Old fashioned/simple pleasures that you still enjoy?

[TheQuietDignityOfASandwich]

There are plenty of things that I appreciate about modern life including MN but I’d love to read about some old fashioned ir simple things that you still enjoy.

Perhaps not the best example but the other day I went to a garden centre and I had an egg mayonnaise sandwich on wholemeal bread with a pot of tea and it was lovely. I often find that a lot of cafes put too many ingredients and sauces in their sandwiches so it was nice to have something relatively plain.

Also sitting having a cup of tea and a simple iced bun while listening to a Radio 4 play. And I’ve been watching old one off dramas and mini-series on Youtube. They’re so much slower paced than dramas now but all the more enjoyable for that.

What simple pleasures do you enjoy?

I’m going to have to return to many of these lovely things that I’d forgotten and try some others that I haven’t yet enjoyed.

I don’t normally eat breakfast but I think that I’ll try making old fashioned porridge with honey and a little cream this morning instead of the instant porridge that I usually have for lunch. It’d be perfect for this weather. Though I feel that I should serve it with a doily.

Your sandwich sounds great tbh!

I love soup and sandwiches for lunch or dinner. Dh argues it isn't a proper dinner, but I think that's a matter of opinion.

I really enjoy a glass of sherry in front of an Agatha Christie adaptation on tv. I am a millenial, and I think we are known to be very nostalgic as a generation, (not sure I believe this is unique to millenials obviously), but I definitely am a nostalgic soul!

I’m a Millenial too. I’m with you on soup and sandwiches. I enjoy that at least once a week.

I don’t drink alcohol but I’ve always thought that a sherry sounded so lovely and cosy. I haven’t even tried it and won’t but it’s always sounded so appealing. Perhaps it’s the word or that it’s mentioned in so many books but it makes me smile to think of others still having one.

@Myoldbear my Mam loved 'The People's Friend' magazine. I always think of her when I see the Christmas annual in the shops in December. I wouldn't be seen dead buying it, but I usually had a read of it after her . I also had lots of penfriends over the years. I only have one now and we met for the first time last year. We've been writing to each other for 30+ years. We mostly e-mail each other now, but we type up proper letters with paragraphs etc. At Christmas we post parcels to each other and tuck in a letter. Did you see the clip of two penfriends (one in the UK and one in Australia) who met for the very first time? I think it was on Michael McIntyre's show.

I love reading and I prefer proper books, although I might get a kindle for myself. It's useful for holidays, when I don't want the weight of several books. And holidays is when I have the most time for reading - at the airport and on the plane etc.

I love ceramics and dream of buying myself a proper china tea set. I have my eye on one but it's verrry expensive for a full tea set. I make do with buying a nice ceramic bowl or plate on holidays.

I love shopping in physical shops, especially when it comes to clothes. I want to pop into a shop, have a quick scan around the racks, pick out a few outfits and try them on. Buy the one I like best and then head to a coffee shop with my carrier bags. And bring them home the same day. I hate having to wait several days for the item(s) to arrive. And then face the hassle of returning them if they don't fit or don't look like the picture or whatever.

I love gardening but I don't have the time to do it regularly.

Oh, forgot to say that I like to listen to talk radio. I listen to RTÉ Radio One a lot, although mostly at weekends, because I'm in work during the week. I'm sharing my car with DD at the minute and she keeps changing the station for some reason. I'm off today and was all set to tune into the Clare Byrne show. But then I remembered that she has left RTÉ.

Simple Things is available on Press reader, free if you join your local library.

This thread is so lovely to read, thanks OP
Mine are:
Making loose-leaf tea in a brown Betty teapot with a tea cosy
Going to local summer fetes and Christmas bazaars
Walks in the woods
Going to the sea, especially in winter
Writing postcards and letters - I've recently restarted this, after I sent postcards to 8 or 9 friends I rarely see from my summer holiday, on a whim, and 5 of them got back in touch as a result 😊
Reading real books, especially golden age detective fiction -thanks British Library Crime Classics!
A paper wall calendar and pocket diary

@Taytocrisps My Dad used to get The Church Times and there was a children's corner where you could ask for pen friends and mine came from there!

Like you, we have written to each other for many years too, and we know each other's lives so well!

No I haven't seen the meet up between the UK and Australian penfriends, but will look for it as I would like to. watch it.

Also you mentioning talk radio reminded me of Talking Pictures TV which is full of nostalgic films and TV series from the past.

For me it's always a cup of tea with a bit of sugar in it and a good book.

Or a cup of tea and a jigsaw.

Reading a book, knitting, sewing, baking, board games, gardening, writing with my fountain pen, jigsaws, the only magazine that I read (The Country Smallholder), livestock in fields, chickens mooching around the place, a wander around a garden centre/a second-hand bookshop/a huge antiques shop, and homemade food... especially heart-warming stews in the slow cooker for when I come home after a long, cold day at work! I am a big fan of lamb cawl!

a bed with clean fresh linen
a good book thriller crime murder or romance
old comedies from the 70s on Youtube
putting a spritz on my favourite perfume on
cuddling

Cup of Assam tea
Selection of biscuits
Jake Thackray playing on the stereo

How does one acquire a pen pal?

I haven't had a stationary set since I was a child and I'd love to buy and use one!

Blanket under a tree in the park with a good book on a summer's day.

Walking to work.

Tea and a bacon butty on a Saturday morning.

The library.

I googled this and there's an organisation called Global Penfriends where you can get a 'snail mail' penfriend.

The way I got mine was from the children's corner of a paper called The Church Times which my Dad used to get 50 years ago!

Sending Christmas cards. I can’t wait to start writing mine soon.

Baking.

Praying the rosary. A bit weird but it reminds me so much of my granny.

I’m feeling a bit run down. So am having egg and toast soldiers for breakfast. It’s very comforting.

I just had toast - crispy end of the new, just baked, loaf from the breadmaker with butter and gooseberry jam, reminded me of childhood, though the bread would be hand done, not the breadmaker.

Gooseberry jam…. 😋

I thought of this post as I had brunch: thick slice of tiger bread (don't eat white bread really, only v occasional treat) with sea-salted butter & 2 hard-boiled eggs sliced on top with salt crystals & ground pepper- food of the Gods.

Washed down with a Yorkshire Biscuit tea (don't knock it 'til you've tried it! Their Night-time is also delicious).

Thank you 😊 have you had your pen pal that long?!

Yes, I was 13 and my friend a couple of years older.. I'm 62 now!
Letter by letter we've shared our life stories over the years.
My Mum had her penfriend from age 12 to 85;
It was a school project originally!

sitting and listening to the radio
watching a programme regularly at the time it is broadcast
tea in a pot

Knitting. Reading. Stuff on toast.

That is actually beautiful, I love that! To many more letter writing years for you ❤️