A quiet week in November, Spain's political soap opera, shopping in Madrid with Suzy, remembering my father and other stories of the week.

 Madrid, Sunday 9th November, 2025

Out and about with Suzy in Madrid centre this week

Good morning all. 

I don't like November. Do you? November is when summer is finally over here, the leaves cover the garden, it gets dark early and usually rains. In short, miserable. 

My week hasn't been miserable. It's just been quiet while I have been recovering after my operation two weeks ago. I am feeling a lot better but still have some brain fog and, sometimes, it still hurts. But I am sure it's for the greater good.

There is not much to report about this week but let me try. Last Sunday we went on our walk, as we usually do. I was happy later to read a 5 star review from my Belgian family guests. Thank you Peter and I hope to host you again. I met my other Belgian guest, Simon, finally that day. It turned out he is from Paris but studying in Brussels. He was a great guest and we hardly ever saw him. Suzy was at work and from there went straight to see George, her beau. They seem to be happy but I don't think I will be meeting him anytime soon as he is the sort of chap who is not to keen on meeting the mother of his girlfriend. I told Suzy to tell him that I don't bite. 

Suzy confessed to me that day that she had stopped her medication two whole months ago. I was astonished, mainly because she seems so much better and there have been no symptoms. So she hasn't taken her meds for 2 months yet seems fine. I keep wondering if maybe she is not bipolar or all the things she was diagnosed with and that her psychotic incidents were drug induced. And now she is off cannabis, she is back to normal. I looked it up on AI and I could be right. It could be she was wrongly diagnosed and it was all down to marijuana because the symptoms of drug psychosis and bipolar condition mimic each other. I honestly hope I am right. It may just be a state of remission, I don't know.  But there she is doing things, meeting people, going to work, socialising, smiling; yes smiling and doesn't seem at all ill. She herself admits it and told me she is happy again while she thought she never would be. Eladio thinks her best medication is the new job and the beau. For the moment we are happy that she is happy and that's enough for me. I can't ask for more. Only time will tell.

I finished The Long Shadow - that very good series about the Yorkshire Ripper and then went onto the biography of Andrew and Sarah; Entitled, the Rise and Fall of the House of York. Andrew Lownie's damning book about the ex Duke and Duchess'  abominable behaviour won't do much for their popularity. 

This damning book couldn't have come at a worse time for Andrew and Sarah

It is all about money and sex. Andrew according to Epstein was an even heavier addict than him, and money was everything to them both. It's outrageous how they exploited their royalty for their own benefit.  Honestly, I don't know how they got away with it for all those years when everyone around them knew what was going on. Shame on the Royal family and I was a fan. I no longer am and that is saying a lot.

I was a bit upset this week by friends' insensitive behaviour which I still can't understand and don't want to go into here.   Dear Kathy cheered me up that evening when we had a long overdue video call. We had one later in the week too. 

On Monday things came to a head in Spain's political soap opera which is basically a ferocious battle between the left wing government, the PSOE, led by Pedro Sánchez and propped up by all sorts of dubious parties, and the right wing opposition, the People's Party (PP). That morning Carlos Mazón the regional head of the Autonomy of Valencia and from the PP  finally resigned after accusations of mismanaging the flash floods last year. Now we have to see who replaces him or whether there will be local elections. All this fuels the ongoing political battle between the right and the left.  Amazingly too this week, Spain's Attorney General, Alvaro García Ortiz, who was appointed by Pedro Sánchez, appeared at the Supreme Court to face trial  for allegedly disclosing confidential information. The information pertained to the boyfriend of the Regional head of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, from the PP party and Sánchez' arch enemy. An Attorney General has never been seen in the dock before and I still don't understand why he hasn't resigned. I also don't understand why Sánchez himself hasn't.  This week his Catalan extremist supporters, Junts, led by the fugitive Carlos Puigdemont, cut off ties with the PSOE party. They had 7 deputies in Congress so now the PSOE will have their hands completely tied. In normal circumstances a government without a majority has to call elections but Pedro prefers to ignore all this noise and stay in his palace without being able to govern.  That on top of the court cases where both Sánchez' wife, Begoña and brother, David, are also facing trial. And then there is the trial of his former Minister of Transport and Secretary general who is in prison. They are accused of taking kick backs from public construction contracts. Their trial is peppered with stories of payments to call girls and gifts of expensive flats and holidays. When will this end? Not for a long time. Eladio is loving the whole farce but I am getting tired of it. 

I did some retail therapy and went to a shopping centre where I was not at all inspired. But I did enjoy the expensive coffee at Starbucks. I never know whether I love or hate that brand, especially living in a coffee country like Spain. Since when was a cappuccino a Spanish thing? It's not, it's a "café con leche" just with a bit more foam. 

The afternoon was  another groundhog afternoon with me mostly watching the telly. Not good. What is good is when we adjoin for wine and pistachios by the pool just before dinner at around 7 pm. Or maybe it isn't good for my body but good for my morale. 

Tuesday came and as usual I got about 5.5h sleep which is just not enough and that is despite a cocktail of sleeping pills. Oh dear. 

I did something good that morning and made a 2026 desk calendar using a website called Vistaprint. I used to make them every year until about 3 years ago, until our life went pear shape.  This is what it looks like. 

My 2026 desk calendar in the making

I have ordered 15 and hope to be able to take one with me to Devon in December for Amanda and Andy.

I got my flu jab that morning but not my Covid jab as it's for over 70's in Spain, or so I was told. As soon as I got back we went on our walk. Suzy was home for lunch which was curry again which I had made industrial amounts of. Later she and I went to pick the kids up from school and took Elliot to athletics. I left her to look after Juliet as at 6.15 as I had a scheduled Facetime call with my dear friend Amanda. She always cheers me up and I was so happy to give her good news for once; all about Suzy, of course. 

On Wednesday Suzy and I went into the centre of Madrid for some retail therapy and a splendid lunch. We left early and parked the car at Plaza de España. From there I took Suzy to the rooftop bar, called The Sky Bar. It really is a great place to take people. This week's feature photo is of the two of us having coffee there and enjoying the views. It is only really from a rooftop that you appreciate that most of Madrid's roofs are red. As I write the plural of the word roof I remember being taught by our English teacher, Miss Speak, back in the 60's that the correct spelling was "rooves". It seems since I left England in 1981 many things have changed.  Anyway, back to the rooftop. Here is a lovely photo of Suzy who, like me, could not cross the glass walkway so high up. 

Suzy on Wednesday at the Sky Bar rooftop in Madrid

From there we walked to Primark on Gran Via to get some basics we both needed. I had only ever been to our local Primark and wasn't prepared to enter the second largest in the world. It measures over 12.000 square metres and has 5 floors. There is so much on offer at good prices. Its only downfall is that the queues for paying are so long. It was a bit overwhelming that's for sure but we came out  happy with our purchases. I got some 5 euro leggings, as good as Marks and Spencer's, a lovely white knitted jumper dress and a pastel pink fleece jacket. Suzy got jeans, leggings, tops and other basics.

I came out feeling I had overdone it and needed a little sit down. Next on our agenda was lunch at the lovely El Cüenco de Pepa, a very upmarket restaurant near the Bernabeu stadium on the other side of Madrid. The restaurant  is famous mostly for its tomatoes and its chef and owner, Pepa Muñoz who, I was happy to read, collaborates with World Central Kitchen run by fellow Spanish chef, José Andrés. Pepa has her own orchard in Avila not far from Madrid and the whole restaurant is decorated with gigantic tomatoes and pumpkins. She even has a shop where we later bought 3 enormous tomatoes at 8 euros each.

Lunch was splendid and Suzy says it's now her favourite restaurant. The place was full of important looking Madrileño businessmen as always but then as always the food is splendid and it's worth going back to over and over again, as I have. All in all Suzy and I had had a wonderful time. There is nothing better than retail therapy, spending time with your offspring in harmony and having a good lunch out, to raise your spirits and mine were raised on Wednesday.

Wednesday, of course was 5th November, Guy Fawke's night aka Bonfire Night. I tried to describe to Suzy my memories as a child of that magical night. My dear father would light fireworks in our garden and sometimes in our street  in Heaton Grove at the Pond in the middle of it, where we used to play as kids,  there would be a bonfire. That is a very British celebration. The only thing I don't like now as an adult is the harm the fireworks do to animals. 

On the other side of THE pond that day, something historical happened in New York. A 34 year man called Zohran Mamdani, representing the Democrat Party was voted Mayor of the city, the capital of the world for some. It's funny but this time last year Oli and I were there and we stayed at the famed Carlyle. Anyway, back to Mamdani, who Trump is of course furious about. Born in Uganda to Indian parents he is the first Muslim Mayor of New York. His political promises seem very attractive but whether he can carry them all out is another thing. His win is a breath of fresh air for the increasingly autocratic United States and I wish him luck in his new mandate. 

That night, Omar from Tunisia arrived. He is young and surely a Muslim too and so polite. He keeps calling me Madame. He came bringing a book written in French by his grandfather who was a philosopher. It was his grandmother's dedication I liked. You see she was a former teacher of English and had lived for a year in Yorkshire in 1970. 

Thursday was the first really cold day of the month. But we still went on our walk. Suzy was out in Madrid with Copi and we picked up the kids again while Oli was giving a presentation at a workshop - something to do with PR and communication. 

Oli ready for her workshop on Thursday afternoon while we picked up the kids

How she juggles her life, I do not know. She is up at 5 am and manages to include her French lessons and go to they gym with Suzy. With Miguel away in Pamplona, she needed our help so we came to her rescue. They later stayed for dinner made by dear Tana and had their baths in our room, bless them. Just after they left, I touched base with Kathy again. It seems both she and Phil have come down with flu or a cold.

While all that was happening, Suzy was having a great time with Copi who did both her makeup and her hair. Here are some pics. I don't like the piercing but if she does what can I say?

Suzy all dressed up to go out with Copi on Thursday night

I was up at 6 am on Friday morning and not out of choice. I do wish I could sleep more. Oli had told me she was nervous as that morning she had to cover the People Party's news and opinion - all part of Spain's soap opera. She might have been nervous but I would never have noticed as she did an excellent job. Here she is outside the PP party HQ in Génova. She came on quite a few times and, as always, I watched her in awe.

Oli live on TV various times on Friday morning covering the news from the opposition party, the PP

We went for our walk on Friday morning and then to do the shopping I don't order online. We were supposed to go out for lunch to celebrate Suzy's new job but Oli was exhausted so we have postponed it.  Later in the evening we met Raúl, a young engineer from Alicante who is a repeat guest. He asked if he could play our piano. Well, of course. The piano which belonged to my grandmother who was a pianist was played by her, my Aunty Gloria, my cousin Jacqueline and of course my brother George. It's always nostalgic but pleasing to hear a guest who knows how to play, to use her over 100 year old piano. Thank you Raúl. 

Saturday came and saw Suzy at work again in her new role as a hospital dietitian for the French catering company Sodexho. I had asked her for a photo and got this.

So proud Suzy is working again. 

Saturday was of significance as 8th November is the anniversary of the passing away of my dear, dear father who died with me by his bedside 4 years ago now. It's hard to believe that 4 years have passed since he left us. He left a gaping hole no one can fill. It was a pleasure and privilege to have him living with us from 2005 to 2021. If you know me, you will know I revere my father for so many reasons. My greatest gift to him was a biography of his life when he turned 100. It made me so happy to see his smiling and surprised face as I presented it to him. He read it countless times. If you haven't read it, you can find it on Amazon. Here is the Amazon UK link although you can get it on any Amazon country site. And when he died I organised a funeral fit for a general. He would probably have said to me "what is all the fuss about?". He never ever blew his own trumpet so I had to do that for him. For his funeral in Bradford the local paper, The Telegraph and Argus, the one he used to receive daily alongside The Times for more than 40 years, published a fitting tribute with lots of photos of his life. These are just some of the photos in that article.

It was the 4th anniversary yesterday of my father's death yesterday 

He lived with us for 16 years and I still miss him everyday. I miss his smiling and appreciative face and I miss sharing things with him. Love you Daddy.

I miss him at meals too and I know he would have loved the vegetable soup I made yesterday for lunch for Eladio and me. He would not have been quite so keen on my divine stuffed roast shoulder of lamb as he was no great meat eater. But we enjoyed it. 

Today, Sunday, we shall enjoy having Oli and the kids here while Miguel is still in Pamplona for TVE. Thankfully Tana is back and will help me make a traditional Sunday roast for our lunch.  It looks like another sunny but cold day and we shall enjoy our walk before I don my apron and prepare the lunch.

That is it from me apart from a special message to my school friend Geraldine to congratulate her on the birth of her grandson. I know how she will be feeling as having a grandchild is an emotional and wonderful thing to happen to parents.

Till next week, cheers for now,

Masha