Wednesday 19 July 2023
We had five visitors to the house yesterday, people we had never met before. They were three generations of a family whose ancestors had lived in our house for the first few decades. Chris and I were both a bit apprehensive, not knowing what they wanted to do/see, having visited with the previous owners in 2018. We now realise why they wanted to see the house again, because we had no idea how much of a building site the house was then. We have now seen some photos, wow, I don’t even know which room is in one of the photographs as it’s apparent some walls have been knocked down. And the house was a genuine mess of construction.
Four of them, the two younger generations, had come over from the US. The man we’d been in touch with and who has done a lot on their family history, had come over from New Zealand. They were lovely and it was a real pleasure sharing enthusiasm for this house. I baked a cake that morning (not the lightest of Victoria sponges, but it’s amazing what a generous filling of butter cream and strawberry jam can do to distract from a too-dense, but still tasty, sponge) and made us a pot of tea. It was good to have something to do other than just showing them around and we enjoyed sitting down and chatting with them. Really lovely people.
It was late afternoon, strong tea, sweet cake. By the time they’d left and it was early evening and I was sending a few messages to friends, I realised I was alarmingly hyper. Tea that strong and cake that sugary and so late in the afternoon, wow. It kept me going until, fortunately, shortly before bedtime. As a result, I have sent some of my longest, waffliest messages ever, have a new cut on my thumb (over-enthusiastic knife skills) and, I’m honestly not exaggerating, some aches in unfamiliar places, due, I suspect, to an alarmingly vigorous stretching regime in the midst of the sugar and caffeine high. No injuries other than the cut, which is surprising. Chris thinks best I don’t try strong tea and sweet cake again. I, however, am planning on recreating the excitement when I have something that needs doing but which I’d otherwise be slow and inefficient doing (no sharp implements though). Victoria sponge and long-brewed Assam tea is far more effective than most other highs I’ve tried, and so very middle class and civilised, tea-and-cake-energy-fix.