Join The Simple Things’ Editor Lisa Sykes and Wellbeing Editor Rebecca Frank as they find reasons to celebrate during February, including the returning daylight, time spent with friends and loved ones and joyful occasions from Lunar New Year to Shrove Tuesday.

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

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett.

On the blog

Seville & blood orange marmalade

Blood orange posset

Blood orange Negroni

Vietnamese summer rolls recipe

In the February issue (164) on sale now available to buy here

Foods of love – what we eat and how we eat it has long associations with romance

Friends for life – the mood-boosting, life-enhancing benefits of friendship

Kitchen therapy – Sensory baking (Herb and black olive fougasse and Cavolo Nero Gnochi) and simple embroidered onions

My City Taipei – cherry blossom and feasting during Lunar New Year

What to do with orange peel – from scented kitchen spray to joyful garlands

In the January issue (163) available to buy here

The Big Idea: Could you be an Otrovert? Explore the thinking behind Dr Rami Kaminski’s book The Gift of Not Belonging: How Outsiders Thrive In A World Of Joiners (Scribe)

In our A Year of Celebrations Anthology

Lunar New Year gathering – recipes to share and celebrate with friends

Find out more

Travelling sun sculpture myhelios.org

Thanks to our partner for Season 9, Friends of Glass, an organisation that celebrates and supports glass packaging for food, drink and cosmetics. Find out more about why glass is better for health, taste and the environment and follow them on instagram @friendsofglassuk

In the STAR episode The Simple Things’ Editor Lisa Sykes and author of The Slow Traveller and regular contributor Jo Tinsley celebrate Twelfth Night and look for other reasons to cheer up what feels like the longest month of January.

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

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett.

On the blog

Candle Holder

How To Wassail Well

How to hold a Wassail

Buttered bourbon apple cider

Tangerine and nutmeg hot chocolate

Blood Orange Posset

Slow Orange Poppy Seed Cake

In the January issue (163) on sale now

The appeal of ice skating

A winter of care and repair

In our In our A Year of Celebrations Anthology

Gathering: Twelfth Night with the La Fête des Rois

Candle holders

In previous issues, available to buy at picsandink.com

Life lessons from the north: the value of age-old customs and community in enduring the long, dark winters. (Issue 151)

Looking back why we are fascinated by the stars (issue 152)

Snow lanterns (issue 138)

Learn more

Candles: A modern guide to making candles by Ebi Sinter and Emmanuel Sinteh

Watch out for the Quadrantid meteor shower between 28 December-12 January, peeking around 3-4 January 2026

Slow Down And Be Here Now by Laura Brand and Freya Hartas

A Winter Dictionary: A Collection of Words for the Festive Season by Paul Anthony Jones

Thanks to our partner for the Merry Midwinter season, the Marine Stewardship Council, which sets certification standards for sustainable fisheries and awards the blue ecolabel on fish and fish products. Find out more about the best fish to choose at msc.org and follow them on instagram @mscintheuk

If you’ve got some time off, now’s the chance to kick back a bit. Join Wellbeing Editor Rebecca FrankAuthor of The Slow Traveller and regular contributor Jo Tinsley

In Episode 5 PAUSE, as they share ideas for carving out some time to relax and reset in this in-between bit of Christmas.

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

Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett.

On the blog

How to do a jigsaw properly

In the January issue (163) on sale now

Long views from tall towers

Taking cues from the people, animals and nature that surround us

Life lessons from David Attenborough

Fish pie and cheddar mash

Learn more

Is a gansey a Guernsey?

Mindwandering: How It Can Improve Your Mood and Boost Your Creativity, by Moshe Bar (Bloomsbury Tonic)

Fish pie hash

In previous issues available to buy at picsandink.com

Wearing well: Mittens (issue 127)

Panettone French toast (Issue 138)

Favourite annuals (issue 138)

Thanks to our partner for the Merry Midwinter season, the Marine Stewardship Council, which sets certification standards for sustainable fisheries and awards the blue ecolabel on fish and fish products. Find out more about the best fish to choose at msc.org and follow them on instagram @mscintheuk