CALL it a recession.

Byline: Karen Overbury

CALL it a recession, call it a depression, but there's no escaping the serious problems families everywhere are facing.

People are worried about their jobs, their bills, their mortgages, the value of their home, the present and the future. Those cosy feelings of certainty and security have gone for just about everyone.

Here at homemaker we've received calls and emails from anxious home owners and would-be owners .

There are no magic answers to the questions you ask. But I can genuinely say that everyone we speak to in the property market is more upbeat than they have been for some time - more people are viewing homes, more people are seeking financial advice and properties are selling. Slowly but very surely.

And let's remember-companies may come and go, but people will always need homes and housing has always been a good, safe long-term investment.

But many people still have worries and that's one of the reasons why we've decided to begin a homemaker blog where all of us - property editor, home owner, tenant, surveyor, teacher, tailor or candlestick maker - can share our worries and advice. Please go to www.homemaker.co.uk with your thoughts, tips and troubles.

My biggest worry at the moment is nothing to do with property - it's the plotting and planning to give my other half a surprise birthday party!

By the time you read this it will be the Saturday morning after the Friday evening before and the party will be over. Hopefully, all the deception, hurried phone calls, secret visits to the venue and the little - and some not-so-little - white lies will have been worthwhile. And, weather permitting, we'll have a house full of friends and family who will have travelled to help us to celebrate .

It should be a hectic and fun time. Hope you enjoy weekend.

Karen Overbury homemaker editor