A Christmassy morning in Boadilla, trip to England, quality time with Amanda and Andy, escape from Venezuela, M&S here I come, Memories of St. Joseph's College Bradford, Babbacombe, fish and chips and other stories of the week.

 Maidencombe, Devon, UK Sunday 14th December 2025

Together again - having lunch at Riverford Field Kitchen on Friday was a special treat.

Good morning from my friends Andy and Amanda's lovely house overlooking the sea in Devon, UK. I can hardly believe this trip  that I so looked forward to, is coming to an end. It has been a tonic for us all as you will read.

First let me rewind to last Sunday. There is not much to tell but for the record we enjoyed our morning walk in the sunshine while our 8 guests from Valencia were out. Oli and family were out too. They went to the newly installed outdoor skating rink in Boadilla. We came to live in this small town outside the city in 1988 looking for  a countryside life and where Oli and Miguel have now set up their home so close to us. I love ice rinks, especially outdoor ones. The pictures of Elliot and Miguel taking their first steps on the ice brought back memories of the Ice Rink in Bradford where my brother George and I learned to skate. It was also where Suzy and Oli did too when they were quite small. An outdoor skating rink is such a Christmassy thing, we went to see it the next day. I didn't dare compete with the kids on ice and wondered if I would remember how to skate but thought it better not to try. 

Sunday night saw us watching a film called The Mission which has always been one of my favourites. Filmed in 1986 it stars Robert de Niro and Jeremy Irons. It's a historical drama about Jesuit missionaries in 18th century Latin America who try to protect the Guarani tribe from being made slaves by the Portuguese colonisers while ownership of the territories changes hands. It is up to the Pope's representative to solve the conflict and preserve the Jesuits in Europe. He reluctantly decides the Guarani's fate by closing the missions and handing over the people to the Portuguese.  It's a tragic, tragic end and the film's only saving grace is Ennio Morricone's sound track considered his finest work. 

Monday, the day of the Immaculate Conception, came and was the end of the bank holiday in Spain. I rather like to see that Spain still respects the Christian calendar and makes no shame of it,  despite being governed by a far left party. I think if they did away with it there would be rather an uproar. Our group of 8 from Valencia left and Tana spent all morning cleaning and preparing all 4 rooms. 

We went for a different walk that day, to the park by the palace in Boadilla where we got to see the ice rink and took photos.

A Christmassy morning in Boadilla

The rink was lovely, not on a par with the Rockerfeller Centre, but very Christmassy. I had a coffee on the terrace and later we went for a walk in the huge park that surrounds the palace.

Our walk by the palace last Monday

The girls were having a Christmas party at home for their crowd and when Suzy told me they would be 12 we made our great escape, hahaha. We decided on a curry at India Gate which was quite good. It was amazing to see so many people having lunch and many of them outside in the sunshine; not like here in Devon in November which, luckily is quite sunny but not warm enough for eating alfresco.  I love the sun in Spain. Did you know that the average amount of sun hours is 3000 a year? That's possibly one of the reasons Spain is the second most visited country in the world and it is predicted it will beat France to the number one spot by 2040.  It was sunny that morning and we loved our walk and our curry out.

Our Indian meal last Monday

We came home to greet the 12 diners and quickly escaped to our bedroom. While my husband managed to sleep I heard my grandmother's piano being banged on as well as many doors slammed by the kids and their friends. I'm afraid I did not venture from our room until everyone had gone. My behaviour was anti social but I felt overwhelmed and just had to make my escape.

Suzy was off to Castellón that night and instead of driving her in the dark to the train station I just ordered her an Uber to save us having to take her. In the meantime, I did my packing for England and found myself a little jittery and somewhat flustered. It was a bad case of "reisefieber" - a wonderful German term meaning "travel fever", often known as butterflies in your tummy. I wondered if it was age related. 

Tuesday came, the big day, the day I travelled to Bristol, UK, to be reunited with my great friends, Amanda and her husband Andy. Amanda and I met at school, St. Joseph's Catholic College, in Bradford, aged 11 and we both met Andy who was in my father's form at Bradford Grammar School when he played in a band with Amanda's brother, Simon. It would be our 4th reunion this year and I was looking forward to time off with them.

I booked an Uber to the airport rather than impose a long drive there and back on Eladio. Meanwhile, Andy had to drive 2h to Bristol to pick me up. My plane was delayed due to bad weather in Bristol.We disembarked onto the tarmac and the wind nearly blew me over. Before I could leave the terminal I was stopped by the police in what felt like a very US experience. He was to search me and my luggage and ask all sorts of security questions such as whether I was carrying firearms! It is the first time I have ever been stopped like that in the UK and it was not the arrival I had been looking forward to and I told the policeman my thoughts. I felt nervous, intimidated and a bit violated. I suppose he was doing his job but I still don't know why he chose me. It felt like being on the bad end of an interview in Line of Duty. Finally I got out of his clutches and found Andy. We quickly set off in the rain and wind and actually had a pleasant drive talking all the way back. It was great to see Amanda upon arrival at their lovely house in Maidencombe overlooking the sea.

I settled into my room and soon we were in their fabulous kitchen eating M&S food which I can never get tired of. We played the card game, Sevens until late, laughing throughout. What fun it was and has been

Both Amanda and I sleep badly. My friend offered me a new sleeping pill, "zolpidem" but it did nothing for me and I just tossed and turned all night. Pain from my neck probably owing to arthritis made my night even worse and I got up feeling like something the cat had brought it. But I was not going to let that spoil my first full day back in England, my home country which I always miss and love to come back to.

On Wednesday I was up at 7ish UK time, made my coffee - in the dark as I can't stand electric light in the mornings and went outside to enjoy my first coffee and my first fag. 2 minutes later the heavens opened and rain poured down on me and ruined the moment. I have to say I do love England but I do not love the weather here. Sunny days are few and far between, especially at this time of year. But then the rain stopped and the sun came out and it has hardly rained since. I took advantage of the "good weather" to take a picture of the view from the house to show you.

The view from Andy and Amanda's house

We were a bit stuck that morning when Andy found their new state of the art hybrid Volvo had a puncture. Meanwhile, we had our breakfasts and played ludo. We actually play the Spanish version "parchis" which I taught them and which is far more strategic and I got them hooked just as I got them hooked on Sevens. The tyres  were  dealt with efficiently and by late morning Amanda drove me to nearby Shaldon for a walk. This is the view of Teignmouth (pronounced Tinmuth)  from The Ness in Shaldon. 

Teignmouth as seen from Shaldon

They call it the English Riviera which is a bit of a stretch in my opinion, hahaha. Then again I have never seen this area in sunny and good weather. 

We walked round the village of Shaldon and I admired the cottages which Amanda said are almost all holiday rentals. We had our long walk and came back to have lunch at 4.30 pm which is neither  British nor Spanish time for a meal. I love the fact that I have had a break from our routine at home and eat when we are hungry and when we feel like it. Again we had marvelous M&S food such as their thinly sliced roast beef, duck parfait, smoked salmon pate and other delicacies. If I lived here all my food would come from Marks and Sparks. 

We played ludo again after our meal when I got a lovely message from my husband which, with his permission, I shall reproduce here in Spanish: "Sobrevivo bien. No he salido de casa. Pero estoy contento, siempre pendiente de las noticias .... Claro que te hecho de menos pero es algo pasajero .. y sé que estás haciendo algo hermoso. Qué disfrutes mucho. Un gran abrazo para Andy y Amanda, con mis mejores deseos". I thought that was lovely. I find that even after 44 years of marriage our love does not fade. If anything it matures with time. Bless you Eladio. 

He was of course following all the news  of  yet more corruption and sex scandals emerging from the PSOE party in government. Surely they have to call elections? It cannot carry on this way. I was following the headlines of what happened in Spain but what interested me most that day was the story of  the Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader of the Venezuela, María Corina Machado who has lived in hiding for more than a year. No one thought she would make it to Oslo to collect her prize which her daughter received on her behalf. But, blow me, she got out of Venezuela in disguise and was taken to a Dutch island by boat and from there all the way to Oslo. Machado got to the Norwegian capital a few hours after the ceremony. What a story. If she goes back and is caught Maduro will put her in prison. Meanwhile, Trump is threatening Maduro and Venezuela and it's anyone's guess how this may end. I don't like Trump's tactics but I don't like Maduro either who rules with an iron rod in a so-called socialist government. 

Soon my thoughts were back to where I was and Amanda and I continued our heart to hearts. We were interrupted by little audios from Juliet wishing us all Merry Christmas in English. Sweet Juliet. They were very amusing. 

Dinner was more M&S food - divine - and after dinner there was more laughter, reminiscing and hilarity over words or terms such as "skidmark", "winnet" and "dingleberry" which is a not a berry. Sorry if you feel this is not appropriate but then again I am not a politically correct person, hahahaha. I just like a bit of a laugh.  All this was while playing Sevens and that night Andy beat us both much to his delight as he used to lose hahaha. I don't care who wins or loses, I just like playing cards with my friends.

I had a relatively good  night and woke up feeling a whole lot better on Thursday morning. The days were passing too fast for my liking but every day was a good day and a tonic  for us all. We played ludo in the morning which we both are so addicted to. It was around then that I got a 10 out of 10 review on Booking from the guests who had been to El Cuetu (our house in Asturias) last week.  Their stay was not very lucrative but oh boy that 10 really made my day. Thank you Alejandro.

We all needed exercise so that morning my friends took me on a very, very blustery walk by the seafront at Teignmouth. Parallel to it is the railway line which is the London to Penzance train and oh boy did they come fast and surprise us on our walk.

The London to Penzance train which runs parallel to the coast in Teignmouth

Andy took some pictures which are rather funny as our hair is much affected by the very strong wind haha. Here is one of them.

A blustery walk on the seafront in Teignmouth

We came home for lunch which was bits and bobs and Amanda and I then had a very long chat about our childhood and motherhood too. We are so in sync and what I love most is we share so mant memories of our childhood and teenage years, the most formative. 

The highlight of the day was our afternoon spree at M&S. I love that store, especially the food, and I had a long list. The place is enormous so I was glad to have my friend guiding me around it. And here I am at checkout with lots of goodies and I would go back for more. I did a lot of my Christmas shopping there and hope everyone will love what I bought. 

M&S here I come hahaha.

Every time I visit England I have to go to the store and stock up and only wish we had an M&S in Madrid. We did once but it shut down. That was the first of our visits here. We went back on Friday and we will be going again today when I shall be getting more delicacies, more presents and lots of chocolate for Christmas at home. Andy loves M&S too and always stocks up at the Food store as he did on Friday. 

Andy who is now the house chef later made us a delicious dinner of hake with potatoes and veg after which of course we played Sevens yet again

Friday came and the sun continued to shine. I had a relatively good night again and was raring to go that morning. My friend took me on a walk in her neighbourhood. The highlight was seeing what was to be the house of Isambard Kingdom Brunel; Brunel Manor. Yet sadly he died before he could move in. If you are English you will have heard of Brunel but for those of you who haven't, let me introduce him briefly. He was born to an English mother, Sophia Kingdom, and a French father, Sir Marc Isambard Brunel  who was a prominent civil engineer  who fled the French revolution. He obviously influenced his son who also became a prominent civil and mechanical engineer and is one of the most important figures of the Industrial Revolution. He is best known for designing the Great Western Railway a part of which I saw on our walk the day before. Perhaps his most famous work is the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol but he also designed what were state of the art steamships at the time such as the SS. Great Britain. There you go, a little history about Brunel who is so important round here. Ah and this is what I could see of his house which I think should be turned into a museum of his life and works because it seems to be running to seed at the moment.

Brunel Manor 

Talking of houses, here is a photo of my friend's beautiful house  where I have had the privilege to stay. I got Amanda to pose next to it.

My friend's beautiful house

That day Amanda had booked us a table at the Riverford Field Kitchen, the restaurant part of Riverford Organic Farm where she gets lots of her groceries. It's called a field kitchen because of the way it is run; almost like a canteen. It's quite laid back and the food is divine; all sourced by the farm and cooked on site by two very creative chefs who make vegetables as tasty and attractive as any comfort food. This week's feature photo was taken there.I took one too of my friends at our table at Riverford to show you. Here it is.

A wonderful lunch at Riverford Field Kitchen

The sun was shining all day and as we left we fancied a walk but hadn't brought our walking shoes. So what did we do instead? Drive to Marks and Spencer of course, hahaha. 

In the afternoon I got my friends to finish the Christmas decorations and by the evening we could all feel the spirit of Christmas. In the background we listened to Christmas carols which we have always loved. We were treated to carols sung by the choirs of King's College Cambridge and Westminster Abbey. As Amanda said, it made our hair stand on end. My friend went as far as to say that carols and hymns meant her childhood. Mine too and then we reminisced about the choir at our school, St. Joseph's College, run by the legendary A. J. O'Rourke who was an awful teacher but a marvelous choir conductor. It was then that Amanda reminded me of the school handbook we were given as first formers and a poem she and I had written for the school magazine, all about the teachers. Let me reproduce it here, lest I lose this treasure. It was written when we were in 4 Kappa so must have been 14 years old.

A poem Amanda and I (then Sharon and then Maria and with the surname spelled wrong - it is Lloyd) wrote for the St.Josoph's Colllege magazine in about 1972 when we would have been about 13 or 14. 

The handbook is a treasure too which I actually remember. It is full of do's and don'ts, mostly don'ts and sounds very strict but schools were in those days and we respected our teachers and generally behaved ok - well, not always. It's a piece of the school's history so I shall include it all just for posterity.

What a find, the St. Joseph's College handbook which was given to us as first formers in 1968

While I am at it, let me share a video I compiled for a 2012 school reunion which includes lots of photos taken with my first instamatic camera during the 6th form. It is quite a treasure too. This is it. 

Back to the decorations again. Here are some pictures of what it looked after putting up the tree and decorations.

We put up the Christmas decorations while I was here

That's a job Eladio and I have to do when I return home this week. 

It was on Friday that the democrats released a selection of photos from Epstein's estate. This is prior to the government releasing his case files. Among them can be seen Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the former Prince Andrew as well as Woody Allen and Bill Gates, some of the most famous men in the country and well known figures worldwide. The photos don't suggest they did anything untoward but just being with Epstein suggests they most probably shared his weird attraction for young girls. Other photos showed sex toys and there is a photo of Trump and Epstein surrounded by girls. Hopefully the files yet to be released will give more direct evidence and all these men will get their comeuppance. It's a very sick story and the perpetrators have to be punished. I'm sure you agree.

Meanwhile, at home that evening, Oli and the kids were having dinner with Eladio and Suzy was fetching her friends at the airport. 3 of her London friends came for the weekend but unfortunately I would miss them. I'm sure they had a great time and  was a tonic for Suzy

Saturday dawned and brought more sunshine. I suggested fish and chips for lunch that day as no trip to England is complete without them. My friends obliged but first for a walk. They took me to Babbacombe (pronounced Babacom) where you can take the funicular down to the Oddicombe beach but we preferred to walk. It's a local beauty spot and I was astonished to see people really bathing in the sea. At this time of year, it's a bit bonkers. Here are some pics to remember the walk and visit.

Oddicombe beach with the Babbacombe Cliff railway which we didn't take.

Walking down was ok but climbing up was challenging although I'm sure it did us good. Once in Babbacombe again, we admired the views and took photos. Here is a lovely one of the two of us taken by Andy which I shall treasure.

In Babbacombe yesterday overlooking the red cliffs

From there it was just a stroll to a very good fish and chip shop called Hanburys. I got Amanda to take a photo for me to include here.

Fish and chips from Hanburys, one of the highlights of this visit. 

We took them home to eat and the portions were so large, it was enough to fill me up for the rest of the day. The rest of the day, my friends, was spent playing at least another 3 games of ludo with Amanda as well as a few rounds of Sevens with Andy. I was exhausted in the evening, having only slept 4.5h the night before so went to bed at around 11 am.

Today is Sunday, my last full day before leaving tomorrow. We shall be going yet again to Marks and Spencer for me to take some fresh delicacies to take home. Lunch will be a Sunday roast - another must when visiting England - at The Linny in Coffinswell. Of course you will read all about it in next week's blog post

Wishing you all a good Sunday and week ahead, that's it from me for this now.

Cheers Masha

Guests and more guests, Suzy in Vitoria with Copi, our annual Christmas outing to Madrid centre, memories of my youth in Bradford, Pippa turns 12, Spain boycotts the Eurovision Song Contest, remembering Fátima and other stories of the week.

 Madrid, Sunday 7th December, 2025

Chocolate con churros at San Ginés on Monday in Madrid; best ever. 

Good morning again. December has got off to a start yet I still haven 't put up the Christmas decorations. We are leaving it until I get back from the UK. 

Many people would have put them up the Sunday gone, the last day of November but not us. I am very traditional about that. I had guests coming and going that day as I have had all week, including this weekend. This year we haven't had a guest free weekend. Let them come, let them come, let them come haha. Elliot once asked if our house was a hotel. It's more like a guest house and we actually like running it. Some people would think we are crazy.

That day Leonardo and my 4 guests from Barcelona left.  Jennifer the policewoman was still here and later in the day Jon arrived from Bilbao (he is building a skateboard park where my grandchildren play) and later Rachel. Rachel is Dutch and married to an Italian dentist and lives in Milan. She has twin sons; one of whom is studying to be a doctor in Italy and the other is doing dentistry here. It's her second stay and it is always a pleasure to host her and one of her gorgeous looking sons. I was interested to hear they had both studied at a boarding school in the UK. Only missing was Basem, my Peruvian doctor who came the next day. 

Tana was busy preparing all the rooms and I was happy to see her using the new duvet covers in my father's old bedroom. They were to replace duvet covers which were tearing at the seams that we had bought for Oli's bedroom at least 25 years ago. I chose them to go with the curtains of the same material so as not to have to change the latter.

New duvet covers from Ikea (of course) for my father's old bedroom

Meanwhile we went for a walk to our local churros bar and indulged. Tana had left when we got home so we made lunch ourselves out of my cocido leftovers - I do love leftovers. 

While we were enjoying a quiet life, there was a demonstration in Madrid to demand snap elections after all the scandals coming out of the Socialist Government. There was one more this week when it was discovered two female workers had complained in the summer about the sexual harassment at the hands of a top official who worked closely with the PM, Pedro Sánchez. Francisco Salazar made life impossible for the women who worked for him and I won't go into details as his behaviour was disgusting. It's ironic that a top official from the PSOE party should behave like that as the party  sees itself as the saviour of feminism. What was worse is they did nothing until it came to light. Eladio was half inclined to go to the protest but I hate demonstrations and we didn't go. 

On the other side of the world, Donald Trump somehow managed to shut down Venezuelan air space.He is on a mission to end the drug trafficking which he says is led by the socialist President Maduro, himself. Trump has been attacking drug traffic boats killing people at sea and now threatens a land invasion of the country itself. It is said he telephoned Maduro asking him to leave the country but we don't know if that is true. Meanwhile,  many Venezuelans outside the country can now not fly home. Barajas airport in Madrid is full of them. 

Monday was 1st December and was the 4th anniversary of my obtaining Spanish nationality which I applied for after damned Brexit as I wanted an EU passport.  However, they never made a fuss of it and there was no ceremony whatsoever. It hasn't made much difference to my life except that I am now able to use the coveted ID card we have here and that Brits seem not to want. It opens all doors here. Let's see if it ever comes to my birth country. 

Monday was the day we chose to go on our annual Christmas outing to the centre of Madrid. It's an event we always enjoy and this time was not going to be less. Suzy came with us to pick the kids up and take them to school and then we dropped her off at the Metro station as she was going to Vitoria (up north) to spend the week with her best friend Copi. She later sent me photos. Here is one of them together in this Basque city where Copi now lives with her husband Unai.

Suzy with Copi this week in Vitoria

I gather they both had a great time as Suzy told me she hadn't laughed so much in ages. That was music to my ears. 

We, meanwhile, took the metro with our free travel card but not on the way back, at least for me, as mine disappeared while in the city, along with my visa card. They must have been stolen. Thankfully I had left the rest of my wallet behind. We took the metro to the Puerta del Sol, the very centre of Madrid. It was very early so I suggested a second breakfast at Chocolateria San Ginés, Madrid's most famous chocolate and churros café which is open 24h a day. In all my 44 years here, somehow I had never been and Monday was the time. Here am I outside and surprised not to see much of a queue as I had heard they are long. Ah but we had chosen to go early on a Monday morning to avoid the crowds.

Outside the famous chocolate and churros place, San Ginés, in Madrid on Monday

 I can hardly imagine what it's like today during this weekend's long bank holiday to celebrate Spain's 1978 Constitution (6th December) and the Immaculate Conception tomorrow (8th December).  We got a seat and were served the best chocolate drink and best churros ever, not to mention the enormous "porras". Eladio took a photo and I have chosen it as this week's feature photo. It had to be of me stuffing my face on divine Spanish breakfast food. 

When we had had our fill. we wandered to the Puerta del Sol again, looking for a particular "turrón"  shop (Spanish sort of nougat popular at Christmas) where I wanted to get some proper nougat; the softer kind. Every year I shop for turrón at Torrons Vicens on the Calle Mayor. The choice is amazing. I got what I wanted and we continued back to the Puerta del Sol to take pictures and guess what? Yes, buy more Christmas lottery. That is what pleases my husband in the festive season. Here he is the main square and again after spending another fortune on lottery.

Eladio in the Puerta del Sol next to the Real Casa de Correos which is like Trafalgar Square or Times Square in that people celebrate NYE here and the chimes come from the clock at the top of the building. 

Eladio with his lottery tickets

From there we walked nearby to visit the Christmas market at the Plaza Mayor where we have been going every year since I came to live in Spain, apart from a few exceptions. It was lovely to see it practically deserted on a cold Monday morning. Today it will be teeming with people. The market itself is nothing special unless you are looking to add to your nativity crib collection which I wasn't. People here often have an ornate Nativity crib as well as a Christmas tree. I rather like that as it shows the real meaning of Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Christ. Thankfully, Christmas is not so commercialised here. We took more photos here like this one of me to remember the day.

At the Christmas market in the Plaza Mayor on Monday in brilliant sunshine

Ashamedly I have to confess I was more attracted to the stalls selling joke and prank items. I hesitated before I bought a plastic piece of pooh and a joke chewing gum pack which I am dying to try out on Elliot and Juliet. My mother would have been equally attracted as I remember her once bringing some of the joke s*** home from a shop opposite Leeds University where she was a languages instructor. She wanted to play a prank on my father who hated dogs because of their "doings". Once home, she put it on the steps of the porch and when he saw it, he got a shovel out to remove it. I still laugh at that story. So watch this space for my grandchildren's reaction. It's obvious I haven't lost the child in me even if I am in my late 60's hahaha.

The day didn't end there. There was more to come. At 12.30 we had a coffee date with Eladio's brother Toño and his wife, Dolores who needs no introduction in this blog. She is the famous sister-in-law who introduced me to Eladio after finals in the summer of 1980 and, as they say, the rest is history.

We met at one of my old favourites; a sort of Spanish Betty's called La Mallorquna in Sol which opened in 1894. I love these sort of quaint cafés. When I was a student here from September 1978 (yes, the year of the Constitution after Franco's death) till June 1979, I used to frequent the Mallorquina and always bagged a table by the window with a view of Spain's most famous square. I would spend hours there over one coffee writing down new vocab in an exercise book I carried around always. Every time I learned a new word I wrote it down. I still have that lovely little exercise book bound in green leather which I bought at El Corté Inglés, Spain's flagship department store. I used to spend all my money earned from teaching English there. I just loved the place and still do.

It was good to meet up with  Toño and Dolores whom we hadn't seen since they left Montrondo during the fire last August. There never seems to be a good moment to meet up but we made it happen this week. 

I would have loved them to come to lunch with us but they couldn't. I had booked a table, again, at El Qüenco de la Pepa, that marvelous restaurant where the chef, Pepa, serves vegetables, mainly tomatoes, from her kitchen garden in Ávila. This was the view from our table.

Lunch at El Qüenco de la Pepa on Monday

We had a superb lunch but tried not to eat too much; not that we had big appetites after the chocolate and churros in the morning. 

We had left Pippa alone at home and I was worried so asked Rachel, our guest, to let her out. She later sent me a photo of Pippa, our soon to be 12 year old chocolate coloured, smooth haired, miniature dachshund, on her bed. That's unheard of as she won't let anyone but us pick her up. I felt better after seeing the picture. 

She was delighted to see us when we arrived home at about 4.30 pm after a wonderful day in Madrid, the best day of the week.

We retired to our quarters and that is when I looked at Facebook and saw an invitation from an old friend, Mark who was a pupil of my father's at Bradford Grammar School. The Page is called Memories of Bradford and has some 60.000 members. Bradford  is the city we moved to in 1964 or 1965. At the time the city was known for being the centre of the wool industry but was already in decline. I left in 1981 but my father continued to live there until 2005; a huge chunk of his life. I never liked Bradford as a city and couldn't wait to get away but today I only feel nostalgia for Bradford. I wrote a post on the page and was later inundated with welcoming messages and comments from people who knew my parents - amazing. My father had taught some of the members French and both my parents gave Russian lessons to some of the women who wrote that day.  Then a woman called Paula T commented she had lived at number 7 Heaton Grove (we lived at number 6) and of course she was my neighbour. They were a Polish family who fled from WW2 and we got on famously with them. I was about 9 at the time and Paula a teenager and I remember her wearing one of those amazing 60's dancing dresses like something out of Westside Story. When they moved, Paula and her siblings gave my brother George and I their whole collection of Enid Blyton books which they had probably grown out of. We loved them and thanks to Paula became avid readers. But back to Bradford and my memories which were sparked by joining the page.  

That day I was transported back to my childhood in the 60's and 70's in that dark industrial city which actually has its saving graces, such as The Alhambra, The Town Hall and St. George's Hall.  Designed in the Venetian Gothic style by the local architects, Lockwood and Mason, the Town Hall was built between 1870 and 1873. My mother always admired it and I do too. 

Bradford's magnificent Town Hall

 

What I like best about Bradford is that it is in Yorkshire itself. If you go into the countryside, then you go to what they call "God's own country". It's so beautiful in the Dales and those lovely market towns such as Skipton, Ilkley or Harrogate. Two more of my favourite haunts are Haworth and Bolton Abbey. I was born in Cambridge but my formative years were spent in Yorkshire and that's where my heat lies. 

Oh the memories of the 60's and 70's of our huge, rambling and untidy Victorian semi detached house with 4 floors and only one bathroom at 6 Heaton Grove which my parents crammed with University lodgers to pay off the mortgage. Some of the things I remember from my youth:  the ice cream van, the milkman, the first yoghurts, my first mini skirt which my father destroyed with a pair of scissors, buying penny loaves at a bakery on Oak Lane, shopping for my uniforms at Brown and Muffs,  jeans or denims coming into fashion, smoking in the toilets at school, cooking with lard, candy floss and toffee apples at the funfair at Lister Park, pocket money of 1 shilling a week, half a crowns, threepence,  and other pre decimal coins, getting a whole pound note for my birthday, Sunday roasts, taking the bus everywhere because my old fashioned parents didn't drive, my school uniforms from Rossefield school  (a very posh girls' junior school where most girls went on to be boarders and owned ponies) and later St. Joseph's College (a Catholic Grammar School for girls run by Irish nuns)Then of course what the box was like in those days. We  had a black and white television with no remote and only two channels, the BBC and ITV and I would watch the news with my parents and programmes such as Coronation Street, Steptoe and Son, Dixon of Dock Green, Softly Softly, The Avengers, Fawlty Towers and of course Blue Peter when I was younger. Then there was  underage drinking at the Mucky Duck, going to awful old swimming baths or to the Odeon cinema to see Charlie Chaplin and falling over laughing at Laurel and Hardy and later falling in love with Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. I have to mention too Betty's in Bradford where it once had a  tea shop, buying clothes in fashion at the time (bell bottoms, wedge shoes, mini, midi and maxi skirts) with my mother on Saturday mornings at C&A or fish and meat at Rawson Market before  the first Morrisons supermarket ever was founded. I knew the family because they lived across the road from my friend Amanda and she used to babysit for Sir.Ken Morrison. I must also include  fish and chips at The Paddock on Manningham Lane on Saturdays, the first curries at The Kashmir near the University  and even the first Indian boy I ever saw in my class at my first school called St. Barnabas.  There were our trips to London on steam trains which always scared me and then there was going with my father to Thomas Cook to buy train tickets to France or Spain and, of course, getting travellers' cheques, so needed when "abroad", nights out at the Mecca and not so nice memories of the Yorkshire Ripper.  And finally our neighbours, the Tozceks, the Meesons, the Johnsons, the Wrights, the Rothschilds and the Forrester Patons. Douglas Forrester Paton who was Scottish and a QC and judge and his Danish wife who my mother befriended were very important to us and very kind. Then there were the Reimans whose son Julien who was a pupil of my father's died as a young teenager. So sad.  I am trying to remember more names but they escape me. We had lovely neighbours at Heaton Grove which I remember very fondly. 

Our old house at 6 Heaton Grove on Manningham Lane which we moved into in 1965 and where my father lived until 2005. We loved that old house. 

Another memory of course is of all the parties my poor parents allowed me to organise for "my gang", mostly made up of BGS boys and St.Joseph's girls. Many a party was held at 6 Heaton Grove while my father hid from his pupils.

And I could go on and on. Oh what a great find that Facebook page about Bradford was.  Thank you Mark for inviting me. You took me back to my youth which was mostly happy and without the frustrations of today.

Meanwhile at Oli's house, my grandchildren Elliot (6) and Juliet (4) were opening the number 1 of the Advent Calendars I had bought them. My memories in Bradford of Advent calendars were numbers which you opened to reveal just a Christmas picture not even a chocolate. These days they have become very sophisticated. I got Elliot one with "Super things" - all the rage for boys his age, and one of Frozen for Juliet. Oli sent me a video of them opening the calendars where she tries to explain they can only open one a day and not all at once which I suppose is what they wanted, hahaha. This is it. 

Juliet and Elliot opening their Advent Calendars on 1st December

After such a packed day I slept at least 6 hours which seems to the norm these days and is better than 5 hours. 

Tuesday came and wasn't half as exciting as Monday. I read something in the papers online that morning that my father would never have read in The Telegraph and Argus or The Times in the 60's and 70's as the internet didn't exist. The Oxford Dictionary's word of the year is "rage bait" which is online content designed to provoke anger. Really. I tried to find the 1964 word of the year and even though there wasn't such a ranking, the trending words were: "switched on" and "grotty". I definitely remember using the word grotty. 

I did work in the morning, mostly on my rental Admin stuff and only went out to the bank to get a replacement card - what a hassle. 

Wednesday was the 3rd of December and Pippa's 12th birthday. How time has flown. I was never allowed a dog as a child but took my revenge when I married Eladio. We both love animals and have had loads of dogs and cats and even once bred Beagles. Today we just have little Pippa after Norah the naughty beagle and lovely Elsa the golden labrador, died in 2021, the same year as my father and our annus horribilis. 

The only celebration was giving her a good piece of steak from my plate at lunch. So let me tell you what Pippa means to us. She is not just a dog; she is a member of this family and a very important one. She gives us unconditional love and I have proof. She hates water and swimming and once when we went into the sea in Asturias she was left on the beach and got so anxious at seeing us swimming away from her, that she got into the water, something she absolutely detests. Her eyes looked terrified and  I know if we went to live in a hole she would come with us.All Pippa wants is to be near us, wherever we are. She lives like a queen, gets taken for a daily walk; well almost, has her teeth brushed once a day and is bathed once a week. On top of that she sleeps with Eladio and I and we wouldn't have it any other way. Here is little Pippa who I hope  lives as long as  possible because when she goes, something inside me will die. Happy birthday Pips, Pipina, Pipita, Pippa.

Pippa turned 12 this week

She got taken on her walk on what I think was the coldest day of the year. But we were blessed with sunshine. 

In the afternoon I had a routine medical appointment with a dermatologist at the Quirón Hospital in Pozuelo. I am so grateful for cheap private health insurance in Spain. Would you believe I only pay just over 100 euros a month and have direct access to specialists? You don't have to go through your GP here. Public health is good too but it's much more select if you go private. I don't think Spaniards realise how good their health services are. It's not perfect but nearly. My father used the public health service and the way they treated him was remarkable. 

On Thursday it rained and we turned back on our heels having started our walk and went home. Unlike the Brits, Spaniards do not go out in the rain unless it is to go shopping which is exactly what we did. We went to Mercadona for just a few things but got the large majority at Carrefour. I have their loyalty card  and have become a huge fan.  I had a voucher for over 180 euros accumulated from shopping there in the last two months. We blew it mostly on food for Christmas. I will be making Beef Wellington for the first time when my friend Julio comes for our annual dinner at home later this month. 

Eladio was busy that day and every day this week, taking the kids to school in the morning since Miguel broke his arm. That day he went out 4 times in the car; in the morning to the school, then shopping, then at 5 to pick them up and again at 8 to pick Suzy up from the train station. I think he is a champion. 

RTVE, Spain's national broadcaster, where both Olivia and Miguel work as a reporter and cameraman, respectively, announced that day that they were boycotting next year's Eurovision Contest because it includes Israel. You may or may not like Israel but boycotting the most famous singing contest in the world isn't going to help bring peace. As a child and teenager in Bradford, we would watch it as a family and I did the same with my family. I even went to the one in Finland once when I worked for Yoigo. These days I hate the songs and Spain's entries have been so bad, this boycott doesn't mean much to me but it does to its huge fans. It was big news in Spain. Other countries have followed suit. I think they are Ireland and Holland. On a final note, if Israel is not in Europe, why does it compete in the ESC I wonder?

The highlight of Thursday was my weekly Facetime call with Amanda. I will be with her on Tuesday and I can't wait. I am looking forward to being together, playing cards, parchis, going out shopping, for walks and for meals. It's going to be a wonderful break.

The day ended with Suzy's arrival but we hardly saw her as she only eats once a day at lunch and is often out with friends. Yesterday she went to have lunch with George, her new beau and today she has having lunch at Juli's, an old friend she has now reconnected with. God bless her.

Friday was 5th December and it's hard to believe it was the 6th anniversary of the passing away of my greatest friend and soul mate, Fátima Sánchez Martín. We were friends since she joined Motorola in 1991. We were sent together to a cycling race in Catalonia and in those few days became fastest friends. Fátima was divorced from an Italian when I met her. Her greatest wish was to become a mother and she did in amazing circumstances. She was bedridden for most of her pregnancy. It must have been the year I was unemployed because I was able to look after her. I used to make and take her her lunch everyday which we called "meals on wheels". Her greatest joy was giving birth to her daughter Fátima and her greatest fear was leaving her so young without a mother. Fátima joined me at Nokia in 2007 and was hired by our later great friend Julio who hired her when she was 9 months pregnant. We went on to become known as "the three musketeers" and went on trips together, out for lunches always having fun. Because it was fun to be with Fátima. She had studied to be a lawyer but worked as an engineer; something not many people could do. After her daughter was born they moved, with her mother, to where we live now.Thus in 2006 we became neighbours. She was my greatest friend and I miss her everyday, as do all those who loved her. Here is a photo of the two of us to mark this painful anniversary. 

Fátima, forever in my heart

I had a stressful day on Friday, one of those days I wished Fátima was here. I had guests arriving for the bank holiday at our house in El Cuetu which has been mostly empty since October. The new cleaner, Andrea, hadn't been able to put on the central heating and I needed her to go back and call for us to explain. Finally she rang us at night and she managed to switch it on but the whole issue had me worried all day.

The morning was quieter. I accompanied Eladio to Boadilla to his barber, Goyo, where he has been going probably since about 1988 when we moved to Boadilla. If he charges 10 euros a haircut now I wonder how much it was then?. Meanwhile, I went to the post office to post one of my calendars to my cousin in France and as I walked through the old streets, memories came flooding back of our first few years of living outside the centre of Madrid. We used to do the shopping at the indoor market before the proliferation of supermarkets. It was a good feeling to walk those streets again. I then decided to pop into Eladio's barber shop and watch him having his hair cut. I got a picture too; sly of me, hahaha.

Eladio at the barber on Friday

In the afternoon I had an appointment at my local nail bar where I had my nails done for my trip to the UK. I was home for dinner after which we waited for Enrique and his family to arrive from Algemesi, one of the towns in Valencia affected by the flash floods. They later told us their story and said it was much worse than anything we had seen on TV. They arrived at just before 11 pm and had come for their children to play football this weekend. They were joined on Saturday by another family and thus this weekend we have 8 guests in this house making use of all 4 rooms. They are lovely people and I think they are happy here. But I never like having to wait up late for guests to arrive.That's one of the downsides of hosting.

Saturday 6th December was the Day of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 which may seem a long time ago but not as long as the Magna Carta. It's a holiday in Spain and also Independence Day in Finland. I always remember that from my years working for Nokia. We heard that around 6 million people were on the move this bank holiday, many of them visiting the capital. Of those 6 million, I am hosting 12 people, 8 here and 4 in Asturias. 

Yesterday I made the filling for this year's  Christmas "perushkis" - small Russian meat and rice pies which we all so love.  Their real name is "pirozhki" but for some reason we always called them the former at home. If I did the filling, our Paraguyan home help, Tana, made them all with her own hands. Bless her. We froze most of them but couldn't resist having some for dinner last night.

Delicious Russian pirozhki meat pies for dinner last night with home made soup.

There was time for a walk too and once home I saw that my new visa card had arrived. I think it took me about an hour to connect it for payment on my watch and phone and then change the payment method on all these beasties: Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Paypal. They are all giant US tech companies, the beasts we all feed and don't really know how to live without. Anyway, the job is done now and I look forward to using my new card at M&S and other British stores I love, next week in Devon.

I wrote most of today's blog yesterday afternoon while our 8 guests were all outside smoking on the kitchen patio. The weather was mild but not mild enough to make a barbecue which is what they did yesterday night. We had a quiet dinner of perushki and home made veg soup and were soon in our bedroom, probably at about 8.30. Pippa got her weekly bath last night and I managed on just 5 hours sleep. 

Today is Sunday and I was up at 6.30 and am feeling dead beat. I just need one good night's sleep. It will be a quiet day and we have no plans at all.

Next week promises to be exciting with my trip to the UK on Tuesday. Suzy will be off again,this time to Castellón to stay with a friend which means Eladio and Pippa will be on their own. I hope they cope ok and look forward to seeing them when I get back.

That's all from me for this week. Hope you have enjoyed  my memories of Bradford in the 60's and 70's. 

Cheers Masha

The ups and downs of being an Airbnb host, lots of cooking, the five ages of the brain, me in stripes in 2013 and in 2025, buying Christmas lottery tickets and other stories of the week.

 Madrid, Sunday 30th November, 2025

Cooking for a family lunch yesterday

Good morning on this last day of November. We are constantly reminded that Christmas is coming to which I am not immune. I have always loved Christmas so have begun preparing but mostly in my mind although I have also taken some action as you will read below and so has my husband Eladio. Ah but no decorations till December which is already tomorrow. We usually put the tree up later in the month as otherwise the magic seems to fade by Christmas Eve. 

Last Sunday we had just come back from Santa Pola and Madrid seemed so cold compared.Oh for those lovely mornings on the beach having a coffee and going for a walk. I did a lot of cooking this week, starting with last Sunday. Oli and family were coming for lunch and I made the easiest meal; spag bol for the kids. As I wrote last week, Miguel has broken his arm so we were asked to help taking the kids to school every day and picking them up on Tuesdays and Thursdays when Oli has her French lessons. Suzy helped but it was mostly Eladio who had to get up early to take them to school. Miguel went with him so he didn't have to fight for a space to park the car which is why my presence wasn't needed. I felt bad not helping but you see I have a secret to tell you: I can't reverse the car down the very long and steep drive and if I left the car in the street it would be frozen in the morning. Now you know one of my secrets. As our son-in-law will be out of action for a long time they will need our help for at least 6 weeks although with the Christmas holidays it may be shorter. Meanwhile he is suffering of course, mostly because he can't drive. 

Monday came and the main news that day and the rest of the week was a possible peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Last week's 28 point plan announced by Trump but which could have been written by Putin's aides, was of course, not agreed upon neither by Ukraine nor the EU. Peace talks continue but there is trouble at the heart of Zelensky's government as his chief aide was found guilty of corruption. That doesn't bode well for any future admission into the EU. Meanwhile, the Russian Army continues to attack its neighbour. It was nearly 5 years ago in February 2022 that Russia invaded and frankly it looks like a war of attrition which is leading nowhere except to death and destruction. I hope and pray for peace for Ukraine. 

I was up early as always and after playing my puzzles (Daily Mail Word Wheel, Wordle in Spanish and English and Contexto) and reading the headlines, I set about making our lunch. That day I made the most delicious lamb casserole again. I think you must know by now that lamb is my favourite meat. Meat may be going out of fashion but not for me. 

I then rushed to the Land Registry Office in our town hall as I needed the papers with the sacred property numbers to add to my Airbnb listings again. They had mysteriously disappeared and so had the papers with the numbers. Once home, I spent a good while uploading them; no mean feat as the numbers are about 40 digits long with so many zeroes to be copied your mind boggles. They wouldn't give me the papers in digital format so I had to copy out each number with great care. Damn the system and damn our socialist government who invents all these bureaucratic obstacles to make life difficult for Airbnb hosts. I noticed recently that most of my competition in the area no longer lists their rooms or properties, probably because the system has stumped them. I understand angst against Airbnb but also Booking for so many short term tourist rentals taking over cities, but couldn't there be a provision for people like me who are retired and want to make a bit on the side to help maintain the cost of running their houses? Without this income, no way could we live in this 650m2 house. No way, José. Oh the trials and tribulations and  ups and downs of being an Airbnb host of which there were a few this week.

With the admin work out of the way - as Eladio says, what would I do with my time if I didn't do Airbnb?

- I was able to concentrate on lunch. Tana was off so we made our own meals. One of the perks, however, of hosting is having a live in help who not only takes care of the rooms but of us. Tana is a treasure. 

That afternoon I started watching the BBC series called Prisoner 951. It is based on the true story of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Anglo Iranian national married to a British man who was imprisoned in Iran for 6 years from 2016 to 2022.  She was accused of being a spy and plotting to overthrow the Iranian government which she never did.  Nazanin had taken her  baby daughter back to Teheran to meet her grandparents and just when they were leaving for London, she was detained at the airport. And thereby began her journey to hell. This was a high profile story which you may remember. The underlying story is that Britain owed Iran around 4000 million dollars for arms not delivered from an agreement in the 70's. Nazanin had nothing to do with the debt but she was the bargaining chip to get the British Government to pay the debt. Eventually they paid but it took them 6 years while Nazanin languished in jail separated from her daughter and husband. If the story of the debt is even remotely true, I am ashamed of what happened to this family.

Meanwhile. Eladio went to have his flu jab which I had a few weeks ago. It's a good job that we now have them as there is an epidemic in Madrid and in Spain. He took a long time to come back from our local health centre and I began to get worried. I rang him countless times and even tried ringing the clinic. I was imagining he'd had an accident but also envisaging life without him - no, that cannot happen. So when he came back I hugged him instead of chastising him. He had gone to copy some keys. Thank God he was back. What would I do without him? Life would be very lonely and sad.

I had one guest arriving that night, a mysterious doctor from Peru - from deep dark Peru like Paddington hahaha. Unfortunately later he rang me as he had stepped on some of Pippa's poo in the doorway. She never does poo in the house but she had that day. I was mortified. I cleaned the mess and his shoe and apologised profusely. He didn't seem to mind. He left yesterday but will be back on Monday I'm not sure for what.

On Tuesday I read with interest about a new study of the brain. A team of neuroscientists  from the University of Cambridge, in an extensive study on real people, have identified crucial phases of structural development of the brain in the course of an average life. They occur at the ages of 9, 32, 66 and 83. Apparently at these ages the brain rewires while we grow and mature and eventually decline. There are actually 5 phases: childhood  (birth to age 9), adolescence (age 9 to 32), adulthood (age 32 to 66) and "early aging" (Age 66 to 83) when the brain starts to decline - lovely - and "late aging" (Age 83 onward)   - "the final epoch". 

So they have concluded that people in their 20s and early 30's are still adolescents? Wow!  As for Eladio and me, our brains are in decline. Well, we knew that I suppose. I am constantly forgetting things and always have to write lists. This week I had prepared for a guest's arrival and promptly went to sleep a siesta forgetting she was coming. Thankfully she sent me a Whatsapp. But that was a first. Should I be worried? Maybe, but there is not much I can do that I am not already doing. It's part of the process of old age but one thing I refuse to do is embrace it. 

On Tuesday I was all go - I did some shopping I had forgot last time  - see I am forgetting things. but I did not forget to go to my hospital appointments. Thank God for my phone calendar. I had a follow up consultation with my urogynecologist, who did my operation now over a month ago. She pronounced me nearly fully recovered and I have to say the operation has really helped. It's great not to have my bladder bulging out of my "you know what". Even that has changed and the doctor told me it had got younger and was like one of a 15 year old girl. Hahaha.  At the same hospital I had a check up appointment with an eye specialist as I was wondering if they were ok after the cataract ops in 2018. I was pronounced all ok but will go back for more tests just for precaution in January. 

I came out feeling on top of the world and came home to share leftover spag bol with Eladio for lunch. Leftovers are a great invention when you have no time for cooking and when I cook I always try to make more than needed to eat another time. 

I Facetimed with Kathy that evening who has her own personal chef in Phil and he cooks so well. No doubt he too will have done a lot of cooking this week. I find it creative and relaxing, that is if I don't have to cook under pressure. It's always good to chat to Kathy, like it is to chat with Amanda. If only they lived nearer. Well, I shall be seeing Amanda soon this month. I can't wait for my trip to Devon.

On Wednesday the fuel came which is always an expensive day as to heat this huge house is costly. That is something Eladio deals with, thankfully.  I had a troublesome guest coming that morning who asked to check in at 11 vs 3 pm but arrived at 9 am! Of course,as his room was ready, I accommodated him. He had been here before in our absence and gave me what for him was  a good review but a bad review for me. Airbnb asks guests to review a host on a scale of 1 to 5 but if you get anything less than 5 woe betide the host. The thing is not all guests know this and think 4 is acceptable which it isn't if it happens too often. You see, this is another bad thing about being an Airbnb host, because you become a slave to guest reviews. Two of our rooms had maintained a constant 5 star listing until a nasty lady from Ecuadar gave me a 1 after arriving at midnight having got lost, etc, etc. That put the listing down to 4.8. And now even if all my future reviews are 5 star, this listing will never regain its 5 star status because of one bad review. It's not fair. The man in question who was here for 3 nights was not a good guest. He left lights on all the time, left a mess in his room, dirty cups in the kitchen and even the front door open when he left - 2 hours after the check out time. I have decided I don't want him to come again so have blocked him on Airbnb. On the other hand the other guest, Jennifer, who arrived that day, was an absolute darling as most guests are. 

Of note that afternoon, I went to my hairdresser Conchi as I really needed a cut and the roots dyeing. I hate going but my hair was grateful afterwards and so was I. I haven't changed the style in decades as it's so easy to keep looking good. My friend Julio once said I was like Nancy Reagan who never changed her hairstyle either. I am glad though that I don't look like she did, haha. She must have had an in house hairdresser at the White House.

She and her husband would have been appalled at the shooting at 2 National Guards very near the White House that day. One was killed. Apparently the killer was an Afghan who had worked for the US before they pulled out of Kabul. He must have been deranged and disgruntled. Trump's reaction is to halt all Afghan asylum requests from now on. Shame on him.

But nice things happened at the White House that day, the eve of Thanksgiving. That day Melania Trump received this year's Christmas Tree. She received it in style as you can see from the picture.

Melania Trump, the First Lady, receiving this year's Christmas tree for the White House. It came in style on a horse and carriage. 

The other news of course that day was the dreadful fire in Hong Kong. A fire ripped through a multiple tower block in the Tai Po district. It is said the fire was sparked by a cigarette. 128 people have died and countless more have lost their homes. 

On to Thursday, Thanksgiving in the US which for the moment is not celebrated here. It was a normal Thursday for us. Eladio took the kids to school while I busied myself organising the freezer compartment of our state of the art Samsung fridge. I later did the same with our medicine cupboard throwing out all expired pills, etc. 

Facebook reminded me that morning of a photo Eladio took of me on the same day, 27th November in 2013. I was wearing a grey and white striped jumper dress from Mango, a sort of long grey jacket from Zara and a lovely black fur snood I had bought in Stockholm at the Sturegallerian shopping centre on Sturegaten where Telia's HQ used to be. I was also wearing leggings from Primark. This was the photo.

The photo taken in on 27th November 2013

Not having thought what to put on, I decided to wear the exact same attire and got Eladio to take another photo. I have so many clothes, mostly old, and a lot of stripes as you know so it's quite useful when Facebook reminds me how to combine my clothes. This is the one taken 12 years later this week.

Same clothes on a older lady 12 years later

After our walk we went out again, for coffee and to get more provisions I had forgotten. While in Boadilla we walked past the lottery shop and decided to get some Christmas lottery tickets - for El Gordo (the fat one) which is drawn on 22nd December and is a very important Spanish Christmas tradition. Eladio bought 10 tickets and we gave the girls one each. Here he is coming out with his prized tickets which won't probably win anything. They never do but we still buy them every year. 

Eladio with the Christmas lottery tickets he bought this week

I came home to find packages of stuff I had ordered from Ikea who now have a much better online site and take 2 days to deliver purchases. I had ordered candles and candelabras which I have a bit of fetish about. They are so Scandinavian and I love Scandi decor. This is what I bought.

New candles and candelabras

I suppose this counts as Christmas decoration so I have put up some in November haven't I?

It was at lunchtime that I bought Suzy and Oli's main presents online too of course but I can't say what they are; not because they will read this blog which they don't but someone might tell them. So I have made some progress for Christmas this year. However, I still don't know whether Oli and family will be with us on Christmas Eve and or Christmas Day. As to New Year's Eve I think they will go to Montrondo and Suzy is going to a dinner party which means we will be alone this year. Thus I doubt we will wait up till midnight and we will not be eating the traditional 12 grapes. Maybe this is a sign of being in the early aging  stage of the brain; possibly although I have never really liked New Year's Eve and this year and look forward to an early night.

Who went to bed early that night were two corrupt Spanish politicians, José Luis Abalos, former number two of the government and transport minister and his aide Koldo. They were remanded in custody; accused of taking kickbacks for awarding contracts. They spent their first night in the same cell and it was said that Koldo couldn't sleep because his cellmate and former boss snored all night. It's a very high profile case in Spain and I honestly don't know how Pedro Sanchez, Spain's PM, can carry on. He is surrounded with corruption cases and has no support in Parliament and is unable to get a budget accepted by the House. Yet he carries on  but I doubt he sleeps well in his magnificent bed in the Moncloa Palace where he lives with his wife Begoña, also embroiled in a court cases accused of influence peddling, business corruption and embezzlement of public funds. He is also accused of receiving campaign funds from his father in law who was a brothel owner. Then his own brother is facing charges too for taking  a trumped up position due to Pedro's influence. Can he survive? Not for long, surely.

I didn't sleep badly that night and woke up on Friday full of beans. I have been feeling so much better mentally and physically since Suzy has a new job and seems to have improved a lot. She still has her moments of anxiety but we are in a much place today than we were a year ago.

Friday was Black Friday which some call Black Fraud Day. Companies like Carrefour or Mediamarkt have been accused of hiking prices before the day and then lowering them. I am not a Black Friday fan and refuse to bow to American traditions which are not mine. 

It was a quiet day for us and we didn't go out except for our walk. I was glad to see my bad guest leave. I had a big group of 5 young people coming later from Barcelona who had been asking me questions non stop since they booked back in October. I smelt trouble but they weren't. They only thing is they brought a baby without including it in the booking and two friends to visit which is not allowed but I just let it go. They are leaving today and I wonder what review they will give me. 

Saturday saw me cooking again. I was up early and wanted to prepare lunch for the family before our walk. I was making cod fritters on a bed of vegetables followed by meatballs with Tana's rice.Dessert was apple crumble and ice cream - all very filling but very satisfying. Eladio caught me in the act when he came down for breakfast and took this week's feature photo. When Suzy came home from work and saw all the food she told me to stop stuffing her like a turkey, hahahhaa. I did go over the top. Ah but we now have even more leftovers and I won't need to cook today or tomorrow while Tana is off. We had a good lunch together if you don't count Elliot's repeat tantrum of last week but we ignored him and he eventually ate the meatballs I had made specially for him.

The afternoon was quiet after the family left. Our 6 guests were not at home either and I spent most of the time writing today's blog post before I sat down to a very meagre dinner. Today will be quiet too as all the guests will be leaving and only Jennifer will be back. 

Now I am at the end of the stories of this week where not much really happened on the home front but overall it was a good week with no scares or crises. So here's to another quiet and happy  week. Tomorrow we shall be going into Madrid for our annual day out to see the Christmas market and buy more lottery tickets. It's a tradition for us and one I always look forward to. 

So that's it from me for now. Hoping you all have a good Sunday, cheers till next week,

Masha