Home Away From Home

Shhhhh, just quietly, I’m at our opposition hotel sussing it out. They opened for the season on 1st March, which in our opinion, is far too early. The fact that it’s Sunday, my day off, and I heard they do good coffee has nothing to do with it.

Note I am saying ‘our’ instead of ‘their’ which actually may indicate that I must be feeling part of the hotel family at last.

(Interrupted by below couple).

I have just made two new friends whilst trying to start my blog and undertaking my role of Chief Spy With a Coffee. Daniel (Welsh) and Lucy (French) are partners & work for Hotel Opposition. They didn’t have to employ any interrogation techniques at all before I told them where I worked and they were very keen to give me hospo advice, suggested running routes & even invited me to use the hotel gym any time. Daniel very sternly warned me about being very precious about my day off. He has heard rumours about my hotel. Say no more. I feel connected to this delighful couple and after the second coffee, I went on my way promising that I’ll see them next Sunday.

As I walked to the village, (high winds prevented Edie, my bike from coming with me today), I mused, as I do, about how important connections are to us. The thread might be very fine, or as thick as rope, but no matter, they are important to our wellbeing. I started my day with meeting Andrew the Welsh/Polish/Whatever gardener when out picking flowers for the communal kitchen table and he gave me a big bear hug, I chatted to TinTin the unfortunate cross-eyed cat, met Daniel & Lucy, then chatted to an elderly couple on my way home, oh & not to forget, Ziggy the embarrassed Collie that barked at me until he realised who I was. These connections all help to provide a sense of belonging. Small, indeed, fine threads, but important ones.

Anyway. Must rush. I’ve created a buzz as I’ve told the boys I have a hankering to make an apple crumble for them. The problem is the Aga is unreliable so we have ‘experts’ from far and wide trying to fix it so they can have their crumble. I had better not let them down.

Guess how many Pains au Chocolat I had, Stocks the Opposition and TinTin the Unfortunate Cross Eyed Cat.