September is a month for looking into hedgerows. The extravagant greens of summer are beginning to soften, seed heads have replaced many of the flowers and, here and…
There is something rather generous about September. Summer has not quite packed its bags. Tomatoes are still warm from the greenhouse, runner beans continue to appear almost as…
There is something rather lovely about the first properly warm day of summer. Doors stand open, washing dries in no time and lunch can be eaten in the…
There is a quiet sort of happiness that often slips past unnoticed. It isn’t found in expensive holidays, winning the lottery or waiting for life to become perfect….
There is a curious idea that seems to have taken root over the past few years. Somehow, self-care has become wrapped in expensive candles, luxury retreats, skincare routines…
There comes a moment in life when something rather unexpected happens. You stop worrying quite so much about what everyone else thinks. It’s not dramatic. There isn’t a…
There was a time when people knew what month it was without needing to glance at a calendar. The blossom told them. So did the swallows returning to…
Food shopping has become something of an adventure. You wander into the supermarket intending to buy milk, bread and a few vegetables, only to emerge an hour later…
There is a particular sort of comfort that begins long before the first mouthful. It starts with the gentle clatter of a wooden spoon against a saucepan, the…
There was a time when people knew the names of everyone who lived along their street. They borrowed cups of sugar without embarrassment, looked after one another’s children,…
There is a quiet sort of magic in planting a seed. It doesn’t look particularly impressive at first. It’s small enough to disappear beneath a fingernail, dry to…
There is something deeply satisfying about eating with the seasons. In August, the garden, allotment and countryside reach a moment of extraordinary abundance, offering baskets filled with sun-ripened…
There is something wonderfully rewarding about foraging in August. The hedgerows are heavy with fruit, woodland edges are beginning to offer their treasures, and country footpaths become nature’s…
Some memoirs seek to explain a public life. Others attempt to settle old scores or rewrite history. Jacinda Ardern’s A Different Kind of Power chooses a quieter path….
There is something quietly reassuring about Tuesday. It doesn’t arrive with Monday’s weight or Friday’s anticipation. It asks for neither celebration nor survival. Instead, Tuesday slips in almost…
There is something rather special about the summer school holidays. For six glorious weeks, alarm clocks are forgotten, lunchboxes are tucked away and the usual routine gives way…
How to Age by Liz Earle – A Warm, Wise and Wonderfully Reassuring Guide to Growing Older Ageing is one of life’s few guarantees. Yet somehow, most of…
There is a particular kind of richness that belongs only to July. The hedgerows are full now. Meadows sway beneath long grasses sprinkled with wildflowers, woodland edges soften…
There is something rather special about stepping into the garden on a July morning. The air still holds the freshness of dawn, yet already the promise of warmth…
There is something quietly reassuring about preparing a cup of matcha. Unlike the hurried ritual of dipping a teabag into boiling water before rushing out of the door,…
There is something reassuring about a well-tended garden. Not because it is perfect. Gardens rarely are. There are always weeds to pull, borders to edge, plants that flourish…
There is a moment many of us recognise. Perhaps it arrives on a Monday morning after a restless night’s sleep. Or during a mid-afternoon slump when another cup…
There is a quiet beauty in watching someone move through life without hurry. Not rushing from one task to the next. Not chasing productivity for its own sake….
Today, as dawn stretches across the British countryside and sunlight lingers long into the evening, we reach a quiet turning point in the year. The Summer Solstice. The…