Everyday Holidays Episode 2 - FLOWER

In this episode we dress like we’re on holiday, all the better to feel sunshine vibes. Editor of The Simple Things magazine, Lisa Sykes and Wellbeing Editor, Becs Frank explore how and why we unfurl and blossom like flowers in high summer, share some tasty ways with berries and cherries and pick a few flowers. Plus good bugs & bad bugs.

Small Ways to Live Well is a podcast from The Simple Things, a monthly magazine about slowing down, remembering what’s important and making the most of where you live.

To subscribe or order a copy of the magazine visit thesimplethings.com

Editing by Arthur Cosslett.

Transcript

Lisa Sykes (00:13):

Welcome to episode two in Season Three of The Simple Things, Small Ways To Live Well Podcast, I'm Lisa Sykes, editor of The Simple Things, which is a monthly magazine all about taking time to live well, slowing down a little bit and remembering what's really important. So we're calling this season Every Day Holidays. And in each episode we're going to be exploring a different aspect of how to take time off and time out, whether you're going away or not. And don't forget, you can follow us via your podcast app so you don't miss an episode. Now today I'm here with our wellbeing editor, Becs Frank, to talk about how to flower in high summer when often our routines disappear, we tend to socialise more and maybe work a little less. So there's lots going on. We've started, well Becs, and we are dressing like we're on holiday to get us in the mood.

Becs Frank (00:58):

Hi, Lisa. Yes, I'm here in my holiday dress. It's really not a very nice day out there today, is it?

Lisa Sykes (01:04):

It is grim. Just to set the scene, it's been like a lot of the summer, it's cloudy. There's definitely threat of rain. In fact, there has been some rain and you are not even in the same part of the country as me, but I think it's pretty much the same way you are, isn't it?

Becs Frank (01:18):

It's raining here in the west country, obviously, and I did start the day in a jumper and jeans because I walked the dog and now I'm in my summer dress and I do actually feel a lot more cheerful for putting this on.

Lisa Sykes (01:28):

You know what, I had the same thing I think I'll describe to you. So I'm wearing a very loud orange pink and yellow maxi skirt, which skirt I love. That skirt is something that I will only wear on holiday and a bright yellow cardigan. And actually like you, I took off my jumper and my dog walking drows and put this on and it made me feel better straight away and not warmer, just better.

Becs Frank (01:51):

You've actually look really cheerful and I really like that outfit and I don't know why we don't. Alright, maybe not in the driving rain, but I wouldn't put this dress on. I've had this dress for quite a few years and I wear

Lisa Sykes (02:02):

It. It's lovely. Just tell me, tell us about it. Go. Because it's kind of floral really, isn't it?

Becs Frank (02:07):

It's floral and I've got Can I show you? There's a peacock print on

Lisa Sykes (02:11):

It. Oh, go on. Stand up. Stand up. Oh, that's lovely. This is a beautiful indigo blue. I would say

Becs Frank (02:16):

Indigo blue, the white print. And I wear it on holiday every year. So if you looked at my holiday photos, you'd say, oh, be loves that dress. But I maybe worn it for a kind of do here, but it's not actually that dressy. Why can't I just put it on?

Lisa Sykes (02:30):

No, I know, but this is the thing, isn't it? There's something about being on holiday that sees us blossom like a flower and peel off our layers of clothes and wear different things and you kind of lose a few inhibitions in the process, don't you?

Becs Frank (02:44):

Yeah, you do. So maybe it's not so much about being on holiday as the way you behave when you're on holiday and that makes you feel good. And so why not try and behave a bit like that when you're at home as

Lisa Sykes (02:55):

Well? I know, and it is about wearing brighter colours generally because we come from this temperate country where exotic means a splash of red maybe, doesn't it? But because tropical prints, Hawaiian shirts, in fact we've just got a piece about this in our August issue. There's something about wearing, I'm sure everyone's got a bit a loud shirt in their wardrobe whether you're male or female, and you just instantly feel like

Becs Frank (03:21):

Party when you put it on. Yeah, I like how, and she mentions this Sean in her piece, that when you're at the airport that you see people have got those outfits on even on the way home, haven't they? When you're coming back to the rain again and on the way out there as well with the sun hat because you can't fit it in your case and they're in a good mood already.

Lisa Sykes (03:43):

It's true. Although it does look a little bit sad at midnight on a late flight back the sun, but you kind of understand why they just want to keep that holiday feeling right to the very end, don't you?

Becs Frank (03:56):

Yeah.

Lisa Sykes (03:56):

Floppy hat on the plane. Never a good look,

Becs Frank (03:59):

But it's the colours, it's the bright colours, it's the print, it's the sense of joy and being a bit more flamboyant and daring than you might normally be and you start behaving like you dress.

Lisa Sykes (04:10):

And I think that's going to be our theme of this episode because I was moaning in the office about the weather and lack of sunshine the other day, and my colleague Fiona, who works for us, but she's also in a band and she plays at festivals and she'd been at a festival at the weekend which was raining and she said people were just what she called catching the breaks. So they were embracing summer in the rare moments where the sun came out. But actually even when it didn't, they just got on with it. And actually I think that is the thing enough about the weather. Let's just make like we're on holiday and catch the breaks. Yeah, catch the breaks. That's my motto for the summer, I think. Yeah, seize the moment. Nature thinks it's summer, so we should too.

Becs Frank (04:50):

Yeah, no, exactly. And one, and it is really quite green still, which is nice. And there's some beautiful flowers out there, so that's quite appropriate for our flower episode, isn't it?

Lisa Sykes (05:01):

Yeah. Although it's not really swimming costume, whether is it just before we leave this alone?

Becs Frank (05:06):

No, I have to say my dress is long sleeved chosen for the, even though it's very light. But no, I'm wearing a Cardi. But do you like the kind of unfurling of the layers during the summer that, do you feel like this kind of sense of liberation, don't you?

Lisa Sykes (05:24):

No. And I've written in the magazine about how I love a swimming cosy as opposed to a bikini, but I have to say that the swimming costumes are as close as you get to be naked in front of other people, aren't they really? And so you do have to feel confident and more importantly comfortable in it. And do you remember that we actually sort of have a swimming correspondent Ella Foot who teaches swimming and does a lot of outdoor swimming

Speaker 3 (05:47):

And

Lisa Sykes (05:47):

She wrote an article where she made her own swimming costume because she was sick of wearing one that wasn't right for her. And do you remember I do. The company's the swimming seamstress, isn't it?

Becs Frank (05:59):

Yeah, that's right. It was a really lovely swimming costume, wasn't it? And I remember her saying it felt so good, the fit was so good that she felt like she wasn't wearing anything, which is kind of what you want. That's how you want to feel, isn't it?

Lisa Sykes (06:10):

Totally. Because when you buy running shoes or walking boots, that is the idea, isn't it? That you're not supposed to feel like they're really on your feet, they're just there holding you. And actually that's what you want from a cosy as well. You

Becs Frank (06:23):

Can feel like the skinny dipping. Yeah. But given that I can't barely sew a button on, I don't think I'm going to be making my own swimming costume. And she

Lisa Sykes (06:33):

Said it was tricky. She got a lot of help, I think. But didn't you say, do they make the for you as well?

Becs Frank (06:39):

Yes. So the swimming seamstress can also, you can get your own swimming costume bespoke made. So that's something to think about. I think it's one of the hardest things to buy after jeans or maybe on the par with jeans maybe. But I think when you find one you love, like you said in your piece, Lisa, it's very hard to let it go.

Lisa Sykes (06:58):

Yeah, no, you end up wearing it until it's nearly

Becs Frank (07:02):

Yeah, exactly.

Lisa Sykes (07:03):

You

Becs Frank (07:04):

Go into sunshine.

Lisa Sykes (07:05):

Yeah, obviously does need to be sunny when you wear a swimming costume. And the sunshine is kind of essential for summer really, isn't it?

Becs Frank (07:13):

Even if you're not a hot weather person, everyone gets an uplift from the sun, don't they? It brightens the day. It gives us energy, it makes us feel a more optimistic. We sing about it, we talk about it. It's in our phrases. We did a know a thing or two piece where we really delve into a subject we, which was covering all things to do with the sun. And it's amazing how, just a reminder of how important this great life energy force is.

Lisa Sykes (07:40):

Absolutely. And also it is our clock and our calendar. We tell the time by it. And it was way back when people started using sundials, sorry, way back. That was a scientific term, a historical term, because clearly, I don't dunno exactly how far back, but let's just take it for granted. But it also is the calendar because it moves the circle of the year along. And the thing I really like, because as you know, I'm a bit of a geography map, nerd navigators used it to find latitude because they invented a device, this accident that looks at the angle between the sun and the horizon. And it made navigation so much more reliable. So arguably that was the reason we were able to explore our planet.

Becs Frank (08:21):

Yeah, no, exactly. And I love how it's our plants, our animals, everything is reliant on the sun. And one of the things that Jane mentioned in that piece was the sunshine state in Florida where the iguanas, when they have a particularly bad spread, the spell of weather with the lack of sunshine, they fall out of their trees. Oh no. Because they lose their energy and life force. I think I'm a bit like that to be honest.

Lisa Sykes (08:48):

I think you are a heliotropic bes, aren't you? I think I the where flowers and leaves follow the sun and move with it. I think I'm an iguana. I think I could fall out of a tree with feeling miserable about the lack of sun if I tried. We can all relate to the iguanas at the moment. Let's try and leave our iguanas behind and find some positives.

Becs Frank (09:09):

So it's healing, isn't it? The sun as well? That's the thing. It's not just psychological, the benefits of the sun, it's physiological.

Lisa Sykes (09:17):

No. And isn't that why people were told to go to sunny locations to improve their health in Victorian times?

Becs Frank (09:24):

It was back in the late 18 hundreds when they found that. Well,

Lisa Sykes (09:27):

I actually got the date more or less on for that one. Victorian. Sorry, go on.

Becs Frank (09:32):

Yeah, exactly. When they were found that with people with TB taking them out into the sunshine helped to kill the bacteria. So people were wheeled outside for helio therapy back then. And then there was discovered that bone development was obviously also very linked to sunshine as well. So that's the vitamin D link that we've talked about before. And then there's the hormone levels. It increases serotonin, the production of serotonin. So it does actually

Lisa Sykes (10:01):

Feel good home, a good mood,

Becs Frank (10:03):

A better mood. Yeah,

Lisa Sykes (10:04):

No. So it's actually not just in your head. It's physical too, isn't it? Yeah. But you've obviously got to watch out for the UV rays of course, haven't you? And

Becs Frank (10:15):

Yeah, so if you're going somewhere hot, if the sun comes out and here in the summer, obviously we do need to be careful. We know that. But I think the temptation when it has not had a lot of great weather when you catching the breaks, is to run out like the mad dog and

Lisa Sykes (10:29):

No sun cream, no sun hat, and just go.

Becs Frank (10:31):

Yeah. And then you do. You really can burn even in this

Lisa Sykes (10:34):

Country,

Becs Frank (10:35):

Can't you? So yeah, it's the usual

Lisa Sykes (10:37):

Sometimes just taking your lunch outside and you've got 20 minutes and you come back in as pink as anything, don't you?

Becs Frank (10:43):

Yeah. And I think depending on your skin type, sometimes in the sun without cream on is good for vitamin D absorption, but at this time of year, in the middle of the day, the sun is hot. So yeah, be sensible.

Lisa Sykes (10:54):

Got to be sensible. And of course some the other things need sunshine, don't they? I mean, in order to ripen our favourite fruits of some of the berries and cherries, and they are definitely one of the good things about summer,

Becs Frank (11:06):

I'm all about the berries. Yeah, yeah. My favourite fruits.

Lisa Sykes (11:09):

But fruit picking, I mean because anything tastes good if you've picked it yourself, but have you ever been done it? Pick your own.

Becs Frank (11:16):

Yeah. Loads

Lisa Sykes (11:16):

Of times I love it. Are they? And you have that kind of feeling of providing like a hunter gatherer or something, and it's like you play it being a farmer and bring home a crop. It's

Becs Frank (11:27):

Really satisfying, isn't it? And it's really good on so many levels

Lisa Sykes (11:30):

And also a really thrifty way for a family outing. If you're scratching around in the summer holidays and you've got kids and you don't want to spend a fortune at a theme park, depending on

Becs Frank (11:40):

How many they

Lisa Sykes (11:41):

Eat, of course, take your oven's great,

Becs Frank (11:44):

And you get put in included. It's hard not to buy berries and things in plastic, isn't it much as you try. So it's also a way of avoiding that. And now I agree. And there's loads of things you can do with your, because obviously they don't last for ages, do they? So

Lisa Sykes (11:57):

No. And some are better than others because I've got a big blackberry patch in my garden, which I like to think I cultivate, but it's really just the overgrown bit at the end. And you've got to place them individually to freeze them on a tray so that then they don't end up in a mushy mass. And then you can, yeah. So then once they're frozen, you can then put 'em in a tub and then you can just shake them out when you need them. You see,

Becs Frank (12:19):

I didn't know they were frozen individually. So I quite often buy frozen blackberries

Lisa Sykes (12:23):

Because

Becs Frank (12:24):

Don't have a blackberry bush,

Lisa Sykes (12:26):

But then you've got them all winter and you can just bring them out and add them to ice cream or other desserts in the middle of winter with 'em, which is nice. Strawberries don't freeze very well though. You've really got to No,

Becs Frank (12:36):

But strawberries you can whiz up, which is what I often do when they're going and use them in smoothies or drinks or a nice little summer tipple.

Lisa Sykes (12:45):

Yeah, nice. Because we've done it. We've done a few pieces. Well, we always have tipple Tipple of the month is a regular feature in the simple things for anyone who doesn't know. And which one did you like? Because we did that feature, didn't we?

Becs Frank (12:57):

Yeah. So there was one that was the strawberry fizz, so I think it was a kennet of strawberries. You put a little bit of honey in maybe like about a tablespoon of honey, about half a tablespoon of chop mint, a juice of a lime. So it's kind of how I make a smoothie, actually. You often do this when I make smoothies, but a teaspoon of ve cordial is really nice in there. And then you can chop it up either with sparkling water for the non-alcoholic version or Prosecco and make a really nice sort of summer sparkling kind of strawberry afternoon in the garden drink.

Lisa Sykes (13:31):

That sounds delicious actually. And you see that could make you feel summery even if the weather's not playing ball, couldn't it easily?

Becs Frank (13:38):

Yeah, definitely. And I like quite simple ones. So there was another one I liked, which was a rose sangria, and that was just a bottle of rose and a little bit of tro and sparkling water. That sounds lethal. Well, no, because you can add, really dilute it. Oh yeah, that's true. That's true. Your sparkling water. Sorry.

Lisa Sykes (13:58):

I was just thinking about quant in the middle of the day and what the effect that would have on me.

Becs Frank (14:03):

Just a little taste. Linda had to be the middle of the day, but we had savoury, some nice savoury. I mean, there's this lovely salad dressing.

Lisa Sykes (14:12):

In fact, I tried this at the time because I thought it was really good. It's a strawberry vinegarette. Was that good? And it's one of those, yeah, it's one of those how some salad dressings just make everything sing. And this was one of those, so it's just olive oil, bit of lemon, bit of honey, apple cider vinegar and strawberries, and you heat the strawberries up to turn them into somewhat more of a puree.

Becs Frank (14:34):

Oh, I bet. That's really lovely.

Lisa Sykes (14:36):

Just gorgeous. I mean, it makes everything just

Becs Frank (14:38):

Taste great. There are a few ingredients aren't there, if you just have to hand that keep coming up over. And again, the side of vinegar, the honey, a bit of mint, and then

Lisa Sykes (14:47):

You seem to be able to just whip up anything from those,

Becs Frank (14:49):

Don't you? Yeah, no, I like that. Yeah.

Lisa Sykes (14:51):

So do you make jam? I love the idea of jam jars in a pantry.

Becs Frank (14:56):

Yeah, not really. No. I made jam as a child with my mum. And did you? Yeah, but I think I do just remember it being really long, so I probably, I

Lisa Sykes (15:05):

Kind of need a whole day for it really. Don't you

Becs Frank (15:07):

Do? Yeah. And I'm not a massive jam. I like jam, but it's not something I can really be bothered to make because I don't love it that much. But I like chutney. So we've made plum chutney because we have a plum tree in the garden. Nice. So I'd rather, I'm more of a chutney and cheese person,

Lisa Sykes (15:23):

So I've got a dams and tree in my garden. Oh wow. They're great, actually. Although you're supposed to really cook them because they're not as sweet as plums sometimes when they get really ripe they are. And you can just eat 'em off the tree. But I made this thing called dams and cheese. It's like a really old fashioned recipe. And fruit cheeses, they're like a very solid lemon, I suppose they're not a lemon, but they're like, I've never heard of that. You cook them and then you can sort of have them as a savoury thing on. So

Becs Frank (15:51):

Is it like, oh, like a sort of quince paste

Lisa Sykes (15:53):

Or something like that? Yeah, it looks a bit like that. But you can also have them in desserts, so you can use them with ice cream or as a sweet thing as well. And they just, well, you have to make one for me, Lisa, please. I like the sound of that. You know what, my damson trees now are so big and old that most of them are windfalls because I can't actually reach the Damons anymore. I think they used to be orchards here a long time ago, but it's a really nice, I've got lots of suckers coming off it that are starting to fruit themselves now. So yeah, it's good. But the other thing that I've really got in my garden, which I really like is my edible hedge, which sounds a lot more organised than it really is. But basically I've got this row of plants against a fence, which is like black currents, gooseberries, raspberries, and they've all kind of grown even more. And actually I've got some black so slows as well, and a cherry tree just behind it. And it's just a whole hedge of edible fruit.

Becs Frank (16:49):

That sounds lovely. And probably quite low maintenance as well compared with the

Lisa Sykes (16:52):

Veg pack. Yeah, fruit trees and bushes are so easy, don't have, because they just grow. I mean you, I'm sure you can do lots of things to make them more prolific, but I don't expect to take a whole crop from them. I just kind of pick a few and go, oh, that's nice. Or the kind of wildness of it

Becs Frank (17:10):

Is nice

Lisa Sykes (17:11):

And you just let them do their thing, really. So it's really good. And apart from cherries, you don't really have to net them. There's plenty to share with the birds as well. But this year I'm looking forward to my own grape harvest because no, not in my garden. It's not that big a garden. I sponsored two vines, a new local vineyard near me. Oh, that's such a good idea. And we've got our little tag hanging from them and we get a bottle of wine from each of the vines this year. Oh, that's a great idea. So that's going to be cool.

Becs Frank (17:39):

Yeah. So you're going to pop down and keep an eye on how it's

Lisa Sykes (17:41):

Going. Yeah, no, I think they're going to have a little open day where you can go and collect your wine. So it's really nice because it's only been there about three years and this is their proper first vintage. Oh

Becs Frank (17:51):

Yeah.

Lisa Sykes (17:52):

So yeah, this episode is reminding us, isn't it, about how flowering growing, trying something new and why they're a good thing to try in summer. And that often happens when you put yourself out there in a new environment. And the main character in our story this week has done just that, the island, A short story by Katie Bishop. Nina should be leaving the island on Thursday. She even goes as far as almost booking a flight. She hovers over the options, wondering if it's worth getting up at five in the morning to say 50 quid before exiting the page. Instead she goes outside to the rickety wooden terrace that encircles the cabin where she has lived for the past few months. The sun is low, the air is still dense and warm, even though it's almost the end of summer. The sea is the colour of honey reflecting back the golden sky.

(18:51):

She arrived on the island three months ago. The entire thing had been so unlike Nina, Nina, who has a seven step skincare routine and is always in bed by 10:00 PM Nina, who always said that she was just too busy for holidays. Nina, who just a spring was softening into the promise of summer, had been unceremoniously made redundant from her job. Nina, who had been told that she could take the afternoon off to process had gone home to discover her fiance in bed with her best friend. Two weeks later, she had been scrolling through social media wondering what on earth she was going to do with her life when she saw the advertisement, the image of a calm, steady sea, the glimmer of sun against the waves, looking for your dream summer job. Spend three months as a caretaker on a remote Greek island and Nina, who never did anything impulsive Nina, who wouldn't commit to so much as a dinner with friends without at least a week's notice, barely hesitated.

(19:50):

She clicked on the link. Her friends thought she was crazy. They were convinced she was having a late quarter life crisis on the flight. Nina wondered if they might be right, but then the first day she arrived, she rolled up her jeans and waded into the water. It's warm, she said, in disbelief to Stevie, the only other inhabitant of the island, a silver-haired woman with skin permanently bronzed by sun, Stevie grinned. In response, the island is magical, she said. And Nina had to agree that it was now with the heat still feeling like a promise that the island was about to break. Stevie sits down beside Nina, still here, she says still here. Nina confirms the two women have fallen into an easy friendship over the past few months. They've got into the habit of taking morning swims together, drying off on the beach, salt water, crystallising against their skin at night.

(20:44):

They lie in hammocks and read books alongside each other in the soft glow of tiki lamps, an open bottle of wine growing warm in the muggy heat. I wish I could stay, says Nina. She knows that Stevie lives alone here all year waiting for summer when the tourists start to arrive on day trips. Why couldn't Nina do the same? Would it really be so bad to abandon her life in London? And start over here. You don't says Stevie Island's, life is hard in the winter, harder than going back home. Stevie smiles sadly not harder than going back home. No, for a second, neither of them speak. They just watch as the sun droops below the horizon. Every year someone comes out here, Stevie says, and every year they tell me they'll be back next year, but they never are. Do you know why Nina ass? Because they get back to their lives and forget this place. They remember the parts of themselves that they left back home and realise that they like them more than they thought. I'll come back, says Nina firmly. Stevie reaches out and squeezes her hand. I hope that you don't. She says, I hope that the island has worked its magic on you too.

(22:05):

So don't forget that we run an original short story in every issue of the simple things. And I think we're one of the few magazines to still commission original fiction like that. And you can find out more about how to subscribe or you can buy a copy from our website@thesimplethings.com. Did you enjoy that? Bex?

Becs Frank (22:21):

I really enjoyed that. It's something a lot of us think about, isn't it? That, oh, what if I could go and live on an island for a few months? But I think it just illustrates how getting away gives you a different perspective on your life or just having a change of routine and how the sun, as we were saying before, is healing.

Lisa Sykes (22:38):

Definitely. I mean, and obviously not all of us can go away to an island that can work its magic on you, but even closer to home, there's magical things, isn't there? I mean, flowers at this time of year are so inspiring and you just have to remember to stop and look at them, don't you?

Becs Frank (22:53):

Yeah. I think the nice thing is we've got a piece out in the July issue, haven't we? About picking your own foraging for flowers.

Lisa Sykes (23:00):

Yes.

Becs Frank (23:01):

And I think this really is a time when you don't need to go and buy flowers to have them in your house. And you should remember to go out and pick them and pick them from your garden or pick them wildly and bring them back.

Lisa Sykes (23:11):

Definitely. And what I really love about it is she suggests that you make it a weekly ritual because these forage flowers only last about a week. And so every week she goes on a walk and she picks more of her own flowers. And then you bring them back. You learn more about what's around you. And obviously sometimes you learn some edible things as well because you find out more about your environment and the way she arranged them. I mean, they're not as showy are they? As hothouse flowers, but they're kind of very subtly beautiful. And the grass has really blended them. So things like oxide, daisies and honesty and poppies,

Becs Frank (23:51):

And you just get to know what works. I did go on a flower picking and arranging and course and over a day and she just gave us a few little tips, but I really kind of bought those home for her. And I do do this now, go down into the garden during the summer while there's lovely things to pick. And I do bring out every week, bring something up. And so while the hydrangeas have had so many beautiful hydrangeas, and we've had pinks and whites in the house and various different sizes and VAs, and it's been lovely.

Lisa Sykes (24:22):

Sometimes I remember to take UR when I take the dog on a walk as well. It is not one of those automatically in your bag things is it? But absolutely.

Becs Frank (24:31):

Yeah, but you should. We should. And I know I have done it a couple of times, but yeah, she's got some really nice ideas about what you can pick and

Lisa Sykes (24:39):

And you can save them. You. Do you remember, I am sure you pressed flowers when you were a kid. Every small girl had a flower press, right? Yeah, of course. And they last ages and they're just so beautiful. They really do keep the colours as well. But do you remember that project we had in, oh, it was in the magazine a little while ago now, but it was flower pounding. It's like if you need to get rid of some aggression, it's a bit better than flower pressing. So you literally pound the heads of the flowers.

Becs Frank (25:07):

You just get a piece of watercolour paper and lay out your flowers and a malice. Hit them. Yeah, see

Lisa Sykes (25:12):

The mal, it's perhaps not the most gentil occupation, but really nice.

Becs Frank (25:17):

The results. And actually the results are really beautiful, aren't they?

Lisa Sykes (25:19):

Yeah, definitely. But I know you were taken with the tissue paper pompoms that we did, that it's more inspired by flowers, isn't it?

Becs Frank (25:26):

For those summer parties. And I dunno whether it's kids party or just, I've got birthday in the summer and I like the idea of making these tissue paper pompoms. And all you need is some tissue paper and craft wire, and you can make these really lovely, beautiful colours and brighten up the home. And I think I might get my daughter involved in

Lisa Sykes (25:44):

Making, oh no, it's fun, isn't it? Like in the winter we put up fairy lights, why not put up flower decorations in the summer? I mean, I do like a bit of bunting as well, if I'm honest.

Becs Frank (25:54):

And these things are easier to make than you think, aren't they? And they're actually really a joy to kind sit down and

Lisa Sykes (25:59):

They certainly don't need to be the P word. Perfect, do they? They're very homemade way to really notice flowers, though. You do need to sit and draw one. It makes you observe it in a way. Nothing else, doesn't

Becs Frank (26:12):

It? It's such a lovely thing to do, isn't

Lisa Sykes (26:14):

It? I used to draw them all the time when I was a kid, and I don't even think about drawing now. I don't know why. Really. I am not very good at it, but I used to really enjoy the process of it. How about you? Do you draw?

Becs Frank (26:27):

No, not really. No. But I went on a retreat in Wales last year, and we drew, we all sat outside and had to pick something in the landscape to draw. And I drew a tree. And I definitely can relate to that, just sitting and looking at something when you're drawing something, you really observing it and noticing and all the little things that you wouldn't have noticed before. And just, it's very relaxing, sitting and sketching, even if you

Lisa Sykes (26:48):

Definitely, and I think drawing more than just because I know colouring books are really popular and they're a very mindful thing to do, but drawings deeper, isn't it? Somehow?

Becs Frank (26:59):

Yeah. Also, you are more likely to be outside, I guess. Or actually you have the flower or whatever you are drawing in front of you. So you've got that connection with nature, which is really nice.

Lisa Sykes (27:10):

And always a good excuse to buy new notebooks and pencils, which is everybody likes a nice station sketch book.

Becs Frank (27:16):

Yeah,

Lisa Sykes (27:17):

Yeah, sketchbook and a new pack of pencils, definitely. But the flour, I think everybody loves, isn't it? And we always feature lots of projects in the magazine about it is lavender and there are so many things you can make with it.

Becs Frank (27:31):

You've made some things in lavender actually, haven't

Lisa Sykes (27:32):

You? Yeah, well I do. I have lavender in my garden and I always harvest the lavender, which actually takes a lot longer than you think. There are a lot of stems and you literally have to pull each one off by hand, so you end up with this bucket of lavender. And I store it in old quality street tins and things because I think every Christmas I'm going to make lavender bags for friends and family. And sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. But so I've got masses of lavender and it

Becs Frank (27:59):

Keeps for quite a long time.

Lisa Sykes (28:00):

It does. But I think the thing is, I've realised what I've been doing wrong is I wait until November to make it. And actually, how nice would it be to make it when the weather's still good and you can sit outside and do your sewing and among the lavender almost.

Becs Frank (28:16):

Yeah, because lavender's very good for it's calming, it's good for anxiety. You've probably heard that it's a calming head, but it's also makes be very good for headaches. So if you can make little kind of lavender eye masks, so similar to your little lavender pillows or cushions,

Lisa Sykes (28:32):

I'm almost feeling the soothing of that as you are saying it, because the smell just makes you feel rested, doesn't

Becs Frank (28:38):

It? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So lying down with one of some of those, a couple of those on your eyes can really help to soothe

Lisa Sykes (28:44):

The headache. A couple of lavender shortbread biscuits to nibble alongside. I love lavender sugar, just putting a few buds in a sugar jar. I once had lavender beer outside a pub. Oh wow. And sometimes the drink, the place, the time all kind of come together. I can't imagine la lavender beer. Did you ever get the flavour? It was like a one-off special brew that this pub had done for the summer, and we'd been on a really long hike and it was warm, and we sat outside this pub, and when you just arrive somewhere and you think, oh, I want a nice cold drink. And we sat there and drank this lavender beer and it was just the moment. And I've never been able to find it anywhere again. So yeah, if anyone's listening, please make some lavender beer because it's really nice

Becs Frank (29:30):

Look that it sounds delicious.

Lisa Sykes (29:31):

Yeah, and I mean, lavender's medicinal as well, isn't it? Heals wounds. And like you said, it's good for sleep and anxiety

Becs Frank (29:38):

As well as the calming effects. It's been used for centuries for healing wounds. And obviously you can buy lavender essential oil, which has multiple uses. You can also make your own blends and you can blend it with oats and Epsom salts and put it in the bath and have a nice soak.

Lisa Sykes (29:58):

I do like going to a lavender farm because obviously you've got a few in your garden, but lavender farm, it transports you. It's like you're in Provence all of

Becs Frank (30:07):

Sudden the smell is incredible. Yeah.

Lisa Sykes (30:08):

Actually says flowers do that they, because sunflowers always make you think of France, don't they? And tulips in the Netherlands and yeah, they really do transport you places. But of course where there are flowers, there are also bugs. Oh god. And everyone has their good bugs and their bad bugs. So I'm not bad with bugs, actually, I don't mind most of them. Spiders. I know they're not technically an insect ora bug. They're an arachnid. But actually they sort of come under this banner, don't they? I don't mind a spider. And I actually quite like a daddy long legs.

Becs Frank (30:43):

Oh, me too. How about you? Yeah, daddy long legs. They just remind me of being a kid for some reason. Maybe we just had, I dunno, draught your windows or something, but we definitely used to get a lot of Big Danny Long.

Lisa Sykes (30:55):

No, they come in the house towards the end of summer. They

Becs Frank (30:57):

Do. I don't mind spiders either. I mean, obviously we've got the kind of stinging bugs, which nobody really likes.

Lisa Sykes (31:05):

Yeah. What's the point of a wasp really? I mean,

Becs Frank (31:08):

Apart from bees apart, yeah, we love,

Lisa Sykes (31:10):

I do love bees, but I wouldn't want to keep them, couldn't do that. It's not my thing.

Becs Frank (31:16):

I had no idea of it, but I have never tried it. I think for me, my bad bug list is Beatles,

Lisa Sykes (31:24):

Really.

Becs Frank (31:25):

Not even the rare

Lisa Sykes (31:27):

Stack beetle.

Becs Frank (31:27):

Well, do you know what our magical creatures column, which is really,

Lisa Sykes (31:32):

I'll just explain what that is. Yeah. So every month we have a magical creature that we celebrate. And obviously when we started this, we were doing things like foxes and deer, and now we celebrate everything. I mean, in this issue, it's crickets. Earwigs was definitely a low point, I think. But they are magical.

(31:52):

And we've got crickets in this issue. But we have done stag beetles. Well,

Becs Frank (31:55):

Crickets are beautiful, aren't they? But this actually, having read about more about the stag, actually the thought of a seven centimetre long or eight, I think they grow to that. That's the size of your thumb by just as a reference makes my hair stand on end. But I mean, they clearly are a magical creature, but I'm glad I'm not, I wouldn't want to share my home with one.

Lisa Sykes (32:17):

But of course the ones we really love are dragonflies, damsel, flies, butterflies, lady birds, Ladybird, all the aphids, which that's the pretty ones. It's true. But what about remedies though? Because midges, mosquitoes, wasps, you must know some good remedies for these of bites and things.

Becs Frank (32:37):

Yeah, well there's the things that repel them first. Of course. So then you've got citrus, which most people know about from the citronella candles and things like that. Peppermint. Peppermint oil that repels wasps, lemon grass as well. Oh really? If you do get stung, which inevitably happens. It's funny, we were talking earlier about the apple cider vinegar and the sugar and the water. So it's all the same ingredients as she cook tails. Yeah, exactly. So have some vinegar to hand. And that's good for actually luring the wasps, sorry, into, so if you can trap them.

(33:14):

So you can make a mixture. You've probably seen it when you've been on holiday sometimes, or if you're sitting outside a restaurant or so you can make a combination of apple cider vinegar, sugar, and water, and that kind of attracts them. And then they get trapped in there.

Lisa Sykes (33:28):

Because also for hay fever as well, eating local honey from bees, from local bees. It's supposed to be good for that, isn't it? Yeah, it is. Presumably it's because it's the local pollen that's been turned into the honey. So is it that little having a very small amount of the thing that's caused the problem that

Becs Frank (33:46):

Helps you? Yeah, exactly that. Yeah. Yeah. So eating honey, and then they're having a few things to hand for just going back to the sting. So little things in your kitchen, which I quite like is the onion is really good for reducing inflammation and itchiness in a sting. So you could just rub, literally cut an onion in half and rub

Lisa Sykes (34:04):

It. Oh, and you see, I'd find that very useful. I react really badly to bites and stings. Yeah.

Becs Frank (34:09):

I mean you probably alle vera and ice and things that cool it as well. Or basil, apparently you can rub a basel leaf on. So

Lisa Sykes (34:17):

The kitchen is practically a medicine cabinet, isn't it?

Becs Frank (34:20):

Yeah, no, exactly. And then I think things in your garden, if you try and clear your apples and your fruits from the ground, they all attract wasps.

Lisa Sykes (34:28):

Oh, of course. Yes. But on the other hand, it sort of keeps them in that part of the garden then, doesn't it?

Becs Frank (34:33):

Yeah. As long as you're not sitting down there, I guess.

Lisa Sykes (34:34):

Yeah, no, I was thinking in my garden, my apple trees at the other end of my garden from where I sit, which is probably a good thing, isn't it?

Becs Frank (34:42):

Yeah, yeah, no, exactly. What about worms? What's your view on worms?

Lisa Sykes (34:45):

Well, you see, I find worms quite interesting and I've got a wormery.

Becs Frank (34:49):

Yeah,

Lisa Sykes (34:50):

We've had wormery before and occasionally because when you're a kid you pick up worms all the time. I can't touch a slug though. There's something about slug zoo. No, I couldn't touch a slug. I'm

Becs Frank (35:00):

Not totally sure I could touch a worm either really.

Lisa Sykes (35:03):

Snail's fine. Sometimes when you are taking the worm gl, I don't think that's a technical term out of the wormery in the compost.

Becs Frank (35:13):

Yeah, you have to. I know

Lisa Sykes (35:15):

You lose a few and I always feel the need to rescue them and put them back in. And then you kind of have to pick them up,

Becs Frank (35:20):

You to put them back.

Lisa Sykes (35:21):

I mean, I think they serve their purpose and obviously they make the soil good and they're full of part of the ecosystem.

Becs Frank (35:31):

They are a magical creature as well, aren't they? The damsel flies and dragon flies. We were talking about this moment. I love watching them. I love watching them over in my pond. And

Lisa Sykes (35:41):

They're so beautiful. They,

Becs Frank (35:43):

And it was very interesting to learn about the difference in those, and not just in their bodies, but something about their wings.

Lisa Sykes (35:48):

Oh yeah. So how do you tell the difference between them?

Becs Frank (35:50):

The damsel fly is sort of skinnier, slight, and the males have that lovely bluey green kind of slightly iridescent body, but it's about their wings as well. So the damsel flies when they're resting, have the wings close to them, don't they? When they're resting next to their bodies and the dragon flies are out.

Lisa Sykes (36:10):

Yeah, so that's right, isn't it? That's correct, yeah. The damsel flies hold those together and the dragon flies are at right angles. So that's how you tell 'em apart. Well, there we go.

Becs Frank (36:19):

Yeah. But they're incredible, aren't they?

Lisa Sykes (36:21):

And of course we don't forget we are going to be taking part, aren't we? You and I have said we're going to do the big butterfly count this year, which happens mid-July to early August, I think, isn't it? Yeah,

Becs Frank (36:32):

That's right. Yeah. It's running now until the 4th of August.

Lisa Sykes (36:35):

But even if you do it after that, it's still quite fun to do anyway.

Becs Frank (36:37):

Oh yeah. You can do it anytime you want, can't you? But the important thing about this is citizen science. So basically it's using people to collect data that is actually really helping the scientists to track the butterfly accounts, and it also helps them to understand what's going on with the environment. So it is important definitely as well as a really nice thing to do.

Lisa Sykes (36:59):

And so hopefully Becks, we can emerge during summer, like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon. Yes. Spread out our wings and fur, our pets and flour.

Becs Frank (37:08):

I like that idea. Yeah, let's do that.

Lisa Sykes (37:12):

And as always, we're going to set our intentions, aren't we? And we've been talking a lot about being braver and being our summer self, but I am going to draw some nature because as I said, I love doing that as a child and I'm going to recapture the pleasure of doing that. How about you?

Becs Frank (37:27):

Well, I'm definitely going to go and watch some butterflies. I'm going to do that. I've got the chart downloaded, so I'm going to take that out, find a nice spot. Nice. It says to sit for 15 minutes and just observe and make note of any on my chart that I see very good. And maybe I should wear some bright colours while I'm doing it. Well, yeah. Should we keep wearing our bright colours,

Lisa Sykes (37:44):

Lisa? Let's do it. Let's do it. Always good to have a chat be I think we inspire ourselves on these podcasts as well as hopefully a few listeners. We

Becs Frank (37:53):

Cheered ourselves up today, haven't we? Yeah.

Lisa Sykes (37:56):

Bye then. Thank you. And if you like the sound of some of the features in our summer issues we've been talking about, then you can buy July and August issues from our online shop, pix inc.com or try an immediate start subscription and you'll get the current issues straight away. The details are in our show notes. Thanks very much for listening. I'll be back in our next episode having a potter with our simple things contributor, Joe Tinsley, and we, when we're going to be talking about making the most of where you live and why wasting time is a good thing. See you soon.