My Dream Table

When looking back in time many people will realise that a certain item they own or used may have influenced their lives forever. This item could be small and insignificant that went very much un-noticed or it could be something large, lording it over you.

For me the object I’m talking about is a combination of bold in size and yet for the most part invisible although constantly in use by the family. If the saying ‘walls have ears’ is true then it must also be that this item has proven to have a ‘magical ability’ hidden in its wooden fibres capable of making all of our dreams and plans reality. Even today as we eat, drink and make merry at our old wooden kitchen /dining room table it is somehow working hard to make dreams come true.

The farmhouse

Many years ago my wife and I bought an old tumble-down farmhouse on 30 acres of steep farm land. This was the dream home that was to become the solid base for bringing up a young family and we set about making this tired old building our castle with the energy and enthusiasm that only youth with the help of the Gods is capable of.

Walls came tumbling down in one place only to rise in other creating bigger spaces for bedrooms, the lounge and that magical area with its mouth-watering aromas of the best gourmet food that was ever created and has always been the hub of any house we lived in, the kitchen. When our ‘oldie’ kitchen was complete we knew there was something missing and the consensus was that it needed a large wooden table.

Beginning of dreams

The only tools we had was an old handsaw, a 10 inch Stanley hand planer, a small hand drill, 1/2inch and 1inch chisels, a screwdriver , hammer and some screws. With these weapons of creation we set about building what was and still is the centre of our universe. We built the table from a fine- grained beautiful yellowwood found on the farm. The 4 solid timber legs were the remains of the wooden door frames removed from the house and the wide one inch thick top planks came from the walls of a broken down cow shed. The end product was definitely not your perfectly finished, squared off commercial table but something that just seemed to fit in comfortably, like an old friend.

Looking back

My grandchildren were having dinner at the table recently and as I listened to them telling each other and their friends about their dreams and ambitions I was taken back in time to the many evenings of fun we had with our friends and the stories told (some may even have been true).

Many of those wonderful ambitions that were spoken about then with such a tremedous zest for living have been full filled by those energetic people, including our own world sailboat cruise, which often leads me to wonder if this is truly a lucky table.

What’s next?

If you ever find yourself at our family magic table enjoying a great meal with a glass of wine and you have a dream, talk about it, and who knows how the future will work out for you. At the same time perhaps I should warn you - be careful what you wish for.

As for my wife and I we are once again well passed the dreaming stage and whenever I find things a little hard going I go and sit quietly at THE table to feel and absorb the pure energy it has captured from past deamers and now flows from its fibres.

Let's go!