip gently onto your side onto the ice. Roll immediately onto your bottom and put your hands in your lap; this is essential if you want to avoid any nasty skate-blade-fingers interfaces. Once you’ve checked around you that no other skaters are nearby, turn onto all fours, place both hands on the ice in front of you and put one foot between your hands. Once you’re steady move the other foot between your hands, too, and push yourself up to a standing position. Practising falling and getting up is really important, both for safety and to avoid looking like an upturned turtle in mittens, crying and getting sweaty and wishing you’d said you’d look after the bags and coats by the mulled wine stall instead. Trust us. We speak from experience. 

How to stop

Last but very much not least, you’ll need to know how to come to a halt. It works the same way as stopping on skis: turn your toes inward so that the sides of the blades make a bit of a snow plough effect on the ice, which will slow you down. (Alternatively, you can do what most people do and career helplessly towards the barriers shouting “MOVE IT OR LOSE IT” and let physics do its work as you hit the wall.)

The picture above is from our feature Let It Snow, in our December issue, which you can still buy a back issue of from our online store. If you’re a fan of celebrating the micro seasons, including snow falling and everything icing over, look out for our January issue feature, The 72 Seasons, which explains a few of the ‘micro’ seasons to enjoy during winter, and at other times of year, too! The January issue is in shops now. 

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More winter inspiration…

From our January issue…

Competition | Win olives for a year

We’ve teamed up with The Real Olive Company to offer two lucky winners the chance to win olives for a year. That’s a mixed case of olives delivered to your door for the next 12 months, a massive £500 worth of olives to be won in total!

The Real Olive Company’s mission is to ‘create sustainable, delicious food, bursting with natural vitality’ which is why they source their olives from trusted artisan growers on the shores of the Mediterranean - real people who understand the unhurried rhythms of the olive tree.

From grove to table, every step they take retains each olive’s natural goodness so you can enjoy the most authentic olives adding some sunshine to your day. 

Olives don’t just taste good, they are good. All those months of ripening, fill the fruit of the olive tree with health-giving qualities. They’re rich in oils, minerals and vitamins A, B, E and K as well as containing essential omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids – what’s not to love?

So, whether it’s to enjoy as a healthy snack, use as a versatile cooking ingredient or to accompany a glass of wine, their award-winning olives, antipasti and brand new tapenades are perfect to have to hand to create simple delicious meals and for sharing with friends and family.

If you resolved to eat more healthily during 2022 (or just love olives!), this is the perfect prize for you!

How to enter

Just click on the button below and answer the following question:
The Real Olive Company source their olives from trusted artisan growers on the shores of which sea?
a) The Meditteranean
b) The North Sea
c) The Baltic Sea

Terms and conditions

Two winners will be selected at random from all entries received and notified soon after. One mixed case of olives, antipasti and/or tapenade (6x pots), will be delivered to each winner once a month from February 2022 to January 2023. The case will be randomly selected each month.  The competition closes at 11.59pm on 7 February 2022. The two winners will then be chosen at random from all correct entries after this time and notified shortly after. Full terms and conditions are at icebergpress.co.uk/comprules.

Birdwatch | The Bullfinch

Beautiful bullfinches are easy to spot in bare January trees

Look for: White rumps, black wing markings and pinky-red breasts and cheeks – like they’re blushing (the males are the brighter ones; the females a little more of a grey-pink).

Spot them in: UK gardens, hedgerows and woodlands.

Listen for: A call that’s a sort of low-pitched whistling ‘peu’ sound.

Birdwatch is a new series on our ‘Almanac’ pages. Find more seasonal things to note and notice and things to plan and do each month on our Almanac.

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Science lesson | How frost is made

Waking to a sprinkling of frost on the lawn, leaves and cobwebs is a little bit magical, but how does frost actually happen?

It’s all about the ‘dew point’. The dew point is the temperature at which water vapour in the air is so cold it turns from gas to liquid and appears in droplets on grass, plants, cars etc. When objects outdoors become colder than the dewpoint, that water vapour which has turned to dew freezes, forming tiny ice crystals. Because cool air sinks, frosts happen more commonly in low-lying areas, such as valleys, and frosts tend to happen overnight because the air is cooler then.

It’s a little more complicated than that though. And, for the frost curious, here are the various ‘types’ of frost:

Hoarfrost (or radiation frost)
Forming on outdoor objects and on the ground outside, hoarfrost is made up of tiny ice crystals, created when dew freezes.

Window frost
Less common in these days of double glazing, window frost occurs when there is cold air on one side of the glass and moist air indoors. Brrrr!

Advection frost
This sort of frost is formed from small ‘spikes’ of ice rather than crystals and tends to happen when the wind blows over tree branches, rooves and telegraph wires, freezing water vapour on those objects as it gusts. 

Rime
Yes, as in ‘of the Ancient Mariner’. Rime often forms on ships or other objects near the sea. Rime occurs in very cold, very wet locations and it forms very fast. It’s much more dramatic-looking than other types of frost and can often make an object appear to be made from solid ice. 

Join us on a winter walk where we appreciate frost and much more in our January issue. Our Outing feature, Sights, Drama, Action begins on page 76.

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Make | Pine Needle Cough Syrup (and other immune boosters)

Pine features in many commercial cough syrups, alongside menthol or eucalyptus to aid breathing. This traditional remedy relies on the high vitamin content of the pine needles and is also heavy on the honey to soothe scratchy throats.

Pine needle cough syrup

Makes 500ml

250ml water
150g pine needles, washed carefully
250ml honey

1 Bring the water to the boil in a small pan and add the pine needles. Cover and simmer for 5 mins, making sure the pine needles stay submerged. 

2 Strain the liquid into a jug and discard the pine needles. Return your strained liquid to the clean pan. 

3 Add the honey, then return to the heat and simmer gently for 5 mins.

4 Decant into a jar or bottle and leave to cool. When cool, fasten the lid.

Maker’s note: Store in the fridge for up to 3 months.

Note: most commercial Christmas trees are sprayed with pesticides so forage your pine instead and give the needles a good bath before use

Oldie-but-goodie immune boosters

If your get up and go has got up and gone, try one of these natural boosters for your immune syste,

The hot toddy

There’s no science behind the alcohol bit, apart from it might send you off to sleep quicker, but the warm liquid and spices will help to thin mucus and soothe a sore throat and a nice hot toddy can definitely perk up your mood.

Chicken soup 

More than just comfort food, chicken contains an amino acid cysteine which can act as a decongestant. And, as with any homemade soup, it’ll contain lots of nutrients from the bones and veg and water for extra hydration, which you need when suffering.

Garlic milk

This might turn your stomach but the combination of garlic and/or onion with honey and a warm drink can help ease coughs and colds due to the antibacterial properties of the garlic/onion and mucus-dissolving honey. Gently heat a glass of milk, add diced onion and/or a crushed garlic clove, take it off the heat and leave to infuse for 20 mins. Strain and add 1–2 tsp honey (raw if possible) per cup. 

Drinking vinegar 

Fruit vinegar has been used for centuries for its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. You can make your own apple cider or fruit vinegar but you’ll need to leave it to ferment for 4–6 weeks. Or you can buy it ready to use. The Bath Alchemist Apple Cider Vinegar Wellness Tonic comes in three flavours. Add a tablespoon of vinegar daily to water, tonic or mix into a dressing. 

Gargling salt water

Gargling with warm salt water and nasal cleansing with a saline spray from the chemist can both help reduce the length of cold symptoms according to studies. 

Steam inhalation

Dry air can make congestion and sore throats worse, but steam will help to clear your airways. You could have a hot shower, steam your face over a sink with a towel over your head and maybe a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil, or use a cool mist humidifier.

The Pine Needle Cough Syrup is one of the makes from our Heart Body Soul feature by Lottie Storey in our January issue, which also features recipes for Dark Pine Nougat Bars, Pine & Rosemary Ice Cream and Pine Vodka. The immune booster ideas are from our feature, Cold Comforts, by Rebecca Frank, also in our January issue; it’s a one-stop shop for fighting off winter sniffles. 

More natural winter remedies…

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January | Could-do lists

We do love a list, but most of all, we love a no-pressure, just-for-fun list

Here at The Simple Things, we bring you a Could-do List every month. It’s just a few suggestions for things you might like to do in the coming weeks. We don’t believe in ‘to-do’ or worse ‘must-do’ lists, so we hope our ideas are more gentle inspiration. You might do one or two things, you might do them all, or you might do none at all. There’s no pressure; that’s the beauty of a Could-do List. 

Above is our January Could-do List - we hope you find some inspiration there. And because it’s the start of a new year, we asked some of the Simple Things team to share their ‘Could-do’ thing for 2022. Please feel free to share yours in the comments below.

“My could do for 2022 is to waste more time; do more pottering, ambling, wandering and dreaming. Inspired by that phrase we had on a chalkboard once: ‘Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time’.”
Lisa Sykes, Editor

“Getting more sleep.”
Karen Dunn, Commissioning Editor

“We're going to decorate and rearrange the spare room to make it a 90%-of-the-time home office and 10%-of-the-time guest bedroom instead of the other way round, as it is now.”
Joe McIntyre, Art Director

“To set aside time specifically to finish my embroidery (a lockdown hobby purchase).”
Abbie Miller, Sub Editor

“To become a member of my local hotel swimming pool. I swim regularly at a municipal pool but I want to go somewhere with silly fluffy robes and free shampoo that makes me feel like I’m on holiday.”
Iona Bower, Editor at Large

“Make a lockdown photobook with all the pics we took out on walks, of the kids doing home school projects and us all with long crazy hair!”
Rebecca Frank, Wellbeing Editor

“I want to switch my savings and current account over to bank with strong ethics or at least know where my money is being invested.”
Frances Ambler, Deputy Editor

More could-do lists…

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