The whole family came for lunch, which meant fourteen at the table, one of us in a high chair.  We had the full Sunday works – roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, vegetables; followed by proper puddings – Queen of puddings and sticky toffee.  When considering everything that had to go in the Aga, this morning, I realised it wouldn’t, not at the right times, so went into the larder and hauled out the little Baby Belling (two electric rings and a half-sized oven) that usually is only brought into play in the summer if I turn the Aga off, or for this sort of occasion.

And it all went very well and there were fourteen paid-up members of the Clean Plate Gang, some of whom had more than one helping.

Since they were all going to be here and we’d got a few jobs that needed doing, I asked for some help.  So, Al’s shed where he keeps his beehives (he isn’t able to have bees again at present but would like to sometime in the future) has been shifted and refilled, furniture has been moved to the hall or the dining room, ready for redecorating and recarpeting this room and several reels of barbed wire, which had been shoved in the coal shed because there was space, a couple of years ago, have been put somewhere more suitable.  It was all highly satisfactory.  Squiffany is now taller than Dora by some way (Squiff is twelve) but Zerlina still has a little way to go.  Her ambition is, however, to be the tallest in the family, so she will have to top six foot.

I’d got a couple of paint samples and Weeza put dabs on the walls in several places and we think we’ve decided which to have, and we’ve set a date, later in the month, for the painting to be done.

I encouraged the family to help themselves to squashes – we have a lot of them in the larder.  And jalapeño peppers too.  And, with immense generosity, I gave away two jars of our lovely jalapeño relish.  Ro and Dora tried it with toasted cheese tonight.  “It’s the best!” he said.  Yes indeed, it is.  None of us wanted much to eat, but LT and I sampled the new bacon, with mushrooms on toast.