Madrid, Sunday, 14th April, 2024
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| Bit of self pampering at my nail bar this week |
It has been a warm and quiet week but not without its ups and downs. Most importantly I finally got on the scales - the first time in over a year - and I visited a psychologist for myself. That's not something most people would tell the world but I think it's an important milestone in my life so I'm sharing it.
On the world scene, Ramadan finished this week and the after fasting festival, Eid began. For those Palestinians returning to the South of Gaza where the IDF has pulled out, it was a return to devastation on the same level as Aleppo in Syria. Soon Israel will invade Rafeh and the war continues.
There was talk all week of an attack on Israel by Iran after the former bombed the Iranian Embassy in Damascus. I honestly never thought Iran would dare, just as I thought Russia would never invade Ukraine. How naive I am. It happened last night. Iran launched over 300 drones and missiles on Israeli territory; something it has never done before. They were nearly all thwarted by the IDF with a lot of help from the US, the UK and other countries including Jordan with all that that means for the Hashemite Kingdom. Israel largely came away unscathed. But it was pretty frightening. I just wonder how Israel will respond. Will Israel now directly bomb Iran? I honestly hope not. I just hope that Iran has learned it can't beat Israel with "ironclad" support from the US and other allies including my own country.
The war drums are also sounding in Europe while the Russia Ukraine war continues and seems to be at stalemate. If Ukraine does not win, other countries could also be a target for Putin. Not a good state of affairs but while the Israeli war continues, people tend to forget about Ukraine.
I am so lucky to live where I do. It's like being in a bubble, a haven of peace, in comparison. That doesn't mean to say my life is perfect. Is any life or any family perfect, I ask myself? Probably not.
Life in our bubble last Sunday was slightly interrupted when Olivia arrived unexpectedly with the children who were playing up. She was not feeling well and went to A&E while we looked after and fed them. Here is a lovely picture of the two of them kissing.
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| Elliot kissing his sister |
It was on Monday that I finally got on the scales since I started my semi diet on 8th January. It was the first time since February last year. I was pleased to see that my weight, although still high, was reasonable - i.e around 10 stone and under 70kg. It spurred me on to continue with my healthy eating.
During our walk on Sunday, Eladio asked me about "my book", the one about our road trip to Armenia. Truth to tell, I had left it unfinished. That too spurred me on, but to do the back cover. All I have to do now is edit one of the annexes (accommodation) and then take it to print. As to uploading it to Amazon.es, I will need help and must contact the publisher who did my father's book.
Right after that I went for an appointment at my nail bar - De Uñas in Boadilla, run by some lovely and beautiful Colombian women. They do a great job. I don't like the hairdressers but love having a manicure. My hands may look old with more wrinkles and age spots, but my nails look perfect. I got Tatiana to take pictures, one of which I have chosen for this week's feature photo. Here is one of my nails, for those interested.
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| A bit of self pampering - had my nails done on Monday |
In the afternoon I skyped with Amanda and we got up to speed after Easter. It's always so therapeutic talking to her. We have been friends for 56 years and are very close. Bless her. I always look forward to our calls which started during lock down in the pandemic. To think that was 4 years ago and now we don't even think about Covid, or hardly at all. But what a big thing in our lives that was.
A very big thing that day or night was the total eclipse seen in Mexico and North America. There is always a sort of craziness that surrounds an eclipse. Personally, I don't find them particularly interesting although they must be for scientists. Suzy is very much into eclipses and their dangers. She urged us to stock up with provisions which, of course, we didn't. I grabbed these photos from The Times to add to this post and to have a graphic souvenir of the total eclipse, so talked about this week.
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| The total eclipse this week, somewhere in America |
Tuesday saw us at a garden centre called Verdecora to get some new geraniums to replace those did not survive the winter. Later Eladio planted them and I took a picture from inside.
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| Newly planted geraniums |
They surround the pool partially and always make it look so much more attractive.
On our way home we stopped for coffee at Manacor where we bumped into our friends, George and Amanda, ex guests of ours from China. It's always lovely to see them thriving in Spain after leaving China to give their daughter a better education. They are not golden visa residents, as many of their countrymen are. I mention this as our socialist President Pedro Sánchez, .announced that day, that he was going to do away with them. In exchange for buying property over half a million euros, non EU citizens are entitled to three years residency. The main beneficiaries of this are from China, Russia and Latin America, as well as the UK. This golden visa has been criticised as being a visa for rich people and also for making it difficult for locals to buy a house in what they call "tensioned" areas - mostly Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Alicante. Recently both Portugal and Ireland did away with their golden visas. 15% of the housing market is owned by golden visa holders which doesn't seem much to me but that could go grow. I wonder what the percentage of foreigners own property in London which has been sometimes referred to as Londongrad!
Anyway, back to my mundane life. Before going home we went to pick up my flared white jeans which I had had taken in. I couldn't believe they were still too big for me when I tried them on at home.
Just as we were entering the drive, a lorry was removing the broken ping pong table which had been such a hit with our guests, mostly those from China.
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| Good bye ping pong table |
We once had a Chinese table tennis champion come to stay and I remember him playing rather marvelously. Well, it's gone now.
Once home, Eladio went to plant the geraniums and fill patches in the grass with seeds and fertiliser as well as apply weed killer to some of the cracks on the paving around the house. I went upstairs to try on the trousers. While at it, I tried on lots of old summer clothes which I am happy to announce now nearly all fit. That gave me a high which I needed as I don't get many highs these days.
I had a quiet afternoon but Eladio's siesta was cut short as he had an appointment with a recommended osteopath as his sciatica still hasn't gone away. I think it helped but I also think it is a question of time. Poor Eladio, never knew what pain was till he got sciatica. I, on the other hand, am used to it with all my headaches, etc.
Wednesday started with a walk - we have been on many this week. It was interrupted though, constantly with beeps from messages from Alcampo (Auchan). I had ordered some Alvalle gazpacho and Nestle Yaos coconut Greek Yoghurts as I couldn't find either item in any supermarket. I thought I had bought 4 packets of yoghurts for the price of 3 but had no idea that each packet contained 12 yoghurts and not 4. Thus when I got home I found the fridge chock a block with 48 yoghurts which expire on 28th of this month. Just look
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| A fridge too full of yoghurts |
Of course I offered some to Mohammad, my Iraqi guest. At the same time I mentioned it was the end of Ramadan - it was on Tuesday. I knew there was something I should say that is related to the Eid feast after the fasting. He told me it was and it is "Eid Mubarak"- Mubarak meaning blessed. I only knew the name from the former President of Egypt. Now I know what to say to Muslims when Ramadan ends and you do too, if you didn't already.
Something sad happened on Wednesday. Chispi, my dear friend Fátima's dog died. I heard the news from her sister Gloria who looked after her when Fátima died or probably when her daughter no longer could because of her studies and travels. I knew I had a photo somewhere of the two of us with our darling dogs, Pippa and Chispi and here it is.
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| With Fátima and Chispi - in our garden in the summer of 2018 about. |
RIP both of you. That was sad to hear and I don't like sad news.
Thursday dawned and it was another brilliant, warm and sunny day which we took advantage of with a morning walk once again. We walked to the churros cafe in El Bosque where we discussed our road trip. Both of us want to go but worry that the situation with Suzy may not permit it. On the other hand, we have to live.
Thus that afternoon saw me with my PC, Google Maps and a printed map of Europe plotting our route from Madrid to Italy and then by ferry from Brindisi to Greece. I asked my dear friend Sandra who is half Italian for tips, etc and we ended up having a lovely video call with useful information and places to stay and visit gleaned from her. Thank you my friend. I even booked our first night at a lovely looking place near Fuenterrabia not far from San Sebastian. I had hoped to stay in Biarritz but couldn't find anywhere. Our first destination in France will be Carcassonne and Albi in France. In Italy our main destinations will be Cinque Terre near La Spezia which we didn't get to see last time and Tuscany including Florence, Pisa and other beauty spots in the area. From there we want to go to Naples, more than anything to see Pompey. We had thought of driving to Sicily after that but it seems a bit much, so will probably head from Naples to Puglia where we can get a ferry to Greece but also visit this delightful area. What part of Italy is not delightful I ask myself. We both love Italy and I really hope this trip comes true.
We spoke about the itinerary over dinner during which I was delighted to hear from Eladio that he loves the coconut yoghurt (hahaha). We then spent nearly an hour calibrating our Samsung watches so we can measure our blood pressure. You have to do it every three months and it's one big bore. I kept getting a message saying "weak signal". I looked it up on Google of course and most people's replies were to switch off and on the watches which we did. Finally we got them working. Technology can be a challenge. The good news is that we both have a normal blood pressure. It's not that I am particularly worried about it, it's just that I want all the smart watch features to work properly, if you get my meaning.
That night I watched a very pleasant film called The Boys in the Boat - it's a true story about the US rowing team at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and how they got to be classified. I thought it was a tremendous story. Eladio thought it was too "American" (hahaha).
On Friday I was quietly having my breakfast when I got a message from Oli that she would be live on TVE1 shortly. She hardly ever warns me in advance so I grabbed my chance. She was reporting on the former Queen of Spain's health. Queen Sofia was in hospital with a urine infection - not the most riveting story but it always give me a high when I see Olivia live on TV, even after all these years. I took a photo to share with you and also a video which you can see here.
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| Olivia live on TV this week |
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| Juliet in her flamenco outfit on Friday |
She is wearing the flamenco dress and shoes to match (with a heel) that I bought at a market in Santa Pola in October. It gave me a thrill to see her I have to say. I was later told she wore those "high heeled" shoes all day, bless her. I wondered what the occasion was. It appears her school was celebrating the 4th April Seville fair, of all things. Olé Juliet then. You look gorgeous.
Soon I had to turn to figures when my new accountant rang. She is working on our 2023 tax returns. Thankfully she seems to know what she is doing.
At 11.45 I had an appointment with a psychologist in Boadilla that Olivia had recommended. That was quite a big deal for me. I had thought I could cope, I am a strong woman but I just don't sleep and seem sad most of the time although I try to enjoy life as much as possible. It all boils down to my worry about my older daughter. My expectations were not that high as I don't come from a generation that has much faith in psychologists. However, I thought that at least getting it off my chest would help. It did. As I expected I did all the talking with Carina asking the questions. I came away with some conclusions from her. 1) I feel a lot of blame, 2) I feel sad 3) I am grieving, 4) I must look after myself (in order to be able to look after her) and 5) - a difficult one, I am not wholly responsible for another person even if she is my daughter and 6) I am already doing as much as I can. It was overall a successful session even if it doesn't solve our huge problem. The idea is to get help on how to manage it. So, it was a good experience on the whole and I will be going again next Friday. I came back feeling good, or better although the grief and sadness are still there. But, I know now, we have to live.
So live I will, I thought as we made our way to the park to see our grandchildren with their parents that afternoon. Except that they were not there but at home. So we went to visit them there. It was lovely to see them. Elliot is now doing judo and wore his kimono for us and showed us a few positions or whatever they are called. One of them looked like a plain somersault but good for him to be able to do one aged 4. Unfortunately Juliet who is going through the terrible twos had a big tantrum for no real reason. We had never seen her like that and were at our wits' end. Poor Oli, what she has to put with we both said as we drove home to our sanctity of peace and quiet at home. Being a parent of toddlers is the most challenging part of ones' life. Things will get much better as they grown older, of course and years later we hardly remember the early days which may seem to go past slowly but actually fly past.
We were in bed early and started watching some French series on Netflix but I soon fell asleep. I couldn't believe what my watch told me on Saturday morning. I had slept for 7 hours and 45 minutes without consciously waking up. I can only attribute that to my session with the psychologist unless it was a flash in the pan. Time will tell. In any case I felt so rested. I really needed that sleep.
As usual we went for our walk and then for a coffee after which we did the weekly shop at Mercadona. Just as we were unpacking it, Oli and family arrived. They had come to pick up something and ended up staying for lunch. There were no tantrums and we had quite a peaceful meal which I was able to conjure up quite quickly what with leftovers and new provisions.
They left shortly after lunch to go and have a coffee while, hopefully, the kids would sleep. I didn't need any sleep and continued with our road trip itinerary, a few more episodes of Call the Midwife - my evasion tactic which always calms me down. I also wrote most of this post yesterday until it was time for dinner - outside again. We have had nearly all our meals outside this week owing to the fabulous weather.
Dinner was "salmorejo" - that lovely variety of gazpacho that hails from Córdoba - and of course dessert was a coconut yoghurt hahahahhaha.
We watched a good Spanish thriller about the war in Iraq in 2004 on RTVE called "Invasor". We then turned to a documentary about arms dealers in wake of the Ukraine invasion which had us up till very late.
Today is Sunday and ours for the taking. The sun is shining and I have to look on the bright side of life. I will, I promise.
Cheers my friends until next week,
Masha
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