Oli and family on "honeymoon" in Cádiz, off to cooler Montrondo, the official wedding photos are out, lunch in a prison and other stories of the week.

 Montrondo, Sunday, 2nd July, 2023

Lush and green Montrondo

Good morning everyone from my husband's village in Montrondo in the north west of Spain (Province of León). We have come here to escape the heatwave in Madrid and many parts of the country. As our village stands at 1000 metres, it is nearly always at least 10ºc less than at home . This week has been a scorcher and I really can't bare temperatures above 35ºc. Thankfully, I had the pool to cool off.  I used it a lot this week before we travelled here on Wednesday.

Last Sunday was a scorcher too and we took refuge by the pool. It was a very quiet day with little to report. Monday was hot and busy for me vs a vs my little hospitality business. Many people reserve months before coming but some reserve at the last minute. I had a few spots free in July at all three houses which worried me a bit but slowly they are being filled up. There are a few free days in El Cuetu which we have decided to book for ourselves and will be heading that way on 5th July. 

Monday came and off we went for our early morning walk at 08.30 when it was already very warm. Our morning coffee was at Alverán where we were joined by our friends, Roberto and Mari Carmen who are amicably divorced. They have just bought an apartment near the airport to rent on Airbnb and wanted to pick my brains. I have become something of an expert and it all seems easy to me now but it wasn't when I started. I should add it still isn't easy as it's a 24h job but at least I know how it works. 

While we had a quiet day at home apart from coffee out, Oli and her family were on their way to Sancti Petri (near Chiclana in Cádiz in the south west by the Atlantic) for their "honeymoon". They are staying at a fancy all inclusive hotel which looks perfect for kids. It was a 6 hour drive with only one stop and, despite their fears, the kids behaved well. Oli later sent us some pics which I'm happy to share here to remember her beach holiday.

The kids behaved in the car on their way to Sancti Petri on Monday

Their ground floor family room and terrace

Enjoying the beach and pool 

I enjoyed our own, far less fancy pool that afternoon too which I had to myself as our Swedish guests were out all day. The highlight of the afternoon was my weekly Skype call with Amanda just after a cold dip. She couldn't believe it was 38ºc, over 100f! - and neither could I. 

It was just Eladio and I for dinner. Suzy was out with friends, Tana had gone into Madrid and our guests were out. We had it as they say, "al fresco", except that it wasn't "fresco" hahahhaha. It was then we decided we would come here on Wednesday instead of Tuesday as we had too much on our plates on Tuesday. 

The day before coming here was all about preparations and other stuff. We had to go to Oli's flat to retrieve the key left behind by the cleaner, Zena, and lock the door. Oli also told us to take any food that could go bad. I then had to do shopping to leave with Tana and Suzy and to take to Montrondo as there are no shops here. It was over coffee at Alveran, we decided to block the 5 free days in Asturias for ourselves. We have done the same for 5 days that are free in July in Santa Pola. Otherwise I'm at 95% occupation which is brilliant. 

Eladio and Suzy had an important appointment at 1 with the town hall to get a census certificate. Without it she can't apply for a local health card which she needs to download her Covid vaccine certificates, which is a  supposed requisite to fly to Bali. You may remember that she was not allowed on the plane when she was supposed to be flying there last month. 

I also had to pack, not much for Montrondo as we have loads of clothes, etc there, but for Asturias where we never leave anything. I hate to add, "as it would get stolen" but that, my friends, is true. Guests often steal. It's sad, but it is true. 

All of that took up most of the morning. The rest of the day was quiet and extremely hot - compared to here. I spent part of the afternoon by the pool and later in the garden until it was time for a quiet dinner with my husband. We watched the news - Putin announcing he had stopped a civil war. Really? I honestly think the whole Wagner mutiny had more to do with the fact that he wanted to absorb the group into the Russian Army. We later watched another interview with Spain's PM, Pedro Sánchez in his unprecedented round of interviews in popular programmes such as "Lo de Evole" and that night in "El Hormiguero". He hardly ever appears on popular TV programmes and this is obviously his strategy to become more appealing for the upcoming elections. Outside Spain he is known as "Mr. Handsome". That is true but, as my Aunty Gloria used to say "never trust a book by its cover". He seems to be riding a wave of success as none of his interviewers - not great hardliners like in England - seem to be able to stop him in his tracks. 

I slept badly that night but I knew I would be able to catch up on some sleep in the car on our way to Montrondo on Wednesday. After saying goodbye to our Swedish guests - and hello to our Peruvian guests and hugging Suzy goodbye, we were off again; not in the Mini but in the old Volvo which knows the way to Montrondo very well. The Volvo also knows we always stop at Palacio de Bornos in Rueda for lunch whatever the time of day it is. We were there at noon, 2 hours earlier than our normal lunch time but still enjoyed a platter of ham and delicious white wine from the region. 

Sitting outside on the terrace for lunch at Palacio de Bornos in Rueda on our way here on Wednesday

We left the heat of Madrid for the cool of the mountains but I still found it warm when we arrived mid afternoon here on Wednesday. Everything was green and the grass was so long, all thanks to the recent rain - it has rained so much in this area as it has in the rest of Europe. We had last been in January when there was a huge snowfall, so the arrival was much more pleasant. We had cleaned the house when we left last time so I only had to deal with a few cobwebs, hahahaha - there are always so many here.

Once we had settled in, I plonked myself on the sunbed in the garden behind the house called "La Era" but I put it under the shade of a big apple tree. There I read and had my cup of decaf tea with Pippa lying on a soft blanket on the thick grass. Later Eladio cut part of the garden with his father's old scythe. 

It was lovely to be back. This is our second home really and has more emotional significance than anything else because my husband was born here and because we built the house to spec. We love it.

I slept well that night and woke up on Thursday morning at 7.40 am which is quite a record for me. Thursday would bring bad news but we didn't know that when we drove to Villablino to do the shopping. We just enjoyed the day. It was sunny but cold for us - 18ºc maximum compared to 35ºc in Madrid, would you believe? I took a good morning from Montrondo video to show you where we are which you can see here. While I took it, I felt on top of the world. I felt right at the bottom by the end of the day - boohoo.  Life brings joy but it always, always, brings worries too doesn't it? But good things happen too. I feel I have this guardian angel that comes and goes. That day she was there and then she wasn't; that is if she is a "she". Who knows? Maybe she is gender neutral, hahahah. 

On the way I had good news, a 10 star review on Booking from a guest who had stayed at our place in Santa Pola. Oh great I thought. Later I got a 3 out of 5 Airbnb review from a stickly English lady after her stay at our house in Asturias. She complained about everything; especially the damp. Well, Asturias is the rainiest region in the country. The complaint that worried me was about the cleaning and truth to tell the lady who does it is not good enough. She does not pay attention to detail. She leaves the house clean enough at first sight but not sparkling clean. The problem is finding someone else. Also she takes care of the house in our absence if anything goes wrong.  So, even if we do find someone to clean it who does it better, who will look after the maintenance? Besides if we do fire her, she is our neighbour and that will be terrible for relations in the village. Oh dear.  Of course, I gently told her to please pay more attention and to clean the areas the guest had complained about in time for the arrival of a new group on Friday. Thus when we go this week, we shall have to do a proper and very deep clean which hopefully will last most of the summer.  As for the guest, I had to eat humble pie, apologising profusely, in a Uriah Heep manner, something I hate. 

We came home with a load of shopping to last us our time here and I made a quick meal of steak and chips. That day I did not lie down under the apple tree reading my book as it was far too cold. 

Pippa only went out sporadically and I caught her on the old stone steps that lead to the garden and had to have a photo to share with you. She loves it here.

Pippa loves Montrondo

So no, I stayed inside. Believe it or not, we had to put the central heating on. We also noticed our clothes and bedding were damp  which must be due to the abundance of unusual heavy rain over the past 3 months, at least.

After dinner we had good news. Oli sent us the link to the official wedding photos. They are out and I want to share them with you because they are great and because Oli and Miguel's wedding was one of the happiest days of my life. This is it and the photographer Roberto, is amazing. I'm sure you'll agree if you take a peek.  It's difficult to say which I loved best but one has to be of Olivia dancing with her father and the other has to be of my beloved dog, Pippa,. our miniature sausage dog who most people probably didn't pay much attention to. These are my top two favourites. Ah and while I am at it, here is a lovely group photo taken after the bride and groom made their entrance.

Some of my favourite of the official wedding photos

We looked and looked at them so many times. I love them -apart from the ones I am in- I have put on so much weight - boohoo again. 

Netflix gave us problems that night. I could not log into our Ikea Uppleva TV bought in 2016. So that had me changing passwords and talking to a kind agent from their customer care department. She was in the Philippines, I was in Montrondo - that is modern technology for you. We both concluded the problem was with the TV. It's supposed to be a smart TV and we now regret buying it from Ikea. It was just easy at the time as most of the stuff we bought for the house when we built it came from the Swedish furniture firm. The next day I rang Ikea who didn't have a clue. I actually sorted it myself after poking around with the remote on the TV app. I reset it and bingo Netflix was back. We can live without it of course. But it was nice to have it back.

Thus we skipped on TV entertainment that night which saw us going to bed at around midnight. It was then that my accountant Pilar gave me the bad news of the day. Friday was the last day for submitting the accounts for last year's Inland Revenue taxes and I got a shock as the amount was huge. That was the bad news. That came on top of arrears the Inland Revenue are demanding for 2021. The law for working from home changed after Covid and applies retroactively. Thus we owe the tax people a huge sum of money. Most of it is because of my Airbnb income but I already pay them so much - about 20%. Add 15% to the tax people and that has made a huge hole in our accounts. Damn it. All that work and so much of it going to the government. I was brought up not to talk about money so I'm not mentioning sums and maybe I shouldn't write about this here, but this blog is about our life and Thursday brought bad financial news. Damn the tax people. 

I didn't wake up in a particularly good mood the next day because of that. It didn't help that the newly replaced induction hob wasn't working. How come? So I had to find the number of the Ikea/Electrolux technican who had changed it in January. He is based in León where it was a holiday on Friday. So, I couldn't make the "cocido" lunch I had planned. Damn it again. On the bright side we decided the only thing for it was to have lunch out so I booked a table in Murias. It was at the semi new "Hotel la Cárcel" (The prison hotel) which was opened a year or so ago and was actually the old prison in Murias. Eladio remembers it very well as a working prison and it was probably very strange for him to have lunch there.  Below is the entrance to the "prison".

 Nuria and her husband welcomed us and served us  goat meat - not my favourite but it was the only thing on the menu. She had a table of 10 people from the village. We sat in the new dining room which we presumed must have been the prison canteen once. No doubt they were not served roast goat, nor wine, nor any other of the delicious food we were served. We liked our meal and will be back. So, you see, we had lunch in a prison this week. 

We had walked there and of course walked back, this time choosing the old country path. It was very overgrown and made for some great pictures. I wish I had taken a video to show you the lushness, the colourful wild flowers or the butterflies. What a beautiful walk. I always love it but love it even more at this time of year when everything is still so green. But we took photos - one below and this week's feature photo of me on the path with little Pippa. 

The beautiful and overgrown old path from Murias to Montrondo

The grass in the front garden of our houses was overgrown too and Eladio got out his father's old scythe again and cut parts of it. It's a huge job. Only people of his age and generation from the village know how to use one. I love to see him using it; it's so bucolic and romantic. He posed for me; my handsome husband with the scythe in his hands.

Eladio using his father's old scythe to cut the grass in front of the house which had grown so much

The rest of the day was quiet. We just had fruit for dinner and then watched the news. The riots in France are quite a thing after a stupid gendarme shot dead a 17 year old for a traffic offence. The country is in rage and people are on the rampage destroying whatever they see. It's an ugly sight. Netflix entertained us that night when we watched the film, Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks) - a true story of Somalian sea pirates taking over a cargo ship and kidnapping the captain. What a story. Thankfully, .these days, ships are now more protected and these awful attacks are over.

On Friday I woke up at 8.40 which is another record. Eladio woke up even later. At about 10 am I got a message from our new guests in El Cuetu to tell me internet was not working. Great I thought and it's Saturday. The service provider is Adamo who I worked for so I immediately contacted their CTO. He immediately got someone to call me who would try to send a technician. The guest was not happy, telling me she had chosen our house because it had free wifi. I think I spent at least 4 hours trying to sort the problem - the main problem being no one was there to open the door to the technician which I sorted too (thank you Mari Paz). But his visit all the way from Santander was in vain. The outage was due to a major incident affecting all the village and they can't repair it until tomorrow or who knows when. Again that had me being Uriah Heep and apologising profusely to my guest. She calmed down in the end but it was tough for me. Sometimes my little business brings me more worries than joys I can tell you but at least I don't have a nasty boss breathing down my neck to report to. 

Meanwhile I was also cooking my "cocido" for which Eladio put on the aga which made the kitchen far too hot but when we eventually sat down to lunch, it was delicious. The afternoon was calmer and I was able, once again, to lie down outside on the sun lounge under the shade of the apple tree with Pippa at my side. 

We had a guest for dinner that night, our nephew Juan who is also Eladio's godson. He has come to spend a few days working from his parent's house here and we were delighted to have his company. I made a makeshift simple dinner of ham with salad and gazpacho, plus plenty of wine and it was good to reconnect with our nephew. Now a grown man, father to two children, he has always been part of our life, being very close to our daughters as there is not much age difference. He was a lovely little boy and he is a lovely man. 

And today is Sunday and it will be another quiet day in Montrondo. I hope it will be a better day than some I have experienced this week. I think it will be. The sun is shining, I don't have to cook as we can eat leftovers and we have plans to walk up into the mountains to get some exercise. Life is good, despite all the little inconveniences it throws at you. 

So, on that positive note, I leave you until next Sunday when, hopefully, we will be in Asturias. Cheers till then,

Masha