Thoroughly spoilt - for maybe the last time.

On Sunday, we were thoroughly spoilt.

It was The Hubby’s birthday, and as it has been a pretty crap year I decided he needed treating. To make things complete, it was a gorgeous day with clear blue sky and the sun shining, in fact warmer than many days we had in June or July.

So we headed to the South Bank and wandered up and down by the Thames in the sunshine. We looked at all the craft stalls and bought a few bits and bobs for Christmas as well as partaking of a glass of really delicious gluwein. Then we wandered up to Covent Garden and did a bit more Christmas shopping, topping it all off with afternoon tea at the Savoy Hotel.

My, it’s posh in there! The hotel recently had a total refit and was closed for a period of 18 months, reopening in splendour about a year ago. Goodness knows how much it cost, but it gleams with polished marble floors and beautiful wooden panelling, and you sink into chairs with massive padded cushions you could sleep on (and we nearly did once we’d stuffed ourselves with dainty little sarnies, scones and cream, pastries and cake – oh, and after a glass of very nice champagne, which many of you will know isn’t usually my choice of drink).

When you go to a posh London hotel for tea it really is a treat, and you don’t have to lift a finger. Each time a waiter wanders past the table they top up your tea cup and the refills of food and beverage just keep coming (although not the champagne, which you pay for by the glass). Nothing is too much trouble; I asked for a different chair to accommodate my crook back, and straight away one was whisked in from somewhere and the unsuitable one squirreled away. We each wanted different blends of tea; “Of course, Madam” and within minutes two gleaming silver teapots arrived at the table (well, probably very well polished chrome) with wisps of steam coming from their spout, and proper tea leaves inside and a posh silver tea strainer. For all I know the waiter went away and swore in Polish or whatever his native language was (they are all foreign) but to our face he couldn’t have been more helpful.

It really is nice to treat yourself occasionally and in our case, see how the other half lives. Short of a lottery win, we will never be able to do this more regularly so it felt very indulgent and to be able to do it actually on The Hubby’s birthday was even better. We even treated ourselves to a cab back to Victoria, which The Hubby normally snubs as an upper class, elite indulgence. Personally my feet were killing me and we had shopping to carry, so there was no way I was walking and birthday or not, he would have been on his own.

Now of course, it’s back to reality and certainly after Christmas, if he still doesn’t have a job, we will fall upon hard times. Some hard decisions will have to be made about spending and alternative types of work, and we will really cut back. The monthly treat then will probably be Wetherspoon’s curry night (and nothing wrong with that, after all!).

Research is continuing into alternative means of living and going out on a limb with something completely different, but I am so tied up with panto I haven’t got very far. But come next year, when panto will be over, I am no longer Treasurer of the operatic society and I can focus, I do intend to try and do something definite about it.

They say it takes a crisis to a) make you appreciate what you have got and b) take courageous decisions, so maybe this is it. Good job we spoilt ourselves now, we may never get the chance again!