Firstly, assuming that you are vaguely interested in my sleeping arrangements last night, I must tell you that Lorelle was rather a good sleeping companion (you will perhaps be aware that owing to the arrival of Carlo, the good-looking Spanish/Italian German, we girls had to resort to sharing a double bed). Happily, Lorelle neither snores nor has she restless leg syndrome, or any other condition that would make sleeping with her anything but dreamy. She didn’t suck, puff, or grind her teeth; she didn’t hug me, kick me, toss and turn wildly or hog the cover (mind you, we hardly needed a coverlet because we both wore more clothes than usual). When we were hot Lorelle and I stuck out a leg apiece from our respective sides of the bed; and when we were cold we curled, foetus-like, facing     opposite ways.

Despite going to bed late after two exciting games of Yahtzee (Lorelle won the first and I won the second – beginner’s luck) I was awake even before my alarm; at six fifty-five, the sun was shining and I couldn’t resist a dip in the pool (a mermaid’s pleasure at any hour of the day) – after two days of rain, resulting in twenty-four hours of abstinence from one of the most divine pastimes, the swim was heavenly. And then I packed my little bags and put them in the car…

My pad for the Easter long weekend is rather swish, although it doesn’t have a pool; at least, not big enough to swim in… but it is a nice hot spa (let it rain, I don’t care!). Janine and Brad are going up north to sugar cane country and I have the whole house to myself.

“I want you to eat everything in the fridge,” said Janine, “and anything in the cupboards and freezer.”

Funny she should say that because I was feeling quite hungry. They departed at nine thirty-eight and I had my lunch at nine forty-five or there abouts.

Am I lonely? Well, yes I am a tad lonely at present but in a few minutes I shall take beautiful Bella – the loveliest golden retriever (read my book!) – out for a walk; and later, I’ll go for a longer walk on my own because I’m younger (in relative terms) and fitter than Bella.

What did I mean by my title? You see, I was putting things away in my plush bedroom when I noticed something small, golden and shiny under one of the pillows, then another one – a flash a gold between the outer two pillows; and when I turned my eyes to the bedside table I saw a larger elliptical shape, this time wrapped in silver paper. There were three chocolate Easter eggs for me to discover and now there are two. My just dessert! (Not deserts – we’ve had too much rain!)