Unless you are Skiing or lying on a Caribbean beach, January and February can be a real trial. It seems that the mornings get even darker and colder, and all you ever seem to see are credit card and heating bills! Christmas is done and dusted and spring seems a very long way off.

Every year I always make a conscious effort to fight off the winter blues by bringing colour and warmth into the home.

Flowers are an absolute essential, and need not cost the earth. I simply dot my “Test Tube” and “Caterpillar” vases around the house and maximise the beauty and colour that surrounds me with the minimum amount of flowers.

Even when the gloom descends in the late afternoon there is always something special you can you do to lighten the mood. Just like old friends in times of need I turn to my candles! I Light a “Kew garden “scented candle or two; and soon I am surrounded by the spring scents of Honeysuckle and Hyacinth, and all at once everything seems that much better.