Table of contents for October 2017 - Issue 64 in The Simple Things

Halloween evolved out of Samhain, a Celtic festival during which people would light fires to ward off evil spirits. In 731AD, Pope Gregory III declared 1 November a day of remembrance for all the saints without official days of their own. From the 11th century, the day commemorated all dead and became All Souls’ Day. The night before, All Hallows’ Eve, took on some of the ideas from Samhain as a cleansing ritual before the day ahead. Over time it has evolved into Halloween – a secular event in which children dress up and knock on doors calling ‘trick or treat’ – the threat of practical jokes unless they are bribed with sweets. The increasingly commercialised celebrations embraced by much of the Western world have largely been imported from America,…

My hope was for crisp autumn sunlight today, but it is misty and damp in Great Bradley Wood. Most of my immediate surroundings are distorted in the fog, apart from a carpet of orange leaves with moss-covered branches randomly arranged underfoot, as if thrown to divine the future. Islands of star moss appear, and single lines of ivy wind up the trunk of an alder like decorative embroidery. The mist makes the world ten metres away become indistinct, then entirely erased, creating a geographical disconnection to my surroundings. I am in a small woodland bubble floating through a white void. The trees to my right clear, revealing what should be a dramatic view towards Wiltshire and King Alfred’s Tower, but instead the fern-covered floor just stops, revealing only faint grey…

The Russian classics are admittedly not the most obvious place to look for tips for a happier life. They’re full of gloomy people wondering how on earth they have ended up in the appalling predicament in which they find themselves, looking around desperately for someone else to blame and then realising that life really is extremely inconvenient and annoying and we are all just waiting to die. But they also teach us that it can, crucially, be survived. And it can be enjoyed, beautifully. It is great works of literature that really change us as people by showing us the inner lives of others and by revealing our common humanity. These works allow us to imagine different versions of ourselves only without actually having to kill any old ladies (Crime…

“The women were in a very militant mood – not only the women workers but the masses of women queuing for bread and kerosene. They held political meetings, they predominated in the streets, they moved to the city duma with a demand for bread, they stopped trams,” reported the communist newspaper Pravda about events taking place on International Women’s Day, 8 March 1917 (or 23 February in the Julian calendar) in Petrograd*. Their conclusion that it “gave rise to the revolutionary spirit” was correct – it was the first of several days of what became the February Revolution. By the 15 March, the Tsar had abdicated, ending the monarchy in Russia. Women continued to protest, even after a provisional government was appointed, with over 40,000 women marching in Petrograd in…

PROUDLY HOMEMADE You may have been spurred into action by Sarah Corbett’s wisdom on page 34. If so, this project is a way of trying out a little craftivism (activism using craft) for yourself. Inspired by the simplicity of the Post-it Note, it was created as part of Bystander Revolution, a global anti-bullying initiative (bystanderrevolution.org). We’re so used to living and acting quickly, but a physical object like a Post-it Note can take us out of auto-pilot and remind us to stop and think. These are stitched rather than scrawled on, the act of hand-stitching bringing an opportunity to really consider our words and action, while the #crafterthought questions help to focus reflection on the message being created. You could keep your embroidered sticky notes or give them as gifts…

blogs, bakes and photographs at Buttercup Days: buttercupdays.com. On Instagram: louise_buttercupdays STORMY WEATHER The Great Storm of 1987 is reconsidered in Windblown by Tamsin Treverton Jones Windblown marks the 30th anniversary of the Great Storm of 1987, when more than 15 million trees were uprooted and lives were irrevocably changed – “Nothing that stood in the path of the storm was safe and nothing would be the same again.” Tamsin tells the moving stories of fishermen and lighthouse keepers, sculptors and the homeless, who found themselves at the mercy of the gale-force winds. She also considers the environmental legacy for gardens such as Kew, and wooded estates like Wakehurst, whose gardeners pioneered conservation techniques in the wake of the storm, realising that the felled trees made way for “much needed…

With a little luck, autumn’s arrival brings with it crisp, sunny days and a change of pace and mood you’ll want to get outdoors to relish. So step away from the stove and opt instead for slow food. This low-maintenance menu means you can take dinner in your stride, building up an appetite for hotpot and winter greens, pear cake, then cheese and biscuits. MENU Lamb hotpot Mustardy greens ✽ Upside-down pear cake ✽ Homemade vanilla custard ✽ Cheese and oatcakes Lamb hotpot A HEARTY CASSEROLE THAT DESERVES ITS PLACE AS A CLASSIC Serves 6–8 2 tbsp plain flour 900g diced lamb 2 tbsp vegetable oil 2 large onions, sliced 1 large garlic bulb, cloves peeled and left whole 8 small shallots, peeled 500g Chantenay carrots, scrubbed 1 tbsp Dijon…

NANA’S FRUIT CAKE 1kg mixed dried fruit 50g sultanas or golden raisins 50g currants 12 pitted prunes, chopped 1 x 400g tin sweetened condensed milk 225g butter, plus extra for greasing 1 tbsp black treacle 1 tbsp golden syrup Dash of vanilla extract Dash of brandy 50g flaked almonds 1 slightly heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp mixed spice 1 tsp ground nutmeg 300g plain flour 1 slightly heaped tsp baking powder 1 Preheat oven to 140C/Fan 120C/375F. Grease and line a 23cm square cake tin with baking parchment. 2 Tip all the dried fruit and prunes into a large pan. Add the condensed milk, butter, treacle, golden syrup, vanilla extract and brandy. Stir in 350ml water, bring to a simmer and bubble gently for 5 mins. 3 Leave…

* 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 or to rediscover the charms of a city closer to you, but for now just sit back, relax and enjoy some armchair travel. How long have you lived in the city? Etty was born and raised in Taichung, Taiwan, and after stints in New York and Shanghai she moved from Taipei to do her master’s degree at the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok in 2013. After graduating she became an arts teacher at an international school here.…

Scrubbed wooden top with a grey chalk paint base. Legs with small chew marks left by a labrador puppy. Flecks of glitter in a crack from a long-forgotten craft project. A notch in one end where I once foolishly tried to use it as a workbench. This table, passed through three generations of my family, has absorbed the story of my life. Once, it lived in a farmhouse kitchen and my grandmother spent decades kneading dough, preparing apple pies and carving Sunday roasts on it. It held the Brown Betty teapot, dispensing cups of tea and Welsh cakes to visitors. Gangs of sheep shearers and haymakers crowded around it at the end of busy summer days. Now it lives in my house and is an essential part of daily life.…

T here comes a time when staying up late loses its appeal. Watching the sun rise may suit students, hedonists or anyone in thrall to notions of late-night excitement, but for the rest of us, the lure of going to bed has a far greater pull. The thought of crawling under a billowy duvet, laying a weary head on a crisp, cool pillow and drifting off to sleep outweighs any lingering desire to stay up and party. The call of the duvet is even greater when the bed is made up with a variety of delicious linens. Replacing limp economy duvets and fitted polyester sheets with duck down and high-thread-count cotton versions is a sign of maturity. It not only marks the transition from youthful grubbiness to adult sophistication but…

Mrs Dooley, Dublin, 22nd May Lovely stay, shame about the weather! Wind kept us up at night, creaking in the roof. Sounded like something trying to get in! Ms Arnold, Coventry, 31st May Disgusted. Tried to light a fire but the chimney smoked up the room. On closer inspection, I found a dead cat stuffed up there! Took it out and threw it in the sea, since the owners clearly aren’t going to do anything. Wish I could get hold of them and give them a piece of my mind. Are there not minimum health and safety standards out here? Dr Reeter, Somerset, 5th June Came for some local research and was pleasantly accommodated. No cause for alarm about Ms Arnold’s cat, no doubt she fails to realise this was…

PROUDLY HOMEMADE MUGESTRONE There is great comfort to be had from a cup-a-soup – especially if made fresh from scratch Serves 1 1 mug vegetable juice (such as V8 or tinned tomato soup) 40g tinned borlotti beans 60g frozen vegetables 15–20g vermicelli noodles TO SERVE – ALL OPTIONAL A drizzle of pesto ½ tbsp parmesan shavings Fresh parsley Pinch of chilli flakes 1 Pour the juice or soup into a mug and then add the borlotti beans, vegetables and noodles. Heat in the microwave on high for 2–3 mins. Alternatively, bring the mixture to boil in a saucepan on the hob. You want to heat it enough to cook the noodles and frozen veg thoroughly – around 4 mins. 2 Serve topped with a drizzle of pesto, parmesan shavings, fresh…

PROMPT OTHER PEOPLE’S STORIES Listen for inspiration wherever you are. Close your eyes and open your ears to collect curious bits of strangers’ chat. Snippets of conversation are a good launching point for a short story or poem. Something to record in a pocket journal? Public places are usually filled with chatter. At the bus stop, shopping centre, train station, airport, supermarket or a park – quietly and casually start to listen. Jot down parts of conversations in your journal. Take note of interesting words, musings, quotes and descriptions. Draw speech bubbles and fill them in with bits of conversation. PROJECT WEEKLY TREASURE CHALLENGE Some journal projects are best worked on over a period of time. This is a challenge to yourself to discover one treasure on a weekly basis.…

JEWELLERS Katie Woodward and Kirstie Maclaren wanted to create a different type of craft evening. So they set up The Workbench to run pop-up workshops across the UK, with crafters making one-off rings in cafés, bars and at festivals. And if you’d rather make your own at home, they’ll post workshop boxes, along with video tutorials and equipment. I went along to a pop-up in London, determined to make a one-off ring. Armed with a cocktail, a piece of jeweller’s wax, a craft knife and some sandpaper, I started by chipping away at the wax until I had a ring I was happy with. It’s very therapeutic, as you can only slice off tiny pieces of wax at a time, which you then smooth down with sandpaper. The wax softens…

Adam lives in the Leicestershire countryside and is the owner of awardwinning book subscription company The Willoughby Book Club (thewilloughby bookclub.co.uk). Morning! Where and when are you waking up? We live in a Victorian cottage in the village of Willoughby Waterleys. It’s drafty, ramshackle and in need of some TLC, but we love it. Our son, who’s three, usually wakes us at around 5.45am, at which point I’ll head downstairs and pop the kettle on. It’s usually a strong coffee or two at the breakfast table, before leaving for the office at 6.30am – a 10-minute drive away. Although I start work early, I don’t like to leave until we’ve had a family breakfast, usually a fairly unexotic bowl of cereal, cup of coffee and a glass of juice. Tell…

Idleness Douglas Dunn Can you hear them? The flap of a butterfly. The unfolding wing of a resting wren. The sigh of an exhausted garden-ghost. A poem trapped in an empty fountain pen. About the author Douglas Dunn is a Scottish poet, editor and critic who grew up in Inchinnan, Renfrewshire. He loves jazz, the comforts of domestic and family life and admires “Inchinnan’s colloquial, vernacular no-nonsense style”, a strong influence on his own poetry, which focuses on loss and regret, continuity and growth. Taken from The Noise of a Fly by Douglas Dunn (Faber & Faber)…

Once seen as an extreme and restrictive lifestyle choice, veganism is now fashionable, thanks to high-profile followers, awareness of the health benefits, and concerns about environmental and welfare issues. According to a recent survey from The Vegan Society, there are now record numbers of vegans in Britain. In the past decade, numbers have more than trebled, driven mostly by the young (almost half of vegans are under 35). Its growth is also due in part to the increase in positive media around veganism. “Jay-Z and Beyoncé were widely reported as following plant-based diets,” says Samantha Calvert at the Vegan Society. “When people who have the greatest choice and the most money choose it, people who aren’t vegan think there must be something about this – if this beautiful, successful person…

Ferns With its delicate, feathery leaves, a potted fern will bring a soft lushness to any room. Cluster a few different varieties together and the effect is even lovelier, conjuring up the speckled shadows of the forest floor. Alice Howard, owner of Botanique Workshop Artisan Store & Flower Shop, recommends keeping its woodland origins in mind when bringing a fern home: “Don’t place it in direct sunlight,” she says. “And don’t let the soil dry out – mist regularly, especially when the air is dry.” A little sylvan corner right there.…

“Its origins lend it an exotic air, lacking in humdrum furniture” There’s no real reason to own an ottoman. It’s not an essential piece of furniture like a sofa or a kitchen table. No home has to have one of these padded and upholstered items. Its actual function is enigmatic: is it a place to sit on temporarily (its absence of back or arms doesn’t invite lingering), or is it a place to rest your feet? Should you consider it as an upholstered coffee table and pile magazines upon it? Or is it for storing elderly blankets and other soon-to-be forgotten items? It is, of course, all of these things. Which is why it is worth considering as an addition to your home. Even more so, since furniture makers have…