A Year of Living Simply: The joys of a life less complicated (Kate Humble)

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On 16 Feb 2009, she showed up in Countdown’s Dictionary Corner. On 3 Oct 2009, Humble was designated President of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. As a Writer What I particularly love is her philosophy for happiness, which is the subject of her new book, A Year of Living Simply. The clue is in the title. Remember the basics. Instead of barging through the day on autopilot, really stop to think about the tiniest little things that added a moment of joy. No, of course stopping and smelling the flowers won't cure all our ills and woes. But taking the time to savour the things that bring pleasure, really being in that moment and appreciating it, can remind you that most days have moments that buoy your mood.' - JO ELVIN, MAIL ON SUNDAY YOU Don’t you just hate blurbs which start with soundbites from celebrity reviewers? Possibly even colleagues? Fortunately the netgalley blurb put them last, I think. Or else I was so taken with the idea of Kate Humble living simply and telling us what her inner responses were, that I ignored them. Last thing you put on your credit cardI don’t have a credit card, but the lastthing that went on my debit card wasanimal feed.

It’s full of wisdom and a lot of humour too. The section on finding her husband’s hordes of light bulbs and plaster to last a lifetime and beyond resonated all too much with my own household. Must be a male thing!

A Year of Living Simply

It seems people are as fascinated by Kateas she is by them. I bring up her status as a bitof a sex symbol, to which she absolutelyscreams with laughter. ‘Are you thinking of adifferent Kate?’ she guffaws. ‘That’s hilarious.I smell of pig s***! How does that work withbeing a sex symbol? I’m now of the age wherequite handsome slightly younger men will comeup and say my dad really fancies you, somaybe I’m a sex symbol for people who are 80or above and who can’t really see any more. Ademographic? Well, you could call it that – thederanged and desperate, possibly. I think Ludowould be in hysterics at the thought of mebeing a sex symbol – as am I!’ There's plenty about "earthships" and about shopping too and I must admit, I love her attitude to shopping in a physical shop. It's also interesting reading about her gain knowledge on gardening. Overall, this was an enjoyable read. Kate raises several thought-provoking questions and challenges us to think about what are the simple things in life? There were a number of good quotes that I have taken on board for myself, some of which I’ve added to this post. Once all the seeds were potted and growing was underway, Kate turns her attention to other ‘simple life’ projects to try. She takes a bread making course and shares a few recipes for bread & chilli jam. Ok, now we’re getting something useful. Sadly, next up was a trip to New Mexico for three weeks to help build an Earthship (Google it I had to!).

Most people will recognise Kate Humble from telly. She’s a well-known face; honest, appealing, the kind of person you’d like to sit down and have a cuppa with and chat, knowing you’ll come away enriched by the experience. It’s thus a joy that Humble’s new book, A Year of Living Simply, reflects her broadcasting style. It’s conversational, thoughtful, funny, at times even profound, and just strips away a lot of the nonsense we’ve been obsessed with in our twenty-first century, all singing all dancing world, to what really matters: being happy and how we achieve it. A Year of Living Simply is timely, given that the pandemic has forced most of us, in some way to simplify our lives, whether we planned to or not. Kate wrote it before any of us were aware of the upcoming crisis, but it captures the current moment perfectly… It’s not necessarily a “how to” book, more of a “why not try?” approach.’– FRANCESCA BABB, MAIL ON SUNDAY YOU I did Springwatch at Pensthorpe, I’ve done lots of filming on the coast. It is a very beautiful part of the world. My husband also has good friends who farm there and I find myself there fairly often. And I’ve never seen mad March hares boxing anywhere better than Norfolk.”Kate Humble's new book is a lesson in moving on from a tragedy and finding our place in the world' - WOMAN & HOME

At the beginning of the book Kate recounts her favourite holiday in the South of France some years previous. In which she stayed in a log cabin with very basic facilities and no technology. Totally isolated, with time to walk, swim in the lake, read, sleep and eat delicious food collected from the local market. She’s the poster girl for good, clean country living, but don’t befooled by the wholesome image. Kate Humble tells Francesca Babbwhat makes her happy – and what makes her really lose it. Some of the book was very affirming for me as I am fortunate enough to live in a community that is very cohesive and we have a Repair Cafe, a Men’s Shed and similar initiatives. A Year of Living Simply is very inspiring if you want to help build your own community and have a simpler and happier life. Unfortunately, Kate gets carried away and fills her garden, and a newly installed greenhouse, with loads of unusual and exotic fruit and veg, most of which I’d never heard of. Surprisingly, she also employs the help of a gardener. This resulted in alot of hard work and expense and rather missed the point I think. As others have said the title is misleading. This is Kate’s year of visiting other people who live simply and failing to adopt the lifestyles she’s promoting. She doesn’t succeed at bread making, veg growing or sewing. As most of us wouldn’t if we’re being honest. So what’s the takeaway?Humble debut as an on-screen character in Spymaker: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming in 1990. Humble began her TV profession as a scientist, later exchanging to showing projects, for example, Top Gear, and Tomorrow’s World. I’d still like to see any city/suburban working mums with kids under ten who can’t disappear off to the country and home-school them take up any of these ideas (other than an allotment). Now that would be a book worth reading*. I vaguely recognised the author’s name from tv shows my husband and son enjoy watching. They are both outdoorsy country types and so I absorb some things, at least by some sort of osmosis. What feels a little disappointing to me is that not everything that Kate Humble or the people she meets do is accessible to anyone—which can be a bit disheartening when you are reading this book in the hopes of starting to "live more simply". I also loved how she shared her own personal memories of happy times with friends and family, and how things have changed over the years that people seem to value things differently now.