Country Living UK December 2019

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM FOR PHOTOS AND VIDEOS @COUNTRYLIVINGUK DISCOVER THE LATEST COUNTRY LIVING NEWS ON TWITTER TWITTER.COM/COUNTRYLIVINGUK FOLLOW OUR BOARDS ON PINTEREST FOR MORE INSPIRATION PINTEREST.COM/UKCOUNTRYLIVING FIND RECIPES, DECORATING IDEAS AND COUNTRY LIVING HOLIDAYS COUNTRYLIVING.COM/UK JOIN US ON FACEBOOK FOR REGULAR UPDATES FACEBOOK.COM/COUNTRYLIVINGUK SIGN UP FOR OUR WONDERFUL FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER WWW.COUNTRYLIVING.COM/UK/NEWSLETTER OUR DATING SITE FOR COUNTRY-LOVERS COUNTRY-LOVING.CO.UK NEXT ISSUE ON SALE 4 DECEMBER This month… we are, of course, fully engaged with the festive season in all its guises: there are presents to buy, menus to plan, cards to write and the tree to order. Country Living can help with all this, as you will see when you begin to leaf through this December issue: our annual gift guide (page 15) offers suggestions for all the family, with unusual presents you might not track down otherwise;…

“In the night, the snow came. She awoke on Christmas morning in that unmistakable light, coming up from the earth and shining between her curtains.”Stella Gibbons, Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm TRY YOUR HAND AT… outdoor swimming From Southend to St Ives, hardy bathers brave the cold to take a festive dip. With some icy plunges dating back to the 1970s, the tradition only seems to be gaining momentum: this year, hundreds of swimmers will don fancy dress before wading into the waves, many raising money for charity in the process. If you want to take part, The Outdoor Swimming Society advises you to ease your way in feet-first and focus on your breathing. Swims should be followed by a hot drink and, ideally, a mince pie (outdoorswimmingsociety.com). MADE IN BRITAIN Wrapped by Alice IF YOU’D…

The great OUTDOORS Life’s little LUXURIES Small WONDERS Arts and CRAFT Home COMFORTS For the STOCKING FOR STOCKISTS see Where to Buy RESEARCH BY DAISY BENDALL. PRICES AND AVAILABILITY CORRECT AT TIME OF GOING TO PRESS…

Christmas, it turns out, is too much for my parents, but they don’t want to go anywhere, so I volunteer to ‘do’ Christmas for them: their first in their new home. One of the early things my mother lost to dementia was her fondness for cooking, so I’m head chef. But it won’t be huge, nothing stressful – just them, me, the Lawyer and my brother as he heads through on his way back from a war zone. But then his ex-wife says the baby can come over from America, after all – with her… so that’s two extra. And my sister calls to say her husband has been in hospital with pneumonia and, although he’s been discharged now to convalesce, they can’t face the Arctic temperatures of the canal boat…

AUTHOR AND JOURNALIST Sally Coulthard When we bought the farm, we managed the first few years without central heating. It coincided with two of the snowiest winters on record, so I quickly became good at building and lighting real fires, often with numb fingers. Keeping multiple open hearths going is like spinning plates and I’d circle the ground floor, desperately trying to maintain the flames. Still, I learned plenty. Softwood – like pine – I came to think of as my ‘sprinter’ fuel, brilliant for getting a fire going but gone in a flash. Hardwood – such as oak – was my ‘long-distance runner’, dismal for kindling but unbeatable for keeping an established fire glowing until the small hours. I also learned the art of chopping logs; ‘reading’ the wood to find where…

1. the FOOD Use the annual gastronomic extravaganza as an opportunity to show your support for some brilliant ethical small-scale producers. Turkey and any other cuts of meat you plan to serve are a good place to start: you’ll use fewer food miles, less packaging and you can feel confident that you haven’t supported any intensive farming practices. Swillington Organic Farm (swillingtonorganicfarm.co.uk), Coombe Farm Organic (coombefarmorganic.co.uk), Cross Lanes Organic Farm (crosslanesorganics.co.uk) and Springfield Poultry (springfieldpoultry.co.uk) are all good options. Farmdrop (farmdrop.com), Abel & Cole (abelandcole.co.uk) and Riverford (riverford.co.uk) are great places to source other festive ingredients. Farmdrop has a list of producers to browse, while Abel & Cole and Riverford have a tool that provides recipe suggestions for using up leftovers. top TIP Eat the food in your freezer in the run-up to…