Jim proposed to me last week after almost 4 years together.

I never imagined that it was possible to meet the man who’s perfect for you in a tiny town in the Caribbean like this, but I did.

Since we met, we have rarely been separated; I’ve written about him before a long while back in this Blog and what an understated, intelligent, funny guy he is. He’s extremely modest despite being one of the most talented people I’ve ever met.

I am extremely happy that I’ll be his wife when we tie the knot next year, most likely in Bali.

picture courtesy Hugo

In doing so, we have been targeted in various ways from our ‘competitors’, those people who feel most threatened by the apparent success of our business. Frustrated as they are with a lack of customers, they choose solely to lay blame on others, not looking to their own failings or lack of re-investment over the years. They have written false reviews on our place, tried to get us kicked out of our surf school, tried to make trouble with the taxi drivers for us, whined and moaned on the forums – all to no avail. Even though we were well aware of their tricks, we carried on, kept our heads down and did what we do best – hospitality for our guests.

Today though, when one person, who after trying to get work with us recently and being helped financially by both Jim and myself in the past, professing always to be a ‘friend’ and peace and love, etc…………then schemed and slithered like a sad, greasy little snake for his ‘boss’ whilst he tried everything he could to cause problems for us, smiled his two-faced grin at me in the Orange store, my resolve disappeared and despite my normal ‘English’ politeness, I gave to to him with both barrels; I won’t repeat what came out, but my God it felt so good to let it go

I rarely enjoy a morning as much as I did this Sunday AM.

Drew and I left for Encuentro at 6am – I was so sleepy. It was worth it however. After 3 or 4 years of encouraging him to surf (after all, we have the perfect spot on our doorstep) he was never ‘hooked’.

That all changed recently and he cannot get enough of the water. No weekend lie-ins now, if he’s excited about going, it’s worth the effort of taking him and taking pictures.  Encuentro is a beautiful place to sit in the early mornings.  I wonder which other surf spots in the world are so well shaded by the trees?

How good looking is the pool cleaning guy?

Here are the pics; Drew and Jim feature in a few.

Here’s our new video that Jim has made

Today we will go back to the Hospital to remove the gauze and stuff that it inside his nose still, despite his best efforts to sneeze it all out!

The surf camp doors are on now and today, the container arrives in Cabarete containing all the bathroom fittings, kitchen, furniture, etc. Everything looking very good indeed. Some sample colors have been painted on the wall so that we can choose the overall color scheme.

The pool lights working on the Swell pool. It looks so nice and once filled with water the pool lights will appear as tiny stars on the water, moving as the water moves. Thanks Ian Patry

We will also be combining the visit with more shopping for the surf camp. For example, we have to buy a surround-sound system and satellite radio receiver for the communal area and a powerful router for our internet. We’ll also take one last trip back to Ikea to check on a couple of things that were out of stock and say hello to Charles Wing from Ikea who helped me so much in the last two months to organize all the things we have ordered.

We all get back on Friday.