No matter what happens, I know that she has my back

Firm friends who see us through the great times, the fun times and the times when all we do is sob and snot on each other.

I have been buddies with Jodi Webb, nee Simmonds, for 31 years now, and I know that, whatever happens, she will be there for me.

We have seen one another through some tough times and some incredible life adventures, the bonkers (or sometimes tragic) nature of which many people don’t encounter until they’ve lived a lifetime.

But here we are, three decades later, and I know that no matter what, she has my back, and vice versa.

Clearly there was something about she and I that just clicked on the day that we met, all those years ago.

When Jodi and her husband, Dave, come round for a meal, it is simply a given that she and I will spend most of it laughing until we cry and, best of all, our husbands get along extremely well, too.

It’s strange isn’t it, these connections that human beings are lucky enough to stumble upon as we go through life?

Some of my closest friends are those whom I have known for years.

They are mainly from school, but others were met later in life, through uni and work.

People come and go, acquaintances are made and lost, but every so often you are so firmly on one another’s wavelength that bonds deepen, trust and loyalty are built, and you know that you are real mates.

According to Aristotle, there are three kinds of friends.

Those with whom we enjoy socialising, those to whom we have a civic duty, and then those with whom we are ‘real’ friends.

He suggested that the latter are mirrors to one another, a soul inhabiting two bodies.

Within this category, we should also be able to include our partner.

Darwin once said that a person’s friendships are the true measure of their worth, in which case I count myself as rolling in it.

Thank you, friends, you know who you are.

FOR THE SAKE OF SANITY AND HYGIENE, I JUST HAD TO DO IT

I can’t be the only person who is currently, thanks to the summer holidays, watching their home being destroyed around them on a daily basis.

I am sitting at night on the edge of the sofa, unable to relax upon spotting the toys, pens, pencils, tiny scraps of chopped-up paper, bin-bag- dresses, and glue that are the natural accompaniments to every movement of children aged seven and 10 who have broken up from school.

This morning I caved and whizzed through with a speedy version of a deep clean.

This will have been a waste of time – because by tomorrow they will have cycloned back through the house, undoing my good work.

But for the sake of my own sanity, and simple hygiene, I had to do it.

NICE TO SEE CLASSY PLACE OPEN AT FORGOTTEN END OF THE CITY

If you live at the north end of the city, then lucky old you.

Home Coffee (which has been thriving in Albert Road for more than 18 months now) has come to Cosham.

The décor, the staff and the food are fabulous.

It’s refreshing to see somewhere the likes of which is, for unknown reasons, usually confined to Southsea, opening at the forgotten end of the city.

Greasy spoons are 10 a penny (and, admit it, who doesn’t like a fry up once in while?)

But it’s lovely to finally have an establishment that recognises it’s not only the inhabitants of Southsea who eat avocado, and would like to do so within walking distance of their own homes.

I fully recommend you give it a try.