Santa Pola, Sunday, 6th November 2022
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| At the Parador in Albacete yesterday on our trip to Santa Pola |
Dear all.
We are now into November, my least favourite month of the year together with January. But you wouldn't believe it was November if you were here with me by the coast in Santa Pola. The sun is shining and life is good. We hadn't been back since before the summer and had been chomping at the bit to come for quite a while but for one reason or another we were not able to. We were going to come on Monday but I had forgotten to block the calendar and a family from England beat me to it. They came last Wednesday and left yesterday morning. This time I did block the calendar and here we are, happy to be back at our pad by the sea for a few days.
We were far away from the sea last Sunday, busy at home seeing off a group of guests and getting ready to receive a new one; another digital nomad, this time from Germany. Mario was very brave and swam in the pool that afternoon and has to be on record as the last person to bathe in it this year - sorry it wasn't you Kathy or Suzy who dived in for a TV programme. Sadly it was cleaned, covered and closed later in the week.
Sunday last was the first day of DST and I was up at the new 7 am with lots on my mind as Oli and her brood were coming for lunch. So after our walk, Eladio and I went to buy ingredients for the last BBQ of the season (hates lasts) and of course going out included coffee at Alverán, served by the kind waiter Abel. Eladio always wants to ask him why he killed his brother Cain (hahaha).
Soon we were home, unloading the food and preparing lunch. Eladio was to be the chef for the BBQ. Here he is doing a job I love to watch him doing.
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| Eladio making our lunch last Sunday - the last barbecue of the season |
Lunch, unfortunately, had to be inside as it rained for a few minutes and we deemed it too cold at 20ºc for eating outside. Thus we all convened in our huge dining room to devour the amazing meat and sausages. Oli had brought all sorts of sweet pastries for after lunch but I did not indulge as I am still on a diet. But she and Elliot aren't and both have sweet teeth, just like me and my dear father RIP.
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| Oli and Elliot enjoying chocolate "palmeras" after lunch last Sunday |
We always have a siesta after lunch if we can but I sacrificed it to spend more time with my grandchildren. I played a lot with Elliot and with Juliet who were not inclined to fall asleep. Dear Juliet who is now 14 months old still isn't walking but will do so if you hold her hand, bless her.
They left at around 6.30 or so and I promptly went upstairs to lie down and rest. My knee with its torn meniscus was hurting as stupidly I had worn high heels - albeit wedge ones - to the birthday party the night before. I should never have done that. Suzy was back soon with two new friends, Marta and Noelia but they largely left me alone and I was able to start watching Season 4 of The Crown yet again. As the 5th season was coming out this week, I wanted to watch it again to remember what had happened before I started the new season. I am such a sucker for stories about the Royal family.
I had missed the 3 o'clock news so watched the 9 o'clock news. Spanish TV had gone all out to cover the Brazilian elections; a very close shave between the socialist Lula and far right wing President Bolsonaro. It wasn't until midnight that we learned that Lula had won, albeit with a very small margin. I'm no great fan of Lula but certainly didn't want the far right Bolsonaro, a sort of Brazilian styled Trump or Johnson to win again. Just as I don't like endings or lasts, I do not like "far" in politics be they right or left wing. We also learned of the terrible tragedy of a pedestrian suspension bridge in India that had collapsed and killed 141 people. It came one day after the Halloween party tragedy in Seoul the day before that claimed 154 victims.
Oh how I hate Halloween. You may wonder why in this week's headline I have written the name of this awful American holiday that celebrates death, as "Hawolleen". Well, that is because my 3 year old grandson, Elliot, pronounces it this way and I found it funny. I was pleased to know his school - a state run Spanish school - wrote to the parents to say the school does not celebrate Halloween. Juliet's did though and she went dressed as a devil (how awful).
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| Poor little Juliet in her devil outfit on Halloween this week |
Oli invited us the next day to the "Trick or Treat" event where they live and although I am so against this imposed tradition, I couldn't say no as I wanted to see my grandchildren enjoying themselves.
After the news we watched a documentary about Amazon and how it has become the world's biggest online shopping centre. It mostly focused on what it does wrong. I am an avid Amazon shopper and often stop to think how I contribute to the success and power of this American giant in the world. Maybe I should stop shopping there but it makes my life so easy. We don't live on a high street and if I had to go out physically to find the items I buy online, I would waste so much time and petrol. They are good at looking after their customers but definitely not so good at looking after their workers, especially the packers and deliverers.
I didn't sleep too badly and was awake just before 7 am - the old 8 am which gave me one more hour in the day on Monday. Monday 31st October was the last day of the month and also the official day of Halloween which I would have preferred to ignore. Sadly that day, the pool was finally covered for the winter, something which always makes me a bit sad. With one hour less of daylight a Finnish friend complained of the dark that day; nearly total darkness at 5 pm. I looked at our sky and although very autumnal (it rained that day), at least it was still light then and would be so until around 7 pm. This was what the day looked like then at our home.
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| It's really looking like autumn now |
It was a day of ups and downs and very busy. I woke up to a pleasant surprise; a new booking from a chap from Canada who has come for a whole month. Roger will be occupying my dear father's room. It was on our walk that I was inundated with messages from a prospective but not very savvy Airbnb guest. My whole walk was taken up by stopping to reply while Eladio and Pippa patiently walked ahead. Finally when I got home the lady had made the booking. She came shortly afterwards.
The lady turned out to be from Iran but lives in Kuwait where she has lived for 30 years to escape the oppressive Iranian regime. She had come to be with her daughter studying dentistry here and in her first year and wanted to be able to cook for her; something she couldn't do from her hotel. It turns out she runs her own Persian restaurant in Kuwait so no doubt she knows how to cook very well. I welcomed Shabnam warmly and in between cooking myself had a short chat about the plight of women, especially right now, in Iran. She sadly looked at me and said "they are killing them". Indeed they are. It is her opinion that the regime is favoured by the UK who she called a racist country (my country I tried to point out) and the US. Is she right? Heaven forbid. We got to know each other during the week and I realised at one point that she is my first ever friend from Iran. As her name is a bit complicated she told us to call her "Shabby". Well, she is anything but shabby. She is the personification of elegance and dresses beautifully. I was later introduced to her equally beautiful mother and sister - on her phone of course. She is fun to be with and I am honoured to now have a woman friend from Iran. I feel for all the others and only wish more could be done for them.
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| With Shabnam, my guest from Iran |
I was busy literally all morning with guest related work but it makes me happy. However, I was exhausted by the time I hit my bed to watch the news after lunch. My knee was hurting so much I made an appointment with the traumatologist to see if I could reschedule the operation to repair my torn meniscus. As the week has progressed the pain has finally gone Thank you God.
But I was up and ready to go out again in the afternoon with Eladio to see Oli and her kids. We agreed to go at 6 and Suzy would join us at 7. I had expected to see the kids in their Halloween outfits but no. Elliot didn't want to wear his and I suppose Juliet didn't mind. So while Oli was clearing up the flat, folding clothes, removing stains, etc, we played with our grandchildren. They have loads of toys - of course - but it was this torn cardboard box they preferred and which had them chuckling. I had to have a photo.
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| The children largely ignoring Halloween on Monday |
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| Suzy getting into the spirit of Halloween |
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| Elliot's Halloween moment |
It was getting late and the kids were tired so Eladio and I left to go home and have a quiet dinner together - the kids, mostly Elliot, had exhausted us. We remarked that "Hawolleen" had been a bit of a disappointment as Elliot was only interested in the sweets hahahaha. Later Suzy told us that he had chucked them all out from their terrace to the trickers and treaters (is that what you call them?) outside. Great.
My day ended with more of season 4 of The Crown.
Tuesday was 1st November, the real All Saints' Day and a national holiday in Spain - when people take flowers to the cemeteries. I have no cemetery nearby to do that but promise I shall place flowers on my parents' grave which I shall visit this month. I am looking forward with a bit of sadness to see the tombstone that now includes a dedication to my father. He left a tiny amount of space for himself but I managed to fill it with what I wanted to say.
Despite it being a national holiday, both Oli and Miguel had to work as TV never stops. But there would be no school for the children whom we would have to look after that morning. Miguel brought them round at about 10.30 and soon they were playing in the toy corner of the "cat lounge" - what we call the library lounge where Phoebe spends part of her mornings. They rushed to play with the toys neatly set out and soon everything was in a mess as is to be expected when you are invaded by toddlers aged 1 and 3 hahahahaha. I caught them on camera with their impish faces.
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| Looking after the grandchildren on Tuesday morning |
Soon Oli was back as she starts at 6 am and finishes at midday.That meant she could take over the kids. Miguel would help her a bit when he arrived to join us for lunch although he had to be out again and off to Avila to shoot something for the telly that night. We had a quiet lunch together and at one point both babies were asleep. It was a great relief for us all. We love our grandchildren but tiring doesn't even begin to describe what their company is like. I only wish I had the strength and stamina of a younger woman. This week my aches and pains; part of growing old - got me down a bit. My knee was playing up, my ankle was slightly sprained and the joint on the thumb of my right hand hurt, owing to arthritis. Lovely eh? Those are not the perks of old age.
I tried to have a short nap after lunch but the noise of the children kept me awake so I got up and joined them. It was only after they left at around 7 pm that I could finally rest and I went upstairs to lie down and watch The Crown.
Wednesday 2nd November came. If 1st November is All Saints' Day, 2nd November is the "day of the dead" - the correct date for taking flowers to cemeteries. However, as the 2nd is not a holiday, most people take them on All Saints' Day. Our conversation at lunch the day before was gloomy. Somehow we started talking about the dates of the death of our nearest relatives. I can never forget my brother died on 15th May, my mother died on 1st October and that my father died,nearly a year ago, on 8th November. Miguel will never forget his own father died two years ago on 15th August. RIP. That got us talking about our own deaths - Eladio's and mine obviously as we are old or getting old. Oli wanted to know our preferences. They are to be buried together. I personally hate cremation but said it was up to her as I wouldn't be paying hahahaha. As to where, well we are still not sure. I tried to stop the gloomy conversation without much success.
On Wednesday I was up so early at 5.30 am and just could not sleep. Owing to my aches and pains in my knee, ankle and wrist, I skipped a walk thinking my limbs needed a rest. They did. Instead we went to do the all important food shopping of the week. There was time for coffee at Alverán too. I am proud to tell you that I paid for the parking slot with a new app called Telpark using my phone. Instead of having to go in search of a complicated street parking machine when I often don't even have a coin, this is the new and fast way to park at a distance. The app even tells you how much time you have left and whether you want to top up or not. Oh and finally this week I mastered TV mirroring so that I can see content on the iPad player (or other sites) on our Samsung TV. I tried to do it with my iPad Pro but it proved easier between a Samsung phone and a Samsung TV. Sometimes I hate technology but sometimes I love it.
Just before we left home, a new guest arrived. Jushna is a young girl from the south of India (would love to go there) who is a teacher of English in Spain. She came to do a course at the local UEM - my main target guests. She was beautiful; honestly. I lent her Oli's bike to get around for which she was very grateful. I hardly saw her but wished I had had the opportunity to get to know her better.
Roger came that day too. He came instead of at 2 or at 3, at 5 so interrupted my siesta. Not his fault. He has come for a month and will be doing a course at the same University in football coaching! It turns out he was born in Panama, his family had to exile to Canada after the US coup but his mother is from Costa Rica, his father from Nicaragua and his wife from New Zealand. Amazing! He had chosen my father's room - The Book Room. He looked at the photos on the wall and I pointed out my father's matriculation photo at Cambridge in 1938. He pointed out 2 black men - amazing for those times, to which I replied "not one woman! How things have changed. Very sadly of all those men in the photo, very few survived WW2. After showing Roger his room, I gave him a tour of the house which included the kitchen. And there was Shabnam cooking Persian food for her lucky daughter. She welcomed him and told him he was lucky to be in "Masha's house". So sweet.
Only then was I able to rest and I spent the time watching more of The Crown. Dinner time came and it was just my husband and myself. The day ended watching the news and not much more. The news is dire. That day news of BBC report reached Spain and shook politics. Called Death on the Border and in other articles "How Spain looked on as dozens crushed to death on its border" it is about the violent reaction of both the Moroccan and Spanish police to a surge of African migrants trying to climb the wall into the Spanish enclave in Africa called Mellilla. It happened on 24th June last and was horrible to watch - the Moroccan police beat many of the migrants to death while the Spanish Guardia Civil looked on. The latter even pushed back as many as 300 or so of them who reached Spanish territory which is illegal. The footage was grim.
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| The shameful and horrible walled border between Spain and Morocco in Mellilla |
In Spain everyone knew about the incident and basically blamed the Moroccan police but this BBC investigation showed that some were killed on Spanish territory. The worst thing was how the Spanish police looked on and let it happen. Up to 90 were killed. I am disgusted as is my daughter Olivia who was covering the story for RTVE. So shocking was the report that it reached Spanish Parliament. Good old BBC I thought but how shameful for Spain. Oli said it made us look like a third world country and she made a very valid point. If you are in the UK you can watch the report called "Death on the Border" on the BBC iPlayer. If you aren't there is a shortened version on YouTube which you can watch here. If this was a terrible story on Spain's human rights, this week the UK government are in the front line too for the treatment of Channel Migrants housed in a terrible detention centre in Manston Kent. It's one big row in the UK and I don't see it going away soon until more humane treatment is given to people who risk their lives, many escaping terror or war, to come to safe country. There is nothing safe about how they are being treated on arrival. Even worse, as the centre is overstretched, many have been sent in buses to Victoria Station in London and dropped off with no one to help them. Many were wearing flip flops and only a blanket to cover them and had no money for food or accommodation. What sort of countries treat migrants like that I ask myself? The whole story disgusted me.
Thursday came and I had an important appointment with a traumatologist. It was raining and I had planned to go with plenty of time but with one thing and another I left with not much time on my hands. As usual, Suzy had brought my Mini home with no petrol which added at least 10 minutes to my journey as I had to fill the tank. I then somehow made my way to the hospital in Alcorcón, an area that always confounds me. I had to park at Leroy Merlin as the hospital car park was full. I didn't have to wait to see Dr. Escobar though. He had all my notes and test results and I was there to make a new appointment for an operation on the torn meniscus in my left knee. He explored it and agreed it was torn. But, before opting for surgery, he wants to do a special X-ray to see how far gone the wear and tear is so as to decide whether the operation will be a success or not. I was given an appointment for the x-ray and to see him on 16th of this month, the day I am going to England. Thus I postponed it to 25th November. That same day I have my flu and 4th Covid booster jab. So more doctors appointments to come this month.
Driving home was much easier with no rush and no rain. I came home to find a quiet house. Only Shabnam was in the kitchen making Persian food again for her daughter. I made plain poached salmon with leak for our lunch which doesn't taste as good but is better for my figure. Oh how I long to try her delicious looking dishes.
Of note that day, both in the US and the UK the banks raised interest rates. In my homeland it went up to 3% which will have a huge affect on many people's lives; especially those with mortgages. The UK is going into a recession as bad as that of the 1930's when my father was a young man. Not good.
After the evening news I wasn't able to watch anything apart from the news and quickly fell asleep as I had been up before 6 am the day before. The same happened on Friday morning when I was awake at just past 5 am!!! So the day was long. The morning was spent on errands. Eladio took the old Volvo to be repaired while I went out to do some last minute shopping to take to Santa Pola. I managed a coffee alone at Alverán before heading home. It was to say goodbye to dear Jushna, our delightful Indian guest. What a lovely, lovely girl she is and I hope I see her again. It was not until after lunch that Mario, our German guest who is a bit of a digital nomad, left. I had allowed him to stay on so as he could work from home before leaving. He was another delightful guest and he left me a great review. Thanks Mario. Enjoy your travels and I hope you come back again too.
That left only Shabnam and Roger whom I hardly saw that day. We had a quiet siesta which was interrupted by a call from Oli. Could she and the kids come and spend the afternoon? Of course. By then Lili, our housemaid had gone away for the weekend which meant I had to do all the clearing up when they left and the washing up. Elliot was particularly boisterous that day and Juliet, although dubbed the little angel is becoming less and less so hahaha. We were exhausted when they left and all we could do was go upstairs and to bed. Again I fell asleep early, over the news, and woke up on Saturday morning at around 4 am (bloody hell!). I got out of bed at about 5.15 with another long day ahead of me. But I was happy as we would be travelling again.
I did all the packing; a huge suitcase for me and a tiny one for Eladio plus bags of food and household goods for our stay. It was Saturday and we wouldn't be able to do the shopping until tomorrow so I needed provisions. The car, my little Mini, also carried little Pippa. We made good headway, stopped for a coffee and petrol and for lunch at the Parador in Albacete. We love Paradors and the food was great. I had fresh grilled artichokes, half a plate of ratatouille followed by fruit salad. Delicious. I had to have a photo when we left to illustrate this week's blog post.
We arrived at around 4.30 to brilliant sunshine and to be greeted by our neighbour Lucy who also cleans the flat for us and our guests. So we soon settled in as there was no cleaning to do. What luxury. We could have gone for a walk but preferred to stay indoors to read and chill out. I had brought both our PC's, as usual, and here is a photo of Eladio on his. It is taken from our lovely little terrace.
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| Eladio on his PC yesterday in the apartment |
Soon it was time for dinner; a simple meal of vegetable soup, ham, salad and fruit. Later we watched a film with the actor from Schindler's List, Liam Neeson. We missed the beginning but I think it was called Unknown. I was tired and would normally have gone to bed early but was riveted until the end.
Today is Sunday and the sun is shining. The temperature according to my phone will reach 23ºc but the TV weather forecast says 26ºc. I suppose that temperatures like these in this area of Spain are the one advantage of climate change. Ah and on that topic, finally, Rishi Sunak, made a volte-face and will be present at COP 22 in Egypt next week. Still, though, Prince Charles - sorry King Charles - will not be there. Bad decision.
My only decision to make this morning is what to do today and we are free to choose whatever we want to do with no responsibilities at all. Aren't we lucky?
Now is the time to sign off and wish you all the best for today and the coming week. Till next Sunday, cheers,
Masha.
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