Sunday, December 22, 2019

Suzy is home, my two best presents arrived early, Elliot turns 3 months, El Clásico riots, Trump impeached, family dinner and a very Happy Christmas to you all.

Sunday 22nd December 2019

My two best Christmas presents, Elliot and his Aunty Suzy. 
Dear all,

Another week has gone by and it's just a few days to Christmas, my favourite day of the year always. Everything is ready and my second biggest present after Elliot came in the form of my darling eldest daughter Suzy who arrived last Sunday. Her arrival would make our Christmas complete.

Last Sunday saw me preparing lunch in the morning for all the family. I also went on our walk with Eladio avoiding the fields because of the shooting. I came back to go out again to do more food shopping as we would have a full house and were running out of fruit, etc. Meanwhile Eladio went off to Oli and Miguel's place. Their car had broken down so they needed a lift home. They would join Eladio to pick up Suzy who was arriving from Bali via Doha at 13.30 approximately after a 25 hour long haul journey. 

I stayed at home as I would not have fitted in the car and also I had to finish making lunch. Suzy and co didn't get home till 3.15 pm and my poor father was getting tired and hungry of course. But he was all smiles when he saw Suzy and Elliot. Suzy was ecstatic to see her little nephew who had grown so much in her absence. 

Lunch was wonderful, not necessarily because of the food, but because we were all together, just how I like it to be.  That morning our tattooist guest and his girlfriend left and our other guest, Julia, was out at her classes. Thus the house was just for us. This meant that Suzy had her room back. I had no more reservations until 27th December but if I did I get any, she could always either sleep in Oli's room or the makeshift bedroom in the gallery just off our own bedroom. I later got a sudden one yesterday but more about that later. 

We all took a siesta and it was dark when we woke up. That's when Suzy finally slept and she did so in our bed. I had to have a photo of my peaceful darling daughter who needs lots of love and tender care after everything that has happened in Bali. Here she is. Aren't our kids - whatever their age - adorable when they are asleep?
My dearest darling Suzy sleeping off some of her jet lag
We all let her sleep while spending time with little Elliot who is our pride and joy. Oli and I prepared our dinner, a healthy choice of baked fish, steamed asparagus and some boiled potatoes to which I added  home made mayonnaise. I thought Suzy would sleep on until the next morning but she got up to join us, thus we were reunited again around the table.

Later while Miguel, Oli and Elliot left for their flat, Suzy and I had a good long chat together. It was late by then and time for bed so I joined Eladio and we finished our silly soppy but entertaining American series.

Monday came. It was a bright and sunny day.  Our second but last guest to leave this week was young Julia from the Canary Islands who had come to do a course in some fancy new alternative therapy technique which I didn't really understand. Suzy did though and was very interested. Julia will be back in January or so she told us. 

Suzy set up her teaching office in the annex off our bedroom which we call the gallery and Eladio and I went for a walk We all met up for lunch. Later in the afternoon, Suzy worked, catching up on the evaluations she has to write up after every class which is very time consuming. I read pleasurably by her side soaking up the Christmas atmosphere I had created in our main lounge. I am reading the story of the Duke of Edinburgh's mother, Princess Alice who married Prince Andrea of Greece and is also the mother of Lord Mountbatten. What a fascinating life she had with many ups and downs. 

Oli and Miguel were at the local clinic for little Elliot's meningitis vaccination. God forbid he ever gets that most deadly disease. His parents were told he may get a temperature and be a bit unsettled afterwards. He was more the latter than the former. He was also weighed and the scales showed a whopping 6.2 kilos (13.6 lbs).  Oli asked the nurse if it was normal that he wants a feed nearly every hour and the reply was; if that's what he wants then there is no way round it. No wonder he has put on so much weight hahaha. 

While they were at the clinic, we prepared a meal that no doubt Elliot would have loved if he was a bit older as it's obvious he is going to be a good eater. We made tortilla with salad; always a favourite. Again the nicest thing was being together. Elliot sat with Suzy while she ate, giving her parents a break from eating with one hand only. Our little boy doesn't like his cot or pram unless the latter is for going on walks. He wants to be with us all the time. Thus I captured them on camera, my two best Christmas presents this year, my grandson Elliot and my daughter Suzy who I had thought wouldn't be with us this year.
My two best Christmas presents that arrived early this year
Tuesday came and it was a bit wet but I hoped it would dry up later so as to go on our walk. Luckily it did. On Tuesday, Elliot turned 3 months old. Oh how much love and joy he has brought to this house and how much our lives have changed, especially Olivia and Miguel's. It was time for some photos to mark the day and here they are. Isn't he an adorable baby?
Elliot at 3 months

Eladio playing with Elliot during his photo session
Everyone was staying for lunch so Eladio and I went shopping to get more provisions. The cashier who knows us was not surprised to see our two huge trolleys loaded to the top and remarked "your usual style". It's amazing how much fruit and veg we get through. We must be among the top ten customers of our local Mercadona hahahaha. 

While we were out, Suzy was giving her animated English lessons to Chinese pupils but in one of her breaks she spent time with little Elliot. Suzy always dresses up with special headgear and glasses to look the part. This very special photo of my two best Christmas presents, Aunty Suzy and her nephew together, had to be this week's feature photo.  Love the photo don't you? She makes the different headgear using my scarves of which I have a huge collection but in one big mess. I must get round to organising them haha.

Oli and family went to the local pool for Oli to go swimming. By 2.30 we were all seated around the table having lunch. After lunch Oli and Miguel went off Christmas shopping, Suzy stayed behind, hopefully to catch up on her evaluations and later the three of us went on our walk. It was a beautiful evening, clear and crisp.

Suzy and I had a cup of tea when we got back and spent some precious mother and daughter time together until she had to get ready to go out, have dinner and stay the night at her bosom friend Elenita's place. I commented how I had lost my best friend here in Spain and that all my close girlfriends live abroad; Kathy and Amanda in the UK, Anne in Finland, Sandra in Brussels and Adele in France. Fátima was my closest friend here and she leaves a huge gap in my life in Spain. I have lots of girl friends but none that I am as close with as I was with Fátima. She was like a sister and is irreplaceable. 

I spent the hour before dinner reading my book - I call this my quiet time and I love it. Dinner for a change was just Eladio and I and we had it - the remains of the tortilla - while watching the news which was quite depressing. Our evening ended watching a new series on Netflix called Mythos. We are not sure about it yet.

Wednesday came. I woke up really early at about 5.30 and got up at 5.45. Eladio had forgotten to tell me the alarm was on so it went off and I woke up the whole house. Thank goodness there were no guests except for Andy. I always like my quiet time in the morning too with my first cup of coffee when I read my messages as well as check my Instagram and Facebook accounts and the latest headlines. There was a lovely photo from Oli in one of the messages of the three of them. It's funny to think she has her own family now.  I'm so happy for her. She has taken to motherhood with all its difficulties like a duck to water. I'm also very proud of her.
Oli and family
Wednesday was a busy day. Eladio and I went for our walk as usual - our walks are so important. Once home I organised the men's lunch as I had a lunch date with a friend and Oli and Miguel were elsewhere. My lunch date was to be quite special. It was with Fátima's other best friend "Tere" who were school friends. I laughingly told her we were rival best friends as I think our dear departed Fátima used to refer to us both as her best friend. I knew Tere a bit from over the years but our friend Fátima compartmentalised her different groups of friends. At Fátima's death bed I suggested to Tere that now that we had both lost our best friend, we should become friends ourselves. She agreed immediately and we have been in touch a lot since the funerals and on Wednesday we formalised our new friendship. I am sure Fátima would approve wholeheartedly. It was wonderful to have lunch with Tere, to talk about Fátima, about our own bereavement and to get to know each other more. We chose De María, an Argentinian restaurant in Majadahonda next to the Atlético de Madrid training fields. Unfortunately I did not take a photo. I promise I will next time.

Later I joined Suzy for an important appointment in Madrid. The highlights of our outing were her buying some Christmas lottery and having coffee together. I treasure every moment with her.

We were home late. Both girls went out to dinner to Elenita's, leaving Eladio and I alone in the kitchen for our own dinner. We watched the news and it was mono themed; the security around the Madrid Barça match.  "El clásico" had been postponed because of rising tensions in the Catalan city and there was huge security around this week's match for the over 90.000 spectators, not to mention the crowds outside, many of them hooligans, radicals and the new "tsunami democratic" movement which promotes violence. And violence there was, outside the stadium with rubbish containers set on fire and varying objects thrown at the police. Eladio and I were horrified to see the disturbances and I wondered what the world thought as no doubt images would be seen worldwide as the "Clásico" is one of the biggest sports events in the world, watched from everywhere. I reflected how sad it is that football is now tainted with politics or disturbances. The least important thing about this match was the score which is ridiculous. The score was disappointing as it ended in nil nil but the only news coming out of the event was the violence. Thankfully and due to the extreme security measures the match itself was almost incident free. I think the players from both teams and the teams themselves were horrified at the events and concentrated just on the football. Good for them. Way to go.
Violence erupted around "el clásico" this week
We ended up watching the riots in bed until late into the night. I kept thinking what an awful image for Spain. Luckily Oli and Miguel arrived bringing little Elliot to cheer me up. They had been clothes shopping for our little cherub as he has grown so much and he came clad in a beautiful yellow coat with matching boots. Earlier in the day Oli sent us a photo of him with his first pair of denims. Don't tell me he doesn't look adorable. It's hard to think he is only 3 months old as he looks a lot older.
Elliot wearing his first pair of denims
I immediately switched to "grandma mode" and swept him up into my arms and them went to change his nappy. Changing his nappy is now second nature to me although I learned the job more than 30 years ago and hadn't changed one till Elliot's arrival. He was in a playful mood afterwards feeling clean, fed and content and Eladio and I spent time enjoying being with him.

It was late by then and everyone went to sleep. I couldn't sleep as is normal for me and turned to TV streaming for entertainment. I watched the film "Snowden" about the famous CIA whistle blower and it made good watching. I eventually fell asleep and was awake on Thursday morning at about 6.45, a bit later than usual hahaha.

The news that morning was of Donald Trump's impeachment, the third in the history of the USA. Voting took place the day  before and impeachment was passed by 230 votes to 197. All this came from the now well known story of the Ukrainian affair where the US President abused power by putting pressure on the Kiev government to investigate his democratic rival Joe Biden. When I read the news I thought that's it, he's impeached, so he's out. It's not as simple as that I'm afraid and Trump will remain in office for at least another year before the the next stage which is a hearing in the Senate where there is a republican majority.  Really the impeachment is only a vote in Congress to support a trial against the President. Thus the story will go on for a while. He is the third US President to be impeached but did you know that not one US President has ever been kicked out of office after impeachment? I doubt Trump will either although I wish he would.

The other news was domestic and depressing. It's hard to explain if you are not familiar with the ins and outs of the Catalan independence issue dividing the region and causing tension in the country and in the negotiations to form a government depending on one of their parties (ERC).  This week the  European Court of Justice ruled that its head, Oriol Junqueras, who is in prison, has political immunity and should be allowed to take up his seat as an MEP. The Spanish courts ruled that when he was voted an MEP, he could not take up the position as he was in pre trial detention and thus could not swear the oath of the Spanish constitution. Therefore the European Court of Justice has overruled Spanish law, something that has infuriated people here. To top it all, this same ruling allowed the two independence politicians, Puigdemont and Comin who fled to Brussels to escape Spanish justice, to pick up their MEP credentials the next day. It's one big mess and what infuriates me and many other people is that the PSOE (socialist) leader, Pedro Sánchez, needs the support or rather the abstention of the ERC party to be sworn in as President. This means the next government will have to depend on the Catalan independence parties for every move they make, independence parties that are enemies of the unity of Spain. If only Pedro Sánchez would come to his senses and not rely on ERC but get suppory from the other constitutional parties, the PP and Ciudadanos. Meanwhile the European court ruling has given the ERC party even more fuel in its negotiations with the PSOE. They will be asking for even more concessions for their 10 MPs to abstain in the investiture. To me it seems that Pedro Sánchez has sold himself to the devil. When I saw little Elliot later my thoughts turned away from the disastrous political situation in Spain to my darling grandson. 

It's always lovely to have Elliot with us in the morning as we did on Thursday. He is at his best in the morning except that day he was quite sleepy which is pretty unusual for him. He was in and out of slumber land and I love the photo his father took of him with his eyes half open and his arm under his head in his green and white striped pyjamas.
Elliot content and half asleep on Thursday morning
It rained all day and this was apparently the effect of what was dubbed "storm Elsa". It's funny how storms have names these days. Thus there was no walk for us. The weather got worse as the week progressed and 6 people died which is a very sorry toll. Wind battered Spain and it was very strong and quite frightening. We kept wondering if one of our trees would fall but thankfully we were incident free. 

The highlight of the day was a family dinner at Oli and Miguel's place. We always love going there, not just to be together but because we are always served excellent grub. With his new cooking device, similar to a Thermomix, Miguel had made a delicious mushroom soup as well as anchovy and sardine spreads. The table was groaning with food as you can see in the photo below.
The dinner table at Oli and Miguel's on Thursday night
Elliot behaved perfectly as we ate, sitting in his little rocking chair until he started protesting. What he far prefers is being at the same height as us which I suppose is natural. Soon he will be able to sit in a high chair. Now that will be fun.  Oli and Miguel plied us with all sorts of chocolates and turrones (Spanish nougat) after dinner and we all felt full and content, too full really. It was then time for a family photo. It was a pity Elliot was asleep while it was taken. Here I am with my lovely family, Eladio and my two gorgeous girls, Oli and Suzy. I am so pleased she was finally able to join us for Christmas this year as it just wouldn't have been the same without Suzy. 
With my lovely family
Later I turned this photo into a Christmas greeting which everyone loved but nearly all asked where was Elliot? Well, he was asleep when we took the photo but no worries, we shall do another Christmas greeting photo on the 24th to include my father and our grandson.
Our online family greeting card without Elliot I am afraid as he was asleep when I took the photo:-)

We drove home in torrential rain and came home to deal with the dogs who had been locked in the kitchen in our absence. They were all reluctant to go out in the wet weather to do their business hahahaa.

We were in bed quite late but even so watched a bit of "telly". We watched the end of a very interesting documentary on the Kennedy family. What came next was the most depressing documentary I have ever seen. It was about a psychiatric hospital in Aleppo of all places. Thankfully we soon fell asleep.

Friday came and I woke up to more rain as storm Elsa lashed across the country.  I went out with Eladio to order the "bird" for our Christmas lunch, far preferring a "pularda" which I think is called a poulet to turkey. We then went to buy more Christmas lottery tickets and afterwards to our favourite bakery, Alverán to order pastries (mostly mini croissants) for our Christmas morning breakfast. Just as we were leaving Alverán and before driving home, I geared Eladio towards a local florist. I wanted to buy a big Poinsettia plant to add to our Christmas decorations as the one I had bought a while ago had withered to death. I also wanted to buy one for our neighbours as a Christmas gesture as they are such nice people. We couldn't have better neighbours than the Russo Spanish couple, Ekaterina and Julio. Here I am leaving the florist, plants in hand. I do love poinsettias and in Spain where they are called "flor de pascua" they are very Christmassy.
Buying poinsettia plants
We were not home long before we went out again on our walk. Thankfully by then the rain had stopped. At around 1.45, when Suzy had finished her lessons, I accompanied her to an appointment she had in the nearest town to our house. Thus we missed lunch with my father and Eladio and had it on our own when we got back. Again we went out, not long after on a lovely mission; last minute Christmas shopping together. I had bought all our presents when Suzy announced she was coming home so I needed to buy her her presents and she wanted to buy her presents to us all. Suzy, being a vegan and living in South East Asia, has become a bit anti consumer so we could only choose things we or she thought we really needed. Our expedition was a success, despite the traffic and the crowds and we were home by 6.30.

We were all going out that night; Suzy to  Elena's house and Eladio and I to dinner with friends. But first Suzy wanted to try on some of my dresses and Olivia's for a night on the town on Saturday. She looked stunning in everything but in this little black dress she looks simply gorgeous. Even Suzy, who usually finds fault with herself, could not find anything wrong with it and was quite pleased with how she looked. I do wish she would love herself a bit more. This is my daughter in Oli's dress, by the way, looking simply spectacular. I am sure you all agree.
My beautiful daughter Suzy dressed in black
I got ready to go out too but did not look nearly as spectacular as my daughter hahaha. In any case there is no photo to compare. Many people say that Suzy looks like me which I can only take as a compliment. It's funny, but as a mother, I do not see the resemblance.

Eladio and I were going out to dinner with our friends Javier and Ana whom we hadn't seen since the summer before last, far too long a gap. There was lots to catch up about each other's lives. Amazingly their second child, Laura had got married since we last saw them and their two eldest, Ignacio and Laura made them grandparents this summer of two lovely boys, Pablo and Matthew who were born within 12 days of each other. Since we last met we all became grandparents. A lot of our conversation at dinner at Tanteo in Majadahonda was about how our lives have changed. I think we all expressed a feeling that although we are delighted to have grandchildren, the fact that we have become grandparents has made us realise just how old we are now. Of course we are older but having Elliot in our lives, compensates any negative feelings about age, at least in our mind. The food was great; tapas of different sorts, but there was so much to talk about I hardly noticed what I was eating. In fact we sat and talked until terribly late. I couldn't believe it was past 2 in the morning when we finally got into bed. That is incredibly late for us who usually go to bed at just after 9 pm hahaha. I knew I wouldn't get much sleep that night and woke up at 7 am on Saturday morning.

Suzy was staying at Elena's, Andy had gone back to France for the holiday so it was just Eladio, my father, Lucy and I at home that morning. We had no guests coming until the end of next week, a fact I relished. I have, of course, blocked the Airbnb calendar for the most festive days.  But then suddenly I got a request to book for that very night. It came from two US scientists from Alaska of all places. They would be arriving later last night. Thus we had to turf poor Suzy out of her room and get it ready for their arrival. The green room was ready so if they needed a room each all would be ok.

On Saturday morning it was raining again - oh how I hate rain. Storm Elsa was at its worst yesterday and we never left the house. It was so windy it was too unpleasant to go out. Saturday was not a good day. It was full of bad news. Poor Eladio's 98 old year mother fell and broke her hip and will be operated on in a week's time. It's a very dangerous operation for such an old woman and I really hope she is ok with the anesthesia. Another bit of bad luck is that Eladio damaged our old Volvo which will need mending and of course with it being the Christmas period it will take some time. Thankfully we have my mini although Suzy uses it most of the time. Over dinner alone with Eladio I suddenly broke one of my back teeth. Oh dear I thought, tomorrow is Sunday so I won't be able to do anything until Monday but will my dentist be open then I wondered. I will  find out tomorrow. It began to hurt during the night. I knew I should be taking antibiotics which I don't have and wonder how I am going to get today. The last thing I need now before Christmas is a tooth problem as I can only eat on one side but most of all I dread the pain.

On the bright side, we loved watching The Two Popes on Netflix last night. It was right up our street. We were interrupted by the arrival of our Alaskans who didn't get here until past 10 at night. As I write they have left so it was a short stay.

Today is Sunday 22nd December, the day of the Spanish "El Gordo" lottery draw. Will we become millionaires? It's no doubt wishful thinking but one likes to dream. If it's not us who wins we shall still be content as we have our health and all things necessary for a good life so I am not complaining. My complaints are always minor. That is something I appreciate even more after my dear friend Fátima's departure on 5th December, something I shall never ever forget. I still miss her and will miss her always. She did not get the luck I did and I only wish I could have given her some of mine. Sorry to end on such a sad note.

I have now come to the end of the tales of this week and all that remains is to wish you all a very Happy Christmas. I'll be back next Sunday when it is all over. Hope you have a great time.

Cheers till next Sunday,
Masha




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