Horses for courses

If you read Flylady.net you will know that CHAOS is Can't Have Anybody Over Syndrome and I have it BIG Time!  I need the best part of a month's warning of visitors.

However, it's a characteristic which I have learned to live with and indeed to exploit.  Ever since I had my first truly independent home I have invited people to come for meals becuase that's the best way I know of making myself do some tidying up.

When I lived in a vicarage it wasn't too much of a problem - there were enough rooms just to shove the clutter behind closed doors but in my current "bijou" residence it's rather more of a challenge and a challenge which I take on rather less frequently.

But this Sunday I have no services to take and so I have four guests coming for lunch, that's one very elderly aunt, two cousins and the wife of a cousin who is also a great friend.  So, for the past couple of weeks (yes seriously) I have been directing my attention to Getting The House In Order (it deserves capitals).

And today the truly wonderful Jack has been again.  Not only is Jack a gardener he is a wonderful friend and he is very well house trained.  Just to make matters even more complicated I had to conduct a funeral today so all I could do in my own house was to direct operations.  Jack has altered a couple of cupboards in the kitchen, moved the fridge and freezer and cleaned the floor, cleaned the kitchen, moved my sewing stuff from the sewing/dining room, cleaned the sewing/dining room, vacuumed most places AND he has shifted about a ton of gravel, dug over my veg patch, dug up the remaining potatoes and the ravaged brassicas and consumed four pots of tea.  All that in five hours.

I was exhausted just watching him but tomorrow I will get everything ready for Sunday - actually I've got most of the food in the freezer already.

And Jack said he'd rather do what he had done today four times over than conduct a funeral.

Definitely horses for courses.