Just cover it with something (in reference to our dining table).

It's always amazed me how when you learn a new word or have something specific on your mind you begin to notice it everywhere.....

  I have been looking for a table cloth for a little while. I was noticing beautiful rustic dining tables with white table cloths and fresh flowers in magazines, on the TV and on the net. I decided I wanted, no, needed that in my dining room. A few days later as I was being laughed out of the room after floating the idea of a white tablecloth to the OH I realised that I had got this image of what I thought I wanted from places that aren't real. Where spaghetti splatter and dirty working hands aren't an issue. The pictures in the magazines have a small army of stylists whose job it is to sell you an idea, not a reality.


Comparing my life with the highly stylised ones that flood us in the media (both social and traditional) is natural, but is just going end in big fat disappointment. After a bit staring at the roof (that's how I think) I realised it's the readers job to turn that fantasy into the reality by picking out the bits and pieces that are attainable. I think that's the trick in a lot of areas of life. If the big picture seems like the impossible, then focus on the smaller details that are probable.


And back to my table cloths (admittedly, a trivial analogy), I looked a bit closer at the details in those beautiful settings in Country Style and realised it's the texture that I like, not necessarily the colour. And texture I can do!


(for those wanting a yarn-y type table cloth like this one, or this one , or perhaps this one )


So if you ever catch me staring into space, never mind, I'm probably just visualising my problem as a dining room. After a couple of minutes I'll get that (slightly manic) look in my eye that says “And that I can do!”.

Em