We were invited to lunch today with a good friend of mine from Uni. I’ve not seen her for ages although we communicate on facebook and pbase regularly. She told me today that it’s been almost two years since we were last in the same room and that feels wrong on so many levels – firstly two years without seeing someone who is on our doorstep, metaphorically speaking, is criminal and yet it feels like only moments since our last lunch on campus!

I knew she lived in a special (stunning) place, both in terms of its geography (this is the view from about 100 yards from her front door and her view is even better than this) and the fact that she has remodelled it herself, doing most of the work with her own fair hands. I like to think I’m “handy” but she makes me look like a rank amateur!

The bridge in this picture is the famous bridge built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel that connects Cornwall to the rest of the country by rail and changed the economy of the region in one fell sweep. It crosses the Tamar estuary so that trains can continue on beyond Plymouth to Penzance.

So, we pitched up at her place and DM was slightly nervous going to lunch with two total strangers but he later said he need not have worried. From the moment we arrived we felt so welcome and at home. We met her beau – Peter – and from the first moment the conversation flowed really easily. She’s a stunningly good cook. She'd cooked a three-course lunch for us and had clearly gone to lots of trouble to get it just right and she succeeded spectacularly.

If it could ever be possible to be a more gracious, fabulous hostess then I’d be really surprised. Maree – you are a star! Thank you for such a lovely day.