• Mental health shelf • Pressed leaves & pond skaters
• In-the-gaps growing • The joy of being a regular
Whittle down the woods
WITH NATURE AT ITS MOST INVITING, FILL A BACKPACK WITH TASTY TREATS AND HEAD INTO THE TREES TO ENJOY THE FREEDOM TO RUN, PLAY AND CARVE OUT A DAY OF FUN
& styling: BECKY COOK Photography: WILL HEAP
If you go down to the woods today… pack up a picnic and get ready for an adventure. It ’s now warm enough for some al fresco eating, not to mention the opportunity offered by two bank holidays this month – so dig out a blanket and head to your nearest woodland (handy for shelter, should it rain) for a spot of exploring. See where the path takes you, gathering sticks on the way and pausing to enjoy nature at its best. Suitable picnic spot located, it’s time to share out a feast with no soggy sandwiches in sight. It’s crispy chicken to dip, along with seasonal family-friendly salads and sides that will go down a treat. Wash it down with an apple and mint punch (which will have mixed nicely on your walk) before the kids run off, Bakewell tart in hand, to climb, collect, adventure and play. Give wood whittling a go, then use any extra twigs and sticks collected to light a small fire* to toast homemade marshmallows. Squished between two chocolate biscuits, they’re a great way to round off activities before the walk home. A day in the woods is always a day well spent. »
*Make sure the area you are in allows campfires and never leave a fire unattended. Keep the area around the fire clear, watch out for embers and always have water on hand. When you’ve finished, make sure the fire is out completely.
A vital mission when exploring: identifying a good picnic spot. Then it’s about the serious task of lunch and perhaps some simple craft
The joys of being a regular
WHY KEEP CHASING THE NEW WHEN REVISITING FAVOURITE PLACES RESULTS IN SO MANY
HAPPY RETURNS, ASKS JESSICA FURSETH
At dinnertime, if I’m anywhere near my favourite restaurant, there’s not a chance in hell you can talk me into going somewhere else – I want to eat at Song Que. It’s in a cool part of the city and, while I’m sure we’d find something fun if we explored, this restaurant and I have had 17 years together, enjoying endless delicately fragrant soups and juicy, crispy spring rolls. Being a regular isn’t just about knowing you’re in for good food – it’s the reassuring comfort of something steady as life keeps changing. When I lived around the corner in my 20s, this is where I picked up chilli and lemongrass tofu; more recently, it’s where I took my stepdaughter so she could experience pho for the first time. When I meet my friend Chris, we never have to say where – we already know it’ll be at Song Que. Don’t get me wrong, trying new things is great, and I love exploring. But the pressure to always keep trying new things ignores the satisfaction of finding our loves and keeping on loving them. So, when I’m at home I’m inclined to stick to my true and tested. It’s why I dislike pop-up restaurants – as much as it can be fun to try unexpectedly fused cuisines on wobbly benches outside a shack by the river, I just don’t fancy going there, having an amazing time, and then never being able to go back. I’d much rather invest my time and money into a place that will be here next month, working my way through the menu to find my favourite dishes, figuring out which is the best table. In a chaotic world, being a regular makes me feel that there are always places where things stay the same. I don’t have to work out the deal with a new spot. Rather, I can wander in and sit down, knowing that I can just relax.
In my mental map of my city, I keep a pin in all my favourites – cute bookshops, hidden gardens, steps ideal for a little sit, the doughnut stand that’s open only on the weekend. To be a regular is to let a place become a character in your life. The act of returning builds connection, and
a sense of being at home as you settle in and share a nod with the barman before he asks if you’ll be having the usual? And if you’re without your usual companion, where’s your fellow today?
That reassuring familiarity isn’t just in the faces of people. I know a wine bar where there’s a loveseat by the fireplace with a table so tiny you can only fit two glasses and a bowl of olives on it. It’s a covetable table, catching the eye of everyone who walks in. I have felt it on the occasions when it’s been awarded to me, on a date with myself to enjoy a nebbiolo with my book. It’s a place to be alone in a community of strangers.
Some things just get better the more you do them. While Bank Holiday weekends and leisurely summer Sundays offer the promise of finding country paths for a wander, before sitting down at one of those thatched roof pubs where everything looks casual but you need to book a week ahead, I’m really looking forward to revisiting a beloved walking route as the seasons turn, noticing the subtle changes in the familiar. I’ve walked along the Thames a hundred times, but the banks look different each time as the tides move to reveal or conceal, and at this point it feels like spending time with a friend. The river is alive, and each time we meet, we grow closer.
Then, afterwards, I know a little local pub, full of books and board games, that my partner Luke and I discovered this winter – one thing that I’m really excited about this summer is to finally be able to sit in the beer garden. Another perk of being a regular there is that Kirsty, the resident pub cat, has finally started acknowledging our presence. The other repeat patrons have also started nodding at us, which may be the biggest endorsement of all. They were here first and this is their pub, but we’ve been putting in the time. You seem okay, they seem to be saying, have a seat, stay a while, and come back soon.
“Pressure to try new things ignores the satisfaction of finding our loves”
When the world is silent and still, bird song comes to the fore and sounds like a veritable orchestra
THE EARLY BIRD
ONE OF NATURE’S MOST UPLIFTING EXPERIENCES IS ALSO ONE OF ITS MOST ACCESSIBLE. SET THE ALARM AND STEP OUT TO HEAR THE DAWN CHORUS AT ITS BEST THIS MONTH
Words: FERGUS COLLINS
HAPPY CAMPERS
IT’S OVER 100 YEARS SINCE PEOPLE BEGAN SLEEPING UNDER CANVAS FOR PLEASURE AND CAMPING HASN’T LOST ITS THRILL. WE OVERSTUFF OUR RUCKSACKS AND VENTURE BACK IN TIME TO REVISIT SOME OF ITS GREATEST PITCHES
Words: JULIAN OWEN
Picture it: it’s 6am in a New Forest campsite, circa 1981. If the hefty snorts that woke us were unnerving, the next noise was something else. Because, if we – me, Mum, Dad and Lucy – were lying rigid in our sleeping bags, then who was slowly unzipping the tent door? The answer, brave Pa discovered, was a pony with few manners and a nose for cornflakes.
Thus, an indelible vignette from our annual Whitsun camping week (followed, unfailingly, by two more during factory fortnight and a long weekend over August bank holiday). A bygone tenting age where a confusion of poles propped up canvas the weight of a modest walrus.
And, before that, mammoths. Archaeologists have determined their hides covered tents in the Ice Age, sheltering neanderthals and early homo sapiens alike. While tents have prevailed in nomadic cultures ever since, as well as being utilised by explorers and the military, their leisure-time role dates to late Victorian times.
HAVE TENT WILL TRAVEL
Shropshire-born Thomas Hiram Holding acquired a passion for the great wide open as
a boy, journeying 1,200-miles to Salt Lake City on a wagon train. The loss of two siblings and serious personal injury notwithstanding, life under canvas enchanted him. Back in Britain, camping expeditions in the Highlands found the tailorby-trade loving everything but the cumbersome equipment. Ergo, his creation of a simple ridge tent, fit to be carried by bike, which he trialled in Ireland. The popularity of his resultant book, Cycle And Camp in Connemara (1897), spurred him to produce a lightweight kit – silk tent, bamboo poles, down quilt, pressurised burner. In 1901, bidding to expand his knowledgesharing, Holding and five like-minded chums
The evolution of lightweight camping kit enabled people to holiday on a tighter budget and with more freedom… just don't forget the tent pegs
Shelf HELP
BUILD A COLLECTION OF CLASSIC WELLBEING BOOKS TO HAVE WISDOM ON HAND, WHENEVER YOU NEED IT, THROUGHOUT LIFE’S CHANGES AND CHALLENGES
Words: REBECCA FRANK Illustrations: JOE MCINTYRE
Wouldn’t it be great to have a select library of books filled with wisdom that you can turn to as you go through the different stages and challenges of life? A good self-help book can provide a valuable tool in helping us
to understand why we feel the way we do and provide guidance and reassurance as we face inevitable change. From the many titles available, we asked some of our wellbeing experts to share the books they turn to again and again,
including old favourites and new classics. Whether you’re seeking help with coping with challenging times, understanding your situation better or changing behaviour and thinking, our selection will guide you to what you’re looking for.
»
CALMING ANXIOUS MINDS
Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? Everyday Tools for Life’s Ups & Downs by Dr Julie Smith
This a great primer on key ideas from psychotherapy about how to manage everyday life challenges. It’s good to dip into when you need a little help with specific situations, like better managing anxiety, ruminating thoughts or dealing with difficult emotions. Shorter sections and simple exercises are designed to be easily digested for times when a long read might feel overwhelming. “It’s all the things you hoped you would have learned at school about mental health and emotional wellbeing,” says emotions coach Claire Fitzsimmons.
(Michael Joseph)
Also read:
Notes On A Nervous Planet by Matt Haig
DEALING
WITH TESTING TIMES
Wintering: The Power Of Rest And Retreat In Difficult Times by Katherine May
ACCEPTING YOURSELF
WIn the grips of anxiety, Haig looks at how the habits of the digital age might be adding to stress. “An honest and relatable account of how stress and anxiety can take hold, with practical ways to counter the challenges of modern life,” says wellbeing editor, Rebecca Frank (Canongate)
Shelf HELP
A beautifully written book which became an instant hit in the naming of and allowing permission for the slow, quiet, darker times of the year and of life that we all experience. May takes us through her own year-long period of ‘wintering’ and puts forward a convincing case for the need to live more intuitively and seasonally, with periods of slowing down instead of pushing on through. “If you’ve ever felt anxious or ashamed by your desire to batten down the hatches and be quiet, this book will allow you to follow your instincts and learn to understand and appreciate the dormant periods,” says Rebecca Frank. (Penguin)
Radical Compassion: Learning To Love Yourself And Your World With The Practice Of RAIN by Tara Brach “A practical approach to nurturing self-compassion, which is something many of us struggle with,” says therapist and writer/editor Zoe McDonald. “Psychologist and Buddhist teacher Brach’s take on the RAIN method (recognise, allow, investigate and nurture) is easy to follow and she offers guided meditations for stressful times or when you’re in an overthinking spiral. I love listening to the audio book, which is narrated in her calm, kind voice.” (Rider)
Also read: Quiet: The Power Of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop
BUILD A COLLECTION OF CLASSIC WELLBEING BOOKS TO HAVE WISDOM ON HAND, WHENEVER YOU NEED IT, THROUGHOUT LIFE’S CHANGES AND CHALLENGES
Also read:
Words: REBECCA FRANK Illustrations: JOE MCINTYRE
ouldn’t it be great to have a select library of books filled with wisdom that you can turn to as you go through the different stages and challenges of life? A good self-help book can provide a valuable tool in helping us
Grief Works: Stories Of Life, Death And Surviving by Julia Samuel Real-life case histories from Samuel’s many years of experience working as a grief psychotherapist, helping to bring a better understanding of how grief impacts us. (Penguin Life)
to understand why we feel the way we do and provide guidance and reassurance as we face inevitable change. From the many titles available, we asked some of our wellbeing experts to share the books they turn to again and again,
Talking by Susan Cain Cain discusses how shyness and sensitivity are positive attributes and explores ways to cope in a society that seems geared towards the confident and outspoken. The book speaks to introverts everywhere who’d been thinking, ‘Is it just me?’ (Penguin)
including old favourites and new classics. Whether you’re seeking help with coping with challenging times, understanding your situation better or changing behaviour and thinking, our selection will guide you to what you’re looking for.
»
RESPECT YOUR ELDERS
NOW’S THE TIME TO MAKE THE MOST OF FRESH, FLORAL ELDERFLOWER. PLAN A FORAGING SESSION, THEN ENJOY MAKING CAKE, CORDIAL AND MUCH MORE…
Words: PHILIPPA VINE Photography: ANNA RUBINGH
FRENCH CONNECTION
A HOME FULL OF VINTAGE TREASURES AND A FULFILLING BUSINESS, ALL THANKS TO A COUPLE’S LOVE OF FRENCH BROCANTES
Words: KAY PRESTNEY Photography: BRENT DARBY
The couple spend much of their time in Provence aided by their beloved René the Renault (far left).
After a long day, it’s time to relax with an aperitif and a view from their Cotignac balcony
TENACIOUS PLANTS CAN THRIVE IN THE TINIEST GAPS AND CRACKS, MAKING ANY BARE SPOT AN OPPORTUNITY TO ADD PRETTINESS AND ENCOURAGE WILDLIFE, SAYS MARTYN COX
As I walk the streets of my city, I find it interesting to note which ornamental plants have jumped the garden fence and established themselves in the surrounding landscape: a lavender growing between kerb stones; a hellebore seedling clinging to the face of a wall; and a lovely pot marigold (Calendula officinalis) thriving on a busy pavement.
It’s a similar scenario in every city, town, and village, where seeds from trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses and more, escape garden boundaries to germinate in whatever nook or cranny they happen to land or blow into. During May, in particular, seedlings seem to be popping up everywhere. In some cases, plants from far-flung parts of the world have done so well that they’ve naturalised – this includes several cotoneasters, buddleia and snake’s head fritillary.
I admire these tenacious plants, which establish in gaps and less hospitable places, and I appreciate the way they soften the hard edges of urban environments, adding beauty to places that can look stark.
I welcome plants that do the same in my garden, whether they appear between two pebbles, in a crack in a wall, a gap in a bed or just about any other nook or cranny. And if a plant doesn’t grab the opportunity, I take the initiative and plant something myself.
All in all it's just another...
“Establishing themselves in gaps and less hospitable places, they add beauty to places that can look stark”
FORGOTTEN CORNERS
Every garden has tricky areas that have the potential to be transformed quite easily. It might be under an overhanging doorstep, or a narrow strip along a fence, or a shady corner – often a refuge for weeds. But the good news is, if they can support weeds, they can sustain more desirable species.
Technically, a ‘weed’ is any plant that’s growing where you don’t want it to. For most gardeners, this means a wild plant that’s taken root. Some weeds are worth keeping as they’re valuable to wildlife, or are particularly attractive, but others are invasive, spreading rapidly to the detriment of other plants (see ‘Unwelcome weeds’).
To make the most of these tricky spots, hoick out any unwanted weeds and then fluff up the soil to make it easier to plant –a table fork is ideal for this. Fill the void with
something attractive and easy to maintain, such as Mexican fleabane (Erigeron karvinskianus), a mat-forming perennial that produces masses of bee-friendly daisies from late spring until the first frosts of autumn.
Creeping thymes are another good option. They’ll spread slowly to form dense mats of foliage topped with white, pink, or red flowers loved by pollinators. Unlike upright culinary thymes, these ground huggers can cope with being stepped on, releasing a spicy aroma when crushed.
It’s always worth bearing in mind the adage, ‘right plant, right place’. This means paying attention to the conditions in your forgotten corner, and planting shade-loving plants in low light places and sun-loving species in brighter spots. Also, check whether your chosen plants will thrive in either damp or dry soil.
navelwort, sempivivum, forget-me-not, Mexican fleabane, bellflower... in the wall
