LandLove Magazine January-February 2013 Edizione posteriore

In the depths of winter it’s all too easy to curl up in front of the fire and not venture out. But nothing beats heading out on a crisp frosty morning when the sun is shining to go for a bracing walk in the countryside. And who doesn’t get a thrill from being the first one to put their footprints in freshly fallen snow and hear that magical creaking, crunching sound as they walk? If you’ve got kids it’s almost inevitable that you’ll end up outside when it snows so they can make snowmen or go sledging. Take a look at our ideas for some other snowy activities they will love on page 74. Sometimes winter is the perfect time to explore places that are heaving with tourists during the summer months as we discovered when we took an out of season road trip around Northern Ireland’s Causeway Coastal Route. The roads were empty and we didn’t have to fight through crowds to enjoy the spectacular Giant’s Causeway. Read all about this wonderful part of the world on page 116. If you do go out for a bracing walk over the coming weeks no doubt you’ll want something warm and filling to come home to, so in this issue we’ve put together some delicious comfort food recipes for you to enjoy (p.58). And don’t forget our garden birds at this time of year. Heavy snow can mean that many struggle to find food, so take a a look at our feature on page 78 for some easy-to-make suggestions for keeping our feathered friends well-fed over the winter. If you’re an animal-lover then you’ll enjoy reading our fascinating feature about Scottish wildcats on page 90. With only 400 left in the wild, they are possibly rarer than the Amur tiger, yet most of us know very little about these beautiful, elusive creatures. In this issue we also meet up with Rob and Sarah Simonds at Scotts Field Pork who are working hard to rear rare breed Large Black pigs on their farm in Norfolk. I dare you not to go ‘Aaah’ at the photos of their cute-as-a-button piglets (p.48)!