Search Results for: Lifestyle

Backpacking adventures are all too often cut short by a stolen wallet or “Delhi belly”. Instead, you can be aware and be prepared. These essential tips will put your mind at rest, leaving you to concentrate on making your travels the stuff of dreams.

Cosmic Ordering is an ancient art that gives you the power to shape your own destiny through the mastering of some simple yet extremely powerful techniques. Join celebrity psychic Michele Knight as she guides you through the exciting process of placing your first cosmic order.

Cosmic Ordering includes sections on improving your self belief, creating your order for abundance, travel, love or work, unlocking the power of nature, as well as practical information on “making a magical pouch”, “charging a magic wand”, creating a meditation space, and making an altar to your dreams. There are also great ideas for Cosmic Ordering with friends and cosmic ordering for the greater good. This exceptional audiobook will give you the power to change your life.

Your gap year stretches ahead of you, begging to be filled with sun-drenched beaches, treks through exotic landscapes, and thrilling exploits. How can you plan the adventures to make the most of your time out? This essential guide is crammed with exciting ideas from around the world, from abseiling to zorbing, diving with sharks to learning yoga from the masters. Discover how to make your gap year truly unforgettable.

You want to see the world – but you also want to help make it a better place. With so many aid opportunities on every continent, how do you find the one that’s right for you? Whether you want to care for tropical birds in Costa Rica, work with disadvantaged children in Morocco, or raise money for research projects in the UK, this handy audiobook will answer all your volunteer questions. Included are notes on costs and what you need to take with you, as well as inspiring ideas on what to do and where to go. This guide will ensure that you make a difference and have a gap year you’ll remember forever.

The mystery of Rennes-le-Château has inspired treasure hunts, theories about the origins of Christianity, and the best-selling novel and film The Da Vinci Code. The mystery concerns Bérenger Saunière, the 19th century priest of an impoverished hilltop village in southern France who became immensely wealthy after apparently finding ancient parchments hidden in his church. Although the secret of the source of his money died with him, he left behind enigmatic clues that have puzzled researchers ever since.

In this audiobook, Stewart Ferris, author of The Key to The Da Vinci Code, tours Rennes-le-Château searching for evidence to support the leading theories as to the origins of Saunière’s fortune, but in doing so he comes across people and clues that lead him to draw fresh and original conclusions of his own. This audiobook is based on the DVD programme of the same name.

The quest for the Holy Grail has stirred popular imagination for almost a thousand years, not least in the tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The facts behind the myths are no less romantic, but the story is far more complex than knights in shining armour seeking mythical cups.

This documentary examines the theory that Hayling Island, on England’s south coast, may well have a part to play in the mystery. This astonishing story begins in the Holy Land in the first century AD and continues into the Roman occupation of Britain and to some odd goings-on on Hayling Island during the 19th century. Studies of the island’s very close ties with France after the Norman Conquest and its links with the Crusades to recapture Jerusalem have led Robin Walton to look closely at how these have affected Hayling, its secret history and its potential as the last hiding place for the legendary Grail.

This audiobook is based on the DVD programme of the same name.

Ever woken from a night of revelry to find your drunken antics the subject of a tagfest? Ever accidentally wall-posted yourself into a relationship row or been hunted by a school-days stalker? If your real social life is dying a death at the hands of your virtual one, fear not, Facebookers – help is just a little book away.This cheeky unofficial guide will show you how to navigate the perilous pitfalls of life online while having as much fun as possible.

Get to grips with tags, pokes, requests and posts, and work them to your advantage. Tips and hints include how to:

tag your way out of a bad relationship
poke and post without stalking
keep your friends close and your enemies closer
Whether you’re a Facebook virgin or an application addict, you won’t want to log in without this book.

The affirmative bible for the modern woman, this book celebrates all the reasons why it’s great to be a girl!

Worried about global warming? Want to do something but not sure where to start? Then this is the book you need. It’s Easy Being Green highlights simple changes that can be easily and quickly incorporated into your daily life to reduce your harmful impact on the environment. It identifies the things that will make the most difference with the least cost and effort, and shows how being green is not only better for the planet, but can also save money and make us happier and healthier.

Have you ever wondered about the value of those dusty old heirlooms in your attic? Do you want to learn how to sell them at auction? Or perhaps you’d like to know how to pick up a bargain at auction? In Buying and Selling Antiques at Auction, TV antiques expert John Cameron explains the entire process for both buyers and sellers, breaking it down into simple steps so that anyone can take part in an auction with confidence.

John joined the popular BBC1 programme, ‘Cash In The Attic’ as an ‘Expert Presenter’ in 2004. His appearances in series 5 were well received and he has remained with the show having recently completed filming series 10. During this time he has co-presented with Ben Fogle, Alistair Appleton, Jenny Bond, Lorne Spicer and Angus Purden.

This audiobook is based on the DVD of the same name.

A collection of mysterious and fascinating stories about Dragons, told in a unique and original way by storyteller Clare Viner. The stories Clare tells are never written down, so they are never fixed. Each telling is new and spontaneous – like Chinese whispers the stories change a little each time they are told. Things get forgotten and new bits added in; this is the real magic of storytelling, like the breath that tells the tales, the stories themselves are alive, they cannot be pinned like butterflies. So the tales you hear sparkle with spontaneity – like life they are exquisite and unpolished. Listen to them once or twice then recreate them yourself. Let the story change and come alive again, on the pulse of your breath.

The Laidely Worm of Spindlestone High
Clare has re-interpreted this old legend from Nothumbria.
In many early myths the Goddess is represented as an old, wise and very powerful hag – and as a young, fertile maiden. Over time, in stories, the hag has been shown as ‘evil’ – her great wisdom and power being feared. In this story Clare portrays her as a loving initiator, who knows she must teach her daughter – in order for her to survive…

The Gurt Worm of Shervidge Forest
A re-working of an old Somerset legend. In this story, a forest is guarded by a huge fire breathing Dragon. Only one little old lady is allowed into the forest through an archway of Rowan trees and she becomes the Dragon’s best friend. There is a sad ending to this story but it teaches us that the magic of the Dragon and the Rowan tree are for protection.

A collection of mysterious and fascinating stories about Fairies, told in a unique and original way by storyteller Clare Viner. The stories Clare tells are never written down, so they are never fixed. Each telling is new and spontaneous – like Chinese whispers the stories change a little each time they are told. Things get forgotten and new bits added in; this is the real magic of storytelling, like the breath that tells the tales, the stories themselves are alive, they cannot be pinned like butterflies. So the tales you hear sparkle with spontaneity – like life they are exquisite and unpolished. Listen to them once or twice then recreate them yourself. Let the story change and come alive again, on the pulse of your breath.

The Magic Cooking Pot
An old Scottish folktale. If you had a magic pot that gave you any food you wanted, what would you choose? And would you mind if the fairy folk came skipping into your house every evening and morning to collect it? This is the tale of one man who did mind…

Mossy Coat
This is an old Gypsy story collected in Northumberland. As you listen to the story you will find that about half way through…you start to recognise the tale. It is a story that you will have heard before, a well loved fairy tale, but never quite like this!

Abraham Stocker and the Pixies
A mysterious and eerie tale of the pixies scorned. The story was originally written in Somerset dialect and had been collected from a local man on the Blackdown Hills in Somerset.

A collection of mysterious and fascinating stories about Trees, told in a unique and original way by storyteller Clare Viner. The stories Clare tells are never written down, so they are never fixed. Each telling is new and spontaneous – like Chinese whispers the stories change a little each time they are told. Things get forgotten and new bits added in; this is the real magic of storytelling, like the breath that tells the tales, the stories themselves are alive, they cannot be pinned like butterflies. So the tales you hear sparkle with spontaneity – like life they are exquisite and unpolished. Listen to them once or twice then recreate them yourself. Let the story change and come alive again, on the pulse of your breath.

Bethuska and the Silver Birch Tree
Based on a Czech folk tale, this is the story of a little girl called Bethuska. All her life Bethuska has been desperately poor but one day, while she is up in the silver birch tree grove, she meets a mysterious fairy woman who will change her life forever…

The Apple Maiden
This is a Celtic legend from Ireland. It is often told as a great tragedy but the angle has been changed a little, to suggest that the kings son may have been happy with his fate…
Next time you eat an apple cut it in half horizontally – this will reveal a star shape inside the apple, an ancient symbol of the fairy-folk.

The Elder Tree
This is a story created by Clare, using traditional folklore and herbal knowledge.
There is a tall, silver woman who lives in the Elder tree. She is a wise woman and can heal many troubles – but be sure to ask her permission before cutting her wood, or, like the family in this story, she might just pay you a visit…

It’s time to experience the joys of simple living

Whether you want to make small changes to your life or you’re looking to transform it, The Art of Simple Living will show you the way to a more wholesome existence. With help on how to declutter your home, practise mindfulness and make your mealtimes, free time and relationships more fulfilling, the advice and tips in this book will guide you towards a simpler life filled with joy, laughter and love.

‘We-have-a-house-in-the-country?’
Lena nodded solemnly. 
‘Where?’ I almost shouted, briefly rattling the table. ‘No, wait, don’t tell me – it’s Todi in Umbria, right? The old manor house, the one with the lemon groves!’
‘Alt-Globnitz.’
‘Alt-Globnitz?’ Suddenly I felt cold.
‘Alt-Globnitz. It’s a really nice place. You will love it.’
In a desperate attempt to save his relationship with girlfriend Lena and take a break from the world of journalism, Germany correspondent Roger Boyes agrees to make a great escape from the easy urban lifestyle of Berlin and decamp to the countryside. Roger has hopes for southern Italy, but Lena has inherited a run-down old schloss in deepest, darkest Brandenburg.
Needing a form of income, they decide to set up a B & B with a British theme. Enter unhelpful Harry and his Trinidadian chef cousin, a mad Scot to advise them on re-branding Brandenburg, some suicidal frogs and a posse of mad tourists. It all culminates, naturally, in a cricket match between the Brits and the Germans on an old Russian minefield. Farce meets romance in this follow-up to the successful A Year in the Scheisse.

It’s time to make your home a wellness zone!

Your home environment should lift you up and bring you joy. But the you live and work in one place, you’re all the more aware of how surroundings can affect your well-being.

No Place Like Home offers simple and effective ways to transform your home environment to be more mindfully aligned with who you are. It’s packed with ideas for upcycling and decluttering, as well as comforting recipes, soothing relaxation rituals and innovative ways to bring the outside in. This restorative book will help you rediscover the delights of your four walls as a space for calm, productivity, happiness and personal growth.

You don’t need a garden to grow your own food! This book is the perfect beginner’s guide to micro-gardening, featuring tips on how to start, what to choose and how to grow over 20 types of plant for your kitchen.

Have you ever been curious about growing your own food? Do you lack a garden? Have you got limited space in your home? Then this book is for you!

Whether you want to produce fresh herbs for your cooking, save money on your food bill, reduce your carbon footprint or enjoy the simple pleasure of watching something grow, My Tiny Kitchen Garden is bursting with tips and ideas to help you get started, including:

– The basics of micro-gardening
– Troubleshooting tips
– Plant profiles to help you choose what to grow
– Craft ideas to help you style your plants
– Advice on growing food from scraps
– How to save and store seeds
Whether you’re a budding gardener or a seasoned expert looking for seeds of inspiration, dive into this book to hone your green fingers and cultivate your very own tiny kitchen garden.

The world is yours to explore

The great outdoors is the beating heart of our world, but modern life is pulling us ever further away from it. Spending our time shut away indoors and hunched over screens, we’ve lost touch with nature, and it’s harming our health and our happiness. But it’s never too late to find our way back.

This book will help you find a way of reconnecting with the great outdoors. Whether you like to walk, run or swim, admire the wildlife or forage for wild foods, within these pages there will be something to inspire you to get out into the fresh air and reignite your sense of wonder at the world around you. Nature is a balm for the body and soul, so escape the pace of the everyday and set yourself free: get out there, find adventure, and go wild!

This beautifully illustrated guide contains specific month-by-month ‘to do’ lists for ornamental gardens, edible crops and general maintenance, as well as tips on things to look out for, such as pests and how to eliminate them. With diary pages for making your own notes each month, this pocket-sized calendar is a must-have whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting out. Pippa Greenwood is a leading light in the world of horticulture. She was a presenter on BBC Two’s Gardeners’ World for over 13 years and the gardening consultant for Rosemary and Thyme. She is a regular panellist and bug expert on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time, has written a number of award-winning books and contributes to BBC Gardeners’ World magazine.

There is a moment every morning when the countryside takes a pause. The birds stop singing, the dogs choke back their barks, and cats pause mid-stride. Everything waits. It’s in this vacuum that a man working alone has the best chance of finding truffles. The plot of land was perfect, just what they’d been looking for, offering expansive views across the valley and within walking distance of the local village. There was only one small problem, there was no house. And yet the land was affordable and came, the agent promised, with a possible income from a copse of truffle oaks. Just after the birth of their first daughter, after leaving the London rat race behind, here was a chance for Jamie and his wife to finally realise their dream of owning a property. With one final salivating glance at the oak trees the decision was made. All they needed now was a dog. And their quest to find and train a truffle dog turns out to be as full of hidden discoveries as a truffle hunt itself.

With delicious humour and superb storytelling, Ten Trees and a Truffle Dog is sure to delight anyone who loves dogs, food and rural France.

This charming compilation of 40 of the best-loved traditional nursery rhymes offers clues as to their true meanings and often surprising origins.

Many of the catchy songs we grew up with were not nonsense verses for the playground but served as satirical commentaries on political events of the day. These seemingly innocent vehicles were once used to spread subversive messages at a time when illiteracy was commonplace in society and direct criticism of the authorities was punishable by prison or death.

Sing a Song of Sixpence, a Pocketful of Rye, Four and Twenty Blackbirds Baked in a Pie… Was this simply about a delicacy of the day? Or was it, as some claim, a coded message used to recruit members for Blackbeard’s pirate ships?

This humorously illustrated book offers a trip down memory lane and some fascinating food for thought for anyone interested in English history and language.

There was someone standing further along the beach, facing out to sea. An old man dressed in… I blinked… battle fatigues? Second World War U.S. by the looks of the helmet. I looked on for a moment, squinting into the sun-streaked coconut smoke.

‘You won’t like Bonga’s Guest House, I can tell you now. Maximo Bonga…’
said the fisherman’s wife. She was lost for words, shaking her head.

‘Maximum Bongo?’ I asked.

‘Bonga,’ she said. ‘It means flamboyant.’

Based on a true story

On one of South East Asia’s most remote beaches, a young woman’s body is found. The corrupt local police think they have found the perfect fall guy in Maximo Bonga – cantankerous World War Two veteran and owner of the weirdest guesthouse in town.

But unbeknownst to them, an unlikely friendship has been forged between Maximo and John, one of the boarders of Maximo’s guest-house-cum-boot-camp, where an old machine gun and camouflaged mantraps stand guard, sandbags form fences and a tyrannical pet rooster terrorises the guests. Along with an eccentric bunch of modern-world rejects, John sets out to defend the old soldier in a kangaroo court set up at the local cockpit, in a paradise like no other.

‘Brussels and all those Eurocrats on the gravy train? It’s just so boring. Why, you can’t even name ten famous Belgians!’

Until 1993, Alec had never been to Belgium, so it came as some surprise when in August that year he found himself at the altar of a small church in Flanders, reciting wedding vows in Flemish. It was the start, for better or for worse, of a long relationship with this unassuming and much maligned little country.

As he ordered yet another pint of Stella, it dawned on him that perhaps it was time to immerse himself in Belgian culture, especially when there were over a hundred locally produced beers on the menu. He vowed to put worldwide opinion to the test: just how boring can Belgium be?

Make everyday moments delightfully dazzling and appreciate simple pleasures with this uplifting guide to romanticizing your life

Sometimes the most magical things in life are the simplest: a good book, the soft pitter-patter of rain, the feel of grass beneath bare feet. If we could fill our lives with these small pleasures and find ways to make even the most mundane activities feel special and exciting, just think how lovely our worlds could be.

Learn how to elevate your everyday with this stunning guide to finding joy in everything you do. “Romanticizing your life” doesn’t mean living a flashy lifestyle or spending like a superstar; it simply means taking small steps to make even the most ordinary day feel extraordinary.

This book is filled with fun and easy ideas to add sparkle to your daily routine, including:

– Wearing your most fabulous outfit to make a normal day seem like a special occasion
– Jazzing up your favourite morning beverage to start your day with a touch of luxury
– Curating a mood-boosting playlist to dance to while preparing dinner

And much more! With the help of this book, you’ll soon be on the path to a life that’s filled with gratitude, self-kindness, and simple, magical moments.