John-G started it and then Keith upstaged him.

"What's in your dresser?"

Well. I can't even begin to compete on contents - the top half contains (very ordinary) crockery and the bottom half is a drinks cabinet (some good brandy and a nice calvados though) - but the dresser itself has an interesting story.

When I came over to househunt five years ago two very dear friends took me in and helped organise just about everything.

We had barely a week to furnish and prepare the house before Jay brought Whale over. Marie  and Michel took me to the attic above the workshop - an immense barn of a place, filled with all sorts of furniture and farm equipment in various states of repair.

"Some of this furniture belongs to a relative who is in a home" explained Marie. She thinks it has all been sold so you are welcome to borrow anything you need.

There was a large kitchen table and six chairs that would be most useful but the beds were rusty and, frankly, past it.

Then she showed me the 'buffet'. It was all in pieces and covered in dust and cobwebs but  I fell in love with it.

"It's in the style Henri Quatre," explained Marie, "and it's not very popular because it's too fussy and ornate and people don't like polishing it."

"I love it." was my response.

So Marie supplied me with rags, brushes and old fashioned liquid polish and left me to provide the elbow grease necessary to restore the bits and pieces to something resembling their former glory.

Eventually, with the help of a couple of younger chaps, the parts were put together in the living room of our rented house. The lower doors didn't close easily but it didn't matter. I was thrilled with it.

When we found our present house I asked if we would be allowed to bring the dresser with us.

"Of course," was the reply.

It was dismantled and reassembled in the dining area where it only just fitted - barely a couple of centimetres to spare.

You have to feel 'in the mood' and then polishing it is a very satisfying experience. I admit, I don't do it all that often but it looks better than it did when I first saw it.