The monthly seduction..............

I am a weak woman. I cannot resist it, I have tried and failed, time and time again. The monthly seduction that is the new issue of Country Living magazine just gets me every time............at 3.50 it's not cheap, and I try to walk past, but always go back. "The complete lifestyle magazine" on the top banner is trite and twee, pandering to those who believe a "lifestyle" can be bought. The creations offered for sale inside are habitually expensive, the houses impossibly tidy, the creators impossibly creative. Still I go back every month. So - why?? For me, it's the images - the colours, the arrangements, the tidiness, the possibility that I could have a tidy and sparkly house, dripping with vivid and stylish colours, freshly baked cakes on the table and beautifully arranged knicknacks on a side table salvaged from a skip while out blackberrying...............

Now, I know, having done some magazine shoots for various publications, that it's not real life - just out of shot is probably total chaos with the furniture piled in one corner, empty coffee mugs and a pot plant that desperately needs watering...........However, I get to see the best bits, and am temporarily transported to that cottage by the sea, decorated in seductive pastel colours, where it looks as if all the ironing is done and the garden is weeded, giving up copious amounts of luscious home grown vegetables in season (no slug damage here.......), the shoes are clean and lined up neatly, the dog is well behaved and sitting cutely on an antique French cotton ticking cushion.......... Most of all it gives me inspiration; although I live in the country, and am very familiar with local food, events, seasonal livng, wild foods, cookery, etc, there is always something in this magazine to learn from and inspire me to have a go at cooking, making or baking something else. Monthly and seasonal, it means that the time is right, so do it now, get out there and have a go. I might not be able or willing to shell out for the eco holidays, or the beautiful china plates, but it opens my eyes to possibilities. Soemthing I have been getting keen on over the past few months is "retro" - fabric (especially), crockery, clothes, the lot, and Country Living this month has an article on the retro revival. Instead of reaching for the plastic, though , I have been searching out things at the tip, at the market, charity shops, etc - it's all out there for the seeking and finding, and CL magazine just helps me with ideas along the way. I have had a few problems with their forum, and their "tweeness" and their "lifestyle" side of things, but I still get sucked in every month. In a world that is becoming greyer and more threatening by the week, it injects a very welcome splash of colour into my life, which only seems to add to and enrich the colourful vibrant life I have built for myself here in the countryside. Next month promises a restored wall garden, quinces, and a look at a silk mill in Hampshire. How am I supposed to resist that, then? :)