February can be a tough month. So much so, my mother in law has decided to go to Gambia, and it sounds like an excellent plan. For a start, the weather never really goes below 24 degrees. That’s Celsius, of course, in case you thought I’d gone bonkers and wanted all the benefits of an ice palace on top of the madness that is a British winter.
I was in a taxi recently and the Romanian driver told me he’d flown his wife and children back home because 3 years of living in such a cold climate had taken a toll on their health. He’d stayed to earn more money and flew back to see them as often as possible. It seemed the ultimate romantic gesture – to ensure his loved ones were happy even if it meant he wasn’t.
It’s not all about the cold, though. There’s Valentine’s Day to take the sting out of it (at least, for those who are part of a couple or going on a first date). Last year my husband took me to a posh restaurant for dinner where I was confident everything would be gluten-free. They’d even made me my own menu! All was well until I saw something dive behind a table and I realised it was a mouse. I envisaged the restaurant turning into absolute chaos, with people leaping onto their chairs and a bold customer managing to capture the uninvited guest in a wine glass. But instead the other diners found it really funny, even when the mouse came back with a couple of friends, and the whole place started joking about the Fawlty Towers sketch ‘Basil the Rat’.