I have always dreamt of living in a country cottage one day. One of those stone built cottages with a garden, an open fire that keeps you warm in winter, smoke pouring out of the chimney. I would love to snuggle up on the sofa with the fire burning bright, slippers on and a warm mug of hot chocolate. There would be homemade cakes and shortbread too - melt in the mouth sort of shortbread.

The kitchen would be the focus of the house, where all the gatherings and life was focused, like a true homely home. There’d be one of those big oak tables that could seat eight, perfect for feeding the family, be it for breakfast or a huge sunday roast dinner with all the trimmings. I’d make jams from the fruit picked in my orchard, bake apple crumble to serve with hot custard after dinner, apple sauce to go with a tasty roast pork and crackling dinner.

Outside there would be a swing hanging from the oak tree, bluebells in abundance and tulips and daffodils. I’d have a herb garden too, and a vegetable plot to grow loads of yummy vegetables from the usual suspects of potatoes, carrots and onions through to kale, sweetcorn and marrows. I’ve no idea what to do with marrows right now but I’d learn, just like I’d learn to grow all sorts of vegetables, salad leaves, and fruit. There really isn’t anything like freshly picked vegetables and herbs to make food taste yummy scrumptious. I’d have a greenhouse too, where tomatoes of all types of varieties would grow. The smell would remind me of my granddad’s greenhouse. He grew fabulous beef tomatoes that I really didn’t appreciate when I was a child. How wonderful this dream home would be all through the year.