The supper table

Son Huw (right) excelled himself with tonight's Thai menu of grilled lobster with two dipping sauces (hot chilli, lemongrass and mint), pork ribs in coconut curry, green beans and rice. Followed by fresh pineapple, my only contribution. All the rest he did himself over 2 hours of preparation and cooking.
The three lobsters were caught yesterday and killed this morning. All we had to do was collect them from the cafe in the harbour.

Looking at the table I was amused to see very little of recent origin apart from the food. The blue and white plates I bought off a market stall 2o years ago soon after we arrived here, the striped table mats and the orange casserole go back even further, Huw has just turned 29 and friends C&M predate children. But the small Chinese tray, top right, made of some sort of plasticized bamboo, I recall my father buying from an early Oxfam shop in the 60s. I think it will outlast us all.

(Rereading that I realized I had omitted the kitchen table which belonged my aunt and probably came from my mother's family home before that. When my aunt had it it wore a green velour table cloth with bobbles around the edge and had a lacy cover laid over that. As a child I would play with the bobbles and sometimes they came off.
The number of meals eaten off this old table must be astronomical.)

You know those dropped or discarded shopping lists you sometimes find? A new blipper has started a collection and invites submissions - see here.