Home again, reunited with Elliot and how our grandson has changed our lives, Fátima meets Elliot, violence and hooliganism in Barcelona after Catalan separatists sentenced, the new EU deal for Brexit, Moroccan pastilla and other stories.

Sunday, 20th October, 2019

All together with little Elliot - oh how he unites us and oh how he has changed our lives totally and in such a positive way. 

Good morning everyone.

How has your week been? Let me tell you about mine.

This time last Sunday we were still in Santa Pola but rushing around the apartment getting ready to go. I hate the arriving and leaving part as it always involves washing and cleaning and takes a good two hours. We left in full sunshine with a temperature of 28ºc, the perfect day for the beach. But a week away had been enough to recharge batteries and it was time to go home, time to see Elliot who was now just under a month old and who had grown in our absence. I was dying to see him.

We were in the car with all our stuff and little Pippa in the back by 11.15 for our long drive back - it's 420 km away so quite  a way.  I took one last look at the view of the bay of Alicante from our flat vowing to come back again soon while the weather is good. I never tire of the view.

View of the Bay of Alicante from our apartment, a view I never tire of

We stopped for lunch at around 2 at one of our favourite places, El Mesón de los Rosales where unfortunately we had to leave Pippa in the car with the window slightly open and in the shade I should add. We like this place, one of the better choices on the road to and from Alicante, the A3 and have been many times. Eladio loves it because of the big choice of Spanish style stews made with pulses. I too like pulses but went for lamb chops and salad.

Eladio sitting down to lunch at Mesón Los Rosales on our way home to Madrid last Sunday

We were soon on the road again. I read my kindle in the car while Eladio drove - he always prefers to and I'm happy to let him - and we were outside the gate to our house in the early afternoon. All was quiet. We had 4 guests staying but only saw Andy our semi permanent lodger. Suzy was out with her friend Sandra at a lunch with Oli and their friends so the house was quiet. I was happy to see my father who I know must have missed us as a week is quite a long time to have lunch on his own every day. Facebook reminded me that 8 years ago that day, on 13th October 2011, my father, aged 92, had had his hip replacement operation. He recovered well but very sadly never walked again poor man. My father had walked everywhere all his life and I know it must have been very hard for him. I greeted him while he was watching the BBC news in the ground floor lounge which is his lounge and our study. The first thing I did when I got home after that was to print my blog as he is my most avid reader. I also gave him his treats; the polos, bounty bars and toblerones I had bought for him from Quicksave the British supermarket across the road from our house. He was delighted and his blue eyes lit up. He has a very sweet tooth which I, fortunately or unfortunately, have inherited from him.

It took me a while to unpack and settle in again. Eladio, meanwhile cleaned the pool as we found out there had been a huge rain storm the day before which we had been unaware of. It was good to be reunited with Elsa and Norah too who I know had missed us and their daily walks of course.  I read for a bit outside enjoying the weather and my peace and soon it was time to get ready to go out again. Eladio and I were off to dinner to Oli and Miguel's place. Unfortunately Suzy couldn't join us as she was entertaining her friend Sandra on her last night. I nearly didn't see her.

I was excited to be seeing Elliot again and so was Eladio. A whole week without him in the first few weeks of his little life seemed a long time and my had he grown. He has such long legs and a lot of his newborn sized baby clothes are too small. He is now wearing size 3 to 6 months.

Elliot had grown in our absence

While I was away, two more parcels had arrived for him, one from our darling Pernille from Denmark, the girls' adored au pair and another from our very special friends, Kathy and Phil from England. I also had a present, a pretty baby grow I had got at the Santa Pola market. It's amazing how many presents have arrived for Oli and so many of them from my friends. Later over dinner she opened them and loved them. Pernille's was a very Scandi looking striped baby grow which was perfect for him and Kathy and Phil's was a lovely little outfit themed "Royal Baby", striped too and rather naval in style. I couldn't wait to see him in his new outfits. He has so many. Thank you Pernille and thank you Kathy and Phil. The presents came with sweet cards too, a very non Spanish tradition. I suggested Oli kept them in the photo album I started for Elliot for him to see later in life. I still have the ones we got when our girls were born.

We found Olivia in her usual position, with Elliot at her breast. She told me he had been restless most of the day.  Soon he was in Eladio's arms. It's wonderful to see the soothing influence my husband has on his new born grandson. It must be his calm nature. Here they are together, little Elliot happy in his grandfather's outstretched arms.

Grandfather and grandson reunited

Soon it was my turn to hold him and here I am reunited with my grandson.

Delighted to be reunited with little Elliot on Sunday night

While we looked after the baby, Oli and Miguel rushed around making dinner for us. We had a vegetable based lasagne made by Oli's personal chef. The dessert was a chocolate concoction he had found from a Masterchef recipe which, despite my diet, I couldn't resist. It was a lovely lovely evening but of course had to end.

We left at around 10.30 and were home to a very silent and dark house with everyone seemingly in bed when we arrived. Little did we know that just after we left, Pippa had run away into the street, something she never does. She must have slipped out as we drove our car out of the gate. Suzy told me the story. She arrived shortly after we left. She didn't notice our little dachshund was not at home until some neighbours arrived to say they had seen her on the main road but that she wouldn't let them near her - she never lets anyone near her except for family. They had seen her come to our gate and rang the bell but when she saw them she ran off again, this time into the bushes. Suzy came out and tried to find her but she had disappeared. Thank God I wasn't there when this episode happened as I would have panicked. Luckily the couple who had spotted her, saw her again, rang the bell again and this time she was waiting by the gate and when Suzy opened it she rushed in. She had had  a big scare and I just hope she never runs away again. In any case I will be much more careful in the future. If I lost Pippa, I can't tell you what that would mean to me as I love her so so much. Dogs are not "just animals", dogs are part of our family and Pippa is the most special dog I have ever owned. I love her so. I'm so glad I heard the story afterwards and that it had a good ending.

We were in our own beautifully comfortable bed with its soft memory foam mattress and feather pillows quite late. I insisted on putting the TV on mostly to help me fall asleep but the film "Loving Pablo" with Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz about Pablo Escobar was on and I had to watch it even though I've seen it before. In a way I prefer it to Narcos, the more well known version of the story of Pablo Escobar, the Colombian drug trafficker.

Thus I didn't get my shut eye until very late. I was awake at 4.30 and had to take another sleeping tablet. Even so, I was awake again at 6 am. I decided to get up as I had lots to do on Monday. I'm glad I did as I coincided with Suzy and Sandra getting ready to go to the airport. Thus I finally got to meet her great friend and confidant, the lovely Angolan nurse with whom she lived in London before leaving for Bali. I only saw her for a few minutes but thought she was lovely.

On Monday the weather changed for the worse. Gone were the high temperatures. It was cold for us with the highest temperature being under 20ºc, it rained on and off and there was lots of wind. I was busy in the morning for at least 2 hours, gathering, scanning and sending all the invoices for the third semester to be sent to my accountant Pilar who deals with my self employment tax issues. I had to skip our walk and only hoped we would get one in the afternoon but that was not to be owing to the weather.

By the time I had finished it was midday. Lucy was in the throes of cleaning the house bless her, one of our Airbnb guests had been and gone and we never saw him - David. I had a young student, Jefferson David, arriving from Ecuador the next day and who would be staying for 17 nights. But the poor chap's travel plans were thrown askew due to the troubles in his country, most of it, in his words, paralysed. He kept asking to change the reservation but I can't as I have new people booked. I'm not sure how I am going to accommodate him but I shall try. It's amazing to think that such far away events could affect my little Airbnb business but I felt for him. It wasn't his fault. He's not arriving now until Tuesday.

For the first time in a while I wore long trousers - well jeans - and a fleece top as it was really cold outside. Joy of joys, Oli, Miguel and Elliot were coming for lunch  and it was up to me to feed everyone, 7 people excluding the baby of course who will be fed entirely on his mother's milk until he is 6 months old. With not much food to choose from as the cupboards were running bare, I had to be creative and make the most of what I could find. Our meal would consist of broccoli and mushroom soup (a bit repetitive I know, but we love it) followed by baked salmon, mushroom sauce, red cabbage, red peppers, artichokes and rice. I think you could consider that quite a healthy meal. At least Suzy agreed. We waited for her to finish her lessons at 2.30 as I wanted us to be all together.

Oli and her little family arrived quite early and as soon as I had little Elliot in my arms I went downstairs to my father's room to show him his great grandson again. He was delighted, touching his little head and saying "he's not bald". He again wished him a happy life and when he cried he said "poor  boy". We got Miguel to take a lovely photo of us, 4 generations in one picture. I wondered as it was taken whether Elliot would inherit his great grandfather's genes and luck in life and also live to be 100. To think a hundred years separates them in age. Here we are together. I was happy to see him wearing the size 3 to 6 month blue baby grow I had bought at the Santa Pola market last week. I just love the tender look on my father's dear face.

My father, getting to know his great grandson

It was Eladio who later coined what has happened to us all since little Elliot's arrival; he has changed our lives in a way we could never imagine. He has brought so much joy and has slipped into a family who will love and cherish him always. I'm not a baby person like Oli is, but I can't take my eyes off him. I just have to look at him to feel wondrously happy and content. He has also united our family even more if that is possible. Thus Monday was a lovely day again when we were all together. I said that to my father and out of nowhere, he quoted a line from a song  which we all clapped at. I can't remember the exact words as I haven't inherited his amazing memory but it was something along the lines of "the more we are together, the merrier we will be". He couldn't have described our time together on Monday in a better way.

Lunch together was a lovely drawn out meal. At one stage Elliot needed changing and we did so on the dining room table - big mistake as he peed on us while being changed hahaha. My mobile got wet but thankfully no one's food. It was not a good idea. Oli had brought along the new clothes from Pernille and Kath and Phil to take photos of him in them to send. He was first changed into Pernille's lovely Scandi striped body suit which was lovely. We then had a photo of the 5 of us with Elliot which is the one I have chosen to illustrate this week's post. In it you can see him wearing the Danish body suit which looked too big but it isn't. He is so tall now for his age, just one month old.

After lunch the sun was shining and we decided on more photos outside. The best place for the photo seemed to be the benches by the garden hut so that's where we sat. Suzy wanted a photo to show how the family has grown and later she remembered we had taken a similar photo in May. She dug it out and believe it or not we are sitting in the same position and both Elsa and Pippa are in it too. We decided to do a spot the difference collage which you can see below. Out of sheer coincidence we sat in the same positions as we had in May. Here is the funny collage. Love it.

The spot the differences photo - the above photo taken on Monday and the below photo taken in May just after Suzy arrived from Bali for my father's 100th. The family has indeed grown. 

We all went to have a siesta later, including Miguel and Oli who need their sleep. Suzy took Elliot off their hands and lay down watching her series "13 reasons" with him tucked against her body while he slept peacefully with his Auntie Suzy.

While we were sleeping peacefully there was huge unrest in Catalonia as that day the Spanish Supreme Court sentenced nine Catalan separatist leaders for their role in the illegal independence referendum two years ago. The sentence has been described as "harsh" but it was for sedition and not rebellion which would have seen them jailed for 25 years. Instead they got from 9 to 12 years which in real terms means they will get off very lightly and will most probably soon be in a semi free regime spending only 4 nights a week in jail and the rest of the time free to be with their families. The sentence sparked off huge protests from radical separatists who, I suspect, would have behaved the same way whatever the sentence had been. They were just waiting for the moment and they took it vowing to turn Barcelona into Hong Kong. Well, they certainly caused chaos on Monday when they took over the entrance to the airport and more than 100 flights were cancelled. Although the separatists or their leaders have always promised a non violent behaviour, there was a lot of violence this week which is no help to their cause. If it goes on, the only thing the Government will be able to do is apply Clause 155 from the Constitution again and run things from Madrid which is quite the opposite of what the demonstrators want. There is little way out of this mess. As I said last week, this is Spain's Brexit and it is looking ugly.

We watched the events unfold on the special news programmes and then turned our minds to little Elliot. It was time to try on Kathy and Phil's "Royal Baby" (Royal Navy) outfit on which they bought from Next (love that shop). He looked a treat and had a photo session afterwards. This photo below is perhaps the best of him so far. He looks so awake and aware with his great big staring eyes. He's adorable.

Elliot in his "Royal Baby" outfit

Oli then had the great idea of making a fun video to thank our friends for the outfit. We all dressed up and played out a scene inspired by the Royal town crier, not sure who he is, who dresses up on the streets of London to announce royal baby births. We looked up the words he uses and took his cue. Oli and I came on with a bell, she crying out "oyez oyez" which means "hear ye" to which I added the words, "a royal baby has been born". That was the cue for Suzy to come on to announce his name to huge laughter and to his little hat coming off. What a laugh. This is the video. It's silly but was a lot of fun and I hope Kathy and Phil liked it.

The day was drawing to a close and soon it was time to eat again - yes dinner time. Together we made tortilla which we had with a salad and with Elliot feeding from his mother's breast. She has become adept at eating with one hand only hahaha.

They left at around 10ish after which I spent some quality time with Suzy on her balcony talking for a long time. We have done that a lot while she has been here and I will miss our closeness and our talks. She will be going so soon, next week on 24th of this month and our time with her is running out.

So it was late to bed and we watched a debate on the latest crisis in Catalonia until we both fell asleep.

By mistake I was up at 5.30 on Tuesday morning. Bleary eyed, once again I had misread the time on my phone. Well the dogs were happy to see me so early as they were hungry for their breakfast.

It was sunny with a nip in the air on Tuesday. Eladio had a routine doctor's appointment which meant I went on my walk alone. Pippa came with me but not the other dogs as I can't handle three. I felt sorry for them.

Oli was coming for lunch with Elliot as Miguel had some errands to do. It would be the first time my daughter had ventured out in the car alone with her new baby and we wondered how it would go. We were going to do the food shopping together but she arrived late so Eladio and I went instead. We weren't home till nearly 2 which meant lunch would not be on schedule. That's another way Elliot has changed our lives. It meant though that Suzy whose lessons didn't finish till 3 pm could join us. 

That afternoon I had planned to go and see my friend Fátima. She has cancer as you probably know and has just been in hospital for 3 weeks after a rather invasive treatment on her liver. Oli and Elliot came with me and it was to be a surprise for her. She needed cheering up I know. My friend lives in the same neighbourhood but it's a good 25 minute walk. As the sun was shining we decided on walking there but we had to go slowly as poor Oli is still recovering from giving birth. We also had to stop to feed Elliot on route hahahah. I was delighted to push his pram, the first time I had done so. It reminded me of when the girls were babies and we first took them out in the pram. Here I am with the pram on the way to my friend's house.

Walking Elliot in his pram for the first time - the proud grandmother

I had forgotten the difficulties of steps and we had problems when we got to Fátima's house. Luckily I caught the attention of two men who would help us. I had no qualms in asking them although Olivia was a little embarrassed. When Fátima opened the door to let us in, she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw little Elliot in my arms. I was bringing him to show to my best friend and  first friend to see him. She was overjoyed and I was so happy to bring her some joy after all her suffering, especially the 3 weeks in hospital. We sat down and of course little Elliot needed breast feeding or comfort feeding immediately. He just wants to be at the nipple all the time hahaha. Finally when he was satiated, Fátima was able to hold him in her arms. It was a wonderful moment, a moment of pure joy, deep friendship and complicity, a moment when I realised from her smile that she loves him too. Oh how I love my friend. We have been friends since 1990 when she joined Motorola shortly after me. Very soon afterwards we both went to the Catalonia cycling race together. Just a few days together forged our friendship for life. We were in our early 30's then and now when we look back we can see we were both good looking in our own ways - she tall and dark, me short and blonde - but we were totally unaware of it.

Two good looking young women - Fátima and I at The Tour of Spain in the early to mid 90 s when we worked for Motorola

We have a lot of history together and part of that history is her having met little Elliot, her best friend's first grandchild for the first time this week. We have been through a lot together but for me, Tuesday was one of the best moments of our friendship. Here we are  with little Elliot and great big smiles on our faces.

Fátima holding little Elliot and me beside her smiling from pure joy

We were at her lovely flat for quite a while and didn't leave until past 7 pm. By then it was cold outside and none of us was wearing the right clothing. I knew that poor Elliot would be cold so instead of walking home, I rang Eladio to come and pick us up and rescue us  which he duly did. Later Oli and Elliot left, Suzy was out teaching and Eladio and I were left on our own with no sign of any guests either. Noel was out somewhere, Andy hadn't come back from work and my poor young student from Ecuador was waiting at the airport for a new flight. He was supposed to have arrived on Tuesday 15th but now won't fly until tomorrow. Poor guy.

Eladio and I had dinner together and then went upstairs to watch the news or rather how the clashes and violent demonstrations were unfolding in Barcelona and other big towns in Catalonia. They were pretty frightening to watch. There was no news programme that night as Spain played Sweden in another qualifier that ended in another draw (1-1). If Spain can't beat Norway and Sweden, then they can't be playing very well. Thankfully though they have now qualified for the European Cup and are top of their group. In any case I fell asleep quickly as I had been up at 5.30 that morning and I was soon dead to the world.

Wednesday came. The sun was out although there was quite a nip in the air. In this house and in most houses in Spain the central heating goes off on 1st May and comes on again on 1st November. It's rather a silly rule as it can be cold at the end of November. Eladio sticks to the rule religiously unless I protest strongly. Like most men he doesn't feel the cold as much as women. There is always a fight to turn the heat up and down. It was the same at home when I was a child. It wasn't really cold enough for the heating to go on although at night the temperature dropped and Wednesday was the first time since spring that I wore a coat, albeit a light one. Finally I got him to turn it on on Thursday arguing baby Elliot would be cold. That did the trick hahahaha. 

There's not much to report about Wednesday; the usual really. In the morning we went on our walk and what a glorious one it was in the sunshine. Eladio combed poor Elsa's molting hair which would save a few hairs from straying onto the carpets at home. She molts twice a year and abundantly. It was on Wednesday that my contract with the publishing house in London, LR Price Publications, finally arrived. I was beginning to suspect I might have been duped but I haven't.  Later in the week my publishers posted on their social media sites, twitter, instagram and facebook, the news of my being their latest author to sign with them. It was unexpected and made the whole thing come true.

My publishers, L.R. Price Publications announcing I was their new author this week .  I was as pleased as punch

The frustrating thing though is that their speed in publishing the book is not mine. In the contract they give themselves a year. Thus I have to be a little patient. I still have not started work on my next book on my mother's incredible story. I think that's partly because there hasn't been closure on my first book but I'm sure it's mainly to do with the birth of Elliot who is the centre of my universe at the moment. But I shall write it for him and promise to start soon.

We get news on Elliot every day of course. Oli always sends us a report on his night with a photo. He had slept quite well both on Monday and Tuesday and there are signs he is now beginning to realise the difference between night and day. The photo I got on Wednesday morning is of him wearing one of the Mothercare baby grows I had bought for him - size 3 to 6 months once again. 

My little angel all in white on Wednesday morning this week

He likes movement and that day he tried out his baby bouncer for the first time. I got a photo of that too.

Elliot in his baby bouncer for the first time

Unusually that day Eladio was out for lunch with his friends Roberto and Juanjo. They met to celebrate his birthday and the birth of Elliot. Eladio was joining a new club of grandfathers as they both have quite a few grandchildren between them and he treated them to lunch that day at the Vinoteca restaurant near us.

Thus I had lunch alone with my father although as we had it late, Suzy joined us. For some reason I was very tired that day and had a lot of wind for no known reason  which is quite painful. So I had a long siesta from 3.30 to 5.30 and didn't hear Eladio coming in. Afterwards I went with Suzy to a big shopping centre for her to buy some vegetable protein powder (hahaha) from a health shop. We then went to see Elliot again but had to manage with a lot of traffic on the roads. We finally got to their place at around 7 pm. And there was our little boy feeding once again. He is always feeding hahaha but when he was finally satiated Suzy held him lovingly until I quietly asked for my turn. Elliot at one month  is now very alert and can even smile, bless the little angel.

I took with me yet another present from friends; this time from Roberto and Mari Carmen. They had given him a lovely baby product set, coincidentally of the same make Oli and Miguel use. They were delighted. This is it.

Yet another present for Elliot

We didn't stay for dinner as neither of us was very hungry. We came home to find Eladio had already eaten so I just went for a bowl of fruit and then it was time for bed. The news was on and the stories of violence and sheer hooliganism coming out of Barcelona were horrific.  Barcelona was literally on fire. Do the protesters really have to burn rubbish containers and innocent people's cars to show their opposition to the judges' sentencing of the separatist politicians who they call political prisoners? They are not political prisoners, they are politicians who are in prison because they broke the law and they broke it big time. Apart from setting fire to containers and cars, they threw acid bombs and bricks at the police in the third night of violence. Earlier in the day they had sabotaged the high speed railway line, blocked roads and joined marches coming from other cities to Barcelona. The local government President, Quim Torra, refused to denounce the violence although he did so reluctantly the next day and while the city he presides over was burning down, he himself was on one of the marches.  Authorities are investigating phone calls between him and the instigators, so he is very possibly involved in the violent developments. I think it is time for the government to step in again and to impose direct rule as at the moment what is going on in the Catalan city and region is downright violence, sabotage and hooliganism, all in the name of democracy. What sort of democracy is it when people burn innocent people's cars and throw acid bombs at the police?

Barcelona on fire on the third night of hooliganism on Wednesday

I was disgusted at the images I saw and very saddened. This is not the image to portray to the rest of the world for a city that is so popular with tourists.  It's frustrating also to see that the international press are more influenced by the Catalan's story and so-called lack of democracy. Can you imagine a big province in the USA or the UK calling for independence and rioting on the streets? What would happen then I ask you? Well the same as here, the leaders would be judged and sentenced and the police would not put up with any violence. But for the international press it's the same old story; this is undemocratic Franco's Spain bearing down a repressed area of the country. I can tell you it is not repressed at all. Catalonia is one of the most autonomous regions in the world. They want to be an independent country but unlike Scotland, to whom they often liken themselves, Catalonia was never ever an independent country and what they are doing is completely unlawful. They are also giving Spain a very bad image. I for one am fed up of them. 

I woke up on Thursday morning, Elliot's 1st month "birthday" at 6.30 to rain. Rain had been forecast for the next few days. That's probably a good thing for dry Spain but not for our walks. Thus I missed my walk again.  If I think about it I didn't leave the house once that day. Oli, Miguel and little Elliot came for lunch again as they had been nearby at the pediatrician. He hadn't put on as much weight as he was supposed to and the nurse recommended extra feeding by extracting milk and feeding it to him in a bottle along with the normal breast feeding. He's not very good at latching on and when he does it seems he has to work too hard to feed and then constantly falls asleep. He was asleep when he came and for once let Olivia eat with two hands hahaha. I did the bread and fish miracle once again and that day served fish - yes - along with lots of different vegetables. 

Oli and Miguel couldn't stay long as Miguel's parents were visiting later that day. Suzy had to go off to give a lesson after which she was going out to dinner with friends. Thus Eladio and I went to have our siesta. Once again and very unusually for me I was feeling very tired and had wind. All I wanted was to go to bed which is what I did. I slept again until late. When I finally got up it was to realise our latest guest, Carmen, had arrived. She is a physiotherapist from Almeria who had driven here and it's more than 500km from where she lives. She will be doing a masters degree in pain management or something like that and will be staying here each time she comes for the course which will be once or twice a month from now until June. She seems a delightful girl and she loves the house and the dogs.

Eladio and I had a quiet dinner together watching more violence coming out of Catalonia, the fourth day of troubles before a general strike would take place on Friday.  The other main news was of course the new deal with the EU which Boris Johnson would be putting to the Commons on Saturday. Frankly it seems just the same as Teresa May's except for the Irish question. I can't pretend to understand what the new situation is to substitute the backstop as it seems so complicated. If it is that complicated in theory I dread to think what that will mean in practice. I dare you to understand it too if you read this article from the BBC,  The end to the backstop would be replaced by a border of some kind but only for goods. It would be something like a legal customs border between Northern Ireland and Eire but in practice the customs border would be between the UK and the whole of Ireland with "goods being checked at points of entry in Northern Ireland". Saturday would be the key day when Parliament would sit for the first time ever on a Saturday to vote on the new deal. However, as you will read later, there were surprises in the Brexit development that day that would delay the vote.

Friday came and it was raining again. Thankfully I woke up to a warm and cozy house.  I went on my walk with Pippa in drizzle because I needed the exercise. Eladio stayed behind to wait for the "central heating man" to come and fix some valve. There is always something to fix in this great big house. Friday was a quiet day at home, not so in Barcelona.

That day a friend of Suzy's, Paula, who lives in the Catalonian capital, came to stay. She confirmed what we are seeing on the TV and reading in the news; the complete and utter division of the region which she says is frightening. People never know what other people's opinions are and thus exercise caution when interacting. That reminds me of Brexit, it reminds me of the Basque question and of wars of all kinds. In Barcelona what was happening was street warfare instigated by the worst sort of individuals. At the same time there was a peaceful demonstration of up to half a million people but it was the images of sheer hooliganism that hit the headlines, hooliganism that had taken up the heart of the city and it was sickening to look at. Spain's Minister of the Interior, said Barcelona was completely safe to visit and urged tourists to go there but there have been many cancellations. Of course there have. Who wants to see that violence around the main landmarks of the city? 

I got on with my day, taking care of my new Airbn guests and managing new reservations of which I have a lot. I made our lunch - coq au vin - and read in the afternoon. Gone are the days of sitting outside by the pool I'm afraid.

The highlight of Friday was dinner out. I took Eladio to a Moroccan restaurant, "Tuareg Arab Restobar" in the old part of nearby Villaviciosa de Odón. I had heard about it from Fátima and read the reviews.  It seemed very authentic with typical Moroccan decor as well as Moroccan staff serving, low tables and rug type curtains as well as the lamps so typical of that north African country.  I love Arab food and maybe Moroccan isn't my favourite - I far prefer Lebanese, but I was lured by the offer of a dish I adore  chicken"pastilla" or "pastela" as it is also known. If you don't know it, let me try to describe it. It is basically a pie made with layers of filo pastry filled with soft roast chicken, almonds, cinnamon and sugar. We once had a home help, Fatima, who made it very well and I saw her doing it. It took her a whole day as it is very intricate to make.  This is the portion of pastela I had that night.

The chicken and almond pastilla I was served at the Moroccan restaurant on Friday

This is what it looks like on the inside.

Pastilla pie as seen from the inside

Eladio and I often have very different tastes for food and he is not keen on pastilla or pastela.  But we shared humus which we had with warm pita bread which we both love and a tabuleh salad. This was the humus.

Humus at Tuareg on Friday

The two other possibly flagship Moroccan dishes are couscous and tajin but I'm not keen on either of them. Eladio doesn't like couscous but he likes a stew so he went for the lamb and honey tajin. I tried it and found the meat hard. But the best was still to come; the mint tea accompanied by Moroccan pastries. I went for one which is generally known as baklava in the Middle East.

Baklava, a Middle Eastern sweet pastry delicacy

My mother and Auntie Masha used to adore baklava and my aunt even bought a pastry machine to make it.  It's actually very similar to pastilla except for the chicken. They had eaten baklava when they were young and lived in Bulgaria where it is fairly common thanks to the Turkish influence on that country. I went for the pistachio flavoured pastry, my favourite.  Eladio not having the sweet tooth I have, ordered a boring plate of melon hahaha.  I think it was me who really enjoyed the Moroccan restaurant and food, not my husband so much. I know my daughter Olivia will love it so hopefully there will be a chance of returning there soon.

We came home to sort the dogs out and put them to bed in the kitchen - as if they were children hahaha - and then went up to bed ourselves. Friday was the fifth night of violence in Barcelona and perhaps the worst so far this week. We watched a special programme reporting on the live events and the picture was not pretty.

Saturday came and it would be a big day for British politics. It was being called the Super Saturday Parliamentary session when MPs would vote for or against the new deal. However a spoke was put in the wheels of Boris Johnson when an MP called Sir Oliver Letwen proposed an amendment, the Letwin amendment, that was intended to ensure the PM would comply with the terms of the Benn Act, forcing him to request an extension to leaving from the EU. The amendment called for the Brexit deal to be on hold until legislation to implement it is in place. The amendment won the day and frustrated Boris had no other option than to send a letter to the EU, albeit unsigned. All this means is that the vote for or against the new deal will now be postponed until next week. Meanwhile outside Big Ben, a demonstration was going on in favour of a referendum. If only I thought.

Life continued as normal here. I was going to prepare a huge lunch for us all when Oli, Miguel and Elliot would come and Suzy would arrive with 4 of her friends meaning I had to make lunch for 11 people. Do you know what I did my friends? I got out of it by suggesting to Oli that Eladio and I go to their place for lunch. Suzy wouldn't arrive with her friends until much later and ended up ordering pizzas. As I write this Sunday morning, she has just come back - about an hour ago - after being out all night with them. Hopefully they will all be asleep when I make our lunch today hahaha. I can't wait for time out when we go to Montrondo where we will be joined by our friends Phil and Kathy next Friday.

We spent quality time with little Elliot. As we arrived we found him lying peacefully in his baby bouncer. It appears he has just discovered his little hands and keeps looking at them. I was rewarded with a stare and the odd smile.

Little Elliot yesterday, discovering his hands

Oli and Miguel served us lentils. The poor things are exhausted looking after their baby who is rather a cry baby who wants to be fed constantly, sometimes every 20 minutes. No wonder they are tired. We were there for moral support. I well remember the times we went through when our babies were small. I was alone at home with my new born babies and thankfully Oli has Miguel. But even so they are hard times.

We came home late and went to bed to read. We both drifted off to sleep only getting up to make our dinner and were soon back in bed again watching the news. We could hear Suzy and her 4 friends getting ready to go out. I wondered how on earth they would sleep as all the rooms are full of guests apart from Oli's. Well, they are young so no doubt that would not be a problem for them.

Today is Sunday, the end of this week and rain is forecast again.  What a difference from the 28ºc we experienced in Santa Pola last week.

I shall leave you now to get on with the day. All that remains is to wish you all a great week ahead and to hope that you have enjoyed this week's missal.

Cheers till next time,
Masha

c

Santa Pola for a late summer break, swimming in the sea in October and why I love Spain, time with Suzy, Elliot grows, Quo Vadis Boris Johnson and other stories.

Sunday 13th October, 2019

At one of my favourite spots - on the cliffs by the lighthouse 

Good morning everyone.

Here I am in our Santa Pola at our apartment. We will be leaving later this morning after a lovely late summer break by the sea.

Last Sunday saw us set off for here with Suzy and little Pippa. I suppose I should have written "autumn break" as it is autumn but the weather is so good it feels like summer. The weather people on the television are referring to it as "veroño" - a mixture of the two words "verano" (summer) and "otoño (autumn). We hadn't been since February so that's quite a while. We had been meaning to come in the summer but there never seemed to be the right time. Plus of course Elliot was due to arrive and no way could we be away for that. We would miss him here of course but spoke to Oli nearly everyday on a whatsapp video call so that we could see the little tot.

We set off at about 10.30 with a car full of luggage and lots of food. I didn't want to have to do food shopping when we arrived so took as much with me as possible. Here are Suzy and Pippa ready to go.

Suzy and Pippa just as we set off last Sunday

Suzy hadn't been since October 2018 and was looking forward to time at our relaxing pad near the sea which we bought 20 years ago. Gosh I remember it as if it were yesterday. I had just been given severance pay after 9 years with Motorola and we decided to invest in a property by the sea.  We have never regretted that decision. It's a modest little place but we have grown to love it.

On the way we stopped for lunch at the Parador in Albacete, a sleepy big town famous for making steel which is nobody's destination as it is pretty ugly. Maybe its inhabitants don't agree but for me it's just a stopping place on the way to Alicante. However, we love the Parador which is situated on the outskirts.

We arrived at our flat to 28c at about 4.30 and everything was in order. It took us about an hour to clean the floors and surfaces, unpack and settle in. Eladio was tired after the long drive but Suzy, Pippa and I wanted a walk and that's what we got.

We set off for the lighthouse over the cliffs with its great viewing point of  the little island of Tabarca which we have recently rediscovered.

The view from the cliffs

I always love that walk and so does Suzy. When we first came it was a pretty unknown spot with not many people around. Recently, however, two ugly pier like bridges have been built which are a total eyesore. I always ignore them. However, they have attracted people and there were quite a few around that evening, being a Sunday. We ignored them and walked a bit further away to admire the views and take some pictures. Usually I go alone with Pippa and have to take a selfie. That day I had Suzy to take the photos. I have chosen one of them as the main photo for this week's post as it's a place I love, so relaxing and beautiful. Here is another one of me kissing Pippa, my adored little miniature dachshund.

Pippa and I on the cliffs

It's just over an hour's walk there and back and we were home by just after 7 pm. Eladio was sitting on our little terrace and we could see him from the Mediterranean garden which surrounds our blocks of flats. See if you can spot him.

Spot Eladio looking out of our terrace 

It was very warm on our walk and I came home to have a shower. I then sat with Eladio on the terrace catching up on my social media. That's when I realised I had been bitten by mosquitoes. There are not usually many here and especially not at this time of year but this week there have been. When I went to take Pippa out later that night, I was bitten alive. That was the unpleasant part of our time here. The next day I went to the chemist to get insect repellent and mosquito bite relief cream. That's when I heard from the pharmacist that there are swarms of them caused apparently by the devastating freak weather and flooding that happened a few weeks ago. I also read later that as the world gets warmer, owing to climate change, one of the horrible consequences is plagues of mosquitoes. I was horrified. 

We had a lovely meal of prawns with avocado and mango salad followed by fresh figs - how healthy and delicious after which we called Olivia. It was great to see little Elliot feeding at her breast and to talk to Oli and Miguel.

Later we watched the news. There is a lot of tension around what will happen on 31st October vs a vs Brexit. Oh how the subject gets me down. Doesn't it get you down?

Thankfully the film we watched that night took my mind off it. We were up till past midnight watching a film about a dangerous sect in the Canary Islands in the late 90's and then it was time for bed.

I was awake a t 7 am on Monday morning.  It looked wet outside as if it had rained during the night but on closer inspection I saw it was dew as there is a lot of condensation here owing to the sticky climate in the area. 26ºc which was the temperature it reached here on Monday is warm for the coast. As Suzy had lessons from 12 to 3 the days she was here, we fitted into her timetable, going to the beach or for a walk in the morning and making lunch for when she finished. Thus at around 9.30 am we were down by the beach and amazingly had it more or less to ourselves. There was no fighting for front line space which happens in July and August. The temperature was perfect and the sea water was crystal clear, calm and not at all cold as I realised when I went in. I hadn't swum in the sea since last summer and loved the moment my skin touched the clean water. Here I am about to go in.

On a nearly empty beach on Monday morning

The beach we usually go to is called Arenales del Sol and has two parts, one built up and the other which is a natural beach with dunes and absolutely no buildings. We choose the latter always. I couldn't persuade Suzy or Eladio to join me although I did manage to get my husband to go in later. We took Pippa with us although dogs are not allowed on this beach and on very few in Spain - unfair! We wouldn't dare take her to it in the high season but I don't care when it is low season. I don't think the other people care either. I mean, why cannot dogs go on beaches, a natural habitat for them? Spain is such a non dog friendly country and yet has a high percentage of owners, I just don't get it. There are very few places to take them. Where we have our apartment, they are not allowed by the pool either nor in the gardens surrounding the buildings. Where are they supposed to go then I ask myself? So on Monday Pippa enjoyed her walk and time on the beach even though it was illegal for her to be there. Damn it.

Soon we were on our walk  to the far end of the natural beach to the rocks where people fish except that day there was no one there. It was only when we were back at our chairs which by the way have stood the time very well as we bought them 20 years ago, that after seeing me go in the water again, Eladio copied me and went in too. Here he is enjoying his moment, his first bathe this year too.

Eladio in the sea on Monday

 A friend, Joanne, commented on the photos above which I also posted on Instagram,  saying "You are lucky. We need a wet suit to even think about going to the sea". My friend Sandra commented on the photo of me by the lighthouse saying: "seems odd to see you by the sea in a t-shirt. Have the heating on in Brussels and walking the dog in my winter rain attire! Time to plan a southern retirement".  Our dear Danish friend Pernille, commented on the photo of me in the sea: "That's why I love Spain". It's why I love Spain too, because of its climate. I could never have known when I was s teenager coming here and enjoying the good weather that I would end up living in Spain. For me as a teenager, sunny weather was something only to be found on a holiday abroad. No wonder so many retired people come to live on the "Costas". I don't blame them. On days like these I too think that this is one of the reasons why I also love Spain.

I could have stayed there all morning but we had to leave at 11.30 for Suzy to get ready for her lessons. She is lucky working for Dada as she can work anywhere provided she has an internet connection. At the apartment we don't have wifi as we don't come often enough so we use our mobile phones as wifi hotspots and it works a treat. We came home to have a shower; Pippa and I that is and then Eladio and I had a well deserved cup of coffee and some fruit before going out on errands. We had to go and arrange for some curtains that had been mended at a shop where we took them back in February to be installed that day at home. We then went to the ubiquitous Mercadona to get a few things we had forgotten to bring from home and then came home to slowly make lunch. Eladio took the time to paint the windows where the curtains would be installed.

Lunch was lovely and was made with no rush which is how I like to cook. After lunch we all took a siesta and I was up again at 5 where I joined Suzy on the terrace. She suggested a walk to the beach but I felt lazy. It's not far at all but as our apartment is on a cliff it's a steep walk down and up. I spent the afternoon lazily reading a detective story. I only went out to take Pippa down to the garden a couple of times, well aware she is not allowed there. But where else can I take her when she needs a physical break I asked myself?

Suzy was back just before the "curtain man" who came at around 8 pm. He was going to take a while so we set about making a big salad for dinner which we would have with ham. Suzy says I eat too much ham - she is vegan. Later we watched the news, a silly film and were in bed by 11 pm.

I fought the mosquito bite itching during the night a couple of times and was up on Tuesday at 7 a.m. We aimed to go the beach that morning but the gas man came to inspect the installations so we were held up. As Suzy was running out of time for her lessons, we went for a walk to the lighthouse instead. Suzy features in my headline this week. We have had quality time with her which is a good and necessary thing as I am well aware her 6 months with us are coming to a close. She will be returning to her new life in Bali on 24th October and we will miss her so much. It's just too far away. This week I read there are investments in a new airplane that will take just one hour from London to New York. I don't suppose it will be in my lifetime although I wish it would, but shortening travel times is just a question of time and technology. Over a 100 years ago people still traveled with a horse and cart, cars were a luxury few could afford and there was hardly any if no  commercial air travel. How things have changed today in just one century. The advance of technology is speeding up so fast these days, I have no doubt that in the future travel may well become instant. Wouldn't that be great? Suzy says it won't but I think it will. If it was available today I would be able to go round and see her anytime and swim with her on a beach in Bali. Maybe Elliot will see that in his lifetime.

Talking of Elliot, on Tuesday, Oli and Miguel took him to the pediatrician for his weekly check up. He had put on weight and also had grown from 53 cm at birth to 55 cm. He eats all the time so I can only imagine him becoming a very tall boy. Just look at his legs at 3 weeks old.

Long legged Elliot at 3 weeks old

With those legs he will make a good sportsman too and no doubt his father who is very sporty, and his mother, will bring him up to be an active young boy. Maybe he will play basketball, who knows? His father is a cross fit fan and a very good swimmer so let's see what sport Elliot likes when he grows.

Our only sport is walking but that is a very healthy thing and that morning, as I said, we walked to the lighthouse and back which takes just over an hour. This time we had Suzy to take a photo of us with little Pippa on the edge of the cliffs looking out onto the ocean. Here is one I love.

Eladio, Pippa and I on the cliffs near the lighthouse

I caught Suzy on camera too when I took this photo of her on the pier like bridge on the cliffs. I don't like the structure but have to admit the views from there are superb.

Suzy looking out at the sea from the bridge by the cliffs

The temperature reached 27º c that day and when we got home I needed a shower. I also needed one to relieve the awful itching on my legs from the damned mosquitoes. I was wearing insect repellent but hadn't put any on my face and got two bites, one on my cheek and one on my scalp; a second one. Oh how I hate them. Why is it only me who gets bitten? Eladio never does. They probably prefer my whiter skin damn them. Later I counted and I had over 25 bites on my body!

We spent the rest of the morning leisurely while Suzy taught. I could hear peels of laughter while she did fun activities with her little Chinese children. She has told me they hardly have time to play; it's all work for them with little time off and that they spend most of their time studying. Poor them.

I made our lunch; fish with lots of veggies to make Suzy happy and we watched the news while eating, something we never do at home. The news that day was depressing. Angela Merkel and Boris Johnson had a phone call about his plan with the contentious Irish border issue and she told him Europe would mot approve it. He is blaming the EU but this is not a blaming game. Later Donald Tusk, the President of the European council, tweeted: "what's at stake is not some stupid blame game. At stake is the future of Europe and the UK as well as the security and interests of our people". He added something I suspect is true and if it is- it's awful: "You don't want a deal, you don't want an extension, you don''t want to revoke, quo vadis? He used the term "quo vadis" meaning where are you going? I imagine because Boris Johnson is a great classics fan and is always using Latin terms, in that rather superior Etonian way. Yes Boris, I ask you "where are you going, where are you leading us too, to doom?

The other news was not good either; the impeachment process of Donald Trump, huge demonstrations in Ecuador over fuel subsidy cuts which saw the government move from Quito to Guayaquil, Trump backing Erdogan, Turkey's premier, in attacks against Kurds, more unrest in Hong Kong and the bad news went on. I always wonder why it is nearly only bad news that is reported on when I am sure there are lots of positive things that we don't hear much about. For instance, there has been progress in the combat of alzheimer  with the discovery of a new medicine that could halt loss of memory. In my mind if the two most deadly diseases, alzheimer and cancer could be overcome then that would be the best news of the century. I trust it will come, maybe not in my life but hopefully in Elliot's. I love to see advances in science to combat medical diseases. A few decades ago when I was younger, Aids was the great curse and that is no longer the case, so I think there is hope for alzheimer and cancer. I sincerely hope I am right. 

In the afternoon while Eladio slept his Spanish siesta, Suzy and I set off for the beach with Pippa. We decided to walk down. It would be the first time I have walked there. It's not far, just a few minutes in the car but our apartment is high up on a cliff and although it looks over the sea and seems very near the walk is quite long. I always wish they would build a straight path then the walk would be much shorter. They could even build a lift or cable car. Now that would be a great idea. The walk did us good but it was hot at 5 pm and I was dying for a swim when we got to the beach; Playa de Carabasi, the nearest one to our house. There were some people there but not many. I far prefer the beach out of season. Well who doesn't? But not everyone has the luxury of choosing when to go like we do.

Suzy and I read sitting on our towels in the sand and an hour or so later my husband came looking for us. By then it was getting cool but hey I thought, 24ºc at 19.15 is pretty amazing. As a friend told me later, at that time in the UK it would be dark. Not here, yet, another reason I love Spain, for all the light in the day that we get.  Just before we left, I caught, Suzy, laughing her head off, Eladio and Pippa on camera. I love the picture don't you?

On the beach at 19.15 with sun on Tuesday evening

We left shortly afterwards and I came home to have my shower feeling very hungry after all the exercise and sea breeze. That night I made tortilla for dinner which is always popular. Later we watched the depressing news again. Not having a smart TV to watch Netflix on, we went to bed to read on our kindles but not before video calling Oli and Miguel to see little Elliot. Bless the little sweetie, he was asleep in Miguel's arms. Oli warned us his peacefulness would end shortly when they went to bed which is generally when he wakes up hahaha.

I slept with lots of insect repellent on - what a stink - but I woke up, thankfully with no more bites although there would me more later.  Wednesday was to be Suzy's last day with us. She would be leaving that evening as on Thursday her friend, Sandra, was coming from London to see her for a few days. We stayed on  to get the most of the best weather here, although the weather in Madrid has been just as good.

Our intention was to go the beach that morning but the damned Volvo wouldn't start. It plays that trick sometimes and so far mechanics don't know what is wrong with it. Thus Eladio had to call the insurance company for a man to come out and get it to start. Meanwhile, Suzy and I decided to spend the time by the pool which belongs to the complex of buildings where we have our apartment. Unlike public pools in most of Spain that close on 15th September and only open again on 15th June, the one here is open for most of the year. We were lucky as we had it to ourselves. See if you can spot Suzy sunbathing in this photo below.

The pool we share with the other apartments - spot Suzy

After the man had come about the car which he had got to start and told Eladio the problem was the automatic starter, Eladio joined us. He left the car on a downhill slope just in case it wouldn't start again. Here he is sitting a reading on the grass with views of the sea behind him. It's such a peaceful place to be I don't know why we don't spend more time there.

Eladio reading by the pool on Wednesday

Olivia and Elliot were also out and about that morning in Madrid enjoying the October sunshine. She sent us some lovely photos of her and Elliot with his eyes wide open. It's possible he bears more of a resemblance to his father than to her but only time will tell. What a big little chap he is becoming. Here they are together.

Mummy Olivia and her baby, little Elliot

The rest of the day was spent very lazily and we didn't get our walk in. After lunch Suzy walked down to the beach to get her last few hours of beach time. I didn't join her probably out of sheer laziness. I did go though with Eladio to pick her up. He was afraid the car wouldn't start but it did - have to get it mended.

Shortly afterwards we drove her to Alicante where she was to catch the high speed train to Madrid. She had a bit of an adventure getting home as the train was late which is unusual for the "Ave". That meant she missed the last bus to where we live and had to order a Uber. Thank God for Uber I say.

We didn't fall asleep until we knew she was safely home.  I slept fitfully owing to all the old and new mosquito bites. At times it felt like I had a small bout of malaria - I'm exaggerating but oh how they plague me. I do wish some sort of ointment or medication could be invented that really puts a stop to the itching but nothing really works properly. Eladio, on the other hand, has hardly been bitten and where he has it doesn't itch. That proves they prefer the blood of fairer skinned people like me.

Thursday came and it was market day in Gran Alacant. We love buying the local fresh fruit and vegetables there but I also like to look at the clothes. I tried on a dress which didn't convince me, looked at some cheap blouses but decided I really didn't need anything. What interested me more were the baby clothes stalls now that I have a small grandson and at one of them I bought a lovely baby grow. I always dressed my babies in them and found them the most practical baby ware there is. Spaniards only use them as pyjamas; I used them all the time.

We bought lots of fruit and veg although this is not the best season for fruit. I far prefer summer fruit; peaches, etc but they are hard now. Here I am picking my own choice at one of the stalls.

At the fruit and veg market on Thursday

After shopping at the market we decided to go out for the day. There are plenty of choices but I nearly always want to go to the same place; to Callosa, Algar or Bollula, the area where my mother and Auntie Masha bought a house each in 1972. It's also the area where Eladio and I fell in love in the summer of 1980 so it means an awful lot to me. We decided on Algar, a lovely enclave in an orange grove gorge in the mountains that has spectacular waterfalls and natural pools with very cold water. We also like to go there for lunch and use one of the swimming pools either at Casa Marcos or at Don Juan de Algar. We went to the latter as the former was closed down for October which is the month of the "fiestas" in Callosa.

We got there by just after 1.30 and decided to have lunch immediately. We were given a table by the pool and were the first guests. Here are Eladio and Pippa at the table by the pool.

Eladio at Algar sitting down for lunch with Pippa under his chair

I do love the setting and remember many happy times there as a teenager, as a love struck young girl and  later as a young mother when we took the girls there when on holiday at my aunt's house in Bolulla. Oh if only my aunt, my mother and my brother could have risen from their graves to be with us on Thursday. Oh, how I miss them.

My mother would have loved our choice of food: "arroz señoret" a type of paella where the seafood is shelled as she adored rice. This was it and we polished off three quarters of it, taking back the rest in a "doggy bag".

Our "arroz señoret" at Algar on Thursday

We used to go there a lot and I remember the swimming pool being opened in the 70's. It's still going strong.

The pool at Algar

That's where we headed after our lunch and where we stayed all afternoon. I would have liked to visit the waterfalls and swim in the natural pools but Eladio wasn't keen. I would also have liked to visit Bolulla afterwards and have dinner there for old times sake but we didn't this time. I sat in the sun reading occasionally going into the empty pool to cool off every now and again while Eladio slept his siesta on one of the sunbeds.

We left at around 7 am, before sunset and headed off home down the very familiar road towards Benidorm and past the picturesque villages of my youth, Polop and La Nucia. Just before we got home we went to the local Mercadona to get more provisions as our cupboards were a bit bare after so many days here. We had a very simple but delicious dinner of ham and salad, a dinner we have possibly too often - Suzy tells me I shouldn't eat so much ham:(

We later watched the news. It was on Thursday that the Nobel Literature prize or prizes - as there were two winners - were announced. I think there were two as owing to the scandal there had been no prize last year. The prizes for 2018 and 2019 went to authors I'm afraid I had never heard of which is often the case. They went to a Polish woman author Olga Tokarczuk and German author Peter Handke. I later read he had delivered a eulogy at Slobodan Milosevic's funeral - the former Serbian leader of Yugoslavia who is famous for his vicious war crimes.  Frankly, I think they could have found a more deserving candidate, not an advocate of Milosevic and his cronies.

Later we watched a programme called El Hormiguero where the extreme far right candidate for the upcoming general elections, Santiago Abascal was interviewed and which caused a bit of controversy in this country.  He surprised me when he came across as quite human when the media have painted him a fascist.  I  watched until I felt my eyes shutting and it was time for bed. We had had a lovely day.

Friday came and we had another break down, this time it was our 20 year old washing machine. Eladio battled with it for most of the day and realised the problem was that it wouldn't rinse so the pump must be faulty. Thankfully he found a repair company who sent a chap later in the evening to change the pump for a new one. The service was fast and efficient but at an extortionate price.

That morning we went down to the beach again and spent a couple of hours there enjoying our time. I swam a couple of times but there were far too many waves so I couldn't go too far in. Eladio and Pippa stayed on the sand watching me. Here they are.

Eladio and Pippa on the beach on Friday morning

It was a bit cloudy when I took the photo but later the sun came out. We didn't go back up to the flat till quite late having enjoyed a walk and a bathe - me at least - on the beach. I made lunch; fresh fish and vegetables after which we watched the news as we do everyday. The main items that day were to do with the removal of Franco's remains from the Valley of the Fallen mausoleum near El Escorial just outside Madrid. It has been a long process since Pedro Sánchez announced the move when he first came into power. As during the Civil War, Spain today is still divided on the question. It hasn't actually happened yet but should do before 25th October, despite protests from his family and from the Prior at the Basílica where he is interred. Brighter news came from Norway when the Nobel peace prize was announced that day. There was much expectation that it would go to the climate activist, 16 year old Greta Thunberg but she didn't win it, at least not this year.

The Nobel Peace prize for 2019 went to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed Ali for "his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, an in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritera. I know nothing about the politician but if he has contributed to the end of what is more like a civil war that has lasted for decades between Ethiopia and Eritrea then he gets my applause too as the new peace laureate.

Abiy Ahmed Ali, P.M. of Ethiopia and this year's Nobel Peace prize winner

The other news, also local, has to do with the upcoming sentence on the instigators of the illegal referendum for independence in Catalonia. It looks like the sentence will be announced next week and whatever the outcome there will be protests. The government is preparing for them with a huge police contingency. Oh what a mess. This is Spain's Brexit and it will never go away.

I read my detective story on the terrace afterwards while Eladio slept. Later we went into Santa Pola, the town, on a couple of errands and came back just before the washing machine plumber arrived. Thank God it works again and that we didn't have to buy a new one.

Meanwhile. at home, new Airbnb guests arrived, a repeat guest, Noel, from Málaga and someone called David from Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Thankfully Lucy took care of them. Suzy was out with her friend, Sandra, a nurse with whom she lived with in London just before she left for Bali. That night Suzy spent time with Oli, Elliot and Miguel and rewarded me with a photo. Oh how I love to see them together.

Suzy with Oli, Elliot and Miguel on Friday evening

Saturday came and it was a national holiday although it didn't feel like it around here.  12th October is the feast of the Virgin of Pilar, the patron saint of the city of Zaragoza and of the armed forces as well as the anniversary of Christopher Columbus discovering America.  Thus there would be lots of military processions. It is also the national day of Spain but that is focused on less. In Spain there is little sense of patriotism so "El Pilar" as it is often known is nothing like 14th July in France for example. Any flags hung out by people  are ironically associated with the far right and with fascism. Isn't that stupid? In other countries people are proud of their nation's flag but not in Spain I'm afraid.

Eladio was glued to the TV watching the processions. He has a penchant for the military. Eladio, as you know is a philosopher and is quite academic. However, he has some strange tastes or should I say different tastes to me or contrasting ones for an academic.  Some of these are: boxing, military processions and a silly programme on the TV called "First Date". He is fascinated with animals as I am but has  a much better stomach for violence than I do. One of his favourite things is watching You Tube videos of wild life. I love these too. For example yesterday he was watching a video of a zebra giving birth after which predators were hovering around ready to snatch the new born zebra. Well, that I couldn't watch but he carried on, looking engrossed. He has also become slightly addicted to the Google News feed on his mobile phone which, unlike me, he has not tailored to his interests. Thus, often, he comes up with the most bizarre information to share with me. It makes me laugh. I do love him so. Yesterday I had to interrupt him from the processions to go on our walk and he happily joined me, knowing he could watch more when we got back.

It was a warm day but cloudy and not having walked very much here, we took the road to the lighthouse cliffs. I have taken so many photos there, I must be boring you. Well, here is one more, the last for this week. It's of the view to the open sea where the island of Tabarca is not very visible. We didn't go there this time but it's one of our favourite places to visit.

The view from the lighthouse cliffs yesterday

On the way back to the apartment, I popped into the British supermarket, Quicksave, to get a few things to take home, products I can't get elsewhere. These included a big pack of polos for my Father - his favourite sweets - along with 2 bounty bars and 3 toblerones. I also got decaf tea which should last me a while as well as a packet of sage and onion stuffing for Christmas!

Eladio continued watching the processions presided by the King of Spain. Missing were the authorities from the separatist areas of Spain, Catalonia and the Basque Country. Unfortunately, one of the main activities, a parachutist carrying the Spanish flag, went wrong. He was supposed to land at the feet of the King and entourage but unfortunately fell into a lamp post. He was mortified as he got up but was applauded wildly by the crowds.

Much more interesting for me was the news about the 34 year old marathon runner, Eliud Kipchoge. One of my penchants as you probably know is about sport in general or rather sports results. I was delighted to read that Kipchoge has become the first athlete to run a marathon in under two hours, beating the mark by 20 seconds. It took place in Vienna but will not be considered an official world record as it was not an open competition. But who cares? His feat was amazing. Imagine: 42 kilometres in under two hours. That meant he was running at 21km per hour and he's a man, not a cheetah. Actually a cheetah can run at over 90 km per hour. He must have been ecstatic yesterday. If people hadn't heard his name before, they know it now. Eliud Kipchoge, that's the man, the fastest in the world, although unofficially. His motto for the event was "I believe no human is limited". I like that.

Eliud Kipchoge yesterday at the finish line

The rest of our day was spent quietly. We hardly left the flat. I read a lot in the afternoon while Eladio watched his zebras or rather videos on the Spanish Civil War, his current passion. On the other side of the world, in Japan, the country was hit by the biggest typhoon in decades.

Spain was playing a qualifying match for the European cup with Norway last night. Football is another of Eladio's interests, although it's quite  mild compared to most Spaniards. I am interested in football results but don't care ,much for the actual matches. Funny aren't I? Well Spain should have easily beaten the Norwegians but the match ended in a draw 1-1. That was not a good result for the Spanish squad.

I interrupted Eladio watching the match to video call Oli and Miguel and little Elliot. It was so nice to catch up with them in Elliot land. The poor things are pretty exhausted from their sleepless nights. He does tend to cry at night but is quite content during the day. Here is a screenshot of Oli and her darling baby which I love.

Video call with Oli and Elliot last night.

I went to bed late last night after watching the end of a film about young Turkish girls, forced into marriage at an early age, two of who manage to escape to Istanbul. Later there was a documentary on missing women, or rather the abortion of baby girls which still goes on in India and other parts. The result today is that there are more men than women in many areas and thus fewer brides to choose from. It was very depressing.

I was in bed way past midnight and woke up this morning at 6 am, raring to go as we shall be going home this morning. I am keen to get home as soon as possible as I want to go and see Oli, Miguel and little Elliot who I haven't seen for more than a week.

Thus I will leave you and get on with all that needs doing before leaving, mostly cleaning, something I have no penchant for at all my friends.

Cheers till next week,
Masha

Sunday with little Elliot, lunch with Belén and Mónica, 20 years since my mother died, grandfather and grandson and other stories.

Sunday 6th October, 2019

Eladio the happy grandfather with his grandson Elliot. I love seeing the two together. Eladio has such a calming influence on him. 

Dear all.

Another week has gone past and my grandson is growing slowly. He is now nearly three weeks old and still, of course, the centre of our universe. Who would have known what a doting grandmother I would turn out to be? Me, who is a person not normally attracted to babies yet besotted with my grandson. Funny eh?  Well, I suppose it is instinct and  nature and above all an all encompassing feeling of love that makes me so happy. No doubt, I am boring you with my baby tales. Sorry if that is so. Before Elliot's birth, I too would have been bored. However, if you are a grandparent no doubt you will understand me.

So I was delighted Oli, Miguel and little Elliot (that is what we call him) were coming for lunch on Sunday. I thought I had plenty of time to prepare my famed oxtail stew of the Spanish recipe book Simone Ortega but unfortunately after 2.5 h cooking the meat was hard. People were very polite but there was not getting away from it, the oxtail was tough. Everything else was perfect and I refer more to the fact that it was a perfect family gathering. Only Suzy was not there as she was helping a friend move out of a flat after her boyfriend had broken off with her. Suzy was not just there for practical help but emotional help too, bless her. But her absence was made up by the presence of Oli's best Uni friend, "Anita", her friend who has just got over Hodgkin's disease and  who is looking so good. 

Anita was to see little Elliot for the first time and fell in love with him as we all did. I got her on camera while Eladio was holding him. Eladio has a wonderful calming presence around his grandson and if he is crying Eladio always calms him down. He's much better at that than me. I use singing to calm him down; baby songs such as "ba ba black sheep, twinkle twinkle little star" but Eladio needs no tricks. 

Eladio, "Anita" and Oli last Sunday

Sunday was the only time I have seen him unsettled during the day. Until then he was largely asleep during the day and playing up at night. After lunch we moved to the pool area where my new Airbnb guest, Noel from Malaga, was enjoying the sun and swimming. Our other guests, Andy, our more or less permanent lodger, was out all day in Madrid with his daughter, Lorna, who had come to visit him for 4 days. Eladio went off for a siesta and we urged Miguel to do the same as Elliot's father definitely needed to catch up on some slumber because of the sleepless nights. Thus the three girls (including me hahaha) stayed up by the pool with little Elliot. All Elliot wanted that day was to be at his mother's breast permanently and not always necessarily breast feeding, just lying in her arms, skin on skin, and feeling content. Thankfully Oli has come across something that I could have done with in my day, a sort of nipple shield which helps them feeling sore from so much breastfeeding. What a wonderful invention. He seems to like it too.

Beautiful Oli and beautiful Elliot

The day was wonderful all round except that in the afternoon I was given the bad news that my darling little cousin, Ruby, aged 10 who lives in New Zealand, on the other side of the world, had been taken into hospital with problems with her liver. It had me worried for the rest of the day and messaging with her mother, Katty who I adore and who I know was worried sick. I only wished I could be with her or with her mother Zuka, my cousin who lives in France and who was very worried.  Zuka had rung me to ask for our prayers and that is what she got. I could only hope and pray that little Ruby's condition would be something minor and easy to deal with. Little Ruby would be on my mind all the time until that magical moment when her mother, Katty, told me the final diagnosis was Hepatitis A which her body had begun to fight. By Wednesday morning she was a lot better and would be sent home. I'm so happy that our prayers were answered. 

Tired of being seated all afternoon breastfeeding little Elliot for such a long period of time, Oli and Miguel went out to take him on a walk before coming home for dinner.

I prepared a simple meal of scrambled eggs and asparagus and we sat down to dinner at about 8.30 and ate outside. The weather was just wonderful as it was last week and all of this week. Suzy arrived just before they left so she got to see her sister and nephew. Then it was time for bed and a bit of TV to help me fall asleep. Hopefully if Elliot had been awake all day and restless that would mean he would sleep well during the night allowing his parents to get some slumber too. 

I was up on Monday at 6.30 and eager for news of Ruby. She had been sent home while her blood tests were being analysed and before a biopsy would be performed later in the week but wasn't in the end.  It was much better for her to be at home and treated as an outpatient. 

On Monday I had a lunch appointment with Belén and Mónica, both lawyers who work for    my previous employer. I was taking them out to lunch to thank them for the help they gave me with the contract for publishing my book in England. Mónica, herself is an author and her father is a cinema producer so she is very familiar with publishing contracts. I was very grateful for their help. I took them to one of my favourite places in the very swanky area of La Moraleja, Aspen, a restaurant I have always been told is a favourite with the emeritus King of Spain. I've never seen him there but still love the place. It was a glorious day again and we were given a table outside. I had brought along a copy of my father's book for both of them which I hope they will enjoy. It was a great girly type lunch and good to catch up. Funnily enough we didn't talk a lot of "shop" but rather about the book and bits about their lives. I was very close to Belén when I worked at Yoigo as she was my assigned lawyer. As usual the food at Aspen was great and I went for their famed hamburger as did Belén. Here we are seated at the table just before we left. I do wish waiters were trained how to take photos. They never take good ones do they? In any case it's nice to have a photo to remember Monday's most pleasant lunch.

Lunch with Belen (left, long hair) and Mónica (right)

It was nice to dress up to go out, put some makeup on and not have to deal with making lunch at home. I was back by after 5 - yes lunches in Spain tend to start and end very late - Andy and his daughter Lorna were by the pool. It was 30ºc or more and I thought I'd take a leaf out of their book and go in the pool myself as it may have been the last opportunity. I don't know if I will go in again although the forecast is very good at the moment.

Here I am in the pool on the last day of September. That's one of the perks of living in Spain and having your own pool. Public pools, whatever the weather, always open on 15th June and close on 15th September. We, on the other hand can choose when to close and open ours depending on the weather.

Me in the pool on Monday afternoon

Later after having dried off, I sat by the pool reading until dinner time. Andy left to take Lorna to the airport and there was no sign of our other guest, Noel. Eladio, Suzy and I prepared a very simple dinner of tuna fish salad. Meanwhile back at Oli and Miguel's apartment, little Elliot was at her breast again when I asked for a photo. I commented it was his favourite place. It is indeed but must be a bit exhausting for poor Oli. Here they are together.

Oli and Elliot, Elliot and Oli on Monday

If I don't see my grandson, I need to have a photo of him every day.

After dinner, Suzy and I resumed to Oli's terrace for a long mother and daughter chat until quite late. Shortly afterwards Katty and Ruby video called us. It was great to see them and good to see Ruby was getting better. Here is the little darling, a girl I adore for all her values and sweetness. I shall never forget her urging me on to go kayaking with the family. I was rather reluctant and she told me to stop being negative. I took her advice.

Ruby on the mend

There was not much on the "telly" that night not even on Netflix or Amazon Prime. It was early to sleep that night and on Tuesday morning I woke up at 6.45 which is not bad.

Tuesday was 1st October, a date always etched in my mind as my mother died on 1st October. This week would be the 20th year since we lost her. Who could forget her if they knew her? No one. She was unique and I miss her every day. When Elliot was born one of my first thoughts was oh how I would have loved her to meet him. I have the same thoughts on all significant days and events and miss her so. But it is my father who misses her most, his life partner. I don't know how he was able to go on after her death 20 years ago.

My vivacious and unique mother who died 20 years ago on 1st October 1989 and who we miss every day

She would be in my thoughts all day. Every year on 1st October I mention her in this blog. It's difficult to describe what an amazing person she was or rather what an amazing personality she had. She oozed charisma and charm and people, young, old, rich and poor, all loved her.  We miss her every day. Missing her is especially acute at important times in our family. So, as I said,  when Elliot was born I just wished she could be here to see him. How she would have loved him, just as she adored her grandchildren. Suzy and Oli were just 15 and 14 when she died and have missed her ever since. Even though I say this myself, I can quite objectively tell you she was a very unique woman. I like to think she is looking down at us during bad and good moments and if I have to pray I always ask her for help. No doubt she was in my father's mind on 1st October too. How he must miss her. For he was the hardest hit when he lost her 20 years ago and faced old age on his own. If that happened to me with Eladio, I don't think I could pick up and go on like he did.

So Tuesday was not a good day all round. Other things happened which I cannot write about here as sometimes I have to censor myself if what has happened has occurred to other people.  It would be a long day too as my new Airbnb guests, two German ladies in their early 60's  arrived very late; at nearly 1 in the morning. After that I could not fall  asleep and slept badly. Later I would have time to meet them and size them up and they are a great pair, full of fun and energy and a youthful spirit. They hardly seem German at all if you compare them to the German stereotype.  They are from Dortmund by the way.

On Wednesday I was up at 6.30 after less than 5 hours sleep. I would try to make up for it by taking a siesta in the afternoon. I was determined that Wednesday would be a good day and it was. There was no walk that day. Instead Suzy and I went retail therapy shopping, something I hadn't done for a long time. First we hosted our German guests, Brigitta and Petra, showing them the local supermarket, a nice restaurant for lunch or dinner (Tinglado) and somewhere to enjoy a coffee (Alverán). Suzy and I headed off to Centro Oeste in Majadahonda, that posh little town outside Madrid. Later Brigitta and Petra told us they too had gone shopping. Suzy wanted to buy t-shirts for her Indonesian beau, Daus. I hadn't intended to buy anything but happened upon some great white jeans and a black t-shirt at H+M. Early that morning I had organised all my t-shirts which were in a huge mess in my walk-in-closet after the summer and I realised I didn't have  a short sleeved black one. I only paid 10 euros for the two garments which were discounted thanks to some bonus on my H+M app. I guiltily thought of the slave labour involved in the clothes I was taking home that really, if I think about it, I did not need. On the other hand, they make me happy. Oh dear.

Oli and Miguel were at the family doctor for Elliot's weekly check up and we encouraged them to come to lunch which, to our delight, they did. I just love it when we are all together. My father does too. After lunch and after Elliot had fed, Suzy took over and held him in her arms for 2 hours while he slept, allowing his parents to catch up on their own sleep.

Suzy and little Elliot

In fact we all slept from about 3.30 to 5.30. I also caught up on lost sleep. Later we gathered around the swimming pool terrace just generally talking and enjoying being together. I took a photo which you can see below. Sorry that I caught Eladio with his eyes closed:-(

The family together on Wednesday

Eladio spoke about the demonstrations in Barcelona on the 2nd anniversary of the illegal referendum for self rule. I, meanwhile, thought about what was happening with Brexit. It was on Wednesday that some of the details of Boris Johnson's new agreement to quit were revealed and they mainly concerned Ireland. I was rather astonished to read that his proposal was for Northern Ireland (and of course the UK) to remain in the customs territory  for 4 years or more under EU legislation but to leave the Customs Union which of course means that Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland would end up being two different territories. In effect he was proposing two borders!  I don't  think there ever can be a real solution to make the whole island of Ireland happy when it comes to leaving the EU.    Meanwhile the date of 31st October is looming. Will Boris ask for an extension? He says not. Will the UK really crash out of the EU without a deal. It's possible and it's a frightening idea.

I did not express my thoughts on this to my family who are far less interested in Brexit than I am, for obvious reasons. Both girls have a British and Spanish passport so it hardly affects them but it does affect both my father and myself.

I put these thoughts aside and, feeling hungry, like Elliot, suggested we had dinner. It was a little cool outside, especially for my grandson, so we had our meal in the dining room. And what a meal it was, thanks to Lucy making us a great tortilla. Good for her.

It was only when I was in bed at nearly 10 pm, that my latest guest, Jeff, arrived from Sweden. I had wondered at his perfect Spanish but non Spanish or Swedish name and what his origin was. He revealed he was of Colombian parentage but had been brought up in Stockholm. He looked a nice guy and would be here for 3 nights although we hardly saw him.  It has been full house this week and up to 6 cars have been parked on the property!

We started watching a series on Carlos V of Spain and Carlos 1 of Germany, who I knew as The Holy Roman Emperor from my history lessons with Miss Scorer at St. Joseph's College. That era is not my favourite period of history - I prefer more modern times - but it's quite interesting to watch. Now I know or remember who Cardinal Cisneros was and a bit more about the era. Eladio was not so keen dubbing the series too theatrical. So we never watched more than one episode.

Thursday came and it was the quietest day of the week with not much to report.   We didn't see Elliot (:-)), our guests were out all day and Suzy went out too, to her lessons and to see a friend. Thus Eladio and I had to the house to ourselves together with the dogs until our guests returned in the evening.

TV entertainment that night was a  good choice. We watched a film on Prime Video called "Ma Ma" with Penelope Cruz and Luis Tosar. It's sad - the mother is diagnosed with breast cancer - but at the same time terribly uplifting. Penelope Cruz is definitely my favourite Spanish actress. I am a fan of Luis Tosar too or rather I usually like the films he stars in.

A film we loved this week

My favourite Spanish actor is not Antonio Banderas who I do love actually, but someone called José Coronado. So who are my global non Spanish favourite actors and actresses? From my past they are Ingrid Bergman, the same as my father, and Clarke Gable (oh how I love him in Gone with the wind). Julie Andrews comes a close second. As to actors and actresses today, that's more difficult. If pushed I might say Robert de Niro and Meryl Streep or Julia Roberts. I'm afraid I'm not very acquainted with the current younger top actors. Who are yours?

Friday came and it was another beautiful day. Oh what a lovely Indian summer we are having. It's going to continue for a while now so, making the best of the good weather, we shall be off to our apartment near the beach in Santa Pola today. We haven't been for a while and we are craving for walks on the beach, Suzy and Pippa included, who are coming with us.

Friday was a quiet day, the highlight being the evening. At about 6 pm, the three of us set off for Oli's apartment or should I say Oli, Miguel and little Elliot's apartment? Maybe I should. We love going there especially since our grandson has been born. Oli and Miguel are so concentrated in "Elliot land" it's easy for us to go than for them to come. It was to be a lovely evening. As we arrived we found Elliot at Oli's breast which is where he likes to be all the time. It's not so much breast feeding on demand but demanding to be at her breast all the time so that in case he wakes up the food source is near  hahahah. For a while he was satiated, so I had the privilege of holding him for at least 1.5h while Oli got on with housework, something she doesn't have much time to do. My dear friend Adele had sent a present this week and when they exchanged whatsapp messages, Oli to thank her for the present (a lovely comforter), my friend who has 4 strapping boys, advised her to enjoy her time and to "f*** the housework" which made us laugh out loud. Soon it was time for Suzy to take over from me. She adores holding her little nephew who she calls "my little prince" and I took some photos. She just can't stop kissing him and he seems to love it. It looks like he will be quite a sociable little boy.

Suzy kissing and kissing Elliot "her prince"

The men went out to do food shopping for our dinner and we girls stayed behind with Elliot. He needed his nappy changing as usual but this time he also needed a bath. He doesn't like either but they have to be done. We helped with loving hands while he cried enthusiastically and I was proud to see just how capable my younger daughter is at handling a tiny new born  baby. Later as she sat and breastfed, she commented that "maternity is overrated" in a comic aside. The period after giving birth is very challenging. We who have been parents know that and there is nothing glamorous about any of it but it is also a wonderful time of life, caring for a defenseless little baby who is your own flesh and blood and all instincts to protect him come to the forefront and all you want to do is care for him. He becomes your centre of attention and your life completely changes, in that you are no longer number one ; he is and it remains pretty much so in parents' lives forever after.

The men were back soon with a load of shopping and Miguel, the house chef, set about making a delicious dinner of baked salmon, puré and onions all cooked in the oven to perfection. Elliot attuned to his mother's needs, always demands his food just as she is about to have hers (haha) so Oli ends up eating with one hand while Elliot is at her breast, mostly for the sake of comfort. She later had to bring up his wind. There seems to be a new technique these days; sitting the baby with his head held front ways while being patted on his back. He looks so funny but doesn't seem to mind.

Elliot at dinner or rather after his dinner on Friday, having his wind brought up with this new technique. 

Later to give Oli some leave way, Eladio gently picked up his grandson and held him and comforted him just with his calm presence. It's amazing. As soon as he is in his grandfather's arms, he is at peace. I love to see them together. I told the girls that their Eladio had been a marvelous father when they were small and he was and is. So it is the photo I took of grandfather and grandson together that I have chosen as this week's feature photo.  I must love my husband a lot as I just love to see him happy.

It was getting late and we had to call it a day. Friday ended with us going to bed late and commenting on just what a wonderful evening we had had.

Saturday came. Suzy was out all day with her friend Elenita at an all day yoga festival - good for her. Called Wanderlust , it took place at the "Hipódromo" (horse racing track) a beautiful area in Madrid. Later we got a photo of her with her friends happily practicing yoga. We wouldn't see her until this morning.

Suzy and her friends at Wanderlust yesterday

We didn't see little Elliot either and won't until we return from Santa Pola. I'll miss him. Thanks, though to our modern technology I can see him on video when Oli calls me and through the photos she sends. Last night she rang me and I was able to see the little mite breast feeding contentedly. I so love him. He is now 20 days old and from yesterday started latching onto his dummy which I hope will give his parents a breather on and off. Here are the three of them together, Elliot with his minute dummy, bless him.

The new and happy family

It was a beautiful day again and the temperature rose to 28ºc. Andy, our Scottish lodger, dared the cold of the swimming pool water and went in that day. I did not although I was tempted. For us it was a quiet day. We did the shopping, came home to make lunch, Eladio mowed the lawn and just as I was falling asleep for a siesta I was interrupted by the arrival or our latest guest. Ivan Prado Sejas, a writer and psychologist who is from Bolivia, arrived at around 3.30 pm. He has come to install his 23 year old daughter who will be doing a masters' degree in physiotherapy at the UEM University nearby. I settled him in and then went to sleep my siesta. Later that afternoon while Eladio continued mowing the lawn and I was reading by the pool, Ivan joined me and we had an interesting conversation. It's not often you get to talk to a Bolivian is it? Our house is full of people of all sorts of nationalities. Currently we have a Scot, 2 Germans and a Bolivian. Amazing. I know my mother would approve.

 I don't know much about Bolivia - only that it is poor and its leader is the famous Evo Morales of peasant extraction so I started the conversation by asking Ivan about Morales' government. We talked about the Amazon rain forest - after the big fires recently. He told me he was a writer and said "like you". Well, not exactly I told him as I have only written one book and he has written many but it made me feel good. Ivan, on the other hand has written many, mostly science fiction, not my genre. He asked me what there was to see in Madrid and surroundings and I explained. I also mentioned Madrid has mountains but then I thought how stupid as our mountains  at 2000 m high must seem like hills to him. Bolivia is of course in the Andes and the highest mountains there are over 6000 metres high. He himself comes from a village that stands at 2.500 metres and he told me some people live in places that are 4.500 metres high! Wow, that showed my ignorance of his country. We  also talked about Bolivia's perception of Spain which he said at times was negative because of the Spanish conquerors something completely understandable.  He commented on the EU and Europe disintegrating rather than uniting. Well, he has a point.  He also asked about the upcoming financial crisis. So that's the news they have of Europe on the other side of the world. Very recently news has been coming in about yet another recession. Another one I thought when we have hardly got over the other one? Oh dear. Eladio joined us for a while before Ivan, still jet lagged, went up to bed.

We had a quiet dinner on our own and ate outside which is a luxury in October. Suzy slept at Elenita's and wont' be back until about 9 am this morning. We aim to leave for Santa Pola just after that. Let's see how long it takes to get ready to leave.

So my friends, I must leave you now to get on with preparations to leave for a week or so. I'm not sure whether next week's post will be posted from home or Santa Pola but no doubt in next week's post you will hear all about our time there. I can't wait for a walk on the beach.  It's been a long time since we were last there.

That's it then for now,
Cheers till next week/Masha