A Sit Down Lunch For 12 In My Tiny Victorian Terrace.

This weekend, I had my parents in law, Judith and Barry, to stay. Barry turned 80 in December last year and since then, has been doing what he calls The Barry Roadshow around the country so that he can celebrate with all of the friends that he’s made over the last eight decades, who range from the very North of England to the very South. I love this idea and it’s typically Barry, who never does anything by halves and is renowned for and revels in his eccentricity. Long term readers will recall Barry sitting on the window sill of The Barn (the garage at my old house that I converted to an Airbnb) playing his guitar out of the window - he is a keen musician and has a song for every occasion, mostly written by himself. Barry is Judith’s second husband (not the father of her children) and is much loved by us all so when he asked if I would host a dinner for his Yorkshire based friends I didn’t hesitate for one moment.

Divorce can be an emotional time (extreme, really - one moment I am furious and the next I am hugely and gratefully enjoying my singledom) but keeping my bond, and my childrens bond, with my in laws is really important to me. I think when you’ve known a family for almost 30 years then dropping that relationship like a hot cake just isn’t on the cards - you have experiences and memories that will always be there and cannot be crossed off just because your marriage hasn’t worked. Ditto with my brothers and sisters in law - there are six of them and I’ve known the youngest since they were in their teens so they’re not going anywhere. They also remain Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and multiple cousins to my kids so an important part of our life.

Anyway, both Judith and Barry are not in great health at the moment so I wanted to make it super special for them and host a day to remember. I usually write about interiors on Wednesday but you know, it’s July, the sun is shining and everyone loves to socialise when the sun shines so I thought I would talk about how I conquered what I thought was the impossible and sat twelve people in my tiny Victorian terraced kitchen for six hours on Sunday. And will also use it as an opportunity to encourage you to get out the tablecloths and use ANY excuse to make an occasion out of anything.

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