There are some days which are special, and Sunday is one of them, especially in our house.  Late brunch, the papers, music, reading, an afternoon movie perhaps ~ all usually in a very lived-in looking house because it is Sunday. It’s kind of sacrosanct and definitely not to be messed with, but then, the unexpected happens!

Today, just as I was about to take the first mouthful of my leisurely brunch, we had a phone call announcing a visit. Family we hadn’t seen for a very long time were passing through our little town and did exactly what we always ask people to do ~ pop in and say hello! Now I, nor the house, were exactly at our Sunday best so suddenly my leisurely brunch turned into a mental plan of action: wolf down large plate of food, leave coffee for later, wash dishes, pots and pans, make cake, sweep floor, tidy slightly dishevelled lounge room, set table, change clothes, comb hair … all in the space of 40 minutes!

There are those in this world who are happy to say, “Take me as you find me”, and then there are the rest of us! I am part of the ‘rest of us’. My welcome, while totally open-hearted, also extends to the state of my house. Now fortunately I am reasonably organised so it wasn’t nearly as bad as it sounds, but I must say I felt pretty good when I mentally did the ‘tick, tick, tick’ thing and it was all done!

There was a time when I wouldn’t have had to do any of those things at the last minute ~ I was always ready! Everything was in order by bedtime the night before. Not because of the need to be ready, but because I liked it that way. It made me feel happy, and it still does. I love taking care of my space, making it beautiful, putting love into every corner and then in-joying what I’ve created. But these days I’m a little more relaxed about routines. In fact, we now have a saying in our house ~ TAD ~ ‘Tomorrow’s Another Day’. So if you called at my house unexpectedly it would more than likely have the lived-in look. But if you rang ahead to say you were coming I know that I could get myself together in under an hour … and I love that ~ it’s all part of the fun of what the day brings.

Over the years there’s been many a time I’ve been in the middle of something that’s turned the house upside down and there’s been a knock on the door … like the time I hung all my washing from the rafters of a screened area at the front of the house and an unexpected visitor had to pick their way through sheets and towels to get to my door. A comment was made but so what! It went right over my head. I’d much rather focus on in-joying time with my visitor than the washing! What others think of me and what I do is really of no concern. What does matter to me is that I have enough respect for myself to care about my space and enough respect for those I’ve invited into my home to make them feel comfortable and welcome.

So if you let me know you’re coming I’ll do my absolute best, pop in unannounced and we’ll both get pot luck ~ either way it’s all good! So with a shipshape house and the smell of a freshly baked cake wafting from the kitchen ready to welcome and make my unexpected guests feel very special, I stood at the door with a huge smile on my face.

Inara Hawley © 2013