Christmas at home in peace and harmony, the family united, this year's official Christmas Day photos, the King of Spain and the King of England's speeches, Boxing Day, annual dinner with Julio, my last blog post of 2024. Here's to a wonderful 2025 and other stories of the week.

 Madrid, Sunday 29th December 2024.

The four of us on Christmas Day in peace and harmony

Good morning folks, this last week of the year. 

I hope you have all had a good Christmas, those of you who celebrate it that is. We certainly do. It's a big thing in my family where most of the traditions have their roots in my childhood when Christmases were spent with my paternal grandparents and dear Aunty Gloria and family (RIP) in Ickenham, just outside London. Christmas brings out the child in us I always think. I must have been a very observant child taking in all  the elements of an English Christmas all those years ago to later instill them in my own family here in Spain. Of course, I have also incorporated many Spanish traditions  which makes for double celebrations. In this country apart from Father Christmas who comes on Christmas Eve, we also have the 3 Kings; "los Reyes Magos" who come on 6th January putting an end to the fesitive season in Spain. My  dear friend Julio rang me on the 24th  and I told him all about our preparations including having bought my own presents. He laughed and said of course I bought my own presents as I was the ultimate "Reina Maga" (Christmas Queen). He reminded me of all the times I had handed out corporate gifts left right and centre and included him and we laughed as we always do. We would laugh in person when he came on Friday for our annual dinner together. He loves our decorations and always says Christmas only starts for him when he comes to our house. Bless him. 

By last Sunday I had everything more or less ready so could feel in peace. That day the Spanish lottery, El Gordo, was drawn and once again we didn't win a cent. We never do but always buy the "décimos". I was happy some of the winnings went to areas of Valencia devastated by the the Dana in late October.

I was in peace but poor Suzy wasn't. She had a crisis; her first since coming back to live with us at the beginning of October. She is off her meds, is not having therapy and I know for sure she has not quit smoking dope. We do our best not to finance her addiction and to do that you have to be cruel to be kind. That brought us problems at the beginning of the week which also endangered a peaceful and harmonious Christmas. 

Thus on Monday I was also out of sorts. As someone once said to me "you can only ever be as happy as your unhappiest child". So true. While she suffers, we suffer. But life goes on and you have to go through the motions. So we went on our walk and had coffee at La Flaca. There we discussed our future; i.e. where  are we going to live when we are older. We are already old so must prepare for our future. Will we stay here, will we sell the house and move to the sea or to nearby Boadilla? We don't know yet but we talk about it a lot. But just the thought of dismantling our huge sprawling house with belongings from a whole life time and more, is very daunting. 

I think I didn't sleep more than 3 or 4 hours that night and woke up on Tuesday 24th feeling like something the cat brought in. It was Suzy who cheered me up as she had got over her crisis and was looking forward to celebrating Christmas with all the family.  Without her, Christmas would have been sad and incomplete. Last year she spent it on her own in Santa Pola which broke my heart. Her wanting to spend it with us this year was my best Christmas present. She sank into my arms and all was good. 

I did lots of the food preparation in the morning with Tana's help. Here are two of my creations; first the potato salad which is always the pièce de résistance of any festive meal in our house. And then the "pudding" - Raspberry and cream mille feuille. Wonderful eh?

We always have potato salad at Christmas. It is from my Russian grandfather's Swiss recipe book. My only variation is to add prawns. 

Strawberry and raspberry mille-feuille for dessert

I managed to sleep a siesta for about 2 hours which recharged my batteries completely. Thus I was ready to put the final touches to our Christmas Eve dinner - the all important "Nochebuena"  where  Spaniards gather around the table for the most important family meal of the year. Unlike in the UK, the Christmas Eve dinner is more important than the Christmas Day lunch. We get to have both being an Anglo Spanish family:-)

Suzy helped me and Olivia arrived around 6 to lend a helping hand too until the children arrived bringing their usual chaos and fun. Our menu is always our favourite "bits and bobs" type food which, apart from the potato salad, also includes "perushki" (little Russian meat pies"), croquettes for the kids, asparagus, Ibérico ham and sundry. The dessert is sometimes trifle but as Oli is not keen I made the tart. All this which for Spaniards would just be a first course, is followed by a tray of sweets and chocolates including the famous "turrón"; a sort of hard nougat made with almonds and sugar. This is what the table looked like.

Our Christmas Eve dinner 

We had photos taken before dinner but owing the lighting in the lounges they came out a bit blurry. We had all put on our finest clothes as is the custom for Christmas Even dinner in Spain. Suzy was wearing my elegant but now far too small, dark green velvet trouser suit in which she looked smashing. She even put on high heels. We all then put on green Santa hats and even danced. What lovely moments.

Highlights from Christmas Eve

True to its name Nochebuena meaning a good night, a good night was had by all. We were in bed by 11 o'clock and that night I slept so much better. 

Of course I was the first up on Wednesday, Christmas Day. I had my coffee and then laid the table for a special breakfast for Eladio, Suzy and I. Eladio had his usual, I had a crumpet and piece of toast and Suzy had toast too with Bonne Maman jam which she adores. 

Christmas morning breakfast

Meanwhile at Oli's house down the road, Juliet and Elliot were ecstatically opening their presents. We had warned Elliot (5) that if he didn't behave he may not get any presents to which he replied "I always get presents". Eladio had told him of the time when he and his brother José Antonio only received a lump of coal. It came in an embroidered bag with the words "for two rebellious boys". Elliot has heard the story before and always listens attentively but he firmly believes it will never happen to him. Of course it won't. That day both he and his sister would be getting presents not just at their house but also at our place and at their other grandmother's house. 

Before they came we brought up the presents hidden in  one of the rooms downstairs and placed them under the tree.

Presents under the tree on Christmas morning

Before opening them, I insisted on taking the annual family photos. Miguel is the chief photographer, he being a professional. I have chosen the one of the 4 of us as this week's feature photo as it's not often we have the opportunity of a photo together. And here are more of this year's official photos which I am delighted to share with you too.

Some of this year's official Christmas morning photos

Christmas tree present opening is a ceremony at our house with the opening of each present being watched by everyone so each present is savoured. This is how it happened at my grandparents' house and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Suzy was the MC, handing out the presents with carols in the background. I had a hard job of instilling this tradition in my small grandchildren aged 3 and 5 who wanted to open all the presents at once regardless if they were for them or someone else. I felt a bit like Scrooge trying to discipline them. But I think I was right. I just wasn't having them opening other people's presents as well as their own hahahaha. Here are some photos of them enjoying what they got.

The children enjoying their presents

Father Christmas had made some excellent choices. Eladio and I got perfumes (from each other and chosen by me, hahaha  - Esencia by Loewe and Orange Blossom by Joe Malone), socks and a jumper. From Oli and Miguel we got a milk frother and more perfume (Hugo Boss) for Eladio but also a voucher for dinner or lunch at a fish restaurant they recommend in Pozuelo called Barco Aparicio. Thank you darling. 

Soon I had to get on with the lunch, always a traditional English one, except that we have chicken instead of turkey which I am not too keen on. Oli was staying with us as she said she wouldn't miss it for the world and Juliet stayed too. Miguel went with Elliot to his mother's house where Oli and Juliet would join them later.

This was our Christmas lunch table -photo courtesy of Olivia.

Our traditional English Christmas day lunch

The trimmings included sprouts, peas, sage and onion stuffing, roast potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce. It did not include pigs in blankets which is not a tradition I was brought up on. I was delighted to see Suzy partake of the chicken which means she is less fanatical about being vegetarian. We didn't have pig in blankets but we all ate like pigs. Then of course there was the Christmas pudding flambeed   with rum as we didn't have any brandy and smothered in sweet white sauce with more rum. It's not my favourite pudding but I do like to have it on Christmas Day. I then treated my family to a small glass of Cream of Limoncello which I had bought somewhere in Italy during our road trip. It was and is delicious. Here is Suzy savouring it with her hat from the crackers, another integral part of meals at Christmas in England and which I had to import from Germany of all places.

Suzy on Christmas Day enjoying a glass of Limoncello after our copious lunch

I was so full after lunch I felt bloated. Oh why do we all indulge so much these festive days?  If we had been in England, no doubt we would have watched the King's speech at 3pm on Christmas Day, another tradition I was brought up on, except that it was The Queen, King Charles' mother. In Spain the King's speech is at 9pm on Christmas Eve and is usually very boring and there is no mention of the religious side of Christmas. If King Felipe even dared mention Jesus, he would be literally burned at the stake by Spaniards. It's as if it is politically incorrect to do so. But don't people realise that Christmas is about celebrating his birth?  King Charles goes right the other way and whether you like his words or not, the setting is always marvelous with some magnificent music. I think the Spanish monarchy could up the King's speech at least in this direction and add some spice and mystery. Eladio loves to listen to the King's speech which I respect of course but I later sent him King Charles' speech for him to see what I mean and he agrees. This is it if you didn't see it. And here is the King of Spain's speech if you want to take a look. 

None of us were hungry for dinner but I kept thinking about the raspberry tart and Suzy kept thinking about the leftover potato salad. So the three of us gathered in the kitchen to have a "little something" a bit like Pooh Bear, remember?

We went to bed early after a wonderful Christmas, as good as it gets. Peace and harmony reigned in our house and the family was united. What else could I ask for? Thus I slept like a babe that night and woke up on Thursday, Boxing Day at 8 am after a good 8 hours sleep. It was my best night's sleep in a long time. 

Boxing Day is not a holiday in Spain. It is St. Stephen's Day which is a holiday in some parts but not in Madrid and  Oli had to go to work. I always love Boxing Day, the laziest day of the year when you can do what you want, eat what you want and above all you don't have to cook as you can eat leftovers. Suzy asked me the origin of Boxing Day. I told her it was something to do with giving out boxes of alms, leftover food, etc to the poor in boxes the day after Christmas. If anyone was thinking it has  to do with sport (football is played in England that day) or boxing, then no, that is not the origin which I think goes back to the 17th century and is mentioned in Samuel Pepys diary. We didn't give our leftovers to anyone. There were many including all the baklava I made and we have been eating them for most of the week meaning I haven't had to cook or do much meal planning except for Julio's dinner on Friday. 

Eladio and I went on a much needed walk with Pippa to work off some of the excesses and then we drove to Boadilla for coffee at Manacor. Meanwhile Suzy laid the table for our Boxing Day lunch and honestly I didn't know what to choose for my meal. Thank you Suzy.

The news that day was all about the 20th anniversary of the terrible Tsunami in South East Asia on Boxing Day in 2004. It was the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century and one of the worst in recorded history, killing over 227.000 people most of them in Indonesia. Hard hit too were Thailand, Sri Lanka and The Maldives.  Caused by an earthquake under the sea measuring 9.1 on the Richter scale, it struck off the coast of Java, just before 8 am on Boxing Day 20 years ago this week. What a terrible tragedy that was.  

Friday came and we went out to do some shopping to get a few ingredients for dinner with Julio. I was so happy Suzy wanted to join us as she rather shuns society apart from her immediate family. That was a good sign. She has known Julio as long as I have; since the year 2000 when I joined Nokia. Soon we will have been friends for 25 years which I look forward to celebrating. Our other great friend was, of course, Fátima and we were known as the "3 Musketeers". Oh how we miss her. Our annual Christmas dinners must have started in 2001 and for years we went to Julio's house for dinner and then he and Fátima came here. When the girls were younger, they also partook of this tradition and even my Father when he was still able. These days Julio comes here for dinner, then invites us to a restaurant around Kings Day. We look forward to that next week.

For dinner I had made a simple meal of more bits and bobs: Ibérico ham, tomato and tuna salad, small mussels sprinkled with garlic and lemon, peeled large prawns with avocado, bacon rolls,  as well as some leftover potato salad. The wine was Luis Cañas Reserva which is divine and dessert was a King's Day cake known as Roscón de Reyes filled with whipped cream. It's Julio's favourite. He came bringing presents and we will be giving him his next week if only I could think what to get him. Before we sat down we had to have the de rigeuer photos where each year we look just a little bit older. When I first met Julio I was 42 and he was 30. I like to think we have aged well as has our friendship.

Annual Christmas dinner with Julio at our house this week

My friend who today is a University professor, always loves my Christmas decor, lights and candles so after our Limoncello we retired to the main lounge and continued conversing until about 10.30. Julio always loves to make a French exit at corporate events but he doesn't have to do that with me and we allowed him to leave early. We always go to bed so early so we didn't mind at all. We were mentioning just how difficult it is these days to stay up till midnight on New Year's Eve after a dinner that ends around 9.30. He has a simple answer; put on the You Tube midnight chimes from the year before, celebrate and go to bed early. Later Suzy and I thought we might do the same that is, if Olivia and family agree, hahaha. We are becoming old fogies aren't we? But honestly staying up till midnight and watching the rubbish on TV before the clock strikes midnight is a real bore. So watch this space. 

Yesterday, Saturday 28th December was the Spanish equivalent of All Fools' Day - the day of the Innocents (when Herod killed all the baby boys). We just had a quiet day, enjoying having the house to ourselves with no guests and not even Tana. 

And today is Sunday 29th December and I am finishing writing the last post for this year. I have been publishing a weekly blog post since September 2005; nearly 20 years. I only wish I had started earlier to record more of  my life but 20 years is quite a chunk. When I write next it will be the  New Year, 2025 which we shall celebrate quietly - no parties this year. The last party we had was on December 31st 2019 just before the Pandemic. When we were toasting the New Year then and eating our grapes we had no idea what was coming. To think that was now 5 years ago. Covid is something those of us who lived through it will never forget and it will go down in history as one of the worst plagues in ever. 

So here's to a great New Year everyone - no Covid, no more wars, peace in the world and at home, health and prosperity and above all love. Love is what makes the world go round.

Wishing you all a good Sunday too, cheers until the first Sunday of next year when in my first blog post of 2025 I will reflect on what 2004 brought for us all. 

Till then, all the best, Masha

Happy Christmas to you all. Putting up the decorations, getting into the spirit of Christmas, making baklava with Suzy and Oli, the children's school concert, buying El Gordo lottery tickets, Dominique Pelicot to rot in jail and other stories of the week.

 Madrid, Sunday 22nd December, 2024

Happy Christmas to you all (photo taken in Ravello on the Almafi Coast during this year's road trip)

Good morning everyone and Happy Christmas to you all.  I can't believe it's only 3 days till Christmas. This time last week I was hardly prepared due to a lack of festive spirit. Slowly things got better and I had to make up for lost time. Thus I have been very busy and have had rather a pleasant week. 

Finally on Monday we put up the Christmas decorations which is always a big job. Suzy helped enormously for which I was very grateful. Eladio's main job, apart from bringing up the tree and the great big box of decorations, was to change the batteries of our countless Christmas gimmicky objects which I so love. It's difficult to show you the decorations as they are all over the lounges and dining room but here is a glimpse.

Some of our Christmas decorations

Suzy suggested we put on carols as we always did when the girls were young and the festive music helped the spirit of Christmas entering our house this year. 

In our Skype call that afternoon my friend Amanda was glad to hear my spirits had been lifted and that I was now looking forward to celebrating Christmas; something which has never happened to me before. 

On Tuesday we woke up to the news that a  Russian general, Igor Kirillov - now ex head of chemical weapons, had been killed in broad daylight from a bomb attached to a scooter. The Russians immediately blamed the Ukrainians and they were not wrong. There was also a lot of news this week about  the disgraced Prince Andrew being embroiled in a scandal to do with a Chinese spy. It's a good thing his mother isn't alive to witness yet one more scandal involving her supposed favourite son; not that I believe she had a favourite. Mothers can't. 

Eladio and I finally went Christmas present shopping that morning or rather he accompanied me. He must have been bored stiff going round perfume stalls at El Corte Inglés. We shall all smell very nice this year by the way. I haven't been very creative in choosing presents I'm afraid and I  did more than half of my shopping on Amazon - yes, feeding the monster again but it is so practical.

We stopped at Mercadona on the way back to get ingredients to make baklava. Baklava is a Middle Eastern dessert made with phyllo pastry, honey syrup and nuts.  From Turkey it spread to Greece, Bulgaria and even Hungary and my mother and Aunty Masha always adored it. I made it last year, under the watching eyes of my Iraqi guest Mohammad who declared my baklava to be as good as his mother's - high praise indeed. As we all love it in this house, I decided to make it again this Christmas. Oli wanted to make it as well as an entry for her language school seasonal cooking contest.  Later I heard she came second. This year I had Suzy to help me make ours and it took us a good two hours. The most tedious part is the buttering of 40 sheets of pastry and the trickiest part is cutting it before putting it in the oven. This is the recipe I used. If you decide to use it, add a bit more of everything as I ran short of syrup and butter. And voilá her is my baklava minus the chopped pistachios on the top which I got the next day.

My baklava 

I ended up making 56 pieces so will probably have to freeze some of it as that's  far too much. But, oh, it's so delicious. Suzy and I were very pleased with ourselves when we had finished and would have to repeat the process on Wednesday with Olivia.  She benefited from our experience and was able to pour on more syrup and add pistachios. My younger daughter was more ambitious and cut hers in diamond shapes.  Here is Suzy helping her. 

Suzy and Oli making baklava

Thus hers looked more authentic.

Oli's baklava looks more professional than mine but both taste divine

If I spent the morning making baklava and going for a walk, I spent most of the afternoon closing the books for this year's rental business and opening them for 2025. I have at least 15 upcoming reservations and just hope that 2025 will be as good as 2024. 

On Thursday our last guest of the year, Alan, who describes himself as "Irish and outdoorsy" on his Airbnb profile, left for County Mayo. I really hope he comes back as he was a joy to host as were most of my guests this year. But I have to say it's lovely to have the house to ourselves for Christmas and New Year when we shut down and I think we deserve to. 

That morning saw us out early. We went to the see our grandchildren perform in their school Christmas concert. Both of their classes had prepared two songs; one in Spanish and one in English, and were dressed as elves (Juliet aged 3) and with Father Christmas hats and red tops (Elliot aged 5). Poor Juliet froze when her concert started. She obviously got stage fright which I put down to her being overwhelmed by the lights and the public, poor lamb. She even cried at the end but she also looked gorgeous, don't you think? 

Juliet got stage fright at her Christmas concert this week, poor lamb

Elliot was on next and seemed to enjoy himself thoroughly although I remember him freezing on stage also when he was three. And here he is looking gorgeous too. 

Elliot enjoying his Christmas concert

Some people commented to me that he looks like both Eladio and Olivia. I think they may be right but I'm not sure who Juliet resembles; maybe me when I was very small.

There are a few Christmas traditions which we haven't kept up with this year, such as my yearly calendar, a family photo, putting lights in the garden or a trip to Madrid to buy lottery tickets for El Gordo which is taking place this morning. But of course we had to buy tickets, just not in the centre of the city. If you didn't know, El Gordo which is drawn always on 22nd December, is famous for giving out the most cash prizes per ticket purchased in  the world. The overall winnings come to 2.700.000 euros. Any Spaniard worth his salt buys at least one 10th of a ticket (un décimo) for El Gordo which costs 20 euros. If it gets first prize the winnings are  400.000 euros. When I first came to live in Spain in 1981, 2 years before I married, I was horrified to find out my husband had bought so many tickets and worried he was a gambler. It took years for this custom to become mine as well. And here is Eladio after purchasing our tickets, two of which are for the girls. 

Eladio buying lottery tickets for El Gordo which is drawn today

I doubt we will win but we can always hope. It's huge news today and all the reporters from Olivia's newsroom have been sent to the four corners of the country to cover the stories of ordinary people's wins which are much celebrated. She has been sent to Santander, a lovely city on the north coast.

Another Spanish tradition I have adopted  is buying a poinsettia (flor de pascua) to grace our lounge  and it looks splendid. Just let's see how long it lasts though. We got one that morning  after which we did the food shopping which I hope will be enough to last until Boxing Day. It probably won't haha. Gosh Christmas is all about eating isn't it? I don't think there was much food at the Inn where Jesus was born in Bethlehem but there you go.

Friday dawned and new painters came to repaint the cabin. Remember the last ones painted it too dark. Well these ones have painted it too light and the colour looks nothing like the one on the palette of colours I chose from. But c'est la vie and I refuse to get cross. 

What was not nice that morning was to read the news of the sentencing of France's most notorious rapist, 72 year old Dominique Pelicot. His wife, Gisèle, in her 70's found out not so long ago that her apparently loving husband had been drugging and raping her and inviting over 50 other men to use and abuse her for years. It is thoroughly disgusting and he deserves to rot in hell. This mass rape trial should have sent the man and his collaborators to hell. Instead, all he gets is a paltry 20 year sentence. That's because French rape laws are so lax. I just hope he rots in jail and doesn't get to eat turkey on Christmas Day. How can the man live with himself I ask? This case will go down in history which is why I am mentioning it here as one of the many objectives of this blog is tell the stories of my life in the context of world affairs. This sentence will not be much consolation for Gisèle Pelicot who has been so brave to come out of anonymity in a case like this. She did it to tell the world and to encourage other women to do the same. Like her, I am sure there are other perverts duping their wives in a similar way and just getting away with it. May they rot in hell too but may they first be found out and brought to the public eye. Bravo Gisèle and thank you. I only hope you can get some comfort out of your brave actions and enjoy the love of your family now that he is gone. 

I cheered up when I went out to do more Christmas shopping, this time on my own. I had to get a few more things for the children and for one of my daughters. While at Centro Oeste I also found a lovely black and white striped jumper for myself from Pull and Bear. Then I came across a jumper which I knew was just up Suzy's street and had to get it there and then. It's from a little boutique called "Algo Bonito". She was delighted. I was also delighted with a black sequin dress I got for myself at H&M. I had to invest in a cocktail dress as none of mine fit. I later showed it to Suzy who was enthusiastic about it. That's when I offered her some of my tiny size S party dresses which of course no longer fit. They fit her perfectly and she looked gorgeous in a long gold and sparkly blazer, a dark green velvet trouser suit and my mother's cocktail dress from the 60's which I have kept. I know I will never be a Zara size S again but I'm not fretting.

I am nearing 70, turning 68 in February, and was cheered up that day not just from the retail therapy but  from  an article published  in The Times reporting that 70 is the new 60. You can read it here if you can get past the paywall. It's based on a study that finds people in their 70's feel ten years younger as they enjoy better health than people born before them. That is so good to know. I refuse to see myself as an "old person" even if I am nearing 70. My body obviously says otherwise but it's how you feel that is important.

It was on Friday that I created my annual Christmas photo of Eladio and I. I may not send Christmas cards,  a tradition I gave up when I left England but I do love to make a Christmas photo. I made a few and chose the one of us in beautiful Ravello on the Almafi coast during this year's road trip for this week's feature photo.  A close second came one of the two of us in San Gimignano during the same trip. This is it.

Another Christmas photo of the two of us - in San Gimignano during this year's road trip.

I got quite inspired using the app and made one of Juliet and Elliot too.

Another Christmas photo, this time from our grandchildren, Juliet and Elliot

So you see, I am now finally getting into the spirit of Christmas.

I spent part of Friday afternoon finishing Season 6 of the new version of All Creatures Great and Small. It is based on the tales of Scottish vet, James Herriot's experiences as a young vet in Yorkshire. Oh how I love it. I also spent time writing this blog before having dinner with Suzy and Eladio. 

It was at about that time that a Saudi doctor purposefully drove into the crowds of a Christmas market in the German town of Magdeburg. He killed a nine year old boy and 4 women as well as injuring over 200 people. We all thought the man who is from Saudi Arabia was an Islamic fanatic. But it turns out he was a mixture of things so fits no profile. 50 year old psychiatrist, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, who had been living in Germany for 10 years was on a Saudi list of  criminals for being anti Islam. Dr. Peter Neumann, professor of security studies at King's College London described him thus: "If anything, the Magdeburg attacker was far right: a self-declared Islam-hating, ex Muslim atheist, who despised German society not for being against Islam but for facilitating its spread. He also very much liked the AfD" (German far right party). As a psychiatrist his work helped drug addicts and after he was detained it was discovered he had drugs in his blood. Looks like he himself needed help. In my mind he is a terrorist and  lone wolf terrorism is the bane of our lives these days. 

Entertainment that night was a Norwegian film called La Palma about a tsunami in this island in the Canaries. It was probably inspired by the tragic volcano eruption that happened there not so long ago. I have to say it was well done and had us riveted until the end.

Yesterday, Saturday, was 21st December and the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. That's basically when the day is shorter than the night. The 21st marks the shortest day of the year too while it was the Summer Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. Apparently the solstices happen when the earth is at its most extreme tilt away or near form the sun and I read that scientists can't really explain why our planet tilts on its axis. What that meant for us was about 9h of sunshine or daylight and 8h in London. Slowly from today, daylight hours will grow at a rhythm of 3 minutes a day until we reach the summer solstice with 15 or 16 h of daylight. I far prefer the summer solstice don't you?  

I was up early cooking yesterday as I had to feed our grandchildren who were being dropped off at our house from 1 until 6.30 as Oli had to fly to Santander and Miguel was working too. I made meatballs which is their favourite dish. They love it so much they had it both for lunch and for dinner!

We had some time to ourselves though before they came and used it to go for our walk and have a coffee  at La Flaca. I needed the peace before the storm. They were having lunch when we got home and shortly afterwards Oli left for Santander and we had the task of entertaining them for the afternoon. They are very boisterous and tend to hit each other rather a lot. They certainly know how to wind up adults as do most small children. The highlights were pushing them on the swings in the garden and showing Elliot how to play dominoes. He loved it. 

Elliot enjoyed learning to play dominoes with Suzy and I yesterday

We played with a set Oli had as a child and it was wonderful to watch how he understood how to play immediately. You can tell he is competitive too by the way hahahah. 

After they left we had more peace time which I used to finish this week's post. I slept relatively well last night and woke up today, Sunday, at 8 am which is quite rare. We have no plans for today. Everything is ready for Christmas so I shall be going on a walk and putting up my feet. That's for sure.

Next week when I write Christmas will be over or rather Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So all that remains is to wish you once again a very happy Christmas. I have noticed in many places, the word Christmas is substituted for Holidays and thus you see and hear "Happy Holidays" instead of "Happy Christmas". May we all remember that the real reason for celebrating Christmas is the birth of Jesus Christ so whether you are a believer or not, there is absolutely no need to change the name. Would anyone dare change the names of other religions' celebrations such as Eid or Hanukkah? I`ll leave you to think about your answer.

So once again Happy Christmas friends and readers. All the best till next Sunday,

Masha

The end of Bashar Al-Assad's brutal regime in Syria, not much festive spirit, farewell Mohammad, lunch with old friends at Filandón, Eladio at a demonstration, visit to St. George's Christmas fair and other stories of the week.

 Madrid, Sunday, 15th December, 2024

At the St. George's Anglican Church Christmas Fair yesterday morning in Madrid

Good morning everyone. How are you doing? Most of you are probably all ready for Christmas. I have to admit that I am not. For the first time ever I just haven't got into the festive spirit. I think I've had something of an existential crisis this week that has made me feel that way. I won't go into it but it hasn't been a good week.

It has been a great week for many people in Syria though. Last Sunday after I posted my blog it was later confirmed that dictator Bashar Al-Assad had fled the country to Moscow after 13 years of civil war and 50 years of dictatorship which started with his father. We now know the truth of his regime with mass murder of civilians who did not agree with his politics in true Nazi or Stalinist style. 300.000 people were savagely killed and 100.000 displaced. We now all know the name of the already notorious prison Sednaya and what terrible things happened there, on a par with medieval style torture. But how did it happen? How did he lose his power? There are two main reasons; his allies, Russia and Iran had in some way lost interest in holding up the regime because they were and are elsewhere occupied with Ukraine and Israel via Hezbollah. The other reason is the planning of all Bashar's enemies in the country who, although divided in ideas and politics, somehow came together to topple him. The rebels were mainly led by HTS - a semi jihadist group that promises fair rule (we shall see), under a leader called Abu Mohammed al-Jolani now naming himself Ahmed al-Shara.

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani in Damascus after it fell this week

Even they were amazed at just how easy it was to topple Bashar Al-Assad.  Since taking Aleppo, Homa and then Homs at the end of November, within less than a month they took Damascus and Bashar had to scuttle off and away. He leaves a country that wants to be born again that wants to be rebuilt and wants to live in peace. Will that be possible with so many factions involved? Al-Assad is an Alawaite, a branch of Shia Islam. Al Jolani is also a Shia muslim, but what about the Sunnis, the Druze and the Christians. Will their beliefs be respected? Jolani says they will and he also says there will be no strict dress code for women. But can we believe this from a man who once belonged to Al Quaeda?  The world has been watching events from a distance worried as to what will happen. Meanwhile, the Russians want to maintain their military fortresses and ports and the Iranians want their loans that run into the billions back. Israelis bombarded military targets trying to decimate the country's army and weapon stock, especially those most lethal chemical weapons Bashar Al-Assad so famously used on his own people. This week certainly marked the end of his brutal regime but I doubt the future will be a walk in the park for everyday Syrians, especially those who collaborated with the previous regime whether they were for or against it. Most people had to pretend they were. There will be trials as big as Nuremberg and I sincerely hope they catch the monsters who carried out Bashar's orders like the Nazis did under Hitler. What a situation. I can only hope and pray for a brighter future for Syria and its people who have lived under the worst tyranny in the region. Good riddance Bashar. I wish you boring anonymity and obscurity  in some luxury dacha on the outskirts of Moscow thanks to your "friend" Putin. Even he tired of you. Hopefully he will use you as a bargaining chip to curry favour with the new regime. Wouldn't it be good to see the outwardly cultured man sitting at trial and sentenced to prison for all his crimes? 

I couldn't think much about his departure last Sunday as Oli and kids were coming for lunch and wanted my home made fish and chips. It's an awful palaver, especially without Tana, but I did it and the family enjoyed this most British of meals. 

On Monday I should have put up the Christmas decorations but I just didn't have it in me. Instead I went for a solo walk cheered up by seeing Oli live on TV. I wasn't too cheered up about the subject though. She was reporting on a negative aspect of Airbnb. Honestly, as an Airbnb host, I am a bit fed up with all the media hype. Why can't the world or governments accept realities? The shared economy is a reality, especially for people like me who rent out rooms in their own house. I suppose the villains in this story are those who do it on an industrial scale. Anyway, here is her lovely face on TV reporting that day.

Olivia reporting live this week on false Airbnb host profiles

I commiserated with my dear friend Amanda that afternoon during our weekly Skype call. She has been suffering from a bad bout of flu and feeling under the weather; despite having had an anti flu jab. I felt sorry for her. But she always cheers me up because we end up laughing. 

Tuesday came and it was sad. It was the day that my dear guest Mohammad who is originally from Iraq, was leaving after more than a year in our house. It was Mohammad who on Sunday rushed into the kitchen in the morning to tell me about the situation in Syria which, of course, he is watching closely. He has gone home to see his parents on a surprise visit but home is now Muscat as they have retired as teachers of psychology at the University of Baghdad. Years ago they went to live there after Sadam Hussein ordered his uncle's head to be chopped off - yes, as crude as that. When Mohammad first came to live with us, it was his first trip to the west, to Europe and life for him changed radically. I think his outlook did too, very positively and we came became close, like mother and son. I wish I had taken a photo when he left, kitted out in the Real Madrid clothes which he so  loves. But I didn't so am sharing one I saw of him on his Instagram while he was studying  in one of our lounges for his master in sports science.

Mohammad who I will miss sorely

He has promised to come back in three months time and I really hope he does. I hope too that his future will be in Spain and that it will be a bright one in the sports' world. Farewell my friend. You will be sorely missed. When he left on Tuesday it was the first time in a whole year that we were guest free until this Friday when my last two guests of the year came, Leonardo from Brazil and Alan from Ireland. 2024 has been good business wise. I hope 2025 is equally good.

The morning was sad but we had something to look forward to that day. I had booked a table for 4 at Filandón  - one of my favourite restaurants in Madrid.  We were inviting our long time friends, Loli and Benito to lunch. We first met when we were  young in 1981 when we all lived in Saconia on the outskirts of Madrid and have kept in touch ever since although not as often as we should. The last time we had been together was when they invited us to lunch at El Gamo in El Pardo in March 2021 during the pandemic. It was so good to see them and it was also great to be back at Filandon which looks so festive right now. I had to have a photo outside to remember the moment.

At Filandón on Tuesday

We had so much to catch up on after so much time that our chins wagged throughout the delicious lunch. Later we had a photo taken as we parted and we vowed to meet again at Filandón next year on the same date; 10th December. 

A group photo with Loli and Benito

On Wednesday there was not much to report apart from my doing the weekly shopping. Thursday was pretty similar, the only highlight being when I went to have my nails done.  I always enjoy that.

On Friday, Oli and family left for Valencia for a long weekend with friends of Miguel's from when he lived in Valencia and worked for RTVE which is where he and Oli met. The kids must have had a splendid time. Here is a photo of the 4 of them to remember their trip there this weekend.

Oli and family in Valencia this weekend

Saturday came and we did something different. Yesterday was certainly the highlight of the week. I was going to the St. George's Anglican church Christmas fair  with my sister-in-law Dolores and Eladio was going with her husband José Antonio, his second brother down, to a demonstration in the city. Later we would meet for lunch at their house where we used to live too when we got married in 1983. 

The demonstration was a protest about the future of of civil servant health care under the auspices of Muface which has always been private. Health care for civil servants is outsourced to private insurance companies, such as Adeslas, Asisa, etc. The problem is that the government doesn't cover the costs of their health care. The alternative is for them to be part of the public health system which is already under a strain with not enough resources. I argue too that as public workers, if a private health insurance was part of their salary package it can't be taken away just like that. Eladio sent me a photo of him with his brother during the protest which I hope leads somewhere.

José Antonio and Eladio at the protest in Madrid yesterday against private health care for public servants being suspended. 

Meanwhile, Dolores and I were at the Church Christmas fair. It's never really very good and this time there was no jumble sale; most items being new. I did get some chocolates though and Dolores got mince pies. Going there was really an excuse to meet up in Madrid.  Shortly after having a quick look round, we walked to my favourite coffee and cake shop in town, Balbisiana on the upmarket street called Velázquez. It's a bit like a Spanish sort of Betty's. Later I spent 70 odd euros on cakes and such for lunch and to take home. I just couldn't resist them. 

We walked back to their house which will always be our old house and soon we were joined by our husbands who were happy with their experience at the protest. I really hope it bears some fruit. Dolores made a  lovely lunch of fish baked in the oven with some fried potatoes accompanied by delicious wine and then all sorts of sweets and cakes for dessert. We left around 5 before it got dark as it was late. We had had a lovely time and I felt much better than I had all week.

We came home to a quiet house. I hadn't seen my 2 guests, both of whom are repeats and Suzy was with Pippa who rushed out to greet us but then rushed back into Suzy's room. She pines for my daughter and I recently understood one of the reasons is that she gives Pippa massages. Imagine! 

I spent some time writing this post and when I had finished at 7.30 pm I found my husband already in his pyjamas and in bed. He slept a full 12 hours. I wish I could do that. Suzy and I had dinner alone and both enjoyed one of Balbisiana's cakes.

Today is Sunday. It is sunny but cold and frosty and I hope we go on a morning walk as I have been a bit lazy this week. Hoping your Sunday is a good one, cheers for now,

Masha

A quiet week in December, Spain's new Big Brother tourist registration rules, my raspberry mille-feuille tart, José Antonio and Dolores for lunch, babysitting Elliot and Juliet, remembering Fátima and not many other stories to tell this week.

 Madrid, Sunday 8th December, 2024.

Eladio with Pippa who turned 10 this week. 

Good morning everyone this quiet Sunday. It is even quieter today in Spain as it is a holiday to mark the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Spain is officially a secular state so you might wonder why all these holidays to mark Catholic feast days. Traditions die hard and for those who celebrate the real meaning of Christmas; the birth of Jesus Christ, today probably means a lot; the day the mother of God conceived of him via the holy spirit. In our case it will be quiet and will be treated as just another Sunday, made a bit more fun as Oli and family are coming and we shall be having a special lunch to celebrate her new status as a full time employee with RTVE, Spain's national broadcaster.  But I am digressing, so let me backtrack to last Sunday which was quiet too as has most of the  week and as you will read I don't have many stories to tell. Sorry, not much excitement this week. Maybe that is a good thing.

That day our walk took us to La Flaca bar and restaurant for our morning coffee. Recently we seem to unite both events, the walk and our or my morning coffee as Eladio, sadly, does partake of my favourite beverage. The best photo of the week was taken there and I've chosen it as my feature photo. Here is another one of my husband with Pippa. 

Two of the greatest loves of my life; my husband Eladio and Pippa, our miniature dachshund last Sunday at La Flaca

On my social media handles I wrote "with two of the greatest loves of my life". You probably know we are three in this marriage with Pippa being the addition, hahaha.

The afternoon saw me watching a film called Joy on Netflix. It's about how the first test-tube baby was conceived successfully. It's one of those good British made biopics based on a true story which are just up my street. It's also a story I remember as a teenager in England when  Louise Brown, the first test-tube baby was born, in 1978. It was nothing short of a miracle even though society was against the innovation. Since then I read some 2 million babies were born to mothers who, without IVF would have been barren. The brain behind the science, British physiologist Robert Edwards, was later awarded the Nobel prize in Medicine in 2010. Thankfully by then, IVF was no longer considered an aberration of science. 

Monday came and very early that morning, Betty, our lovely Mexican guest left after nearly 3 months in our house. She has been like a mother to Mohammad who is missing her badly. She will be back in January but sadly Mo won't. 

We went to Primark of all places that morning where I bought more leggings - the only thing I wear in the winter, as mysteriously one of mine had disappeared in the wash. Don't ask me how. We also did the weekly shop so as to have all the ingredients for a special lunch the next day when Eladio's brother José Antonio and our sister-in-law, Dolores, were coming to spend part of the day with us. 

The furniture for the newly restored wooden cabin arrived that morning and had Eladio easily assembling the sofa pallets and table. They look lovely but the cabin needed lighting. It turns out our neighbour, Julio, is now an electrician so he has been coming and going this week to do the job. 

That day a new nightmare system came into place in Spain for registering guests in hotels and holiday homes. It's had most holiday home owner left baffled with the amount of information the state requires of all guests. It is supposed to be for security but it's borderline communist like collection of data; a sort of Big Brother. In some cases people have to fill out forms with 42 questions, many of them infringing on personal data. I can hardly imagine what it must be like now when checking into a hotel.   I had to somehow register on the new site which later collapsed and I  am now dreading asking my guests for such detailed information, not to mention the extra work. 

I mulled on this while at the hairdresser that afternoon where Conchi died my roots. I came out looking a lot better I think but there is no photo to prove it.

Pippa turned 10 on Tuesday which is quite a milestone. She means the world to us. As I wrote on Facebook and Instagram the next day, "Darling Pippa turned 10 on Tuesday. She is a true member of our family and my favourite dog of all times. She is loyal to the end, our friend and companion, stubborn, fun and brave. She has all the typical traits of a dachshund: devoted to her family, smart, obstinate, vigilant and courageous. Sometimes I think she thinks she is human and would follow us to the end of the world". I added "Life with Pippa is better". I accompanied the text with this photo taken of her on Eladio's lap one afternoon this week. 

Pippa turned 10 on Tuesday

She is such an integral part of our life  I cannot imagine it without her. I dread the day she gets old and passes away. I really do.

I made a cake that morning which Elliot later asked if it was for Pippa's birthday which made me laugh.  Actually it was for the lunch I made for José Antonio and Dolores. I am not a bad cook in general but am not known as the pastry queen. Thank God you can buy it these days. I made my mother' raspberry and cream mille-feuille tart which my parents used to call "the slice" although I'm not sure why. My mother used to make the puff pastry with lots of butter herself but I got mine from the proverbial Mercadona. Basically it is 4 layers of baked pastry  which when risen you slice into 2 making for 8 layers. I filled the layers with fresh raspberries and whipped cream. All went well except for the icing for which I used a small punnet of raspberries to get the pink colour but it ran a bit. This is what it looked like on the outside and on the inside. It tasted better than it looked and I think it was the best part of the lunch. But then I always judge a meal on its dessert having such a sweet tooth that I inherited from my dear father.

My raspberry mille-feuille tart which tasted better than it looked

The starter was chicken waldorf salad which I served in goblets and the second course was another of my mother's recipes - good old boeuf stroganoff. I wish I had taken a photo of the table in all its finery when it was laid but I forgot.

While I was cooking, Eladio drove to the nearest metro station to pick up our guests whom we hadn't seen since his 80th in September. There was lots to catch up on; my trips to London and New York and their recent trip to Egypt. Here is a photo I took of them while we relaxed in the lounge after lunch.

Dolores and José Antonio, Eladio's next brother down, on Tuesday

I first met them in the 1978 during my year in Madrid as part of my University studies and it was through them that I met Eladio in the summer of 1980. It's thanks to them we met, something I shall always be grateful for. 

Our afternoon would have been quiet except that Olivia brought the kids round while she went to her French lesson. They were excited to see their great uncle and aunt who they know so well from their summers in Montrondo. They rushed in and made a beeline for José Antonio. All small children love him. I remember when Suzy was small she used to call him "tu tío" which means "your uncle" as we used to tell her he was her uncle. My grandchildren who can't pronounce his name yet call him "Toto Antonio" which makes us all laugh.

I gave them some of the tart and put some aside for both Oli and Dolores and later forgot to give it to them. That had me eating some of it every day for lunch I'm afraid.

Elliot and Juliet eating some of my tart on Tuesday

 Elado later took his brother and wife back to the station while I looked after my grandchildren. I took them to my neighbour Julio's house to look at some lighting for the cabin and they followed me like sheep. But first Julio had to tie up their ferocious dog Vito who barks all day. Later he let out the other dog, Lisa, a Pyrenees mountain dog as gentle as a baby but huge in size who I think impressed my grandchildren. 

Soon Suzy was back and Eladio too and I left them with the kids while I went to have the first of two vaccines against Herpes Zoster, more commonly known as shingles. I got it once as did Eladio and never want it again which is why I agreed to having the vaccine. Once home, I found an orderly house. Suzy had bathed the kids with Eladio's help and they were all having dinner in the dining room where I joined them.

On Wednesday we woke up to to news from South Korea where the  President declared martial law which after massive protests he had to annul. Meanwhile, in France, there was a vote of no confidence and the Prime Minister had to step down. Macron, the President, however refuses to resign and is finding it difficult to rule with a minority government. It's not much better in Spain. We haven 't had a vote of no confidence but we are inundated with political corruption cases; one after the other. It just makes me think that many Spanish politicians are corrupt at heart. They do say that power leads to corruption and it generally does because of how we are as humans. One great example from literature is the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell. I am sure there are more. 

We had lunch alone that day as Suzy went to Oli's house - I do like how they have rekindled their sisterly spirit. In the afternoon I enjoyed my weekly Skype call with Amanda where we can laugh or cry and have so many memories from when we were children to comment on. 

Thursday was 5th December and the 5th anniversary of the death of my dearest Spanish friend, Fátima. Oh how I miss her still today and will always miss her. I know she lives on in my heart but that is never enough is it? I wrote to her daughter also called Fátima who, if you read this blog, will know we met while in New York. I knew she would be feeling emotional that day and wanted to reach out to her. 

Remembering and missing my dear friend Fátima who passed away 5 years away this week. 

Of note that day we went on our daily walk, including coffee at La Flaca and looked after the kids in the afternoon again while Oli went to her French lessons.

Friday came and it was the beginning of the December Bank Holiday - the 6th celebrating the Spanish Constitution and the 8th the Immaculate Conception.  A lot of people go away for the weekend and I heard that hotels had reached 90% capacity in Madrid which must have been teeming with people. We were at 100% capacity with 9 guests this weekend. That meant a lot of preparation in the morning. But all was ready for their arrival later in evening.  

The Paraguayan workers came to repaint the wooden cabin which, although the right colour, was not looking equal in many parts. And now they have painted it a supposed "teak" colour which looks more like a very dark brown. I am not happy at all as I wanted a much lighter colour - more of a honey come reddish brown. Now I have to live with the consequences. I am not even going to reproduce a photo of the finished cabin as I am so cross with how it looks. Anyway, I suppose there are worse problems in life.

Saturday dawned and once again we had the pleasure of the company of Oli and the kids as she was alone at home with them and needed a helping hand. With Suzy's help we soon had a table full of food and lunch was more or less orderly, or as much as it can be with children aged 3 and 5 hahaha. They left early enough for us to enjoy our afternoon nap which gave me time to write this post. 

Last night was the official opening of the newly restored Notre Dame cathedral in Paris part of which we watched on TV. I was aghast to see that Donald Trump had been invited by Macron. Rather cleverly, he also invited Ukraine's Zelenski in an attempt to muster support from the incumbent President I suspect.  I also spotted Prince William who I read later had a meeting with Trump to discuss or rather reinforce the "special relationship" between the US and the UK. But what on earth was Elon Musk doing there I wondered? Was Macron pandering to him too? The place was full of world leaders but I have to say the Cathedral looked magnificent.

Far away in Syria lat night,  where no one's eyes were on Paris, the Islamist rebels were in the throes of toppling dictator Bashar al-Assad. This morning many news outlets are reporting he has fled the capital or even maybe the country. Is that a good thing? Of course it is as he is a tyrant on the scale of Gaddafi or Saddam Hussein. What does not seem good to me is who will replace him; an Islamic group that once belonged to Al Qaeda. Will that plunge Syria into Islamic fundamentalism with a government similar to the Taliban in Afghanistan? Oh how my heart pours out to the ordinary people in Syria who only want freedom, peace and prosperity; something most people in the world take for granted.

That was this morning's main news. Today is  Sunday and I have come to the end of my tales so will leave you now until next week. I hope you all have a wonderful day, a day of peace and quiet and freedom. We may complain about our governments but they are heaven compared to places like Syria, Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon or Afghanistan, to name a few. Let's remember that.

Cheers now until next Sunday,

All the best, Masha