Sunday 25th September, 2022
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| The birthday boy with his grandson on Friday |
How are you all feeling? I have to say this week after the Queen's funeral I have been feeling a bit flat. It didn't help that I have a nasty cold. The week improved though as on Friday we celebrated Eladio's birthday. It's beyond belief that he is now 78. 78 is old, it is, but he he does not look old. Suzy who has worked with elderly people as a dietitian commented that most people his age are in a bad physical condition. He is not. She mentioned his teeth? Why his teeth? Well, because most people his age have bad teeth yet his are perfect. A year or so ago he had an implant and the colour he got was A1, the brightest there is. Many moons ago my teeth were also A1, but sadly that is no longer so. I asked him how he felt. I think he is slightly alarmed that he is nearly 80 and what that means. We all want to live a long time but with good health and a sound mind and only a very small percentage of those in their 90's or 100's manage that. I think, maybe, Eladio will be one of them. He better as he is twelve and half years older than me and I need him by my side for a long time still. Thus we must enjoy every day and try to keep healthy. Thankfully this week, after all our travels, we have resumed our morning walks. My new Samsung smart watch monitors my steps and for the most I have done 10.000 a day. That has to continue.
There have been 3 family birthdays in September. Juliet turned 1 on the 4th and little Elliot turned 3 last Saturday. We celebrated it that day and the celebrations continued on Sunday. Oli's Uni friend, "Anita" came for lunch and brought one of her spectacular home made cakes - I always say she could make a living out of them. Of course Elliot didn't eat any of it - kids don't - but he loved the candle moment and the singing of Happy Birthday to you. He was all smiles.
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| Elliot's second birthday cake - c/o Anita looking at him lovingly in this photo |
Even though the house was full of guests, there are plenty of places to escape to and I chose my bedroom to watch the end of The Queue of those people wanting to pay their final respects to the Queen at Westminster Hall. How I wished I was one of them, even if I had to queue all night. I began to wonder why I didn't just catch a flight to London when I heard that The Queen had died but I suppose I couldn't just up and leave although my heart said otherwise. At 8pm that night there was a minute's silence when Big Ben was supposed to mark the moment but things went wrong. Watching my iPad with headphones on I joined forces with those marking the moment and that's when my tears came again for a second time. I still can't take in that The Queen, a presence in my life since I was born, is now no longer with us. It's a very empty feeling. For some reason though I didn't cry during the funeral, just watched the greatest show of pageantry on earth with a small lump in my throat. It was perhaps just too somber.
For history's sake, I want to reproduce here a photo from The Times with the funeral plans.
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| The Queen's funeral - planned with military precision |
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| Second row European Royalty - from right to left - King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, former King Juan Carlos and former Queen Sofia - also estranged from her erring husband. She lives in London and he lives in Abu Dhabi. |
We all knew at home here in Madrid that this did not go down well with the Spanish government nor the Spanish Royal Family. If the British Royal family have their problems with Harry and Meghan and Harry (what a silly and sad story), in Spain the problems come from the bad relations with the current King and his father.
Apart from our morning walk, I spent most of the day on my bed watching and grieving and wishing I was in the UK. I also had the nasty cold coming on which didn't help my mood.
It is a 'Saparavi", Qvevri wine from the Vazisubani Estate and has a 4 star rating on Vivino, that popular wine lovers' app.
As I watched the funeral cortege taking the Queen's coffin from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey with all its symbolism, I thought of the pride the mothers of the pall bearers watching their sons carrying her late majesty. It was the funeral of the century and the biggest since the death of George VI. They said 500 heads of state came to London which was the centre of the world last week. What a miracle of diplomacy to host them all and get the seating right. Imagine the protocol involved. I can't. It has to be thanks to years of planning for the Queen's death code named Operation Tower Bridge (also London Bridge is down) and Operation Unicorn - if she died in Scotland as she did - and for Operation Spring Tide (plans for Charles' ascension to the throne(. Each step after her death had a code name. These are just some of them. All the years of planning proved successful as Britain put on the greatest show of pageantry, pomp and tradition, only the Brits are capable of. It's their soft power, as it was the Queen's soft power that glued the country together. The pageantry will continue but somehow it will never be the same without Her Majesty who reigned for 70 years.
We also know the Queen was heavily involved in all the details. I was most interested to know what the order of service would be like and especially her choice of music. This is it, also for the sake of history. I liked her choice of the hymn, Immortal Invisible God only wise. That was one I considered for my father's funeral. I also liked the choice of the Psalm to be read by the new PM Liz Truss, the same one I chose - The Lords my Shepherd and from the King James Bible - the old fashioned version. The order of service reminded me of the one I put together for my father's memorial service at Bradford Cathedral on May 6th this year with its beautiful pomp on a tiny scale, of course, but oh so meaningful. When he turned 100 in 2019, he received a beautiful card from The Queen which is in prime position in his old room. Now people will get one from King Charles III which is not quite the same is it? My father lived through the reign of 4 kings; George V when he was born, then came came Edward VIII who didn't last a year, then King George VI and finally Queen Elizabeth who took over in 1952 when her father died only in his 50's. So how many people living in Great Britain today will have been alive before she became Queen I wondered? Only 20% of the current population is the answer. But most of us have only ever known one monarch, Queen Elizabeth II and that is just one of the reasons we will miss her. There are many more.
I think I spent the whole day devoted to watching the processions and funeral as well as the Committal service at Windsor. Perhaps that for me was the most poignant. What I missed were tributes, spoken tributes like at my father's funeral but there were none. In their place were the presence of her last two corgis and her beloved pony, Emma, with her favourite Hermes headscarf draped over the Queen's saddle. It is said that these two events were additions to Operation London Bridge, possibly introduced by her adored grand children. Another poignant moment was seeing her great grandchildren, George and Charlotte aged 9 and 7 walking behind her coffin. They are now 3rd and 4th in line to the throne.
Here are some pics of the day. There are many more, but these are ones I particularly liked.
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| Pictures of the day |
Tuesday came and we had planned to go to our apartment by the beach near Santa Pola but with a cold I just didn't feel like going. I felt completely flat after the funeral. In fact I felt a bit flat all week. It had rained and we went for a walk on wet terrain. While on our walk Eladio got a phone call from our insurance company offering him a death policy insurance policy!!! I hate those sort of calls but actually it got us both thinking about plans for our own deaths or our wishes for where we wanted to be buried. All we both know is that we want to be buried together. I would like to be buried with my parents in England but that isn't possible as there is no space left at the Charlestown Cemetery. I want a Church of England ceremony and for my girls to sing and my grandchildren to lead the tributes. Eladio didn't comment on a religious service. We debated on the location and haven't decided yet. One thing I know is that I don't want our ashes to be scattered over the sea or somewhere. Our conversation got me thinking I should maybe plan for Operation xxxx (can't think of a name) so that the girls know what to do when the time comes. Depressing right? Yes, well, it is.
It's depressing too that Lucy, our housekeeper of 4 years, is not with us. I understand she has to be with her husband in Paraguay who by the way had a successful operation on his pancreas and is now recovering with his wife's "tlc". But with Lucy not here, I have to make the meals. Her replacement, the sweet young Lili, is doing a good job, or the best she can, but doesn't know how to cook. I have showed her how to make a few dishes but it will take time. Thus I made our lunch every day this week and our dinners. But at least she was there to clear away. We have become very lazy in that way.
Our French family who had been with us for about a week left that day and there were only Diego the Mexican and Sam and Andy from Glasgow - good on them they went to see museums in the city - there until my next guests arrived on Thursday and Friday. I did go out for a walk that day and then in the afternoon for a prescription for my cold but that was about it. I wondered if my feeling flat or down was more to do with the passing of the Queen and the official end of the national mourning period. I do not know.
I came back to make his birthday lunch - roast and stuffed shoulder of lamb - only to find the girls had changed my plans. Instead of a birthday lunch it was to be a birthday dinner. Thus I had to cancel and make a new reservation for dinner out to Saturday and then come up with a menu for the dinner at home.
Wednesday was shopping day. We said goodbye, or rather hugged Sam and Andy, and off we went. Shopping included a coffee together at Alverán which cheered me up enormously. What did not were Putin's threats from Moscow. He once again is threatening to push the nuclear power button. Can we believe him? He has also announced mobilisation of over 300.000 new troops as the war in Ukraine is not going well for Russia. That lead to protests and arrests and it also lead to lots of young Russian men trying to escape the country. What a mess. I haven't written much about the Ukraine war since it started in February. I just can't keep up. At the beginning it was headline news for months and now I think readership fatigue has set in as it always does. But somehow I don't see an end to it. Putin's madness doesn't end there. He is also organising illegal referendums in pro Russian territories in Ukraine which no doubt will be completely rigged. The only good thing in all this mess is that the West continues to support Kiev by supplying weapons and training troops to such an extent it may still be possible for Ukraine to win the war. Time will tell but it will be long and drawn out and meanwhile most of the country destroyed. Russia had become a pariah once again. I have Russian roots but I hate what is happening as most sensible people in the world do. My daughter Suzy who doesn't follow the news at all, said to her father one day at lunch this week, "He's a bit like Hitler I think". In his madness I would say she is right.
Thursday was the quietest day of the week. I went on my walk with Pippa while Eladio mowed the whole lawn or lawns, one big and two small. It took him the better part of the day. An American lady was arriving in the morning. She came with her daughter and I didn't see much of her and could never have expected the trouble she would cause me.
Friday was the big day this week. It was my dear husband Eladio's birthday, the third birthday this month. I had ordered the famous M+S Colin Caterpillar cake from British Corner Shop online. Unfortunately it arrived rather broken - the head had come off and some of the white chocolate legs. It was badly packaged - I actually think the M+S packaging is at fault - but BSC made good and gave me an immediate refund. That didn't stop us using it though when I did my best to put it together again, a bit like Humpty Dumpty hahaha.
Our day started with a walk, not across the woods but to the local "churros" bar where we had a coffee and I had a "porra". I got a photo of the birthday boy enjoying the moment.
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| The birthday boy on Friday at the local churros bar |
Oli and family arrived at around 4 just as my new guests arrived - a big family from Holland with their own kids aged the same as ours - 1 and 3. I was mortified the house was full of my family as I thought they were arriving later so it was a bit of a full house. They hadn't brought a car so borrowed a bike to do their shopping. Later a boy and a girl - part of their family who live not so far from here. arrived also by bike - to see them.
While our grandchildren were up and about until late, I heard from the Dutch family that they put their 1 and 3 year old children to bed every day at 6 and 7 pm respectively. I tried telling that to Oli and Miguel who have problems getting Elliot to sleep before 10. It is exhausting for Oli who is now up at 4 every morning to be at her programme by 5 am sharp.
Somehow we all managed to cook in the kitchen and finally our meal was ready outside. For the occasion I got out a bottle of wine from Georgia a recent Georgian guest, David, had brought me. I have never tasted Georgian wine but we liked it. We had a photo taken to send to David and his wife Irina thanking them for the wine. This is it.
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| Celebrating Eladio's birthday with Georgian wine from a past guest |
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| My first taste of Georgian wine. |
Later David sent me a link to show me that the traditional Georgian "Qvevri" wine making method is on the Unesco list of "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity". There you go, another lesson in different cultures for me thanks to my little hosting business.
Once we had finished our main courses- salmorejo with prawn salad and good Ibérico ham, it was time to sing Happy Birthday and get out Eladio's broken Colin Caterpillar cake. That was the highlight of his birthday. Here is a photo of the occasion. Elliot sat next to him and enjoyed helping his grandfather who he calls "Booboo", blowing out the candles.
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| The cake moment on Eladio's birthday on Friday |
But I did not get a good night's sleep. I fell asleep quite quickly but was awake again at about 11.30 pm. That's when I saw a message and missed call from our American lady guest. She had arrived late and couldn't get in the main door because someone had left the key on the other side. She must have waited a while but finally tried the kitchen door. It was open (it shouldn't have been) and in she went. When I woke up and saw the calls and messages I asked on whatsapp if she had got in ok to which she replied she had come through the kitchen door and I thought not much more about it. But oh dear she was very cross and started off a whatsapp chat that felt never ending. She would leave the next day and wanted a refund for the last two nights - Saturday and Sunday - and that if I didn't agree she would contact Airbnb. I was flabbergasted that she would react like that when nothing had really happened and she had been able to come inside. I am a good host, I allowed her to check in early when she came and allowed her to have her daughter here with her so I cannot understand her reaction. Thus I rung Airbnb immediately to tell them what had happened just for them to know my side of the story. I also sent them screen shots of our whatsapp chat. It was a good job I did as later the next day I got a call from Airbnb USA asking if I was willing to reimburse her for 2 nights. She had rung to make a complaint and get a reimbursement as she claimed she wasn't able to get into the house. The Whatsapp screenshots proved otherwise. She doesn't have a leg to stand on but she would try and try she did.
On Saturday morning I was up early in the kitchen. She walked in at about 7.20 and with smug sort of smile on her face asked me where to leave the keys. I just showed her where and said goodbye. That is possibly the worst ever experience I have had with a guest. But I had to get on with the day and put it past me. I was partially able to do so but the whole issue bugged me.
We had another quiet day yesterday. Who did not was Roger Federer appearing in his tournament The Laver Cup where he was playing doubles and his partner was his good friend and rival, Rafa Nadal. It was to be his last professional match. The whole thing was very emotional and I would have loved to have been there. Both men cried showing they are human. They really are, though on court they are made of other stuff. The Times this morning included this poignant picture of the two rivals of the century crying together and holding hands.
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| A sad goodbye for Roger Federer - here crying and holding hands with his good friend and rival Rafa Nadal at the Laver Cup yesterday |
What joy they have brought to tennis. It's sad to see Roger go. I wonder too how long Nadal has left to play. Aged 36 he is plagued with injury as was Federer so maybe too his time is up. But they have, together with Djokovic, perhaps brought to us all the most thrilling tennis ever.
While this was going on, Eladio and I had other plans. We went out to dinner to celebrate his birthday together quietly. We chose a new restaurant that has opened very near us and that was recommended to us by one of our French guests. We liked La Flaca as soon as we saw it. It is the most upmarket restaurant near us now. Dinner was good - sorry no photos as amazingly, for me, I had left my phone at home - but not spectacular. However we liked the decor and service was good so we shall be back. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner so maybe this is new place to try for our morning coffees. Watch this space Alverán.
We came home to a quiet house. Our Dutch family were enjoying the last hours of their stay with us. They will be leaving this morning and have been perfect guests. The Dutch are always fun and open in my experience.
They are the last of our summer guests and I only have one booking for this house - a student coming next week. I hope to get more but for the moment we shall enjoy having the house to ourselves.
Next week we may be off to Santa Pola where we couldn't go this week. I look forward to times on a sunny beach before the autumn sets in. Let's see if it happens.
Meanwhile, I wish you all the best until next Sunday,
Masha
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