Our kitchen table is definitely the focal point of our home, if not our lives. We’ve had this European flea market gem for a decade – a fact well validated by the scratches, kids’ paint and sun-faded varnish. It opens up at both ends, which is an incredibly undervalued feature in modern tables, in my opinion! Our kitchen/living area is small, and the table is typically catering to our family of four. Still, it has groaned under the weight of a dinner for 20 on occasion – a dinner at least half consumed on the overflow stools, couches, and floor.
I love to cook, and my children are doing their best to hit their dad’s lofty 199 centimetres as quickly as possible. No matter how busy life gets, we eat a home-cooked dinner together most nights at the table. The mid-century Danish chairs were once in pristine condition, and have suffered the fate of years of mistreatment. We keep saying we’ll get them repaired as soon as we can trust the boys to stop picking them apart or swinging on them… For now, the duct tape is doing the trick.
Last Saturday morning we were putting toast on the table for breakfast when we spotted a pod of dolphins out the window. Naturally, breakfast was put on hold in favour of a kayak with the local wildlife. Take two at breakfast was interrupted by a second pod. By the time we settled into take three, and a third pod emerged on cue, Arthur (7) said blithely, “Honestly, I’m a bit over dolphins this week.” For a kid born in central Amsterdam, he’s become accustomed to Ōwhiro Bay life quickly!
Frances Shoemack
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