I have a penchant for chairs. I do love a chair, whatever its shape or size, and John and I have had an ongoing tussle over the years, with me wanting to buy more chairs and him saying, ‘We have enough, god dammit!!’ I have wept over the disposal of any chair, such as the bentwood rocker I had to nurse the children in, but mostly, in recent times, I have contented myself with just looking at chairs in antique shops, second-hand shops, furniture shops or on-line. And so, let me say very firmly, that I take very little responsibility for the recent discovery that we could accommodate thirty – yes, thirty – people seated in our garden.
As we sat in the garden today, John counted up all the seating that’s available there should anyone want it. He started the conversation with, “We could hold tea-parties in the garden, couldn’t we?” I nodded, wondering where the conversation was going. “I mean, we could arrange all the chairs in groups, and we could entertain twenty-seven people.” I looked at him, goggle-eyed. Twenty-seven? I gasped. “Yup.” And he proceeded to wave broadly to where all twenty-seven bottoms could sit. I pondered on the volume and gazed round the garden. He was right. We have a lot of garden furniture.
“Erm….. have we still got that loungey, long, sort of chair somewhere, do you know?” I wondered, not having seen it for a whole year, and suspecting it might have gone into the skip when I wasn’t looking. “Oh, yes! And that’s another one!” he exclaimed. “That makes twenty-eight!” I wasn’t totally convinced that his arithmetic was right, so we started counting. “26…27…28…29…30!” Not twenty-eight. Thirty. My excuse is that most of it has been inherited one way or another, so I can’t be held responsible for all of it. Except, that is, that I have kept the chairs…… as I say, I do like a chair.
We had eaten our lunch in the open air today, as the weather was sultry and warm. The clouds parted occasionally and beat down us as we relaxed and took our time over our meal and drinks. We were enjoying the moment of just being us, with bellies full of good food, and engaging in light-hearted chat. We were pleased with how the gazebo had turned out and how the plants were thriving, as well as reminding ourselves of how we had got to this place with all the hard work and sometimes heartbreak, over the years. For another moment this week, we felt contented.
I think I broke the spell a little bit, by getting my cloth and some PVCu cleaner out, to have a go at what was a very stained patio table. John decided it must be time for more Lotus immersion and set off for the garage, where he spent a very happy few hours tinkering with the electrics, and equally, I spent a very happy time finding a bit of elbow grease to buff up the table.
It was so warm that the patio door creaked open and Mum stood there grinning at me. “I think the wind has dropped.” she observed, looking skyward. I asked her if she wanted to come outside for a walk round the ‘estate’. “I think I do.” she said, as she grabbed her walking stick and ventured out. For once, the wind didn’t blow and Mum wasn’t clutching at her hair or covering her ears for fear of being wafted about. She thoroughly enjoyed her little sortie down to where the raised flowerbed is, to admire the plants, and then back up to the patio again.
I went back to my scrubbing and then my phone rang. It was George, once again having galloped to the rescue today to spring clean my computer. What I thought might be a five-minute job…….”George, Dropbox isn’t backing up because my hard drive is full……. Any chance you can tell me what to do, please?” became an all-day marathon. We started at ten this morning and finally finished tiddling about with it about six o’clock this afternoon! What an amazing friend he is.
After we’d eaten this evening, a little later than expected because I was so engrossed in my table-scrubbing, we had another flop onto the sofa to watch nothing very much on TV before John went to his computer to look at more wiring information for the car. His research looks like it’s paid off. He’s very excited. He’s found a wiring diagram that actually matches the car he’s got – oh, what heaven is this!!! I wonder what he’ll be doing tomorrow, folks?
With regards to where we are now in relation to COVID-19, we still wonder what we are going to be doing tomorrow – will we still be shielding? I guess so. The numbers are down a bit but it’s still out there so our ‘safety first’ mentality continues.
The government report tells us that there were 66 deaths in all settings yesterday up until five o’clock, and 642 people confirmed as infected. The NHS numbers don’t tally with recent numbers I’ve looked at, however, so I’m not sure whether they are reliable. 3 deaths in a hospital setting yesterday, but five confirmed for the day before (14 July 2020) and 6 confirmed for 13 July – which was originally nine. I am, once again, ‘Confused of Coventry’.
Watch out, there’s a virus about – still. Take care everyone and God bless.
I’m not surprised at the number you can accommodate. I vaguely remember having 27 people stay overnight at our gaff one time. You have much more room.
My passion is cabinets. I’d love a big, old piece of furniture that was all drawers (including at least one hidden drawer) and I wish I had the room, tools, and skills to make my own. I spend too much time watching woodworking videos on YouTube.
Yes, indeed – it’s amazing how many people you can accommodate when there’ the need!
And I think I take issue with you on making your won cabinet – you may not have the room but I think you would easily develop the skills and could do it if you had the tools. You are one amazingly practical person. Keep watching the videos – that was the basis on which Andrew learned to cook!!