A simple thing | darker days
Rather than rail against the darker days, gather your blankets, a brew and a willing companion and sink into the delights of getting cosy for an afternoon. Helpful additions might be a good book, a just-tricky-enough puzzle, or a notebook for dreams and plans, but the key ingredient is probably the knowledge that there’s nowhere else you need to be right now; it’s about pausing and acknowledging the pleasures that are found in this moment. Photography: Getty
This was one of our ‘simple things’ from the October ‘Humble’ issue. You’ll find more simple things in every issue, which you can buy in shops or in our online store.
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Photograph: Sarah Kirk @godsavethescene
Factfile | Wellington Boots
When is a Welly not a Welly? When it’s a gum boot!
If you thought the humble Wellington Boot was all about practicality (and kicking up piles of autumn leaves, of course), think again. Hunters were far from the first Wellies for dedicated followers of fashion; in fact, the Welly has been a high-fashion item since its inception.
We all know well the difficulty of pushing trousers inside your Wellies as you pull them on. Spare a thought for the soldiers of the 1880s, who, following Beau Brummell’s lead, were sporting a more tightly fitting linen (rather than woollen) trouser, and found that the tassels on their Hessian boots interfered with the hems of their breeches. Well what’s a chap to do?
Enter Arthur Wellesley, Viscount Wellington, who took matters into his own hand and asked his shoemaker to design something beautiful but a little more practical. George Hoby of St James’s Street, London, lost the tassel, cut the boot a little lower for ease of riding, and the Wellington was born. Arthur’s victory at the Battle of Vittoria in 1813 and then at Waterloo in 1815 did the Wellington’s public profile no harm at all. You can’t buy <that> sort of PR these days.
There was even a Russian imposter! The Blucher, which was a sort of ankle boot - a precursor to the Wellibob, we suppose, but it was not received well in Blighty.
The Wellington, however, had one major difference from what we know as a Welly today - it was made of leather, not rubber. The rubber or ‘gum’ boots we tramp around our veg patches in was not invented until 1856, four years after Wellington’s death, when the North British Rubber Company began to produce them and, rather cheekily, traded on the name Wellington. They found popularity during World War I, when they were produced en masse to help prevent trenchfoot among ordinary soldiers. When those who survived returned home, they took their practical Wellies with them, which made their way to sheds, allotments and boot rooms across the country.
In our October issue, our My Place feature is all about boot rooms, like the one above by @godsavethescene. You can admire all the other boot rooms from page 112.
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Photography: James Gardiner; Project:: Hester Van Overbeek
Neighbourly books for your neighbourhood library
Books about neighbours to start a neighbourhood library
In our October issue, we have a weekend project on how to make a tiny neighbourhood library for your front garden. Obviously, we were immediately sold and already measuring up planks of wood before the ink was dry on the pages. You can find the project on page 84.
Once you’ve knocked up your tiny neighbourhood library, you’ll want some books in it, and we think for the launch, some books that focus on neighbourhoods and neighbours might tempt the folk on your street to get lending and borrowing. Here are a few to get you going…
The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James
The story of Lowrie and Shen, the two youngest people left on earth after a pandemic causes mass infertility, and the community that reveres them.
The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso
Hortensia and Marion are next-door neighbours in post-Apartheid Cape Town. One is black, one is white, and they are sworn enemies, until an unforeseen event begins to change things.
The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore
The Christmas after Lolly Rachpaul’s brother is killed in a gang-related shooting in Harlem, his mother buys him a huge box of Lego. While he tries to avoid the bad gangs in the city, he’s also building an amazing Lego city at the community centre which starts to become his way back into the neighbourhood.
The New Neighbours by Diney Costeloe
The residents of quiet and exclusive cul-de-sac, Dartmouth Circle have their peace shattered by the arrival of a bunch of students. Will there be hilarious antics, upset and changes of heart? We think it’s likely.
A Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman
Eighty-nine-year-old Marvellous Ways lives on the edge of a river in Cornwall, where she often sits on the banks with her telescope. One day a young soldier called Drake is washed up in the river, broken, bloodied and in need of help, and of course, Marvellous obliges.
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Photography and recipe: Kathy Bishop, The Seasonal Table
Recipe | Marrow, miso and smoked salt soup
Never again regret a courgette that turns into an accidental marrow. This smoky, umami soup is a winner for autumn lunches and freezes brilliantly, too
Serves 8
50g unsalted butter
300g white onions, roughly chopped
5 fat garlic cloves, roughly sliced
1.5kg marrow, roughly cut into 2cm chunks
700g potatoes, roughly cut into 1cm cubes
1.5 ltr chicken or veg stock (or water)
3 tbsp brown miso paste or fermented fava bean paste
Smoked salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Melt the butter in a large stock pot over a gentle heat, add the onion and garlic and cook gently for 5-10 mins, or until softened.
2 Stir in the marrow and potato and cover with the stock. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 15-20 mins, or until the potatoes are cooked.
3 Stir in the miso paste and blend until smooth with a stick blender, then season to taste with the smoked salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve piping hot in deep bowls, with crusty bread on the side.
Cook’s notes: If you’re using a marrow that’s been in storage for a while and has a particularly hard skin, slice it off before cooking as the marrow is unlikely to soften in the cooking time otherwise. If you can’t get hold of a marrow, this soup can easily be made with courgettes instead.
This recipe is by Kathy Bishop who, along with Tom Crowford, blogs at The Seasonal Table about slow food and slow living on their Somerset smallholding. It features in our October issue among other plot-to-plate autumn dishes
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Generation green | Dara McAnulty
No matter your age, we all benefit from immersing ourselves in the wild. In our October issue, we meet four young naturalists, who also have an idea or two to impart about what everyone can do to help protect it.
Dara McAnulty is a 17-year-old autistic naturalist, conservationist and activist. He spent three years blogging before his first book, Diary of a Young Naturalist (Ebury Press) won the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing. This edited extract is taken from the paperback edition, out now.
I have the heart of a naturalist, the head of a would-be scientist, and bones of someone who is already wearied by the apathy and destruction wielded against the natural world. Mum used to call me lon dubh (which is Irish for blackbird) when I was a baby. I was born in spring, and my first mornings were accompanied by the sonata of the male blackbird, nourishing a growing body and mind. Maybe its song was the first lure to the wild.
I started to write in a very plain bungalow surrounded by families who kept their children behind closed doors, where our garden (unlike any other in the cul-de-sac) became a meadow during the spring and summer months, with wildflowers and insects. Our family spent hours and hours observing the abundance that other gardens lacked. I think we’re all better off bringing nature inside and taking ourselves out.
We’ve lived in many places during my short life, but wherever we settle, our home is crammed with books, skulls, feathers, politics, unbridled debates, tears, laughter and joy. Not only is our family bound together by blood, we are all autistic, all except Dad – he’s the odd one out, and he’s also the one we rely on to deconstruct the mysteries of not just the natural world (he’s a conservation scientist) but the human one too. A teacher once told my parents ‘Your son will never string a paragraph together.’ Yet here we are. My voice is bubbling up, volcano-like.
When we (by ‘we’ I mean autistics) get interested in something, most people would call it an ‘obsession’. It really is not an obsession, though. It’s not dangerous, quite the opposite. It’s liberating and essential to the workings of my brain. It calms and soothes: gathering information, finding patterns, sequencing and sorting out is a muscle I must flex. I prefer the word passion.
I can’t just love the natural world. I have to raise my voice even louder to help it. It’s my duty, the duty of all of us, to support and protect nature. Caring for nature and for ourselves can happen anywhere and everywhere: gardens filled with life, nature reserves, resting spots, feeding spaces, nourishing places. Focusing in on the activity and behaviours of wildlife in our garden is so satisfying, for the mind, for the heart. Homework doesn’t feel like a chore after time spent quietly feeling rain and watching birds. There is nothing better than tending to this connection between all living things.
Background image: Shutterstock
A could-do list for October
Here’s our ‘Humble’ could-do list for this month. The idea behind a could-do list is that you can pick and choose which bits you want, do them all if you like, or just read and enjoy the idea. Or if you have your own ideas for a could-do list, get started on one of your own.
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Photograph: Stocksy
Etymology | Scrumping
Good words and what they mean. This month: the etymology (or ate-‘em-ology) of scrumping
It’s apple harvest time. But if you have a tree, make sure you get there before the scrumpers do. The practice of ‘scrumping’ for apples is as old as apple trees themselves but interestingly the term ‘scrumping’ doesn’t appear until 1886.
Etymologists aren’t sure of its history but it’s thought to come either from a dialectical term meaning ‘something shrivelled or withered’ (which probably comes from the Middle Dutch, schrimpen) or from the adjective ‘scrimp’ which meant thrifty, and later morphed into the verb ‘to scrimp and save’ that we use today.
Both theories are supported by the earliest meaning of ‘scrumping’ which referred not to actual stealing but simply to taking either windfalls or the smallest apples which were left on the trees after the apple harvest was over. So they’d be the slightly shrivelled apples no one wanted, and you’d save yourself money by taking them.
Scrumping is, strictly speaking, illegal and one of those things that is charming and scampish when you are eight years old but tends to be frowned upon once you hit 28 years old. So if you’re going to do it, either take a child with you as cover, or do it on common land and call it ‘foraging’ instead.
Oh, and one last word of caution: if you’re outside the UK, scrumping has a very different and slightly lewder meaning, so proceed with caution. Ask someone to scrumping with you and you might get invited in for more than apple crumble.
Core values: Apple recipes for your illegal wares
If you’ve been scrumping (or just been to the farm shop) here are a few apple recipes from our blog that will soon see off a glut.
Bircher Muesli with Cinnamon and Grated Apple
Crab Apple and Fennel Seed Leather
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Photographs © Laura Edwards from Yoga: A Manual For Life by Naomi Annand (Bloomsbury)
Micro yoga | Kitchen Counter Downward Dog
Yoga you can do in a few spare moments in your day
This dreamy pose (not the one above, we hasten to add) can be done whilst the kettle boils. Stand facing the kitchen counter and place your hands on its surface, shoulder distance apart. Feet are hip distance apart. Hold onto the counter or table top and start to walk the feet backwards until your body is in an L shape, hinged from the hips. Keep some softness in the knees. If you’ve done yoga before, this is basically a standing Downward Dog variation. Keep the neck long, remembering it’s an extension of the spine. Hold for a few deep breaths, seeing if you can find length along the sides of the body. When ready, slowly walk the few steps back towards the counter and stand up.
If you’re inspired to do more micro yoga, you can read more about it from page 62 of our September issue.
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Photography: Ben Carter
Sponsored post | A Hut For All Seasons: cosiness awaits
As the weather turns and the days get shorter, create a snug sanctuary to retreat to with a
Blackdown Shepherd Hut
Autumn, a season of change, when the trees let go of summer’s growth with a magnificent display of colour. And, as the natural world prepares for winter by growing thicker coats, flying south, or burying food. We get busy too.
It’s when most of us find ourselves, planning and preparing for the months ahead. With shorter days and unreliable weather on the horizon, it’s more important than ever to feather your nest and to create a space to cultivate calm and creativity. A place where favourite hobbies and rituals can be embraced – a sanctuary away from the daily hustle and bustle of life.
Blackdown Shepherd Huts understands the importance of having a peaceful and flexible space in which to find the balance you need. A visit to Blackdown’s display garden in Ilminster, Somerset, will inspire you as to what could be with an array of shepherd huts that can be made completely bespoke to you and your needs.
Picture a typical British October day where the wet and windy weather no longer scuppers your fun. Instead, it becomes an opportunity to retreat to your little slice of shepherd hut heaven planted at the bottom of the garden. So, invite your friends over for a cosy games night, nestled around your Blackdown hut’s modular dining nook table – the ideal way to switch off and reconnect with those you love. Or perhaps leave the ‘to-do’ list in the house and escape to your hut for a crafternoon, blissfully removed from all interruptions.
However you prefer to unwind, Blackdown’s modular, hand-crafted designs mean that the discerning space of a shepherd hut can host a variety of activities, to be enjoyed with loved ones or on your own… the choice is yours.
For more information and inspiration, visit blackdownshepherdhuts.co.uk or follow on Instagram: @blackdownshepherdhuts
Hobbies for your hut
As the nights draw in, here are some ideas to keep you occupied during the darker months
Satisfy that burning creativity
With its well-equipped kitchen, your Blackdown Shepherd Hut is the ideal place to try out an activity such as candle making. It can be blowing a hooley outside, but you’ll be snug as a bug creating beautiful candles to either gift or enjoy yourself.
Not such a half-baked idea
Keep your regular kitchen for the everyday and designate your hut’s hand-crafted kitchen as a mini bakery. Whip up a cake or loaf of sourdough and, while your creation is rising, you can flick through your favourite mag (The Simple Things, of course), free from distractions.
Game changer
Nothing creates memories more than a family games night. Grab the classics, switch on some music, and crank up the competitiveness. The cosy dining nook in the Turnkey Hut is the ideal place for some light competition and a lot of laughs.
Starry, starry night
Imagine sleeping under the stars, but in the comfort of your shepherd hut. Blackdown’s bespoke curved glass roof window provides the ideal vantage point for snuggling up and watching a fiery meteor shower, or perhaps the calming constellations.
Create a writing room
Whether it’s offloading your day into a journal or jotting down a few notes to a friend on a postcard, your hut can be the simple sanctuary needed to switch off and allow your train of thought to flow onto paper.
For cosy, read on…
Embrace a wet afternoon. Steal an hour or two to yourself, light a fire or simply a candle, and curl up with a good book and your imagination
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Make | Dip dye stationery
While away a crafternoon learning the art of dip dye and emerge with your very own stationery set
September is all about new stationery for us, so we needed no more excuse than that to dig out this weekend project from our issue 67 for making your very own dip dye stationery.
You will need:
A selection of paper, envelopes and postcards
Hand fabric dye powder (we used Dylon)
Warm water
Measuring jug
Vessel for holding your dye (a washing-up bowl, bucket or Tupperware box works well*)
Length of twine
Clothes pegs
Scissors
1 Before you start, tie a length of twine, washing line-style, nearby, ready for hanging your paper to dry. Cover any surfaces with newspaper.
2 Make up your dye solution. Start with pouring 1 litre of warm water into your vessel. Add 4 tsp of dye powder and stir until dissolved: the amount you use will determine the strength of your colour, so use a piece of scrap paper to test.
3 Once you’re happy with your dyeing solution, take your piece of paper and – slowly, carefully – insert it into the dye solution, only immersing the amount of paper you’d like coloured. Hold it in the solution for a few seconds and then, slowly and carefully again, draw it out of the solution. Hold the paper over for a moment to catch any drips of dye. You can dip again for a slightly stronger coverage.
4 Peg your dip-dyed stationery to your length of twine to dry. If, once dry, your stationery is a little curled at the edges, place inside a heavy book and leave for 24 hours
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More weekend projects to make:
Sponsored post | Karelia House
Sam Weir and Shirley Shearer give us an insight into Karelia House and how their family’s crafting business has evolved over the years
What a great selection of fabrics and yarns! How did Karelia House start?
Karelia House came about quite by chance, back in 2009. A family friend is a textile artist and she mentioned that there was nowhere in Perthshire to buy quality yarn and fabric. We already had an underfloor heating business with large premises, so we decided to open a craft shop there, too. It’s a real family business with all hands to the deck – even the family dogs, Mr Clive Basset and Magnus the black lab, make regular appearances on our social media and at live shows.
Mmmm, is that the waft of fresh-baked cakes we can smell?
Yes, people were travelling far and wide to visit us and, as we’re in a rural location, we thought it would be a good idea to open a coffee shop to cater for our customers. It’s become a real destination place with a huge selection of craft supplies, delicious food and spectacular views!
And how has Karelia House evolved since the early days?
We’ve always been creative – with both our supplies and how we run the business. In the past, we’ve taken Karelia House on the road, visiting the Isle of Mull, Arran and various knitfests around Scotland, so that remote customers could stock up on fabrics and yarn. We also run workshops and often work with local businesses such as florists or art galleries to provide something special to our customers.
Lockdown must have been tough – how did you adapt?
It was, we had to focus our efforts on our online business instead. However, we found that many people were still calling us up to place orders and to generally have a chat about what they were making. We’ve always been aware of the therapeutic benefits of knitting, crochet and sewing, and never more so than during the Covid pandemic. It was such a lonely time for so many that we decided to do weekly live social media posts, which we’ve continued with. We also organised classes on Zoom – and our virtual knit and natter is still going strong today.
It’s so lovely to see friendships blossom online. Inspirational. What a great service you provide to your customers
The whole team at Karelia House are crafters, so it’s easy to inspire others, either to find their next project or to encourage beginners to get started on something new. We also believe that if you want the best results, use the best ingredients, whether you’re knitting, crafting, cooking or anything really. We’re a Rowan flagship store – currently the only one in Scotland – and we stock Brother sewing machines, so we really are a onestop shop for crafting supplies.
Sounds like the ideal escape. Talking of which, tell us about Karelia Lodge
In 2019, we extended the brand and built Karelia Lodge, a stunning two-bed holiday retreat in Aberfeldy that overlooks where the rivers Tay and Lyon join. It really is a little bit of heaven on Earth – especially when you can lie in bed and watch the sheep and rabbits, all in spectacular surroundings.
You clearly love what you do
Yes, as a family, we have embraced our journey with all things Karelia House and look forward to new and exciting adventures. We want everyone to walk through our doors and to know that they’re being looked after and given first-class treatment. We love what we do, and, as a family, we do it well.
For more, visit kareliahouse.co.uk or follow on Instagram: @kareliahouse. For information on Karelia Lodge, visit karelialodge.co.uk
Playlist | Autumn
Listen here
“Autumn I’ll remember
Gold landing at our door;
Catch one leaf and fortune will surround you evermore”
DJ: Frances Ambler
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Photography: Shutterstock Words: Cinead McTernan
How to | Force bulbs
Have home-grown flowers in time for Christmas by forcing bulbs during Autumn’s darker evenings
Winter is a tricky time of year to decorate your home with anything other than berries and greenery (gorgeous as they are). Poinsettias and Christmas cacti might have their place – though this is debatable in our house – but if you’d prefer something a little less red and less dated – plant a group of bulbs that, given the right conditions and a little TLC, are guaranteed to bring style and scent to the festivities.
Narcissi, hyacinth, amaryllis and muscari bulbs are relatively quick to flower, but you do have to get your timings right to ensure they put on a show over the festive period.
When to plant
Unlike many gardening techniques, forcing bulbs – providing the right conditions for them to grow and flower – is an exact science. Hyacinths, for example, need different lengths of time to flower depending on the cultivar. Hyacinth ‘Anna Marie’, for example, requires eight weeks in cool conditions, followed by 18 days inside to bloom: plant on 12 October for them to flower on Christmas Day, or on the 19 October for a New Year’s Day display.
According to the RHS, ‘good quality’ daffodil bulbs will flower in six to 10weeks, and amaryllis (hippeastrum) in 10 weeks. So again, mid- October is about right to get a festive display.
How to plant
Hyacinths, amaryllis and daffodils can be grown in bulb-fibre, which is available from all garden centres or nurseries. Make sure you buy hyacinth bulbs that are labelled ‘prepared’.
1. Layer some bulb fibre in the bottom of a bowl or pot and water it. If the container doesn’t have drainage holes, pour excess water out a short while after each watering to prevent the roots sitting in too much moisture.
2. Place the bulbs in any arrangement you’d like, just make sure they aren’t touching each other or the sides of the container. Add more bulb fibre around the bulbs, leaving the bulb tops showing and a gap of about 5cm from the top of the container to make it easier to water.
3. Put planted hyacinth and amaryllis bulbs in a black polythene bag and leave them in a dark, cool spot (ideally 9C) like a shed or garage. The idea is to trick the bulbs into thinking it’s winter so they will start flowering when they are brought out into the light of a false spring.
4. Keep an eye on them and water if the bulb fibre looks as though it’s drying out. If you’re growing narcissus, choose bulbs that are intended as indoor plants and, after planting in bulb fibre, leave them on a warm, sunny windowsill as they don’t need the dark to encourage them to flower. Grape hyacinths, such as Muscari aucheri, ‘Blue Magic’, can be treated in the same way and will flower in just six to eight weeks.
5. Bring them in from the cold. Once your bulbs have shoots of about 5cm long, bring your pots indoors, or away from the windowsill. Encourage the leaves to turn green by placing the bulbs in a cool room, away from direct sunlight. Next, move the bulbs to a window where it should be a little warmer but avoid placing next to a radiator or in a draught as this will damage the bulbs. You might need to slow down the growing process if leaves appear more quickly than the buds. Place them in a cool spot again and cover them up for a few days, checking daily to ensure the leaves aren’t turning pale.
Alternatively, you can also grow hyacinths in vases, which need to be slightly larger than the bulb size so you can fill the vessel with water right to the top, and sit the bulb in the neck of the vase. Once the roots and shoots have started to develop, treat them the same way you would if growing in bulb fibre.
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Photography by Kirstie Young
Learn | Forest School for Grown-ups
Because why should children have all the nice things?
If you have children in your life, you’ve probably heard about Forest School, a method of education that’s been popular now for a good couple of decades, in which young people spend time out in the woods, learning about nature, but also simply enjoying the outdoors and building on other skills like teamwork, resilience and creativity. It all sounds a long way off the fusty classrooms we remember, but they do say education is a lifelong process so there’s no reason not to have a go now.
In our September issue, we met Estelle St John-Smith, a charcoal maker. Her work out in the woods sounded like so much fun, we were inspired to look into a few other ways one might enjoy the forest as adults. If you’re feeling rather cheated you missed out on forest school, perhaps you could try one of the ideas below? Some you can do alone with no equipment or skills at all, others you might need to buy a book or a tool for, then there are more for which you might need to join a group or society. There’s something for everyone, whether you’re dipping your toe into the forest for the first time or fancy going full-on Green Man.
Forest bathing
There are lots of courses you can take in Forest Bathing (also known as shinrin-yoku), but it’s something you can just as easily do alone or with a friend. Just head to a forest, turn off your phone, and wander through the trees, noticing your surroundings with all your senses and breathing deeply. The National Trust has more information about where and how to forest bathe
Whittling
Once the domain only of Cub Scouts and shiny new pen knives, whittling has had a bit of a renaissance. All you need is a pocket knife, a twig and a bit of time to yourself outdoors. We like Chris Lubkeman’s The Little Book of Whittling for easy projects you can get started on right away.
Tracking animals
Get a little bit Bear Grylls (or just sound impressive as you nonchalantly say “there’s been badgers through here” while on a walk with some friends). It’s fascinating to learn just a little bit about the animals you share a woodland with. The RSPB has a handy guide to animal footprints on its website.
Slacklining
Improve your balance and feel rather acrobatic by having a go at slacklining. It’s like a highwire, but tied very low, between two trees. You can buy slacklines in most outdoor and adventure type shops. Slackline.co.uk has a list of slackline clubs across the country if you’d rather try it in a group.
Cooking on an open fire
Any child who has been to forest school will tell you that the best part is the marshmallows on sticks at the end, but there are loads of things you can cook on an open fire (just make sure you put it out safely and are only building a fire in areas where it is permitted). The Simple Things’ blog has lots of ideas for recipes to cook outdoors on a fire. Try our Frying Pan Calzone to get you started.
Join a woodland working party
If you’d like to make a real difference at the same time as having fun, you could think about volunteering. Organisations such as the Woodland Trust have openings for adults to get involved in looking after woodlands local to them but you may well find your local common, national park or National Trust property offers something similar. You might learn anything from hedge-laying to charcoal making to general woodland management skills, all while meeting like minded people.
And what’s the first rule of Grown-up Forest School? (No, it’s not that you do not talk about Forest School, you at the back there.) It’s that no one can tell you when it’s time to go back indoors. Hurrah to that.
More from our September issue…
More fun in the forest…
Photograph by @prettyprospectcottage
Inspiration | In The Bath
Rub a dub dub, ideas from the tub
Many of us find inspiration hits us when we’re soaking in the bath. In our busy lives, we don’t often get the chance to enjoy a few moments of quiet relaxation, and that’s often when ideas have the chance to bubble to the surface, along with the loofah.
Here are a few notable people for whom the bath has been a place of inspiration. Have a read and perhaps you’ll be inspired to run a bath yourself and have a soak.
Archimedes
The Greek scholar allegedly discovered displacement when he stepped in the bath and noted that the water level rose as he entered it, meaning the volume of water displaced must be the same as the volume of the object submerged. He was apparently so excited that (after shouting ‘Eureka!’) he ran naked through the streets of Syracuse.
Sylvia Plath
The American poet found deep inspiration in the bath. Here she is writing in ‘The Bell Jar’ about how a bath solves everything.
“There must be quite a few things a hot bath won’t cure, but I don’t know many of them. Whenever I’m sad I’m going to die, or so nervous I can’t sleep, or in love with somebody I won’t be seeing for a week, I slump down just so far and then I say : “I’ll go take a hot bath.”
I remember the ceiling over every bathtub I’ve stretched out in. I remember the texture of the ceilings and the cracks and the colors and the damp spots and the light fixtures. I remember the tubs, too : the antique griffin-legged tubs, and the modern coffin-shaped tubs, and the fancy pink marble tubs overlooking indoor lily ponds, and I remember the shape and sizes of the water taps and the different sort of soap holders. I never feel so much myself as when I’m in a hot bath…
The longer I lay there in the clear hot water the purer I felt, and when I stepped out at last and wrapped myself in one of the big, soft white hotel bath towels I felt pure and sweet as a baby.”
Shigeru Miyamoto
The legendary games designer had a vintage bath tub as a perk at his office at Nintendo. During a highly stressful work period for him in the 1980s when he was under pressure to come up with a game, his bath inspired him to design Donkey Kong. We’re not sure what the links between baths and donkeys is, but we can see how it might have inspired his next great game, featuring two plumbers now known to the world as Mario and Luigi.
Agatha Christie
Is said to have found inspiration for her crime novels while soaking in the tub and eating apples. She’d often be there so long she’d end up surrounded by a ring of apple cores discarded around the edge of the bath.
Douglas Adams
The author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy loved a bath and often found ideas there. His old flatmate has often reminisced about Adams’ hour-and-a-half-long baths, and the fact that if he wasn’t in one, he was just out of one, or about to get into one.
Winston Churchill
The former Prime Minister was a lover of long and frequent baths and is said to have strategised for World War Two from the bath.
Benjamin Britten
Composer Benjamin Britten is said to have religiously taken a freezing cold bath in the mornings and a scalding hot one at night. We can’t say it <definitely> helped with his Piano Concerto, but it surely can’t have done any harm?
Steve Jobs
Ok, it’s not strictly a bath but needs must when you’re launching Apple Inc. Steve Jobs is said to have found a little quiet and relaxation in the loos at Apple, dangling his feet into the toilet bowl to give them a soak.
The beautiful bath (and dog) pictured above are one of the bathrooms featured on our My Place feature in our September issue. Find more inspirational places to soak starting on p112 of the issue.
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Photography: Ali Allen
Harvest | Things to do with Weird Veg Box Vegetables
Getting a vegetable you’ve never heard of in your veg box is very exciting and also slightly bewildering. Here’s what to do with anything unrecognisable or unpronounceable in your veg box…
Kohlrabi
Once a thing of mystery, now a veg box staple, the best thing to do with this (faintly unattractive but nice and crunchy) vegetable is to julienne it for a kohlrabi slaw, along with carrot, cabbage, red onion and a nice zesty dressing.
Celeriac
Tastes like a nutty turnip; looks like a brain, celeriac makes a lovely creamy soup or gratin, but we think it’s particularly good sliced into ribbons with a peeler as a replacement for pasta with a creamy, cheesy sauce, and a good sprinkling of Stilton and walnuts.
Brusselberry Sprouts
Like sprouts but red, these are too pretty just to accompany a roast. They’re lovely raw, shredded into a salad with nuts, dried fruit and other additions, but we like to show them off on long skewers, cooked on the barbecue or panfried, with chunks of bacon if you like, glazed with honey and lime juice, and then sprinkled with parmesan.
Padron Peppers
Lots of fun. Padron peppers mostly taste just like green peppers, but one in every so many is surprisingly spicy! The classic and best way to serve these tiny green peppers is blistered in a pan with a glug of olive oil and plenty of good salt. Serve with beers for a cooling swig whenever you get a hot one.
Oca
Also known as Oxalis Tuber Rosa, these are a colourful, knobbly alternative to a potato. But they have one thing over the potato - they can be eaten raw as well as cooked. Thinly sliced, they have a pleasant lemony flavour and make a great salad. When cooked they taste nutty rather than lemony, and we love them roasted in oil with salt and dried chilli, as a pre-dinner nibble.
In our September issue, Rachel de Thample has given us lots of advice on using up everything in your veg box , as well as recipes that are great for late-summer-early-autumn veg box contents. Find all her ideas from page 42 of our September issue. The feature includes recipes for sweetcorn polenta with runner bean ragu, apple soda bread, golden marrow marmalade, Moroccalilli and cauliflower dauphinoise.
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Photography: Jemma Watts Recipe and styling: Kay Prestney
Tipple | Peach Gin and Tonics
A refreshing drink for a grown-up picnic, and probably one of our five a day (ahem)
Serves 4
2 fresh, ripe peaches
1 lime
1 bottle of pink gin
A bag of ice 8 small tins of tonic water (we like Fever-Tree tonics) 4 rosemary sprigs
Reusable straws
1 Take the stones out of the peaches and cut into thin slices, then quarter the lime.
2 Add a shot of gin to each glass and place in a lime quarter and several peach slices. Top with ice and pour over the tonic water until the glass is nearly full. Add a sprig of rosemary to use as a stirrer and a paper or reusable straw.
This simple recipe is just one of the ideas from our feature, Catch of the Day, which has lots of recipes for a picnic on the quayside, including crab sarnies, barbecued prawns, smoked mackerel palmiers, courgette and spinach salad and Eton Mess jam jars. You can find the rest of the recipes from page 8.
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Quiz | Which is your Spiritual Fictional Boarding School?
It’s almost time to pack up your pencil case and head back to school for the new term. But which school is the right fit for you? Take a trip through your childhood bookshelves with our back to school quiz and find out where you’re packing your cases for.
1. How do you feel about academia?
a. It’s important to do your best, but far more important to be a well-rounded, solid young woman; the sort your school can be proud of.
b. Skool is wet and weedy. And thus only for wets and weeds. Generally I manadge to bish it up sumhow.
c. I enjoyed the Latin I did with Father. But my governess says, that while a little culture is important, becoming a home-maker is what really counts. I’m hoping to apply myself a little more to my needlework this term.
d. I went to the local comp and it was fine but I always felt something was ‘missing’ that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. What I need is a little more guidance from the adults in my life.
e. I try my best. It just always seems to go wrong somehow.
2. How do you wear your school uniform?
a. Properly and with pride, naturally! I always feel a swell od satisfaction when I look at myself in the mirror in my smart tunic and boater.
b. At a rakish angel, as eny fule kno.
c. Oh, I’m never out of it. It’s jolly attractive, you know. The deep blue really sets off my eyes, and the crimson honeycombing at the waist and white revers on the shoulder give it some lovely detailing. I think a good uniform is so important.
d. There’s a lot of clobber and it tends to get rather a battering but there’s nothing an invisibility cloak won’t cover up.
e. I never look quite right in it. My socks are usually falling down around my ankles and my boot laces trailing. My hat is usually either lost or bashed in on one side.
3. What’s your ideal school dinner?
a. Not a word to matron, but obviously it’s a midnight feast! Tins of Carnation milk, sardines and perhaps even some chocolate if someone’s folks have been down for exeat weekend.
b. Is ther indeed eny such thing? I hav lookd on in horror as the skool dinner lady serves up the peece of cod that passeth understanding and been ever after grateful to receev a simple skool sossige (assuming the rotten skool dog hav not already ate i)t and a spotted dick and custard.
c. Sunday breakfasts are a firm favourite with me: get up late at nine, and then tuck into coffee with rolls and honey.
d. Anything that’s followed by treacle tart. Magic!
e. Tea, crumpets and butter, taken in front of the fire.
4. What’s your strongest memory of school?
a. The words of my head teacher will always stay with me and I try to put them into use every day: “You’ll get a lot out of school. See that you put a lot back.”
b. My torture at the hands of the skool bully, Graber, captane of evry sports team, winner of the Miss Joyful Prize for raffia work and all round cad and bounder, is sumthing that will remane with me.
c. Golly, there was so much drama, I could scarcely say. Some poor girl was almost always succumbing to tuberculosis or getting caught in an avalanche and having a scrape with death. And we once had a spy in the school during the war. That was jolly exciting.
d. I had a couple of run-ins with an arch nemesis that definitely stick in the mind.
e. Being turned into a frog.
5. What do you want to be when you grow up?
a. I know my folks would be rather pleased if I married a doctor like my father but I loved school so much, I think I’d like to be a teacher.
b. Anything that gets me out of this skool, which is a bit of a shambles, as you can see. In fact, sumthing as far away as possible, so perhaps a career in space. Sumthing in a rocket that go ‘ur ur whoosh’ and fly me up to the moon, from were I may look down on skool and all the clot-faced wets therein and larf.
c. I’d like to go back to England and go up to Oxford, which would make Mummy terribly proud, but if not, I shall probably study at one of the art needlework schools and start a family. I’m not sure there’s much in between is there?
d. I’m keeping an open mind. I’d just like to follow my destiny really.
e. Something working with animals. They understand me better than people.
Answers
Add up the number of As, Bs, Cs etc to find our which is your Spirit Boarding School
Mostly As: Lacrosse sticks at the ready: you’re off to Malory Towers. Hurrah!
Mostly Bs: CAVE! CAVE! It’s the beak: you’re off to St Custard’s with Molesworth and co.
Mostly Cs: Lummy, don’t forget your snow shoes: you’re off to the Chalet School.
Mostly Ds: Lumos! Don’t be late for the Hogwarts Express. You’re going to wizarding school!
Mostly Es: Drat! You’re off to Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches. Let’s hope you’re not the Worst Witch there.
If that has got you feeling nostalgic for more books you once owned, don’t miss our Looking Back feature on children’s fiction in our September issue.
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Photography: Sam Folan
Recipe | Frying Pan Calzone
Recipe | Frying Pan Calzone with Mozzarella and Chilli
Making fresh dough on a camping trip is a step too far for many, so buy a good-quality naan bread or Italian-style, flat breads as a short-cut.
Serves 4
1-2 tbsp olive oil
250g cherry tomatoes
4 large flat breads or flat breads
2 x 125g balls of mozzarella, drained, roughly chopped and patted dry
Dried oregano, to taste
Dried chilli flakes, to taste
1 Heat the olive oil in a frying pan
over a moderate heat. Add the tomatoes and a big pinch of salt and cook for 3–5 mins, until the tomatoes have softened but still hold a little of their shape. Remove from the heat, drain, and set the tomatoes aside.
2 Wipe out the pan, ready to cook
the calzone. Lay out each flat bread on a clean surface. Distribute the cooked tomatoes, mozzarella, oregano and chilli flakes equally over each flat bread, leaving a border of
at least a 2-3cm around the edge to prevent anything seeping out when you fry. Fold each flat bread in half
to create a half moon shape.
3 Working in batches, in a dry frying pan, fry each flat bread over a moderate to low heat, for about
3 mins, or until the bread on the underside takes on a nice colour and is blistered in places, and the mozzarella has melted sufficiently. Flip over and cook the other side for a further 3 mins. Cut into quarters to serve.
This recipe is just one of the ideas from our feature, If You Can’t Stand the Heat, which is packed with recipes you don’t have to cook in a kitchen. It’s taken from Camper Van Cooking by Claire Thomson and Matt Williamson (Quadrille) with photography by Sam Folan.
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