Anthea Turner How I See It...

Hello,

We’re well into 2022, and the year’s newly launched pantone is called Very Peri (light purple to you and me), and if you follow Feng Shui the colour to bring luck into our homes is Mint Green which I adore. Then from February 1, we enter the Chinese Year of the Tiger which means we will be filled with that magnificent beast’s characteristics of confidence, patience and power – woo-hoo! As I stare at those strong adjectives on my computer screen, I think we should put them on a piece of paper on the fridge to remind us, when we wobble, of our inner Tiger. Or we could watch the BBC Two documentary This IsJoanCollins. How brilliant was that? If you haven’t watched it, it’s sitting on BBC iPlayer waiting for you, and quite inspiring it is too!

IN WITH THE TIDY… January is the month of my first “home edit”. I relish packing the decorations away because for about 2 days after that, your eyes are fresh and they see your home in a different light and with that clarity, a little like when you’ve returned from a two-week holiday. So you can rearrange ornaments, clear out magazines, papers, food cupboards, fridge, and anything else which has suffered as a consequence of Christmas. Even outside has had a tidy here and I’m about to fire up the jet wash.

OUT WITH THE CLUTTER... New Year’s resolutions? This year is the year for the grand delete and by this, I mean photographs held digitally on my computer using up memory and cluttering up my ability to find the ones I actually want to see. I pledge to spend 30 minutes a day on the job.

Next my T-shirts are going to be vastly reduced. They are cheap, easy items to buy. We all have piles of them, and for some reason we are unable to throw them away. But this is my main reason for their grand removal. With few exceptions, I’ve grown out of having slogans, company logos and cartoons plastered across my chest! Also nothing lifts your skin tone better and makes you feel cleaner and fresher than a nice, crisp, white T-shirt – even when you’re just walking around the house wearing one with a cardigan over the top and comfy pants.

However, I am dithering over a red one that says, Don’t underestimate a womanfromStoke. Maybe I’ll wear it to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Tiger? Love, Anthea X