I’ve been in Antigua twenty-four hours now.  Today, like most days here, has passed in a second.  I arrived yesterday after a two-hour delay at Gatwick caused first of all by an electronic short in one of the seats and then a faulty loo door.  It was all very civilised, though, apart from the time spent in the Aspire Lounge.  Oh dear!  It was full to bursting – although fortunately about half those in there left within half an hour of my arrival – not that the two were necessary connected!  Everyone wants nice experiences and the airport lounge is a great idea, but I don’t understand why, if they advertise a dress code, they allow people in wearing vests, scruffy shorts, jeans round their thighs and in the case of one girl, shorts that actually showed her arse.  Proper put me off my croissant and coffee!

While waiting at the gate for the electrical fault to be fixed I had the honour and pleasure to make a new friend; a bright, delightful eight-year-old boy who was travelling with his mum to Tobago (the flight was dual-destination).  I shared my apricots with him and gave him a pen so he could do the crossword and his word-search puzzles.  He was so taken with ‘my new friend Elaine’ that he asked if he could take my photo ‘so that I can always remember you!’  Isn’t that lovely?  He walked with sticks (cerebral palsy) but you could tell that he has such spirit that the world had better look out because nothing will stop him. He’s as bright as a button, yet polite, well-behaved, not at all precocious and a pleasure to be around.  It was humbling to meet him and he left a real impression on me.

I was very, very fortunate to be given a complimentary upgrade to Club World, which was really appreciated.  After a nice lunch with a glass of red wine followed by a Baileys, I slept for three and a half hours, which was brilliant as I was really tired.  I also watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona and I loved it.  I’ve never been a huge Woody Allen fan, but this film really appealed to me.  If I hadn’t known it was an Allen film, I would have thought it was Pedro Almodovar, not just because it stars Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem – who’s fast becoming one of  my all-time favourite actors – but because it was Almodovaresque in its theme of one man messing up the lives of several women.  There was no time to watch anything else, given that I’d had such a long siesta.

Antigua was very hot and very humid when we got off the plane.  We taxied towards the new terminal, but parked a little way from it and had to walk into the old one.  Apparently the new terminal building isn’t going to be used until next year.  And so, I went through Immigration and Customs and got my hire car and drove to Five Islands to my beautiful Avocado Cottage, where I dumped everything and then went to Epicurean to stock up with food and drink.  By the time I got back it was dark and I was wilting.  I made myself a chicken baguette for supper, had a cool shower and got into bed.

As usual,I was overtired and it took me a while to go off to sleep – not least of all because a couple of tree-frogs had decided to rent branches in the bushes outside my bedroom windows and their songs woke me up, as did the torrential rain, several times.  By 4:30am I was wide-awake; well, it was 9:30am for my body clock.  Finally, at 5:30am I got up and got on with some writing.  Actually working on Single All the Way was strange after so many weeks of not touching it.  I had to go through my plot notes and character back-stories and read what I’ve written so far to get back in the swing.  I already have my favourites and least favourites and as regular readers can probably guess, we meet some old friends as well.

It’s been pouring most of the day – just one or two little bursts of sunshine – but the water is much-needed as everywhere was a bit dry and dusty and today it’s all lush and green again.  I had my favourite meal of the day – afternoon tea – on the veranda.  It consisted of two home-made banana and coconut cookies.  I don’t know what came over me, but I was suddenly filled with the urge to make and bake them.  They have no sugar in them, so they suit me fine and they’re absolutely delicious!  Right little hausfrau!

I’m crossing my fingers that this blog will post okay as the internet’s been playing up today and I can’t access my Melabeau email account and FB is slow, slow, slow.  It’s probably something to do with the weather!

Here is a picture of the rain:

View at 5pm. Rain blocking out the view of Sleeping Indian. 🙂

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