A tardy announcement of sad news...

Family and regular readers of this blog know how I loath to neglect its upkeep and they've become familiar with the way I look for vindication after a period of slackness, such as this, to sooth my remorse. No surprises then, when I tell you I've been busy. A couple of business trips (including my first to Moscow); overlapping visits from my brothers to our home in Dubai and a week later, from nephew Nick with a friend. All have robbed me of blog-posting time, and although they stand-up pretty well as legitimate excuses there's actually more to my negligence than simply failing to make the time to write.

It's over a month now since the hotel's much loved dog, Blackhead disappeared. After surviving a poisoning attempt in early March, Lucy's pretty certain the sicko succeeded this time. Blackhead wasn't really the hotel's dog; she adopted us. We were her hotel, and only one of several feeding stations she would visit throughout a typical day. Never the most active of animals, she would spend most of her days dozing on the decking or under a guest's sunlounger and at least some of her nights keeping Pee Mek, our watchman, company. Lucy had traveled to Chiang Mai on the day she disappeared and the staff, all of whom had been out searching for her, wouldn't tell Lucy until her return, rather than spoil her short break.

A favourite of family, staff and guests who appreciated her gentle ways, Blackhead is sorely missed. As Lucy has said - she was the only guest of the hotel that was guaranteed to greet her every morning when she arrived.