Its arrival day -1, the day before Pip and Dawn are dropping off Pudding (short for Ms Christmas Pudding) for a three week stay, while they swan off to America for a leisurely road-trip down the western seaboard from Seattle to San-Francisco
Now Ms Pudding and I are old friends, she’s popped round for dinner with her Papa (Mr Pip) and Mama (Mistress Dawn) on a few occasions, as well as staying over for the odd night while Mama and Papa disappear off to do something fabulous that Ms Pudding may not care for.
I also spent two pleasant weeks in the French alps with Pudding and Pip on a snowboard trip to Pralognan, which turned out to be considerably warmer than expected, with them in their cosy VW Crafter converted camper, and me in a slightly less cosy but much more spacious self catering apartment.
We were joined by another friend on that occasion (Matt), who had rented another apartment in the same building, and between us, we enjoyed a great many strolls along the steep alpine trails that surrounded the town, interspersed with a bit of altogether more slushy sliding around on the piste in the mornings, a few beers in the abundant sun-traps, dinners in our respective digs, and the retrieval of a great many errant sticks on Ms Pudding’s behalf.
So, yes, we’re on friendly terms…. mostly.
Though I couldn’t properly introduce her without admitting that we have also had our philosophical fallings out:
For example: Is leaving your dinner unattended while you answer the door an automatic invitation to share said dinner?
In Ms Pudding’s view the answer is beyond obvious. Of course it is, you only leave something that you don’t want, and if you don’t want your tasty dinner, well, what could be nicer than sharing it with a friend?
In my view, this stance would look a lot less like thievery if you at least waited for a count of ten before pouncing on the (abandoned) dinner, and didn’t sneak back to where you’d been (apparently) asleep, before the previous owner of said dinner returned to the room.
Oh, how we went round the moral maze on that one!
Well, I believe that sets the scene. My houseguest will be arriving tomorrow afternoon, after which, I shall endeavour to share our respective musings and observations upon life as together we explore the wide streets of Leeds!