TPR urged me to get out of bed. We had lots to do to prepare before the arrival of our guests. This was no time for a lie-in. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was only 05:30am. However, obedient as ever, I followed TPR’s instructions and was soon downstairs helping him hang wallpaper (even though I disapproved of the colour scheme – navy blue and eau de nil, ugh!)

We’d only recently moved into this enormous house in Manchester. Located opposite a beautiful park, yet in a supposedly run-down part of town, it was so big that it included an old chapel within its walls. Poor TPR had done nothing but decorate since we bought it, and now I was beginning to regret the move. We certainly didn’t need this amount of space.

Then I remembered what had happened. We had bought the house from our friends J and GC as a favour. I wondered who would do the same for us when the time came for us to move?