Fun with our French family, a visit from Julio - "French exit" - leaving without saying goodbye, a Franco Anglo Spanish party, to Galicia for the first part of our anniversary trip and other stories.

 Camposanco, A Guarda (Galicia), Sunday 21st August 2022

Group photo during our amazing Franco Anglo Spanish party on Thursday night, without a doubt the highlight of the week and month. 

Good morning from our little hotel near A Guarda, a small seaside town in the province of Pontevedra in Galicia, very near Portugal. A Guarda is the lobster capital of Spain and it is where we have come for the first part of this year's wedding anniversary trip. 

39 years ago today we got married and we have every reason to celebrate. We first met in the summer of 1980. I had just graduated and was 23 years old. I had no idea  then that that chance meeting with Eladio would become a happy marriage and lead me to leave England for Spain the following year. I had no idea either on 21st August 1983, the day we married, that I had made the best decision of my life. As a Finnish friend, Anne, once told me "your marriage is as good as it gets". She is right. But before I relate our trip here, let me rewind to last Sunday. 

Last Sunday was the perfect family day. We had a quiet morning, including our much cooler walk as the temperature dropped a few degrees, finally, this last week. Our French family were happily settling in. I spent time by the pool reading and so did they. Things livened up when Oli and family arrived in the middle of the afternoon. Marianne, my little French friend, joined us immediately; happy to play with Juliet and happy to be given a swimming lesson by Miguel who is or was a semi professional swimmer. His speciality is the butterfly stroke; probably the most difficult. 

While Elliot slept, Juliet bathed with her father and I had to capture our lovely smiling granddaughter soon to turn 1 year old in the pool.

Little Juliet with her expert swimmer father, Miguel, in the pool last Sunday

Eladio joined us too but didn't go in the water, preferring to sit in the shade on a bench under one of the chestnut trees. That was when my much awaited electric fly and mosquito racket which is called a "bug zapper" arrived from my trusty supplier, Amazon. Here he is about to unbox it.

Eladio showing my new electric fly swatter which was delivered by Amazon last Sunday

It had great review so I had high expectations. We tried it out that night and it worked well with wasps while we had dinner but not so well with flies. It comes with a light for use at night that attracts and kills bugs. I managed to kill 3 wasps manually and then when it was fixed on the table it killed another. It literally fries them and when it does it's like fireworks. Elliot was interested as it's quite a fun thing to use but dangerous for kids because of the voltage. He understood perfectly when I told him it wasn't for children and sat happily eating the tortilla Lucy had made for dinner.

Marianne was happy to play with both babies and Elliot was increasingly convinced she is "Lady Bug" (Marinet) from the French comic series. Later I caught them all singing the theme song. I wish I had taken a video  as it was such a fun moment. 

Singing the Lady Bug song with Marianne

We laugh a lot with our French family. They are just our sort of people and there are great vibes in the house when they are with us. It's such a pity that our anniversary trip had to coincide with their stay which meant that we only had 5 days with them.  Marianne has such charisma. When she grows up, no doubt, she will break many men's hearts. I was heartbroken to say goodbye to her on Friday morning. 

All in all Sunday was a marvelous family day. Monday came and it was quiet. We went for our walk while the French family went to visit the pretty old town of Chinchón to the south of Madrid. When we returned I skinny dipped and even showered outside - what a wonderful feeling. Monday was 15th August and the Feast of the Assumption which mean it was a holiday in Spain and in France too. Lucy took the day off so we had to fend for ourselves which was fine as we ate leftovers.

The highlight of my day was a video call in the afternoon with our friends Kathy and Phil. I went to school with Kathy who lives in Keighley, West Yorkshire. They are coming in October for 10 days which will be great. In fact I have a lot to to look forward to after our anniversary holiday. Our dear au pair, Pernille, from Denmark is coming at the beginning of September, then Amanda and then Kathy and Phil - wonderful. To top it all, in November, I shall be going to Yorkshire myself for some event at our old school - St. Joseph's College.  There will be a mass on 19th November, at the school, hopefully followed by a lunch. It's the perfect excuse to revisit Yorkshire this year. Then it will be Christmas and the year will soon be over. Lots to look forward to.

Once again that day I learned new French words from little Marianne. I think her parents would prefer for it to be the other way round and they are right. On Sunday and Monday I learned that an e-book is a "liseuse", that a dog's tail is a "queue" (makes sense or does it?) and that to bark is "aboyer". I then looked up what to wag a tail is in French and the verb is "remuer". Thus "le chien remue la queue". Easy right? This is useful vocab when talking about dogs. Marianne has been left in charge of feeding both Pippa and Phoebe as I think I told you last week. Thus she feeds them "croquettes". I kept calling it "nourriture" (food in French) when the right word for dog food or the type Pippa eats is "croquettes". 

Another lesson or "leçon" in French. As I told my friend Kathy, I'm not sure our French teacher, Miss Doyle, from SJC would be happy with my memory. But not doubt she would be happy to see me learning more French so many years later. 

Tuesday was the day my dear friend Julio and ex Nokia colleague was coming for dinner. I was also expecting a new guest, a young solo traveler, Lucy S. from England. I always like receiving guests from my home country. But we had the morning to ourselves and it started with our walk in the early hours of the day before it got too hot. Here is Eladio equipped with hat and sunglasses with Pippa, of course.

Eladio and Pippa on our early morning walk on Tuesday this week

I came back to skinny dip and shower outside while my dear husband mowed the lawns. As he was busy I did the food shopping, making sure I left lots of provisions for Lucy, Pippa and Phoebe our cat.

It was while I was out I noticed the sky was clouded and hazy but I could also smell smoke. I was worried there was a fire in the neighbourhood. To check I looked at the whatsapp group formed by many neighbours and that's when I find out the cause. The clouded sky and smell of burning came from wildfires in Portugal near Salamanca, about 250km from the capital. How could that be I wondered and the answer was a westerly wind bringing it to the sky of Madrid. It was really strange. 

The Madrid sky affected by wildfires in Portugal 250km away from the capital

Meanwhile in the north of Spain where it is much cooler, I was sent news by my sister-in-law about a shark swimming in the sea at our favourite beach in Asturias; "la playa de Poó" - the one with the funny name. It was the most surprising news I had read for a long time. 

A shark in the sea by our favourite beach in Asturias - La Playa de Poó. 

Apparently the poor animal - not that I like sharks - was injured, something to do with its fin  - and was swimming in circles close to the beach which had to be closed to the public that morning. If you can read Spanish this is the news article Dolores sent to me. 

I missed Eladio while out shopping and came home to unload everything with dear Lucy who is such a help. We couldn't live without her. I had a short siesta after lunch and then was up to start preparations for our dinner that night with Julio. I also had time for a long skype call with my dear friend Amanda who is coming out to see me/us in September. That afternoon, Lucy, our young UK guest arrived too and she seemed delightful. Lucy studied Spanish and French so she has come to the right house, especially this week where the three languages, English, Spanish and French were being spoken most of the time.  I think she loved the place and remarked she now understood why I was as a "super host". I told her that this house was not your typical Airbnb. It's so international. Amanda remarked that my mother would have been proud of me. Well, she would have enjoyed my guests just as much as I do. 

But back to dinner for Julio. For the occasion we had "salmorejo"  ( a thick type of gazpacho), my famous tuna salad and then salmon the Finnish way with dill and sour cream - delicious. Dessert was fresh mango and raspberries with vanilla and mango ice cream. Julio approved and even told me he repeats with great success some of my dishes for friends and family. This was my tuna salad. The tuna is whisked with finely chopped spring onion - be sure to include the green part - and mayonnaise. It is actually a recipe I invented myself years ago. The tuna mix goes in the centre and then I decorate the rest of the plate with eggs, tomatoes and avocado. 

Tuna salad as one of the ingredients for Tuesday's dinner with Julio

Julio, now a University professor - oh how proud of him I am - never comes empty handed and brought a box of red wine. We actually ended up drinking Rueda white wine which went better with the dishes I served but it would come in handy for our dinner party on Thursday. 

Before we dug in to our beautifully laid table on the kitchen terrace we had to have some photos and here they are. I feel so small and short next to my tall friend Julio (hahaha). Oh how I love him. We have been friends now for 22 years, since I joined Nokia in 2000. We still sorely miss and missed that night, our "third musketeer", Fátima, who so sadly died in December 2019. She was in our thoughts that night as she always is.

With Julio who came for dinner on Tuesday night

The food, the wine, the company, the pleasant temperature - finally - made for a wonderful evening together. Julio left early as he always does and so we went to bed early too.  Julio is known for leaving early and not saying goodbye at big events, especially parties,  so as to leave unnoticed. I do the same. It may seem rude but if done carefully no one usually notices. 

Leaving without saying goodbye is quite an art. You have to do it carefully so that no one thinks you are rude. 

So when our guest Lucy mentioned the expression  "French exit" during her stay here, I was reminded of Julio.  Funnily enough I had never heard of it but was intrigued by the  meaning and origin. This is what I found: "Mid 18th century said to derive from the French custom of leaving a dinner or ball without saying goodbye to the host or hostess. The phrase was first recorded shortly after the Seven Years War; the equivalent French expression is "filer à l'Anglaise, literally "to escape in the style of the English".  I also read it is sometimes called an "Irish goodbye"; something to do with not wanting to reveal their drunkenness or not having their keys taken so they can't leave. I then carried on researching and there are all sorts of variations in many languages in Europe but it is mainly either an English or a French exit.  PS. In Spanish, like English it is also called a French exit or French leave- "despedirse a la francesa". My father who adored etymology would have approved of my interest but I wonder if he knew the expressions. Do you?  PPS "French leave means to be absent from work without permission. 

Many of the different ways of saying to leave without saying goodbye

I find the subject fascinating but must return to the tales of my week. On a final note,  even though Julio left early that night, he did say goodbye, hahaha.

Wednesday dawned and I was up far too early at 6 am - I had forgotten to take my sleeping pills; dammit. It turned out to be a good day. After our morning walk I took my guest Lucy to buy food. We also had to rush to the petrol station to fill up the tank of my car which was dangerously running out of petrol. I was pleasantly surprised to see the price of petrol has gone down a bit but still paid a lot more than a year ago. I then took Lucy to Alverán for a coffee which was great except for the noise of some road works. It was good to chat in English and to get to know each other. Our trip out finished with a visit to my doctor's for a prescription and then to a chemist - I love chemists in Spain and always have. They are clean, cool and very efficient. We came home to chill out by the pool; Lucy in the sun and me in the shade.

Lunch was "spag bol" made by the other Lucy (funny to have two Lucy's in the house) and then a short siesta. Our French guests were back from a visit to Toledo. 12 year old Marianne was not impressed and is not into museums and monuments unlike her mother who is a history and geography teacher. It figures. I then went online to find things Marianne might find more fun for a girl her age. Her passion is animals so I think her parents will take her to the zoo. I don't like the fact that animals are trapped in zoos to be shown to us human beings but there isn't much option. To cheer her up I asked if she wanted to help me bathe Pippa and she jumped at the chance. Pippa did not mind at all that our little guest was part of the proceedings. I taught Marianne how to wash a dog properly and after drying her thoroughly she was deemed "prope". I had forgotten the word so there came another lesson in French. Later both Lucy and I gave her a lesson in English which was a lot of fun. Marianne and I are now connected via whatsapp and I have vowed to send her 3 new words a day in English and she has to do the same in French. Later her father thanked me for being so attentive to his daughter. He had no need to as she is such a wonderful girl. She has charisma. It's so evident.

I introduced her to my dear Uni friends, both excellent French speakers, Adele who lives in France (now in Brittany) and Sandra who lives in Brussels. We had a good old chin wag for nearly 40 minutes. I do wish they lived nearer me. Ah and I learned another French expression which I found funny bur related to. It came from Adele who has had her sons and grandchildren staying with them for a week or so. It is "chic-ouf" and is used to describe enjoying the arrival of your grandchildren but being happy or relieved when they are gone. You can read more about it here as I cannot now go into a long description of the meaning and origin new expression or you will be bored stiff hahha. 

The day ended with dinner on the terrace; mostly leftovers and so to bed.

Thursday was the highlight of the week or the month, the day of our planned goodbye dinner with Jerome, Peggy and Marianne. Lucy, our English guest would be joining us as would Oli and family. We were to be 11 people including our little grandchildren and what a blast we had. 

I spent a good part of the day on the preparations and so did Peggy as we both contributed to the dinner. I feel so comfortable with our French guests, it's like having friends to stay. The afternoon was quiet too which we spent round the pool. Oli and family arrived a little late but were on time for dinner. By 8.30 or so we were all sitting around the table outside the kitchen. Again, before any one could dig in we had to have photos of course. Miguel our cameraman made sure we got a group photo which I would later print for Peggy. I also wanted one with Marianne, Elliot and Pippa. Later I printed them both and put them in the last 2 frames I had as a gift for our French guests. I have chosen the group photo for this week's feature photo but the one that means most to me is the one with Marianne, Pippa and Elliot.  I miss her so. She is now in charge of feeding Pippa and Phoebe but I think she was a little sad we were leaving. It was bad planning not to be there throughout their stay and I wish we had but I had booked this holiday ages ago. However, we have agreed that next year they will come and stay with us in Montrondo. That will be something to look forward to, I know.

With beautiful Marianne and my adorable grandson Elliot who thinks she is "Lady Bug" (Marinette) from the French cartoon series

She had dressed up specially and looked amazing. I was told I looked good in my French red dress, the one I bought in Ile de Re, but I'm not so sure. 

The food was delicious and so was the company. I remarked that it was  was the perfect "entente cordiale" if only it hadn't been for Brexit which breaks my heart. Part of my Airbnb experience is meeting guests like these from all over the world and I have to say that Thursday night was one of the best experiences of interacting with guests. I would say 99% of our guests are wonderful and some are very very special, so much so they end up becoming friends like Jerome, Peggy, Marianne and lovely Lucy. And here we are around the table before digging in, apart from the wine of course of which there was  a good choice of bottles of both French and Spanish origin. 

Everyone around the table

The mixture of languages was perfect too; English, French and Spanish. All of us know at least 2 of the languages and I kept feeling that my French was really improving. I do love the language and it is a pity I never learned more. In Spanish you would call it my "asignatura pendiente" (unfinished business). I could curse my adored parents for not teaching me more languages or teaching them to me properly. They were polyglots and wonderful teachers but somehow I missed out on that. In any case I do like practicing my French and learning new words. 

Then the fun part started. Previously I had shown Marianne our old chest full of disguises. The chest belonged to my great grandparents and is quite old. Inside it is covered in old newspaper and you can see the date; 1860 something. I love our old oak chest; a family heirloom. Marianne couldn't believe what she was seeing - all the girls' outfits from when they were little to when they went out for Halloween in their 20's, so there was much to choose from. We chose some Hawaiian looking stuff, mostly garlands and skirts as well as wigs. We got them out before my dessert, a delicious strawberry mille feuille of my own invention. 

As we put on the outfits, laughter emerged as you can imagine. Here is one of us all in our outfits and one of Jerome and Eladio which I found the funniest haha. It was a classic fun moment from a wonderful dinner which each and every one of us enjoyed immensely. It was an absolute blast where all the ingredients were perfect, good food, wonderful people, lots in common, a beautiful evening; not too hot nor too cold all of which made for a perfect atmosphere and international dinner; one to remember. 

Photos from the dinner party - fun with our international guests - a party to be remembered. 

There was more to come when dessert was served. I think everyone enjoyed my tart. 

My strawberry mille feuille 

Oli and family had to leave early as my daughter had to be up for work at 6 am the next day to go to work. Lucy, bless her, cleared the table, while we sat round happily talking until it was time to go to bed. No one, by the way, made a "French exit" hahaha  - thank you Lucy for the expression. We had such a great evening, a real blast, one my best parties hahaha as Suzy remarked when she saw the photos.

Friday morning came, the day of our departure. It was so sad to say goodbye to our French family, especially Marianne. But we vowed we would see each other next year and I really hope they come with us to Montrondo. I also hope I see our English guest Lucy who stayed on until yesterday when a Dutch family would arrive. Hopefully they would make up for our absence. 

We left just after 10 and had quite a long drive ahead of us as it is more than 500km to A Guarda. But it was pleasant with not much traffic. We stopped at a pretty village called Puebla de Sanabria in the province of Zamora for our picnic lunch. We found a spot under the trees next to the river Ter - what a beautiful place to have our picnic. People were bathing in the river and it seemed a pleasant place to come on holiday. 

Our picnic lunch in Puebla de Sanabria

We must have reached our destination, Hotel O Novo Muiño, 4km or so from A Guarda, at around 5.15 pm. The modest little 2 star hotel, 200 metres from the O Muiño beach - next to Camposanco - had been recommended to me by my sister-in-law Dolores who had stayed here before with her family. It may be modest but it is in a quiet location, surrounded by vegetation and the sea and has all that we need, including a wonderful swimming pool. 

Our modest but well located hotel 

The pool at the hotel

The view from our terrace. We were told we had a sea view but you can hardly spy the sea for the trees

The 200m walk to the beach - surrounded by pine trees

The room; sparse and modest but large, boasts a small terrace which for me is a must. I can't stand hotel rooms without at least a balcony.  I unpacked and set up my Nespresso, travel kettle, PCs, etc. The only thing I left behind - dammit - was the remote control for my Fire Stick but no worries I quickly ordered one from Amazon and it will arrive tomorrow.

Eladio was tired from driving and was soon asleep on the enormous bed (another plus) while I made my way to the pool. It was sunny and the temperature most agreeable - about 25ºc. The water was not cold and I enjoyed 2 swims and then sat in the shade with my mobile phone for entertainment.

Knowing A Guarda is the Spanish lobster capital and lobster being my favourite food in the world, I made a reservation at restaurant that came recommended - Riveiriña - and is located in the port of the town, 3.5km from our hotel. We could have walked there but were tired. We had a sea front seat and could not resist ordering a "mariscada". A mariscada is a huge platter of seafood and is typical on the north coast of Spain where the best seafood comes from. A mariscada is a marvel for taste buds but not good for your fingers which get very sticky. For once, though, I didn't care. For starters Eladio had "pulpo" (octupus) and I had "zamburriñas" (mini scallops)  which we didn't need but ordered them because we both love these dishes. These were my zamburriñas. I actually only eat the scallop and not the roe as I am not into roe as I am not into caviar. The first and only time I tasted caviar was in the Russian Embassy in London when I was a teenager. It came served on "doorstop" bread. I shall never forget hahahaha. Well, my scallops were divine. Here they were (not are hahaha). 

My zamburriñas

When the "mariscada" came even we couldn't believe our eyes at the size of it. Just look. 

The amazing "mariscada" we had on our first night here

It consisted of lobster, crab, barnacles, cockles, scallops, mussels, large prawns and what I think are called razor clams. We ate most of it and washed it all down with a wonderful bottle of local wine from the Albariño region. Dessert was an ice cream in the street after which we drove home. Keen to see "our beach" we wandered down to it. It was late by then but I got quite a good photo of my dear husband. It was my goodnight photo for the family. On the other side of the water is Portugal just a stone's throw.  We heard that from the Port of Pasaxe nearby there are taxi boats that take you across the river to Caminha. I hope that while we are here we get to visit the small Portuguese port. 

On our beach "O Muiño" (the mill - "molino" in Spanish)

Our beach is where the mouth of the famous Galician river, "El Miño" is. So basically we are by an estuary and what a beautiful one it is. I love being by the sea don't you?

We slept amazingly well that night and I didn't wake up until 7 am yesterday, Saturday. The day was ours for the taking, the first day of our anniversary trip here. 

After a modest breakfast we decided to take a walk we had spied next to the beach that goes as far as the port in A Guarda. What a beautiful walk along the Miño estuary, what a discovery. I wished Oli and family who went on holiday to Montrondo yesterday could have joined us. Here are a few shots of this glorious walk.

On our beautiful walk yesterday

The walk was long and we needed a coffee afterwards. Where better than at the sister hotel of El Molino?   It belongs to ours, O Novo Muiño but is right on the beach. We could have booked a room there but preferred ours because of the pool although both hotels can use it.

Hotel Molino on the beach, nothing special but a great location

The Hotel Molino is nothing special but wow the cafeteria terrace is because it looks out right over the sea. We had read bad reviews of the restaurant but because we loved the location we decided to book a table for dinner there that night. Below is a photo of Eladio having his coffee. What a place, what a find. 

Coffee time yesterday

After our coffee it was beach time. The weather was perfect for bathing and there weren't too many people so down we went with our two beach chairs to enjoy some quiet time on the Playa O Muiño.

"Our beach" - Playa O Muiño yesterday

As this is Galicia I didn't expect the water to be warm. I expected it to be quite cold but it was absolutely freezing so I hardly went in. What  a pity. It reminded me of bathing on the Lanzada or San Vicente do Mar beaches further up the coast. Few people were bathing and I understood why. But it was pleasant to sit there. I had forgotten my kindle so we didn't stay long. Besides we had a lunch reservation at El Perro Verde just up the road from our hotel.

 El Perro Verde literally means the "green dog" in Spanish and the expression is used to say something is very strange or different. The actual expression is "más raro que un perro verde" - stranger than a green dog. Well, the place wasn't at all strange but the food was different to that served in this area. What I loved about it most was the location - a green bungalow with a beautiful garden. We sat inside though as the table we were assigned was in the shade and it was not warm enough. How can I describe the food? Well, different, I suppose with lots of Asian dishes, such as curry or South American dishes, like "bao" (from Venezuela) but they were good. The desserts looked English with things like Apple Crumble and Lemon Meringue Pie on the menu. I went for the latter which was divine. Overall, the food was very good and I suppose that is why "El Perro Verde" is so popular. 

Eladio leaving El Perro Verde restaurant yesterday after lunch

Before going up to our room we took the car into A Guarda in search of a supermarket to get a toothbrush for Eladio and some shampoo both of which we had forgotten to bring. Once back in our room I have to admit we spent the whole afternoon there quietly until, yes, once again, it was time for dinner. We returned to Hotel Molino and were ushered to the best seat on the terrace overlooking Portugal. 

Dinner last night with views of Portugal across the estuary.  

What a marvelous setting it was. As to the food, it wasn't marvelous but was quite acceptable. We had fish of course and I also had a scallop served the Galician way - baked and grilled in an onion sauce. This was it. 

Scallops are served like this in Galicia

Afterwards we slowly walked back to our hotel - just 200m or so and back into our pleasant and large room. Netflix entertained me until I fell asleep. This morning I woke up at 8 am, which rather wowed me as I am never up so late. I seem to be sleeping very well here. 

Today, my friends, is Sunday 21st August and, as you know, our wedding anniversary. We hugged to celebrate our day and then went down for breakfast. I am now writing this post in our room and afterwards we plan to take the other walkway by the coast, the one that leads to the Port of Pasaxe from where the taxi boats take you across to Portugal. The only thing planned for today is our anniversary dinner which you will read about in next week's blog post from Oporto. We are leaving for Oporto or Porto (in English) on Wednesday and it will be my first visit in over 40 years. For Eladio it's his first time. But for now we are enjoying Galicia.

Cheers then friends and readers. I wish you all the best  until next week. 

Masha

Home from Montrondo and back to sweltering Madrid, bothersome hairdresser visit, Elliot's first selfie, my thoughts on "woke" and "cancel culture", Serena Williams retires, RIP Olivia Newton John, satisfied customers, family barbecue, French lessons from Marianne and other stories of the week.

Sunday 14th August 2022

Elliot's first selfie

Hello again friends and readers. Here I am again another Sunday and this time writing from home - our main home - outside sweltering Madrid, except that finally the heat has receded for a short time.  I really think we should have stayed in cooler Montrondo; my husband's village, high in the mountains of North West Spain. It's hot nearly everywhere in Europe and I heard that this is the driest summer in Spain for 500 years!!! The main news is about forest fires because of the extreme heat.  Fires are raging in France and Spain and even in England where it is no longer a "green and pleasant land". I just can't imagine England not being green and the picture that sums up the situation most for me in the UK is one of Hyde Park in London where a month ago or less mercury rose to 40ºc for the first time. The problem in my home country is that it is not geared up for extremely hot temperatures as Spain is not geared up for extremely cold weather; snow.

A picture as never seen before of Hyde Park in London this week. 

In the Gironde region of France (near Bordeaux) firefighters are facing the worst fire in the whole of Europe. When we passed the area on our way to my cousin Zuka's house last month, the fire had started and we could smell and see the smoke. It has been described as a "monster" as apparently a lot of the fire is underground and impossible to put out.  This is new reality of climate change as we all know yet we don't do enough to tackle it. It's too difficult, too expensive and not enough people really care. This summer should be a huge warning. 

There were no fires in Montrondo thankfully. We had spent a whole 2 weeks in our village which is longer than usual and although I prefer the cool weather there, it was time to come home.

We left at around 11 on Sunday last and were home by 3.15 which is quite a record and I hope we don't get a speeding fine. We came home to find 3 traffic fines from our trip to France - damn it. The French one was easy to pay online. I left Eladio to deal with those from the Spanish Basque Country.

We settled in quickly and had a small lunch of some leftovers I had brought from Montrondo. I was happy to see 2 Amazon parcels had arrived - my new Birkenstock Arizona sandals was one of them. If you read my earlier blog posts, you will know I bought some fake ones in Villablino for 19 euros. So I was a bit disappointed that the real Birkenstocks are nowhere near as comfortable. That's ironic and I criticise myself for wanting them just because of the brand. I wasn't brought up to be brand conscious and I am not, usually, so that's why I am a bit cross with myself. These are them. If you think about it they may be the rage but they are not particularly beautiful. A friend, Andy, described them as Jesus sandals and he is right.

My real Birkenstock Arizona sandals which arrived in my absence

The second parcel contained what Eladio and I call "helicopters". They are little battery operated fans supposed to repel flies and wasps. I was inspired to buy them after seeing them at my cousin Zuka's place in La Teillée. Unfortunately only one of the two worked. I'm not sure they are that effective but we shall see.

My latest gadget - fly repellent fan

I would have had a long siesta except that new guests arrived; a family of 5 from the centre of Madrid, escaping the heat. Above all they wanted a pool - the main attraction here. They are a lovely family made up of 3 generations, the grandparents, their son and his wife and their 5 year old grandson. We really like them. They stayed until Thursday and made full use of the pool. 

The house seemed ok but oh my goodness, the garden did not. I have never seen so many bald patches, despite the irrigation system.  It will take Eladio some time to get it looking green again which isn't easy in this heat.

Monday came and I had lots to do. The main task was getting our damned printer working again, with the help of a very efficient young lady from HP. It took at least 2 hours. I don't think I will ever buy an HP printer again. It stopped working again on Wednesday. According to HP that is because of new Windows updates. Now how stupid is that?  That had me on the phone to them again for 2 hours on Wednesday. While trying to fix the connection, the damned printer fell over. I felt like throwing it out of the window but didn't as I need a printer. With a lot of patience, another efficient young lady guided us through some quite complicated steps - digging inside the printer and printer head, etc, and once again it was working.  By Friday we had another problem, this time with the printer head and had to order two new ones. The new printer had arrived yesterday. We were amazed to find that when we switched on the printer again, it was working and there was no error message. Thus we bought the new printer head for nothing damn it.   Oh technology can be very challenging can't it?  But what would we do without it? Nothing in this day and age. 

We spent Monday morning at home on various tasks. Lunch was more leftovers which is fine. I was waiting for 2 more guests - a couple from France - but communication with Emma  was not easy as she doesn't use Whatsapp which astonished me. I wrote in the morning to ask what time they would be here but got no answer. It was when we were at the hairdressers that she announced she had arrived. If she had told me she was arriving at 4 pm I would have been there to greet her. Of course she couldn't communicate with Lucy and had all sorts of questions (what is the wifi password, where are the nearest shops, etc) which Lucy relayed to me while my hair was being died, washed, etc - not easy to answer like this. I had sent Emma the house information pack which included all the answers to her questions, but like most, she hadn't bothered to read it. Meanwhile a mini crisis was going on in Santa Pola where new guests were arriving. Mar, who is the key holder wanted to talk to me while my hair was being washed etc. Apparently the cat belonging to Lucy, our neighbour and cleaner, was sleeping on one of the beds when Mar opened the apartment for them. It turns out Mar hates cats and dogs so she was very alarmed but thankfully the guests weren't. Lucy removed the cat and changed the sheets and all was well. Meanwhile, up north at our house in Asturias, Loli, the caretaker was worried about the new guests arriving late. Thus my time at the hairdressers was a sheer pain and the heat didn't help. It was so hot, that all I wanted was to get done with the job. I asked Caty, my hairdresser, to wash my hair with cold water and not to bother blow drying it as I couldn't stand the heat of the hair dryer. Meanwhile, Eladio waited patiently as Caty had finished with him before me, totally unaware of all the rental problems I was having to solve meanwhile.

I came home to greet the French guests, a very young couple who had driven all the way from the Loire area - more than 1300 km. As they don't know a word of English or Spanish I had to get out my school French which is better than nothing. I gave them the house tour and lots of tips for shopping, eating out, etc - even though it is all in the house info pack. Why do I bother I wonder?  

I was reminded me of a lovely Yorkshire expression which will not make any wokes reading this happy. It is "there's nowt so queer as folk". Today people substitute "queer" for "strange".  I have a problem with this as I have a problem with the word gay. When I was a child, gay meant happy and outgoing and queer meant strange. Both these words went on to be used to describe homosexuals in both a good and bad light. The  problem for me is that  I can no longer use "gay" or "queer" with their original meaning. I left England in 1981 and my vocab is now rather old fashioned. But I like it that way. Not one for using words like "awesome" I'm afraid. But it is worse than that as I keep finding out. Woke is a new phenomenon I am not living through because it hasn't really come to Spain yet but OMG it has in the UK and US where you can hardly use the word woman anymore. Really? Woke used to mean the past tense of wake didn't it? Well, now it means to be alert to injustice in society, especially racism. What is unjust about using the word woman I wonder? Every day I read articles and stories in The Times about how "wokeism" is affecting our vocab. I think it is affecting our freedom of speech. This reminds me of 1984 where free thought was replaced with group think. George Orwell predicted future society quite well  as we are now well into "wokeism" and "cancel culture". In his famous book which had a profound affect on me,  society language is called "newspeak". This was apparently a government tool devised for "monitoring the people's communications, prosecuting "thought crimes" and ultimately controlling and dictating the people's very beliefs". In my mind this is exactly what is happening today. I researched a bit more on the subject of wokeism and Orwell's book and was flabbergasted to read in The Express (not my favourite paper but the headline is so true) that 1984 is "slapped with offensive warning as woke madness hits new heights". Those very words; "woke madness" make my blood boil. Don't wokers realise what their madness does to society? I do. Another headline I found was "With silencing of speech is America entering Orwellian territory?" Not just America I'm afraid. Another headline reads: "Why the ideologies behind Woke and Cancel Culture are putting our democracy in jeopardy?  I then went on to look up "books cancelled" because of cancel culture and I was again flabbergasted. The list even includes George Orwell's Animal Farm (and 1984 !), Alice in Wonderland, The Catcher in the Rye as well as other less famous books.  Some books have been completely cancel cultured and others, such as those written by my favourite children's author, Enid Blyton, are now heavily re-edited to suit the times. What bloody times? Sorry, I am getting cross here. This amounts to cancelling history. It was thanks to Enid Blyton my love of books began. What would she think of cancel culture and wokeism I wonder? 

Classical literature books now being a victim of cancel culture. 

Will that list one day include the works of Shakespeare? If wokeism continues then I am afraid that might happen too.  Don't you find this frightening? I do. Woke and cancel culture have crept up on society  and I suspect some people don't even realise it is happening. I do though because I have a window with a view  and am not living it. Sorry but I hate the fact that statues are being taken down because they are offensive today - you cannot delete history -  or Enid Blyton books  being edited to avoid offending anyone. There you have it, my thoughts on woke and  cancel culture. What are yours?

Now back to my daily life - after the arrival of the young French couple. Only by about 6.30 could I relax. At 7 we went to have dinner at Oli's to see Elliot and Juliet. I took along freshly made potato salad and some cold courgette soup as I had been given a lot of courgettes in Montrondo. It was great to see the grandchildren again. At one point Elliot and I went outside. He was keen to show me their pool and made me ask the maintenance guy show him all the installations. He is at the stage of asking what everything is called. So when he pointed at a bench and asked me what it was called,  I invited him to sit down on it with him.That was the moment I showed him how to take a selfie. He is a fast learner. The picture he took and which I have used as this week's feature photo is  not a good one, but a first for him and also you can see my new hair cut - same style as usual of course

Dinner was fine except that neither grandchild was hungry. I think it was just too hot for them, despite the air con in their house. But Elliot did want his ice cream hahaha. We left early as Oli and Miguel had to begin the going to bed process which can take hours and of course, our daughter has to be up at 6 am for work. This is little Elliot and Juliet waving goodbye from the window of their flat. So sweet.

Elliot and Juliet waving goodbye from their flat after dinner with them on Monday night

I think I got a better night's sleep that night. Tuesday came. Eladio had to take our old Volvo for an MOT. The vehicle didn't pass the test. He had to change all 4 tires and had a problem with one of the back seat belts. This meant he had to return in the afternoon. Meanwhile, I went to do the shopping  and had my coffee at Alverán alone. I wish I had more friends to have coffee with but most of them live abroad. 

My day didn't seem very productive but I suppose it was. In the afternoon I organised some of the cupboards in our bathroom and then tackled the freezer compartment of our big kitchen fridge. There was so much damned bread in it, nothing else would fit. Meanwhile Lucy made us "perushki" - little Russian meat pies. I have taught her to make all our favourite dishes which works perfectly to my advantage. Dinner that night felt like Christmas Eve as we had the perushki with my potato salad - well Lucy's and mine - as these are some of the ingredients of the most important dinner of the year. I sent a photo to the girls and they duly ummed and ahhed in appraisal.

Two of our favourite dishes - perushki and potato salad

I followed the news of course - more about tackling the energy crisis, the Ukraine war, the Queen in Balmoral without the usual reception, the registering of Trump's disgustingly rich mansion Mar a Lago to look for top secret documents he apparently took from the White House including those to do with nuclear weapons and how the news is actually benefiting him,  the new energy crisis bill in Spain (air con at 25ºc max and heating at not above 19ºc as well as building lights off) etc, etc. But of more interest, perhaps to a lot of people was the news that US champion Serena Williams is retiring from tennis. It was actually Vogue that announced it. 

Serena Williams to retire

I love tennis, both women's and men's and have a huge admiration for Serena and her sister but not as much as I did for those women champions of "my day" - I refer to Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and of course Steffi Graff. I was quite young when Margaret Court from Australia was in her hey day. She won 24 grand slams compared to Serena's 23 and retired at the age of  35 while Serena is 40. I think that is possibly why Serena has carried until now; trying to beat that ranking.  She may not be the GOAT (greatest of all time) of women's tennis but she is a champion without a doubt. BTW taking into account both men's and women's singles greatest players, Margaret Court comes first with 24 gran slam victories.  Serena Williams comes 2nd with 23 and in 3rd place comes Spain's Rafa Nadal with 22.  Thus the Australian tennis player, Margaret Court,  is still the GOAT of tennis. 

That was bitter sweet news about a famous role model for women. Sadder news was the death of Olivia Newton John, coincidentally from Australia, who died of cancer aged just 73 this week. She needs no introduction really. I was never ever a fan of Grease (1978) and certainly not of her partner John Travolta but I thought she was  a beautiful woman.

Sad that Olivia Newton John died this week

 All I can say is RIP, you were beautiful and lovely and the world will forever remember you.

Wednesday was another hot day and as you know from earlier, I spent nearly 2.5 hours on the phone with HP getting our printer fixed again. I also had to register my new Dutch guests at the house in El Cuetu with the local police which is a bit of a bind. Guests don't like giving me their ID's and I don't like registering them either but it has to be done. Thankfully, Dick, the guest later wrote to say the house looked great. Nice! Another guest, Laura, who checked out of our apartment in Santa Pola wrote to me to say they had had a great time. That was music to my ears.

Music to my ears was when my dearest and oldest friend Amanda told me in a Skype call that afternoon that she will be coming to stay with me in September. She's not the only one. Our dear Danish au pair, Pernille, now a mother and nearing 50, will be coming from 1st to 4th September. She wants to see us of course but also our new grandchildren. So that's two visits from close girlfriends in September to look forward to.

Thursday dawned and I had not slept well, tossing and turning from 3 to 5 am. I had to take a second sleeping tablet and finally got up at 7.15.  Our Spanish family left at around 11 and later wrote the most beautiful review. This is it.

A magnificent review from our Spanish family who left on Thursday morning

I was delighted with the review and that this family were satisfied customers.   It is a reward for all the hard work I put into running my humble rental business. My overall  objective is customer satisfaction when guests stay here at our shared house or in Santa Pola or El Cuetu. I don't need a boss to pat me on the back for this. My bosses are my guests and I go over and above to make sure their stays are as pleasant as possible. There is a lot of work behind getting a review like this and I sincerely think much of my success is thanks to  my experience in the corporate world where "customer satisfaction" was drilled into me from the very beginning. At Motorola in the early 90's they called it Six Sigma. Customers were number one as they should be in all companies within reason of course.So thank you Javier and family for your lovely review. It was a pleasure hosting you; more like having friends to stay. 
 

After they left,  we went out on an errand which was more an excuse to have a nice cup of coffee together at Alverán. I love our coffees there where the waiters know exactly how I like my coffee, It has to come in a big cup, be extra strength and the milk must be all foam. 

In the afternoon, with the family gone and the French guests out on a cultural excursion, I had the pool to myself for the first time in ages. I took my book (kindle) and lay down on one of the sun loungers in the shade under the horse chestnut trees with Pippa beside me. I have to confess to skinny dipping which I absolutely love. Here was the view from my sun lounger. I couldn't have felt more content.

I had the pool to myself on Thursday afternoon

Here too is Pippa enjoying lying next to me. But she is not into skinny dipping as she hates water bless her. All she ever wants is to be with me. She makes me feel very much loved. 

Pippa next to me on another sun bed by the pool on Thursday afternoon

I felt content with the world. So did a French lady called Marie who had just checked into our apartment by the coast. These were her words. "Oui merci .l appartement est très bien et il y a tout le confort  .nous serions bien resté 2 jours de plus  ! merci". I didn't need Google Translate to understand or reply as the French was quite easy.  She wasn't alone as a Dutchman too, called Dick, who had just checked into our house in Asturias, also happy. He said the place was great. Those are fine words from a Dutchman. I find the Dutch are some of the most demanding guests. So that was two more  satisfied customers. Way to go Masha. 

My rental  work means I have to be available literally 24 h a day. Well, that night at around 2 in the morning I woke up and saw three or four messages on the Airbnb app which I had to respond to. I could have waited till the morning but I am unable to. Part of my customer satisfaction objective is to answer immediately whatever the time of day or night. I wonder if these enquiries will turn into confirmed reservations and more satisfied customers. We shall see. 

Friday dawned and Eladio reminded me we had abandoned our daily walks. He is right. But it is far too hot. Thus we agreed that from Saturday we would resume them but go out early. We did some food shopping for yesterday's barbecue which included coffee at Manolo Bakes this time. 

It was a horribly hot day again but as our French couple were out I bagged the pool again for myself and Pippa and spent most of the afternoon reading in the shade and skinny dipping a couple of times. Friday was of course the Glorious 12th when the shooting season starts in Scotland, not that I like shooting of any kind. I don't at all. 

Friday 12th would have been Bruce, Zuka's husband's  birthday. He sadly died aged just 59 on 11th May 2003 before retirement. How cruel is that I ask myself? I cannot imagine being in my dear cousin's shoes and thank my lucky stars my husband is in good health. Bruce would have turned 77 this month  the same age as Eladio.

Who is not is the Indian Muslim born author Salman Rushdie of the Satanic Verses fame. He published this book in the 80's and the Iranian government issued a fatwa whereby he had to live in hiding for 16 years. On Friday he was finally caught up with while talking about writers' freedom of speech in New York when a fanatic came up on the stage and stabbed him 16 times. I moan about wokeism and freedom of speech, but at least the woke fanatics don't issue fatwas. Today as I write Rushdie is on a ventilator and unable to speak. I only hope he survives and is not silenced forever. 

Saturday was the highlight of the week by far. Oli and family were coming for a barbecue and also we were to be reunited with "our French family" with Peggy and Jerome and their little daughter Marianne. They are from Normandy and stayed with us for 3 weeks in 2018. We have never forgotten their stay and I was delighted when Peggy asked to come again this August. Marianne was 8 at the time and I wondered how she had changed. I wondered too if she had learned English meanwhile or would I have to make the effort of trying to talk to her in French. I knew she would be upset that Norah and Elsa are no longer with us, our Beagle and Labrador, she fell in love with when she came 4 years ago. She was a wee bit frightened of Pippa who barks a lot and I hoped they would get along better this time. They did and they do, thankfully. 

We spent part of yesterday morning preparing their rooms and lunch of course. Oli and family arrived at around 1.45 and by 2 my French family were here. There were tears of emotion in Marianne's eyes as I hugged her. She was delighted to be back and I was delighted to have her back. She is now 12 and is beautiful but still a child and such a positive one. Marianne was happy to meet my grandchildren and it turns out she loves babies so she was in her element. After greeting dear Peggy and Jerome like old friends, we left them to settle in while we had our barbecue.

Barbecue on the go yesterday - notice the dry grass

All was good except for the damned flies as yesterday was a balmy and cloudy day, the type of day that attracts flies the most. Hate them. Today a new electronic device is arriving that hopefully will put an end to that fight - flies and wasps at the table outside in the summer. Here we are all sitting down to enjoy the meat cooked by Eladio. 

Yesterday's family barbecue lunch

It was great to have Oli and family for lunch - it had been a while. The children didn't partake too much in the barbecue food but Elliot enjoyed his ice cream of which he had 3 portions at least. We later convened to the pool where for once it wasn't too hot and the sky was cloudy. What a breather. We were joined by Marianne after I had called her. Her parents had gone shopping and she was under strict instructions to stay in her room and not bother us which is what I suspected so I went to rescue her. She was delighted and so were we. 

As it turns out I have to speak to her in French as does Oli which is challenging but doable. Whenever we don't know a word we look it up on Google Translate. She is an excellent French teacher and was teaching us words that have double uses, such as "mure" and "mur" (ripe and wall) with the same pronunciation. She also pointed out to me that the word mango is "mangue" and that a towel is called "serviette". Before coming here she had been staying in the Basque Country with her parents so we asked her about the Gironde fire and whether she had smelled it. That's where we got stuck as neither Oli nor I knew the words for putting out a fire. With great patience she told us the word was éteindre (un incendie) not to be confused with "étendre" (le linge - hanging out the washing). We were both impressed with her skills at teaching us French. Elliot was even more impressed to hear this beautiful young girl talking in perfect French which he recognised from one of his favourite TV series - a French series called Lady Bug where the main character (Lady Bug) is Marinette. I think he thought she actually was Marinette which we all thought was hilarious. 

Oli and co left quite early and our French family went out to dinner just as the young French couple returned. It was their last night with us and although I had my doubts at the beginning they were more than excellent guests. Aged just 18 Emma was the cleanest and most organised guest I have ever seen. Her boyfriend, Tom, who is her first love (how sweet) and with whom she has been going out with since she was 14, was equally clean, respectful and organised. They even asked for materials to clean their room during their stay. They even bought products which we provide for free such as bin liners, washing up liquid, kitchen roll, etc and which they left behind. I was amazed too to see them cleaning the shelves where they had kept their food. They left early this morning at 6.30 am and I really hope to see them again. I even think my French has improved since they came to stay. Thank you Emma and Tom, it has been a pleasure.

Today my friends it is Sunday again. This morning I was pleasantly surprised to notice it was so much cooler outside and our walk today should be much more pleasant.

I look forward to a quiet Sunday. Next week I will be writing from the north coast again, this time from A Guarda in Galicia. We are going on our annual anniversary trip and this year it is to Galicia and Oporto after which we shall be going to our house in Asturias for a few days. I'm so looking forward to hitting the road again.

Meanwhile, I wish you all the best and hope that if you are on holiday you are having a good time.

Cheers till next week,

Masha

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