I've been picking up an issue of the British edition of "Country Living" every month for a while now. I get the American version via subscription because they gave me a cheap, cheap rate (basically I buy the Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving, and Christmas...oooops, I mean the October, November and December issues annually, which adds up to $24 for two years' worth of three issues—the subscription was $18 for 24 issues). The American version is basically a decorating magazine: usually two or three homes are profiled. They also have an antiques column, recipes, a few gardening articles, and promotions for certain products.

The British version has the recipes, gardening articles,the promotions and the home profiles, but they also talk about actually living in the country: there is a regular column by a smallholder, a regular column about farm animals, articles about small towns with farming roots, usually an article about alternative energy sources and/or "green" solutions and promotion of British-raised foods. I find it a more interesting read.

However, it's always advertising that pays the bills, and I was quite amused at one of the cover stories on the March issue, which says "Bring Back Thrift! Style on a Shoestring in Two Country Cottages," because the magazine is always filled with advertisements for "bespoke" (the British term for "custom-built") kitchens and baths that look like something out of the HGTV Dream Home, Rayburn and Aga cooking ranges (which run into the thousands of dollars since they usually also do double-duty as heating systems), glass conservatories, expensive-looking home additions, Chanel perfumes, and other pricy products. In practical terms, overly-cheap furniture and appliances aren't economical either, but "thrift" and the $7,500 sideboard and the $$$$ custom gourmet kitchens just don't seem to go together. :-)

Labels: magazines, money

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 9:15:00 AM

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