Everyday Holidays Episode 4 - DREAM

If you fancy an afternoon to drift and make plans from your deckchair, think of this episode as your permission slip. Join the Simple Things’ Editor, Lisa Sykes and regular contributor, Jo Tinsley to find the right headspace, dream of a different way of life, explore the appeal of islands and indulge in a spot of nostalgia. Enjoy the read-aloud short story with a recommended summer tipple and test your knowledge of Agatha Christie characters.

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):

Hi, welcome to Small Ways to Live Well from The Simple Things, a monthly magazine about taking time to live well, slow down a little and remember what's really important. I'm Lisa Sykes, the editor, and in episode three in our everyday holiday season, the theme is Dream. So if you fancy an afternoon to drift and make plans from your deck chair, then this is your permission slip. I'll be recommending a tipple to a accompany our short story, and to help you ease into dreaming mode, I'll also be chatting to our regular contributor, Jo Tinsley about finding the right head space, dream lives, the appeal of islands, and a little bit of seaside nostalgia. Hello, Jo. Welcome back. How's your deck chair set up looking where you are then? I

Jo Tinsley (00:58):

It's looking good. I'm fully reclined. I'm ready to talk about dreaming.

Lisa Sykes (00:59):

Excellent. And actually that aside, that is actually the point, isn't it? You've got to get yourself in the space for dreaming, I think. And a deck chair, we did a piece on this in the magazine and we have a history section called Looking Back and deck chairs were originally designed to watch the waves or take a nap, both of which are absolutely good for dreaming, right? Because they originally designed, hence the deck for Ocean Liners, but I think at first they were more like steamer chairs with support for the feet. And I actually really like steamer. I've got one in my favourite place in the garden.

Jo Tinsley (01:36):

I haven't heard of a steamer chair.

Lisa Sykes (01:38):

Oh, you've seen them though? They're like wooden, but they've got a little, almost a footstool attached to the bottom bit. Oh, okay. Yeah, and I just have mine out there all summer and then I just bring a rug out to make it a bit more comfortable. But actually folding wooden deck chairs, which the ones we all know that are like a sort of, you've got to work out how they stand up and not trap your fingers. And with Jolly Canvas covers, they were invented in about the 1880s, but the early ads for it, and I think this is funny, it says it claim, it combines sofa lounge, easy chair, couch, and bed, which is practically all you're going to ever need in one piece of fabric. Yeah, exactly. I inherited a couple from my nana actually, and the fabric in them finally only disintegrated last year. So I've restored a couple and I've tackled them with my sewing and sewing machine and I've put new canvas in and I've preserved the wood and hopefully they'll keep going, but they're very jolly.

Jo Tinsley (02:30):

Yeah, I think you're going to have to share a picture of that.

Lisa Sykes (02:32):

 I will dig one out as always, when I say I've finished them, I finished one and the other one is still waiting to have the upholstery tax hammered in. So once I've done that, I will share a picture. But where do you like to send daydream them?

Jo Tinsley (02:46):

Well, I'm a real daydreamer, so I can actually do it just about anywhere. That's a skill. Do you think it's a

Lisa Sykes (02:53):

Skill? I think so. I think it's quite hard to just sit and do nothing in daydream, isn't

Jo Tinsley (02:58):

It? Yeah. I mean I think that's the thing. It's like you don't really know who else is doing it. I think I got it when we used to take long car journeys when I was little down to the south of France to stay in a jet and I just would just stare out the window and just daydream for days and days and days on end. But you see, that's the thing. I think kids do

Lisa Sykes (03:13):

Daydream, but people do you not grow out of it? I mean, I didn't. Do you not? How do you find the time?

Jo Tinsley (03:19):

Yeah. Well actually it reminds me once I met up with a couple of friends who were married and the guy admitted when I was there that he goes to bed early so that he can have a bit of imagination time. And I was like, oh yeah, yeah, me too. That's very funny. His wife was like, what? She didn't know. No, she was like, I didn't know this. You didn't say before we got married. But yeah, I mean I can do it anyway, but I don't have a deck chair, but I've got a little hammock set up in

Lisa Sykes (03:45):

There. You're right. People don't necessarily know do they? When someone else is daydreaming?

Jo Tinsley (03:49):

No,

Lisa Sykes (03:50):

It's like, yeah, you don't. No, I don't think you do. I don't think you do know, but it depends what you think of as daydreaming. I mean, I certainly sit there and think about things, but I'm not sure I let myself drift too much. There's usually a plan because one thing I always do when I'm in summer when I'm dreaming often on holiday in a deck chair is planning my next holiday mentally. And does that count as daydreaming? I'm not sure.

Jo Tinsley (04:17):

Oh yeah, I think so. And I think once you get into a holiday, for me it always takes a few days to completely unwind and allow the headspace for thought to come in. But then, I mean, that's a different kind of head space when you've really relaxed because then you're like, you get some big sort of things about life changes that you might want to do or redecorating or new jobs or things like that. I start to make lists after three or four days on holiday. So it really opens up that space, doesn't it?

Lisa Sykes (04:43):

Yes. My biggest life changes came when I was away travelling, when I was walking a long way, which is another good place to daydream, isn't it? Yeah. Deciding to get married, deciding to set up our publishing company by the simple things. And I think it's because you do have that time to think without all the domestic minutiae of life cluttering things up, don't you?

Jo Tinsley (05:03):

Yeah. It is hard when you're surrounded by things to do, isn't it? Whereas when you're on holiday, and especially if you're in quite a more minimal place with less things around you, it kind of frees up that space. Head space, yes. Not all your stuff. Yeah. I always find when you are travelling, when you are in a camper van or a caravan or narrow boat,

Lisa Sykes (05:22):

Home on wheels,

Jo Tinsley (05:23):

Home on wheels or water, that's an easier place to dream.

Lisa Sykes (05:28):

Well, have you read that feature we've just done in the August issue about that is a really dream home on wheels. This family converted a box, like a lorry style horse box, and they drive around Europe in it, and their children are very small, but it's such a clever conversion and they're clearly a really practical couple, but they've got the bikes on the roof, the loading flat becomes a deck, and they've got this popup roof where the kids like Denny's and they just drift around.

Jo Tinsley (05:56):

It was so inspiring. I did see that. And it feels like they've always got their cosy home to come back to wherever they are, so it's not

Lisa Sykes (06:02):

Like Yeah, and it's their haven on wheels, isn't it? Yeah. I should say that Haven is in fact the theme of our August issue, so it's a very appropriate home to be featuring in there, but it did feel like home, I think. It didn't feel like they were just doing it. It felt like this was their life, didn't it? Which it is not for everyone, is it? But Camper Van does equal freedom, doesn't it?

Jo Tinsley (06:25):

Oh, it's fantastic. I love camper van holidays. I don't own one. I wish I owned one, but I do hire them occasionally. And I hired a quirky camper van called Frida for a weekend away feature in the magazine, and it was just, oh, it was so fantastic. And it was the owner's camper van, the owners of quirk campers, so it's so thoughtfully and creatively designed. It was named after the name sake Mexican painter, Frida Carlo. And so it was,

Lisa Sykes (06:50):

Oh, so it really jolly and yeah,

Jo Tinsley (06:52):

Really bold tropical prints, things like this. It had these beautiful hand carved triple bunks at the back with their little porthole windows and curtains and little cupboard. Amazing. It was really, really

Lisa Sykes (07:02):

Beautiful. There are some really great come from van conversions around

Jo Tinsley (07:05):

Now, aren't they? And I think whenever I'm on one of those trips, I'm constantly thinking, what would I do? How would I convert my own camper fund? Because you are in it and you're realising which things are really good, like Frida has this proper kitchen rather than a little camping kitchen. Do you know what I mean? It's like things like that that you

Lisa Sykes (07:22):

Pick up. I think it's really important. We hired one called Pebbles, which was a really old, beautiful one, all done out in sort of fa and white and really well kitted out, and the storage was just really cleverly done and everything was set up beautifully, and we liked it so much we decided to buy one.

(07:40):

So if we had a camper van for a few years when the children were small, and it was an old VW who we called diner that D-I-N-A-H, but actually it was because she did look like a fifties diner. She was all dressed in red and white and there was something about setting off in the camper, and this wasn't just me and my partner either. It was the whole family, including the dog. Everyone just chilled out and you set off and you're going slow. You see, you can't do more than 55. So speed restrictions and roadworks and Google maps all just are irrelevant. You just kind of trundle along doing your thing, and you get there when you get there. And it was just, I don't know. I mean, admittedly it was less relaxed when it broke down a couple of times. And then of course the kids got bigger and it was more difficult to fit everyone in. But we actually did the classic grownup decision of giving up our freedom life in a camper van to buy a kitchen. But in fact, we didn't end up buying the kitchen because then we started our business and all the money went into there as well instead. But I think it is about trying to grab those opportunities when you can. And I do really miss hours, I have to say.

Jo Tinsley (08:49):

Yeah. And there's something, there's a lot that you can bring home from camper van trips, isn't there? There's so many shifts in perspective you get when you are nomadic for a short amount of time.

Lisa Sykes (08:59):

That's true. And actually you'd know all about this, wouldn't you? Because Joe is an author of a book called The Slow Traveller, which is well all about this kind of thing really, isn't it, Joe?

Jo Tinsley (09:08):

Yeah. It's just about how kind of different, it's more the philosophy of slow travel, so how different means of travel, modes of travel sort of help you have shifts of perspective that you can take back into your everyday life.

(09:19):

Yeah, I just love the way that camper van trips encourage you to meander for the days to unfold bit by bit. It kind of invites a spontaneity. So when I took a camper van along the argyle coast, we didn't plan a route. We didn't focus on a destination because a destination, your journeys can become like a means to an end. There's something to be endured, but when you don't set that, you can follow random signs that sort of help you find honesty. Box farm shops selling homemade ready meals and things like this, or you can't get lost when you don't have destination in

Lisa Sykes (09:56):

Money. And actually you can do that on a boat in the same way on a canal boat, for example. Or my sister's just bought a caravan and in fact we have a caravan on the cover of a he even August issue, which its just one of those little cute ones that you can just feel like you could take anywhere. But it is about just stopping where you feel is right.

Jo Tinsley (10:18):

Yeah, and one of the other things I like is just all those cute little ways of storing things, especially on narrow boats. There's little cupboards under stairs and there's cupboards under floorboards, and every vertical space in the kitchen is used. And

Lisa Sykes (10:32):

I blame Wendy Houses. I think we all had those as kids. And this is a den for grownups, isn't it? That's it. That's exactly what it's, well, leaving our camper van or maybe taking our camper van with us, there's a certain appeal. I think there's nowhere more fit for dreaming than being on an island.

(10:51):

Being surrounded by water, don't you?

Jo Tinsley (10:53):

It's

Lisa Sykes (10:53):

Like almost you leave the real world across the water, don't you? And anything's possible.

Jo Tinsley (10:59):

Yeah. I think a love of islands is a really widespread affliction, isn't it?

Lisa Sykes (11:02):

Yeah.

Jo Tinsley (11:03):

I dunno if it's that sort of appeal of isolation or how wild the landscapes are. They really need to tend for themselves, don't they? When you're being wind swept by the sea, definitely there something really appealing about it.

Lisa Sykes (11:14):

I lived on the aisles of silly for six months actually.

Jo Tinsley (11:16):

Did

Lisa Sykes (11:17):

You? Yeah, a long time ago now. And there's pros and cons for sure, because there's no privacy on an island. I mean, everybody knows everything about everyone, even more so than the village. You can't really get away and you have to accept that. But it does also, the flip side is it's a really close community. I mean the doctor's waiting room on Tresco when I lived there, it may not be the same now just in case there's anybody listening from there, but it was a bench opposite converted barn that was a part-time doctor surgery.

Jo Tinsley (11:45):

So everyone knew you were going to a doctor,

Lisa Sykes (11:47):

Everybody knew you were going to the doctors, and I was there for an infected mosquito bite. But of course, if you are a young part-time seasonal worker there, everyone assumes that you might have been having a little bit too much fun and could be there for other reasons. It's quite an open community from that point of view. But I also went to egg the community owned island in the Western Isles to write an article about it. And I got stuck there for about a week because the weather was really bad. And so I ended up just sort of hanging out with the locals and it was such an insight into the pros and the cons of island life. And yes, it's dreamy, but it's also really hard work. I mean, everyone has three jobs, at least

Jo Tinsley (12:25):

I, I found that when I visited Westray and Ney, which is like the A are silly somewhere that really sort of stays with you. But yeah, the person who kind of marshalled our plane onto the runway when we arrived, he

(12:36):

Worked in a post office, and then when I went for a tour of the Puffin Colony, he was the tour guide use

Lisa Sykes (12:41):

Everything like, oh you again? Hello? Yeah, but I dunno, they are romantic places, aren't they? And I think a lot of people who move there are sucked in by that romance, aren't they?

Speaker 3 (12:52):

Yeah.

Lisa Sykes (12:52):

But you get to know your neighbours very well. And actually that kind of community is quite rare now, I think

Jo Tinsley (12:58):

So I think it's actually easier to feel isolated and lonely in a city, whereas Island Living offers that sort of possibility of community and connection.

Speaker 3 (13:07):

Yes.

Jo Tinsley (13:07):

And you also find quite interesting people on islands, definitely people who've moved there for an interesting reason. There's always something to talk about.

Lisa Sykes (13:15):

They're a random bunch, aren't they? Quite often. Yeah. I feel like we're slightly drifting on the current from our dreaming brief, but that's because islands just are so appealing, aren't they? But I mean, one of the things about Dream Easy, it encourages you to look forward and make plans and hopes and dreams and all that, but it also encourages to look back, doesn't it? And the Seaside is particularly a good place for nostalgia for childhood holidays and peers and proms, and

Jo Tinsley (13:43):

It all feels so nostalgic, doesn't it?

Lisa Sykes (13:45):

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I know you love a pier, don't you?

Jo Tinsley (13:49):

I do, yeah. And there's so many things to do on and around a pier. Like in Brighton, I've swam between the piers. I've watched Murmuration of Starlings around Brighton and Eastborne Piers. They're as beautiful whether they've been renovated or whether they're slowly being weathered and falling into sea. Have you ever been to Under the Pier Show in South Wall? No. That's fantastic. It's like this. What's that? Then? It's like an eccentric collection of interactive machines by an engineer and cartoonist called Tim Kin, and they're just incredible. So they're really quirky. So you've got Wacker Banker, which is where you batter the bald heads of bank managers in a splatter rat kind of style. Sorry, should laugh. There's a micro break, which is a thread bear armchair where you sit on it and have a three minute simulated holiday complete with a sunlamp and a terrifying coach transfer. It kind of moves you. And there's the, that's brilliant escape where you go into a submarine and go underneath the water and there's a state agent fish issuing each other to buy a second home. And you know what? It's a very unusual place. I'd recommend it

Lisa Sykes (14:50):

Because have been to southward. I'm going to go and seek that out next time. It is worth going to southward specifically to go there. Brilliant. So we obviously go to Ham quite a lot. I've mentioned before, I have my partner's from there and we go and visit the family and that of course is their front. There is about to be transformed because the Eden Project, I didn't know that. Which is building a whole New Eden project. It's basically on the site of the old Lido Lido, never quite sure on the front of Moham, which is obviously going to be really good for the town, but it will also change it beyond recognition to be honest. And so I think there is a bit of mixed feelings there, but it is definitely a seaside town in decline. So I think it probably could do with all the help it can get, but it's going to be exciting. Yeah, so it'd be interesting to see how it develops. And I think that's the thing, isn't it? Places do change. Like you were talking about peers that fall apart and they do move on. They're not stuck in time, are they?

Jo Tinsley (15:46):

It's true.

Lisa Sykes (15:46):

But anyway, it's time for our story. So if you have time and you're not listening to this over breakfast, I'm going to suggest a tipple to accompany our story. Are you ready, Joe? Because I think you like this one.

Speaker 3 (15:57):

Oh yeah.

Lisa Sykes (15:58):

Okay, so whether it's sunny or not, what you need is sunshine Negroni, because our tipple of the month for August and the recipe is in the August issue, but I'm going to give you a very brief description of it. Now, think of it as a cross between a tequila sunrise and a Negroni citrus gin, aol, sweet vermouth, orange juice, some grapefruit pop like little to something Grenadine and a slice of orange.

Jo Tinsley (16:20):

That sounds really nice.

Lisa Sykes (16:21):

Yeah, it does. I've got to tell you, my first bar job when I was 18 involved making tequila sunrises complete with cocktail bros and all the stuff. It was the eighties, but it was a few weeks before I realised that I'd be making sunsets rather than sunrises because the order matters and which where you put the ingredients in and it was all about the Greta Dine. But anyway, if you're sitting comfortably tipple in hand, here's the story. And I've chosen one about dreams becoming true. Just another bank holiday by Lucy Barker, Madame's arena's tent was already thick with heat, the smell of hot canvas coddling with seafood. Sids welks down next door. She took her crystal ball from its box, positioning it carefully on the draped table to catch the meagre light just right wiping a smudge with the cuff of the wrap that still smelled of her mother even after all these years.

(17:21):

Oh ma, she'd watched her wither away behind this table and now it was her turn. She didn't need that ball to tell her what? Lay ahead. Alright, Al seafood, Sid stuck his head through the opening, stink her out there today telling me, she said raising an eyebrow and setting off the bells on her headdress. She liked that Sid used her real name and that he kept his hands to himself. Trains due. He said, checking his watch, you ready as I'll ever be August Holiday, the best and worst of them all trains delivering wave after wave of pent up factory workers desperate for ailing a tickle under the pier. She'd only see the odd curiosity secret at first, but once they got a couple of jars in the universal fear that this was, it drove them to her tent in drunken legions. The harbour clock was chiming two.

(18:10):

When Sid appeared with two cones of cockles in the wake of a particularly soused customer, he settled on the seat opposite. Good morning, she said, he nodded yours frantic. She said, her bell's giving a tinkle of agreement. Then Sid said, how come you've never done me a fortune? How come you've never done me? You've never asked. She said, do you want me to? He shrugged. Maybe he said she finished her cone. Alright, she said wiping her fingers on the wrap, but you'll have to cross my hand fortune. Tell us rules. Well, if it's a rule, he said already digging out a reny bit from his pocket. Alright, she said, putting her hands on the ball. Her rings clicking on the glass. Hold the question in your head. She gave a dramatic hum as she stared at her own reflection. The mts are clearing. I see, I see.

(19:01):

But the ball was freezing beneath her hands and wild swirls were forming inside. It had never done that before. It had never done anything before. Then it gave off a sudden flare filling the tent with shards of glittering light. Any looks it asked. But his voice was miles away in an instant. The light had gone sucked right back into the heart of the ball as though nothing had happened. She sat back, headdress, jingling, but she'd seen something for the first time in her life she'd seen something, but Sid apparently had not anything he asked. Sorry? She said mind whirling. No. Oh, he said maybe I asked the wrong question. She squinted at him. Don't think bad of me. He said sheepishly. But I asked what your future would be mine. She said, well, you're always giving people theirs. I thought you should know your own. Sorry Al. I'll get back to my welks. But at the sight of him leaving, she jumped up. Sid, he stopped. Sid, see you later. Yeah, yeah. He said, see you later. She caught his smile as he slipped away and it lit her up just like the ball. She turned to it now dark and benign, but it had changed everything Sid had wished about her future. The one thing she had always been certain of, but the image she had seen hadn't been a forgettable life. The image she had seen had been Sid.

Jo Tinsley (20:31):

Oh, that was a

Lisa Sykes (20:32):

Really sweet story, wasn't it, Lisa? Really? I know. And it's got just a touch of romance about it, hasn't it? Yeah. Really nice. I know mean there are probably more practical ways to dream and make plans than looking at the crystal ball. It's true. And we've definitely covered a few of them in the magazine. Practical things, spotting and jotting really isn't. It could be taking pictures, making notes, recording your thoughts or sketching finds and things You notice it's about taking what's in the real world and using them as prompts, isn't it?

Jo Tinsley (21:05):

It's true. We had a feature in the magazine, we sharing people's travel, sketchbooks and scrapbooks, which were so beautiful.

Lisa Sykes (21:13):

I mean, they were like works of art, weren't they? And I did find them a little bit intimidating to be honest, in terms of I can't do that. I think that's the thing it

Jo Tinsley (21:22):

Makes you reflect on, well, I couldn't do that. But I think what's really nice about them is that a travel journal just captures where you're at at that moment. And it's a very personal thing. You don't need to share them on your Instagrams and

Lisa Sykes (21:34):

Things. No, they're not for publication, are they? No,

Jo Tinsley (21:37):

Not at all. I once did one when I inter railing when I was about 18. And as you can imagine at that age, it's not a sophisticated document of the landscape or anything. It was more like which boys we fancied and in jokes between us. But you forget those things, you forget those things. And it's so laughing so much when I look at it. And then there's all the ticket stumps and the sketches and the notes and things like that. It's really fun to look back on.

Lisa Sykes (22:01):

And they're much more impactful memories than just a photograph they, I think so I kept a travel diary probably not the first time. I think the first time you was probably at my French exchange at school, which also involves a lot of chat about boys in it. And it was a travel diary. We went to California on a kind of once in a lifetime holiday when I was about 12, 13. And I've still got it and it's got all the ticket stubs and the stickers and just the kind of little doodles that I've done. And there was some beautiful memories just reading it, but I'm not sure I could do that now. I think because I write for my job and in a way, making a magazine is a bit like making a diary

Speaker 3 (22:43):

Maybe.

Lisa Sykes (22:44):

I just don't really have that sort of output in my personal time, if you like. But I'd love to do some sketching again. I think

Jo Tinsley (22:52):

That's it. It's finding something that's quite different from what you do in your day-to-day life. And that's why I like sketching as well. But yeah, I mean

Lisa Sykes (23:03):

Did you went sketching for us, didn't you? I did.

Jo Tinsley (23:05):

I did. Yeah. I challenged myself. Yeah, I remember, yeah, I challenged myself to sketch daily for Fortnite in order to write about it for the magazine.

Lisa Sykes (23:12):

Was it difficult?

Jo Tinsley (23:14):

I mean, I always like a challenge. It helps you to push yourself to do these things. It wasn't difficult once you got into the rhythm of it. I think what struck me most is how sketching helps you pay attention to what's around you in a very different way. So it helps you observe more and see the smallest details. If you are someone who like me, struggles to focus, it really helps you tune into your surroundings. And it also, it tells you so much more than if you take a quick phone snap of something because it allows you to pull in the symbolism and the meaning you notice in a more involved way. So you might notice the light or the texture or the movement, the nuance of a scene.

Lisa Sykes (23:52):

Yeah. Well, it's a response, isn't it? It's a personal response to something you are seeing and noticing and immersed in really.

Jo Tinsley (23:59):

Yeah, and I think another thing that I noticed is you look at the world of renewed kind of wonder and curiosity, but when you look back over it, it's a bit like looking back over your Pinterest board. So your Instagram saves, it shows a subjective filter, it shows how you see the world. And so when you're flicking through your sketchbook, you are realising what you find beautiful, what you found interesting, what's important to you. And the editing process of how you see the world is actually really interesting.

Lisa Sykes (24:27):

I think some people do find a blank sheet of paper whether it's one to draw on or to write on. Quite intimidating, don't they? And Jenny Mazes, who we've worked with a few times in the magazine, and she does some of these beautiful travel diaries and sketchbooks, and she's a great artist, but she runs courses, actually holiday diary workshops where you can just learn how to get started really. And that creative process really sparked some ideas. In fact, there were a few wise words from her and other people in our article. And one is, first of all, Carrie, a notebook around with you all the time, A plain notebook. Then you can write or draw. And a five is a good size portable, but you can do a bit more in it. So I think that's a good idea. And then go on. What were

Jo Tinsley (25:11):

You going to say? You could also make similar to that, like a portable little kit, I think she mentioned in the feature as well. So everything that fits inside a little tin. So like a watercolour palette or coloured pencils, some glue, some washy tape that all fit inside and then you are ready to sketch.

Lisa Sykes (25:28):

See, I want to do that even though I don't do any of those things at the moment. I just like the idea of making a little tin. Isn't it good things to pack? And also writing yourself a list of prompts before you go things. Have I learned any new words or what are the new plants I found or food I enjoyed? Or the weather. They're all staples of postcards really, aren't they? But actually they make good prompts for this kind of project.

Jo Tinsley (25:52):

And also including an envelope

Lisa Sykes (25:54):

So

Jo Tinsley (25:54):

That you can put your ticket stubs and your flyers in and then when you get back, you can paste them in there or keep them in the envelope. But they're always really fun to look back on, aren't they?

Lisa Sykes (26:03):

Yeah. And you don't have to do it every day either do. You don't have to be stressed about catching up for your missing days. It's about fitting it in with your trip, not taking over your trip. It's true. So I think that's really important. And of course if sketching or writing or drawing is not your thing, there are more physical ways to be meditative and dream as well. They, I mean, I know you are a really keen swimmer, aren't

Jo Tinsley (26:27):

You? Yeah. Yeah. So I find swimming really meditative, whether that's in a pool or sort of outdoors, I really zone out when I swim, which is really nice to just have nothing in your head. But again, when you're on holiday and you don't have anything to think about after while thoughts start to come in, ideas start to come in.

Lisa Sykes (26:47):

You do need to be really relaxed, I think, don't you? I am not a relaxed swimmer. So for me, I'm very preoccupied with the process of swimming. I know loads of people aren't like that. And perhaps, perhaps swimming is not the right thing for me to do that. So

Jo Tinsley (27:05):

You don't need to be a swimmer in order to get that. You could actually just float in the water. Oh, that's interesting. You could dangle your feet in cool water. You can focus on the sound of the waves, the feeling of the water against your skin, the smell of the sea, just things that help you be kind of present and get more into that sort of flow. And then sort of see how that affects how you think and how you dream.

Lisa Sykes (27:27):

Oh, very interesting. Yeah, no, I do like being in a kayak or on a paddleboard. I like being on the water more than in it.

Jo Tinsley (27:33):

See, I wouldn't be relaxed.

Lisa Sykes (27:34):

So maybe that's the answer. I love how everyone has their different kind of space, don't they? But there's no doubt that immersion in water and swimming does promote good ideas. Famously, of course, Agatha Christie was a big swimmer. She even tried surfing in Hawaii, which must have been really radical back then. But she came up with a lot of her good ideas, both in the bath and when she was swimming. And of course she can plot like no one else. So it stands to reason that it works.

Jo Tinsley (28:03):

I've heard you're a bit of a fan of Agatha Christie.

Lisa Sykes (28:05):

I do love an Agatha in the summer because you can read one in a day and it's total immersion. The rest of the world can disappear for a while, can't it?

Jo Tinsley (28:15):

Yeah, it's true. I've actually,

Lisa Sykes (28:16):

And reading is a great way to prompt dreaming, isn't it true?

Jo Tinsley (28:19):

Yeah. And I've actually, in knowing that you like Agatha Christie, I've prepared a little quiz for you. I know you like these.

Lisa Sykes (28:26):

Oh,

Jo Tinsley (28:26):

You do this

Lisa Sykes (28:26):

To re don't you? You do this to me. Is this an Agatha Christie quiz? Yeah, it's a Which Aga

Jo Tinsley (28:32):

Christie character. Am I quiz?

Lisa Sykes (28:33):

The thing is, there will be a lot of listeners out there who know a lot more about Christie than I do, but let's see how we get on. So the question is, are you going to know whether I've got these answers right or not? Are they bonafide? Have they've been checked?

Jo Tinsley (28:49):

They've been checked by me. Let's just go. Okay. So I'm going to give you three facts and you can wait to hear all of them or you can jump in if you think you know them.

Lisa Sykes (28:58):

Okay,

Jo Tinsley (28:58):

So the first character is, I appear just in the nick of time. I'm a rather fancy dresser, even though you can't quite remember what I wore. And I ask questions to help you see things in a new light. Have I started with quite a difficult one? Well, I expected you to start off with one of the major

Lisa Sykes (29:17):

Characters. You wouldn't want to make it too easy. I dunno. I think because the thing is, it's either Captain Hastings, but a bit of a bleak description. No, not bleak oblique or it's possibly someone from one of the mystery books who is a regular character but is not in that many books, but I've forgotten the name them, right?

Jo Tinsley (29:42):

The second one. Yeah, it's Harley Quinn. Yes. Okay. Who was in the mysteries of Harley Quinn. So yeah, quite almost supernatural kind of character.

Lisa Sykes (29:51):

Yes, because he wears a Harley Quinn coat, doesn't he? So yeah. Okay. Well that for anyone listening, he's not one of the major characters in nga. Christie, I'll go in with the media one. Let's move on to safer ground. So

Jo Tinsley (30:07):

The second one, I am probably the greatest detective in the world.

Lisa Sykes (30:12):

Okay, well I know this one, but I'll let you carry on.

Jo Tinsley (30:16):

My moustache is luxurious, magnificent, immense. It precedes me into a room. And I got a front page obituary in the New York Times for my curtain call in 1975. Well, this of course is a

Lisa Sykes (30:28):

Puo, it's, so that's good. If only we'd started with that one. Okay. I feel like I've restored some pride. Now. Let's, let's move on. Okay,

Jo Tinsley (30:36):

I've got three more. So this next one, I like to blend into the background. I believe that age is no barrier to wisdom and insight. Oh yes, I know who this is. Go on. And I live in a small village of St. Mary

Lisa Sykes (30:48):

Mead. Ah, yes, I got it right. It's Ms. Marple, who is actually my favourite Agatha Christie character. Yes, she's very cool. It's interesting though, because she started off as much more of a nosy old witch and wasn't a very nice person and she kind of softened her as time went on.

Jo Tinsley (31:05):

Yeah, well she really gets to know her characters. She She does. She does. No,

Lisa Sykes (31:08):

Very good.

Jo Tinsley (31:09):

Okay. So I am, if you like to put it that way, a heart specialist, I believe there are five main types of unhappiness and they can be solved logically. There are ill health wives, having troubles with husbands, husbands having troubles with wives, boredom and miscellaneous. I'm not really a detective

Lisa Sykes (31:26):

Now, I think this is someone called the Mysterious Mr. Quinn, but I'm not entirely sure if it's not. Is there someone called Mr. Brown?

Jo Tinsley (31:36):

No, I dunno

Lisa Sykes (31:37):

Who

Jo Tinsley (31:37):

It's, it's Parker Pine or Parker Hill.

Lisa Sykes (31:40):

Oh yeah, sorry. So actually that's who I was thinking of when I said Mr. Brown. But he's another one of the lesser known detectives, but I have read them. Yeah, I remember that. I think it's quite a good quote about the five main types of unhappiness. I

Jo Tinsley (31:55):

Hope this is helping your reading list for

Lisa Sykes (31:57):

Some. No, no, it's good. I might go and reread that one. Actually, it was a good quote and I remember the quote, but I couldn't remember the book. I have got most of the books I have to say. Anyway, go on. Right. Last one. Last one. I'm sure. Where everyone else is not finding this is interesting as I'm,

Jo Tinsley (32:11):

So I believe that Scotland Yard would be much better run by a woman. I wrote a novel entitled The Body in the Libraries, and I just really love apples.

Lisa Sykes (32:20):

Well, this is Arianna Oliver, who is writer of Detective Fiction, loosely modelled on Agatha Christie herself, who also famously liked apples and she features in quite a few of the books and assists Poro, but only through what he disparagingly calls female intuition and gets it wrong quite a lot. Yeah. So of their time done. I think you did well. It's not bad. It was a bit trickier than I expected. Where was Inspector Jap? Where was Ms. Lemon? Maybe next time Anyway, what else are we going to talk about? We're going to talk about other good places to sit and dream and doorsteps. Doorsteps. I love a doorstep

Jo Tinsley (33:03):

On the stoop. Yeah,

Lisa Sykes (33:04):

Yeah, I know. And obviously you need, if there's juggernauts going past you, it's probably not quite as good a spot. But Lucy Braier, who writes a regularly column for us on a honesty box, she spoke about her doorstep and she likes them so much as they're kind of a place of contemplation for her. But they've even factored in her decisions about house buying, about whether there's a good stoop. Do you know what?

Jo Tinsley (33:27):

Now that I've got a good stoop, I can see that. Yeah, definitely.

Lisa Sykes (33:31):

Because Abby on our team, her house buying decision is always based on where would I put the Christmas tree, which I really like because sort of absolutely crucial factor as well. But anyway, Lucy likes a generously wide stone or brick doorstep that's warmed by the sun and she recalls, which I'm sure we've all been there, the loitering with sort of teenagers to drinking tea there. And I like putting peas on a doorstep. I remember doing that as a kid from my mom and dad's allotment. But in a village, they're a place to observe comings and goings. Well, pretending not to be that nosy because you're still within the confines of your own garden, they, it's quite a good,

Jo Tinsley (34:10):

That's true. Mine's a bit cheeky because it's a terrace. I live in a very wonky house that's lots of stone steps. And so I can observe people, but they can't observe

Lisa Sykes (34:20):

Me. Excellent. That is quite sneaky, which

Jo Tinsley (34:23):

I think is quite fun. I can look down on the street below. But yeah, no, I love it. I spend more time there than I do in my garden, which is actually detached and up some other steps. But

Lisa Sykes (34:35):

It's a nook Joe. It's a dreaming nook, isn't it? It's just so nice and such a sunny benches are good for that as well. They, the world can come to you on a bench. You're not going to sit there alone for very long. Sooner or later people are going to pass you or come and sit on the other end of the bench. And unlike a table, you don't have to make eye contact with people. You can just sort of sit alongside them and talk or not talk. And I was reading about this. We had another article in the magazine about this, and the word comes from bank, which means long seat. And originally it was a seat for judges. So now we still use them to sit and pass judgement , which is quite interesting. That's quite relevant. I love this fact that I saw in there that Ian Dury has a bench in Richmond Park that comes with its own QR code. So you can listen to his music and the tracks he picked for Desert Island discs while you sit on it.

Jo Tinsley (35:25):

That's fantastic. I love that.

Lisa Sykes (35:26):

It's great, isn't it? But it's about finding a vantage point, isn't it? Famously, the Mitford sisters all gathered in a linen cupboard, although I'm sure you do have to own a mansion to have a linen cupboard big enough to do that. To have a lemon cupboard. Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's made me want to go and find a bench and make it my own. Now, I don't think I have a spot, but I'm going to adopt one, I think

Jo Tinsley (35:48):

To have a favourite

Lisa Sykes (35:49):

Bench. Maybe I won't give it its own QR code, but you've reached that stage in life. So one at a time where we nearly finished and it's time to talk about what we learned and set some intentions. I am going first because I am going to say how much I've missed our camper van and talking about it. And actually I really miss camping now. Our kids are older, they're less keen. And we spent a decade camping every holiday and now we hardly ever do. So I think it's about time I go camping or hire a camper van for a weekend really soon. How about

Jo Tinsley (36:20):

You? I think that's a great intention. I think I've just reminded myself that I need to read more fiction, obviously, I guess Christie, but also just because I don't read very much. And it was that similar thing to what you were saying that because I'm reading every day, reading and writing every day. I don't do that in my time off and I don't have much time off. But yeah, to enter someone else's dream world, their imagination through fiction, I think I really need to get back into that. So that's going to be my intention for the summer.

Lisa Sykes (36:50):

That sounds great. So thanks everyone for joining us to dream away our summer. And don't forget to set your own intentions as well, and you can always let us know what they are. You can email us through the magazine and we'd really like to hear them. Hopefully you've taken away some ideas and some wise words for your next deck chair moment. Thanks to Joe for more than testing my Agatha passion and for her slow travel advice. See you later, Joe.

Jo Tinsley (37:14):

Yeah, thanks for having me back again

Lisa Sykes (37:15):

And Joe will be back next season. But I will be back with our wellbeing editor, Bex Frank in the next episode. We're embracing the fun, silly, jolly side of summer in our play episode, so we'll see you then and remember to follow us on your podcast app so you don't miss it. And if you're interested in finding out more about the simple things, then you can see our website@thesimplethings.com and subscription info is in the show notes. Thanks very much for listening.