Back in April, the weather people predicted a scorching summer but, apart from a couple of weeks of beautiful sunshine and hot temperatures at the end of June / beginning of July, it’s been far from it….

So it’s no surprise that, with grey skies darkening the mood and downpours of rain keeping us indoors, some of us turn to the beautiful pages of fashion magazines and trendy online shops to try and ‘cheer us up’. How? Well, a study carried out last year showed that apparently shopping makes us ‘happy’. So earlier this week, I put together a little shopping list for my Autumn wardrobe, the perfect antidote against the gloomy weather and the even gloomier economy.

In fact, award-wining author Linda Grant, asks in the latest issue of Elle magazine ‘Are you still shopping?’ and her conclusion after looking at all the evidence (including high street’s trading figures for the spring) is a resounding ‘yes’ – we certainly are getting the orders in nicely at Caradiaz.

And only a few days ago, property guru, tv presenter and now Ambassador for the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, Kirstie Allsopp, advised during an interview with GMTV ‘…don’t read the papers too much…’, referring to the ups and downs of house prices.

So yes, things are not as good as they used to be on the money front and we may be taking a more cautious approach to spending these days, but we are still buying – and so should we, if we are to contribute to the recovery of the British economy!

Picture courtesy of www.eumatters.ie