Musical cups

My turn again to host the weekly music session. Fortunately, I'd got the house ready last Sunday for a similar invasion when we'd marked the centenary of the birth of Benjamin Britten, so there wasn't as much cleaning and tidying up to do as usual. In fact, I was sitting back quite nonchalantly by 11:30 enjoying coffee and toast and looking around me unbelieving at a house already ready to receive visitors.

As it's Christmas month I joined in the general tendency which has developed when others host, and I offered wine when the music came to an end rather than go to the local put as we usually do when we've had a session my place. They were very well behaved and only had two glasses each and then waved good by and left me to it.

After a bite to eat I tackled the last tricky 20-page spread for the quarterly magazine. I finished at 9:30, at a stage where the client had PDF proofs of everything. I'd pointed out one or two items which needed to be sorted out which should only take a moment on Monday morning, but apart from that we're really close to the home straight.

I fed myself, lay back and listened to some relaxing music, and was actually in bed before midnight, with the job finished to all contents and purposes. A strange feeling, but one of quiet satisfaction despite all the obstacles.

The blip shows how the cups which I lay out on the table for the visitors are packed when being put away. I learned this trick from the way in which tea services were displayed in the old China Showrooms on Abbey Street, I was fascinated when I was a teenager and got managed to duplicate the arrangement at home after a few false attempts. The interlocking of the cups keeps them much steadier for when carrying crockery to the table. I've never had a breakage over a great many years using this system.