Hot cross buns, a visit from Selwyn College Cambridge, it's a boy, a big day for astrophysics, a breather for Brexit and other stories.

Sunday 14th April, 2019

My father looking smart and very happy during Erin's visit from Selwyn College Cambridge on Monday this week

Good morning again,

How has your week been? Mine has been great with continued preparations for my father's hundredth. Not long to go now.

Last Sunday was a wet and rainy day. I went out with Eladio and Oli to buy flowers for the garden and lots of soil too. Meanwhile I had left our lunch - cocido madrileño - on the boil with Zena to look after it. It was a very suitable dish for such a winter like day. 

Sunday's lunch - cocido madrileño

I could have done with a siesta but had work to do. I had finished the manuscript of my father's biography which had been proofread but I was still worried there could be mistakes. That's when our family friend, Andy D, stepped in and offered to give it a final proofread. Well he came up with lots of silly typos and some inaccuracies and sent me a four page list! So I had to painstakingly incorporate them into the manuscript. I also had to include the copyright page which I did and then sent it off. My publishers had now received the 3rd updated manuscript. No doubt I shall still be adding things and sincerely hope the book will be ready on time. My publisher assures me it will.

We didn't go for a walk that day as the weather was foul and we couldn't face getting drenched again. I suggested to Oli we bake this year's hot cross buns for Good Friday and that was what we did. They take at least five hours to make as they have to be proved for 1 hour three times. Thus we spent the whole afternoon and part of the evening on making two large batches - some 29 buns. Making the cross on them out of a mixture of flour and water was very challenging as I don't have a pastry sleeve and even if I did I would still have made a mess of it. They didn't come out of the oven until nearly 10.15 p.m. The smell in the house was wonderful but I refused to be tempted to try one. You see in our  house we only ever eat them on Good Friday and the following days.

Home made hot cross buns

I left them to cool and the next morning froze them all until Good Friday. Hot cross buns has always been part of the Easter traditions I was brought up on in England and they are only to be eaten from Good Friday onward. In Spain a very typical sweet equivalent is  "torrijas" a sort of French toast mostly eaten cold. Basically it is bread basted in whisked egg, coated with sugar and fried in oil. I have never been a fan but when Oli's boyfriend brought some of his mother's home made torrijas one night this week, I tried one and it was delicious. 

Monday came and it was to be an exciting morning for my father. You see, his old Cambridge college, Selwyn College, was sending out their Development Manager and Alumni Relations Officer, Erin B. to see him. It was to bring personal greetings from the college for his hundredth birthday. He is their oldest living pupil and the college, encouraged by the master, Roger Mosey, wanted to pay him homage and that is just what they did on Monday. Erin brought with her a restored photo of his matriculation in 1938 - 80 years ago. He was 19 years old at the time. She presented it to him in a large printed copy and he sat at his desk looking at it and trying to remember. 

The photo of my father after matriculution in 1938 at Selwyn College Cambridge. He is the second from the left on the second row 

He recognised himself of course but also a couple of other people. One was a German chap called Claus Brauer and the other was someone called W.A. Hollwey. We looked and both were there. Hollwey is next to him in glasses and Brauer is the chap in a dark jacket, the only one wearing a dark jacket.  He told us that he and Hollwey had once ridden on their bicycles from Cambridge to Bristol, to my father's family at the Vicarage in Henbury. Here he is pouring over the photo.

My father pouring over the old photo and pointing at himself in it

My father was very lucid during the visit and his memory was pretty sharp too. He told Erin that his room was on the F7 staircase. She told me that is in the old courtyard. He also remembered going to chapel at the college and having to wear a white surplice.  He said that the Chaplain was called Revd. A.C. Blythe. Selwyn in those days was very much linked to the Church of England and my father being the son of a vicar was sent there for that reason. He later told me the Master of the college at that time was George Armitage Chase. I looked him up and indeed my father's memory was right. Mr. Armitage was also a bishop. His teacher of German he said was Leonard Foster and that the administrator at the time was JP Darrant. He even remembered the name of his "gyp", "bedder" or scout, Freddy Fromint.  This is a person or was a person who would be a student's private servant, making their beds, lighting the fires in their rooms etc.  What a memory he has.  Erin also brought two beautiful prints of the college, one from the inside and one from the outside. 

My father looking at one of the prints of his college that Erin had brought for him as a present from Selwyn College Cambridge

My father remembered every corner of the college and that the road it's on is Grange Road. He enjoyed the visit enormously and was very flattered as was I. Erin loved the visit too. She is a young girl who is actually from Colorado in the US. Here she is with my father who was looking smart in a white shirt and his Selwyn tie Eladio had helped him put on for the occasion. I haven't seen him smile like that in a long time.

My father with Erin when she came to bring greetings from his old college

I have to say that the visit pleased us all round. It was a very special day for us all but especially for my father. Thank you Erin for coming over personally and a big thanks to the Master of the College  who organised the visit.  We are very grateful. 

I felt like I was floating on cloud 9 for most of the day. At around midday I took Oli to work at RTVE at Prado del Rey in nearby Pozuelo. I felt very proud leaving her there. It's Spain's most prestigious broadcaster and she is very lucky to work there. 

I came home to find Eladio still working on mounting the picnic table I had ordered on Amazon recently. It came without instructions and would need a whole day to mount. I often tell you my husband is a good jack of all trades. He can even do carpentry. Here he is starting on the job.

Eladio mounting the new picnic table for the garden

Shortly after I got home and still with my coat on and handbag on my shoulders, our new Airbnb guest arrived. Eric is Belgian from Liege, married to an Argentinian lady and they live with their family in Uruguay but are moving to Spain soon. They want to live in this area and he came to look at houses. He was a very nice and sociable person - another good looking guest:-) - but we didn't see much of him. 

On Monday I spoke to my publisher or rather designer and printer of my book. He told me that no way would a hard back edition be ready by 1st May but that he could do a paperback edition. So I went for that. He also asked me what I wanted the cover and back cover to look like. He had me stumped as I hadn't thought of that. So later I looked at various paperback biographies to see if any could inspire me for my book. Thus I sent him a description of the sort of style I wanted. Let's see what design he presents me with. 

It was late by then but we needed our walk, so I left my PC and Eladio left his picnic table and we took the dogs out. It was sunny but a bit cold because of the wind but thankfully there was no rain. 

That night we watched the latest episode of Secrets of State (Secretos de Estado) on Amazon Prime and it was one of the better episodes of this series about a fictional and rather corrupt Spanish government.

On Tuesday I was up early and after breakfast had a long video call with Suzy in Bali. We hadn't spoken for weeks and it was lovely to see her face and hear her voice. Soon she will be with us. She has had a virus of some kind which has left her feeling out of sorts but thankfully seems to be over the worst of it.

That was a great start to the day. That morning I saw to the administrative side of my work, scanning and filing invoices and receipts to send to my accountant. It sounds very grand to say "my accountant" but if you are self employed here the paperwork is pretty complicated and I need one.

Very soon afterwards we had news from Olivia. She and Miguel had gone for her 3 weekly check up. She wasn't prepared for the outcome when her doctor did a scan and asked them whether they wanted to know the sex of their baby. So that morning they were given the news that the baby she is carrying is a boy. It's a boy. I think she was really expecting it to be a girl and the news came as a surprise. For some reason I was sure it would be a boy. Of course we would have been delighted either way. Now they have to search for a boy's name. It has to work both in English and in Spanish of course because of the family roots. I sent a few suggestions  such as: Sam (Samuel), Julian, Sebastian, Leo, Tristan, Oscar, Lorenzo, Simon, Martin, Romeo, Noel, Benjamin, Gabriel, Noah and Bruno. For the moment the boy to be is nameless. I have been calling it 'The Pea' ever since we knew she was pregnant as in The Bump in the early weeks it says the size is that of "a pea". After having two girls, Eladio and I look forward to a boy in the family. It will be a change. We would celebrate that night. As soon as I knew, I told my father. He was pleased too. Later at lunch, he asked me whether I was able to know the sex of my babies when I was pregnant. The answer was yes. Of course in his day it was always a surprise. What  a year it is going to be, what with his hundredth birthday and the birth of a grandson who will be his great grandson.

For the rest of the day I was a bit lazy. Eladio wasn't though. He finished assembling the picnic table and one of the new garden benches that arrived in a flat pack as all furniture does these days. It was rainy and cold so we skipped our walk. Eladio spent the time planting some of the flowers - mostly geraniums around the pool.

Eladio watering the flowers he had planted around the pool

Geraniums are not my favourite flowers but they are the most sturdy for cold and hot weather.

Another reason I didn't go on my walk is that I had to pick up Oli from work. There was a lot of traffic on the drive out and back and again I thanked my lucky stars I work from home and don't have to face traffic everyday as most office workers do.

We came back to watch Olivia on the television with Olivia with us which was quite bizarre and never usually happens. We watched a report she had prepared last week while in Guardamar  - a seaside resort near Alicante - on the accumulation of plastic bottles and containers in the river that flows into the sea there. It was quite horrific. Also horrific was the amount of mini plastic bits littered all over the sand on the beach  and which come from the sea.

Later we made dinner which we would eat in the dining room and be joined by her partner Miguel. We made two scrumptious Spanish tortillas we had with salad, etc. I indulged in both wine and chocolates - we were celebrating the news of the baby's sex after all - and would get a headache later. We went to bed late and starting watching a series on Netflix that looked promising, The Traitors but which turned out to be one big yawn.

Wednesday was a big day for astrophysics and for science. Steven Hawkin's and Albert Einstein's famous black holes were finally confirmed when a photo was released and which hit the headlines around the world.

First image ever of a black hole released on Wednesday

This real life and historic image shows a donut like ring of fire leading to a black hole. I cannot pretend to understand it nor can many of us. This hole which is so large it is is 6.5 billion times heavier than the sun and is apparently 55 million light-years away from where we live.

It was also a day of relief for Brexit when the EU agreed to yet another extension until 31st October which is actually the night of Halloween. Thus the horror show will continue. The extension will allow the UK to leave earlier if a deal is agreed upon in Parliament. If it is not the UK will have to hold EU elections in June, not something Theresa May wants. The only bit of light relief of the day was when Theresa May came face to face with her German counterpart, Angela Merkel, and both laughed when they saw they were wearing identical colour jackets. That is probably the only thing they really agree upon, the colour of their clothes, so far away is the UK PM from the EU.

The German and UK Premieres in a moment of light relief when they met in Brussels this week and both were wearing the same  blue coloured jacket. 

It was a big day for science and a big day for the future of the UK but a very quiet day for me. I didn't have much to do and very unusually for me, actually watched a film in the morning on Netflix. Being a sucker for  films about institutions such as  hospitals, schools, prisons or convents, I came across aone called Novitiate on Netflix and had to watch it there and then. It's about a strict cloistered convent in the US that had to adapt to Vatican II which would make the Catholic church a lot less strict. It's also about becoming a novice in very strict conditions which makes many of the postulants and novitiates question their faith. I suppose films about nuns fascinate me as I often question my own faith too and have done so all my life.

The film I watched on Wednesday

I actually felt as guilty as a nun watching it. I felt guilty for being lazy, for not doing anything. You see I'm usually so busy it was funny to find myself with not much to do that day. Eladio told me I deserved to rest as I have worked so hard on my father's biography for months now. Now it is in the hands of my publisher and I am fretting they will get it right. It's like handing your baby to someone you don't know. Will they treat it okay? I hope so.

Oli was out that day filming. This time she was sent to a village in Toledo called Burguilla. From there she would join a tractor march making its way to the county town of Toledo. The drivers of the tractors were protesting for better conditions for agriculture and farming life. Oli joined a melon farmer who told her that she was paid 9 cents per kilo for the melons she grows which are later sold for 50 or 60 cents per kilo and that she couldn't make ends meet with rising prices of petrol and the standard of living. She said this price had not gone up in 25 years. Who wouldn't protest about that?Here is Oli inside the lorry with the farming lady and her cameraman.

Oli in the tractor

The other tractors in front of theirs making their way to Toledo 

Later we would see her report on TVE in the evening. You can see it  here too.

As I said, our day was quiet. We only ventured out for a walk in the afternoon which wasn't too pleasant as it was cold and windy and rain threatened. As I walked I remembered learning at school the description of the months of the year but could only remember "March winds" and "April showers". I think May is something like "brings flowers" but my memory is hazy. I do wish I could remember the rest. In Spanish April is described as "aguas mil" meaning a thousand waters and is the equivalent to "April showers".

I came back with time to read before dinner and continued with The Signature of Things. I am struggling with it actually. So I was relieved when it was 8 pm and time to go down to the kitchen to make our meal.  Andy was there but there was no sign of our other guest, Eric.

We watched the news where the main items were the EU Brexit extension announcement and of course the black hole. Later we continued with the series Hanna on Amazon Prime but I am also struggling with that. It was lights out at around 11 pm.

Thursday came and finally the sun shone again. The temperature rose a bit but only to 15ºc. I spent part of the morning at Ikea where I went to buy frames for the photo and prints Erin had brought from Selwyn College for my father. While there I got lots of goodies from the Swedish food store too.

That morning Airbnb informed me I was superhost again, in fact superhost for the 7th time in a row and with a  5 star overall rating, the maximum. To be a superhost on Airbnb you have to meet certain criteria: have an overall rating of minimum 4.8, a response rate of 90%, zero cancellations, a certain number of stays and number of guests staying at least 3 nights during the year and over 50% of trips hosted must be reviewed by the host. My degree of fulfillment of the criteria to be superhost is over and above and I do my best to maintain my superhost status. Later I got an email to say they were sending me a surprise gift. I wonder what it is. I have to say embarking on being an Airbnb host has been one of the best decisions I have made in the last few years. It has been  remarkable journey and for most of the time I enjoy it.

Airbnb Superhost again for the 7th time in the row

My success at hosting depends entirely on my husband's support. He is the chief maintenance officer for Airbnb guests (hahah) which means he has to keep house and garden in shape. Over the last few weeks he has been getting the garden ready for the summer as you saw with flowers above. Well on Thursday he finished assembling the new garden benches I had bought online to go in a sunny spot by the kitchen patio. Here they are. The dogs immediately joined him. It looks lovely with the daisies which by the way were a present from Lorena, an Airbnb guest from Venezuela last year.

New benches for a new sunny spot in the garden or rather in the kitchen patio

That was good news for me. Who had bad news that day was the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange who has been living in asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy for the past 7 years. He was arrested and forcibly removed from the Embassy by the Metropolitan Police for skipping bail in the UK in 2012 after facing sexual abuse charges in Sweden. He also faces  charges in the US for his leaking of secret documents. The Ecuadorian Embassy, tired of his presence and apparent bad behaviour as well as supposed spying on the Embassy itself,  revoked his asylum on Thursday.  My father and I discussed the news at lunch. He may be approaching 100 but he knows exactly who Julian Assange is.

The afternoon was peaceful. I continued reading The Signature of Things and we went on our walk. That night we watched episode 9 of Secrets of State on Amazon Prime. What would we do without video streaming these days? Well, in the old days I used to read until I fell asleep. 

I woke up on Friday a little later than usual at around 6.30. I had a mission that day. I was going to send the press release on my father's biography and upcoming hundredth to the British press, both regional and national. I couldn't believe that by about 5 pm in the afternoon I had one national paper and 5 regional ones who want to publish his story. Wow! 

The weather was warmer on Friday and I even had to take my jacket off on my walk. The forecast for Easter in Madrid is good. We were thinking of going to Montrondo tomorrow but it will all depend on the weather as it looks like it will  rain pretty all the time we would be there. However, in the south east where our beach apartment is near Alicante the weather will be very good. Thus we are in two minds as to where to go or we may even stay at home. I far prefer to travel out of season and no doubt there will be a lot of Easter traffic. 

Being Friday we went out to dinner that night. Our choice was the recently opened "Abuela Lola" in nearby Boadilla. The food was good but the music a bit too loud for my taste. I prefer a quieter atmosphere when dining out.

We came home to find our new Airbnb guest, Lander, had arrived but was in his room. I wouldn't see him until the next day.

Saturday came and it would be another sunny day and warmer too. The temperature rose to 23ºc. Oli and Miguel were joining us for lunch and as our cupboards were bare, Eladio and I had to go out and do the food shopping which for me is a weekly task I find rather a bind. We were home by 11 am, with lots of time to unpack and store everything and for me to start on lunch. I made roast chicken legs with roast potatoes and roast red peppers; all very filling. A siesta was very much in order after that and while Oli and Miguel left to go shopping, we had a nap. I think it must have been the quarter glass of Juan Gil wine that helped me sleep as I didn't wake until 5 pm. When I woke up I took my kindle and, followed by Pippa, made my way to the sofas by the pool to read in quiet. I was soon joined by Eladio. Zena had taken my father out into the garden too and I joined him as he had a cup of tea and biscuits. We talked about his upcoming hundredth and hoped the weather would be just as good on his day as it was yesterday. I told him his niece, Zuka, was coming from France for the occasion and he was delighted. Me too. 

We went on a late but warm and sunny walk and came home to have a meager dinner after such a heavy lunch. I didn't sleep well last night but that's not news.

Today is Sunday and the good weather will continue so I look forward to another family lunch and lazy day. I shall have a rest from domestic duties as my father's weekend carer, Zena who is from the Ukraine will make the lunch. I bought the ingredients for her to make "glupsy" which translates into stuffed cabbage roles. I do write a lot about food in my blog don't I? 

Now my friends as I have reached the end of the tales of this week all that remains is for me to say have a good week ahead. 

Cheers till next Sunday, Easter Day, and all the best till then,

Masha.

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