New Year’s Eve at home, first walk of the year, more Christmas dinners, the celebration of the 3 Kings in Spain and other stories.

Sunday 6^th January 2018

Having a bit of fun on New Year's Eve

Hello everyone and Happy New Year to you all. Also Happy Kings' Day which is being celebrated all over Spain today. 

A week ago today was the last day of the year, New Year's Eve and we were to celebrate it at home for the first time ever. We always go to León or Montrondo for NYE but, owing to my bronchitis, we had to stay at home this year. Thankfully Olivia, very loyally, joined us. 

We were not alone as our Home Away guests, all 6 of them, were in the house to celebrate the New Year too. We had planned to be away but now we were to coincide with the guests whose whole intention on coming to our house was to hold a great big dinner that night. This meant we couldn't use our own dining room. That didn't really matter as we opted to have dinner in the TV lounge or "the cat's lounge" which is what we call it as that is where Phoebe our cat spends most of her day and out of the way of the dogs.  

It was a cold day but not wet, so we got our walk in. I spent part of my siesta re-watching "Dirty Dancing" which I still love because of the music and the dancing.

When Oli came home to join us, Eladio lit the fire in the TV lounge and we watched the TV although there was nothing of quality to enjoy. TV shows at Christmas and NYE in Spain are generally abominable and one big bore but of course you have to have the TV on at midnight to follow the chimes of the clock from the Puerta del Sol where thousands of people go to see the New Year in as they do in Trafalgar Square in London or Times Square in New York. With lots of time on our hands, I got out some Christmas props that had come with some of the crackers and Oli took pictures like the one illustrating this week's post. They made us laugh a lot.

But what made us laugh even more was a photo published on Facebook by my Yorkshire friend Jacky who also lives in Spain. This was it:

NYE in one caption

The photo summed up my attitude to NYE and Oli's too, not to mention Eladio's. We enjoyed the dinner of course but waiting from 9pm until midnight to see the New Year in was a strain for all of us. We are not really party people and as I wrote last week, New Year's Eve is not my favourite celebration of the year. The Spanish TV programmes did nothing to entertain us either. 

Dinner was to be simple but delicious. I made chicken noodle soup which we had in small bowls accompanied by little Russian pies, "perushki". They are from my mother's recipe and we always have them around Christmas. Zena was supposed to have made the pastry for them on Christmas Eve but it turned out to be a disaster so I made a big batch of them myself last week. Thanks to "Mercadona's" ready made puff pastry they turned out a treat. The main dish was to be prawn and lobster cocktail salad which looked like this. It tasted even better I can tell you.

My prawn and lobster salad that I made for dinner on NYE

Most Spaniards would have considered our whole meal as just starters and would probably have made more. They, of course, would also have a big second course, probably roast lamb, or something just as heavy, all followed by different types of Spanish nougat, called "turrón".  

When we had finished our dinner, our Home Away guests, had only just started on theirs and my goodness you should have seen how much they ate. They had lots of first courses - the table was heaving - and huge fillet steaks for seconds. They also drank tons of alcohol and I know because I counted the empty bottles the next day. Between the 6 of them they finished off 3 whole bottles of champagne. We didn't even remember to open the one bottle I had cooling in the fridge hahahaha.

With time on our hands between dinner and midnight, Oli and I persuaded Eladio to play ludo with us which is rather an achievement. He was quite competitive and wouldn't put up with Oli being a bad loser. They competed so much against each other, neither noticed I had nearly all my counters home and then I surprised them when I won. 

At midnight, on the strike of each of the 12 chimes, Spaniards eat a grape at every chime which is supposed to bring luck. Eladio had brushed his teeth and had to be persuaded to keep up with tradition hahahahah. As soon as we had eaten our grapes and kissed and hugged and wished each other Happy New Year, the 3 of us scampered off to bed. Meanwhile, Suzy, alone in London, saw the New Year in even more quietly than us. We whatsapped up with her all through the evening. She had been out the night before and even though she had various options for celebrating on NYE, preferred to stay in. Thus Jacky's picture perfectly summed up her attitude to that night too.  Needless to say, our 6 Home Away guests partied on until much later but we never heard a word thankfully as our walls must be quite thick. 

And that my friends was how we spent New Year's Eve at home. How was yours? Probably more exciting than ours, unless you were in bed too like the little dog in Jacky's picture hahahaha. 

What was exciting though was seeing and hearing lots of firework displays put on by neighbours all around just after midnight.  Both Oli and I could see them from our rooms. That was a first and rather a nice sight.  

Monday 1st January 2018 dawned, the first day of a new year. I was up later than usual at 07.30. It was a beautiful sunny day which is unusual for 1st January. Olivia wanted the traditional Spanish "chocolate con churros" (donut like fritters dunked in thick chocolate) for breakfast so Eladio and I obliged and went to the local "churrería" to buy them. As our guests were occupying the dining room, we had them in the kitchen and they were delicious. So naughty but so nice. Here is Eladio savouring his first churro.

Eladio at breakfast on 1st January

I say they are a tradition on New Year's Day and they are but usually they are eaten by people who have been reveling  all night before they go to bed at around 6, 7 or 8 in the morning which was not our case of course.

Our guests left quite early and I have to say although they filled the house, they were very good guests, tidy and polite and nice people. Luckily most of our guests are. But it was nice to have the house to ourselves again finally. Being a lovely sunny day and with no cooking to do - Oli would be having lunch at Miguel's parents house - as we had lots of leftovers, I suggested we go for our first walk of the year with the dogs to the parkland in nearby Boadilla known as "el monte de Boadilla" except that there really is no mountain (monte means mountain in Spanish). It's beautiful park land which starts by the palace and covers all the outskirts of the village. If you don't keep to the main paths it's easy to get lost. Taking the dogs in the car is always a nightmare and as it had been my suggestion, I had to sit in the back with them on the way there and on the way back. It meant I would be covered in Elsa's molting hair. Thank goodness her molting season is now finally over. It happens with labradors and retrievers twice a year and each time they shed a whole coat which takes anything up to 3 months. I think if we had known that, we would never have got a labrador. Of course it's not her fault and we love her. The dogs hated the car drive but they loved the walk just as we did. Miguel joined us and as he is our semi-official photographer, being a professional cameraman, I got him to take a picture of us on our first walk of the year, the first of about 360 or so as we hardly ever miss one unless the weather is awful.

Eladio, Oli and I with our dogs, Elsa the lab, Norah the beagle and little Pippa our miniature sausage dog on our first walk of the year on Monday. 

We walked for at least 1.5h, enough to work off the churros I hoped hahahaha. It was a great walk but didn't help my bronchitis which, although better, is still there, especially the cough. I spent most of the afternoon and night coughing on the first day of the year, despite the cough mixture, the codeine tablets and my final remedy which usually helps; boiling water with honey and lemon juice.  

On Tuesday I was up again at 07.30. My body clock may well be changing or at least I hope so. The shops were open and I wanted to change some of Eladio's presents at Primark and get him more skinny trousers. I have only just discovered they exist for men and since them I have made a younger man of him. Each pair just costs 13 euros and they look fine. He now has 6 pairs,  2 of which wiould be for his 3 Kings' presents today.  I also changed the food hand mixer Oli had bought me as it was faulty. I got a Kenwood model instead which is great. My old one will go to Santa Pola. As soon as I got home I used it to chop onions and carrots to make spaghetti bolognese which we call "spag bol" in this house hahaha and is  one of my Father's favourite meals. 

Pippa joined us for our siesta and here she is in between the sheets in Eladio's arms just where she loves to be.

Pippa getting ready for her siesta with us one afternoon this week

Our second walk of the year was that afternoon and it was on our usual route. We noticed the days are getting slightly longer as it now gets dark at 18.30 rather than at 18h. I couldn't resist baking some of the frozen perushki for our dinner that night. The batch I made is now coming to an end.

Perushki for dinner on Tuesday night (Russian meat pies)

On Wednesday I was awake at 07.15, an improvement on 6 am I can tell you. The first thing I read was a google alert on my appointment as the new Adamo Comms Director in PR Noticias (PR News). The article about my "leaving" Yoigo last year had apparently been one of their most read articles of the year. So I hope that this new article about my appointment with Adamo will also be one of the most read. As a colleague commented on Facebook very kindly, "poetic justice" has been made. That's a nice way to describe it. You can read the article here. 

I had lots of work to do that day for Adamo and most of this week too as I have an upcoming press conference in the middle of January. I spent all morning working, totally immersed in my new project, I nearly forgot it was lunch time and I had to make the lunch hahahaha. In the afternoon I had a conference call with some of my team members in Barcelona. They use Google Hangouts but unfortunately the fiber connection here is not good enough for a satisfactory signal. It worked on the mobile but not on the pc and in the end they had to ring me on the fixed line! So much for new technology and what a pity Adamo doesn't have coverage where we live as theirs is the fastest fiber internet in Spain. It was late when we went on our walk but still not dark. While on the walk I got new reservation enquiries on Airbnb and on Home Away earlier in the day. Things seem to be speeding up after a quiet period. As I write now I have 6 reservations from now until the beginning of March and a  booking from a Dutch family for a week in July. Every time I get a new booking I get a high. It's rather addictive. 

That night we started watching a new series on Netflix. It's French and called Glacé and I'm not sure we are into it yet or whether we shall finish it. We have seen 2 episodes and are not hooked. It's a bit slow like most French films and series in my opinion. We still miss "La Embajada" (The Embassy).  

On Thursday I did my "Reyes" (Kings' Day) shopping for presents. In Spain people traditionally give their presents on Kings' Day. These days they also give presents on the 24th or 25th. However "Reyes" is still very big in Spain. We do it the other way round in our house, giving more presents at Christmas and just a few symbolic ones for Reyes. 

That day, our 19 year old student guest, Enya, was arriving all the way from Guadaloupe, a small island in the Caribbean belonging to France. Just as she was arriving we had the plumbers here to mend some radiators, 2 of them being in both the room she had booked and "Suzy's" room which was a little awkward. In the end she's staying in Suzy's room where the leak is not so bad. Tomorrow, Monday, the plumbers will be back to change 4 radiators and mend something that has gone wrong with the pressure in the central heating. In this house there is always some sort of breakdown and Eladio, "head of maintenance" is on the alert all the time hahahahaha.  

That night we had a dinner date at Oli and Miguel's, a lovely Christmas dinner at their place which we find so cozy and welcoming. We love going to dinner there.  Miguel, her boyfriend, is the main cook and he made a delicious cod dish with vegetables for the meal that night.

Miguel's delicious cod dish

I had taken along crackers as well as some chocolate and after dinner we had fun taking pictures with the cracker crowns on. Suzy thought we were celebrating "Reyes" and I suppose it looked like that. 

Christmas dinner at Oli and Miguel's. Getting into the spirit of "Kings' Day"

The dinner was great but the combination of wine and chocolate of course gave me a headache. We were home by midnight and soon in bed. Luckily that night my cough was a bit better.  

On Friday I was up at 7. As soon as I had finished breakfast I made more bread. By 10 it was ready and the kitchen smelled delicious.

The bread I made on Friday morning

While the dough was proving, I made chicken casserole for lunch. I had a very busy morning as I had to do the weekly shopping and do it alone as Eladio had to wait at home for the plumbers. I took Enya, my Airbnb guest with me as she needed to buy provisions. Before coming home, I had one more errand to do and that was to buy 2 "roscones" (Kings' cakes) for breakfast the next day. 

Roscón de Reyes - Kings' Day cake

It is very traditional to eat this crown shaped brioche type of cake on 6th January. Many people make their own but I had no time this year and besides the ones I buy at the "Alveran" local bakery are home made. What I didn't expect to find was a huge queue and I had to wait for an hour until I left clutching one small roscón with whipped cream and one without. I was home just on time for lunch and felt as though I had been on an errand marathon the whole morning. 

I had a very restoring siesta. It was dark, cold and drizzling so we skipped on our walk. That afternoon I got another Airbnb booking, this time from 3 French students who had been before. The bookings were for 3 days at the beginning of February and 3 days at the beginning of March. Whoopee I thought!

This week there has been much news about a controversial book called Fire and Fury about Trump, his presidential campaign and life inside the White House by a New York journalist called Michael Wolff. I heard about it on the news that day and there and then downloaded a sample on my kindle which I can't wait to read. 

The book which is causing so much fury from Donald Trump and which I can't wait to read

It apparently depicts ignorance, incompetence and chaos in Trump's White House. His lawyers unsuccessfully tried to ban it but now people are queueing up to buy it.  Trump himself is furious at the book's publication which he calls a pack of lies. But even if only half of it is true it's going to make amazing reading. It certainly is causing a fury as perhaps the name of the book suggests. 

That night we had another Christmas dinner to go to. It was the annual post Christmas dinner at Julio's house where we have been going with our mutual friend Fátima ever since Fátima and I met Julio when we started working at Nokia in 2000. The dinners at his house started in about 2002 and have been held every year since then. We got slightly lost on the way as it was dark and raining and Fátima and I were talking twenty to the dozen. He had dinner laid on the table, all the usual food he serves every year: ham, lomo, asparagus, salad and potato and onion omelets made by Fátima's mother. 

Dinner at Julio's on Friday night

The dessert would be "roscón", the first I was to try this Christmas  until breakfast the next day.  We soon ate most of it and then it was time to pull the crackers. Once again we wore the cracker hats and looked like Kings hahahaha which was quite fitting as Friday 5th January was the "noche de reyes" (Kings' night). And here we are, the 3 of us in our hats.

With my best friends, Julio and Fátima, on Kings' Night at dinner at his house on Friday

After the crackers it was time for giving out the presents we had all bought. We nearly always tell each other what we want so there were few surprises that night hahahaha. By 11.30 we were all yawning - none of us are party revelers - and it was time to go. We were home just after midnight and went straight to bed. It had been another lovely Christmas dinner at Julio's, keeping up with  tradition.  

Saturday came and it was Kings' Day in Spain. Here the three Kings, called Melchior, Gaspar and Balthazar bring presents to children and parades are held all over Spain. Our Kings' Day started with breakfast which would consist of our 2 roscones, some of us preferring it with cream and some without. I personally prefer to toast the one without. My Father was not very well that morning and only had a bit. We were worried about him all day. It was obvious he had a cold and we debated whether to call the doctor or not. 

He joined us for the present opening around the tree and I gave him a new shirt and some chocolate which he didn't eat and was a sure sign something was wrong. Eladio and I put on some Christmas hats for the fun of it and this was what we looked like hahahaha.

Fun on Kings' Day morning. 

I made a special lunch yesterday to celebrate, roast suckling lamb with all the trimmings except for mint sauce as I had no mint in the house. My Father only ate a bit and didn't join us in the pulling of the last crackers of the day. I felt sorry for him. They would be the last crackers we pulled this Christmas until next year. And here are Oli, Eladio and I with the crowns on in a typical selfie. 

A selfie on Kings' Day

We didn't go for a walk yesterday either as it rained non stop all day. There was much snow in many parts of Spain and it is still raining today. Oli and I decided to make more perushki both for dinner, for freezing and for her to take some home. They were a complete success once again thanks to Mercadona's ready made puff pastry. We had our last Christmas dinner in the dining room that night.  Miguel and Oli even had more roscón but I couldn't face it hahaha. 

Last night we started watching a film with Robert de Niro we had been recommended on Neftlix called "The Intern". Eladio didn't like it and soon fell asleep but I love it and will finish watching it today.

Today is Sunday 7th January and Russian Christmas. Most Orthodox Christians follow the Julian Calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar and thus Christmas for them comes 13 days later than for other Christians. My Mother used to organise Russian Christmas for us at home where we would have a few presents. 

The day didn't start well as my Father was worse. He had a temperature and felt sick so we immediately called the emergency services by ringing 112, the national number for all sorts of emergencies. The ambulance came very shortly and I was dreading him being admitted to hospital with all that that would mean, waiting around in the emergency ward for hours on end and my Father on a gurney. Thankfully that didn't happen. He has bronchitis and has been prescribed antibiotics, paracetamol as well as eye drops. Right now he is sleeping and I do hope he gets better soon and gets to read my blog today. I feel sorry for him and a bit guilty that I must have passed my bronchitis on to him. There is a lot of of going round but it's no joke when you are nearly 100 like him. He will be 99 on 1st May. 

I never like 7th January as it means it's time to take down all the Christmas decorations, one of the most depressing tasks of the year which Eladio and I will do together as we always do. As to the rest of the day, let's see how it pans out and hopefully, despite the rain, we shall be able to go for our walk with the dogs.

And now my friends I have come to the end of this week's blog post, my first for 2018. 

Wishing you all a good week ahead, it's time to sign off and publish this and get on with the day.

Cheers to you all until next week,

Masha.

Family Christmas, bronchitis, Suzy back in London, a look back at 2017 and a Happy 2018 to all my readers.

Sunday 31^st December 2017

Happy New Year everyone.

Hi everyone,

Well today is the last day of the year and what a year it has been.  But first for this week, the last week of 2017. 

Last Sunday was Christmas Eve and I was in the throes of my cold. The morning felt like a master chef cooking time trial. I am the Christmas organiser in this house but I seem to do it all alone and this year I really felt tired. I was up at 6 and was soon preparing the Christmas Eve dinner. I finished making the trifle, our favourite dessert which I only usually make once a year. My Father prefers the top part with the cream and Eladio the bottom part with the jelly hahahaha which makes for difficult serving.

The trifle I made for Christmas Eve dinner

I then started on the "salpicón de marisco" (seafood salad) which was definitely the best dish on the table that night. I made quite a lot but it all disappeared. I might be making more for tonight's dinner too as it was such a success.

My "salpicón de marisco" seafood salad.

I also made more bread which the girls devour. I can't make enough of it as they finish it off as soon as it is made hahahahaha. Potato salad made with my Russian grandfather's recipe would be another main dish on the table that night and that was ready by mid morning too. I had done all the food shopping but, as is typical, had forgotten a few ingredients, so off I went to the supermarket again for last minute purchases. Then we went to pick up our Christmas morning breakfast fare - croissants, pain au chocolat, donuts, "ensaimadas", etc.  I couldn't believe the queue at the bakery. Christmas is all about food and we all seem to get very greedy about it. Once home, I placed the big parcel of croissants on top of the freezer lid on the ground floor. Later when we weren't looking, Norah got at it. She must have kicked it on to the floor with her paw but it got locked down the side between the deep freeze and fridge, thus she was only able to eat a quarter of it. Norah had done it again and we never learn our lesson. 

Lunch was leftovers and a light affair. I spent the rest of the afternoon cooking too, making bacon rolls and more salads. When all the food was ready, it was time for our walk which we would need desperately if we were to eat so much that night hahahahah. As tradition dictates, later Eladio lit the fire in the TV lounge and the girls joined us. It felt very festive indeed.

The four of us by the fire on Christmas Eve

Normally my Father would have joined us. We brought him up from his room in his wheelchair but he must have got cold on the way and started shivering. He decided he wouldn't join us for dinner which was rather sad as it would be the first Christmas Eve dinner without him. I suppose when you are nearly 99, you just prefer to go to bed quietly at Christmas.

The girls and I got dressed up for the dinner and I even put makeup on but I didn't feel well. Even so I made the effort. Zena, my Father's weekend carer who is from the Ukraine, joined us. This is what the table looked like. To take the picture Oli stood on her chair which always makes me laugh.

Our Christmas Eve dinner table.

We had to have a selfie too and this is the 4 of us with our cracker hats on to remember the moment. Suzy is wearing my new patchwork Zara dress which looked so good on her, I gave it to her.

Our Christmas Eve dinner selfie. The 4 of us with our cracker hats on

I had ordered lots of crackers online again this year and the contents never fail to disappoint I'm afraid. Whey can't they make more imaginative or better content? I wish they would. 

I tried not to eat too much but the trifle finished me off hahaha. Later Miguel joined us after having had dinner with his parents. We sat by the fire laughing and taking pictures until it was time for bed, past 11 pm.  

Christmas day dawned, the loveliest day of the year in my mind. I was up early, especially to put the girls' stockings by their bedroom doors. They are now 32 and 33 and the tradition continues hahahahahah.  My mother knitted them years ago and they are a little fragile now but the girls wouldn't have Christmas without them. The stocking fillers came mostly from Primark and Tiger.

The girls' Christmas morning stockings

Being the Christmas organiser, it was up to me to prepare the Christmas morning breakfast table too and I wasn't feeling at all well. Everyone else was asleep. Thankfully there were lots of croissants even after Norah had had a go at them!!!! As soon as the table was laid and ready for breakfast I went to wake up the girls. Normally they always open their stockings on their own together but this year I witnessed them being opened. And here is Suzy, in her room - yes one of the ones I usually rent out on Airbnb  - enjoying the moment with me.

Suzy opening her Christmas stocking and bag full of more stocking fillers which wouldn't fit in the stocking!

When I looked at the tree that morning, I realised that we must all have been awfully good this year as Santa Claus had filled all the space under and around it. Amazing!!!!

The presents under the tree on Christmas morning

But before we started on the present opening ceremony which would take at least 1.5 h, it was time for breakfast all together. This time my Father joined us.

There was more quantity than quality in the presents "Santa" brought but we loved them. In recent years I have had a photo taken of Eladio and I just before we open the presents and this year would be no exception. The exception though was that I wasn't well and didn't look very good. I prefer the one of us taken on Christmas Eve, the one illustrating this week's post. Eladio always wears a bow tie for the occasion which makes him look very dapper I think. 

Eladio and I on Christmas morning - our yearly photo together

Everyone enjoyed the session and here is Eladio with Pippa opening a parcel with some tartan Primark pyjamas to match mine hahahahahaha.

Eladio opening a Christmas present

Who did look good together in a photo were Oli and Miguel. Pippa seems to get in all the pictures hahahahaha. And here they are enjoying themselves too.

Miguel, Oli and Pippa on Christmas morning

My main present was my new Kenwood, to replace the one my Mother had bought me when we got married in 1983. While making the lunch, Eladio and I did the unboxing and it is slightly more complicated than my old model. It's also a lot less robust and I wonder if it will last as many years as my old Kenwood. Somehow I doubt it. 

After the present opening, it was once again  time for more cooking and again up to me to make the lunch, a typical British Christmas Day meal. It felt like a time trial again too but I managed it without much help from anyone.  I  made a big roast chicken, called a "pularda" here - I'm not too keen on turkey - with the trimmings we like best; sprouts, gravy, roast potatoes, sage and onion stuffing and cranberry sauce. I ate so much for lunch that I had to skip on dinner hahahahaha. And here is the family around the table about to start. I had to stop them from digging in, to take the photo and to make a toast hahahahaha.

Christmas lunch

We all had a very lazy time after lunch. It was awful weather so we didn't get a walk that day. In fact I didn't go for a walk since Christmas Eve  until yesterday, owing mostly to my cold. I had bought the DVD of the film My Fair Lady for Suzy who had shown an interest in it. It's funny but the girls never watched it when they were little. However, it was me who enjoyed it most. Later they went out with their group of friends and we went to bed early after no dinner, in my case at least. 

Boxing day dawned and I felt worse. Elsa had her operation that day to remove two bad teeth and Eladio took her. As soon as the local clinic opened I went to see the doctor. It didn't take much time to diagnose me with bronchitis and she prescribed a shock treatment of antibiotics. I went home and straight to bed sitting up with 4 pillows as I could hardly breathe if I was lying down. It was to be Suzy's last day at home and there I was in bed. I did join the family for our leftovers lunch though.  This time we got a selfie with my Father, something of a tradition at Christmas in the last few years.

Our Boxing Day selfie. 

The rest of the day was spent in bed. Eladio and I started watching a really good Spanish series on Netflix called "La Embajada" (The Embassy) about corruption at the Spanish Embassy in Bangkok. We have been binge watching it ever since.  

Wednesday 27th December dawned and even though I was feeling dreadful I had to work. I had to send out a press release to the media on new appointments in Adamo (the Swedish optical fiber operator) including my own which was rather funny and a bit embarrassing. If you can read Spanish, this is the press release.  I rather liked the headline I had written myself: "Adamo hires ex directors of HTC, Yoigo and Nokia. I of course am an ex director of both Yoigo and Nokia.  My other colleagues who had just been appointed were Pedro who I coincided with at Nokia and Antonio who I coincided with at Yoigo. 

New appointments at Adamo 

Very soon the press coverage began and many of the journalists I had sent the release to published the news which pleased me a lot. After all, that is why Adamo have taken me on, to get them lots of media coverage. By the next morning I had garnered 27 articles!!!!! I think Adamo was pleased too. I certainly was. 

Meanwhile Suzy was getting ready to leave. We had a last meal together, more Christmas leftovers, until Oli and Miguel would drive her to the airport. She would have a nightmare of a journey owing to the snow and bad weather in the UK. She flew with Ryan Air and her 6 pm plane was delayed. However the biggest delay was at Stansted airport where she had to wait 3 hours for her luggage. She didn't get home till 2 in the morning. However, she was lucky that she got home at all, as nearly all the Ryan Air flights to and from Stansted the next day were cancelled because of the snow.  She had been with us for just one week and it seemed to pass in a jiffy. We do miss her. Hopefully she will be back in April after which, very sadly for me, but very excitingly for her, she plans to move to Indonesia to Bali !!! Oh how far away that is. 

If Suzy had a nightmare journey to Stansted, I had a nightmare of a night, with dreadful coughing fits. The next morning, Thursday, I sent Eladio to the doctor to get a prescription for the only medicine I know that stops coughing fits, called "codeisan" which is obviously made of codeine and completely dries you up inside but it works.

Oli was back at work and would be staying at her flat this week with Miguel so the house felt rather empty and it was a bit of an anti climax after Christmas without the girls. She worked on editing the programme she had filmed for in Montpelier in France. It seems her next destination is Manchester, of all places, and also possibly Leeds. The programme producers are now looking for suitable candidates from Madrid who live there, among them the Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea. I can't believe she will be going to Lancashire and hopefully Yorkshire. I'd love to go with her. Who will probably join her for part of her trip will be Suzy of course who will drive up from London. Lucky girls!

I slept much better that night, thanks to the codeine and was feeling, if not a lot better, at least on the mend. It was on Friday that we were expecting 6 guests from Home Away (similar platform to Airbnb) and I was dreading them. I hadn't expected to coincide with them but of course we had cancelled our NY trip to Montrondo. To judge by all the communication since their reservation, they sounded like the sort to give you lots of trouble. One of them is allergic to dogs or rather has a huge phobia and it would be our task to make sure she never bumped into them. The logistics were difficult.

Meanwhile I got a new Airbnb reservation that day. A young girl called Enya from Guadeloupe would be coming on 4th Jan for 2 weeks. I had to look the place up and it is a a French island in the Antilles. Obviously she will be my first guest and probably my last from such a faraway island. She is coming to Spain on an Erasmus programme and will be attending the nearby UEM University and will be using our house as a base to find accommodation for the year.

I felt well enough to do the food shopping with Eladio on Friday morning, but not well enough yet for a walk. I also managed to make more bread. Our Home Away guests arrived just before lunch. They actually live in the centre of Madrid and were coming as a group of friends to spend NYE together. I though they were three married couples, but no they were just friends and family. They brought so much food we couldn't believe it. They totally filled the empty fridge on the ground floor mostly with booze and cooked prawns - Spaniards eat them on nearly all festive occasions. In order not to coincide with them at dinner, Eladio and I had ours early.  While we binge watched La Embajada we could hear them having dinner in our dining room. Thankfully they are very clean and tidy and the kitchen was in a perfect state the next day. 

On Saturday morning I woke up feeling a whole lot better. Mostly my energy was returning. I am such an energetic person usually and when I am ill that is what I most miss, my energy. After hosting our guests who were making their own breakfasts in our kitchen, I set about making "perushki" (Russian meat pies) for New Year's Eve. We usually have them on Christmas Eve. I had made the filling for that dinner and had asked Zena, our Ukranian weekend carer, to make the pastry and the pies. However she used yeast and her pastry turned out to be bread. We politely ate one or two that night and later I threw the rest away!!  I also prepared lunch while Lucy cleaned the house. Oli and Miguel were coming for our midday meal and I made good old fish and chips, except that I did the fish in breadcrumbs rather than in batter.


 Later Eladio and I finished watching "La Embajada". The end was breathtaking and had me sitting up tight in bed aghast at what I thought the end would be. We are now gutted it is over and that there is no second season. What a good TV series and what a great script. I also love the actors, Abel Folk the Ambassador, Luis Salinas and Belén Rueda his wife Claudia. 

Great Spanish TV series we watched on Netflix this wee

There was to be more cooking that afternoon. I made chicken noodle soup or rather the broth for it, as well as cream of vegetable soup and then more vegetables, fresh artichokes. This is what our dinner looked like on Saturday night. Again we had it early to avoid coinciding with our group of guests. Dinner together in the evening is always one of the best moments of the day.

Our healthy dinner on Saturday night

It was only when we were nearly asleep that our guests returned to make their dinner. 

And today is 31st December 2017, the last day of the year. It will be the first time we have spent New Year's Eve in our own home as we nearly always go to León to be with Eladio's family. Oli will join us as will Lucy and we will have a quiet evening. New Year's Eve is funnily enough not my favourite celebration and it never has been. I don't really know why. Somehow I think it's because I have or had great expectations that were never fulfilled and then I always get a sort of forlorn type feeling the next day, 1st January. 

It has been a topsy turvy year in many ways. This time last year we were in Cuba for Claudia and Miguel's wedding. We had a great time of course but there was a dark cloud on our horizon as I knew I was to lose my job with Yoigo. And I lost it and life was rather uphill afterwards. But somehow I landed on my feet again. 2017 was the year I started on Airbnb hosting which has been an interesting experience and of course quite lucrative. I had to find a new source of income and partly I found it with Airbnb. We have had more than 70 sets of guests from all around the world. This year too I became self employed forfeiting the dole as slowly I acquired customers for PR projects. I never looked for them. They looked for me and I am forever grateful. One of them, Adamo, has now contracted me on a full time basis. It's great to work for a Swedish company again and as it is an internet operator the sector is very familiar. If someone had told me this time last year that I would be self employed and have a new source or sources of income, perhaps I would not have worried so much about losing my job. 2017 was also the year I turned 60, not a good time to be fired, but amazing to be hired too; that's a feather in the cap of a Swedish company for you. I had a great party and many friends came from around the world too. I went to Cuba, to England with Oli to be with Suzy and I also went to Hong Kong with another customer, Genaker, my first customer and to whom I shall always be grateful for setting me on my new path. Miquel thanks!! I spent time with my cousins in France in the summer and attended Marie and Anas' wedding in Switzerland and of course I spent time with my family both at our little pad in Santa Pola and at our house in Montrondo. My family has been there for me through thick and thin and I would not be the happy woman I am without them. Eladio is my rock, my wonderful and very good looking husband and I appreciate every minute I spend with him. I have spent a lot of time too with Olivia, my youngest daughter who, thankfully, lives in Madrid. I am so proud of her in many ways. This year she started working with "Madrileños por el Mundo" and is enjoying her job enormously. We see her a lot. She keeps me young and makes up for Suzy not being here. Suzy, our darling older daughter has her ups and downs in London, never an easy place to work and be single. She spent a month with us in the autumn which was a luxury. She now has plans to move to Bali. So who knows, we may well go out to see her hahahaha. I wish all the very best for my adored family, my Father who I hope continues to be as well looked after as possible, my husband Eladio who I hope stays by my side for as long as life lets him and I wish the best for my darling daughters. Secretly and above all, I would be very grateful for a wedding and a grandchild. Maybe 2018 will bring me them if I am as good as I was this year. 

All that remains for me now is to wish you all a great 2018. You will hear from me next year, next Sunday hahahaha.

Cheers till then, Masha

Sunday morning in the centre of Madrid, Oli continuing her adventures in France, Suzy home for Christmas, annual seasonal dinner, Catalan elections and other stories.

Sunday 24th December 2017

With Fátima and Julio my best friends in Spain here for our traditional annual Christmas dinner this week

My goodness it's Christmas Eve and what a wonderful day it is too as our family is now complete with both girls at home.  

Just one week ago, Oli was still in France and Suzy in London. That day, Sunday 17th, our Airbnb guest, Borja, the student from Navarra left. Zena was going to make our lunch  - gloupsy again (Russian dish - stuffed cabbage rolls) so after publishing my blog and with time on my hands I suggested to Eladio that we go into Madrid and visit the traditional Christmas Market at the Plaza Mayor in the centre of Madrid after the disappointment  of the one we went to in Boadilla the day before.  This is something we used to do nearly every year and where we used to buy our Christmas tree when we lived in town and where we took the girls when they were small. Secretly I was hoping to buy a Christmas hat with a battery operated moving bobble on it. I once had one but it disappeared at a family party one year.

It was a freezing cold morning and later I was to develop a cold (sniff sniff) . We decided to drive to the nearest metro station and leave the car there rather than face the traffic and difficulties of parking in the centre of the city. We got off the metro at Plaza de España and walked up the Gran Via to Calloa and then down the most commercial street in Spain, "Calle Preciados". It was teeming and many people were queuing up to buy Christmas lottery tickets at the most famous establishment in Spain, "Doña Manolita". I think Eladio was tempted but put off by the queues. Calle Preciados leads onto the Puerta del Sol, the most famous square in Madrid and the one from where all roads are measured in the country. We were very careful with our possessions as  pickpockets thrive in these areas. 

Huge queues outside the Doña Manolita lottery establishment, the most famous in Spain

The Christmas market in the Plaza Mayor is nothing special and not at all like the Christmas markets which I so love in the northern countries of Europe. Here all you can find are cheapo Christmas decorations, funny hats and jokes made in China as well as Nativity scene figures. It seems all the stalls sell the same rubbish. However the atmosphere is very festive and we soaked it up. Here I am in my warmest coat posing for a photo in the beautiful square.

In the Plaza Mayor

It was really great to break with routine and spend Sunday morning in the centre of Madrid, something we should do more often. 

We visited every stall until I finally found the hat I wanted. I should have put it on for a photo but it was far too cold. However, as soon as we got home, I made Eladio wear it for this photo hahahaa.

Eladio and the bobbly Christmas hat

I knew it was going to be a great success at all our Christmas meals as it produces a laugh a minute as soon as someone puts it on.

From the Plaza Mayor we walked the short distance to the Mercado San Miguel, an old food market turned into an amazing gastro centre where just everything is enticing and of the highest quality. The idea there is buy what you want to eat from any of the stalls and then find a table to sit down and enjoy whatever you have chosen. The most difficult thing is to choose. I went for sweet and Eladio for savoury. It was full of people but not the fullest I have seen. It's become very touristy but really it is a first class place to try out many of the  tapas Spain has to offer.

Outside the Mercado San Miguel last Sunday morning

We walked back to the Plaza de España the same way we had come and it was to be our walk of the day. We came home to a laid table and delicious gloupsy, my Father's favourite Russian meal. In the afternoon I finished watching Victoria Season 2 and then together with Eladio watched the last episode of Season 2 of The Crown. I am sorely missing both now and don't have anything half as interesting to watch. 

Monday was a quiet day. I was going to spend the morning at Primark with my sister-in-law but she cancelled. Instead, Eladio and I went out shopping again, this time for the main ingredients for the most festive meals, tonight's Christmas Eve Dinner and tomorrow's Christmas Day lunch. And guess what? Eladio bought more lottery tickets. At one of the shops I had a problem with my debit card so rang my bank. For a reason unknown to me, Bankia, the bank I have been with ever since I came to live in Spain, had blocked my account!!  I couldn't believe it. I must have wasted an hour at our branch with a rather inefficient employee who was not able to explain why the account was blocked and my cards wouldn't work. Horror of horrors I wouldn't be able to do any more shopping! Actually it didn't really matter as everything was bought. The next day the bank called me to say the account was now unblocked and later in the week I went to pick up my new cards. Bankia seems very old fashioned to me when nowadays all these types of issues should be resolved online. 

After lunch Eladio and I were on the move again. We had to take Elsa to the vet for a scan which would reveal what the lump on her face was caused by. It meant she had to be sedated and it was a very worried Elsa we left behind at the clinic. She would have been sorry to know that while she was being sedated and given the scan, we went for our walk with Norah and Pippa. Later in the evening we picked her up and brought her home from the most crowded clinic I have ever seen. I don't know why we still keep going there, probably because it is the nearest one from home. It was such chaos there that the next day we realised Elsa still had the IV line attached to her paw. I made a formal complaint but all I got was a verbal apology. The good news is that the results of the scan show that she has 2 infected molars (or is it the roots?). I was relieved it wasn't a tumour. She will have them out on Boxing Day. Poor Elsa. 

I came home to make a delicious dinner of smoked salmon with fresh steamed asparagus - a very healthy choice I think. Just as we were having dinner, I became a Great Aunt as one of our nieces gave birth to a baby girl. She is called Sara and is now the youngest member of the family. Welcome to the world Sara.  I am very happy for the parents but especially for her grandparents, Eladio's youngest brother and his wife. I want to be a grandmother too one day. Soon please hahaha. 

Tuesday dawned, the day Suzy would be coming home for Christmas from London. But it would be a very long day until we saw her. She was arriving on Ryanair from Standsted late that night at 23.35 but the plane was delayed. 

I was looking forward to our annual Nokia girls Christmas lunch on Tuesday but it was to ne another cancelled engagement, the second of the week. We were to be 6 but everyone cancelled at the last moment except for Juana and myself. Determined to see each other, she invited me for a twosome lunch at her house near Pozuelo and of course I accepted. In any case I had to give her back all the elements I had at home with which she made the sweet table for my 60th birthday and which I used for the one I made for the Yoigo reunion party the week before.  Even though we were only two, Juana had made a delicious lunch served beautifully in their immaculate and festive dining room. My contribution was freshly made multi cereal bread which I had made that morning both for Juana and Suzy. I also took along a box of crackers. 

Table for 2 at Juana's house for lunch on Tuesday

It was good to catch up on each other's lives. And it's thanks to Juana that I shall be adding a new dish to our menu for tonight's dinner. Juana is from Galicia, one of the best places for food in Spain. Her star dish for Christmas Eve is to be "salpicón de marisco" a sort of seafood salad and I asked her how she made it and what the ingredients are; although I knew the main ones; small scallops, giant prawns and lobster with thinly chopped spring onion and peppers which I adore. She had bought them at the Corte Inglés supermarket so I stopped there on my way home and bought the same seafood. I unfroze them last night and shall follow her recipe and I know everyone is going to love it. 

Once home, I went for a walk with Eladio and the dogs and then prepared part of the dinner for the following night when Fátima and Julio would be coming for our annual Christmas dinner. 

We couldn't go to bed early on Tuesday as we had to pick Suzy up from the airport. As I said earlier, her plane was delayed and she wouldn't be arriving until past midnight. Instead of going to bed to watch the news, we watched the TV in the lounge. I was keen to seen Oli's programme, "Madrileños por El Mundo" although Oli wasn't the reporter that night. It was on Finland and focused on Spaniards from Madrid who lived there but not in Helsinki.  Of course I was interested as Finland has a special place in my heart after having worked for Nokia for 6 years and after so many visits there. I had helped her find candidates for the programme and one of them was Araceli who lives in Espoo and works for Nokia. She was a colleague of mine when I worked at Nokia.  The programme started with people living in Rovaniemi, the heart of Lapland and where Father Christmas "lives". I had been there during one of my trips to Nokia and had also met the man himself.  It was interesting to see Araceli interviewed, to see her home and her office, the Nokia HQ of course. And here she is in one of the scenes, after ice skating, with her son and partner.

Araceli, my ex Nokia colleague who appeared in Oli's programme "Madrileños por el Mundo" this week

You can see the full programme here. 

After it finished it was soon time to leave the house and drive to the airport to pick Suzy up. She landed at around 12.05 but wasn't out until 12.30. But what a wonderful moment when I saw her and we hugged. When she hugged her Father I just had to snap the moment on my camera. And here they are Father and daughter, reunited for Christmas.

Suzy home for Christmas. Father and daughter reunited

She came home to find what I now call our Christmas wonderland as I have gone all out to decorate the house. It gets more and more kitsch as the years progress hahaha.

Just some of the decorations of our own personal "Christmas wonderland" 

I'm not sure what my family think but they go along with it hahahaa. 

We didn't get to bed until extremely late but thankfully I woke up just a bit later than usual on Wednesday morning, at 6.50. Suzy slept in her own room as we had no Airbnb guests when she came, unlike when she was here in September. I have blocked the calendar for Christmas which I'm sure Suzy appreciates. 

Oli of course was still in France and enjoying it immensely. On Tuesday, the day Suzy was coming home, she was filming some Spaniards who pick truffles using beagles to sniff out the prized culinary ingredient. God knows how they got the beagle in the photo to sniff out the truffle without actually eating it. I could never imagine, Norah, our beagle doing that hahahaa. What I didn't know is that it costs 1400 euros per kilo!!

Oli filming in France. Here with a beagle who sniffs out truffles

So, when I asked her to bring us some back  she answered that the truffle was "tres tres chere" which of course I knew. She did bring us nougat back though which both Suzy and I adore. Everyone eats the equivalent here at Christmas called "turrón" but I don't really like it, far preferring the softer nougat.  

On Wednesday it was great to have Suzy with us. Her cheer and demeanour and general charisma seem to fill the house with joy and energy. Unfortunately I couldn't have lunch with the family as I had a meeting with Adamo in Madrid. I was meeting my two Madrid colleagues, Antonio and Pedro, both of whom had been my colleagues at Yoigo and Nokia respectively. It's a small world. We had the meeting and lunch at Whitby, the bar where I had organised Yoigo's 6th birthday for the press. I went by metro and with time on my hands when I got out at Alonso Martínez I decided to drop into the only English shop I know in Madrid which is just around the corner; "Living in London". Here I bought more crackers, some mince pies and a a pavlova meringue case. 

I was home quite early, by about 4 pm and had tea with Suzy. We then went for our walk. She had engagements that night so got ready to go out. Meanwhile, Eladio and I prepared everything for the cold supper I was offering Julio and Fátima for our annual Christmas dinner chez nous so to say. I put on a huge spread and served them: salad of giant prawns, pineapple, avocado and lettuce, tuna fish spread with hard boiled eggs, ibérico ham, "raf" tomatoes and giant asparagus. I also made the mayonnaise and thousand island sauce to go with the prawns and asparagus.

This is what the table looked like heaving with delicious and mostly healthy food.

The dinner table on Wednesday evening  - dinner with Julio and Fátima

They were with us by about 8.30 and we gave them a tour of  "winter wonderland" playing all the mechanical Christmas figures. The lounge looked lovely with soft lighting and candles. I'm something of a candle freak hahahaha. Before we tucked in I had to have a photo of my dear friends Julio, who I got to know at Nokia, and Fátima, who I got to know at Motorola and who went on to work for Julio at Nokia when I worked there too. So, we have a lot in common. And here they are:

My dearest friends at dinner on Wednesday night

None of us are the drinks after dinner type people. Instead, we drank water. I offered them chocolates from my very tempting sweet table and we were all very good only eating one each hahahaha.  We were all a little tired, especially Fátima who had had a chemotherapy session the day before and was still wearing the "bag", so they left just before midnight, a very civilised time in my view.  

Thursday was the Winter solstice, the shortest day of the year but in Spain everyone was focused on the Catalan elections. It was to be the separatists against the unionists and the polls already predicted a majority of the former as they have two parties, Puigdemont's Together for Catalonia and Oriol Junquera's ERC. 

But I had lots to do that morning after making everyone's lunch. Suzy accompanied me on lots of little errands. We had to go to the vet for more antibiotics for Elsa and the chemist. We were then going to have a coffee at our favourite cafe Alverán in Boadilla but oh my God the display on the dashboard of my mini told us we were quickly running out of petrol with just enough for 2 km to go. So we rushed to the petrol station not sure we would make it. Thankfully we did but it was touch and go hahaha. Then we did go to Alverán where, not only did we have a coffee but, we ordered all the croissants and delicious pastries we like  for our Christmas Day breakfast and which we shall be picking up today. From the cafe, Suzy and I walked to a health food store she likes to buy a few things. I was not tempted hahahaha. Our final errands were a visit to my bank to pick up the new visa card and to the post office. We were home just on time for lunch with Eladio and my Father. We eat in the dining room and normally the dogs are not allowed in except for when Suzy is here. I had to have this photo of Norah's head popping up in between her arms in hope of a morsel of food, in this case raspberries hahahahaha.

Suzy and Norah have a special relationship 

Feeling a bit off because of my cold which would get worse as the day progressed, I slept a little. We watched the news to see how the elections were going but it wasn't until Friday morning that we would get the final results. At around 4 pm, in brilliant sunshine, on the shortest day of the year, we set off on our walk. Suzy commented on the sunshine comparing it to dark London where at this time of the day the sun would have already set. I certainly appreciate the extra light living in Spain.

I came home to spend a couple of hours drafting a press release which I sent off just as Suzy called us for dinner. My darling daughter had made our dinner and I was so grateful as I was feeling lousy because of my cold. I sort of got the shivers and wasn't at all hungry.  In fact, all I wanted to do was go to bed and nurse my cold. 

On Friday morning after a pretty bad night, I woke up to see the results of the elections in Catalonia and they did not paint a pretty picture.   Here they are.

The Catalan election results.

The unionist party, Ciudadanos,  led by Inés Arrimadas, the only woman of the 7 or so main candidates, won but she won’t govern as the 2 main separatist parties led by the fugitive Puigdemont and jailed Oriol Junqueras  have the majority of seats. between them.  There is rather an unfair counting system in Catalonia which gives more seats for votes from  the provinces rather than the cities.  One way of looking at it is that the majority of Catalans voted against independence but the separatists got more seats and get to govern. So now we are back to square one and in the same mess we were in before the Spanish government invoked Article 155. Who knows what will happen now. 

On the bright side on Friday, for some at least, "El Gordo", the Spanish Christmas lottery was drawn and who knows, we could have been rich.  But it was not to be. None of us won anything, except for Lucy who won 100 euros.

On Friday too, Oli was on her way home by train from Montpeliier which would mean that finally the family would be complete and I couldn't wait. 

Suzy and Eladio have their breakfast later than me. While they do, the dogs sit hoping for the odd crumb that may come their way. It's always a lovely scene and I was lucky to get them all on camera that morning. I just love the photo.

Suzy, Eladio and the 3 dogs - just love this pic. 

Suzy would accompany me food shopping to Mercadona after breakfast and then we would be off again, this time to Madrid for her to pick up a certificate she needed from Aramark, a previous employer. While in the car I was feeling lousy. My cold was getting worse. We came home to find Lucy had burnt the lentils so I had to quickly rustle up an alternative lunch and made fresh hake, pumpkin and potato purée with broccoli. 

Oli was home by 5 carrying her heavy luggage as well as lots of nice French produce for us all; wine, nougat, honey, biscuits, etc. It was great to have her back. I was feeling too ill for a walk and eventually when I began to shiver, I decided all I could do was go to bed and nurse my cold. I was dreading being ill for Christmas.  

I woke up on Saturday morning feeling just slightly better. At least the shivers had gone.  However, I had little energy yesterday. I joined the girls on what is usually one of the happiest days of the year, going Christmas shopping with them. We went to Gran Plaza 2 and walking around tired me. Thank goodness I had done all my Christmas shopping. We came home to have lentils and coq au vin I had made early that morning. After lunch, all I wanted to do was go to bed. I slept till 5 and woke up feeling groggy but better. Suzy and I did lots of cooking in preparation for tonight's dinner. In Spain the most important festive dinner is on Christmas Eve as in England it is on Christmas Day. Thus, being an Anglo Spanish family we do both which of course involves one hell of a lot of cooking.  The girls and Miguel stayed for dinner before going off to Oli's flat for the night and we had a healthy and light dinner as there would be so much eating over Christmas. It was early to bed again for me and today I was up at 6 and feeling better but certainly not yet over the hill.

I have lots to do today and shall start by making bread for everyone and then  the "salpicón de marisco". We must get a walk in today before dinner as, owing to my cold, I haven't been on one for a couple of days. Let's see if I'm up to it.

So now my friends, I shall sign off and get on with the day. All that remains  is to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I'm not saying "happy holidays" which seems to be the politically correct thing to say these days. That is because, first I'm not usually very politically correct and secondly I am a traditionalist and if Christmas is about the birth of Christ then the correct thing to say is Merry or Happy Christmas. You will hear all about ours in next Sunday's post which I will be publishing from Montrondo where we plan to spend New Year's Eve. 

All the best till next week.
Masha