Friday 6 February 2009

The Mini-Break

When Mollie was nearly a year old, we decided to treat ourselves to a well earned break. I found a reasonably priced dog friendly B&B and one Saturday we arrived at a beautifully restored granite Victorian house just off the sea front and about ten minutes walk from Penzance town centre.

Later we had a leisurely walk along the sea front to a dog friendly pub, found a window seat and tucked into vast platefuls of whitebait that didn’t seem to go down no matter how much we ate. After a few glasses of wine we had an amble back to our bed and breakfast and decided to settle down for an early night.

Mollie, who’d been very good up until then, decided she didn’t like people banging doors and making noise down the corridor and barked, loudly, to tell them so. Every time she did so, I flinched, and this continued for the next hour until everyone was in bed. By this time Mollie was so unnerved by her surroundings that she wouldn’t settle unless I dangled one arm out of bed to stroke her at regular intervals.

At around five in the morning, when we’d probably accumulated two hours sleep between us, I stumbled off to the bathroom and my feet hit a wet spot. I dimly remembered Mollie scratching at the bedroom door earlier and now realised the significance of this. Tiptoeing round the room, I found a roll of kitchen paper and proceeded to blot up as much as I could, while wondering what the to do. Make a run for it? Own up?

When the sun came up and I could see properly, I attacked the stain feeling like the victim of some fairy tale, destined to spend my life scrubbing at an ever growing mark on a previously spotless carpet. Then I espied a hairdryer slotted into a rack by the basin. A gift from the gods! So I set about blow drying the carpet.

By the time Himself returned from walking a much happier dog, the carpet was cooked to perfection. I was hot and flustered and jumped in the shower wondering whether to Come Clean to the owners. On the other hand, they might present us with a bill for carpet cleaners. Even worse, a new carpet.

We put Mollie in the car and waited with baited breath for our breakfast. At any time I was expecting a hand on the shoulder. An “excuse me, but what happened to your carpet?”

Being good at bluffing, Himself soon got chatting to the new owners who revealed that they’d recently bought the place and evidently spent a considerable amount of time and money refurbishing it. I could feel the blood draining from my face as I sipped my tea. The appetite that I’d built up over the sleepless night disappeared along with my blood, and I tried not to look at the scrambled egg sitting before me. The imaginary bill for our stay grew and I fixed a smile on my face, wondering when we could leave the room.

Husband’s appetite wasn’t affected, and after a Full English we hurried upstairs to clean teeth and inspect the carpet. The sun was streaming in the room and from a certain angle it was impossible to see what had occurred in the small hours. Even so, we took no chances.

“I’ve got the bags,” Himself hissed. “Come on, let’s go.”

And we ran.

That was the last time we ever had a mini-break. Shame. I could do with one now, and it was such a lovely place.

16 comments:

ADDY said...

I'd feel like you but probably the hotel owners didn't even notice. From the sound of it, you did a good job getting id of the stain!

ADDY said...

oops -should read "getting rid of the stain".

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

I would have been horrified too, though I'm sure if the stain had still been obvious, the hoteliers probably would have had some special cleaning fluid to sort it all out.

Flowerpot said...

Rosiero - glad you';d feel like that too. It still plagues my conscience sometimes!

Akelamalu said...

Well at least you cleaned it! Stop worrying. I wouldn't go back there though. (wink)

Flowerpot said...

Ak - no I think it's safer not to!!

menopausaloldbag (MOB) said...

Well if they allow pets they must also allow for the odd accident as animals do get stressed in new places. But it is always embarassing when the wee monkeys play up. At least you noticed it and made ammends!

MarmiteToasty said...

I know the owners of that B&B and Im snitching on you LOL..... you had better start looking over your shoulders now :)

x

Irene said...

I would have done the same you did and not said a word about it. You seemed to have fixed the problem anyway before you left. Still, I can imagine you embarrassment. It's the guilt that is the hardest part to bear, isn't it?

Flowerpot said...

MOB - yes that's a good point and has made me feel a lot better!

Flowerpot said...

Marmie - I'm running - now!

FTW - yes it wasn't as if we were walking out leaving the disaster, but yes the guilt lingers on...

Grump said...

Oh so close but so far. PZ was our local town for weekly shops and entertainment. Thought of as only a short drive from home. We used to deliver they fish from Penberth to Newlyn, just a short hop from PZ town center.
Sorry to hear you had a fretful night. Tilly sends her love.
Mark x

Flowerpot said...

Grump - just wondering how youare with those terrible fires in Oz. Hugs from Moll and hope you and Till are OK.

Pat Posner said...

Aww, I bet poor Moll was mortified, too *smile* I agree with MOB and I bet they get a lot worse than 'nicely-cleaned' puddles.

Elaine Denning said...

Once I stayed in a b and b and got slightly intoxicated. The bathroom was downstairs at the end of a really long hall...and I....ummmm....peed in the basin... whereupon it decided to come away from the wall.

We didn't stay for breakfast!

Flowerpot said...

Pat - I think Moll was too young to have such feelings! but I'm sure that yes they would have had lots of other mishaps. I hope!

Elaine - that did make me laugh!!!