I’m soooo brown! I’d like to come round and see you right now to show my tan off, but I’m away to Singapore at the weekend for a gruelling few days at our Asian conference so no doubt will be back to my usual pasty self by the time you next see me. You will recall perhaps that I was in Greece on a holiday with Sophie last week. I think I probably gave you the impression I wasn’t totally convinced about the idea, but you’ll be thrilled to hear all worked out well. At the last minute I had persuaded Mrs S to agree to a change of destinations and so it was we ended up, very much having dropped a pin onto a map, heading to the tiny island of Meganissi, a bit further south in the Ionian Sea from Corfu. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Corfu. Chelsea on Sea isn’t it? You can’t turn a corner without bumping into someone you know. Meganissi? Not so much.
The place was deserted. Really the only time we talked to anyone other than each other ( of course ), a waiter in Enricco’s, the only passably good restaurant which we went to for dinner almost every day, and a barman at the reggae blasting bar on Fanari Beach, was when we bumped into a slightly scruffy trio of English people, clearly off one of the yachts anchored in the bay. They were sitting, alongside an equally bedraggled white haired mongrel, in the said Fanaridive when we went there on our first evening. They were hunched over the Saturday Times Jumbo Cryptic crossword puzzle, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. It was, as I said, only the first night of our romantic getaway and so I had no particular need to engage with them, but I’m afraid, as I waited at the bar for a couple of caipirinha cocktails to be mixed, I just couldn’t help myself when one of them read out a crossword clue they were battling with.
Exuberance tour boss sees in travels (14)
I promise you I gave them a moment to contemplate it, and another second more for good measure, but the answer, an anagram if you need me to help you too, had come in a flash and I was rather proud of myself, so I turned and told them. What a git I can be.
It backfired rather. Far from giving me the cold shoulder I deserved, I was suddenly their new best friend and within minutes, beers and cocktails now flowing liberally, Sophie and I were invited to go sailing with them the next day. I fancy myself as a bit of a sailor as you know and was game on, but the kicks from Sophie under the table informed me this was not a happening thing which was a pity really, but there you go.
Ah well, meantime back home we had left Lottie in the tender care of Hen so that was a responsible bit of parenting. All went remarkably smoothly in fact although Lottie, who was still having to get up at the crack of dawn to catch the train to school, complained a bit that supper was invariably not on the table till sometime approaching 10pm.
Oh, and I know I am bragging a bit, but there was stunning news while we were away from Bob who won the 110 m hurdles at Rugby sports day. Yes! Years of careering through fields and woods, jumping over fallen trees and branches in pursuit of one wild animal or another, finally paying off. Talking of which Sophie found a message on our answer phone yesterday afternoon from someone in the village asking whether we could come round and collect Weasel (Bob’s dog) who had brought down a muntjac in their garden. Weasel was lying in front of the Aga when she picked the message up so there seemed no reason to panic unduly and Bob hadn’t mentioned anything untoward had happened on his earlier walk. When pressed later for an explanation he explained that, fleet footed he might be, but Weasel had managed to leave him behind as she charged up a couple of fields and a wood in hot pursuit of the deer. Luckily the people in whose garden the chase ended were incredibly pleasant and seemed convinced as he feigned horror and shock at his dog’s indiscretion and intrusion. You couldn’t make it up could you.
Anyway, look at the trophy he picked up for his momentous victory!! Massive eh! If you zoom in with your eagles eye you can see the winners engravings date from 1917. Just a few years before Georgette Lenoir did her stuff on the track.
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