A note from the editor

It’s almost a year since we sold our family home – the place that my parents both lived in until the day they passed away, and where my brother and I grew up. It was a special home to us, a lovely house with a glorious garden, where we created so many happy memories over the years, both as children ourselves and with our own children, who loved spending time with their grandparents.

As we head into this new year, I am poignantly reminded of the old garden and how – in the midst of winter – my father would focus our minds on the timely arrival of the crocuses in the orchard, marvelling at their determination to push their way up through the hard soil, smothering the ground so that it eventually resembled a soft mauve carpet. “Look at that riot of colour,” he would say, quietly adding, “Not long now before the magnolia starts to bloom!” A man who lived by the seasons, he always had the knack of finding something in nature to make us feel optimistic.

Living with the rhythms of the seasons has always been a guiding principle for the Country Living team and many of our regular contributors. Perhaps no one more so than Sally Coulthard, who writes about life on her Yorkshire smallholding. This month, on page 29, she shares an entertaining account of how to make butter. Rest assured, no smallholding is required to achieve delicious results!

Sticking for a moment longer with the subject of optimism, do take a moment to read Ones to Watch (page 48), in which we applaud the movers and shakers in the UK who are striving to make the world a better and greener place to live in. As we step into this new year, here’s to positive thinking all round and the part we can all play – however small – in making the world a lighter, brighter place!