Surprise!

I've learnt by now that when hubby calls and says he has a "surprise" for you, don't get your hopes up but instead anticipate the worst.

You see as a domestic painter by trade he often has access to all manner of unwanted objects being discarded during peoples renovation process.
And you know what they say about one mans trash being another mans treasure… (I swear he's turning into my Dad!)

The last time he told me he had something special for me it turned out to be a $10,000 piece of Burl that he got at the bargain price of $3,000.
If you don't know what burl is, it's basically a piece of wood.
Or to elaborate further, "a malignant growth on a tree trunk or branch". Sounds appealing and worth every penny doesn't it?

Mind you this lovely piece of tree cancer is destined to become a dining table, although it's so big it won't actually fit in our house - and that's before we've managed to attach legs to it and find chairs to suit.

Somehow, unless we plan to reunite King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table I really don't see the overall practicality of this "investment piece".
Be sure to keep an eye out for my latest contribution to e-bay….

Moving on and back to the present "gift", you could understand why I was a little apprehensive when he divulged that this latest offering was also a piece of furniture.
But he scoffed when I asked him if it would at least fit through our front door and assured me that I would fall in love when I saw how beautiful it was, so I took a deep breath, resolved to just wait it out and deal with it once it was on my door step.
"Who knows", I thought, "maybe he's chosen something really nice this time." We have been in need of a bed head and some wardrobes for a while…

No. Such. Luck.

"You're gonna go nuts when you see it" he enthusiastically assured me.

Oh I went nuts alright, I went right off!

But of coarse this surprise was far from over and the best was yet to come...