…where earlier today there was only chaos!

Our dining room was, until this morning, a dumping ground for all sorts of stuff that we didn’t quite know what else to do with. The mirror that you now see on the wall was on the floor, along with another identical mirror with a chair propped up in front of them so that they couldn’t get knocked over and broken, the table was heaped up with boxes of things from the other house that needed homes finding for them. The table itself was coated in a thick layer of dust because it hadn’t been used for so long and the whole room was basically so grotty that if it had a door (which it doesn’t), we’d have shut the door, locked it and thrown away the key long ago.

Thankfully, because of our impending guest arrival, we decided that the nettle had to be grasped and we fought our way in, found homes for the stuff within, cleaned it all up and here it is, table laid, waiting for Claire and David to arrive. The food is all prepared (baked asparagus with veggie fake parmesan shavings followed by two bean and vegetable lasagne then cheese and biscuits…oh and a ginger cake just in case anyone hasn’t had enough to eat) and is cooking away in the kitchen while I shoot my picture.

It’s been a long, long time since I saw Claire and I can’t wait for her to arrive. She’s made a massive effort, having set off from Northampton at 11.30am and she’s still not here. Note that the exif on my camera is wrong - this photo was taken at about ten past seven, not ten past six! I think she’s going to be as much in need of some r&r as I am! In a little while this room will be pressed into service for its proper purpose – as a dining room – and we will sit around the table and share stories of the times we have spent since we last saw one another. I daresay there may even be a few stories of times gone by that we shared that we can use as part of the regaling of her new boyfriend!