How the coronavirus is changing our lives, flowers for the garden, British hymns, home made hot cross buns, RIP Fran, Boris Johnson's "herd immunity strategy", to Montrondo and other stories.

Sunday 15th March, 2020

Buying flowers at the garden centre last Sunday

Good morning friends and readers.

I hope your week was good. Mine was dominated by the fear of the coronavirus as was yours no doubt.  That's why we came to Montrondo on Friday to get away from it all and be safe. We may be safe here, but now we are debating to go home to ride out the storm there where, if we think about it, we are probably equally safe as we live in an isolated area far from the city and the focus areas. In any case if this virus lasts months, we cannot leave my father and Lucy at home for long.  If anyone is worried we have brought the virus here and one woman accused me of that on social media, my answer is that I have not. We have been extremely careful, following all the health recommendations and have been in practical self isolation for quite a while now. Here, too we are following the same style of life; practically self isolating, only going out for walks and keeping a very large distance from anyone we see. There are, by the way only about 11 permanent inhabitants making social distancing much easier here anywhere else. So please those who have criticised people leaving Madrid for their villages, don't worry we are not carriers, but responsible people who did not take the decision lightly. 

Since last Sunday our world has changed dramatically as has many people's mostly in Europe which is the epicentre of the crisis now.  If last Sunday there were about 500 cases in Spain, today that figure is around 6.500 and growing. Spain is now the worst hit country after China, Italy (21000), Iran and South Korea. Just behind us come France and Germany with about 4.500 cases each. This rapid increase in the spread of the virus is what has taken the government to announce a state of alarm and to take drastic measures to fight it. Spain is now in semi confinement, not quite as draconian as Italy but pretty much so.

Last Sunday was International Women's day with women (and men) taking to the streets all over the world to continue the fight for the impossible; equality and respect for women as well as an end to domestic and non domestic violence. It was probably the last big concentration of people in Spain and was, in the opinion of the large majority, a very wrong thing to do. 

Last Sunday was a very quiet day for us. There were no guests for the first time in 3 years owing, of course, to fear of travel due to the spread of coronavirus. I am slowly losing income from my flourishing Airbnb business and will be one of those people hit hard economically by the collateral effects of the virus. That day Italy took the most drastic measure so far by isolating 16 people in the north of the country and literally putting them into quarantine for a month or who knows how much longer.  It might have been coincidental that in the days to come the number of cases of coronavirus in Spain spiked, especially in Madrid. I personally think the demonstrations should have been called off.  120.000 people marched together. At the head of the demonstration was Spain's Minister of Equality, the far left Irene Montero. I was not surprised to hear on Thursday that she had tested positive putting the whole government into danger. 

With an eye on the developments both in Spain and abroad, our life, mainly at home, continued. It seems one of the most important factors in mitigating coronavirus is social distancing and I have to come to realise this more as the week draws to a close.  We were in practical self isolation only venturing out to buy food or go for our walks. And when we went out for food we did so armed with gloves which we later disposed of and kept the reglamentary 1.5m distance from fellow shoppers and shop workers. Gone are the days of dining out, going shopping, meeting friends or going to the cinema. How long will it last I wonder? It does take some getting used to. If last week we didn't go out to dinner so as not to break my diet, this week I wouldn't have dreamed of it. No one should go anywhere where there is a concentration of people. In any case that is no longer possible as of Saturday all restaurants and bars and non essential shops were closed as was all cultural and sporting activities. Life came to a halt, as if it had stopped in time. Thankfully we will still be able to take our dogs for a walk and in our case that poses no problem as we have access to country lanes which are sparsely populated. 

On Sunday I wasn't so worried. With the good weather coming on, Eladio began gardening to spruce up our sprawling and rather wild garden for the spring. He needed to replant bare patches in the grass and replace some of last year's flowers which  had died. So off we went for our annual outing to a garden centre (Verdecora) to get compost, geraniums and crysanthemums. Neither of them are my favourite flowers but they are the hardiest so generally last longer. But we did get one of my favourite plants, a blue hydrangea. I just love the blue variety although my husband warns me that if they are next to other colours they will change from blue to the colour of the hydrangea next to them. I wonder if that is true. Being one of the week's highlights, I have chosen a photo of me with a trolley full of flowers and gardening stuff to illustrate this week's post. It's a sure sign spring is coming and I love spring, don't you? Don't worry again as that, our only outing, apart from shopping, was done with the same precautions. We did not linger and rushed home. 

Meanwhile Oli, Miguel and Elliot were in Valencia. They spent most of that day with Miguel's dear friend Fran who was sadly succumbing to melanoma. That's the reason they had to cancel their trip to Stockholm. I got a lovely photo of the handsome couple which I am eager to share with you.

Oli and her partner Miguel

I think I told you that it was Fran who introduced Oli to Miguel. She had been sent to Valencia to report for her RTVE programme (La Mañana) and Fran was her cameraman.

Oli with Fran (in the middle) and another cameraman in Valencia in 2012 when she first met her partner Miguel. 

Later in the news room, Fran introduced Oli to his best friend. Fran was like a brother to Miguel and Olivia will always remember him for introducing her to Miguel. She says it's thanks to Fran that Elliot is now in this world. I met him once and know from Olivia that he was a wonderful person, positive and full of fun. When she worked with him, they had a ball of a time. Once they had to report at a hospital and Fran, Oli and the team simulated him giving birth with his friend's head being the new born baby! I well remember the photo which I found very funny at the time. I remarked to Olivia when she posted it; what a happy moment that was in contrast to this week when the poor man was dying in agony.

Fun with Fran (sitting) in Valencia when Oli first met himin 2012

It was Miguel's responsibility that day and on other days to organise all the visits to see his friend. He was very tired, as was his new bride, Marivi, and someone had to tend to the practical side of things.  So, of course, and despite the wonderful weather, they did not go to the beach. Today that wouldn't be possible as all beaches have been closed. Did you read that? Imagine Spain the land of sun, with no access it its beaches. I can't begin to imagine what that means for Spain's most important sector, tourism. It must have been pretty sunny though as they tried some sunglasses on little  - or not so little Elliot hahahhaa. He loves to play and is very sociable. We miss him so much and I don't know now when we will see him again - perhaps not until the virus is over, as Oli is now stuck in Valencia. She wouldn't dare to take a train to Madrid and then come here with all the risk of getting infected.  Anyway, sorry for rambling, here is the photo of Elliot and the sunglasses.

Elliot about to put some sunglasses on

That day, it was just Pippa and me on the walk as Eladio stayed behind to do the gardening. So off I went with my headphones on and listened to one of my spotify playlists. You may be surprised to hear that it is called "my favourite British hymns".  If I go on a walk on a Sunday on my own I always listen to that playlist. When I listen to hymns like "Immortal invisible, God only mine", "Love divine, all love loves excelling", "Stand up, stand up for Jesus", "Be thou my vision" and other favourites such as "Jerusalem", "Guide me oh thou great redeemer", "The lord is my shepherd, "Hills of the north rejoice", "And did those feet in ancient times" or all my all time favourite "There is a green hill far away",  I am transported back to school assembly at St. Joseph's College in Bradford or St. Peter's Church in Saltaire where I used to go when I went through a rather religious phase.

St, Peter's Church in Saltaire which used to be my parish church

I joined the girl guides at St Peter's where the Revd. Brandon Jackson was the parish priest. As a family we got to know him well and he even came out to Spain to marry Eladio and I. He was later the priest at Bradford Cathedral until he was promoted to be the Dean of Lincoln Cathedral. I admired the man a lot and I think I became religious because of him. However there is a darker side to this story as he once tried to assualt me sexually. I mused on that too on my walk on Women's Day, another of my nasty "me too" moments in life. He deeply disappointed me.

As I listened to these wonderful, inspiring and rather nostalgic hymns, I asked myself, as I have done often in my life, whether I believe in God. Despite both my parents' fathers being priests, we didn't go to church as a family. I did, though go to a Catholic school, so something must have rubbed off. My mother was deeply religious but there wasn't really a proper Russian Orthodox church anywhere outside London so we only went to the Ukrainian church which wasn't really a proper church, at Easter. Listening to the hymns took me back to my childhood as well as to times I went to church in England. I think maybe, rather than religious, I rather like all the ceremony and rituals that go with believing. I cannot say, though that I do not believe. Rather than uplift me that day, these very familiar hymns made me feel nostalgic and sad and ache for the loss of my mother, my brother George and my Aunty Masha. They also made me feel a bit nostalgic for England, the country of my birth. Again I asked myself, where am I from? I was born in England to an English father but had a Russian mother and married a Spaniard - a priest to boot. That makes me something of a cocktail. I quite like my exotic roots but at the same time as a person I am a bit "rootless" and thus not quite setted anywhere. I asked myself what sort of funeral do I want when I die? Well, definitely a religious one but certainly not catholic (my mother was very anti catholic haha because of her very strict Orthodox upbringing).  I am divided between the Church of England and the Russian Orthodox church. I remember my mother always telling me she took me to Paris to be christened at the Russian church there. I think that was my first ever trip abroad. It must have been. Again I wonder what my life would have been like if she and my father had brought me up to speak both Russian and French. They didn't and in many many ways I regret it. My mother wanted her children to feel English but I do and I don't . As you see, never settled, just like her. Sorry for rambling again but these were my musings on my own existence that day on the walk with Pippa listening to British hymns which have so much impact on me.

My musing stopped when I got home as it was nearly dinner time and my mind turned to domestic issues. Eladio and I had a simple meal of tuna fish salad and then watched the news. For once coronavirus came second after the reporting on the marches for Womens' Day. Coranavirus was much more important to me and I was and am watching the numbers closely. The numbers were multiplying daily in Spain and my beloved adopted country may soon be the new Italy. . In Spain the main focus areas continue to be Madrid, then the Basque Country as well as  the wine growing region, La Rioja but now it has also spread to other communities or regions, although not on a grand scale.

We were in bed soon after dinner watching more news, on a different channel and then switched to Jordi Evole's new programme (Lo de Evole) where he interviews people in prison. As you may know I have a fascination with prisons and also other institutions such as hospitals, schools, convents, etc. I wonder why. We slept through an interview with the very pushy and aggressive Spanish minister for equality, Irene Montero but as I am not keen on her, it didn't matter. I wonder if she infected the interviewer, Ana Pastor, a high profile Spanish journalist. I hope not.

I was awake at 6 am on Monday morning and still without my PCs which were at a "computer sick bay". I got a call from the computer people to say that so far they had not been able to recover any files but were still working on it. Thankfully I had Eladio's PC from which I could work.

The next day, following government recommendations not to go to hospitals unless strictly necessary,   I decided my physiotherapy was not at all urgent and rang the hospital on Tuesday morning to cancel all my future appointments, at least for the moment. Oh how are lives are being disrupted. They would get more disrupted as the week progressed. 

Numbers soared in Italy and later in the day the Italian government announced the whole of Italy to be in lock down - that's 60 million people. In the morning the Basque (north of Spain) government announced the closure of all educational establishments in the town of Vitoria (the Basque capital) and in two other locations. Madrid followed suit that night when we we listened incredulously that schools and universities in the Madrid region (not just the capital) would also be closed from Wednesday onward. More and more regions followed the example as the week progressed.  Some people doubt that closing schools is a good thing. But it is for many reasons. To start with children may not get the virus badly but are great spreaders and they don't "do hygeine".  And they spread it of course to large numbers of people in their schools. If just one tests positive, the rest have to go into quarantine. It's essential they they stay indoors and follow all the new rules. Companies too were urged to send employees to work from home. Andy, our Scottish lodger, who works on the campus of the Santander Bank HQ was immediately told to stay at home as were all the thousands of other employees on the campus. The implications are enormous and our lives are being utterly disrupted. This is like living through some sort of biological war. The fear is that, as in Italy, the situation will get out of control and there will be no stopping the spread of the virus, no way to contain it any longer, only measures to mitigate its effect. In the US where I read early in the week that only 1500 tests have been taken, the figures there are obviously far higher. More worrying is that because there is no national health system, some people will not be able to afford the test, the bill of which could rise to over 3000 dollars or even if the test comes free which it seems it might, how will those who become really ill be able to afford the treatment?  Trump still seemed buoyant but maybe less so when the markets slumped in historic figures, similar to those of the financial crisis in 2008. or worse.  Coronavirus and lowered petrol costs - again partly due to the virus as airlines fly less and need less petrol.  Later in the week, Trump banned all travel  to the US from most countries in mainland Europe! Imagine! The economy is being hit hard as is normal life. Small businesses and freelance workers like me will be the hardest hit. I don't see an end to it. Even in The Lancet in an article I read it is not that sure the virus will recede when the warmer weather comes. Monday was the day when I really got scared.

In the UK, Boris Johnson chose a strategy for the virus which was quite the opposite to the rest of the world; the so-called "herd immunity strategy" I think the news of his announcement didn't make the headlines here but when I read the news I was astounded. Basically the idea is to let the majority of people get the virus, but slowly, so as not to collapse the NHS, with the objective of obtaining what they called an "immune herd"; i.e. if everyone gets the virus, they either die (the elderly and sick) or recover. Those who recover will be immune and thus the virus is erradicated. That's basically what happened 100 years ago with the so-called Spanish flu, which by the way was not Spanish at all. However, the Spanish flu killed 50 million people. Boris Johnson admitted many elderly and would die. Does he not care about them? In one article I saw from The Telegraph, this is a sort of "culling of the elderly". No one in the rest of the world wants that. However, the British public, worried at the unfolding of events to combat the virus in Europe,  seem mainly to have bought his strategy. It's absolutely bonkers. The rest of the world can't be wrong where the strategy is to fight the virus, save as many lives as possible  and wait for a vaccine which will come eventually.

Coronavirus was on my mind the whole day. God knows how many times I washed my hands, always thinking that's maybe not enough. But our little and now limited life continued. I was happy to hear from Olivia who called me from Valencia on her way to the beach with Miguel and Elliot (it would be their last). She also sent me a photo of father and son. Oh how I miss my little grandson. Being a digital native, I think he is attune to video calls and gently smiled as we spoke.

Father and son in Valencia on Monday. 

We didn't hear much from Suzy who was living at Oli's flat, so it was a day on our own again and a very quiet day too. She is right now worried her flight to London on Tuesday may not take off. I think it will as as she has a British passport that is further guarantee she will be allowed to leave. I'm not sure she will be safer in London but she is young and if she gets infected she will recover quickly. Ah but when will we see her again? 

Shock came that night when the latest drastic measures in Madrid were announced as we were preparing our dinner. The biggest decision was the closure of  all schools and universities in Madrid, the Basque Country and La Rioja. The others which were announced on Monday and Tuesday were no more government sponsored senior citizen trips, no flights to and from Italy, the cancellation of the big "Fallas" festival in Valencia, all official exams to be suspended, sports events were to be held behind closed doors, no events with more than 1000 people, working from home and, worst of all, for us at least, the recommendation not to travel within the country unless it was essential. For us coming to Montrondo was essential to our health. Only here are we safe and have not brought the virus nor are we likely to catch it here. . I always used to say to Eladio, if anything dreadful happened in the world, such as a war, we could always come to our home in Montrondo and that's just what we did.  However, I am now rather regretting that decision. We can't stay her for the duration of the virus.   More draconian measures were on the table as the figures increased. . I can hardly imagine what the closure of schools and working from home will mean for families with children. I, myself, am very worried for my father who is soon to turn 101 but we are keeping him safe.  It's funny to think that 100 years ago, the year he was born, it was the peak of the so-called "Spanish flu" when 50 million people died in the world. I was and am also worried for ourselves as the three of us, Eladio, my father and I are all in the danger age bracket.  At least Eladio and I don't have any underlying illnesses that could make catching the virus fatal. The implications of all these restrictions are unbelievable. It seems like WW2 and a big sense of loss of freedom. Our lives are changing daily and I wonder if and when we will ever get back to normal. Right now the most sensible thing is to adopt the new style of communication, so foreign to us all and called "social distancing" which needs no explanation. All the above means the best thing is to stay at home and take all the precautions we are being instructed to; mainly washing our hands and not touching our faces - apparently this is something we do some 90 times a day, as well as keeping our distance form other people. 

We were able to turn our minds from the news when we switched on Netflix and watched a few cliff hanger episodes of "Toy Boy". Even so, I found it difficult to sleep.  I have to admit that that night I was scared. I still am as I write today. 

Tuesday came. As I told you, the first thing I did was to cancel the  physiotherapy sessions  I suppose they will also cancel my  exams this month and next which are necessary to obtain Spanish citizenship. I was worried too about protecting ourselves at home.   I  had to take into account Lucy who is here all week looking after my father and the house and Zena our weekend carer. I spoke to Lucy very carefully about the precautions and she herself suggested staying here even at the weekends. I agreed as that way she is not exposed to the virus and cannot bring it into the house. I was sorry for Zena who will lose her income but everyone has been told more or less to stay at home. That was a difficult decision to make but the safest. 

With not much to do, I decided to make my yearly home made batch of hot cross buns for Easter.   knew that would cheer me up. Besides, doing something with my hands would distract my worries of the new situation. I needed a few ingredients, not many, so off I went to Carrefour Market, a local supermarket which is usually pretty empty on a weekday morning. But I was in for a surprise. The place was crowded with shoppers panic buying and loading huge trolleys. I was in for a bigger surprise when I saw empty shelves, something you only normally see on TV when reporting on poor countries. Of course we have already seen people stock piling on toilet paper (of all things) in places like Australia but not in Madrid!

One of the empty shelves at Carrefour on Tuesday morning

I realised immediately that people were panic buying and I was not going to be one of them so just stuck to my list of ingredients. I got the last packet of flour and the last litre of the type of milk I wanted. The cashier told me there were huge queues outside the supermarket when it opened in the morning and that people were stuffing trollies with produce worth up to 400 or 500 euros. I wondered if the world had gone mad. I was told by another stunned shopper that it was much worse at the more popular low cost supermarket, Mercadona. That was the first tangible effect I witnessed after the restrictions put in place the day before.  Of course there was no toilet paper. The images of people hoarding toilet paper around the world are a bit baffling. I don't get it. Why toilet paper? I did not buy any having quite enough at home. 

Feeling amazed and rather depressed, after the bizarre experience at Carrefour, I drove to the computer repair shop to pick up my two PCs. They hadn't been able to restore any of the files in the new PC but had been able to crack the password on my old one. Thus I at least had all my work up until last September. I would spend the whole of the next morning copying them onto my new computer and more importantly syncing them on  One Drive (Microsoft cloud) for a hefty price. I thought it was worth the price though if I were ever to lose all my files again but oh what a bore and waste of time. I came home to wash my hands and disinfect my computers just in case. 

Once home I decided to cheer up and get on with making my hot cross buns. If you are interested, this is the recipe.

The recipe I use for hot cross buns

The process is long as the dough has to rise for an hour three times and you have to work with very sticky dough - a bit like brioche - but finally I had two batches in my old ovens. As the glass is so dark now I couldn't see how they were doing but when I took them out I was happy to see they had turned out ok. I won't taste one though till Good Friday, a sort of "law" in our house. However I gave one to Lucy and one to Andy and I was told they were delicious. I think they look delicious don't you?

My hot cross buns.

Eladio also used his hands that day but in the garden. After planting the flowers, that afternoon saw him mowing the lawn. Here he is in the throes of it and it's a quite a job as the land our house is built on measures more than 2.500 m2.

Eladio gardening on Tuesday

As my husband was gardening I went on our walk on my own with Pippa. It was a very sunny day with temperatures rising to 22c. On my way back I saw Andy, our guest, who was out walking with Elsa our lab. He's such a nice guy.  Here he is with Elsa in the selfie he later sent to me.

Andy and Elsa

I was home just as Eladio finished and set about making dinner. Suzy arrived from her own confinement at Oli's flat. Her singing lessons and doctor's appointment had been cancelled. That was when she decided she was going earlier to London than planned.  (Yes London and not Bali thank goodness because of the dangers she faces there) . She was afraid that the virus could get out of control and flights cancelled, etc, just as has happened in Italy. I agreed it was the best decision. 

I was in bed late and after watching more of our series, I just couldn't sleep thinking of all the implications of the new restrictions in Spain and those that would come. The whole situation is unprecedented for us. It's mind boggling. Finally I must have fallen asleep as the next I knew I was awake and it was 6.15 in the morning.

Wednesday came. It was a quiet day of confinement at home with me spending all morning on my PC restoring files, etc. That was  a good tactic to keep my mind off darker thoughts. I only ventured out for a walk with Eladio and Pippa in the evening. It was a glorious sunny day and we comforted each other, being in our large house and garden and not cooped up in small flats like many people in the city. That is our advantage so I shouldn't be complaining. I'm not actually complaining, I'm worried. I think I'm worried as I am rather a control freak and there is not much I can control here, only our own behaviour. 

There was talk that day, mainly on social media, of Madrid being closed down. Later the local authorities dismissed this as false news.  It was on Wednesday that the WHO announced a pandemic. Basically that means the virus has spread all over the world and is nearly out of control. There is no longer time for containment. Now the focus is on slowing down the spread so that hospitals can cope with the numbers of patients. Meanwhile, in Liverpool, a Champions League match was being played between "the Reds" and Atlético de Madrid. Instead of it being behind closed doors, 3000 Madrid fans were allowed to travel to the UK and watch the match. That's 3000 potential virus spreaders or virus catchers in a stadium with thousands of spectators. It should not have happened and makes no sense whatsoever. This week, too, the  health minister in the UK tested positive for coronavirus and Bolsonaro of Brazil. So did a leading Spanish politician, Ana Pastor. A top figure in the far right party, Vox, Ortega Smith, also tested positive as did some of his party members.   His party had held a big meeting with 9000 people last Sunday, shooting themselves in the foot. The leader of the party, Santiago Abascal, later apologised. He also has the virus. Vox has 52 members of parliament who are all now in quarantine. Because of that parliament in Spain has closed down for a week. Life is slowly coming to a standstill. It's difficult to get used to. 

That night I found it difficult to sleep again. Thursday came, I was awake really early. My thoughts turned to Fran, Miguel's friend. Oli had told us he had been sedated the night before and I was expecting news of his death any time. My thoughts also turned to our new nightmare; coronavirus. Thus I got up at 5.45. Feeding the dogs and making my coffee was a peaceful experience. Reading the latest news wasn't. It was that morning I read that travel to the US from most mainland European countries (the Schengen ones in general) was to be banned for one month. I immediately thought of Fátima's sister, Gloria, who was due to fly to Miami at the beginning of April for the birth of her first grandson. She won't be able to go now. My heart went out to her. I was also amazed to read that little Denmark, a country close to my heart, had imposed a country lock down after a huge spike in cases. Many countries around the world were announcing bans on travel from Spain, France and Germany and other European countries. 

Very frightened at all the news that's when we took the decision  to literally come to Montrondo. I also couldn't take it anymore. The news of the virus, its spread, the implications, etc have probably aged me this week. When I looked at myself in a mirror while washing my hands (once again) on Friday, what did I see? A haggared, old,  wrinkled, worried and very tired woman. That was me on Friday. It's still me today.

In the midst of all this,. came the terrible news of the death of Fran. Oh poor soul. Miguel was terribly upset as was Olivia. But she had to be very careful and avoid contact with people. She was not going to go to the wake at the funeral parlour (there are no food receptions at wakes in Spain) but in the end, out of humanity, went there briefly just to give her condolences to his new and sad wife, Marivi, and devastated parents. My heart went out to them all. The only thing that cheered me up was seeing little Elliot in Oli's arms, feeding after waking up. That is a wonderful image to keep in my mind whenever I am down or worried. All I can say is RIP dear Fran and to thank him for being the go between which resulted in Oli and Miguel becoming a couple as well as a mother and father. Oh how sad.

We just had to go shopping that morning and we did so taking all the possible precautions. We did not panic buy and were pleasantly surprised and glad to see that Mercadona and Carrefour Market were fully stocked. Once home, as I was putting everything away, I got a phone call from Oli. She told me a good media source had told her off the record that Pedro Sánchez, Spain's premiere, was to make an announcement to the country with a new series of measures against the virus, one of them being the closure of Madrid which in the end he didn't.  That is when I, at least, panicked. We took a last moment decision to leave for Madrid straight after lunch and before he made the announcement. Thankfully later when he did appear, there was no mention of closing the capital and the province.  By then though our car was packed and we left. We went in a hurry but left my father and Lucy with lots of provisions, my father's health card as well as money for anything needed. Suzy would be there at least until Tuesday. So off we went, leaving our house for our other house in Montrondo where we needed to escape the virus, the panic and the craziness which was driving me mad and making me ill. We set off at around 5 pm and got here at around 9 pm. We were so relieved to be here, a remote area of Spain in the mountains, free from the virus and safe from the world. Although we feel a bit like pariahs here, with fingers pointing at us from "bringing the virus to the village", as if we would. As soon as we had settled in, Eladio put on the fire. The house was warm though as my husband had turned on the heating remotely. We had a late and light dinner - grilled fish with spinach - which we ate with a much needed glass of red wine. I don't often drink alcohol as it gives me a headache but that night it felt like medicine. When I posted on FB that I too was staying at home, as instructed, but at our home in the village, one  woman accused me of bringing the virus here. I hardly know her but felt insulted as I haven't brought the virus here because we have been extremely careful in the recent past. Also, Montrondo is our second home and my husband's village.

After dinner we sat on our sofa by the fire with Pippa at my side, watching the TV, another debate or programme about the virus. We can't escape it in the news. My dear cousin Katty rang me worried from New Zealand and cross about the nasty woman's remark on my FB feed. It was lovely to catch up with her. She is also worried for her 73 year old mother, my cousin, and her 95 year old grandmother, my Aunty Valya, in France.  France too announced new draconian measures that day including the closure of all educational establishments from tomorrow onward, as did Belgium and many other countries. Later France announced virtual confinement of the whole country as did many other countries such as Norway and Portugal.

For the first time in days, I slept well, tucked under our warm duvet with my dear husband by my side. I woke up to a surprisingly sunny day and to my new life in virus free and quiet Montrondo. I was glad to be here but not happy as my family is split and I am constantly worried about coronavirus. We spent the whole morning with the TV on following the development of the virus and its effects on people's lives. Maybe that wasn't a good thing to do. We also did domestic tasks like washing sheets and I spent some time, slowly preparing our lunch. We had enough provisions to last us a few days but we shall soon run out. Already I have no food for Pippa left (sniff).

That day the Spanish President announced the government would approve a law for a state of alarm to take place to be approved yesterday. That would allow the government more leeway to dictate stronger measures all around the country, such as limiting freedom of movement or the delay of the upcoming elections in the northern regions. This would also allow him to call on the Armed Forces and to have powers over the all powerful regions in Spain (comunidades autónomas). That day, our long term Scottish lodger, Andy, whose family live in France, upped and left, driving home to be with them. I would have done the same in his shoes. However, for us, that means a depleted income. I have now lost all income coming from Airbnb and we will be on a tight shoe string. It is much worse for people literally losing their jobs as businesses closed and bars and restaurants were shut down as well as schools. The economy has been hit so hard it reminds me of the Wall Street Crash.

Meanwhile in Madrid the streets were empty. People were taking heed of instructions to stay at home and the main arteries of the city made it look like a ghost town.

We were at home all day. I only spoke to a relative in her house next door which is about 150m away. We talked at a distance, not even greeting in the new way, either with the elbow or foot. My relative also felt criticised for having come from Madrid even though she also had been in self isolation before coming here. The virus is also affecting relationships. What isn't it affecting? Maybe the shares of the likes of Facebook or Netflix.

We did go out, but only for a walk in the open air. We know the virus is not in the air, so I don't think we were dangerous to anyone. We even avoided the streets and walked mostly through the empty paths and fields. Here is Eladio on the walk that day, enjoying the sunshine. It was a glorious day, by the way, despite the virus.

Eladio on our walk on Friday evening

We came home refreshed and Pippa needed a full bath after digging mole and mouse holes with her long snout and getting covered in earth hahhaa. She, thankfully, is immune to the virus itself and what is going on. We made dinner and decided to leave the "telly" off until the 9 o'clock news as we had had our fill of coronavirus. That was a good strategy. Again I had a tiny glass of red wine which unfortunately brought on a full blown headache.

I went to bed with a headache and was thankful for Eladio massaging my neck and head which always helps. I didn't sleep too badly. I think I was exhausted emotionally and in need of a good night's sleep. I was awake at 6.45 which I consider not bad at all.

Friday came and our new little world was about to get even worse. We knew the government was in a special meeting to decide the new measures under the state of alarm it approved that day. We were on tenterhooks as to what that would mean. With all the measures possible in my mind I wondered if people would still be able to take their dogs for a walk. Across the country, all bars, restaurants and public areas were shut off, including beaches. What was to come next we all wondered? The order was to stay at home and only venture out for basic necessities to get food or go to the chemist. But what else was coming we all worried? Equally worrying were the number of cases and deaths rising dramatically by the day and the news of hospitals with not enough ICU beds or respirators. That was the first time I heard the term "triage". Triage is the choice of doctors whom to treat and in what order, giving priority to those whose chances of survival are higher. Oh God have we come to that? I'm afraid we have.

We waited with bated breath all day and only went out for a walk with Pippa feeling guilty we had left the house and avoiding all human contact. Again we walked through the fields and I got stung by nettles. It was said that in Madrid one person out of five now knows at least one person in their circle with the virus. Well we know one person who may have it, Chati, Suzy's nurse friend. She works at a on old people's home and came in very close contact with a resident who was tested positive. Thus she is in self-isolation at her parent's home and in their room which is the only one with a separate bathroom. Even though she may not even have the virus, her mother brings her her food on a tray which she leaves outside the room. Imagine! We don't know anyone else personally but that day even the wife of Pedro Sanchez, Spain's President, fell victim to the virus. During the 7 hour cabinet debate to apply the state of alarm and come up with the new measures which would literally confine most of the population, he should probably also have been in self isolation. At the meeting was Spain's vice president, the pony tailed far left Podemos leader, Pablo Iglesias whose wife, Irene Montero has the virus. Why did he go if the government is telling everyone to stay at home if they have been exposed to coronavirus? He should not have gone although the government held the meeting with a distance of a metre between each person present.

Eventually the emergency meeting ended and at 8.30 pm, the President appeared on television for the third time this week. He told us the state of alarm was now in place with all its implications. As to the confinement measures, they were not as drastic as we had envisioned. He virtually put us in semi confinement though and of course the measures could become tougher. All measures now affect the whole country. The government, at least for the next 2 weeks, will take total control of the country. Movement of people will be limited, schools of course are closed as are all non essential public spaces. The government will be able to control all health matters, even taking over private hospitals, etc. transport will be limited, there will be restrictions for weddings and funerals and the use of the army to help keep all the restrictions in place. Freedom of movement is limited but not total confinement. Taking your dog out for a walk is allowed (sigh of relief), only one person per household can do the shopping, people who find themselves in areas outside their main residence may return (another sigh of relief) but no city, so far, is to be closed. Sánchez said the virus had already spread and that this measure made no sense. What made sense, he said, was to stay at home as much as possible wherever people were at  that their main or their holiday residence (another sigh of relief). As to which establishments would remain open and with access to the public, these are: food stores, chemists, tobacco shops, newspaper kiosks, computer and telco shops, veterinary clinics, banks, petrol stations, dentists and unbelievably hairdressers and physiotherapy clinics. People were rather amazed at the decision to keep hair salons open and keep the one metre distance between the hairdresser and the customer. That kept twitter amused as it did me. We were also waiting with bated breath on what economic measures would be taken to compensate for loss of jobs and income as a result of the measures but that did not come and won't  until Tuesday.

I think we watched the news, the announcement, the whole press conference with the President which went on until nearly 10 pm, for more than 3 hours. At the end we hugged and both felt comforted we have each other to ride this storm, this new and unknown way of life with no vision of when and how it will end. The virus in just one week has changed all our lives dramatically. After the coronavirus marathon on the TV, we were in need of a tonic. We got it when we watched the final of the talent show, "Prodigios" (child prodigy talent show). It had us entertained until it finished at way past midnight.

We went to bed last night with our minds boggling and with the knowledge that we were about to live through the storm of the virus which will change our lives for ever, at least for the next few months.

I woke up today and as I do everyday, I checked the latest statistics on a site I have been following all week called Worldometers. This is it if you want to follow it too. I woke up to another sunny day here but also to a debate in my mind as whether to ride out the storm here or at home in our main residence on the outskirts of Madrid. I am inclining towards the latter. No doubt you too will know the answer when you read my post next Sunday. God knows what the figures of the virus will be next Sunday. If last week at this time we had 500 and this Sunday we have 6000 I dread to think what that number will be next Sunday.

We all have to ride the storm and try to adapt to our new life, a life of staying at home and being extra careful, especially with our elderly and the most vulnerable.

Hoping you are all coping as well as possible, all I can do is send you courage, courage I need too and positive thoughts and the hope that this will soon be over and just a blip in history. Right now it feels like we are in the middle of a biological war. So again, courage my friends.

Masha.

Elliot gets a high chair and tries chocolate for the first time, Coranavirus continues to spread and disrupt our lives, the perfect cup of frothy coffee, lunch with Julio, computer crash, International Women's day and other stories.

Sunday, 8th March, 2020

Lunch with my best friend Julio was the highlight of the week

Good morning all, welcome back and thanks for following my blog. It is Sunday 8th March and women's day so happy women's day to you all. I'm not sure we women have much to celebrate and what with the fear of catching coronavirus, I am surprised that in Madrid, at least, the huge demonstration is taking place today. I am not one for joining marches and demonstrations but even if I was, I would not take the risk of going today. 

We are now into March and this week has had its ups and downs both weather and news wise. Life at home was quiet with the girls and Elliot keeping up our spirits at least at the beginning of the week.  I worked it out that when they are here the average age of our household goes down from 73 to 51 hahahahhaa. Of course it is mostly my father's age (100) that makes the number so high. Soon he will be 101 and is still going strong. Good for him. He also enjoyed having the girls and his beloved great grandson here.

Last Sunday was wet, cold and windy owing to Storm Jorge. It hindered our walk and we had to turn back because of the rain as we weren't well equipped. In the morning we had the unexpected visit of Oli and her little family. They were here to pick up Miguel's car. He had to leave urgently for Valencia as one of his best friends, Fran, was terminally ill in hospital and his family feared for his life. Oh how sad. He was diagnosed with melanoma last June but seemed to recover well until just a week or so ago when they found more and more tumours in his his body. The melanoma had come back with a vengeance and he has little time left to live. My own brother, George, died of melanoma aged just 46. Even then it was one of the most vicious types of cancer and today, although there have been advances in its cure, it is still so. Miguel left with tears in his eyes and brought back memories of the final days of my dear friend Fátima who also succumbed to cancer recently. I felt sorry for him and of course Fran's partner and family as I knew exactly what they would be going through. 

Oli and Elliot later left to go out to lunch and it was just "us" at the table on Sunday. But they was back in the afternoon and I spent quality time with my grandson. We had a game of peakaboo with my scarf, the rainbow one I had bought at the market in Villablino. Elliot loved the game and so did I. Here he is smiling away with the scarf around him like a little Taliban (but a nice one hahahaha).

Little Elliot delighted in my rainbow scarf

Suzy was back not long afterwards and we all had dinner together which had me frying eggs and also making the more healthy option of the scrambled type. The girls spent the night. All was quiet with no guests until the next day.

I woke up to another wet day. There had obviously been a lot of wind during the night as I spied a large stand up type lamp on the pool terrace which had crashed and fallen on the table and all the big bulbs were smashed. It was not a nice sight but of course it could have been worse with trees falling on the house. Thankfully they didn't. During the night, the girls were woken up by the noise of glass breaking and they woke up Eladio, petrified someone had got into the house. I slept through it all, thankfully, and they later told me they were scared stiff. Poor girls.

I wrote in my last blog how Elliot is being weaned onto food, so that day Oli and I decided to go and get him a high chair. He needed one and it would also mean he can sit up next to us at meal times. The three of us went to El Corte Inglés where we invested in the best one on the market, the  "Tripp Trapp" by the Norwegian brand Stokke. It's a wonderful wooden chair that grows with the baby and eventually turns into a normal chair. It comes in bits and pieces and you get to choose which accessories to get for the baby. We loved it and no doubt Elliot would too. The shop delivered it the next day.

The Stokke Tripp Trapp high chair we got for Elliot

At the same department I got a new rattle for Elliot as he had lost his favourite giraffe one I got him for Christmas. I couldn't find the same one but came across a blue elephant rattle which hopefully would serve the same purpose. He loved it as soon as I put it in his little hands. Everything for babies these days is so much better than what was available when I was a new mother.

Elliot enjoying his new rattle toy

Elliot went out twice that day as in the afternoon Oli and her baby joined me when I went to meet up with Fátima junior. We walked the 25 minutes or so to our local commercial centre. Fátima daughter, like Fátima mother, hahahaha, was, of course late. It didn't matter as we were delighted to see her. We spoke a lot about her mother which I hoped didn't upset her but she was happy to do so and so were we. We got kicked out of the bar at 7 pm which was closing - a bit unheard of in Spain. Thus we parted our ways after a rather short coffee and tea together, promising to see each other again soon. I think she is a very brave young woman.

We came home to find Lucy had made us a tortilla for dinner. Miguel had sent a parcel of more baby stuff including some baby feeders. Oli put a piece of avocado in one of them which the baby loved. I made him vegetable pure, his first time ever, out of carrots, potatoes and courgettes. I tried it and it tasted very bland as it had no salt in it. Oli fed her baby from a new suction bowl and small plastic spoon and the little tot who was trying it for the first time, finished it off in a jiffy. He loved it. We were amazed. Here is a video of him eating properly for the first time, bless him.

I sent the video to his father who didn't see it for a while as he was with his dear friend Fran who is dying, so sadly of melanoma. That morning, Fran and his partner, of years, got married in the saddest ceremony I have ever seen. They had to get married so that his partner would be entitled to a widow's pension. They had planned to get married anyway but because of his illness they had put it off. She had left her native Asturias and her job and home there to live with him in Valencia and marrying her was his way of leaving her protected and covered. But what a sad, sad wedding. The marriage, of course, took place in his hospital bedroom where his only word was "sí" (yes). He couldn't manage another one, poor man.

We were cheered up later when I helped Oli bathe little Elliot. Whenever I am sad, all I have to do is look at Elliot and all my woes go away.

The day finished with Eladio and I watching a film about the Spanish civil war - one of our favourite genres. Called "The Endless Trench" (La Trinchera infinita) and based on a real story, it tells the tale of how one man on the wrong side of the war, hid in his house for 30 years until Franco called an Amnesty in 1969.

Our choice of film on Monday night

Countless people did the same and became known, once they were out in the open, as "moles " (topos). I think there was a similar case in Japan, of a man emerging from hiding decades after the end of WW2. What frightening times. If you can find it on Netflix, it's well worth watching.

Tuesday came and we spent most of the day with Elliot. First though we had to take my Mini for servicing. We had understood it would need it after 3 years but found out at the BMW garage that it should have been 2 years. It didn't really matter in the end as the car, which I only use occasionally, had only clocked up 30.000 kilometres. From the garage we went to the post office and then the bank for some errands before heading home to babysit for Elliot while Oli went swimming - to strengthen her back she says as he is now so heavy (hahahaha). We put him in his recliner but he soon got bored and I resorted to using his baby feeders with fruit in to calm him down. Oh how he loves that.

Elliot in his recliner munching fruit from a baby feeder with Elsa at his side.

He got pieces of orange, pear and apple and loved every piece. Eladio was able to put him to sleep which took 20 minutes and then he only slept for 20 minutes. Thankfully his mother was soon home and he could have some of her milk.

After lunch his new chair arrived and, Ikea style, needed assembling. Thankfully we had our own in-house carpenter, in Eladio who soon had the Norwegian high chair ready for use. Elliot loves it and so do we. It means he can now sit at our level rather than lie at our dogs' level (haha). Here he is in the new chair enjoying some more fruit from one of the dummy feeders. He is very well equipped for proper food now. In his absence, Miguel had ordered more dummy feeders, plastic bibs, suction bowls and little spoons which all arrived that day. Online shopping is very often  the best way to shop.

Elliot all equipped now for proper eating with his new chair, plastic bib and baby feeder

Suzy had to go off to give a lesson to Olga, her deaf pupil who works as a tourist guide and is the only deaf tourist guide in the city. Suzy says she is such a fighter - good for her. We went for a walk in the afternoon braving the wind. Thankfully Elliot slept most of the way. We came back to feed him again - he could eat all day - and says no to nothing. That day saw him eat some cardboard without our noticing it (hahahaha). Oli gave him some more vegetable puré, double the quantity of the day before, and he enjoyed every spoonful.

Suzy spent the night at her friend Elenita's so it was just the four of us for dinner, with Elliot sitting with us at our level for the first time. Eladio had the grand idea of giving him some sugar free chocolate to try and my goodness did he love it and what a mess he made. It's probably not a good idea to try a baby on chocolate but this baby seems to be able to tolerate everything. Just look at him with his chocolate face enjoying the moment. Oh, how we laughed.

Elliot's first chocolate moment

Afterwards there was no choice but to bathe him. That day saw us getting rid of his baby bath which he had outgrown and bathing him in the tub sitting in a little safe bath chair. Oh, how he loves his bath, except for when by mistake I showered his face with water. Later he was clean and calm and came to us in our bedroom while his mother got ready herself for bed. Here he is with Eladio looking on adoringly at him.

Elliot in our bed

Tuesday was all about Elliot and we didn't have much time to watch the news. We just caught the end and were thus updated on the development of coronavirus which continues to dominate the headlines and so it should as the numbers increase. If just two weeks ago there were about 2 or 3 cases in Spain, that day there were over 150 and over 200 in France and the numbers would escalate all week.  Today the numbers have grown alarmingly. In France there are over 700 cases and in Spain the figure is around 500. Life in general has been disrupted by the virus and even my little Airbnb business has been affected. People are just not travelling and for the first time in my 3 years of hosting I have no guests this weekend. It's going to be tough financially if the trend continues. The next day we saw Spain's first death from the virus, again from an elderly person; the elderly being the most vulnerable. By last night it had jumped to 8. Thankfully for Elliot, children and babies seem pretty immune. As the number of cases increased so did measures to contain it and that day the Spanish government ordered football matches with teams from focus areas such as Italy to be played without any public.

Our entertainment that night was a new series which is not really from a genre we usually watch. Called "Toy Boys" it is set in Marbella and is about a male stripper wrongly accused of murder.  We watched two episodes and switched off the light late.

Wednesday came and again I made Elliot's breakfast, porridge with stewed apple this time. He loved every spoonful. That morning was the dreaded task of doing the weekly shopping. We usually go to Carrefour Market for the more gourmet stuff and to Mercadona for the basics. We had heard that in some of their shops supplies were running out due to the panic buying from the general fear of Coranavirus. That day there were hardly any raspberries or billberries, no blackberries, parsley or brussel sprouts (my father's favourite vegetable together with cauliflower). I sort of doubted people had been stockpiling this sort of produce. Our local Mercadona always has problems with supplies so that day I took to twitter to complain. I got a polite reply but I wonder if things will change. Then when I went on Friday to see if they had the fruit and veg I needed, the store manager came up to me. She had been contacted by the Mercadona customer service people because of my tweet which had reached the right "ears". Cayetana apologised and actually admitted that on Wednesday there were stocks in the warehouse and so apologised for my unlucky shopping experience. She asked me to complain to her next time rather than on twitter. Well, she would wouldn't she? Social media is the way to go these days for customer complaints. 

We came home with the car stuffed mostly with fruit and vegetables which hopefully would last the week apart from the raspberries, etc.  With some of the veg I made a chicken and vegetable puree for little Elliot's dinner and some to freeze. It would be the first time he was to try meat. I had no doubt that he would love and eat it as he seems to love everything we give him. If he doesn't complain about swallowing cardboard, anything else must taste delicious hahahahaha.

It was my mid morning coffee time when we got back. A few days earlier I had read something in The Guardian about making the perfect frothy coffee at home and for readers to send in their photos and how they make it. Well, I thought, I make the perfect frothy coffee - no need to call it capuccino because that's what it is - so I was determined to send in my suggestion. The coffee is made with a full strength Nespresso pod in an Emma Bridgewater cup. To make the milk, I use a manual jug by a brand called Judge which works like a coffee plunger, but with better results.  I bought mine on Amazon. You can either heat the milk in the microwave (quicker) or directly in the milk frother jug. I prefer a manual frother as it is much easier to clean and frankly because the milk comes out a lot stiffer which is how I like it. Once the milk is warm all you have to do is to press down the plunger quite a few times and out comes the best frothy milk possible. This is the photo I sent to The Guardian. I have yet to hear from them and probably won't but at least I have now told you, my readers, how to make the perfect frothy coffee.

The perfect cup of frothy coffee

That day I was not in charge of lunch. That day I had a lunch appointment with my dear friend Julio from our Nokia days and it was the highlight of the week. I had to drive my old Nokia Volvo manual car which is now Eladio's as my Mini which is an automatic was still at the garage being serviced. I swear I hadn't driven a manual car for more than two years and Eladio had to remind me which pedal was the clutch! After a few kilometres I was used to changing gear but kept my eyes on the road and my brain alert so as not to stall the car which could have easily happened. It didn't thank goodness and I arrived at the Gaztelubide restaurant in the very swanky La Florida neighbourhood where Julio was waiting for me. When we worked at Nokia which was nearby we often had business lunches there, so much so that the maitre rememberd me and came up to greet me. Julio treated me to a glorious lunch and he also brought me a present for my birthday last month: Viktor and Rolf perfume. We both missed our "third musketeer", our friend and ex colleague, Fátima. The three of us had a tradition of celebrating our birthdays every year and this year was the first without her. She is sorely missed. It was good to catch up on Julio's life. He is now a University professor and I am very proud of him. When we parted we agreed to try and coincide in April in Santa Pola - he has an apartment in nearby Campello. I look forward to that.

I came home to a quiet house. The girls and Elliot had gone but would be back for dinner. Eladio and I had a short siesta after which we went on our walk which was very windy. We came home to prepare dinner and as the girls were late, we watched the news. Again the main news was the development and spread of the coronavirus. I read in the British press that day that Boris Johnson had said the following on the BBC: "the crucial thing we can all do to help the NHS, to stop the spread of the disease is wash your hands twice, two verses of "Happy Birthday", hot water and soap". Is the guy mad? Why "Happy Birthday". It doesn't seem at all relevant. I hope this doesn't mean he isn't taking the issue seriously. The Times commented "unlike so much of what has gone before for this PM, this is not a crisis that can be ignored, deflected or denied. He can't wash his hands of this one". Well said I thought. New drastic measures were taken in Italy for example where from Wednesday all schools and Universities in the whole of the country were closed for the next 10 days. If Boris Johnson's warning was underwhelming, the measures in Italy and other countries were maybe over the top. I'm not sure. This morning I read of even more draconian measures. In the UK the government is preparing for the worst: 100.000 dead, half the number of deaths caused by "Spanish flu" at the beginning of the last century. In Italy, with the death toll passing 230 and number of cases rising to 5.900 yesterday, the government effectively closed off the area of Lombary which means 16 million people will be in lock-down. Weddings and funerals have to be postponed. In the UK there is talk of delaying "O" and "A" levels and all around the world gyms, schools, museum, etc are being closed. Yesterday was my mother in law's 98th birthday and we heard that her care centre had banned visits, except for one person per resident in the afternoons. Of course, the elderly are the most vulnerable .

The rest of the day continued as many of our days, with a long walk followed by dinner, again with the company of the girls.

Thursday came and it was not a good day although it started out fine. That morning I started the first of ten daily sessions of physiotheraphy for my back probem. My appointments were at the same time every day, at 08.30. That of course meant getting up early which, in my case, is not too much of a problem. So off I went missing Oli and Elliot's departure to Valencia. They went to join Miguel who decided to stay there for his friend Fran who is fighting for his life in hospital with terminal melanoma. They even cancelled their trip to Stockholm (sniff) tomorrow but I completely understand as Fran is his best friend.

The physiotherapy was quite enjoyable. First I had a 20 minute session of electrotherapy,  then 20 minutes of monitored exercises supervised by a young French physiotherapist called Quentin (love that name) followed by 20 minutes of heat on my back. Not too bad I thought although I would have loved a massage.

I rushed home as I had to be at another appointment at 12 midday to see the eye specialist for an annual check up after my operation 2 years ago. I had a bit of time at home to catch up on some work when suddenly my computer crashed. This was the ghastly message I was able to capture with my camera  before it shut down and refused to start up again. I am talking about my new HP Windows 10 lovely red PC which since I bought it last September had worked a treat, until this week.

A message on my PC just before it crashed

I immediately rang the support service I pay for and was soon on the phone to an agent who took me through all the steps possible to get the PC up and working again. All failed and the agent told me there was no option but to restore it to factory settings, i.e. reset it. I knew that meant I would lose all my files. What had happened you may ask? Well something so simple as a badly installed Microsoft update or one that went wrong was probably the cause. Thats not good coming from such a reputable company. So I pressed on the button to reset it with a heavy heart and off I went to my eye specialist appointment.

While waiting at the surgery, I mused on what had just happened and was cross with myself for taking the support agent's advice before seeking a possible solution. I then started thinking of all the stuff I had lost and again was cross with myself for not having backed it up. I have a lot of stuff on external disks but not all and certainly not the last 5 months of work.  I do have some stuff "in the cloud" on google docs and Microsoft's equivalent but storage doesn't come cheap and I had skimped on it. In the end I waited a whole 2.5h at the surgery before the busy and important consultant could see me. By then my phone battery had run out and my day seemed to be getting bleaker and bleaker. I was with the consultant for 5 minutes. He looked at my eyes, said all was well but asked for more tests which means I now have another appointment at the end of March. I hope that doesn't mean waiting all that time again. In case it does, I shall take a flask of coffee, something to eat and maybe my restored PC so as not to waste my time at the Hospital. Maybe I should have been more worried about catching the dreaded virus in the busy waiting room. Hospitals are the places to avoid these days. 

I came home feeling cross with the world but trying not to be as, as I posted on Facebook, "shit happens" and life does bring along little obstacles. In the grand scheme of things a computer crash and loss of files is not the end of the world. The end of the world would be suffering terminal melanoma in a hospital like Fran or my brother George who died of the same desease aged only 46.

After a quick lunch and an equally quick nap, I went downstairs to set up my PC. It took a while to reinstall Microsoft Office and the Mcafee anti virus. I then opened the external disk where I thought I had a copy of all the files from my old PC, only to find that only about half of them were not there. External disks are not trustworthy devices. So I opened my old PC to check which were missing and there I came to a halt as I couldn't remember my password. I tried all the possibilities with no luck. In the end I gave up. In any case we had to leave the house to go and get my Mini which we had taken to be serviced.  That was a rush. We left the house at 6 pm (no walk that day:-() but encountered traffic on our way. The BMW garage closes at 6.30 and we nearly didn't make it but then did by the skin of our teeth. My nerves were in such a state by then that I had forgotten to take along the receipt, couldn't remember or rather had the wrong registration plate number in my phone. To top it all I couldn't remember my visa pin number. Thankfully I remembered a pin number from another card and with my passport was able to retrieve the vehicle. I was a bag of nerves that day. 

I came home, happy to be driving my automatic Mini rather than Eladio's manual Volvo. There was just time to copy more files onto my PC - some from my dear friend Andy and all necessary for my mother's book (OMG!), before putting an end to the day and relaxing over dinner with my dear husband. I commented over our meal, just how different my world is today now that I no longer work for a big corporate company when all my IT needs were taken care of as was the maintenance of a luxury company car.  I still miss all the amazing company perks that were innumerable. Just some of them were: a new smart phone once a year, free petrol, motorway toll pass, free parking, life insuarance policy, luncheon vouchers, paid for telephone and internet at home, an amazing fully serviced car of course and even free private health insurance for me and all my family. When my car needed servicing, someone took it to the garage and I was given a replacement car. As to computers we got a new one every two years and of course 24/7 technical support. I could have done with these last two this week I can tell you. That world with all its perks is no longer my world but was good while it lasted. 

As we went to bed that night, I thought, similarly to Scarlett O'Hara, in Gone With the Wind, "tomorrow will be another day" and indeed it was.

Friday started with my second session of physiotherapy. I took my two computers with me to find a repair centre to crack the password on the old PC and to hopefully restore some files on the new one. I found a shop near where we used to live and trustingly left them both of my computers. By the end of the day and for just 60 euros, the password was cracked. I wonder how they do it. I have yet to find out about the files from the hard disk of my new PC. Cross your fingers they find them and cross your fingers that the bill isn't too hefty.

Not much else of interest happened on Friday. That night we did not go out to dinner. That was my decision as I am supposed to be on a diet. I make huge sacrifices during the week and then come Friday "stuff myself" and the result is no loss gain at the end of the week. So, no more dinners out for a while now was the decision I took after getting on the scales that morning. I made a very healthy dinner of fish and vegetables which Eladio said was delicious. The day ended as always, watching the news in our room and then with some video streaming entertainment - in this case more episodes of Toy Boy.

Saturday came and was very quiet indeed. I spent much of the morning cooking and reading. We all missed the girls of course but especially little Elliot - Suzy had gone off to spend a few days at Oli's empty flat seeking her independence - We love taking Elliot on our walks but that day it was just us. The sun was shining although there was rather a nip in the air. Over dinner we watched the news as we always do on my iPad. Coronavirus dominated the headlines but the refugee issue on the border of Turkey and Greece was equally dramatic. Erdogan, Turkey's Premiere, sick of taking in millions of refugees, nearly all of them Syrian, suddenly opened the border to Greece. Migrants hopeful of reaching the land of bounty, i.e. the EU, rushed to cross it on land and on sea and risked their lives. The Greek government made it impossible for them and now we have scenes of thousands of migrants stranded at the border. How sorry I feel for them.

The highlight for us at least yesterday was watching the semi final of "Prodigios" (children prodigy), that lovely children's talent show of budding singers, instrument players and ballet dancers. The Spanish soprano, Ainhoa Arteta, is on the jury and I have come to love her. What a wonderful woman, what a voice.

Today, as I said at the beginning, is international women's day. I won't be out marching but I am of course sympathetic to the cause. Women will never be equal, women suffer as second class citizens in many parts of the world, especially in the Middle East and I don't see that changing soon. I wonder how Afghan women will be celebrating as they have nothing at all to celebrate. As a woman now in my 60's I've seen my fair share of inequality and have been abused both physically and psychologically. It has to be said too that in the corporate world, my word was never as valid as a man's and I was never treated equally. I can only hope it's a bit better for my daughters and any offspring they may have. It's still a man's world out there my friends so I have a lot of respect for those marching today. Good luck. I hope you achieve something.

On that note, my friends, it is time to wrap up. Hoping you have enjoyed this week's post, I wish you all the best until next Sunday.

Cheers till then,
Masha

c