My mother has always had a Country Living magazine. My parents built a large saltbox colonial in Massachusetts based on a design from a home in Old Sturbridge Village. It had a wonderful beehive oven running through the center of the home, large wide pine floors, and nice open exposed beams. They made some slight changes to add a better more modern kitchen, as well as upstairs bathrooms, but the majority of the home was very much like the one at Old Sturbrige Village. When I was young I didnt like the house. It was often big and loud, and there were no wall to wall carpets. It got cold in the winters. I despised going to antiques shops on the weekends and always wished we could just have a “normal” house. It when when I got older that I learned to appreciate what a wonderfully unique house that really was.

Older And Wiser

Now that I have reached the adult years of my life I find that I am more opened to learn new ideas when it comes to decorating and cooking than I was when I was younger. I guess the main reason is simple maturity. When I was younger I was important to me to seem as if I knew all the answers, however now I realize that if you stop learning you stop living, so I now welcome new ideas and methods for decorating cooking, cleaning and any other tips I can pick up along the way.

Having A Subscription

There are many places and people to turn to learn different techniques and ideas for creating a warm welcoming and comfortable home. One of my favorites is the Country Living magazine that I used to think was so dumb. I have been a subscriber for a few years now. I started receiving the Country Living Magazine as a present from my brother and his wife, since we have often talked about the old days and what it was like to live in that colonial house. They gave us a subscription to the publication when we moved to our home in the country. I thought this was a great house warming idea. The Country Living magazine is filled with great ideas for decorating the inside of your home as well as wonderful gardening and outdoor decorating tips. Each issue also features many wonderful recipes that have a country flair to them.

Gift Giving Idea

The idea of giving a subscription to a magazine as a gift was something that I had not received before and I also had never given one as a gift. It is a great idea. My mother is getting to the point where it is very difficult to think of gift ideas for her. She lives in a small assisted living apartment and does not need anything more for it. She receives one meal a day as part of the services with the apartment, so she does not need a great deal of groceries. She has always enjoyed reading. They have a book exchange in the apartment complex. I decided it would be fun to give mom a subscription to a magazine. When she was done with it she could share it with other residents. My mother lived in the country her entire life so I thought the subscription to Country Living magazine would be perfect for her. I talked to my sister-in-law and asked her if she would mind that I would reuse her wonderful idea of giving the magazine as a gift. She agreed that this would be a great idea, and we decided to pay for a two year subscription and give it as a joint gift. My mother loves the magazine and also shares it with others in the apartment building.

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