Sunny days in Montrondo, Coronavirus cases on the increase, record number of twins in the village, Suzy had to leave, 37 years ago we were officially married, found our house in Asturias and other stories.

Montrondo, Sunday 2nd August, 2020

Me on the staircase of our new house to be

Good morning my friends. I hope this blog post finds you all well wherever you may be.

Life is good at the moment, no complaints at all. That is on the home front though. What is not good is the fact that we are seeing an increase in cases of coronavirus after lockdown in Spain and many other countries. The reasons may be because people are relaxing social distancing and because of young people partying at night. Family gatherings are now seen as a possible cause too and in the UK they are being limited. The UK imposed quarantine on people traveling from Spain and in some areas in the north they have gone back into semi lockdown. In Spain we are seeing cases spiraling with over 500 outbreaks. The worst hit areas are Catalonia, Aragón and Navarra. We are also seeing that the average age of the infected is far lower but so too is the mortality rate which has gone from 11 or so percent down to about 1 or 2. We have to be on our guard all the time.  In Spain we are worried about all the new outbreaks but as a friend pointed out what is really shocking is the number of cases in the US where nearly 25% of all cases come from. Today the number of infected there is over 4.7 million and the number of deaths is 157 thousand.  Worldwide, the numbers grew again this week to a total number of cases up to nearly 18 million and 685.855 deaths. The virus is not going away. 

With no sign of Covid in our village, we had a great week in Montrondo. It was warm and sunny but we we were spared the excruciating heat of Madrid. We have visited areas in Asturias to see houses - our new and exciting project. Today is our last day here as we shall be returning home this morning.

Last Sunday was Grandparents' day but we were missing little Elliot who is now 10 months old. Oli sent us a beautiful photo of him to compensate.

Little Elliot last Sunday

I thought it was a beautiful photo of him. Even though I am biased, I think you have to admit he is a gorgeous looking baby. Don't you? In the evening we had a video call and were able to see him. He had taken a fall that day while crawling on the concrete around the pool where they live and had his first bruises on his face. Poor little mite. No doubt, there will be more. 

We wished he and his parents could be with us in Montrondo but that wasn't possible at all as Olivia is so busy with her presenting job that she wasn't able to come. Nor will she be able to come until September. 

Of note, by the way, an actress of the same name as my younger daughter, the much admired Olivia de Havilland, died last weekend, aged an astonishing 104 years old. Who doesn't remember her as Melanie in Gone with the wind, one of the most popular films ever? It's one I could watch over and over again and never get tired of. However, I didn't really like her role in the film as she was far too much a goody goody two shoes. She was British born and I heard that day that she and her fellow actress sister, Joan Fontaine who died in 2013, did not speak to each other for 40 years. Imagine. De Havilland was the only surviving member of the cast of Gone with the wind. RIP I thought. 

There was a little bit of  news about Montrondo which hit the local papers here and which I wanted to share with you. I think I have written here before that our village seems to produce more twins than normal. A few years ago there were 7 pairs. Well since then the number has grown. The article reports that there are now 11 pairs. That is quite incredible when you think that in the winter the population here is under 20 people. It seems the village may hold the record for more twins per square metre than anywhere else in the world. In the article, my neighbour, Salomé, who is a mother of twins herself (Patri and Adri),  is quoted as saying that when a woman from Montrondo gets pregnant her first question is not what sex the baby is but whether she will be having twins. It would be great to get the 11 pairs together but people come and go and none of them live here permanently so I can only show you a photo of just some of them taken a few years ago. 

Some of the twins from Montrondo

Nobody seems to the know the reason for this phenomenon but local lore points to the water from a spring near the village. Could the water really be the answer? I have no idea but I do find the statistics for twins here exceptional. 

We felt safe in Montrondo and only ventured out for our walk in the morning, joined by Suzy who had no classes as it was Sunday. We went along the old paths so as to be able to skip wearing a mask. It was in the woods part of the path that we were interrupted by cows who rushed past us on their way to other pastures. Pippa goes mad when she spies cows so thankfully we had just enough time to put her on her lead. I was not unduly worried as I think cows are generally very peaceful animals. Suzy though nearly had a fit hahahaha. Well we nearly all had a fit when on our way back a bull appeared and a gigantic one at that. Eladio told us to continue our walk and not to be worried. He was right of course. The bull was bringing up the whole herd and stayed a while to look at us to make sure we were not a threat. I found the whole episode quite exciting and took a short video which you can see here.

We loved the walk and I quite enjoyed the cow episode hahahaha. Here are Eladio and Suzy on their way down the path towards Montrondo. 

On our walk on Sunday 

It was coffee time when we got home and also time to make lunch. Suzy and I spent time cooking together and that day made my new salmon and leek pies which are just divine. I made a vegetable soup to go with it. Here is the table ready for our lunch. 

Our lunch last Sunday

The rest of the day was spent very quietly, lying on the sun loungers at the back of the house and under the shade of the apple trees with the help of a large parasol.

Monday came and our house searching resumed in earnest. We spent a lot of the day ringing estate agencies to see some of the houses on our list the next day. By the end of the day we had a list of 6 to visit on Tuesday and another 5 on Friday. 

It was just Suzy, Pippa and I on our walk that morning and we chose to go to Senra for the reward of a coffee at the grumpy man's bar, Cumbres de Senra. We then walked up the hill to the local bakery which has been going strong for more than 150 years but instead of walking home we called Eladio to come and pick us up as it was so hot. That day was possibly one of the hottest in Spain and even though up in the mountains it is cooler, it was still pretty stifling even in Montrondo. Suzy had her first lessons after the weekend and was very disappointed with the internet coverage here - plain ADSL - which hindered some of her classes. She was very upset as she had planned to stay with us for a week but could not jeopardise her job.  So there and then we bought a train ticket for her to return to Madrid that evening. We would miss her. We had a quick lunch and I had some time to rest before driving her to León - 75km away. Her Ave train (high speed)  was leaving at 8.30 pm and takes only 2.15 h compared to 3.15 by car, but we had a bit of time to get her some food at a nearby supermarket. I stayed on to buy more provisions while Eladio took her to the train station nearby.

Meanwhile, of course, we missed Olivia on TV reporting that day at 8 pm. We missed her live but were able to see her presenting when she sent us the links. She looked spectacular that day when she was wearing a royal blue dress which is definitely her colour. Her hair looked great too but I'm afraid her news was dire. Her first report was on restrictions imposed by other countries about travelling to Spain which you can see here. Her second report was more upbeat and positive and saw her reporting on new vaccines, some of which it seems may be ready by Christmas. Oh how they are needed. 

We weren't home until 9.45 and it was still light. I love these long summery days.  We had a simple dinner on the kitchen terrace which consisted of a most delicious meat pie I had bought at Gadis, accompanied by a glass of gazpacho and some much needed Rioja. 

We later went over the houses we were to visit the next day and even looked at more - there were so many and we were very undecided as to whether we wanted one out in the sticks, in a small village or in a town. There was a lot of choice but I knew it would all boil down to both price and a gut feeling of "yes this is it" even if it didn't tick all the boxes.

We planned to get up at 6.30 on Tuesday morning and leave at about 7.45 for our first house visit at 10 am near Cudillero. In the end I woke up at the unearthly hour of 5 in the morning. As I browsed my phone over my first cup of coffee, Facebook reminded me that that day, 28th July, 37 years ago had been our civil registry wedding. Wow I thought! We actually met 40 years ago this summer and for both of us it was nearly love at first sight. I have never looked back and consider I won the lottery of life when it comes to marriage. Our real wedding was the church ceremony on 21st August 1983 but as we were to be married in a non Catholic church, not recognised by the Spanish government, we had to have a civil registry wedding. We couldn't marry in a Catholic church as I am not Catholic and Eladio as many of you know was a priest and it was a no no for him. I didn't want to go through it but we had to do the motions. Our only guests were our two witnesses, Eladio's parents. We went out to lunch afterwards and I remember having an odd feeling of yes, I'm married but not the way I wanted to be. For the record, Susana, our older daughter, was conceived that night although at the time we had no way of knowing. We only celebrate our church wedding anniversary but officially it was our 37th this week. Here is a photo of us looking quite serious. I was 26 at the time and Eladio was 39 but looks far younger.

Our registry wedding 37 years ago this week

When Eladio got up, I told him and he said we must celebrate. We kissed and later forgot. We will celebrate properly in August and this year we are going away for a few days and have chosen Portugal. Hopefully the borders will be open. 

We left for Asturias at 7.45 and it would take us 2.15 hours to get to our first viewing in a village called Albuerne. I had a strict programme to see  houses at 10, 11, 12.30 in the Cudillero area, then at 13.30 in Candás and finally at 16.30 somewhere near Llanes. The whole day was a bit of a rush. The rain did not help either and we got soaked during the day. It was sunny all over Spain except for Asturias. I was wearing some yellow suede espadrilles which got soaked too and later I saw my feet were all yellow hahahaha. It still hasn't gone completely after several showers. 

We were to be met by various estate agency representatives and our first stop was Albuerne. We did not like the house and quickly moved on. We had some time before our next appointment so decided to visit the little village of Lamuño where we had seen a house we liked but couldn't visit because it was rented out to holiday guests. We wanted to contact the owner, and avoid estate agency fees which can be up to 5% of the price, so decided to find it ourselves. We loved Lamuño, just 1.3km from the  most amazing beach and we loved the façade of the house which we found after asking in the local bar - always the best way. This is it from the front. It is though very modern and it seems a pity the owners covered the original stone with some pink sort of paint. 

The porch entrance to the house (the one in the middle).

We bravely knocked on the door and a surly man opened it just slightly, a guest of course. We told him our story and he gave us the owner's phone and we rang him. The owner said it was fine to go inside but the surly man wasn't having it.  Later we spoke at length to the owner and he sent us lots of photos . It is a renovated 19th century terrace house which is spacious. It has 3 bedrooms, a study, 2 bathrooms, a wash room, kitchen and lounge and most importantly a garden. 

The house and garden from the back

The house is about 120m2 and the garden 300. Best of all it has been completely renovated and looks immaculate and brand new inside which means we would not have to do any repairs and could just move. Above all we  wanted to avoid having to renovate a house in Asturias all the way from Madrid. We did that in Montrondo and it took 2 years and we don't want to go through that again. Of all the houses we saw that day, this was the one we liked best. Also we loved Lamuño. It's a pretty and well kept village with lots of beaches very near and surrounded by beautiful views. For most of the week our hearts were set on this house but in the end we chose something very different. 

We were on time for our next appointment in Samao. The house was lovely but tiny with just two bedrooms and one bathroom so we saw it quickly and moved on to the next appointment in a village nearby. There the house was lovely from the outside but awful inside so again we moved on. Our next appointment was  a town house in Candás, a sea side town, and which we had had our eye on for quite a while. We arrived in pouring rain and the estate agent gave us gloves and shoe covers to put on before going inside - an anti Covid measure. In Asturias there are hardly any cases and they don't want more. 

Eladio in the rain - see the steps we don't like

We liked the house from the outside but it has  a big drawback in that it is built on a slope and has lots of steps to the entrance. 

The house in Candás

We actually liked the house and garden but I hated the surroundings - ugly blocks of flats and did not like the inside at all. Of course this is a house town so there would be flats. We were also told that everything was on our doorstep - shops etc, but we didn't like the streets. We are just not town people. The house is 500 metres to the port and beach and we went to have lunch on the sea front at a place called Nautico. As it was raining Candás was not looking pretty but I compared it to other towns such as Luanco, Luarca, Llanes, Ribadasella and I'm afraid Candás is nothing special compared. 

At 16.30 we were in the village of Hontoria near Llanes and saw a house which was great on the outside but terrible inside. The estate agent then suggested seeing a small house which had just been renovated in the seaside village of Poo. We went along as after all while we were in the area it was worth seeing another house.   It was lovely but minuscule, like a doll's house. We had finished our house viewing programme at about 17.30 and faced a 2.15 hour drive back home. It's amazing how Eladio and I have the same taste for houses or a feeling for what we might like and that day we both agreed that our first choice by far was the little house in Lamuño. But we still had to see houses on Friday so couldn't decide then. 

We were home by 8 pm to be greeted by Pippa who we had left in the house with the door open to the garden. I felt bad about leaving her but thought she would be better off at home rather than in the car all day. 

Again we had missed Olivia on the TV but saw her later via the links she sent. She also sent a photo of her ready to go live in the studio. She was wearing a white dress that day. She told us the whole process of getting ready to present in the studio (hair, make up and dressing)  takes one hour. 

Olivia ready to go live on Monday evening

Both of us were pretty exhausted when we got home. All we did was call the girls, have a simple dinner, look at the photos of the houses, ask the owner of the one in Lamuño lots of questions and then we went to bed to read before falling asleep.

I got up at 6.50 on Tuesday morning feeling rested after the long day driving and visiting houses. We both spent a pretty lazy day and didn't even go for a walk. It was very hot in Montrondo with temperatures reaching 30ºc and Spain has seen a heat wave this week with July being one of the hottest on record. The forecast for the rest of the week showed towns like Bilbao up in the north reaching 42ºc something that hasn't happened since 1940 odd! Instead of our walk I did domestic tasks such as the laundry and hanging out three washing loads in the garden. I also did a deep clean of all 4 bathrooms and felt very satisfied afterwards. We had planned our second house hunting trip for Friday and when another house came up for sale which looked like it might be a good fit, I rang the estate agent concerned, adding one more house to the list. 

I was even lazy about lunch and decided on a barbecue which meant Eladio would be the main chef. Here he is grilling our hamburgers and sausages.

Eladio preparing our barbecue on Wednesday. Note Pippa is lying in the sun nearby!

We watched the news and the top topic is still coronavirus. In Spain the numbers increase daily and on Wednesday there were nearly 2000 newly infected. The profile of those infected has changed since lockdown and it now younger people, men and women in their early 40's. That could well be because old people are now much more protected. The daily number of those newly infected is on a par with when we were in lockdown. However, very few are dying and there are not many people hospitalised. The explanation our top scientist gave for the increase in numbers is the increase in the amount of testing. He may have a point. I am still asking myself whether this is a second wave or a continuation of the first. 

It was a question I asked my dear friend Amanda in our weekly skype call that afternoon. She wondered the same. Of course, as she lives in the UK and I live in Spain we spoke about the UK Government imposing quarantine on all travelers coming from Spain. Most of our conversation was about the pandemic too but we also spoke about our house seeking. Being British born, we also spoke about the weather (haha) and I was happy to hear that the UK was enjoying good weather for a change. The UK had some very high temperatures again this week and saw droves of people hitting the beaches which looked far too crowded for people to maintain social distance. The cases there are also increasing. 

The good weather here has enabled us to eat all our meals outside every day since we have been here, including our breakfasts when it should be much colder outside yet it isn't. We weren't very hungry but had a pleasant dinner together on the kitchen terrace.

That day we did not miss Oli on the TV. Her news was also about the surge in outbreaks and cases in Spain of the virus; Catalonia, Aragón and now Madrid being in the top spots. 

Oli presenting on Wednesday

Later that night we started a new series on Netflix called Dark and which seems to be very popular. It did not have me riveted and Eladio soon fell asleep. 

I was up again at 6.50 the next day. It was another lazy day but this time we went on our walk and we needed it too. We chose the old paths so as to walk without masks, only donning them when in the street. We went early to avoid the heat. Here is Eladio that day enjoying our walk. Thankfully there was no sign of any cows to distract Pippa.

Eladio on our walk on Thursday

We later spent a lot of time finalising the details of our programme of visits to houses in Asturias the next day. We even found some new houses which meant more logistics, phone calls, scouring photos, etc. That actually took up most of the afternoon but finally I had a detailed programme for Thursday. We both feel so excited about this new project so late in our lives and commented to each other whether we were crazy to be buying a fourth house, albeit a very modest one with the budget we have. 

We were living in our little bubble in Montrondo that day and most of our time here. We missed the girls and Elliot. Oli is so busy now having to prepare content and present it live in the studio every day. We watch her as often as we can and are always interested to see what she will be wearing or how her hair has been done. On Thursday she looked spectacular in a shocking pink dress with the best hair style so far. I told her so and she relayed the information to the hairdresser who was pleased. Here she is on TV talking about the super spreaders of the virus - pretty frightening I have to say.

Oli in pink on Thursday with a lovely hairstyle

When she finished she got ready to go home. She took a picture of herself which had me laughing as she was still wearing the pink dress but had changed the high heeled shoes for her yellow sandals which made for a funny match. Her mask was at hand too reminding me of the pandemic which I sometimes forget about. It is still there and not going away. 

Oli relaxing after reporting - notice no high heels anymore

After work she rushes home to see Miguel and Elliot. She told me that night in our daily video call that Elliot gets very excited when she comes home. I'm not surprised. We also had a call with Suzy who seemed in high spirits which made me happy. She had a friend over - Pili - and has lots of plans this week. Good for her.

The rest of the day panned out as usual and there is nothing much to report. We went to bed early feeling excited about our trip the next day.

On Friday I was awake at 6.10 although we weren't leaving until 8.30. Our first appointment was at 11 and the drive was about 2.5 hours. It was to be an interesting day visiting parts of Asturias we didn't know. We were to see 3 houses that day and had no idea that at the end of the day we would have given our word in acceptance for one of them. 

Our first appointment was in a tiny village called El Cueto Meré, next to the village of Meré. These villages are located in between The Picos (Picos de Europa natural park), an important tourist destination, and the sea with lots of beaches to choose from which are just a short drive away. Meré is just 12km from the popular town in the Picos called Arenas de Cabrales where the famous cheese comes from. Beaches are very close too with quite a choice at only a short car ride away. We had found this house on internet last weekend and had phoned the owner, Mari Paz, who runs it as a rural hotel. We couldn't see it until Friday as there were guests and there would be guests coming too on Saturday. We loved the village as soon as we saw it with views everywhere of these extraordinary mountains. We loved the house from the outside but were wary about what we would find inside as our experience had shown us that despite the photos, many of them are fine on the outside but disastrous inside. This was not the case with La Casa del Cueto which is what probably influenced our decision to buy it. 

Our new house to be: Casa del Cueto

It was her husband, José Manuel, who greeted us and showed us the house. As soon as we walked in, without talking to each other, both Eladio and I knew that this was it, this was the house we wanted. Overall, for the budget we had, we think it is the best we could find. The house comes fully furnished and equipped, just as it is so we would be ready to move in. I like everything apart from some of the decoration and the settee and a few other pieces, but the rest is fine. I hate the bric a brac and pictures but they will be easy to replace. The main changes are minor and would be redecorating the lounge, getting rid of the cheesy bric a brac, maybe some new doors on the kitchen cupboards, a complete change of the pictures hanging in the house and getting rid of the hallway console which is just not our taste. The rest of it is fine. What we like is the structure, the floors, ceilings, doors and staircase which no doubt are original. The house is big on the outside, not so big inside but has everything we need: kitchen, pantry, lounge and bathroom on the first floor and 4 bedrooms and another bathroom on the second floor. There is also an attic which could easily be turned into another room, lounge or study. The house  comes with a garage which seems to be used as an outdoor covered terrace and an open terrace. There is no garden but as the house is surrounded by green, it's not vital. The house has been recently painted and is in very good condition. It is quaint and has a special charm. Being over 100 years old it has a feel and decor resembling the 30's. It is an old fashioned house which is right up our street. The owner told us that if our idea is to rent it, which it is, in between using it ourselves, that the house would eventually pay for itself. That is our hope too. We took some pictures and told José Manuel we loved the house, but had to see a couple more and that we would most probably buy it. We also asked him to let us know if there were other interested parties so as to secure it for ourselves. He kept his word. 

Me in the very old fashioned kitchen

You can see a full set of photos here. 

We left with a good feeling and drove down to the bigger village of Meré and had a coffee at a bar.

At the little bar in Meré 1.1km from the house

Then we drove back the way we had come via the nearest big town of Posada de Llanes and saw signs to various beaches on our way. Our next appointment was in a village near Colunga where we were to see a stunning old Asturian style house in La Riera. 

The house near Colunga. Wonderful outside but a disaster inside

It was fabulous on the outside but totally vandalised inside. It belonged to an investment fund and no way were we going to embark on a project to repair it entirely inside. We left feeling more convinced than ever that we far preferred the house in El Cueto actually called "Casa El Cueto". We liked it more than the house in Cudillero, despite the former being nearer the sea. 

Wanting to explore the beaches in the area, to see what they were like, I had booked a table at a popular restaurant called Fito Mar on the Espasa beach. We loved the beach but weren't so fond of the restaurant.

The Espasa beach near Colunga - very typical Asturian beach

It was full and very noisy and service was slow. What was excellent was my plate full of miniature scallops, not so the dish of clams as the sauce was terribly salty.

Miniature scallops - had these at the Fito Mar restaurant on Friday

I later had an ice cream enjoying the view of the beach.

With time on our hands until our next appointment at 5.30 we drove back to Posada to see what the town was like but we went at the wrong time. In the morning it looked thriving with a wonderful little market but when we arrived it was all sleepy. Thus we walked the streets a bit and then drove back the way we had come, this time to a tiny village called Carrandi also near Colunga. There we were to see the last house on our list, a modern construction perched on a a very steep hill. 

The pink house in Carrandi

The house looked great on the outside but we hated everything about the inside. We didn't like the plot of land either as it was on a sort of precipice. We did the motions of looking around with interest out of courtesy to Jorge from the estate agency but wanted to run away as soon as we had seen the inside. 

We must have left at around 5.45 and had a 2 hour drive back to Montrondo. During the drive we agreed we would buy Casa El Cueto. José Manuel rang us while we were driving to say he had other interested parties coming to see it the next day. Whether that was true or a strategy to make us buy the house, we will never know although I tend to trust him. Thus we agreed verbally there and then that we would buy it and give a deposit after signing a pre purchase contract. We can't move in or sign the deeds until the beginning of October so we shall have to wait. Eladio was impatient (me too) but I told him if he had spent all his life without a house in Asturias he could spend another couple of months. No doubt Mari Paz and José Manuel want to take full advantage of the high season before giving up the house. I would do the same. 

We came home to find lots of Eladio's family here. They were gathering for the annual Santa Marta fiesta which because of Covid is not going to happen maybe for the first time in the history of the village, bar the Civil War. 

We were soon in the house and made our dinner which we had outside on the back terrace. It was unbelievably warm at 9 pm at night which is very unusual in Montrondo. I didn't have much food left but rustled up a little meal of scrambled eggs and ham. Ah and we celebrated giving our word to the purchase of the house with a glass or two of Albariño white wine from the excellent Martin Codax winery in Galicia. La casa del Cueto will be our 4th house! We wondered whether we were crazy but thanks to Airbnb we have managed a good standard of living since I lost my job over 3 years ago and this new house is part of our business. 4 houses sounds a lot and it is but in truth the only house of real worth is our Madrid home. The other 3 are properties are of far less value compared. Reservations at our apartment near Santa Pola and the beach are coming along nicely, despite Covid and people traveling less, and that day we had our third set of guests; 2 couples from Valencia who were spending 3 nights there. Lucy welcomed them warmly and the guests told me they loved the apartment. I was glad. 

A glass of Martin Codax Albariño white wine to celebrate on Friday evening

We rang both girls to give them more information about the house and to catch up on their lives. We will be seeing them this evening and Elliot of course whom we have missed.

We watched some old Clint Eastwood film on TV but were soon asleep on the sofa and had to wake up to go to bed. I slept quite well that night.

Saturday came and it was 1st August. It should have been the village fiestas but that was not to be. Usually the village is full at this time but it didn't seem it at all yesterday. I went on my walk with Pippa and hardly saw a soul. Eladio stayed behind to hoover. We had changed the sheets and I had cleaned the bathrooms so everything would be ready for the next time we come here.

We were both excited about the house and keep looking at the photos. I keep thinking about the things I want to change. My husband who is not into interior decorating (haha) thinks everything Mari Paz is leaving us if fine but it is not. I shall make the changes slowly until the house is more our style. 

We had lunch from some of the last of our provisions and spent the afternoon as we have done here nearly every day, reading under the shade from the trees and parasol at the back of the garden and in peace. 

The day ended with our last dinner on the kitchen terrace and a video call with the girls. They were at home where they had all enjoyed the swimming pool that afternoon. I am not looking forward to the high temperatures in Madrid but I am looking forward to seeing the girls again and especially little Elliot.

We were in bed early on our last night here and this morning I was awake at just after 6 am. It's still dark as I am writing now while Eladio and Pippa sleep. We will be in no hurry to leave and will no doubt have lunch on the way home, maybe at the Parador in Benavente.

Next week we will be on grandparent duty and life will be back to normal at home near Madrid. You will hear all about it in next Sunday's post. Meanwhile, my friends, I wish you the very best until then.

Cheers for now,

Masha

House hunting in Asturias, Elsa has a broken leg, family dinner, cooking with Eva, to Montrondo with Suzy, coronavirus news is bleak and other stories.

Montrondo, Sunday 26th July, 2020

The four of us with Pippa - family dinner at Oli's on Tuesday evening.

Good morning everyone. How are you doing? 

Well, here we are in our beloved village and in our beloved house in Montrondo. We came on Friday with Suzy - such a treat - and will be staying for a week or so. We are far away from coronavirus or at least we think we are. There are over 16 million cases in the world now with the total death toll reaching 645.000. Spain has seen a dramatic rise in cases after the end of lockdown on 21st June last. Outbreaks are growing every day, so much so that we are up to 1000 new cases per day, more than some of the days during lockdown. Most of the cases originate from young people enjoying night life - now curbed - and by family reunions. We have Eladio's family here and have to be very careful. Last night we heard on the news that the UK and some other countries will impose quarantine on tourists returning from Spain. The main areas affected are in the North East - Catalonia and Aragón but there are spikes all over the country. Spain's figures are dramatic for post lockdown but this is not the only country experiencing a surge in new contagions. France, Germany and Belgium are experiencing a rise too with France also reporting 1000 new cases per day. This is very worrying and I just hope we all won't have to go back into lockdown. We had all hoped for a semi virus free summer, so needed to boost tourism, but either the virus never went away or this is a new wave. Masks are obligatory nearly everywhere in Spain both indoors and outdoors and we even have to wear them here in supposedly virus free Montrondo when we step outside our garden. 

I don't have as much to tell you this week as I did in my last post as we have had rather a quiet week at home in Madrid until we came here. It was very hot, extremely hot, and if it weren't for the pool I have no idea how we would have coped. 

Last Sunday it was put to full use. Our house was full too. We had the French family of 4 and our 2 Catalan guests who brought their son, Albert, in the afternoon. Suzy had a guest too, a school friend Pili who she has known since she was tiny. Thankfully the house and garden are big enough to accommodate everyone and there are lots of corners to hide or maintain independence.

On the topic of houses, we continued our online search for a house in Asturias, inspired by our holiday there. We have found a few we think we might like but have to see them first. We are not sure whether we want a house in a village or a town or somewhere more remote. What we want for sure is a house that is pretty, built in the local style, doesn't need a lot of repair, is not too far from the coast and that has at least  3 or 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a garden of some sort. There is one that looks great online and ticks nearly all the boxes but we won't know if it is "the house" until we see it.  This is it.  

The house we like best so far. 

One box it doesn't tick is that it doesn't have a traditional Asturian type granery called "horreo" in Spain. I can imagine turning one into a dream Airbnb apartment. I absolutely love them but they are usually are built on farm like houses, something we would love too so long as the coast is near. The house above is less than 1km to the beach and is in a small fishing village. 

A typical Asturian granery

It's so exciting house hunting again. I had no idea that at this stage in life we would be embarking on buying another house; as if we didn't have enough with our main home in Madrid, our apartment in Santa Pola and our restored house in Montrondo. Well, it's all thanks to Airbnb. If we continue to get income from renting rooms and our houses, then another one in Asturias may well be worth it. The idea is to use it ourselves as well as rent it out.  This summer most Spaniards are taking staycations and rural areas are the most popular. Asturias is possibly the only coronavirus free region in Spain and is more popular than ever this summer. 

I had that on my mind last Sunday and searched online and would continue to do so all week. Sunday was a pleasant and quiet day for us, so there is not much to tell. The afternoon was spent in the shade by the pool but the highlight of the day was dinner with Suzy and Pili which we had on the kitchen terrace. Our meal consisted of home made vichysoisse followed by Scottish smoked salmon with creme fraiche, dill,  boiled potatoes and a little coleslaw. Later we started a new series on Amazon Prime which was right up our street; about a missing girl. We are suckers for kidnapping detective stories. If you are into this genre, it's a French series called Last Chance.

I was up at 6.30 on Monday morning, ready to start the week. It was to be another scorcher. I did a bit of gardening that morning. It's not something I do often. This is Eladio's domain but I am in charge of dead heading the roses and doing a similar job with the geramiums that surround the pool. Despite the irrigation system, nearly every time we come back from a trip the flowers are all fading. That morning, aided by little Eva, the French family's delightful 7 year old daughter, I did both jobs. Suzy caught me on camera. I don't look too good wearing my old Marks and Spencer nightie hahahaha but that's how I come down for breakfast until I do my ablutions later on.

Me removing the dead flowers, mainly the geraniums, on Monday morning

It was too hot  to go on our walks and I missed them. I spent the morning quite lazily with my only responsibility being to make lunch and I decided on something simple. Thus I had a lot of time on my hands which I put to use by sitting in the garden under the trees reading. My Catalan guests meanwhile were having a leisurely breakfast on their own private patio on the ground floor and my French guests were by the pool. Eladio went off to have a haircut and came back worried he may have caught Covid. I don't think he did. 

The highlight of the afternoon was a catch up skype call with my dear and oldest friend Amanda. And the highlight of the evening was watching Oli on TV as we do every day from Monday to Friday. Her programme, España Directo usually starts at 19.45 or later at 8 pm and she is on very soon after the start. I watched her with Suzy and we were both very much in awe when we saw her that day. She simply looked spectacular. Her hair was perfect; the best we have seen. Her makeup too as well as dress and high heeled shoes. Her diction was perfect as was her reporting. When we watch her we are so in awe we hardly pay attention to what she says. That's wrong of us but I suppose natural as we are her family. Suzy took a video and later told her sister she had never seen her looking so poised or beautiful. Oli commented it had taken a week to get the look right. I suppose we would all look good if we too had a personal stylist, hairdresser and make up artist! Unlike me, Oli didn't put on any weight after giving birth to Elliot last September and her figure looked very trim in an elegant shocking blue tight fitted dress.

Oli reporting live. She gets better and better

You can see the clip here by the way. She confessed to us that being a presenter rather than a reporter which has always been her job, has its challenges. She had never used a teleprompter before and found it difficult as she is used to speaking live. You might be interested to know that she creates her own content and writes the text for the teleprompter. I think she doesn't use it much as she knows her subject very well. 

Her news was dire though. That day there were over 150 outbreaks of Covid in Spain all over the country but the two most worrying areas were and are Catalonia and Aragón. The number of new infections rose dramatically that day. That is something we haven't seen since the end of lockdown. The only good news is that people are not dying or very very few as this virus seems to have changed. As I wrote above, the main reason for new contagion is the result of family reunions and young people enjoying night life. Night life in all the areas of new outbreaks has now been suspended. In Barcelona, they are nearly back in lockdown. What a difficult life the pandemic is causing for us all. 

The day ended with dinner on the kitchen terrace with Eladio and Suzy. Suzy had been singing in our neighbour, Julio's band that afternoon and later gave us a little concert by singing and playing her ukelele. She is so good and we love listening to her.

Tuesday came. There was good news on two fronts regarding the pandemic. A so far, seemingly successful vaccine being developed by Oxford University is in the offing, although of course it won't be on the market for possibly up to a year. The other good news was the outcome of  EU talks on funding for the economies hit by the virus. After marathon talks the EU leaders agreed to a 1.82 trillion euro recovery fund and budget. Out of this, 390 billion euros will go to direct grants with countries not having to return the funding. At last the EU have taken a step in the right direction. It has taken a lot longer than it should have. All in all, in my view, the EU as an entity has not behaved as it should and instead of rallying round, it has been each to its own. Hopefully that has changed now.

On the home front it was a quiet day and hot again. Straight after breakfast Eladio and I got in touch with several of the estate agents of the houses we had put on a short list to see in Asturias. The one we liked most, the red one above, had gone down in price but has its drawbacks; lots of steps and no central heating. We planned to go and see the houses once we were in Montrondo.

I spent part of the morning baking and I got help from little Eva who was keen to learn how to make salmon and leek pies. She follows me everywhere and is a bit like my shadow. Her little brother David, aged nearly 4, does too and I'm afraid he is a little difficult to understand so I am not sure what to answer. On the topic of food, he made it very clear that his favourite is ice cream, hahahahaha. Well, it's mine too. He told me that sadly his parents only let them have ice cream at the weekends! Eva also told me she didn't think it was fair that when they went out to restaurants, her mother wouldn't let her choose what she ate and she had to eat what her mother decided. The parents seem very strict but then again these two kids are extremely well behaved. 

These were the pies we had for lunch. I also took some to Oli's that night for our family dinner.

My home made salmon and leek pies

If you are interested to know how to make them, I used shop bought puff pastry and the filling was, and in this order:  a small layer of leek followed by a piece of uncooked salmon spread with craime fraiche and topped with fresh dill and then another layer of leek and a few peas. We had the pies with home made broccoli, mushroom and carrot soup. My father ate everything on his plate. 

As I had been up at 5.50 that morning, I needed to catch up on my sleep and was lucky in that I was able to sleep for one hour after lunch. Later I went down to the pool and jumped in to cool down. I was joined by Suzy later and by my shadow, little Eva. Here is a photo of the two of them together.

Eva and Suzy on Tuesday afternoon

Soon Suzy left us to go up and give a lesson to her deaf pupil, Olga, who is a tourist guide for the hard of hearing. They get on very well. I had to leave soon to go with Eladio to the vet. We had made an appointment as Elsa, our 9 year old labrador, had been limping lately. 

We had to join a queue outside and even though our appointment was for 6.30, we didn't go in until about 7.15. Only one person could accompany pets, so I went home to wait.  Here they are in the queue that day.

Eladio and Elsa outside the vet on Tuesday afternoon

I drove home and would later pick them up about one hour later. Eladio kept us posted. 

Meanwhile, Suzy and I were able to watch Oli on the TV again. We never tire of it. These days we are always to keen to see what she is wearing and that day she looked spectacular in red.

Oli ready to go live on TV on Tuesday evening

We are always thrilled to see her live. There is something magical about being on TV. She later told us that a famous Spanish actress, Cayetana Guillén Cuervo, who was also being made up, saw her and commented just how beautiful she was. Wow that is something coming from a famous actress. She looked great on screen as she always does. You can see her clip here by the way. 

Oli presenting live on Tuesday dressed in red

The news on Covid was less drastic than the day before with cases not so high but still too high. I imagine we shall be living with outbreaks forever, just as we do with flu. 

We got updates from Eladio who told us the vet thought Elsa had a broken leg - the tibia on her right hind leg. In a way we were relieved as we thought she had dysplasia which is very common in labradors and also means complicated surgery. She had to be sedated for the X-ray. Here she is, poor thing.

Elsa sedated for her X-ray

The X-ray confirmed his opiniom and the operation is going to cost in the region of 1.5k (shit) but the good news is that it is not urgent and amazingly she is not in any apparent pain. The operation is supposedly a very simple one. None of us know how she broke her leg but the vet said it is was very common. She will probably be operated on next week or the following week. 

Soon both Eladio and Elsa were back and we set off to Oli's house for dinner a bit later than planned. I had hoped to be there early enough to see Elliot at the pool. Unfortunately he was asleep when we got to their flat. We had taken along food for dinner; 4 mini tortillas made by Lucy and the rest of the salmon and leek pies. As soon as we were sitting around the table and before tucking in, I asked Miguel for a photo as it's not often the four of us are together and I got the lovely picture above, the one I have chosen as this week's feature photo. It was a pity Elliot was still asleep when it was taken. Dinner was delicious and just as we were finishing our grandson woke up. He was amazed to see us all there but immediately recognised us. He couldn't choose between Eladio and me although I have to admit he has a slight preference for his grandfather. Eladio is always a magnet for children and animals. He is now 10 months old and is nearly walking and is such a delightful and cheerful little boy. Suzy and I played with him and his huge array of toys; all hand me downs from a friend of Oli's. 

The dinner and family gathering did not have a good end though. Oli picked up the table cloth to shake the crumbs out of the window and with it went one of Elliot's t-shirts. Suzy and I went down to get it and oh dear, there was Eladio's phone she had thrown out too unknowingly. It fell on grass but from such a height that it was broken. I felt so sorry for my husband as our phones are the centre of our universe these days. Thankfully we have old phones at home, the same model as his -but the hassle of transferring all his data and get it up and working for him would fall to me and it's a long and tedious job. 

We were home by 11.30 and Eladio and I watched more of our series until we fell asleep at possibly 1 in the morning. I woke up to rain on Wednesday at about 6.30. My gosh it was pouring it down. By 8.30 the sun was out again. That day I had lots to do. First I had to set up an old Samsung Galaxy S7  of mine for Eladio. That proved difficult because of problems with accessing his Samsung Account. I'm not joking but it took me most of the day. Meanwhile in the morning we went to a phone repair shop who first gave us an estimate of 129 euros to repair the screen and then later increased it to 159. We said no as that's what a second handone would cost. So he is now using my old S7 Edge which is about 4 years old. 

We also went out to do errands for Olivia; first to the post office to pick up some Ali Express parcels which had taken months to arrive and then to the town hall to get a document proving our address. We learned there we had to have a prior appointment so would have to return the next day. The whole of Tuesday felt like a marathon until I was finally out of the thick of it and had some time to myself in the afternoon. By then I was exhausted especially after having got up at 5.30 in the morning. Eva wanted my company as she always does. She is a lovely little girl. I had promised we would make ice lollies together. She wanted to make them with yoghurt and fruit. She chose banana and I chose mango to which we added some pineapple. Here she is making the lollies.

Eva making ice lollies

Once they were in the deep freeze, I had an hour or so to myself under the trees by the pool and later went in. At about 8 pm we saw Olivia live again on TV. The cases of the newly infected had gone down but just a little. Eladio, meanwhile, was looking at more houses in Asturias and I looked with him and later made a short list which is actually quite long. The day ended with dinner on the kitchen terrace with Eladio; just the two of us as Suzy had gone to see Elenita.

That day new guests arrived  at our apartment in Santa Pola and seemed pleased with the place. Lucy, my neighbour, gave them a very warm welcome. If it wasn't for Lucy we would not be able to list our home there on Airbnb. She is a treasure.

Our entertainment that night was the last episode of the French series Last Opportunity. We haven't found anything interesting since. 

I was up at 5.50 on Wednesday morning. I had a productive morning again, most of it spent on organising our house hunting in Asturias. I drew up a document with the details of our short listed houses which are all in the Cudillero, Candás and Llanes area. We shall be visiting them while we are here which is a much shorter drive than if we went from Madrid. I also spoke to  various estate agencies with Eladio listening and talking to them too. We are very excited about this new project in our life. One of the houses was basically a rural hotel (casa rural) and is all set up to rent out. Imagine, owning a hotel! Don't think we are rolling in it, as property is pretty cheap in this area but also in demand for renting. I tried to rent somewhere on Airbnb for a couple of nights this coming week - the height of the season - and couldn't find anything which goes to show that Asturias is a very desirable holiday destination. 

I also did lists, a shopping list and a list of stuff to bring here - mostly food, as there are no shops in the vicinity. Then there was lunch to make and dear little Eva helped me make a batch of "bitki" to freeze. I only stopped to say goodbye to our Airbnb guests, Manel and Gelia. We had hardly seen our Catalan guests during their stay. They were house hunting too but for a flat in Madrid for their 26 year old son, Albert - lucky him. We wished them farewell and hope to see them again in September. They seem more like friends than guests. That's possibly because we have a lot in common. They are my age roughly and Gelia is a teacher and Manel was a company executive like Eladio and I but the other way round. 

Soon it was lunchtime and then siesta time straight afterwards. You may have noticed I do my work in the mornings so as to be free  in the afternoons. That afternoon I was joined by Eva of course but also by my dear daughter Suzy. It's lovely to have her for company. She was working on the after class evaluations she has to do but then played the ukelele and sang for me - my own private concert. She is trying to perfect her version of Lady Gaga's "Always remember me this way", a song I love. When I hear her singing it I think to myself that I shall always remember HER that way too. You can see and listen to her here on my You Tube channel. As I am so proud of her I posted it on Instagram and on Facebook. One of my friends, Carmen, a journalist commented that I have two very talented daughters. She is right I do and I love them both so much. 

Later the two of us watched Oli again on TV as we do every day at around 8pm when her programme starts. The news she brought was not good - nearly a 1000 new Covid cases in 280 areas in Spain with one town going back to stage 1 of lockdown. Oh dear I do hope this doesn't mean that we shall all be going into lockdown again soon. The only good thing is that people are not dying or very very few. Authorities warn that that could change. Ominous.

Olivia presenting live on Thursday

Oli told us later that the tele prompter didn't work so she had to improvise but thankfully she knew all the figures off by heart as well as all the names of the towns. She is so used to presenting live rather than using the prompter, it was not a problem. Good for her.

I also improvised; referring to dinner that night hahahahaha. I always love our dinners together on the kitchen terrace and time with Suzy afterwards before going to bed.

Friday came and I was up at 5.50. I do wish I could sleep longer damn it. I had lots to do that morning to get ready to leave for Montrondo. After I had done our packing, Eladio and I went out to food shop to leave provisions at home and take enough to Montrondo for a few days as the last thing I wanted to do here was to go shopping on Saturday morning.

We went to the chemist, to Mercadona, then took a break and had a coffee together and from the bar drove first to Carrefour Market and then to BM. It was so hot that day with temperatures reaching 38ºc in the Madrid area that I couldn't wait to be in Montrondo where it is much cooler. We didn't leave until around 4 and just as we were leaving the guest fridge we had bought from El Corté Inglés arrived and was installed in the kitchen. Now our guests will have their own fridge and we will have ours just for ourselves. It was about time.

Eladio drove all the way while Suzy worked in the back with Pippa at her feet and I browsed my phone or read. We only stopped once and it was horrible getting out of the car in such heat and having to wear our masks. Today in Spain, in nearly all the country, except for Madrid, it is obligatory to wear them inside and outside in all public places. We just couldn't imagine having to wear one on our walks in Montrondo which is rather ridiculous as so few people live here. However, the rules are one for all and really are made for cities and not sparsely populated villages. 

We arrived just after 8pm which is quite fast and I suspect Eladio was speeding. Let's hope we don't get another fine. It felt much cooler here as we got out of the car and we would need a cardigan or jumper later. We missed Olivia on the TV that evening but she sent us the link to her report and also a photo of herself just before she entered the studio. She had a new look I'm not sure I liked as much as the others. However, she waa spectacular in black.

A new look for Olivia on Friday

It took a while to unload and put away all the food I had brought and to unpack our suitcases but by 9 pm we were sitting on our lovely kitchen terrace and having dinner. Here are Eladio and Suzy together.

Dinner on Friday night in Montrondo - father and daughter

We had missed the news but of course we were up to date on the coronavirus situation in Spain which is looking dire. I'm not sure whether this a second wave or a continuation of the pandemic which just hasn't gone away. The number of those infected gets higher everyday. The only comforting thing is that most people have no symptoms, very few are dying and that so far care homes have not been affected. That has to be because they are now better protected. I just think the virus is going to live with us forever and that we shall be wearing masks, greeting each other with our elbows, washing our hands frequently, etc for some years. People will continue to work from home and international travel will never be the same again or will it I wonder?

Instead of watching the news we sat outside in the dark listening to Suzy sing and play her ukelele. She gave us another private concert and both Eladio and  I clapped as we were so impressed. 

We put an end to the day at just before midnight and went to bed. There was no need for air conditioning and we slept under thick duvets in sharp contrast to our home near Madrid.

I was up at 6.10 on Saturday morning. It was to be a lovely sunny and lazy day spent together, the three of us and Pippa. Suzy had a morning lesson so it was just Eladio, Pippa and I on our walk. We donned our masks to wear on the main road and village but decided to take the empty country paths where we could take them off. The sky was blue and it was already warm but nothing like Madrid.

View of Montrondo on our walk yesterday

We stopped to take photos on our way. One of my favourite spots is the birch tree lined path called "camino valle" which takes you to the top of the next village, Murias. Here we took photos too, like this one of me below.

On our walk yesterday

There was hardly anyone and not one soul to be seen on what I call our "secret path". On our way back instead of taking the main entrance to the village, Eladio took me across fields and to the church where we had to climb over a few walls. We were home on time for a coffee and I prepared our lunch which would be very simple; barbecued lamb chops with jacket potatoes washed down with gazpacho. Suzy, being vegan, did not partake in the barbecue. Pippa was delighted with the bones though.

Eladio grilling the lamb chops on the barbecue

The three of us had an extremely lazy afternoon chilling out on the grass behind our house. We read and again Suzy sang and played her ukelele. I enjoyed every minute of our time together.

Chilling out yesterday

Dinner time came and although we weren't hungry we rustled something up which we enjoyed on the kitchen terrace with its dramatic mountain back drop. 

It was on the news last night that we heard about the UK imposing quarantine on people arriving from Spain. That would affect two of Suzy's friends who had bought tickets to travel to Alicante at the end of August. Suzy had invited them to stay at our apartment there. I'm not sure they will want to travel now. I felt sorry for their plans being thwarted by the virus. We too have travel plans at the end of August, to Portugal, and I am wondering if we will be able to go. Time will tell.

Well my friends, it is now time to publish this blog post and go and prepare breakfast. Life goes on, despite the virus, and so it should but we must keep safe. So keep safe my friends until next time,

Masha