Hosting and Guesting

We get a lot of houseguests. Out-of-town friends come to visit. Out-of-town friends of friends come to visit, and I almost always enjoy having guests to stay.

If it's not hot, they get the girls' upstairs (two bedrooms, sitting room, bathroom), but if it's high summer, I put them downstairs in the boys' rooms. I know sometimes it's a pain for the kids, but generally they are agreeable about sharing their space for a few days: they like the upside, which, of course, is the guest. Bella especially likes guests with children of any age; they are all fair game to her.

I admire guests with good guest skills. My friend Elyse comes to mind. I love having her stay, for any amount of time, with her husband and three small children, or just with the kids, or any configuration. She always has something interesting in her knitting bag, she shops for good groceries while she's here, and one time she brought her whole share from the organic farming co-op. Oh, and that huge brick of Spanish artisan chocolate. Not to mention the really good Earl Grey tea!

I like the peek into someone else's daily life, and of course there's an even better look when you're the one who's the guest. Maybe I'm just nosy, but I love to see how people arrange their kitchens, what cookbooks they have, how they do their laundry. I always learn something to take home--a cookbook I want to order, a great vegetable lasagna recipe (that's Elyse!), or a wall color.

We probably won't get any more invitations to stay with anyone, now that I've revealed how nosy I truly am. But we will continue to welcome company. Just call at least two hours in advance, please!