Home from Santa Pola, one month since the Hamas attack in Israel, two years since my father, Charles Courtenay Lloyd, died, a nasty bout of flu and other stories of the week.

Sunday, 12th November

With my dear father on his 101st birthday, 1st May 2020.

Good morning everyone. How has your week been? Mine has been up and down; mostly down as you will read.  Let me tell you about it.

This time last Sunday we were leaving Santa Pola, saying goodbye to Suzy, our older daughter who lives there alone like a hermit and worries us so. We have vowed to visit her at least once a month. Our journey back was quiet and fast and we only stopped for coffee and to fill the tank. We came home to a quiet house with the weekend guests gone. It had been a full house in our absence. That night it was only Mohammad and Mileny. The next day Michelle, a Mexican girl who lives in California came and on Wednesday Klug and his partner who are from Belgium arrived too. Eladio remarked we seem to be having more guests this autumn than usual. I think he is right. 

After spending a week in a 90m2 apartment, it was good to be back in our massive house and especially to sleep in our huge bed. For me it's the most comfortable bed in the world. If only that could help me sleep but it doesn't as I have Suzy on my mind most of the time.

Monday came and we had to fill the cupboards which had emptied during our absence. We also had to go for Eladio's appointment with the eye specialist. He has macular degeneration but thankfully it is the dry type which is less invasive. The good news he got that day is that in one year it had not advanced. He also has the beginnings of cataracts but not bad enough for surgery. So, in a way, he had good news. For his age he sees remarkably well. While there I asked for an appointment with a dermatologist for a small pimple on my neck which keeps growing back. I was amazed to get it for that afternoon. I was even more amazed I got an appointment to remove it  two days later. 

The doctors' appointments and shopping kept us busy most of the day until Olivia and family came for dinner. We hadn't seen the kids for about 10 days and were dying to see them. They came at around 6 and we had an early dinner. I had brought them smarties and jelly babies from Quicksave, the English supermarket in Gran Alacant. We had some quality time with both Elliot and Juliet. I took my little grandson to the swings before dinner and we had a great chat. He told me he wanted a dog but it had to be big, but not a cat as they bite. He also told me wanted a boat, hahahaha. He is a real chatterbox. The next day was parents' night and his teacher told Oli and Miguel he is very intelligent, bright and creative but that he doesn't listen to instructions and needs more boundaries. I think she is right, hahahaha. 

Tuesday was an awful day. I had slept less than 5 hours and got up at 6.30. I felt shattered and went back to bed from 8 to 9. Later we went on a walk and that's when my headache started and all I wanted to do was to go to bed. In fact I spent most of the day in bed for lack of sleep and because of my blinding headache. I hadn't had one like that for a long time. I used to suffer from migraines but thankfully this one was not as bad as in the old days. I was slightly better by dinner time and managed to watch the news. Apart from the war in Israel, this week I was interested to read about Britain's loneliest sheep, Fiona, who made front page news - she was rescued this week - but also by the dreadful Stop Oil people who tried to destroy the wonderful Velázquez painting, the so-called "Rokeby Venus" in the National Gallery in London which had once been damaged by a suffragist over a century ago. Why, I ask myself do people have to destroy art for their causes? There was also news of quite violent protests in Madrid over amnesty for Catalan separatists. The Socialist caretaker government needs  the votes of the independence party led by fugitive Carlos Puigdemont who in exchange want amnesty but also a referendum. It makes my blood boil that the socialists have to make a pact with the devil to form a government. 

Far more worrying is the war in Israel. This week marks one month since the Gaza terrorist group attacked Israel, killing over 1000 and kidnapping some 240 people. Right now Israel is bombing Gaza to smithereens and over 10000 Palestinians have been killed, many of them innocent children.  The rest of the world is calling for a ceasefire. There are negotiations going on to release the hostages in exchange for what? Fuel to reach Gaza and the release of over 600 Palestinians from Israeli prisons. What Hamas did to Israel is awful but what Israel is doing to Hamas is even worse. An eye for an eye never got anyone anywhere. When will this stop? 

I slept better that night and woke up on Wednesday morning with only a bit of a headache. Wednesday, 8th November, marked the second anniversary of the passing away of my dear father who died aged 102 at our home here in Madrid.  He is always, always in my thoughts, but especially this week. I still miss him today. That's why he gets prime position in this week's post. The feature photo is of him with me on his 101st birthday and it was taken by my son-in-law, Miguel. I made him one of his favourite meals, Britain's most famed dish; fish and chips. I thought about him all day and read some of the tributes I wrote for the funerals that took place in Madrid and at Bradford Cathedral. Here is one of them. If only I had said some of those words to him when he was alive. Why didn't I? Here too is a photo of both my parents with me as a baby and my brother George as a toddler. 

My mother and father with George and I in Cambridge in 1957 or 1958. It's one of the few photos I have of us as a family together. 

It was taken in Cambridge where my parents met and fell in love. I imagine it was taken at our first home at 291 Milton Road. I love to see my parents smiling so happily with us in their arms. What amazing parents I had.

Also in my thoughts that day was Pippa, our nearly 9 year old miniature chocolate dachshund. The night before we noticed she was a bit lame and couldn't move her back right paw. She didn't eat that morning either so we took her to the vet. Here she is with me cuddled in my arms and not feeling well.

With Pippa at the vet on Wednesday

She was examined by a young veterinary surgeon who diagnosed her with a hernia without actually taking an x-ray. She wanted to do all sorts of expensive tests which we didn't think were that necessary and in the end she gave Pippa a jab of some anti inflammatory medicine and prescribed a month's rest with no going up and down stairs which is not easy in our 3 story house. We left her in the car while we had a coffee together and bought some provisions at the nearby supermarket. Once we were home, Pippa was back to her usual self and importantly relieved her bladder and ate her food. Dachshunds have a weak spot in their backs so we have to be very careful with her. In my own modest opinion I think she just had a sprain as the limp went away very soon. Pippa is more than a dog to us. She is a constant and loving companion and is part of a threesome in our marriage. That sounds very exaggerated but if you love your dog as much as I love mine, you will understand me.

Lunch was special that day. I made oxtail stew (with carrot and onion sauce and served with chips). It's one of Eladio's favourite dishes. I put it on the stove when we left for the vet and explained to Tana how to cook it. This was the result. 

Oxtail for lunch on Wednesday

As a treat, Pippa got one of the small bones. With the leftover meat and sauce I made delicious croquettes the next day. The recipe comes from Simone Ortega's 1080 recipes cookbook, considered the Bible of Spanish cooking. I bought it when I first came to Spain and set up house with Eladio. 

That afternoon, 2 new guests arrived, Brecht and Dieter. They are Belgians from Bruge, so Flemish speakers, but live in Holland. They seemed a very nice couple. I hope they enjoyed their stay with us. 

I had to go out again in the evening, once again to the HM Hospital (Montepríncipe). It was to surgically remove a pimple which keeps growing back. It's benign so that's good but I want it removed from my back. I was disappointed to hear from the dermatologist that she hadn't been able to remove it all and that I would need proper surgery to get to the base of it. Well, she could have done that first couldn't she? 

Once home we had a simple dinner and then I spent a little bit of time with Mohammad, our new semi long term guest from Iraq. It was his 34th birthday that day. Had I known, I would have got him a little something. He is doing a Master's degree in Sport Management. Next week he is going to an event where he will meet Real Madrid's coach, Carlo Ancelotti. He asked me how he should dress and I advised him to wear a suit which of course he hasn't got. I told him to go to Zara which he was a bit reluctant about but I assured him everyone from all walks of life in Spain has at least one piece of clothing from Spain's most famous retail clothing store. 

I slept on and off that night thanks to a nasty little cough which I thought was the beginning of a cold.  I was up at 6,30 am on Thursday morning. I finally got to meet our Mexican American guest, Michelle in the kitchen a little later. Like our now gone home Canadian Cole, she is also on an English teaching programme and teaches English at a secondary school in Boadilla. Unlike Cole, her experience is that the kids she teaches behave well. I was glad to hear that. She was also here to look for long term accommodation which she told me she found in Usera - miles from here and which  takes nearly 2h on public transport. It's Spain's China Town and rather far from here. Oh well, each to their own.

I managed a walk with Eladio in the morning but my cold was getting worse and all I wanted to was to spend the day in bed which is what I did and I haven't left it since. My cold got worse and by the evening I had a temperature - the sure sign it was flu and not a cold. I wondered why on earth I had got it if I had had a flu jab. Or is it Covid I wonder. The highlight of Thursday was a present from Oli. She came by in the afternoon to drop off a present to cheer me up as she knows I am going through a bad patch. I was delighted to be given a Body Shop advent calendar. This is it.

A surprise present from Olivia - a Body Shop Advent Calendar

Shortly after Oli dropped off the present I had my weekly Skype call with Amanda. We had lots to catch up on. Of course I told her all about our week in Santa Pola and she told me all about her week in Cornwall with their new motorhome.

My flu got gradually worse and I just stayed in bed, nodding on and off, shivering and generally feeling pretty ghastly. 

On Friday I was not better and managed to get through the day in bed feeling a bit sorry for myself. It  has been donkey's years since I last had flu or even a temperature. I was cheered up though by Suzy when she announced she would be here for Christmas. That means so much to me.

On Saturday my temperature continued on and off leaving me with very little appetite and again I spent the day in bed. I managed to make two dishes for our meals that weekend as Tana is off but I hardly ate any of the red lentil and bean stews. I did manage one scrambled egg on toast for dinner though. That is a meal I have always had when feeling unwell, ever since I was a child. Yesterday, of course, was 11th November, "Armistice Day". In London a controversial pro Palestinian march was held which The Times dubbed "Hate, intolerance and arrests as thugs hijack Armistice Day". That would probably make my dear father, a veteran himself, turn in his grave. Not that I don't have feelings for the people of Gaza; I do. But I hate violence in all forms and think it would have been a lot less controversial if the march had not taken place on one of England's most sacred days. I really do.

And today is Sunday and I don't particularly look forward to another day in bed. I do hope this bout of flu doesn't last too long. How long does flu last I wonder? I am hoping I will be better by Tuesday and Wednesday as we have promised to sleep at Oli's house and take the kids to school on Wednesday and Thursday. 

So my friends, that is it for this week, a week to be forgotten frankly and  not one of the best; that's for sure. Here's to hoping next week will be an improvement.

Cheers till next Sunday,

Masha