The Simple Things Magazine August 2022 issue

Taking time to live well

August

DRIFT

Field days & twilight in the garden • Ginger shandies • Mythical reading Kelp forests • Pleasure seeking & holiday jotting • Reasons to rewild Honeysuckle posset • Appreciating a Liberty print • Caravans of love

In the night garden THE TWILIGHT GARDEN IS A FEAST FOR THE SENSES. SO RATHER THAN HEAD INDOORS AS THE SUN SETS, ALICE WHITEHEAD LINGERS FOR THIS SPECIAL TIME

GROWING

DESIGN: AMIR SCHLEZINGER/MY LANSCAPES; TOM STUART-SMITH; TONY WOODS/GARDEN CLUB

PHOTOGRAPHY: GAP PHOTOS; LIVING4MEDIA; MARIANNE MAJERUS; MMGI; STOCKSY.

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here’s a moment between daylight and dusk when my urban summer garden gives me the chills. In this quiet, almost secretive time when the sun drops behind the fence line, it seems as if I’m entering a parallel universe. Nighttime insects and animals arrive, and even plants behave differently, all of which can be so easily overlooked.

Less reliant on sight, my other senses become heightened. Flowers release intoxicating fragrances, the soil smells moist and sweet, and the sounds of water features and rustling foliage can take on magical qualities without the clamour of children, traffic or neighbours.

My garden under moonlight seems to detach itself from the ground, transporting me to another world. White flowers shine like moons, my pond becomes a planet, the waterfall a luminous constellation, and nighttime creatures emerge as if they are interstellar travellers.

E V E N I N G F LO R A …

Garden plants don’t tuck themselves up and wait for sunrise. Under the cover of darkness, flowers open and close to attract pollinators.

Some people theorise that the movement of plants might be affected by the moon, with leaves rising and falling like the tides.

Scientists have also discovered that certain flowers, such as petunias, night-scented stocks and honeysuckle, release an enticing perfume

“Nighttime creatures emerge as if they are interstellar travellers” after sunset to lure nocturnal insects, which help with pollination. Flowers that are specialised for nighttime pollination lack the ultraviolet (UV) receptors that would attract daytime insects and internal ‘body clocks’ trigger the delivery of glucose, which the plant has made during the day. The nectar is stored deeper down the flowerhead so only moths and bats that have a long proboscis can get to it.

… A N D FA U N A

Plants aren’t the only things to notice at night.

Next time you’re finishing off some weeding in the late evening gloam, take time to listen.

Nighttime triggers a hive of activity from nocturnal creatures such as beetles. These are nature’s bin men: scuttling across the soil, clearing up debris and breaking down dead wood and vegetation. You might see them crawling up stems to feed on pollen, leaves and flowers, and they’re free pest-control. Leave untidied corners of leaf litter, logs and stones and you could attract violet ground beetles, with their stylish metallic purple-black coats, and bright black and orange common sexton beetles.

Dark, moist cavities are also a haven for frogs and toads in the summer months, where they like to cool off. Patches of dense vegetation offer »

Dusk can be a rewarding time to sit and notice changes in the garden.

These dahlias mimic the colour of the setting sun, and the agapanthus look almost alien in the moonlight

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CREATIVITY

S P OT T I N G A N D J OT T I N G WHETHER PAINTING IN A DECKCHAIR OR DOODLING AT YOUR HOTEL, TRAVEL JOURNALS HELP TO CAPTURE HOLIDAY MEMORIES FOREVER Words: KAREN DUNN

PROU H O M E D LY MADE

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“I’ve always journalled throughout my life, but when I went to study abroad in Ireland, the practice of my travel journal truly started to thrive. Ireland’s astounding nature, the people, the stories all needed to be remembered and recorded.

I usually use watercolour or whatever I have on hand – sometimes I feel like using black ink, sometimes gouache.

It’s mostly about having fun and relaxing for me. Most of my pages are in both Czech and English.”

“I’ve been keeping holiday journals for 25 years. I’m very much a ‘need to be busy’ person and am useless at sunbathing, so the diaries keep me occupied and provide a canvas for sketching and drawing within a context.

I like the simple narrative of a holiday, nothing challenging, just painting in situ.

I also adore the memories they conjure up when I look through them again; drawings of the children when they were little and all those memorable days and evenings out. They’re also quite useful.

I often refer to them when recommending places to people and to remind myself of names of restaurants or towns visited.

My diaries gained a lot of interest on Instagram – so much so, that I now run ‘Holiday Diary’ workshops, helping others create the same style journals.” »

➔

Magdalena Konečná, @divoka.tuzka

Jennie Maizels, @jenniemaizels, jenniemaizels.com

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TIPPLES TO SHARE Find your favourite jugs and fill tubs with ice to make pitchers of cocktails that can take a party from summer afternoon to well after sunset. Cheers!

Recipes and styling: LOUISE GORROD Photography: EMMA CROMAN

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GOOD THINGS TO DRINK

PALOMA Tequila. It makes us happy, as the song goes. Especially when served in this civilised Mexican cocktail.

Serves 4 Salt 200ml tequila blanco 40ml agave syrup 40ml lime juice 240ml pink grapefruit juice Ice Soda water Pink or red grapefruit slices and rosemary sprigs or borage flowers, to garnish 1 Dip the rim of each glass in a bowl of water, shake off the excess, then sprinkle a spoonful of salt onto a plate or saucer and dip the glasses in to coat the rims.

2 Fill a cocktail shaker or large lidded jar with ice, then add all the remaining ingredients except for the soda water and garnish. Depending on the size of your shaker, you may need to do this in a few batches. Shake until the outside of the shaker feels cold, then strain into your prepared glasses.

3 Add a few fresh ice cubes and top with the soda water to serve.

Garnish with the grapefruit slices and rosemary sprigs, plus a borage flower or two if you have them.

Even if you don’t quite manage the candle, flowers or even the olives, this gin fizz is a pretty impressive drink on its own

BLUEBERRY THYME GIN FIZZ A lovely refresher on an afternoon, this seasonal take on a classic gin cocktail has a rejuvenating herbal edge. Serve with friends.

Serves 4 240ml gin 60ml lemon juice 30ml agave syrup 150g blueberries 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves Ice Soda water

Lemon slices, blueberries and thyme sprigs, to garnish 1 In a cocktail shaker or large lidded jar, muddle together the gin, lemon juice, agave syrup, blueberries, and thyme leaves. Make sure to smash the blueberries up well! Depending on the size of your shaker, you may need to do this in a few batches.

2 Pour into a pitcher over ice and top with soda water. Garnish with lemon slices, fresh blueberries and sprigs of fresh thyme. » 17

MY CITY*

PHOTOGRAPHY: TIM PIKE

BORDEAUX TIM PIKE GUIDES US ALONG THE BANKS OF THE GARONNE, THROUGH THE HISTORIC STREETS AND OUT TO THE CITY’S FAMOUS VINEYARDS 1

MY CITY

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*There’s no better way to get to the heart of a city than through the people who live there. Every month we ask someone, clearly in love with their city, to take us on a personal tour and tell us what makes it so special. You may feel inspired to visit one day, but for now just sit back, relax and enjoy some armchair travel.

How long have you lived in the city?

I’ve lived in Bordeaux since 2010, although I also spent a few years here back in the 1990s.

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What brought you here originally?

I’m from Bristol – Bordeaux’s twin city. I came here on an exchange programme with Southampton Uni, which resulted in me teaching English at Bordeaux University.

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Tell us what makes your city unique

Bordeaux somehow manages to be simultaneously dynamic and effortlessly laid-back; quaint yet trendy. It’s also relatively compact, but has diverse neighbourhoods, each with its own charm, character and atmosphere. The architecture is stunning, from the tiny side-streets that date back to Medieval times to the 18th-century façades of the Garonne waterfront, to the rows and rows of single-storey échoppes, the archetypal Bordeaux houses. I find the city’s history particularly interesting, including inconvenient chapters such as its slave trade legacy, and its stance during WW2.

What’s it like in summer?

A lot of the locals tend to head west to Arcachon Bay and the beaches of Lacanau. There are fewer students around, and businesses wind down, but it’s still lively.

Bordeaux Open Air festival also returns this year with free electronic music concerts and family-friendly activities every Sunday during the summer.

What time of day do you most enjoy and why?

I love roaming through the city centre between 9 and 10 in the morning, when it’s slowly coming to life, and waiters are positioning chairs and tables ahead of their working day. But an early evening drink and a bit of people-watching on one of the old market squares like Place du Marché des Chartrons also takes some beating!

Where’s your favourite outdoor space?

Jardin Public and Parc Bordelais are ideal for a stroll, a run or some downtime. However, my favourite spot is over on the right bank of the Garonne, in the Bastide quarter, where there’s a botanical garden. »

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1 According to our Bordeaux man-abouttown, Tim, a gentle stroll across the Pont de Pierre to the northern banks of the Garonne provides the best viewpoint of…

2 the Miroir d’Eau, a reflection pool built by the Place de la Bourse.

3 You certainly won’t rue a mooch down Rue Sainte James with its trendy concept stores. 4 Wine’s big in Bordeaux. 5 While away an afternoon exploring the pretty side streets

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Field day MAKE THE MOST OF A SUMMER MEADOW AND SHARE A PROPER PICNIC WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS Recipes and Styling: KAY PRESTNEY Photography: JEMMA WATTS

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GATHERING

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aying in the long grass, listening to the crickets with a cool drink in hand postpicnic, is a summer joy to be savoured.

So, pack up an al fresco feast for friends or family, find a meadow and set up camp for the day. If you don’t have a field close by that a farmer won’t chase you out of, head to a beauty spot instead to make the most of the good weather, great food and even better company.

Who needs sandwiches when you’ve got a puff pastry tart with home-grown veg, a fresh and minty salad, crunchy slaw and a sweet muffin for pudding. Keep your drinks cool in a flask – which also opens up the possibility of icy cocktails, such as a delicious peach daiquiri, which can be sipped in the shade, while the kids play. Ah, summer days.... » Make hay while the sun shines with a fun-filled family picnic in a field

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

PHOTOGRAPHY: JANNE FORD

Summer garden bouquet

At this time of year, there is an array of flowers to pick from right on your doorstep. A sprig of lavender, a few daisies and cosmos from your flower beds, a small branch of budleia from that bush you pass on your dog walk, plus a sprinkling of sweet peas and calendula flowers all come together to create a wild display that doesn’t need to be neat to bring joy to the kitchen table.

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Know a thing or two...

Rewilding How stepping back can let nature flourish Illustration: LARA PAULUSSEN Words: LINDSEY HARRAD

HOME TOUR

HOME AND AWAY

Take two caravans, one under the Sardinian sun and one on the Kent coast, that prove a stay in a mobile home doesn’t have to be a trip back in time Words: SARA DAL ZOTTO and KAREN DUNN Pictures: BARBARA CORSICO/LIVING INSIDE and JOANNA BONGARD

C Forget holidays spent in a muddy field, listening to the rain on a thin, tin roof.

Thanks to some clever styling, this is the cool way to caravan

hildhood holidays in the UK, for many of us, meant a stay at a seaside caravan park. It may have only been a static caravan at a windswept holiday resort, but you could watch a magician, sing karaoke, splash in the outside pool, then steer clear of the bigger kids hanging out in the play park, while you headed back to your home for the week with the hope of chips for tea. If you were very lucky, your family had a towable caravan, which spent most of the year in the garage or on a drive, just waiting to take to the road for a break in a field, so even if rain stopped play you could hide inside drinking tea and playing endless games of Monopoly. While caravans are steeped in nostalgia, there are people reimagining them with modern makeovers or by creating boho hideaways.

So, while they may have a vintage look on the outside, the insides are more comfortable and cool than we remember – and with all mod cons, too. No Caravanning Club membership required. » 97

BENEATH THE WAVES INCREDIBLE CREATURES AND UNIQUE ECO-SYSTEMS LIE UNDERWATER AND ARE EASY TO EXPLORE JUST OFF THE BEACH Words: JANE MORGAN

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OUTING

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he instruction from the boat’s skipper was, “Lie quietly on the surface, don’t try to approach them, just wait until they come to you.”

Once in the water, I could see large boulders below me and kelp fronds swishing back and forth with the light swell.

The movement was making me feel slightly nauseous, and soon, I felt I was being watched.

I rolled over as smoothly as possible, just in time to see a young seal playing peek-a-boo behind my fins. The seal seemed to take my movement as a precursor to playtime, starting a game of tugging at the fins and chasing me. Laughing while wearing a mask and snorkel isn’t ideal, as your mask tends to fill up with water which gets snorted up your nose. However, my encounter with that seal will stay with me forever as the best fun I’ve ever had in the sea. As I reluctantly swam back to the boat 20 minutes later, my little pinniped* pal swam with me, as if requesting that I stay and play some more.

The UK has more than 19,000 miles of coastline and 6,000 islands. Add to that inland waterways, rivers, lakes, sea lochs and quarries, »

You might get the seal of approval from local wildlife, but don’t touch them

* A pinniped is a carnivorous aquatic mammal such as a seal or walrus.

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