No romance in Candlelit xmas
Instead of staring at my office wall, I'm currently looking at the early morning sun over the beautiful Caribbean Sea.
We have finally arrived at the aptly named Blue Waters Inn on Tobago for the first leg of our rehabilitation after two years of unrestricted slog.
The gentle sounds of sea on shore and unfamiliar birdsong woke me this morning and, while Simon slumbers on, I find myself urged to put pen to paper.
It has been a trial to get here. As Christmas neared and we all got tired, I contemplated a quiet Christmas Eve laying up the restaurant on my own, making wonderful table displays and settings for Christmas Day lunch with perhaps a glass of Pouilly Fumé, while Simon busied himself in the kitchen with sauces and suchlike.
Perhaps we would play some carols on the CD player and then have an early night.
I really should have learnt by now that things don't happen like that in Tal-y-Bont.
No more power
Our electricity went off at 4.30pm and, apart from one phase from 10pm to 9am, we had no more power till 7.15pm on Christmas Day.
So, lunch for 65 had to happen in a less traditional manner, with no hot cupboard, no heating, no lights and no dishwasher.
Simon cooked by liquefied petroleum gas, with every burner going and his only light source being candles. Without an extraction fan, I'm sure you can imagine how he looked by 5pm!
The customers and staff were fantastic, but I must admit to a feeling of complete fury. I spent much of my young adult life in Africa and have travelled in my adult life extensively in what are generally termed "developing countries". I cannot understand why, in the 10 years we have been in north Wales, I have had to get used to at least six power cuts a year.
To compound matters, there was no information available, just engaged phone lines and eventually, after 20 hours, a recorded message.
Interruptions
I was so thankful I was not running a Christmas break. Much as I accept that weather conditions were bad on that particular day, it still doesn't explain the power interruptions we endure constantly.
Just to top it off, we had a further two power cuts as I was madly washing and ironing in preparation for our holiday.
Accident
I was convinced that we would never get here, that we would meet with an accident on our way to London or lose our tickets.
But here we are, and now for the next three weeks I shall work on attaining some firmness for muscles that have been slackened by convenience food and exhaustion.
With this heavenly location and the prospect of 10 days on Palm Island in the Grenadines, which to me is heaven on earth, enjoyment could be hard, damned hard.
But we'll give it a whirl…
