Magical Midsummer - Epsiode 1 IMAGINE

Promise & Possibilities 

Anything seems possible at the start of summer and in this first episode The Simple Things’ Editor Lisa Sykes and Wellbeing Editor Rebecca Frank use their imagination to explore what a ‘could-do week’ looks like, find ways to make bank holiday journeys more bearable and the joy of being a regular, as well as making the most of elderflowers and roses and passing on some creative first aid. 

If you are in the UK, you can choose an immediate start subscription to the The Simple Things and receive the current issue straight away. Or buy current and back issues here

Editing and music by Arthur Cosslett. 

On the blog

Rhubarb and rosewater tart

https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/2016/4/13/recipe-rhubarb-and-rosewater-tart-with-cardamom-and-honey-cream?rq=rose

Elderflower champagne recipe

https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/2014/06/06/recipe-elderflower-champagne?rq=elderflower%20

Rose petal and strawberry sandwiches

https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/silly-sandwiches?rq=rose%20petal

To read

Extra Mile guides to Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services, Coastal cafes and Farm shops

Wild Swimming Hidden Beaches by Daniel Start (Wild Guides) 

Creative First Aid by Caitlin Marshall and Lizzie Rose (Murdoch Books) 

In The Simple Things

From the May issue  (155)

 Respect your elders – plan an elderflower foraging session then make cake, cordial and much more…

 The joys of being a regular – why revisiting regular favourite places results in so many happy returns

Buy the May issue here

From the June issue (156)

Could-do week – shake up your week to make time for the things you enjoy every day

The Longest Day microfiction competition

Buy the June issue at picsandink.com from 23 May and on the newsstand from 28 May. 

From The Simple Things Anthology Volume 4: A Year of Celebrations

Pushbike picnic : Vegetable crisps, three cheese & herb savoury muffins, Italian focaccia pressed sandwiches, apricot, blueberry and almond energy bars. 

Back garden campout featured in August 2021 issue (110) with Paprika & Parmesan Popcorn, Campfire Tacos, Frittata, Kohlrabi Slaw, Bean Salsa and Chipotle Mayo with  Puffed Quinoa fridge cake. Plus Raspberry French Toasties and skillet granola for breakfast

Transcript

Lisa Sykes (00:11):

Welcome to Season Six of Small Ways to Live. Well, I'm Lisa Sykes, editor of The Simple Things Magazine, and we're going to be with you from Witsontide to Midsummer's Day with suggestions for making the most of this magical time of year. And each episode we'll have a word to guide our thinking. So today we're going with Imagine because May is made for using your imagination. It's such an optimistic month and it feels like anything is possible at the start of summer. So the first thing we're going to do is think of a good day and how it could be like this every day. And I'm joined by my regular co-host, Becs Frank, who is our wellbeing editor at The Simple Things. Hi Becs.

Becs Frank (00:49):

Hi Lisa. It's great to be back.

Lisa Sykes (00:50):

Yeah, I know. It's our summer season, my favourite time of year.

Becs Frank (00:54):

I Think I always say that, but Midsummer definitely is. Yeah.

Lisa Sykes (00:58):

Yeah. And so what does a good day look like for you at this time of year then?

Becs Frank (01:02):

Well, I mean it's not very realistic that this could be every day, but for me I think it would be a day with nothing planned, so nothing planned in advance. So in the morning I can just be spontaneous.

Lisa Sykes (01:11):

Yeah, nice. So you can just see what the mood takes you.

Becs Frank (01:15):

Maybe it's a day trip, maybe it's a day at home being lazy.

Lisa Sykes (01:18):

It's such a rare thing that isn't it as well.

Becs Frank (01:20):

Yeah,

Lisa Sykes (01:20):

I think for me it's really simple. It's just about spending as much time outdoors as possible from the moment I fling open the windows in the morning and open and leave the back door open. I try and live my whole life outside really, or as much of the day as I possibly can.

Becs Frank (01:35):

Yeah,

Lisa Sykes (01:36):

Because you really have to seize that in this country, don't you? Because you just know that in, well, it could be the next day that you can't do that, but actually certainly in a few months some are will be done and then you'll not be able to.

Becs Frank (01:47):

Absolutely.

Lisa Sykes (01:48):

Yeah. Yeah. So we're going to explore, these could do days, which is really what we're talking about here, aren't we? A little bit later on because the could do list. Bes is well aware of this. We start every month, don't we? With a could do list in the simple things.

Becs Frank (02:01):

Yeah.

Lisa Sykes (02:01):

They're just little ideas, aren't they, for what you could do and

Becs Frank (02:05):

Yeah, just little suggestions. And they quite often just spark something in me when I have something I might want to do that day.

Lisa Sykes (02:10):

Yeah, no pressure. Of course. It's not a to-do list. It's a could do list.

Becs Frank (02:14):

The opposite.

Lisa Sykes (02:16):

And we leave space for people to add their own, and I think people really like it. People send us photos of it pinned upon their fridge and things, which is very nice. But first we have a bank holiday coming up.

Becs Frank (02:26):

Another one.

Lisa Sykes (02:26):

Yes, I know. And we've already had one, am we?

Becs Frank (02:29):

Yeah. Yeah.

Lisa Sykes (02:29):

I think bank holidays are particularly precious to us in the uk we don't have very many, do we?

Becs Frank (02:34):

No. Well, they're all a bit kind of bunched up together as well, aren't they?

Lisa Sykes (02:37):

Yeah. Yeah, they're a bit,

Becs Frank (02:40):

Not that I'm complaining.

Lisa Sykes (02:41):

No, no. But then there's a sort of big gap. And of course when you add in the weather, if it's sunny, it's no surprise that we head on mass to the beach or a beauty spot, is it?

Becs Frank (02:51):

But

Lisa Sykes (02:51):

I always slightly dread the journey if I'm going away for bank holiday, don't you? It could just be hours to get anywhere.

Becs Frank (02:59):

I think it's about timing, isn't it? And timing of travel. But also then just thinking about ways that you can make it easier and just remembering that before you go, because I dunno about you, but I forget I'll have one bad experience and then I'll be a bit more kind of considered about it and then I'll forget again and think, oh yeah, wow, I'll just set off at 10 o'clock in the morning on a bank holiday. What could go wrong? No,

Lisa Sykes (03:19):

Exactly. I do think you kind of almost have to visualise your ideal journey and work out. You plan it, don't you plan where you're going to stop? When are you going to set off to get the best? We always have to factor in getting around the M 25, and so it's better to set off really early to get round London nice and early. You can have done two hours of journey and barely have left the Southeast. Really? I know. It's soul destroying, isn't it? And also it's not choosing the fastest route either sometimes, isn't it?

Becs Frank (03:47):

Yeah, we have that because we live in Bath and to get down to the southwest where we travel often,

(03:52):

The fastest route is to go by the M four and the M five, which gets really, really busy around Bristol. And it's one of those, a bit like getting out of London, you think, why have I done this? Whereas if you take the a road that kind meanders down through Somerset, through past Glastonbury, and you might get stuck behind a tractor. Stop off for a crystal. Yeah. Yes, exactly. Gaze of the tour, look at all the different things. But you might get stuck behind a tractor. You might have to, but it's more interesting, isn't it? You just feel more relaxed than sitting in a kind of row of four lanes.

Lisa Sykes (04:22):

I know we like us, we go up to the Dales a lot and a few weeks ago we were coming back and there was a bad accident on the motorway, so it closed the motorway and it took us forever to get home. But the silver lining for us was that we detoured through the beautiful trough of Boland. Oh wow. Which is not really on the way to anywhere, so you don't really go through it often. And it's such a beautiful valley. It's all hidden, surrounded by Fells. But one of the fells is called Sykes Fell, which is obviously my surname, and I'd always wanted to climb it. And the first time I tried to do it with a friend, but it was too foggy. But then my partner David and I finally did it. So it brings back memories as we were driving through then. And the farm there is called Sykes Farm, so it's quite a special place and we would've never gone through that if the motorway hadn't been closed.

Becs Frank (05:09):

So did you just have to switch off from at home by a certain time or,

Lisa Sykes (05:14):

Yeah, we just abandoned all the deadlines and it took all the pressure off.

Becs Frank (05:18):

I mean, you can't always do that, but I think the best thing to do is where you can try not to leave yourself a really tight amount of time to get somewhere. I think

Lisa Sykes (05:27):

So, yeah, if possible it makes it a lot easier. When we had an old VW camper van, which we had before we got grown up and used the money to buy a kitchen basically, it wouldn't really go more than 55 miles an hour top on the motorway. So it took all the stress out of journeys because if you're in roadworks where you can only go 50, that's all we could do anyway. So it actually never mattered to us. So it was really good,

Becs Frank (05:52):

More relaxed pace. We have sort of little favourite places that, particularly this came from travelling with dogs, but needing somewhere that we could let them exercise that because service stations are hopeless, aren't one of us will be standing outside with the dog whining while the other one runs in to buy an expensive rubbish sandwich. So this just, this isn't good. So we started finding little villagers just off the motorway or off the road that we were on.

Lisa Sykes (06:17):

I think if you do the same route fairly regularly, you get to know where the good places are.

Becs Frank (06:22):

Yeah. But it's worth doing that research.

Lisa Sykes (06:24):

Yeah, we always used to stop at Clumber Park, which is near workshop on the A one.

Becs Frank (06:28):

Oh yes, I know Clumber Park

Lisa Sykes (06:30):

Because it's beautiful place to let the dog have a proper run around and you can have a picnic. But also we do now know a few services where the dog walk is good, like Norton Keynes or the M six toll. We're not going to keep going on about Matway Junctions. That would be a very DU podcast. But there are a few, there's one on the way to the lakes, the food is rubbish, but there's a lake there and it's so beautiful. So actually sometimes we stock up on snacks earlier on and then stop there just because it's nice place to be.

Becs Frank (06:59):

Oh, that sounds lovely.

Lisa Sykes (07:01):

Yeah, it's good. But do you remember that book club in the mag? Yes. Yeah. Pit stops just off the motor in. That was reader recommendations.

Becs Frank (07:09):

Yeah. Yeah, so I was looking at that the other day actually, because there's are some really good recommendations there. A couple that I knew already, like Gloucester Services, which is where the only service station I actually look forward to shopping in, stopping in and shopping in.

Lisa Sykes (07:20):

Well, they're sister services to T Bay up in the north as well. So yeah, they're run by the same company. Oh, okay. Yeah. And they are both great, aren't they?

Becs Frank (07:29):

Yeah. But it was great for readers, had recommended pubs and little tea rooms and nice places, so I think it's worth checking that out. And also just keeping a note of your own places. We can forget them, can't you easily.

Lisa Sykes (07:41):

Definitely. You've got to scribble 'em down on the road atlas or in your phone or whatever, haven't you? I also like the extra mile guides. They do what called delicious alternatives to motorway services, which is a great line toque in, isn't it? But they do a farm shop guide and coastal cafes as well. We'll put links to that in the show notes. I think they're a really good little company.

Becs Frank (07:59):

You can often find a farm shop, can't you? If you've got a bit of time. Look for a national trust or English heritage property.

Lisa Sykes (08:05):

Yeah, no, definitely.

Becs Frank (08:07):

They're often not far. Well, they're everywhere, aren't they? So that could be a nice, just make a day of your journey instead of trying to squeeze it in.

Lisa Sykes (08:15):

Definitely. And I found a good fact when I was looking back at this old feature we did, it was called Slip Road Adventures, which was quite funny. But apparently Britain has got 2,300 miles of motorway.

Becs Frank (08:27):

Wow.

Lisa Sykes (08:27):

But it's got 18,800 miles of B roads and I know where I'd rather be.

Becs Frank (08:35):

Definitely. Yeah.

Lisa Sykes (08:37):

Yeah. So I think it's worth not always thinking fast is better, isn't it? Yes.

Becs Frank (08:42):

Yeah. Well that's what we're all about, isn't it really?

Lisa Sykes (08:44):

And also of course, it's not just the journey, is it sometimes on buying holidays it's super busy when you get there as well because you like Cornwall, we like the Dales and they're both probably two of them and the lakes and they're the most popular places to go, aren't they?

Becs Frank (08:57):

Yeah.

Lisa Sykes (08:58):

Do you try and avoid peak seasons when you go to Cornwall?

Becs Frank (09:02):

Yes, and we've got friends that live down there, so we're quite lucky and we can kind of choose nice quieter times, but obviously we know we are still tied to school holidays, so there will be times that we're, my friend always has good advice on when the changeover days are and things like that.

Lisa Sykes (09:17):

Yes.

Becs Frank (09:18):

But we know what we found with going down there quite frequently is there always are quiet places. So I mean they have businesses St. Ives, so we often go there, but then just up the coast a little bit, there'll be some nice little quiet cove that, I mean, for example, we always park at an earth and catch the train in instant lives because it saves you trying to have to park there. But

Lisa Sykes (09:39):

Oh, that's clever. Yeah,

Becs Frank (09:41):

We did a piece, didn't we? On the places close to the holiday hotspots that feel very different.

Lisa Sykes (09:46):

Yes. I'm going to give another plug here. This is another book publisher who we work with quite often, and Daniel Star who runs it, it's called Wild Guides, and they do some of those wild swimming guides and wild guides to different parts of the country. And they did one on Hidden beaches, which was really about for wild swimmers, but he put together a list of holiday hotspots, but then took you literally off the path. So it might be things like you access a beach from the quiet end where nobody walks as far to or

Becs Frank (10:14):

Take a ferry from the busy phase. So I think it was like in Ow or exactly, there was a great one near Tenby. So I really found that so useful because you do,

Lisa Sykes (10:23):

And sometimes it's just about looking at an ordinance survey map and thinking, oh, actually this is a path here, but no car park, so it'll be quieter and you've just got to again, do a bit of planning, aren't you? Yeah. And

Becs Frank (10:35):

Maybe walk that little bit further.

Lisa Sykes (10:37):

Let's bring it back to if you are not going away or even if we are not away, we don't do summering in this country. We don't go away for the whole summer. We have a two week holiday if we're lucky. Yeah. So this also applies to your regular weekends, doesn't it? I think we're going to go back to that could do week idea now about reclaiming your week. And you wrote this great piece, which is in the issue just about to come out actually, isn't it the June issue?

Becs Frank (11:03):

Yeah, June issue,

Lisa Sykes (11:04):

Which our new June issue, which is the word Soar and is on sale Well now, really. So yeah, tell us about this feature then based. So

Becs Frank (11:13):

It came from a conversation we were having, didn't it, about how everyone has their sort of worst day of the we that they always dread.

Lisa Sykes (11:19):

Oh yeah.

Becs Frank (11:20):

And we were thinking about how it's a shame and that maybe we could try and reframe those days and reframe your week so that you're not always, not everybody's like this, but people live looking forward to the weekend and put all their worst jobs in there.

Lisa Sykes (11:34):

We all do it, don't we? Yeah.

Becs Frank (11:37):

At the beginning of the week and it's like, why wait till Thursday or Friday to start enjoying yourself? So we came up with some different names for the days of the week.

Lisa Sykes (11:47):

I liked Friends Day for Wednesday. That's nice. Good day to see your friends to break up the week because I dunno about you, but Tuesdays are my day, right? That's when things always start going wrong after you've maybe had a positive start on the Monday.

Becs Frank (12:00):

Well, I think that did come out as the most miserable day of the week in research. Yeah.

Lisa Sykes (12:04):

Oh, did it? Well, I find it the most stressful day because I'm trying to be all things to all people. Family responsibilities are at their peak on a Tuesday. But I do try and make the day start better by doing a class or something. But then it's also squeeze that I never end the day on a Tuesday without feeling either very grumpy or very tired or both.

Becs Frank (12:24):

So I think the advice for Tuesday was to turn it into a Tuesday as in choose. So you make a choice at the beginning of the day. And it's actually quite a very simple kind of clever idea to just set your intention for the day when you wake up. And it actually really helps to just write this down if you've got a little notebook and just a simple thing. If you said, oh, I get really stressed on a Tuesday and I always lose my temper with somebody, then your intention could be I'm just going to take some deep breaths and be calm rather and think before I speak. And just writing that down. Well, you'll find that's in your head.

Lisa Sykes (13:00):

And I think summer is a good time to try something new like this, isn't it? Because routines are a little bit some more flexible. And the thing that I want to do is I always cram all the boring admin stuff that I need to do into Fridays, a quieter day with some of the team not working.

Becs Frank (13:16):

Oh, I do it on Monday.

Lisa Sykes (13:18):

And it's like, who wants to end the week with that? I want to end the week with something really creative that's starting me on a new idea or something. So I'm totally going to switch that. Yes.

Becs Frank (13:27):

Yeah. Yeah. I like the idea of borrowing something fun from another, something you really love on another day, the reason why you like that day and moving it into the day you don't like because nice. Who says it has to be on a Friday or Saturday,

Lisa Sykes (13:40):

But let's talk about when you're staying at home because there's a tendency, isn't they, to all talk about the shiny and new, but actually it might be a bit boring to stay at home, but I think sometimes What about garden camp out? Do you remember? We did that great gathering feature, which is for anyone who doesn't know, our gathering is where we, it's all about what's at the heart of the simple things and taking time to live well, it's sharing good foods with family and friends. And this idea was you basically just, it doesn't even have to be the school holidays, but they did a back garden camp out with the kids.

Speaker 3 (14:10):

But

Lisa Sykes (14:10):

We're thinking about doing one for the bank holiday weekend, just me and David just putting a tent tip in the garden. Yeah,

Becs Frank (14:17):

Yeah, great idea.

Lisa Sykes (14:18):

You've got all your kit there and you can cook your food in your kitchen still if you need to. So it's not like you have to pack a car

Becs Frank (14:25):

And if you forget something, no big deal. I know,

Lisa Sykes (14:28):

Because in lockdown our girls moved out for about a week

Becs Frank (14:31):

Into a tent.

Lisa Sykes (14:32):

They set up a tent and they packed all their essentials, which consisted of their own pillows and fairy lights and various dodgy snacks and do no, because they thought they might get a bit bored.

Becs Frank (14:44):

Quite special times. I think we used to do this as well. And I just said, actually I haven't done it without kids. Why not? Because, well one with our gardens quite sloping, but we used to have this kind of rule that you could only go back in the house to go to the loo. So we had to make breakfast outside as well. So we had a cool box outside despite the fridge being a few steps away. My favourite time of camping is that first when you come out in the morning and the grass is still wet and you sit on your camping chair and you make a cup of tea, boil the kettle and you watch the kind of campsite or wherever you are, just the day come to life. And I love that time.

Lisa Sykes (15:20):

That is the time, isn't it? Yeah, you can do that at home. Why not? And also just some of the stuff you make when you camping is a bit more original, isn't it? There was some great recipes in this feature.

Becs Frank (15:29):

Oh, there were.

Lisa Sykes (15:30):

Yeah. We'll share some links actually, I think some of 'em are on our blog, but in fact, I might do this tonight. It's actually a really warm day today, isn't it? So I think the evening's going to be warm. It's campfire popcorn, so you just get two metal sieves and you put the popping corn and hold it over the fire pit and then it just pops the corn into the sieves and they added Parmesan and paprika to it, which actually sounds really nice.

Becs Frank (15:52):

That sounds great. Yeah.

Lisa Sykes (15:53):

And a fridge cake's very good as well, isn't it?

Becs Frank (15:56):

Yeah,

Lisa Sykes (15:56):

Yeah. No cooking.

Becs Frank (15:57):

Yeah, just those nice kind of easy no cooking kind of treats that just feel like perfect for the camera camping. Yeah,

Lisa Sykes (16:05):

Definitely. Or you could just camp down the road as well. Of course. You don't have to go very far if you haven't got a massive garden, you don't have to go three hours in a car on bank holiday to go and camp.

Becs Frank (16:16):

No, there's absolutely no reason why not. I think someone, Liz, our picture editor was saying how they, because they love camping and they live in London and they just find a spot and go camping rather than sit in the car for an hour trying to get out of London. They just go somewhere. I think that they know somewhere where they can pitch up and just have a nice weekend there.

Lisa Sykes (16:33):

And I think going back to places will is always appealing, isn't it? Because you haven't got that sort of what's it going to be like when we get there? Is the setup going to be okay? But also, well, we've just done a piece on this, haven't we, about the joy of being a regular, and this was one of my favourite pieces in the Mayer shoe, and it is that nod of recognition you get when you walk into a cafe or a pub or a shop that they know you and you know them,

Becs Frank (17:00):

And

Lisa Sykes (17:00):

It just makes you feel really good, doesn't it?

Becs Frank (17:02):

And you know what you're going to order,

Lisa Sykes (17:04):

So

Becs Frank (17:04):

You don't need the menu or if you're going to a shop, I have a garden centre where I used to live opposite it and I don't anymore, but it's still not very far from me at all. And the dog knows that it has to go and get its treat when we first walk in and the lady knows that that's what we have to do. There's always a really nice guy and a woman that worked there.

Lisa Sykes (17:26):

And I bet you have a bit of small talk when you are in there as well, don't you? Yeah.

Becs Frank (17:30):

Yes. And because that's another thing we've written about is small talk and these little sort of encounters the same with your regular, it's just those little passing of the day, the time of day really isn't it? Isn't the weather nice? How are you today?

Lisa Sykes (17:41):

Yeah, and they're good for us. These little chats as well, aren't they? These brief encounters. So take your headphones off, have some small talk because those small connections with people you might not think of as your friends, they're as important as the bigger connection and deeper connections you have with your friends. And it's a much

Becs Frank (18:00):

Wider group of people that you'll be kind of talking to because if you only talk to people really well, that's probably quite narrow.

Lisa Sykes (18:07):

And the thing that resonated with me for the piece was that it's important to show your kids that it's good and easy thing because apparently small talk is sort of dine out a bit, isn't it?

Becs Frank (18:16):

I think so, yeah. They don't do it

Lisa Sykes (18:19):

Unless you do it yourself. They won't see you doing it and see how comfortable and easy it is to do. I think either we have a responsibility

Becs Frank (18:27):

So they can stand there feeling mortified while you chat to everybody, which I remember doing as a child.

Lisa Sykes (18:32):

And apparently eavesdropping is also good to improve your conversational skills. Now I do like a little bit of eavesdropping, especially like when you sit on the bus or something.

Becs Frank (18:41):

Yeah, but you don't get that if you've got your headphones in, do you?

Lisa Sykes (18:43):

Absolutely. Anyway, we are going to take a break now. It is story time and regular listeners will know that we always do a read aloud story in the middle of each podcast because we commission a short story, an original short story, every issue of the magazine. And we've picked one today where someone appropriately is using their imagination shelf love. A short story by Jess kid. I see him but he can't see me, my shelf love, I'm behind and to the left of him inches apart, but it might be the entire world between his eyes. Bulbus beautiful burnish green. He shines even under decades of dust balanced on his tail. His cordal fin lifted to doff the back of his head. The loop of his tail makes a ring through my beloved's tail. I watch the tall old man and small new housekeeper. The housekeeper combs the old man's hair and sits him at the table, a white headed wolf.

(19:55):

He picks up spoon and cup with quiet wonder like he's remembering how to use his paws. But mostly I gaze at my beloved's back supple, bowed the curve of the dorsal ridge. His mouth is open to the heavens, the swollen pout of his lips, rampant gurgle fish. He could swallow me whole and I'd let him, I feel her seeing me, my shelf love. I know she's there behind me. Porcelain face, bygone gown, head tipped back, little basket over one arm, left toe aligned with the tip of her parasol, painted lips. No more than a brushes whisper. I would swallow a hole if she let me jug. He's a jug. I'm a figurine. He's clay. I'm porcelain. In the kitchen, the housekeeper comes and goes, raising dust, bagging junk, scrubbing the old man subs, porridge or soup or casserole or cocoa. The day is long. At night we keep watching the table laid for breakfast, awaiting stage set.

(20:59):

The new little housekeeper climbs on a stool and stretches up to discover a constellation of milk, bottle tops, a broken lamp, a horseshoe and assorted spectacles, then forgotten wonders, a fish shaped jug and a figurine. The old man watches the housekeeper from the table picking his teeth. She purchases on the shelf. She's just cleared and says, we are keepers. What a head rush. This movement after decades of still the view suddenly different. And we are together side by side. Oh, the marine coolness of him, his smooth scaled flank, his upturned, pottery, gullet. Next to my temple. I could press my head against his body, feel the rippling of his gills and hear the sound deep in this throat. A low bur of pleasure, the rim of her bonnet right next to my lip. Imagine one flip of my tail surrounds her waist. We swoon into the deep.

(21:54):

Her skirts bellowing behind one shoe lost her eyes wide. I will adore you all the way to the sandy bottom of the sea. When we get there, she'll kick off her last shoe and open her parasol. She'll take my fin bobbing with every step. We'll nod to the wrecks and the crabs and the seahorses as my belly swells with pride to touch him with my lips, my face. Just one time, we may never be nearer the housekeeper shakes out her rag, she reaches for him. She turns my love in her hands, wiping, gleaming marine beauty. Flash of glaze. She sets him on the table and then she lifts me, tips me, squinting up my petticoat. The old man is behind her calling out. She startles and lets go. But a knife and toast, crumbs, teapot. And morning talk. The old man stares his tea and swears at the crossword. The housekeeper looks over his shoulder centre stage, view changed. And my gape mouth full of daisies, frothing from my stomach's pit. I heard her fall. It was almost musical. The splintering of porcelain. I love that story. It's one of the favourite ones I think that we've done. It's so mad, isn't it? It's like

Becs Frank (23:22):

It's It's so imaginative actually, isn't it? Yeah,

Lisa Sykes (23:26):

Exactly. Yeah. And it's a flight of fancy. But you can just imagine someone's thinking, oh, what shall I write about? And they're staring at their shelf and they swap a couple of ornaments and then suddenly it's a whole love story and with jeopardy and everything. Very clever, very funny. No, it's very clever. But anyway, change your pace now because I can't believe Bex, we're doing a podcast and you and I have not really talked that much about food yet. I know, I know. And eating outdoors of course is one of the great summer pleasures, isn't it? Especially in a country that has such distinct seasons like us. Because you don't get to do it all year, do you? I think everything tastes better outdoors, doesn't it? Definitely. And picnics, of course, are the star of the show, aren't they? I don't think I've ever had a really bad picnic. That's what I'm

Becs Frank (24:12):

Saying. You can turn something quite ordinary into something special by just taking it, putting it in a box, taking it outside and sitting in a field

Lisa Sykes (24:20):

I know and having it outside and sitting on their rug. And yes, people moan about wasps and itchy grass and things like that, but in the end, it's still better than sat in a boring old kitchen, isn't it?

Becs Frank (24:33):

And no clearing up. And I think it's, well, obviously after yourself,

Lisa Sykes (24:38):

I'd make every lunch a picnic if I had the time to kind of do that. But we've done loads of picnics in the magazine. But the one I liked was, I can't remember, a couple of years ago. No longer than that. In fact, we, we've just reproduced it in our new anthology, which I'm going to give a small plug floor. It's called A Year of Celebrations. And it's suggests the food, decorations and flowers and offers you any excuse for a celebration, including a sunny day. So we did a sunny bike ride picnic as in a celebratory piece.

Becs Frank (25:09):

Now this is quite a beautiful picnic, isn't it? Actually?

Lisa Sykes (25:11):

Yeah, because normally if I was getting the bike ride, I'd just chuck load stuff in, it'd all go a bit soggy in the ride. But this was, everybody had their own individual box, so there was like a savoury muffin, veg crisp pressed for cashier sandwiches. So they stayed in one piece.

Becs Frank (25:28):

Elevated sandwiches. They

Lisa Sykes (25:30):

Elevated sandwiches, definitely.

Becs Frank (25:32):

But it's not that difficult to do. No,

Lisa Sykes (25:35):

Just make it a little bit special.

Becs Frank (25:37):

Yeah, exactly. And I think also if you're going with different people, you could get, there's that whole thing of getting different people to bring a dish, so you only have to really make one thing. Definitely.

Lisa Sykes (25:46):

Yeah. The homemade energy bars looked good though as well.

Becs Frank (25:50):

There's so much tastier than when you buy a cereal bar. Definitely. And very simple,

Lisa Sykes (25:55):

You can get hold of that still because even though it's from a few years back, we have collected together all these favourite features in our new anthology, and we'll put the details for that in the show notes. But that's the thing about midsummer, isn't it? It can be midweek in midsummer and you can still make it special because you can be out until late. So you can have dinner at eight outside. And I once strung up bunting for an entire season and just left it up there because it was just really nice. And you get your outdoor candles out, maybe a fire pit, and you don't need to wait for the weekend do you? To make things feel special?

Becs Frank (26:28):

No, exactly. And I think it's just, I love that stretchy evening time. I think at this time of year, the mornings and the evenings are actually my favourite times of the day because we don't always get them. You don't get them at other times of year.

Lisa Sykes (26:43):

Yeah, I mean you've done some great pieces about this and I know we've talked about them before, but that whole Dal dust thing and five to nine making the most of the time after work. So easy to come home and just collapse into a chair, isn't it? But make it a deck chair. Take it outside, do something. Yeah,

Becs Frank (26:58):

Yeah. Just sit outside, take your evening meal outside. It doesn't have to be special, but also you can make it special a little bit. But I just like filling, going and picking a few flowers from the garden and putting them in a little vase on the table.

Lisa Sykes (27:11):

Yeah, nice. Putting on the table,

Becs Frank (27:14):

Maybe throwing on a

Lisa Sykes (27:14):

Tablecloth. I'm going to do that today. You've just inspired me now. You live a walk in the early evening, don't you? And it's a good time to go foraging, isn't it? I mean, I suppose probably it's better to go first thing in the morning when everything's fresh.

Becs Frank (27:28):

Yeah, first thing in the morning.

Lisa Sykes (27:30):

And of course the second easiest thing after blackberries for foraging is elder flowers, which are out right now.

Becs Frank (27:37):

You can't fail to miss them, can you? And they have that distinct smile and it's a good time to pick them. And you've got to pick them when they're really full and white and you can get the whole head open

Lisa Sykes (27:49):

And then you shake them to get the bugs off so that you don't end it with a few buggy bits. And then actually we've just done a whole feature

Becs Frank (27:55):

And the may issue.

Lisa Sykes (27:57):

Yeah,

Becs Frank (27:57):

Different recipes

Lisa Sykes (27:59):

On everything imaginable that you can make with elder flowers. But there's some of these on the blog, elder flower champagne, not really, of course, but elder flower fizz based on a cord deal, and then you let it brew for a little while. That's pretty good. But also a cordal. You can use it in loads of things, can't you?

Becs Frank (28:17):

Yeah, I think if you make a cord deal, obviously you've got a lovely drink, but you can use it to make curd. You can have a lovely elder flour and gooseberry curd is the recipe in the me issue.

Lisa Sykes (28:28):

Oh, that sounds great. I love gooseberries.

Becs Frank (28:30):

Yeah, but once you've got your curd, you could then use it in your cake. So how delicious does that cake look?

Lisa Sykes (28:38):

That's the thing, syrups and curds and vinegars and things like that, they are worth spending the time on because you can get so many other things out of them if you've got that ingredient already to hand, haven't you,

Becs Frank (28:49):

The forage for it while it's out at the moment, and then you can make your cordials and keep them.

Lisa Sykes (28:54):

My favourite recipe in that feature was roasted rhubarb and strawberries, but with homemade elder flower shortbread and cream. And actually talking of elderberries, of course you don't pick all the flowers off one tree because you want some of them to turn into elderberries for lovely cordials in the autumn

Becs Frank (29:10):

With all foraging. Don't take too much from one place, spread out and leave for others. And also too,

Lisa Sykes (29:16):

I mean, roses can be foraged as well. They, we tend to think of them as just cutting them for of ours. But actually, I mean we all made rose petal confections when we were kids. Did we? But actually you can do them properly now, can't you?

Becs Frank (29:30):

We did a series called Heart, body and Soul where a couple of years ago, didn't we? Where you take an ingredient and all these different ways of using it. And there was one on roses and there was a rosewater face toner, which just used petals water and witch hazel. It's very simple, but it really does remind you of that smell of the, when you used to put all your pets and make your special potions.

Lisa Sykes (29:52):

Yeah. And then two weeks later it'd be all manky because you'd forgotten about it in the garden.

Becs Frank (29:57):

But there's also, do you remember the sandwiches rose petal and strawberry sandwiches?

Lisa Sykes (30:03):

Yeah. I mean, totally silly, but apparently they're really good. Well, they're

Becs Frank (30:07):

Basically a bit like, they're kind of like a cream tick. You use a brio bread and you have cream in there and jam. So what's

Lisa Sykes (30:16):

Not to

Becs Frank (30:16):

Like? Exactly.

Lisa Sykes (30:18):

I don't think I've ever eaten a rose petal though, have you?

Becs Frank (30:20):

Yes, I have. Yeah.

Lisa Sykes (30:21):

Does it taste like the smell of roses?

Becs Frank (30:24):

Yes, I think it kind of does.

Lisa Sykes (30:26):

It's quite perfumed. Yeah,

Becs Frank (30:28):

Perfumed. Quite aromatic. Quite delicate. But I think they're so beautiful rose petals, aren't they? Rose harissa is one of my favourite. See, that

Lisa Sykes (30:37):

Feels bizarre, doesn't it? So this is like a spicy rose flavoured,

Becs Frank (30:44):

Spicy middle Eastern Eastern use it with roasted vegetables and

Lisa Sykes (30:48):

CCUs

Becs Frank (30:48):

And meat. And

Lisa Sykes (30:50):

Actually rosewater gets used quite a lot in Middle Eastern cooking, doesn't it? So it makes sense.

Becs Frank (30:54):

And there's a recipe for that on the blog as well. So that'd be great for your summer barbecues.

Lisa Sykes (30:59):

Fantastic. And so as this is the start of our Magical Midsummer season, it seems appropriate each episode to celebrate a magical creature because we do one in every single issue of the magazine. And it's been thinking on this, I was trying to pick my favourite for May because there's so many possibilities, but I think it's a bit controversial because foxes are, some people find them a pest and some people love them, but in May, the fox cubs are out and about and you're most likely to see them. And you'd have to be a very hardhearted person not to love watching a fox cub. And they start to emerge from the den. And once when I lived in the city, I had a litter that played in my garden all summer

Becs Frank (31:41):

Because

Lisa Sykes (31:41):

They lived under a shed behind the end of my garden.

Becs Frank (31:44):

Did you feed them at all? I said, my friend has had this, so she did start feeding one, and then now it's all become a bit of a problem. But

Speaker 3 (31:52):

Yeah,

Lisa Sykes (31:53):

I think the recommendations are don't, because even if you want them in your garden, they'll go in your neighbours as well, and it's a bit antisocial.

Becs Frank (32:03):

Exactly. Yeah. I think they're incredibly magical. They're just very statuesque and they're very brave, and they look you right in the eye, don't they? And

Lisa Sykes (32:12):

Of course, that's urban foxes where I live in a bit more rural. They don't come anywhere near you, but they'll stop and watch. But from a distance.

Becs Frank (32:21):

Yeah, same where I'm living now.

Lisa Sykes (32:23):

Yeah.

Becs Frank (32:24):

In fact, I see far fewer of them now than when I lived in London.

Lisa Sykes (32:27):

But I think we don't have many large mammal in the uk, do we? No. And so they seem very exotic. And I've had my run of foxes, I've lost hens to them, which is awful. But it's always been my own fault because it's always me when I've lost hens and that's when they're feeding their hungry cubs and they've got to eat. Oh, right. Of course. So you've just got to be extra vigilant this time of year if you've got hens with your rabbits and Guinea pigs and hens. Yeah. Small dogs. No, no small dogs. But anyway, going back to our theme of imagination, there'll be more magical creatures to come in every episode, but we're feeling more playful and creative, aren't we? When the days are lighter and longer?

Becs Frank (33:09):

Yes, I think we are. And I don't know, when we talk about imagination and creativity, it is often something that we tend to neglect as we get older, isn't it? It's something you do more when you're young and

Lisa Sykes (33:22):

Yes, get stuck in a rut, don't you?

Becs Frank (33:25):

Or just don't make time for it, or don't feel like you really know what to do. And we did a nice piece, which was an extract actually, well, from a book called Creative First Aid. And it was basically, oh, I remember why. Creativity is a form of first aid. It makes you feel better. And there were loads of different little simple exercises that just to spark your creative juices. And I found a couple of these really helpful to sort of give me an idea of what to do. Which ones did you like them? So one was something I always used to do as a child, which was drawing around your

Lisa Sykes (33:56):

Hand. Yeah. And then you used to put your own nail polish designs on your hand, didn't you? That you draw?

Becs Frank (34:02):

Yeah. But there was some instructions about the way you are looking at your hand as you do it, and you're holding your pen and you're focusing on your body, and it's quite a mind body connection. And apparently that join these simple shapes that aren't complicated, they don't require a lot of concentration, helps to calm down the nervous system. And then afterwards you can just do what you like with the shape. You can fill it in with patterns. And I thought that was really nice.

Lisa Sykes (34:25):

That makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Yeah.

Becs Frank (34:27):

If you are more of a kind of words person, there are lots of little nice writing exercises, but there was one which is just where you choose one simple word as a prompt. So today it could be imagine, for example, and then set yourself a timer and write for five minutes anything that comes to mind about the word imagine. And then don't read it or edit it as you go. And then at the end, you look back and see what you've written.

Lisa Sykes (34:50):

Well, that's a very nice prompt for me, Bex, because we're doing a competition for a piece of micro fiction in the magazine in the June issue. And I'm going to be a little bit vague because we are going to use a word as a prompt and maybe it will be imagined. We haven't actually decided as we're recording this what it's going to be. But the theme is going to be the longest day. And when we did micro fiction, we've done it a few times now, we've sometimes, how

Becs Frank (35:15):

Many words is it micro fiction?

Lisa Sykes (35:17):

Well, sometimes we've done a hundred words, but I think it's actually really hard to write a good hundred word story with a beginning and middle and end

Becs Frank (35:26):

Really

Lisa Sykes (35:26):

Hard. So I think we're going to make it a little bit longer this time. But all the details for that are going to be in our June issue, but we'll put them in the show notes when we've finally decided what they all are.

Becs Frank (35:37):

I love reading these. I just think

Lisa Sykes (35:40):

They're grateful, they,

Becs Frank (35:41):

Everyone's interpretations is so different.

Lisa Sykes (35:44):

And the best ones we will run in next year's midsummer issue so that people can read them at the right time of year to get them in the mood. Yes.

Becs Frank (35:53):

Okay, that's a nice idea.

Lisa Sykes (35:55):

Yeah, I might have a go at doing one myself. And so we're at our end backs, I think. And it's nice to feel all mid summary, isn't it? In a bid to offer some gratitude and see the positive, we're going to recognise a moment of recent magic, aren't we? Each episode. And actually, it didn't take me long to find mine.

Becs Frank (36:17):

What is it?

Lisa Sykes (36:18):

Well, every morning I get up and walk into the bathroom and open the window to let the day in, and the Bird song orchestra is already there and singing. And it's so ubiquitous at this time of year, isn't it? You have to stop and remind yourself to notice it. So I do that every single morning in a little ritual moment of magic in spring and summer.

Becs Frank (36:39):

I love that. What a nice way to start the day, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Mine's more about the end of the day, which as I was just saying, is one of my favourite times. Oh god. And it was just by one of my evening walks on a sunny day last week, and the field is full of cow slips, so there is bright yellow kind of meadow as far as I can see.

Lisa Sykes (36:56):

Oh, that's lovely.

Becs Frank (36:57):

And there were just people and the grass is really long, and there were just people kind of lying amongst, and I'd kind of come across them because you couldn't really see them because sort of hidden away and they're lying, chatting sometimes eating, cooking. Picnicking. Snoozing.

Lisa Sykes (37:11):

Oh, it feels like some sort of painting or it's got a cinematic feel to it, hasn't it? Yeah.

Becs Frank (37:18):

You only get that at this time of year, really, don't you? When the nights are that light.

Lisa Sykes (37:23):

Well, this brings us to the end of our imagining of a lovely bank holiday weekend, and the promises of Somers. Thanks Bex as ever for your wise words and wellbeing.

Becs Frank (37:32):

Pleasure. Lovely to be here.

Lisa Sykes (37:34):

And our May issue is still on sale, but if you like the sound of our June issue, which is about to go on sale, you could try an immediate start subscription and you'll get sent this issue straight away. All the details plus some of the recipes and projects we've talked about and ideas and books are all going to be in our show notes. And if you interested in the subscription, you can also find out more@icebergpress.co uk slash subscribe. Thanks very much for listening. We'll be back next week with our second episode in Magical Midsummer. Bye.