Trump's own morality is the only thing stopping him, the origins of "trifle", quiet Kings' Day at home, Christmas is over, Oli and family in Santa Pola and other stories of the week

 Madrid, Sunday 11th January, 2026

Kings' Day with my grandchildren, Juliet and Elliot

Good morning friends and readers. 

I don't know whether I am reeling from the end of Christmas or from Maduro's abduction in Venezuela and Trump's threats to Greenland, Mexico, Colombia and Cuba. This week he said something along the lines of "I don't need international law, my own morality is the only thing that can stop me". That is very worrying to hear as we know that he lacks morals. He loves the world's attention of his frightening actions and seems to thrive on what people say about him, be it good or bad. It's obvious we have a psychopath in the White House who won't stop at anything to get his way. It's obvious too he doesn't give a damn about international law as he showed when he ordered the abduction of dictator Maduro. So when he says he wants Greenland, this time I believe him. We are living in a new world and it is not a brave one. The west is frightened of Trump, worried about trade, when Europe should get its act together and stand up to him. But we don't and so he carries on. The world is in the hands of psychopaths in Russia, China and the USA and where does that leave Europe and the rest of the world? I don't know. All the rules have changed and I cannot guess; only worry.

Last Sunday was a day to remember. Oli and family were with us all day and the children were looking forward to Kings' Day when they would get even more presents. 

They were coming for lunch on Monday 5th, traditionally "Kings' Night" as on the day itself,the 6th, they would be spending it at Miguel's mother's place. For the occasion I made a "cocido"  - a well loved chickpea, meat and vegetable concoction and then a very British dessert, a strawberry trifle. This was it.

My trifle

It's one of my favourite puddings and as I was making it I wondered why it's called trifle. AI told me it comes from an old French word, trufe or trufle meaning something of little importance and that's because it was made of humble ingredients such as old sponge cake. Trufe or trufle also means something easy to assemble which this pudding really is. The name might point to easy to make origins but modern day versions are much grander with jelly and cream and fruit. However, I would question AI's answer because trifle in English means the same, a trinket or something of little value. Whatever its origin, we all enjoyed my trifle on Monday and over the next few days too as, as usual, I made far too much.

I was up at 6 that morning making the dessert and cocido, wrapping King's Day presents and only when I finished could I go out to do more errands. They are never ending. I also accompanied Oli to a routine doctor's appointment. We parted ways and I went to get 2 roscones (Kings' Day cakes), one with whipped cream and one without. Spaniards traditionally make or buy a roscón for the 6th January. This is what the cream filled one looks like.

Spanish "Roscón de Reyes" - Kings' Cake

Panettones have caught on in Spain but will never replace the far tastier roscón which is steeped in tradition. Inside there is usually a hidden bean and a hidden king. Who finds the figure is considered lucky and who finds the bean must pay for the roscón the following year. This is part of the magic of the 3 Kings tradition in Spain. 

Once home I went for our walk with Eladio. My head was full of the things I had to do to put the cocido on the table for lunch, I probably wasn't looking, stumbled and fell flat on my face; thankfully on my side so I didn't hit my head or my back. Oh dear I am so clumsy always falling. Eladio somehow got me up and I arrived home covered in mud and soil. After cleaning myself up I was back in the kitchen putting the finishing touches to our lunch which everyone enjoyed. 

The kids didn't stay long as at 5.30 they had to be at the Kings' Parade, a lovely event hosted by nearly every town and village in the country; the arrival of Melchior, Caspar and Balthasar. That brought back memories of our taking the girls to the parade when they were small. We once went with Elliot and Juliet but no longer - we are getting too old for such things I am afraid.

Instead we watched Nicolás Maduro and his wife being taken to court in New York. It's as if Trump wanted to show off his prize and what a spectacle was made of their transfer with hands cuffed and cavalcades of security cars. Maduro chose the same lawyer as Julian Assange and as predicted, pleaded not guilty. The trial won't begin until March so he will have to stew in a small cell at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn. In Venezuela he lived in 8 different luxurious locations and lived off the money his countrymen were deprived of, in obscene wealth which coming from a communist leader does not sit well. I think it will do him good to see how the other side lived, or rather how the people he jailed, those who opposed him had to live, except that conditions in Venezuelan jails are even more frightening and include torture chambers. This will be torture for him I suppose. He has certainly got his comeuppance. However, his countrymen are still just as badly off. He has been deposed but the regime remains intact, the same cruel regime he led. Now it is his second in command, the notorious Delcy Rodríguez who is the President but she has to kowtow to Trump if she wants to continue in power. He, meanwhile, says he is in charge albeit remotely of the country and has grabbed the oil which is the main reason he wanted Maduro out. Venezuela has tons of oil but it's bad quality and the infrastructure is decades old. He wants the big US oil companies to invest there and then see the gains but they are reluctant and I tend to understand them. 

Tuesday 6th January was Kings' Day and the last day of Christmas in Spain. It was very quiet at home as Oli and the kids wouldn't be coming until the afternoon. We heard from her that they got up at 5.30 in the morning because of the excitement. They spent the rest of the day at their other grandmother's where they were plied with so many gifts I doubt they even know what they had been given. I noticed this Christmas that what they like best is just tearing off the wrapping with hardly a look at what is inside. Knowing this, I only got them 2 presents each and pretty small ones. 

It was just Suzy, Eladio and I for lunch and I made a Chicken Waldor Salad which we had followed by more trifle. We had hardly touched the roscones and I now have one in the freezer for next year as in the afternoon Oli brought yet another one:-( 

They arrived at about 6.30 and we were waiting for them around the Christmas tree. I managed to get  a couple of photos with the kids before they pounced on the presents, hahaha. I chose one of them for this week's feature photo and here is one with little Elliot.

With Elliot on Kings' Day

And here is one of my girls with Oli showing her present. I realised later I had given jumpers to everyone and 3 of them were striped. I do love my stripes hahaha.

My girls on Kings' Day

When they left, that was Christmas officially over. It had been the quietest Kings' Day ever. 

I didn't have the heart to take down the Christmas decorations on Wednesday 7th, which by the way was Russian Christmas. We left it until Thursday.

 Oli and family left that day for Santa Pola to relax there after Christmas until their return today. January is not the best time to go to the beach but the weather was kind to them and they even ventured into the sea. Just look.

Juliet and Elliot playing in the waves in Santa Pola

While they were there they made the most of their time. They visited the castle in Alicante, went to the beach, to the Museum of the the Sea in Santa Pola, the palm tree park in Elche and also the railway museum there. Here are some photos to remember their stay.

Oli and family having fun in and around Santa Pola this week

I am glad they had a good time. They will have gone to the weekly Saturday market yesterday and bought local fruit and veg . I hope they bring us some oranges. 

Eladio and I went out but not to the sales which started on the 7th January and which I nearly always ignore. We had a coffee at Centro Oeste and went to get a prescription after which we came home for our morning walk we never like to miss.

I must not forget to mention something terrible that happened on Trump's own turf that day in Minnesota and happened thanks to the bully tactics he has allowed his feared ICE agents to apply to immigrants. A woman called Renee Nicole Good, a 37 year old US citizen and not an immigrant but  an ordinary mother of three was shot and killed by one of his ICE agents  who did so in cold blood. Trump's stooges claim the woman was an agitator who tried to run over the agents with her car. She did no such thing and they had no right at all to kill her. What is happening in America reminds me of the beginnings of Nazism. Freedom is being slowly eroded in the US. There, I have said it. 

On Thursday Eladio wore his new striped jumper with its fashionable quarter zip. I had to have a photo of my handsome husband. 

Eladio looking smart in his new jumper from Zara which was his Kings' Day present

I got another one after he taken it off when I took a photo of him with the empty Christmas box about to take down all the decorations. This is it and it signalled the end of Christmas.

Taking the decorations down  means Christmas is finally over

Our peace was over as a family as that day our first guest of the year arrived; Mar. Then Leonardo arrived on Friday and a Lebanese man called Houssam is arriving today from Dubai to install his son at the local University. His wife who is from Belarus made the strangest request I have ever had from a guest in my 8 years as a host. She wanted to know which all you can eat seafood restaurant I could recommend in the vicinity as her husband is crazy about seafood. I was stumped as there are no all you can eat restaurants that I know of in Spain, never mind seafood ones. Probably Dubai has lots, but not so here. For once I couldn't help. Airbnb recognised my efforts that day when they awarded me with Superhost status for the 34th quarter in a row. Wow. I got 4.9 out of 5 stars which is great but last year I got 5. The score went down because of a nasty retaliatory 1 star review from a nasty lady from Ecuador. But I was still pleased. 

It was on Thursday that the Venezuelan government, probably prompted by their new owners, the USA, released some of their 800 political prisoners, but just a few. 5 of them were Spanish. It was big news here but journalists were thwarted when they were scuttled out of the airport and sent straight to their homes so they could not be interviewed. I think that might have been part of the deal with the Venezuelan government. Meanwhile, Trump has intervened quite a few oil tankers in the Caribbean with sanctioned oil destined for China probably. He intends to keep the oil. 

Friday was another quiet day in January after Christmas. I don't like the beginning of January and I never have.  We did the food shopping and then our walk. The highlight of the afternoon was my Facetime video call with Amanda who I hadn't spoken to since I left Devon on 15th December. There was so much to catch up on. Lovely to talk to you my friend.

Saturday came and saw me spend part of the morning at A&E at the private hospital Monteprincipe in Pozuelo. I had a sore tongue which was really bothering me. Turns out I have oral thrush which I wouldn't wish on anyone as it's very hard eating. Hopefully it will get better soon with the treatment I have been given.

We had lunch on our own as Suzy is fasting after Christmas and Tana was not around. She was supposed to be leaving for her weekend off but isn't feeling too good. I hope she gets better soon. We then watched the news which we always do and apart from Trump reordering the world, there is big trouble in Iran. Demonstrations have been going on for weeks. The people are fed up with the government - who blames them? It all started when the local currency crashed but it has developed into something so big I think the Ayatollah Khomeini may well be planning to flee the country. The government has literally turned off Internet - ah but some people have Elon Musk's Starlink - has killed 48 people and detained more than 2000. Trump has threatened to intervene if the killings continue. So we have a big issue in Iran. I honestly hope the regime is toppled. But I'm not sure I want the Sha's Peacock Emperor son returning to rule the country. Apparently he crowned himself in Egypt not so long ago. I feel for the people of Iran, especially the women for whom life must be very limiting.

Today is Sunday and I have come to the end of my tales of the week. For us it was a pleasant week. For the world it was a worrying one. I shall leave you now to get on with the day. 

Cheers for now, Masha.