Spaniards party as lockdown ends, Prince Michael of Kent accused of selling access to Putin, my potato salad, off to Asturias, stop in Alar del Rey, time in El Cuetu, a nightmare with eDreams, a sunny day, remembering George and other stories.

 Casa del Cuetu, Asturias, Sunday, 16th May, 2021

Me on the beach on the one sunny day during our stay here. Playa de Póo (sorry for the name, one of my favourites)

Good morning all.

Well, today I am not writing from Madrid for once. That's because the State of Alarm decreed at the end of October officially ended last Sunday 9th May. We were not allowed to do many things during this period, the worst of which for me was the prohibition of travelling outside the area of residence. So, we like, many people, took off to another province this week and I am today writing from our new house in Asturias which we hadn't been to for 6 months. Spaniards partied when lockdown ended in a way they shouldn't. Of course it wasn't all Spaniards but there were celebrations in many cities with gatherings of too many people. It looked as though they were celebrating the end of the Pandemic but it hasn't ended. We may be allowed to move more freely but we still have to be careful. The average number of cases per 100.000 is around 140 but in Madrid where people gathered in the centre of the country (Puerta del Sol), the figure is 245. In Spain the percentage of those vaccinated is about 31%, not bad but not enough to be able to party and not be infected. We are still seeing far too many daily cases reported as well as deaths, so I wish people wouldn't party after lockdown.

Revelers in Madrid last Sunday celebrating the end of the state of alarm

We, of course, didn't go anywhere near the centre of Madrid. We haven't been for months and months and would never want to join large crowds. Thus last Sunday was quiet, even if the state of alarm had ended. Even if we were at home as we usually are, I did, though feel the lifting of the burden of lockdown and somehow felt freer, as if my rights had been restored. Well, some of them have. Curfews though are still in place in many areas as is the limit of meeting people (up to 6) in most places. As the vaccination programme ramps up, I am hoping we will be in a better place vs a vs Covid. According to our Prime Minister in 100 days from now Spain will be reach "herd immunity". Let's hope that is true. 

Globally though the numbers are still rising with India being the main worry at the moment. Today as I write the number of deaths and infections has risen from 3.297.081 and 158.336.434 to 3.338.966 and 163.191.707 respectively.

So, last Sunday was quiet. The warm weather went and it rained although we managed a rain free walk in the morning. Rain was forecast for most of the week in most parts of Spain, including Asturias on the north coast of Spain which is notorious for wet weather. That of course is why this area is called "The Green Coast". Even so, we decided, precisely on that walk, that we would travel to Asturias on Tuesday. Apart from enjoying the new house and being away we had some important tasks to get the house ready to receive guests in the summer. So far I have 8 reservations for July and August and hope to get more. 

For me the biggest news item that day came from the British Royal family. The Times and Channel 4 had done an investigative piece of journalism on Prince Michael of Kent, the Queen's cousin. He has links to Russia as his grandfather (and the Queen's grandfather) George V was the late Tsar Nicholas' first cousin. Russians will tell you that Prince Michael looks just like the Tsar. They both also bare a great resemblance to George V. 

Tsar Nicholas II and Prince Michael of Kent (now 78)

A native speaker of Russian, he is revered in Russia and many people would like to see him as the person to restore the monarchy. That won't happen of course. So what was the investigation about? Well, his links, business links, to the Kremlin, aka Putin. In the set up zoom call with South Korean businessmen who were actually journalists, he used his royal status "as the Queen's unofficial ambassador" for personal profit by offering access to Putin and the Kremlin for a fee of around 50.000 pounds! Maybe you think this is legitimate or not illegal. It may not be illegal but it is not moral, especially from someone from the Royal family as sanctions have been imposed on Putin's Russia for  many aggressive acts such as the murder of the defector Alexander Litvinenko or its role in the assassination on the opposition leader Navalny. The sanctions are supposed to cut off investment into Russia to put pressure on Putin. And here we have Prince Michael of Kent promoting investment. He should be ashamed of himself. This is one more nail in the monarchy's coffin and I'm sure the Queen is most upset. 

Monday came and we had lots to do to get ready for our trip to Asturias. That morning saw us at the post office to pick up some damned hoover bags ordered on Amazon. I am always annoyed when Amazon parcels are delivered by "Correos" (Spain's Postal service). Correos, at least where we live, does not deliver parcels. Instead they live you a slip and you have to go to the post office, about 7km away, on a tiny one way street with nowhere to park, to pick up the parcel. We also went to a Yoigo shop (mobile operator and my old work place) to get a sim card for a 4G wifi router to replace the Telefónica one we have at our house here. We did that because we have been paying 38 euros a month to the former and with Yoigo it's just 9 euros  a month. While at the shop we were offered all sorts of services we didn't want, none related to telecommunications. Mobile operators these days are looking for new ways to make money (the same as our bank wanting to sell us a TV) and are doing so with doctor apps, electricity and alarm services and, I suppose, anything they can come up with. We did listen to the conditions of the electricity service and realised it would be the same as we were paying with our own supplier so left it at that. 

After a coffee and a snack at Gran Plaza 2, a huge "mall" in Majadahonda, we made our way home. Oli and Miguel were coming for lunch and I had left Lucy making the preparations. I also did some extra cooking to leave food at home and take with us. Among other things, I made my flagship potato salad dish. It's a recipe I inherited from my mother who inherited it from her Russian father who got it from a Swiss recipe book. As I pointed out on FB, in Spain potato salad is called Russian salad for some unknown reason as it is not called that in Russian. I read up the origin of the dish and it seems to come from Germany. In Spain too a plain omelette is called a French omelette to distinguish it from a Spanish omelette made with potatoes and onion. I wonder why these dishes are attributed to Russia and France. But back to potato salad. In Spain they use tuna fish rather than prawns and always add olives which I don't like. For my recipe, everything has to be chopped and/or boiled and the ingredients are: potatoes, carrots, peas, hard boiled eggs, spring onion, prawns and home made mayonnaise. I am quite good at making mayonnaise but for some reason that day my first two attempts at it curled. I was desperate but then remembered I could make it with my Kenwood which was a success. This is the end result. 

My potato salad

I may have told you before that this is a dish my mother would make for special occasions. I do too like at Christmas but I also make it in between although not often as there is lots of peeling and chopping etc and it takes quite a while. 

I saved some for Oli and Miguel as my daughter loves my potato salad. It was a pleasure to have their company at lunch and funny to have them without Elliot. He was still at the nursery and they had been to the local gym for an hour's swimming. We won't see them until our return to Madrid. The rest of the day was quiet and panned out as normal. 

Tuesday came, the day of our departure. We left by 11.30 after saying goodbye to my father and Lucy. I prayed he would be fine while we were away. We didn't rush and stopped a few times, for petrol and a coffee and then we tried to find somewhere to have lunch. There are hardly any places on the motorway from Valladolid to Santander so we would leave it to find a restaurant. We were in luck on Monday when we stumbled upon the very pretty village of Alar del Rey in the province of Palencia, a very unknown area for me. There we found a splendid restaurant called "Restaurante La Cueva", a family owned business where I learned later the food is based on recipes from the great grandmother of the owners. 

The restaurant we found in Alar del Rey

We had a menu of the day at 15 euros each with lots to choose from and all home made. Later we took Pippa out of the car to stretch her legs and then we saw a beautiful bridge over the River Pisuerga.

The bridge over the River Pisuerga in Alar del Rey

The river and river banks were a beautiful sight and we couldn't resist a short walk to discover it further. It looked like a great place to come back to when traveling here; especially a place to have a picnic. 

Walking after lunch by the river in Alar del Rey

We could have walked all the way to the Picos de Europa via  a scenic pathway but that would probably be more than a day's walk. The whole place was very picturesque and a great discovery. 

Shortly before our arrival we stopped to get wood for the wood burner in the kitchen which we had actually never used. Eladio has though as wood burners in Montrondo, his village, were the source for heating and cooking. They are not a luxury item in this part of the world. 

Buying wood on the way

We arrived in "our village" at about 5.30 to warm weather and brilliant sunshine, despite the rainy forecast. It was wonderful to be back again after 6 months of the State of Alarm. Our neighbour had left a welcome pack: beautiful gladioli and her own lemons (yes they grow here) and eggs. What luxury. She had also watered the plants in our absence and had switched on the central heating for us. What more could we want? Loli is a lovely neighbour and she looks after the house well.

Welcome gifts from our neighbour Loli

We took a while to unpack and then I took a while to get my new 4G router with the Yoigo sim card inside to work. It didn't. That had me on the phone to my old employer with no success. Thus we had to use the previous 4G router from Movistar. That worked. Eladio, meanwhile, switched off the central heating as the house was far too warm. Instead he lit the wood burner in the kitchen with the wood he had just bought. It was so cozy and I wondered why we hadn't used it before.

The old fashioned wood burner in action on our first night here

Time flew and soon it was dinner time. We weren't hungry but in any case I made Eladio fried eggs with the ones Loli gave me from her hens. The yolks looked spectacular. I had some of the remains of the potato salad.

By then it was too late for the 9 pm news, so eager to see if the Amazon fire stick I had brought would work with the TV here, we set it up and it did. Voilá we had Netflix, Prime Video and other TV streaming apps. We started watching a British series called Mrs. Wilson but were both soon yawning. I think I was asleep by 1 am and woke up bright as  a button on Wednesday at 7.30. That for me was a good night's sleep. Unfortunately we woke up to no hot water. The gas heater had broken down. We rang the nearest certified gas company quite far from here in Cangas but he didn't come until Thursday morning. That meant washing with cold water; no joke but doable (*hit).When he eventually came, he did a quick fix but told us we needed a new one as this one may last a month, a week or a year. He didn't know. For the time being we are keeping the old one. 

I spent a good part of the morning trying to get the new router to work with no success. I was told to put the sim card from the router into my mobile and set it up for mobile data (which it already had). That didn't work but what I didn't realise is that later I had left the router sim card in my phone which would bring me problems.

Before leaving to do the shopping I wondered up and down our street admiring all the green - well it's always green here because of the rain hahaha. Here is our street.

We went into our nearest town, Posada de Llanes, to go to the police to register the house for guests to no avail either as there was no one there. We had a coffee in the rain as cafes here were closed inside until later in the week. We then went into the local supermarket - Alimerka - to stock up for our stay. Here is Eladio at the check out. He didn't see me taking the photo.

Shopping in Posada de Llanes

We were home late so I made an easy but delicious lunch of steak and chips. Yummy.  It was a lazy afternoon for me as it was raining outside. I actually slept for 2 hours on the sofa. Eladio was more productive and was up in the attic spraying petrol of all things to get rid of some woodworm we had found.

Dinner was a fine affair. I made "almejas a la marinera" , a Spanish recipe for clams. Unfortunately I hadn't read the paprika label and only learned it was the spicy and hot type when I tried the clam sauce. Big mistake. I have since thrown it away. Our kitchen table was quite merry though as we were joined by "Isidrín", a mechanical cider pourer. 

Our festive table with "Isidrín" and my "almejas a la marinera" 

I had a quite a good night's sleep but Thursday morning would be a nightmare. We had spoken to Suzy the night before and she was desperate to come home and get out of Nicaragua. Thus that morning I set about searching for a ticket for her on internet. The cheapest one way tickets, at around 700 euros, were on eDreams, a travel platform I have used countless times. I found the found the flights, chose the date - 21st May - but had difficulties when it came to my bank asking me to confirm payment. Thus I tried over and over again. I had to ring my bank's customer care line and in the end I realised this was happening because I wasn't getting the sms to confirm payment and that was because  - damn it - I had the 4G router sim card in my phone and not mine. I immediately changed the sim and then was able to confirm the purchase. Great I thought. It took a while but I had done it. My euphoria soon turned into a nightmare when I received three emails from eDreams with confirmation for three tickets - all issued to Suzy on the same date and flight. How the hell could that have happened when I only authorised one payment on my bank app? 

eDreams charged me for and issued 3 tickets instead of 1. What a nightmare

And, how on earth didn't eDreams realise they were issuing 3 duplicate tickets for one person but with different booking numbers? I immediately rang them only to hear, that yes I could cancel two of the tickets but that reimbursement would take from 90 to 180 days - yes 6 months! I was furious and set about making noise on social media.   I also found the contact of the Communications Director, the CEO and Chief of Operations and wrote to them all. I did get a standard reply from customer service to say they were working on my case but it may take up to 11 days. Oh my God what had I done? This upset me for the whole day. Then Suzy told me the flight was far too soon and could I change it? Well, imagine my reaction. eDreams turned out to be not a dream but a nightmare. 

By the time I had finished it was nearly midday. I had to make lunch and that day I cooked a local dish; "fabada", a sort of bean soup. It was delicious. I felt as if that was the only thing I had done right that day.

My bean stew (fabada) cooked on the wood burner

By the end of the morning we had run out of wood. We had bought 3 sacks for 20 euros and it hadn't lasted 3 days. So we had to resort to the electrical central heating instead which is nowhere near as cozy. .

My afternoon was cheered up by my weekly call with Kathy and Phil. Thank God for them. They are dying to come and see us here and we are dying to see them. They have to come in June, if that's possible when, hopefully, it will be sunny. I was thinking this week about our plans to live in Asturias when I retire on my next birthday in February. But I am thinking twice now as it's no fun living somewhere where it rains a lot and that's what it does in Asturias. 

We had a makeshift dinner of kinds - not my best and then sank on the sofa in front of the TV to carry on watching a British TV series, Mrs. Wilson, based on a true story. I later watched more of Grey's Anatomy. Would you believe I am now on season 11. 

Meanwhile in the world all eyes were on Israel and Palestine as violence spread and escalated between Arabs and Jews. It's the same old story isn't it? It looks like it may lead to a full blown war. We don't need wars do we?

The other war of course is Covid. The numbers are getting better in Spain and in the UK, where so many have been vaccinated, the numbers are great. However, there is a big worry in my birth country about the spread of a new variant from India, a variant that is highly transmissible. There will always be new variants and probably lots of tweaks to the vaccines. So, yes, my friends, no doubt, we shall all have to learn to live with Covid. Damn it again.

I was awake at 7 am on Friday and for once it wasn't raining. The sun was shining, our only day of sunshine here apart from the day arrived. We were determined to make the most of it.

Me outside the house on our first proper sunny day

We decided to visit one of our favourite beaches. It's called "Playa de Póo" which sounds strange in English. This beach which we had to ourselves is surrounded by the rocky coastline and also the mountains. It's breathtaking. As the tide was out we were able to walk nearly to the end at the foothills of the mountains. Eladio took a photo of me and I have chosen it as this week's feature photo as it's such a happy photo. 

The hotel and restaurant overlooking the beach were closed still which was unfortunate as a coffee or lunch there would have been marvelous. Instead we did something equally delicious and walked up the path to the top where you can see the most wonderful coast line. Here we took more photos. One I particularly like is of me with little Pippa. As you know, our pampered chocolate miniature dachshund goes wherever we go.

On the rocks overlooking the Póo beach on Friday with Pippa

We took lots of photos of the rocky coastline I never tire of. I think it must be similar to Scotland, Brittany, Cornwall or even Yorkshire. I do so love the sea. Here is one of my dear husband who was clearly enjoying our day.

Eladio "on the rocks" so to say 

From the Playa de Póo, we drove to nearby Llanes, the capital town of this area of Asturias called "El Concejo de Llanes". We love Llanes. On our way along the road that runs parallel to the beautiful coastal walk way of San Pedro we admired the magnificent houses. It is an area we have had our eye on, as it's the perfect place to live in our minds. I made my husband stop the car when I saw an amazing house with a For Sale sign outside. 

The house we visited in Llanes on Friday

On the spur of the moment we decided to ring the bell and see if someone was there to show it to us. There were two people there, a brother and sister who were looking after the house. We loved a lot about it. It is huge, far too large for us. It has a fabulous plot of land right by the walkway and we just adored the style, a sort of French Basque style. So we spent the best part of an hour examining it. We loved it but it needed so much restoration it would be a non viable project for us at this stage in our life. The price was too high although I'm sure we could get it down but the house is just too big for us to retire in and far too much work. But we can always dream can't we?

After that unexpected stop, we drove to the car park by the Sablón beach - another lovely beach - and wandered into the pretty town of Llanes. Here we had a coffee in the main square where numerous films have been shot. We love sitting there. I also love a shop there called Aramburu which sells the most exquisite local fare. I bought some of their delicious "cecina" (smoked beef, similar to jamón ibérico), some chorizos and then a local pate called "pastel de cabracho". We then walked around the town and ventured to the other side where the second beach belonging to Llanes is; Playa de Toro. It's another beautiful small beach nestled in between the mountains and the rocky coastline. While admiring the views I was happy to see a response from eDreams on Twitter. Someone called Fred wrote to say they had cancelled the 2 extra tickets and would be reimbursing me within 10 days - not 90 or 180. That was such good news. I hope it's true as when I rang customer service again I was told it would be anything up to 180 days. Cross your fingers please. 

From the Playa de Toro area we walked back into the town to look for somewhere to eat a "menú del día". There were plenty of places on offer so we decided on one near the port. The food was not bad at all for a "menú del día". The only snag was I broke one of my new onlays - a semi crown. I shall have to go the dentist when I get back. 

The yachting port in Llanes

We had a lazy lunch and then drove home via Posada de Llanes where we stopped to stock up on a few more provisions. The rest of the day was spent lazily. Dinner though was splendid thanks to my purchases at "Aramburu" as you can see in the  photo below.

Our cozy and delicious dinner on Friday 

Saturday came and it rained all day. I never ventured from the house. Saturday was a sad day for me; the 20th anniversary of the passing away of my dear brother George. He died of melanoma, aged just 46, on 15th May 2001. I think of him often. I carry him in my heart always and on the anniversary of his death (hate that word) or on his birthday I remember him specially. He would have been 66 this year; not old really. I always try to remember the good times but that is not always easy as poor George was dealt a difficult life and a short one. He was a very good looking boy, tall, over 6ft, blonde, blue eyed, slim and adored by women. 

With my beautiful brother George when we were young. Photo taken in Guadalest, Alicante, in the mid 70s. 

He was talented too especially at languages and music. He was gentle, had a wonderful smile and personality except for his black moods of which there were many - later in life he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, partly brought on by drugs. He loved travelling too, as we all did in my family. But he travelled more than any of us. I remember him hitchhiking to Afghanistan of all places and getting cholera there. I remember calls from Colombia in the middle of the night asking for money to be sent to some bank in Bogota or elsewhere in South America. But I also remember him playing the piano and writing songs to which I sang. I remember too when we were both at University how we would be so happy to be together again after term time. We would sit up in my bedroom until the small hours, talking and smoking. I only wish I had understood him better and had been closer to him when his troubles started. I wish I had helped him more. For that I feel forever guilty. We became close when he was dying, one of the worst periods of my life. Since then I carry him in my heart always. Oh George, how I miss you and love you.

I thought about him all day as I'm sure my father did. 

Today is Sunday and it is still raining. The good news is that the sun will come tomorrow and stay all week. We shall thus enjoy going out and exploring the area or returning to places we know and love, like the San Pedro walkway in Llanes. 

So that's it now for this week my friends. I hope you enjoyed the read. I wish you all the very best until next Sunday.

Cheers Masha

2nd May celebrations, 9th May the end of the state of alarm in Spain, conservatives win snap elections in Madrid, my father gave us a shock, dinner on the street, our first barbecue of the year and other stories.

 Sunday 9th May, 2021

With Elliot on barbecue day yesterday

Good morning everyone. 

Today is a very significant day in Spain. It is the end of the State of Alarm that started at the end of October 2020, robbing us of many rights in order to fix Covid. Covid has not been fixed but we are on the way thanks to the vaccine roll out. Worldwide figures continue to increase, notably in India with over 300.000 newly infected recorded daily. In the US and the EU numbers are down, mostly thanks to vaccinations but we are nowhere near out of the woods yet. Last Sunday the global figures for infections and deaths were 152.829.820 and 3.206.849. Today these figures stand at 158.336.434 and 3.297.081 respectively. 

Meanwhile we have seen our fundamental rights stripped, those of seeing friends and family and the prohibition of travel. I'm not sure however that our rights are ours again as this country is in a mess as to what to do. It would be easy if we only had one government but we don't. Spain is like a federal state and we have 17 autonomous regions each with their own governments. The central government, knowing an extension of the State of Alarm would not be approved in Parliament, leaves the matter of how to go forward in the hands of the 17 regional governments. This, no doubt, will make rules different all over the country. It has as it turned out but one thing they have all allowed from today onward is unrestricted travel between regions. Wow, great. That means that if we wanted we could be off today to one of our homes to Santa Pola, Montrondo or Asturias. We wanted to go to Asturias but the weather forecast is dreadful. We shall be on the watch out and as soon as some sun is forecast, off we will go. 

Last Sunday then was the last Sunday under the state of alarm. It was also 2nd May, a holiday in Madrid to commemorate the 1808 uprising   and rebellion against Napoleon's troops occupying the capital. 2nd May was also Russian Easter or rather the Orthodox Church Easter. It doesn't mean much to me anymore although my Mother was Russian. She used to organise the celebrations at home which consisted of going to church in Bradford at midnight and coming home in the early hours of the morning to a table laid with Russian Easter fare. As a child I found it very exciting to be woken up after I had gone to bed and to go to church. The Russian Easter Service is a long drawn out ceremony and is difficult to endure as you have to stand the whole time. Everyone holds a lit candle and I remember my brother trying to burn my hair (hahaha). For the past few years, our Russian neighbour, Katya, brought over some "kulitch" ( similar to panetone) and coloured eggs. That reminded me of helping my mother dye eggs at home. They are colourful but I'm not very keen on boiled eggs. Eladio is though and ate them all. 

The gift of Russian Easter fare from our neighbour Katya

A lot of things were celebrated then on 2nd May. It was also Mothers' Day in Spain. That's not something I was brought up to celebrate but over the years I have come to acknowledge it as I have with St. Valentine's Day. Only Olivia sent me a laconic little message on Whatsapp. Suzy totally forgot so I didn't feel much of a celebrated mother that day. Facebook reminded me that 6 years ago Suzy did remember and sent me a lovely photo collage. This is it.

Mothers' Day photo collage Suzy sent me 6 years ago

Suzy did ring me on Sunday afternoon  but it was not to wish me a happy Mothers' Day. She just skyped me  to try out internet her end in a remote region of Nicaragua called Muelle de los Bueyes. I looked it up and its about 250km from Managua. We spoke briefly and agreed to talk later. 

I have told you all about the different events of 2nd May but really I didn't celebrate any of them. It was a quiet day, except for the arrival of 2 new guests. Eduardo and his partner arrived in the afternoon. They were going to drop off their luggage, go and see friends and come back at night. But when they saw the pool they decided to spend the afternoon by it.

The pool ready for visitors

I don't know if they went in the water. I wouldn't have as the temperature did not rise above 18c that day. It was good to have new guests. I had another reservation from a golf player who came on Wednesday and wow I also got a reservation from a Belgium girl who is coming alone at the end of June. She is coming solely for the use of the pool and some peace and quiet. She will get it. 

Not much else happened on Sunday last so let me move on to Monday. My two young guests left while we were on our walk. I was happy to get a glowing 5 star review from them.  Another guest was arriving on Wednesday, a Spanish golf player called Jaume B. taking part in a tournament who would stay from Wednesday to Saturday. It's good to see the house with more guests again. Felipe continues his stay here and has now been with us for 4 months. 

It was a quiet day for me. I didn't have my weekly Skype call with my dearest friend Amanda as she was away on holiday, a holiday she and her partner Andy much needed and deserved as they haven't been away since last Sunday. They are in some remote part of Scotland. I wished we could travel too. On Monday the EU announced it would allow travel into the EU countries for those with two vaccinations. The UK which has a traffic light system for countries allowed and not allowed announced the green light countries Brits can travel to from now on. Only Portugal is included in Europe. However, the list will be updated every few weeks so hopefully Spain will be included too. 

There was no news from either of our girls. I have to think always that no news is good news. Eladio made use of the time to paint the ceiling of the outdoor bathroom by the swimming pool. It had been affected by the snow storm "Filomena" back in January. He did so in his best jeans and nice blue M+S shirt. He got into trouble for not changing his clothes for painting. My husband has a big aversion to changing his clothes during the day; something I have never understood. Thus his clothes are full of paint and bleach marks or simply torn. 

Tuesday came and the temperatures went up and it would be sunny until yesterday. Tuesday was the day of the much publicised 4th May Madrid snap elections; much polarazied and downright aggressive. There have even been death threats to tar the campaign between the left and right wing candidates. There may be 5 or 6 parties but there are only two blocks; left and right, blocks that have divided Spain always and which caused the Spanish Civil War. I was sick and tired of the campaign ranting. I just wanted it to be all over and for government to be restored. I heaved a sigh of desperation every time news of the snap election was on the TV. In any case I cannot vote. You will know that as a British citizen who has lived in Spain since 1981, I have no significant voting rights in the UK or in Spain except for the EU and very local elections; not the regional or national elections. That is voting limbo and is not fair. A British citizen who has lived outside the UK for more than 15 years is not allowed to vote in the UK. I have no words to describe my frustration over that; especially as I wasn't allowed to vote in the Brexit referendum and being one of those directly affected by its outcome. I actually reckon that if Brits in my situation in the EU had been able to vote, the outcome may have been favourable to staying in the EU. So, no I couldn't vote. Maybe I will be able to do so in a year or so when my request for Spanish nationality comes through and don't get me writing about that frustrating and Kafkian process.....

So Tuesday saw me accompanying Eladio to vote. We walked the dogs to the voting centre at a local school.  There was quite a queue and the turnout would be pretty high - about 75%. In Spain voting day is always something of a celebration and people have an "aperitif" together afterwards. I wanted to take a photo of my husband voting or in the queue but he didn't oblige. Thus, with the dogs, I made my way to the local "churros" cafe which was full of people who had just voted - mostly elderly (like us!!!!). The area we live in is very conservative and always has been. It was a beautiful sunny day and a wonderful moment to enjoy a coffee outside with a "porra". I did take a photo though of the cafe terraces to show you. You may be able to spot Eladio somewhere in it. 

Festive atmosphere after voting on Tuesday

Olivia also had to vote as she is registered in our area. Thus she and her little family came for lunch. It was great to see Elliot again. I knew for certain that my husband and my daughter had voted for different candidates. However, none of us knew at lunchtime, who would win. The polls though were predicting a large victory for the incumbent conservative leader of the Madrid party PP (People's Party), Isabel Diaz Ayuso. She has become popular maybe because she has dared to keep Madrid open during the pandemic. Her brave decision to support the economy has its dangers but as we would see later that night it was probably one of the main factors of her victory.

Oli and family left after their siesta and we hoped we would see them again this weekend. Eladio and I spent the afternoon quietly meeting up again for dinner in the kitchen. At 9 pm sharp we were in bed and watching a programme dedicated to results' night. I didn't like the campaign but I am always keen on watching results programmes. At home in Bradford as a child, it was a sort of festive occasion and my mother would be the last to leave the TV set. Very soon afterwards the results started coming in and from the very beginning it was clear that Diaz Ayuso would have  a landslide victory. She ended up with more votes than the whole of the left block but just short of a majority. That means she will have to rely on the support of the far right wing party Vox. I didn't vote for her but I was quite pleased that she won and I'm not sure why. Perhaps its because there were no candidates on the left that allured me. One in particular, Pablo Iglesias, "coletas" (pony tail) as he is called here, makes my stomach heave. He is still the leader of the communist party, Podemos, and even left his government post of deputy Prime Minister to lead his party for the Madrid elections. He didn't do well and has announced his retirement from politics. Good riddance is all I can say. These are the results of the snap elections in Madrid.

Results of the snap elections in Madrid this week

Some people are saying these results could be mirrored nationally but I doubt it. Madrid has been in the hands of the conservatives for many years now but that is not the case in the rest of Spain. 

We fell asleep just as we listened to Pablo Iglesias saying he was retiring from politics. Maybe that is one of the most important outcomes of the snap elections. There were local elections too this week in my home country and as predicted, the Conservatives won again, even in the so called Red belt areas. Despite all his bad politics and scandals, Boris Johnson is faring well politically; something I do not understand. Possibly the alternative is not convincing. 

Wednesday dawned, the sun shone and the temperature rose to 24ºc. It felt like summer on our walk. Such good weather was forecast for this weekend that I was not really surprised to receive my first "Swimmy" reservation. 4 young women would be coming to use our pool on Friday from 2 to 6 pm. Swimmy is a French owned platform for renting and hiring the use of private pools. It's not as lucrative as Airbnb but a nice income to receive if no one is staying or using the pool. I did have 4 guests this week but they were not pool users. I haven't gone in yet either.

One of the highlights of Wednesday was my weekly Facetime video call with Phil and Kathy who live in Keighley, West Yorkshire. It had been nearly a week since Phil had his shoulder replacement operation at the Yorkshire Clinic and he was recovering slowly. I told my friend that soon it would just be a memory and they would be on their way in their camper van to sunny Spain. 

That evening, I did something different which I'm sure Kathy and Phil would have enjoyed. I invited Eladio to a glass of wine and pistachios by the swimming pool before our dinner. It was a lovely moment so I took a photo to share with you.

An aperitif by the pool on Wednesday evening

The moment was marred a bit by my worrying over Suzy who seemed to have gone AWOL in Nicaragua. I hadn't heard from her since 2nd May. My elder daughter may have read my thoughts as just before dinner she rang me. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. She had been away in the countryside with no internet connection. Uff. Thank goodness. 

I texted Kathy to say I had heard from Suzy and she was glad. Kathy added that we spend "so much time hoping, praying and bloody worrying". Too right we do. She also said something I agree with; that she felt she had aged so much during this (yes bloody again) pandemic. I feel that is true. I can't wait for it to be over.

I slept relatively well that night and was awake at 7ish on Thursday morning. All was well. I had a much awaited appointment at the hairdresser at 9 am. I was just getting out of the shower when Lucy called to say my father was in a bad way. Still wet, I rushed downstairs to his room with Eladio and we saw a very alarming sight. My father had his head slumped over the table where he had started his breakfast. He was not moving and there seemed to be no response. I feared the worst until Eladio checked his pulse and he was breathing. I immediately rang his doctor on Whatsapp (bless her for allowing me to do that) and within 20 minutes she was there with 2 nurses. By then we had my father lying on his bed. I really thought it was his death bed and I can't begin to tell you how I felt. The doctor checked him over and told us all his vital signs were fine; body temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate and blood pressure. We didn't know what had happened. Maybe he had fainted. There was no knowing. There was an option to take him to hospital but we decided against that as it's so invasive and I wouldn't have been able to be with him. I sat by his bedside most of the morning talking to him even if he couldn't hear me. I was so worried I even rang the Anglican Church in Madrid in case he needed Last Rites. I didn't know if he wanted them but he is the son of a clergyman and deep down is a believer so I thought it was the right thing to do.  We watched him all day. Occasionally he stirred and said the odd word. He was conscious but didn't know what had happened. We spoon fed him a cup of tea which he drank gratefully but had no strength to drink by himself. I made a fortified chicken broth which I knew would do him good and a raspberry smoothie for his lunch. In the middle of the afternoon he began to revive and ask for more food. Oh what a good sign. By 7.30 he was better and out of bed. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him sitting at the table and having his supper - cocoa and biscuits - by himself. He had completely resuscitated. Here he is smiling for the camera. 

My father recovered

I know he is 102, a grand old age, but my father is my father and I do not ever want to lose him nor am I prepared. He has been in my life forever and has been and is a wonderful father. I tried to tell him that while he was lying semi asleep on his bed. He told me he was proud of me - cherished words - although I'm not sure why. I certainly am proud of him. How strong he is for his age to have recovered so quickly and how relieved I was to see him better.

He slept well that night and woke up bright as a button on Friday morning; had his shower and when I went in to see him he was having his breakfast, almost completely recovered. I'm so glad I have my father back. I still checked up on him during the day. I was glad to see he was reading again. When he doesn't read I worry as without books he would have nothing to do. That day I gave him my new updated book or rather the proof or sample that my British publisher sent me recently. It has some corrections and additions. I hoped it would spark my father's interest in reading again and I was happy to see it did.

Friday morning was our weekly shopping morning and after our walk off we went to Mercadona, then a stop for coffee at Alverán, finishing at Carrefour Market. Meanwhile Lucy had cleaned the swimming pool terrace and Javier had been to do an extra cleaning job of the pool in time for the arrival of our first "Swimmy" guests. The girls arrived at about 2.45 just after our lunch and immediately fell in love with the house, garden and pool. They wanted to know if they could to spend the night another time and for sure I said yes as I gave them a tour of the house. They were an interesting group. There was a Chinese girl called Lucia who speaks Spanish like a native, another Chinese girl who had come to Spain recently, a Spanish friend and interestingly a young woman who was Russian born to a Russian mother and Cuban father. She is from St. Petersburg but has lived here for 17 years. I tried out my very limited Russian on her but soon switched to Spanish. 

I left them to it to have a siesta where I didn't sleep. I spent all afternoon trying to send money to Suzy in Nicaragua using Western Union. Her Revolut credit card doesn't work there so the only way was to use WU for her to be able to pick up cash at a local office. I have used Transfer Wise successfully but Western Union was a drag and very picky. I finally managed to make a transfer after setting up an account which involved loads of personal questions (I suppose to avoid fraud). That was done but when Suzy went to pick up the money in the small town of Muelle de los Bueyes they were picky and wouldn't hand it over. We had no idea why. So I tried again and again until I was able to make another seemingly successful transfer. I had to wait until about 9 pm to hear that she had finally been able to pick it up in cash. Damn Western Union and damn Suzy's decision to travel to Nicaragua from where it is now difficult to return to Spain, something we are working on. If only she had stayed in Costa Rica. If she had she would be home by now. Unless you are desperate I would not recommend you ever use Western Union. 

When I got the news Eladio and I were out for dinner. Out for dinner you may ask.  Yes!!! It was the first time since the autumn. We went because I needed it and we went because it was warm enough to eat outside. We chose a very local place called "El Tinglado" which is perhaps a bit too popular and was thus crowded. We changed tables 3 times as it was so noisy. We ended up eating at a table on the street which is on a roundabout with lots of traffic. But it was nice to be out and to relax over a delicious meal and to drink the wine El Tinglado serves. Eladio went for their quasi fish and chips. The amount of fish was staggering but my husband went through it all. I had to have a photo.

Eladio's fish and chips Spanish style on our table in the street (haha). 

I went for artichoke followed by this restaurant's best starter, "dessert foie". This is basically frozen foie which they then grind and it ends up looking like sand which you eat with a spoon. 

We were home by 9.30 (early for Spain), greeted Felipe, our Russian born guest, who was enjoying his dinner al fresco on the kitchen patio. The dogs who adore him were salivating at his feet. He always buys sausages as snacks for them which is doing them no good but I don't know how to tell him to stop.

Again that night I was up late watching more of Grey's Anatomy. Even so I was up early on Saturday morning at 7 am sharp. Our golf player guest, the young and handsome Jaume from the Lleida region in Spain, soon joined me. He would be off to play golf in a local tournament on his last day with us. He has been a pleasure to host.

Saturday was to be a family day. Oli suggested we celebrate my father's recovery and I was all for it. Our choice for a celebration was to have our first barbecue of the season. I also made special tartlets for dessert. I love fruit and cream tarts so when I found some tart shells at Mercadona, I bought strawberry jam and whipping cream to make my own. This was the result. They were absolutely delicious and easy peasy to make.

My fruit and cream tartlets

I also made tuna fish spread vol au vent for an apertif to have with some Rioja wine (Luis Cañas). The barbecue would consist of gourmet hamburgers, chorizo, jacket potatoes all washed down with gazpacho and more wine. Here is Eladio grilling the burgers.

Eladio, our barbecue chef

Oli and family arrived early and it was wonderful to be reunited with Elliot who is growing bigger by the day. We brought up his ball park and I spent quality time playing with him. Oli took photos and I chose one of them as this week's feature photo. 

I should have taken a photo of us all around the table but forgot as we dug into the food. It had me feeling full all afternoon and with little appetite for dinner. While Oli and family spent the next two hours in the pool, Eladio and I had a siesta. We then adjoined by the pool for some quality family time. By then Elliot was having his siesta, exhausted from the sun and the water. He is even lovelier when he is asleep. They left at around 7.30 so I had half an hour to catch up on Grey's Anatomy before dinner which we had on the kitchen patio. We were in bed early and soon fell asleep watching a complicated detective series called The Innocent. 

I was up today, the first day of freedom, after the end of the State of Alarm, to find a cooler day. It even began to rain. So there will be no eating outside today or sitting by the pool. If the weather had been better we would have been off to Asturias but will wait now for it to improve. So who knows where I will be writing from next Sunday.

I have come to the end of the tales of this week; a pretty quiet one you will agree, apart from the tremendous shock my father gave us. I shall now print this off for him. He always loves reading my blog and I love giving him his copy. Bless him.

Bless you all too until next Sunday,

Cheers till then, Masha. 

c

Love Story revisited, Rafa Nadal does it again, "sofagate", Suzy's birthday, a parcel from England, Eladio gets his 2nd Covid jab, my father, Charles Courtenay Lloyd, turns 102 and other tales of the week.

 Sunday, 2nd May, 2021

Daddy and I - birthday lunch (fish and chips of course)

Good morning all. 

We are now at the beginning of May, my favourite month. I love May because it's the beginning of the summer and the warm weather with long sunlight hours and also because of the explosion of nature. Our garden is at its best at this time of year. There is probably a bigger explosion of green thanks to the damned rain. After the wonderful spate of good weather during our time in Montrondo, the rain came and it didn't only fall on the plain in Spain, but everywhere in the country. Today, thankfully, that spate is over.

It rained of course last Sunday and we didn't go on our walk. Instead I headed to the kitchen to make an elaborate lunch, a sort of lamb pot roast from a recipe I invented myself. It was delicious. Did I ever tell you that lamb is my favourite meat? Sorry if you are one of the meat haters so in vogue these days. I am aware red meat is not good for me but cannot seem to jump on the bandwagon of those who avoid it. 

Last Sunday, finally we saw Spain's Covid figures gradually going down. The end of the state of alarm is on 9th May and we are all wondering what will happen after that. Will we be able to move freely within the country? I dearly hope so. Covid on a world scale though is not going away nor are the figures declining. Last week I wrote about the dire situation in India with more than a third of the world's cases and that I hoped other countries would help out, especially by supplying oxygen, so much needed there. My hopes were fulfilled when I read that the UK, the US and other countries were doing precisely that. Last week the global numbers for infections and deaths were 147.095.842 and 3.113.551. This week these figures rose to 152.829.820 and 3.206.849 respectively. So the need for vaccines is greater than ever. Last Sunday I read that 1.01 billion people had been vaccinated worldwide. There is a long way to go to reach the whole world, the population of which is nearly 8 billion. But, it's a start. 

Last Sunday was another quiet day for us. We didn't see Oli and family and were missing Elliot who we hadn't seen for weeks. I couldn't get in touch with Suzy in Costa Rica either - her second phone was stolen - so I felt rather cut off from our daughters. Their presence would have cheered me up enormously. Thankfully she got another one this week and we are now in direct contact. 

Instead I watched Love Story. I was lucky to see it had been added to Netflix. If you are my age you will remember the 1970 tragic love story starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal who played Oliver Barret and Jennifer Cavilleri.  There are no spoilers here when I write that she dies aged just 25 as Oliver tells her story at the beginning of this iconic film.

Love Story revisited 

Oliver and Jenny are studying at Harvard and Radcliffe. Oliver Barret is from a rich American family and Jenny, a music student, is of working class origin; a match not approved of by Oliver's father who cuts the purse strings and all contact when they marry.  This film had a huge impact on me when I watched it for the first time aged 13 at a cinema in Bradford.  Yes, it's a soppy love story but beautifully crafted with great dialogue and haunting music. The verbal battles between Oliver and Jenny are exceptional. So is their love. Perhaps one of the biggest quotes from the film come from Jenny when she says "Love means never having to say you are sorry". I like that. The first time I saw the film, my  friend Amanda spoiled part of it for me towards the end. The whole cinema was crying, except for her, and she said out loud that everyone was crying. I was weeping and I hate being interrupted when I am crying during a film or reading a book. I loved it so much I went to see it again and again at local cinemas but hadn't seen it  for decades until last Sunday. It was wonderful to revisit Love Story. If you are younger than me and never saw it and of course, only if you like romantic films, then I urge you to give it a try. I wonder if it will have the same impact on you. 

While I was revisiting Love Story there was an epic tennis match going on at the Barcelona Open, called Conde de Godó. It was the final. Nadal  (34) who has now won it 12 times, was playing the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (22) on his favourite surface, clay and on a court named after him "Pista Nadal".  Tsitsipas is one of a generation who will soon take over from Nadal, Federer and Djokovic. I didn't watch the match which was termed epic. I don't think I could have as it was too tense and too close. Nadal won; you know that now but to do so he had to save a match point from the Greek and lose a couple himself. The result was 6-4, 6-7, 7-5 in a match that lasted 3 hours and 38 minutes. It must have been really nail biting. I remember watching McEnroe and Connors at Wimbledon and I was always on the point of a heart attack and often had to leave the room. That's why I cannot watch Nadal playing in semi finals or finals. I just can't stand the tension. But I love to know when Rafa has won. And he won again last Sunday showing the world he is still the king of clay. 

Nadal celebrating his victory in Barcelona last Sunday. He always bites the cup he wins. 

He will have to watch out though for Tsitsipas who is coming up behind him. Soon he will take over but not yet. 

There was another competition last Sunday, if you can call the Oscar awards a competition. Years ago I would watch the whole ceremony until the early morning but no longer. I'm not sure I would have been able to last week because of television rights - something we never had to worry about in the 70's. I hardly knew anything about the candidates but read the next day that the best film award went to Nomadland. I vaguely know this is a film about people who can't afford a house and live instead in a caravan and have no fixed abode as they are always on the move. I think I'll skip that film when it comes out. In any case I can't even remember the last time I went to a cinema. Netflix and Prime Video are enough for me at the moment or until the very end of the damned pandemic. Ah but later I read that the award for best actor went to Antony Hopkins who needs no introduction. The Wales born actor most famous for his role in The Silence of the Lamb is the oldest actor to win the award which he got for his role in a film called The Father where he plays a demented father. That film I may want to see as I am a huge fan of Antony Hopkins. I am not a fan of demented fathers though. He does seem to like strong and challenging roles doesn't he?

I could have watched the Oscars I suppose as I was up really late - maybe until 2.30 in the morning - watching my help-me-get-through-the-pandemic series, Grey's Anatomy. Last week I was half way through season 6. Yesterday I had got as far as season 8. 

Monday came and brought more rain. Oh how depressing. Life is so much more pleasant when the weather is good. I think that's a given, isn't it? Despite the rain we went on our walk but chose the pavement rather than the woodland paths because they were so muddy. Lunch was leftovers - great I didn't have to cook that day - and my afternoon consisted of watching the 3 pm news, our siesta, watching Grey's Anatomy and skyping with Amanda (my weekly counselor), Much of the news didn't interest me or I already knew it. That of course is due to technology. These days we get instant news and when we watch a a news programme on the TV we are already familiar with the topics. One piece of news though that day caught my attention and it had nothing to do with Covid. 

The news was about something called "sofagate". Do you remember when a while back, there was a meeting with top EU officials in Turkey with the President Erdogan (not an endearing figure) and Ursula von Der Leyen was left without a seat next to the President which was taken by Charles Michel. This is it.

The photo that started the "sofagate" issue

Ursula as the President of the European Commission should have been given the seat and not Michel who is the President of the European Council.. Some interpreted this as a slight to women. I certainly did. I don't know whose fault it was; Erdogan's, the EU's, Michel's or whether it was just a protocol blunder. What I do know is that is very representative of how women, even at the top of the pecking order, are still not considered equal to men. They aren't are they?  Well, on Tuesday, Von der Leyen spoke up and suggested sexism was at the root of the seating blunder. She said she saw no reason why she should have been treated differently to Michel who, by the way, apologised for taking her seat. He may have apologised later but in the photo above he is sitting and looking pretty smug don't you think? If there wasn't any sexism, both Erdogan and Michel would have done something and not left Von der Leyen on the sofa away from them. But they didn't and that proves they are sexist. Von der Leyen gave her version of the issue in a tweet this week: "My visit to Turkey showed how far we still have to go before women are treated as equals. Always. Everywhere. My story made headlines. But there are so many stories of women, most of them far more serious, that go unobserved. We have to make sure these stories are told!". That's why I am telling this story. If I think about it, the easiest think would have been to provide three arm chairs with both officials sitting on either side of Erdogan. Maybe there was no woman on hand when the seating plan was made for the talks. What do you think?

Of interest too, to me at least, is the crisis at the heart of Downing Street over, among other things, the funding of the makeover of Number 11 for the PM's flat.  Apparently the refurbishment cost nearly 200.000 pounds when the allowance is far less; about 30.000. Johnson or his wife wanted to get rid of the "nightmare furniture" from John Lewis inherited by Teresa May. Apparently a donation fund was set up but now Johnson says he paid the difference out of this pocket. His supporters will not be happy with this. He must be feeling attacked from all sides and now his former ally, the divisive Dominic Cummings has come out to attack him on his attitude to the third lockdown which "Dom" advocated. There are reports that Johnson was against the lockdown favouring the economy and that he said he would prefer thousands of deaths to another lockdown. The words it is reported he used are "let the bodies pile high". Could he really have said that? All this may be the beginning of the end Britain's Premiere and I am not certain that his successful vaccination programme will be enough to save him. If the above is true, I and many other people would like to see him go. I am beginning to hate the species of politicians. Most of them in my mind seem to be in it for their own gain. Again, I wonder whether you agree. 

Funnily enough these were not the topics of my two hour skype call with my beloved Amanda. We focused on family issues which are bothering me at the moment. What a wonderful friend I have. Later I got mixed messages from Suzy leaving me not sure whether she is going to Nicaragua with her new boyfriend who is 13 years younger (ouch) or whether she will come back to Spain this summer, with or without him. It won't be easy for him to come because of the entry requirements into Spain. 

All that had me worried and I was a bag of nerves that night, unable to sleep. One good distraction was watching the last two episodes of The Serpent on Netflix. I think I wrote about it last week. Did I? If you want to know, it is the story of how the conman and serial killer of hippies in Asia in the 70's, Charles Sobhraj, was eventually caught and imprisoned. It's tough watching but had us glued. When we finished that I turned to Grey's Anatomy until the early hours. I don't know when I fell asleep but it was awfully late.

Tuesday came. I had hardly slept   - probably less than 3 hours and felt dreadful all morning. Thankfully I slept for 2 hours after lunch.  I was shocked that morning to hear of the death of two Spanish journalists and their Irish environmentalist guide in Burkina Faso of all places. Journalists getting killed? That is a very dangerous profession for some who bring us news others don't want them to bring. That's just what happened as David Beriain and Roberto Fraile, the photographer, while on a mission in an anti poaching patrol. A Jihadist branch has claimed their killing and it was reported they were executed. God! That is a mother's worst nightmare. My heart goes out to their mothers and families. Every day we read of ambushes, attacks and killings in Africa and other areas we are not particularly interested in. So when 100 Afghans get blown up, we turn the page. But when our own people are killed we are shocked and suffer for them. That's sad but true. 

I heard from Suzy that day. She was going to Nicaragua with her new and very young boyfriend and God knows how long she will be there. The next day would be her birthday and she was so far away. 

Wednesday came and found Suzy still in Costa Rica on the border of Nicaragua with her much younger boyfriend, Eric. They had to have a PCR test before entering his country. God knows what they will be doing there. Suzy says she wants to detox in his parents' farming area. I only want her back. We managed to exchange a few words with her in a grainy video call until communication was cut. She was in high spirits and was going to make a meal of pizza and cake. Oh how I wished she could be with us to celebrate. She may have turned 37 but she is still my baby. She didn't send us a picture, so here is one I took in the summer when she was in our garden playing her ukelele, accompanied by little Pippa. Isn't she lovely?

Suzy in her element, playing music and singing, accompanied by Pippa - photo taken last summer in our garden. 

It was still too cold and rainy to sit in our garden and enjoy it. But soon we will. It seems the forecast for next week is good. That's great as this week, the swimming pool maintenance man, Javier, has been here every day to get the pool ready. He has had a hard job as the filter engine broke and the water was literally green. It's normally Eladio's job so I am pleased someone is doing it for him this year. I won't be taking a plunge anytime soon but I do love to see the pool in a good condition. 

That morning saw us on our walk and then at our bank. We first opened a joint bank account with "Caja Madrid" in 1981 - 40 years ago and we have been loyal to this bank ever since. It then became known as "Bankia" and recently it was bought up by the Catalan bank, "Caixa Bank" so our money is now in the hands of the Catalans. We had to go for bureaucracy reasons because of the merger which was boring and time consuming. The bank staffer spent the whole time trying to sell us a television, a brand new 4K Samsung model at 33 euros a month for 3 years. We don't really need a new television but couldn't get why a bank wants to sell televisions to its customers. I suppose it is another way of making money. The staffer, Cristina, was also hell bent on giving us a loan of up to 42k euros which we don't need. If we bought the TV the interest would be lower (crazy). Out of interest we asked what the condition were and then learned Eladio was too old for a loan. I told Cristina that was age discrimination. There is a lot of age discrimination in this society. It actually is rather stupid as these days it is the older population, people with pensions many of whom are quite well off and are spenders of holidays, new cars, etc. The banks and other companies are probably thinking in the past as the older generation now live a lot longer and have more disposable income than ever and would be much better potential customers than those in their 30's and 40's struggling to pay their mortgages. We left feeling a little disgusted.

I came home to rustle up a lovely dish of "paglia e feno" - a recent discovery and then is was the news and siesta time. At 3.45 a new guest arrived, a one night stayer, Adrien from France, who wanted somewhere quiet and with good internet to prepare for an exam. He left late the same night and I never saw him again. 

At 5.30 or so I had my weekly video call with my dear friends Kathy and Phil. The next day Phil was going into the Yorkshire Clinic for his second shoulder replacement operation and both of them have had to isolate before and afterwards. They were a little nervous which is normal. The shoulder will take a few weeks to recover and hopefully soon they will be doing what they both love best - travelling in their camper van which actually has a name; "Vera". Hopefully too they will be visiting us this summer. We read that day there are plans for the resumption of travel, at least in Europe, with vaccine or test apps or passports. We can't wait to see them again on our territory. I would love to visit them in Yorkshire but that will have to be next year now I'm afraid. As to when we can travel internally again in Spain which is what Kathy and Phil asked me, we will know by 9th May when the State of Alarm is over here. 

Dinner was interesting that night in that our kitchen once again felt like the United Nations. That's because our Russian/Spanish guest Felipe, our Serbian guest who goes under the name of "Junior" and lives in Frankfurt, myself - British, Eladio Spanish and Lucy Paraguayan were all there at the same time. Felipe, Junior and I started having a conversation in English about the Soviet Union, Tito, the Balkan War and the situation in Europe at the moment. I was sad to hear that Junior and his family had to leave their country because of the war. That's the story of so many, including my mother and her family, and makes me feel lucky I was born in a safe country with no wars. After our dinner we left them still talking international politics. It was good to have new guests this week; a sign our little business is recovering. 

Once again I was yup late that night watching Grey's Anatomy. It is my drug and way of being distracted from the pandemic and my daily worries and problems. 

It was raining again on Thursday morning. Our walk was dry though and then after more than 10 days the rain stopped. The forecast is good now for the next 10 days and I look forward to eating outside and at least enjoying the view of the pool which is looking less and less green thank goodness. Really not much happened that day, another quiet and dreary day during the pandemic. That day nearly half a million people were vaccinated in Spain. Eladio and I went to the health clinic to confirm my husband's second jab for Friday. Yep, finally the vaccine roll out is speeding up and hopefully, hopefully, we will have enough "herd immunity" to be able to recover our freedom to travel. I can't wait for that day. I bet you can't either.

A parcel arrived from England for my father that afternoon. It was from my friend Joanna who is a teacher of Spanish and lives in Lancashire. We made friends when she came to stay with us as an Airbnb guest just over 2 years ago. She was instrumental in tracking down information and lost cousins for the preparations of my father's family tree and book for his 100th birthday that year. Since then Joanna has always sent us parcels on special occasions for which I am very grateful and cannot compete at all. But this time she had surpassed herself. These were the contents which included a personalised 102nd birthday card, a parcel inside with my father's favourite English confectionery, as well as a sketch of Elsa, our sadly departed Labrador which was for us. Amazing. 

Joanna's birthday card for my father's 102nd. 

Thank you so much Joanna. We don't deserve your generosity but we appreciate it a lot. These were the contents. My card and presents for my father, a book on the history or Russia and flowers, were paltry in comparison.

Parcel contents. I was amazed. 

We loved the  drawing of Elsa, our labrador who died last month. She had it done by an animal artist and I was very touched. This is it. RIP Elsa. We will always miss you. Thanks Joanna again for such a lovely idea.  Her portrait is now gracing the TV lounge.

The sketch of Elsa from Joanna that was also in the parcel from England. 

Not so far away from where Joanna lives in Lancashire, on the other side of the Pennines, in West Yorkshire, our friend Phil had been discharged from the Yorkshire Clinic after the operation to replace his second shoulder. His wife Kathy posted this photo of him recovering at home. The road to recovery is long but soon this episode in their lives will  be a memory. I wish him a speedy recovery. I'm very happy that all went well.

Phil home in Keighley after his shoulder replacement operation on Thursday

Friday morning saw me up early again - no watching of Grey's Anatomy the night before - We were soon on our walk which had to be early as we had the weekly shopping to do. The walk was nothing short of beautiful with all the wild spring flowers in bloom. I especially love the bluebells and the poppies. I had to have a photo to remember the moment.

On my walk with Pippa on Friday. Just love the wild spring flowers, don't you?

We went shoppping but my mind wasn't on it as I was in constant contact with Suzy who was about to cross the border from Costa Rica to Nicaragua where she will spend some time with her  boyfriend Eric's family in a very rural area. She thought she needed an outbound ticket to prove she would be not staying in that central american country - a communist one by the way - and had me looking at flights from Managua to Madrid in the next month or so. There were few to be found under 900 euros - quite an expensive item to have to produce at the border. I suggested she get a return bus ticket to San José which would have been proof enough. Luckily she did get across the border without an outbound ticket. She said it took 2 hours of questioning.  She also had me finding her travel insurance policy, another requisite to get into Nicaragua.   That was slightly easier but not that much as I had no data to go on except for the name of the insurance company. I was happy to help my older daughter but a bit frustrated at the same time as well as worried.

Coffee with Eladio in between shopping at two different supermarkets was a relief and a break in helping out Suzy. We came home to unload everything and then my dear husband was off for his second Covid jab - lucky him he got the Pfizer. He was home very soon and pleased as punch as I was. I took this photo of him which he did not allow me to publish here but I have as I thought it was quite an historic moment. I hope he forgives me. That day, in Spain, over half a million people were given a jab. I think now that 28% of the population has had at least one dose. That's nothing to brag about but it is a sign the roll out is speeding up. 

Eladio after his 2nd jab on Friday with the certificate to prove it.

While he was at the clinic I baked my father's Victoria sponge cake which I would later decorate. It rose beautifully only to sink later. I turned it upside down so that no one would notice. Why does that happen to me always?

I had a lazy afternoon whereas Eladio was busy mowing the lawn. We had a delicious Friday night dinner together when I made "almejas a la marinera" (clams) which was followed by Viennetta ice cream - one of my favourites. Then it was time for the news and some entertainment from Netflix. Later I watched more of Grey's Anatomy and in between texted with Suzy over her flight issues. I was up till 2.15 am. Sugar!

Saturday 1st May dawned, the day of my father, Charles Courtenay Lloyd's birthday. It's unbelievable to think he turned 102. It really is. 2 years ago it was his 100th which was his biggest milestone and such a wonderful event to organise, not to mention the book I wrote and all the other things. I was determined that he would enjoy his birthday quietly with us. No fanfare, just nice family time. His day started with a birthday breakfast with Eladio and I. I provided croissants and lovely crumpets. Here he is at the table yesterday morning.

Breakfast for my father yesterday when he turned 102

For lunch I would prepare fish and chips - the standard meal for birthdays in this house. We were both full - not Eladio who didn't touch the crumpets or croissants - but our walk helped and it was beautiful again as well as sunny.

I finished my father's Victorian sponge cake - to his mother's recipe btw - and this was the end result.

The birthday cake I made for my father

Oli, Miguel and Elliot arrived just before lunch. I hadn't seen Elliot for nearly a month and was worried stiff he wouldn't remember me but he did. Eladio handed him to me in the middle of making fish and chips. I stopped doing that and took him as he melted into my arms. Oh how wonderful to be reunited. We sat together hugging for half an hour until he fell asleep. He slept through my father's lunch unfortunately but babies are babies and can fall asleep or wake at any time.

Soon we were sitting at the table for lunch. We had to have photos of my father first and I have chosen one of my father and I as this week's feature photo. Everyone enjoyed the fish and chips and mushy peas. It was good being together again. Towards the end of the lunch we woke up Elliot and were able to spend quality time with him in the afternoon. Here he is playing with Eladio and my ornaments hahaha.

Grandfather and grandson playing together yesterday

There was time for a quick video call with Suzy for her to say happy birthday to her grandfather. Hopefully she will be home soon. Let's see.

The weather was good and we were soon outside. Elliot wanted to go to the swings at the end of the garden and we joined him. It was like old times when the swings belonged to the girls. When Eladio bought them at the old house in Río Tajo, he could never have imagined they would be for his grandson or grandchildren. It was a lovely sight.

On the girls' swings with Elliot

Oli and family left at around 7 pm. I hope we see them again soon. Eladio and I had missed our siesta and were both tired. I was not hungry for dinner after the fish and chips but ate a bit of fruit. We went to bed early and had a good night's sleep for once - in my case.

Today is Sunday 2nd May. It is Russian Easter and also a holiday in Madrid. I won't notice that though as our day will just be another normal Sunday during the pandemic. However, the sun is shining which makes me more cheerful. I have 3 guests arriving today but have had zero contact with them since they made the reservation so I don't even know what time to expect them. 

Now my friends, I have come to the end of the tales of this week. I hope you enjoyed the read and wish you all the very best.

Cheers till next time,

Masha