Breakfast with the kids, a watered down Kings' Day; chocolate with churros and present opening, snow in Yorkshire, Los Angeles is burning, Trump wants Greenland, the Panama Canal and even Canada, and other stories of the week.

 Madrid, Sunday 12th January, 2025.

Ready for a rather washed out Kings' Day last Monday

Good morning again everyone. Have you got the January blues? I think I might have. In Spain this month is referred to as "la cuesta de enero" meaning it's uphill financially after all the excess spending at Christmas. But last Sunday Christmas wasn't over in Spain. There was still Kings' Day to come on Monday, the celebration of the Epiphany when children await their presents from the 3 Kings although these days they  get them from Father Christmas too.

That morning we had our grandchildren, Elliot (5) and Juliet (3) who had slept the night here with Olivia in Suzy's old room. Here are the little rascals having their toast after a not a very good night's sleep for any ot them, hahaha.

Breakfast with the kids last Sunday

When they left we had a row with Suzy who asked for money for cigarettes which we now know she was also spending on dope. For once we said no and from now on we will no longer be financing her addiction. That put her in a foul mood and we could hear shouting from her room. She didn't leave it until later and then did not join us for Kings' Day. She dampened our spirits of course but you have to be cruel to be kind. 

It rained that day and I felt sorry for the team of South American gardeners who had come to trim our enormous garden. It was a huge task but a necessary one. We wrapped up the few presents we had bought for Kings' Day and put them under the tree as you can see here.

Kings' Day presents which we put under the tree last Sunday

We had  the leftovers from our meal in Madrid with Julio for our lunch that day which we had alone while Suzy fumed in her room. I spent the afternoon on Airbnb admin work which was pleasantly interrupted by a call from my dear friend Adele who lives in France. I also carried on watching The Split which I adored and binge watched this week. It is British television at its best. I do love the actress who plays Hannah, Nicola Walker. I was to see her again this week on the BBC iPlayer when they added a series I love called Last Tango in Halifas. She is splendid and so is Sarah Lancaster of course. 

Monday came and it was Kings' Day which was the most diluted one ever. In the old days we celebrated it here with my father and Oli and al her family and Suzy of course. But these days Oli and co do it at their house and then go for lunch with her in-laws but they did stop by for the exchange of presents. However, we did do something different which was to go and have breakfast our, just the two of us, to have chocolate and churros at the local churros bar. Most people have the typical Kings' cake called "Roscón de Reyes" but I'm not that keen and neither is Eladio. So we gorged on Spain's most famous breakfast choice to celebrate. Here is a picture taken to share with you here.

Gorging on chocolate con churros on Kings' Day for breakfast

We then came back to wait for Oli and the family to come and exchange presents. And here I am next  to the tree wearing my festive Primark cardigan.

Me and Pippa on Kings' Day by the tree

They were soon here and excited to be opening their second set of presents - their third would be with their other grandmother. 

Our grandchildren opening their presents here on Kings' Day

I had bought them some glittery tattoos from FAO Schwarz in New York and clothes. When we had finished I tried to get a photo of Oli and family with a new Christmas hat which had arrived late from Amazon.

Olivia, Miguel, Elliot and Juliet on Kings' Day at our house  on Monday

Normally on Kings' Day I make a roast but this year  didn't make an effort as no one was coming for lunch.  However, later Suzy joined us for dinner although she was very quiet.  Monday, by the way, was the day Justin Trudeau stepped down as President of Canada. My own piece of news was that once again I was super host for a whole year on Airbnb. That is now 8 years of being a super host which is not easy to achieve. I want to thank both my guests and the company for this amazing journey I embarked on at the beginning of 2017, 8 years ago. Another amazing journey is my blog. This week, just out of curiosity I looked at the statistics. I started writing it in September 2005 and can't believe how many people read it. All time it's just under one million. The top ten countries in order of readership are USA, Russia, Spain, Singapore, UK, Hong Kong!, Germany and France. 

Tuesday 7th January was Russian Christmas which we used to celebrate thanks to my Russian mother when we were kids. Sadly, no more. But actually Christmas has felt longer than usual for me and my heart wasn't in it as much this year. That day it snowed in the UK and in my beloved Yorkshire.  My father's old school posted a photo of the school grounds covered in snow on social media announcing the school was closed because of the snow. 

Snow in Yorkshire and at BGS which closed down on Monday

That brought back memories of snow days as a child and teenager at my own school in Bradford, St. Joseph's college. Oh how we loved those snow days when we didn't have to go to school and could go out sledging. Once it snowed and we were at school wondering whether it would be closed and told to go home. I was very naughty and started spreading the rumour that it was to be closed. The whole school started walking up Cunliffe Hill to the sound of Mrs. Plunket Jones shouting at us; "girls come back, the school is not closed". No one listened. I wonder if anyone ever found out it was me who had spread the rumour. What a naughty girl I was and how proud I was of what I had achieved, hahaha. 

While it was snowing in Yorkshire and other parts of the UK, Los Angeles was burning as it has been all week. More than 150.000 people have been evacuated, 11 have died  and  more than 10.000 have lost their homes, many of them celebrities who will have no problems buying another one. But what about those who can't afford it? 

Lots of news is from the America this week, Trudeau steeping down in Canada, the dictator Maduro proclaiming himself the newly elected President of Venezuela when facts show he did not win the elections, and of course Donald Trump saying all the wrong things. He has his eye on Canada saying wouldn't it wonderful if it could be state number 51, he wants  the Panama canal and now Greenland which belongs to Denmark. The man is crackers. Equally crackers is his right hand man, Elon Musk of Tesla and Twitter fame who is now his top advisor. Musk is interfering with European politics with a lot of his attacks going towards Kier Starmer. I wouldn't be surprised if he was voted the next President after Trump. Watch this space. As old people used to say in my day and  I am repeating them: "what is the world coming to?". 

All of this was discussed with my dearest friend Amanda in our Skype call that afternoon which we resumed after Christmas. 

By lunch that day Suzy was calmer and we gave her her Kings' Day presents. We later took the Christmas decorations down which is always a very depressing task. On the bright side, it's much faster to take them down than to put up. So on Tuesday Christmas was officially over for us and we are now nearly in the middle of January of  a new year, 2025. It takes some getting used to.

On Wednesday we had something to look forward to; a post Christmas lunch with Eladio's two friends, Juanjo and Roberto and their partners, Justi and Mari Carmen. Eladio had booked a table at El Jardín de la Máquina where we had a splendid and very long lunch. We were among the last to leave and wren't home until 6.30 pm! I must have been having such a good time I forgot to take any photos. Sorry. I love this restaurant where I have been going to for more than 25 years when it was first called La Leyenda. I remember Motorola Christmas lunches there, St. Valentine's dinners, my farewell Nokia dinner, my Nokia girls 50th birthday lunch and many more times at this restaurant which always serves great food in fabulous surroundings. 

Thursday morning was spent entirely on bureaucracy. The Spanish socialist and communist coalition government wants even more control on rental businesses and guest registration. The latest requirement for short term rentals is to acquire a reference code from the Property Registration Offices from your local Town Hall. The problem is the system is not working properly and is damned difficult to navigate. I won't go into the details but the whole thing is rather Kafkian. I was filling out the form online for our house in Asturias and put in the number of my tourist licence only for the words "wrong number" to pop up. I rang the Tourist office to make sure the number was right. Then I rang the Property office in Llanes to tell them my problem. They told me they couldn't help as they didn't know how and to ring the College of Property Registration offices in Madrid. My case is now being escalated. Bureaucracy in this country is a nightmare and this stupid government doesn't make it easy with their ridicuous new laws which are so difficult to comply with. Damn it. For the rooms we rent in Madrid I managed to fill out the forms and decided to print them out and take them the next day to the Property Registration Office at my local town hall. Would you believe they didn't know what to do with them and asked to keep them and ring me later? I wonder if they ever will.  See what I mean by Kafkian? I do thank Airbnb for my journey but not the Spanish administration. 

I spoke to Kathy (and Phil) that afternoon and explained my dilemma. Theirs is bigger. After their house was destroyed by flooding  a year ago in Yorkshire, they are still living in rented accommodation. They had been snowed in and had had visits from two foxes they were feeding on nuts. 

It was on Friday morning that my dear husband gently asked me if I had weighed myself recently. Not a chance. He should know me by now. I only ever weigh myself as I have a deep aversion to scales, two or three weeks after I have started a diet. I am mulling over whether to start one tomorrow Monday 13th. I know I should but I do have the will power at the moment? Oh, the flesh is weak my friends. 

After our unsuccessful visit to the Property Registration Office at our local town hall, we drove to the local shopping centre in Majadahonda called Centro Oeste. The pretext was to change the slippers we had bought for Suzy but it was also time for my mid morning coffee. From there we went to Eladio's favourite store, the DIY place called LM to get some bulbs and batteries. 

Saturday was  a quiet day and for once we managed a walk. In contrast to Yorkshire it was sunny and the temperature reached 18ºc yesterday. But sadly it was yesterday we discovered that Suzy's delusions are back. They had probably never left but we didn't know. She still thinks she is the secret sister of Prince Harry and daughter to Lady Diana and King Charles who she announced yesterday on her YouTube channel had died of a heart attack. Later she removed the video. I think she has also been dabbling in exorcism. What are we to do if she refuses therapy and medication? Our hands are tied. Thankfully, though she is now living with us and not alone in Santa Pola. That rather upset us but as I always say, we have to carry on, despite her illness. We just cannot help our daughter. We can only be there for her. 

Today is Sunday 12th 2025. 8 years ago today saw me entering the local Unemployment office. That was a dour moment. I had to pick myself up and start again aged nearly 60. And you know what? I did it. I did it and am not at all bitter about losing my job at Yoigo. I only wish I had started our rental business earlier. It might have its problems but I am my  own boss and answer just to myself and my guests of course. And Eladio is with me for every part of the way bless him.

That's it now from me friends and readers for this week. Cheers till next Sunday,

Masha

Recap of last year. Goodbye 2024, welcome 2025. Our New Year celebrations, lunch in Madrid with Julio and other stories of the week.

 Madrid, Kings's Night, Sunday 5th January 2025

Happy New Year to you all. I was blessed to celebrate it with all my family. 

Good morning and Happy New Year once again. I'm still getting used to it being 2025. It always takes me time to get into the swing of it on 1st January. But before I tell you about this week, just let me look back on 2024 before I say hello to 2025.

It was a year of ups and downs both on the world scene and at home. Two things remained the same; the ongoing wars in the Middle East and in Ukraine. My Airbnb business went as well in 2024 as in 2023. My official stats were 541 stays but there were many more thanks to direct bookings. My favourite guest was Mohammad who became part of the family.

In January Brits living outside the UK for more than 15 years finally regained their suffrage rights.That means I can now vote in the UK.  That month saw us visit Suzy in SP which we did on a regular basis this year while she was living there alone.  In February  the King of England announced he had cancer and in Russia, Putin's opposer, Navalny was killed in prison. In March the Princess of Wales announced she also had cancer. That month saw us spend time both in Asturias and in Santa Pola where each time we went we found Suzy to be in a worse mental state. Eladio gave me a shock that month when he fell and lost consciousness and had to be taken to hospital. Happily it came to nothing. In April Suzy turned 40 and she spent it with us alone in Santa Pola. 

From May 4th to 28th June we went on our second road trip. As I wrote in June "It’s hard to believe our road trip is over. Did we really drive over 10.500 kilometres and visit France, Italy, Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Greece and Turkey without forgetting little San Marino in 55 days?". Well we did and had a grand time and are already planning this year's road trip from here to the Nordic countries via central Europe and the Baltics. Watch this space. 

We came back to extreme heat in the Spain where the highest temperatures ever were recorded. That didn't matter in July in El Cuetu, Asturias where we went to prepare the house for the influx of guests coming in the summer. I have just read that Spain received over 88 million visitors from abroad from January to November 2024 and will no doubt keep its second place in the ranking of countries most visited. France is number one but not by much. July was the month Kier Starmer won a landslide victory for Labour and became PM. However, I'm not sure he is very popular anymore. Time will tell. It was also the month that Carlos Alcaraz won Wimbledon beating Djokovic. He also won the French Open in May. What a man. It was lovely to see Kate Middleton hand him the winner's cup in her first public appearance since it was announced she had cancer. Spain did well too by winning the Euro Cup but it was bitter sweet for me as they played England in the final. France did well  in the Olympics which took place in Paris. I saw the opening ceremony which I found radical. Did you like it? In parts I would answer "like the curate's egg". 

August was the most difficult month of the year for us. If you follow my blog you will know Suzy was admitted into a psychiatric ward and diagnosed with Chronic delusional disorder. For a while she took her meds, quit weed and went to see a psychiatrist. The bottom line is that this type of psychosis is most probably brought on by her drug addiction. We had high hopes for her. Since then she has quit the meds and the therapy and we suspect she is still smoking dope but at least she is calm and her delusions seem to have gone away for the most part. It got as bad as her believing we were not her parents and that she was the secret twin sister of Prince Harry and her parents Lady Diana and King Charles! We did, however, manage to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary at La Finca in Elche. Life continues; it has to. 

Lots of things happened in September. Juliet and Elliot turned 3 and 5 which we missed because we had to go to Santa Pola to rescue Suzy after another crisis. We left her settled or so we thought. Eladio turned 80 and we celebrated by staying 2 nights at the wonderful Hotel Landa near Burgos. No one, just no one would believe my husband's age. We also spent some time in Montrondo where we haven't been back since. I'm missing it. Sadly in September, my dear friend Grainne from school who moved to Spain like me (but to Badalona) died suddenly of blood cancer. I can't believe she has gone. On the bright side I spent 4 glorious nights with Olivia in London in great weather. She was to be the presenter of the 50 World's best hotels prize ceremony at the Guildhall and I was to accompany her. We stayed at one of the city's best hotels, Rosewood in High Holborn. Fate had it we met the Rosewood group President who invited us to stay for free at the Carlyle in New York in November where Oli was hosting another event and I was accompanying her once again. Without a doubt my three highlights of 2024 were my road trip with Eladio and my trips with Oli to London and New York. I consider myself very lucky. 

In October Suzy left Santa Pola and came to live with us permanently. She was just too lonely there and frightened too I think. She has had her moments since coming in October but on the whole is quite stable and seems to have enjoyed Christmas. She is back in the fold of her family for now and I hope forever. It was that month I met my friend Geraldine in Madrid in her stop off from the US to Malaga. What a wonderful day we had together, despite the rain. October was the 25th anniversary of the passing away of my dear mother who lives on in my heart as does my father although I miss them every day. Of note Eladio had his cataracts operated on which worked to some extent but he still complains he can see the odd spider. The end of October brought the dreadful flash floods to Valencia where more than 230 people died. The destruction was so massive the area is nowhere near recovered. It was Spain's worst natural disaster ever at least in modern times. 

Not unexpectedly, in November, Spain's number one ambassador, Rafa Nadal retired. We have so much to thank him for. Not unexpectedly too and very frighteningly so, Trump won the US Presidential Elections and he is back again. Can't stand the man. Can't stand that horrible Frenchman, Dominique Pelicot either who drugged and had his wife raped by more than 55 men for years. I was glad to see him sentenced to 25 years jail that month. The highlight of November was our trip to New York which if you read my blog you will already know about it. What an amazing place it is but not somewhere I could ever live. However I could have happily moved into the luxurious suite we were assigned at the Carlyle for free when it costs over 7000 dollars a night. The suite we stayed in was where Roger Federer stayed for the US Open. I have experienced luxury many times in my 67 years on this earth but never at that level. 

The best news of the year on the international scene was the toppling of Syrian dictator, Bashar Al-Assad in December. We have still to see what the future brings for Syria but it cannot be worse than under the sadist Assad. That month I mourned the 5th anniversary of the death of my best friend Fátima Sánchez Martin. She would have been happy to know we met with her daughter (also Fátima) in New York the month before and very proud that she works for an NGO for widowed women  associated to the UN. And Christmas was good as you read in last week's post. But for some reason, my heart wasn't in it as much as usual and I don't really know why. Maybe I'm just becoming an old codger. 

I hope I haven't bored you with my recap. So yes it is now goodbye to 2024 and welcome 2025 which I sincerely hope doesn't bring nasty things like a virus, more wars or more family problems. 

As this is a weekly blog, now I come to this week after leaving off on Sunday 29th December. That was the day of the crash of an airplane in South Korea. I always hate hearing about air crashes as my father's sister, husband and children all died in one in May 1971 in Croatia. That was the worst tragedy of our life. 

On Monday I was in a rush to get ready for New Year - I had not done anything and also to get presents for King's Day tomorrow 6th January. That day Jimmy Carter aged 100 died. I shall always remember him as President at the White House in the 70's wearing a track suit and jogging. To think he was a peanut farmer before. I remember him most though for the US Embassy siege in Iran. The 52 hostages were only released on the day he handed over the baton to Ronald Reagan. Carter went on to win the Nobel Peace prize.He always struck me as the US' most decent President in my lifetime. RIP.  We did the food and present shopping that day and had the kids both for lunch and for dinner. They always bring chaos, fun and some tantrums. Thankfully Suzy and Oli took them out cycling and gave us a rest in the afternoon. 

Tuesday 31st was the last day of the year. I don't really like the New Year's celebrations but go along with them. Frankly I would have preferred a quiet dinner and going to bed before midnight but that would have spoiled Oli and family's plans so I went along with them. The girls made most of the dinner and before I even had time to take a photo of us by our Happy New Year banner and make a toast, everyone was already digging in. I did get a photo when I got out the sparklers to the delight of our grandchildren though.

The sparkler moment on New Year's Eve

I reflected how lucky I was to have all my family together that night even if I was feeling a little like Grinch or Scrooge and would have preferred to be in bed hahaha. After a late dinner we moved to the TV room to wait for midnight to welcome in the new year. For this, as in most Spanish homes, I had a box of 12 grapes per person to be eaten one by one on each chime at midnight. This is a very Spanish habit and one I go along with. They say it brings luck. Suzy took a video of us munching with the chimes but Juliet photo bombed it or rather pushed the phone off the shelf just before the end. Here it is.

Munching gapes video which was cut short by my 3 year old granddaughter Juliet, haha.

As soon as it was over and we had all hugged, Oli and family departed and we went to bed. But that is when the fireworks began from neighbours in the area. They went on until well past 2 in the morning frightening poor Pippa stiff. I only wish people would realise how fireworks affect dogs. She was terrified and I had to  hold her in my arms until at least 3 in the morning. 

Wednesday was 1st January, the first day of the year and for the record I don't have any New Year's resolutions. Sorry.  It's a day I am never fond of. Maybe it's because I don't like new beginnings. I really don't know. What I did know was that before making our roast beef and Yorkshire pud, I was in desperate need of a walk. It was just the 4 of us for New Year's Day lunch and we had a splendid time although we all ate far too much. Miguel was working and Oli had taken the kids to his mother's. We missed them but didn't miss their chaos. I was very proud of my Yorkshire pudding. Just look.

Very proud of my Yorkshire pudding

Roast beef (sirloin) and Yorkshire pudding is one of my favourite meals and it's my family's too. Even Suzy ate the meat that day which surprised us all pleasantly. Here is a photo of the table and a very bad one of my husband and girlies by said banner.

Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding for our festive New Year's Day lunch 

I had a long siesta and later binge watched more of The Split, that legal drama TV series starring Nicola Walker who I loved from Last Tango in Halifax. I was hoping she was a Yorkshire woman but she  is in fact from Stepney, East London. I was incapable of eating dinner that night after such a copious lunch. Later in the day Oli sent a message to say she was having a great Christmas thanks to me. If only she knew I hadn't put my heart into it and was only going through the motions at times. I have to count my blessings. Far away that day or night, in New Orleans, Louisiana in the US, a terrorist with ISIS leanings,  drove into a crowd killing 15. So what am I complaining about? Nothing.

I spent most of Thursday not leaving my chair. I was registering the properties we rent on the new Government website and then adding them to an app called Partee. All this is to comply with the new Spanish laws of registering guests at hotels and any sort of lodging. What a nightmare. But by the end of the day I had done it and sent my first app link to my first new official guest who is coming this week from Mexico. The guest receives the message and has to fill out 13 fields and then resend  after which Partee uploads the information on the Government site. I read somewhere that Spain is the only country that requires lodgings/hotels to share guest information with the government. It's very draconian and off putting. You have to be quite computer savvy to comply with these new rules and no doubt some people will no longer rent on Airbnb because it has become too difficult to manage. But I did it and am proud of myself.  Once it was done it felt like a huge weight off my shoulders as it had been worrying me for weeks, ever since the new law came into force.

Friday came and we went to El Corte Inglés to get the last Kings' Day present. It was for my dear friend Julio who invited us out for lunch yesterday for our annual Christmas reciprocal festive reunion. At the Corte Inglés (Spain's flagship department store) I always have a cappuccino at Starbucks. I love the store, especially the perfume section and fell in love with it when I was a young student living in Madrid for my year in Spain (part of my degree in Hispanic Studies) in 1978/1979. I worked as a teacher assistant earning 20.000 pesetas a month which I supplemented with income from teaching English privately. At the end of the month I would always buy myself something from El Corte Inglés and spray myself with perfume for free. I loved it too in the summer months because of the air conditioning. While at the store we bumped into old friends, Ana (ex Nokia colleague) and Tommy. We haven't seen each other for years and it was a pleasure to stop to talk and catch up.

We came home to a full house; Oli and the children were here for lunch and to spend the rest of the day. Thank God for Tana's help and Suzy's making dinner. Despite their presence we had our siesta or rather I took time off to write this week's post. We had a fun dinner as Juliet was asleep and Elliot was on top form and had us giggling when he made funny voices. I did not sleep well that night. Oh dear. A new year has come but that hasn't changed.

On Saturday we were going into Madrid for lunch with Julio but first to the Retiro Park for a walk and coffee with our sister-in-law Dolores. We left at around 11 and went by car and metro, arriving at the Retiro just under an hour later. We never drive into the city these days as there are so many restrictions. It was a cold and grey day, such a contrast to the wonderful crisp and sunny days we have enjoyed over Christmas. We both wished we had brought our gloves and scarves. Dolores was waiting for us and soon we were enjoying a cup of coffee served by a Venezuelan waiter at a bar overlooking the artificial lake in the very heart of this once royal park. It is Madrid's equivalent to Hyde Park or Central Park and is every bit as good if not better. You could hear all the languages in the world as Spain's capital has become so popular with the tourists and Spanish of course.  We read recently that over a million Latin Americans live in Madrid which I find hard to believe if the overall population is 3.7 million. Our waiter told us how grateful he was to this country after leaving poverty behind in Venezuela. He was happy to tell us he had finally got a flat, having lived in a room with his family until now. Housing is a big issue here. We were soon walking along the main promenade as we have done countless times over the years and took photos with the amazing monument to Alfonso XII on the other side of the lake like this one.

In the Retiro park with the monument to Alfonso XII behind us on Saturday

On our walk in the beautiful park we bumped into another ex Nokia colleague of mine. It was quite a coincidence to see Guillermo. I was very embarrassed I couldn't place him but later when I spoke to Julio I remembered him very well. He is a very good looking chap and I told him so. I was happy to hear he now works for Vodafone in Luxembourg. Good for him. Nice to see you again Guille and sorry I didn't remember you at first. I do now.

It was so cold (for us at least), we decided not to walk to the restaurant and took the metro instead. On the way I passed a Balbisiana cake shop and bakery and I couldn't resist going in to get some cakes to take home. Eladio remarked it looked a bit like Betty's in Yorkshire - not quite but it's lovely. Here I am with my cakes.

Buying cakes yesterday in Madrid at Balbisiana.

Julio had booked a table at Restaurante El Huerto Floren Domenzain (quite a name). It is very much in vogue and has gained popularity thanks to its home grown vegetables, especially lettuce and tomatoes. We were able to buy the latter at 12 euros a kilo. The tomato we got weighed well over a kilo. We would taste it later. Lunch was spectacular and it was great to see Julio again after he came here for dinner on 27th December. We gave him his presents, a shirt and jumper by Timberland a brand I hope he likes. If not he can always change them at El Corte Inglés. Just before we left we had a photo taken inside the restaurant by some of the amazing tomatoes. 

Lunch with Julio yesterday in Madrid

We parted promising to see each other again soon and not leave it until next Christmas. No way. 

We were home by about 5 and I was dead, just wanting my bed. I managed to sleep for 1.5h and woke up feeling like a zombie.  I knew the kids were in the house but needed my peace and also felt guilty for not going down earlier to join them. They were here for their first sleepover at our house but with their mother. I joined them just as they were about to have dinner but neither Eladio nor I had any appetite at all. We go bed early at around 9pm and so does Suzy. The kids were hoping for a bit of a bed party but we needed our peace, hahaha. I slept quite well last night and have my batteries recharged for a day to be spent again with our grandchildren who apparently kept Oli up most of the night, poor girl.

So let's see how today goes. We must do something different to entertain our grandchildren but the weather is not looking too good. 

That's it now friends and readers for this week. All that remains is to wish you all a Happy New Year once again. Cheers now until next Sunday,

Masha

Christmas at home in peace and harmony, the family united, this year's official Christmas Day photos, the King of Spain and the King of England's speeches, Boxing Day, annual dinner with Julio, my last blog post of 2024. Here's to a wonderful 2025 and other stories of the week.

 Madrid, Sunday 29th December 2024.

The four of us on Christmas Day in peace and harmony

Good morning folks, this last week of the year. 

I hope you have all had a good Christmas, those of you who celebrate it that is. We certainly do. It's a big thing in my family where most of the traditions have their roots in my childhood when Christmases were spent with my paternal grandparents and dear Aunty Gloria and family (RIP) in Ickenham, just outside London. Christmas brings out the child in us I always think. I must have been a very observant child taking in all  the elements of an English Christmas all those years ago to later instill them in my own family here in Spain. Of course, I have also incorporated many Spanish traditions  which makes for double celebrations. In this country apart from Father Christmas who comes on Christmas Eve, we also have the 3 Kings; "los Reyes Magos" who come on 6th January putting an end to the fesitive season in Spain. My  dear friend Julio rang me on the 24th  and I told him all about our preparations including having bought my own presents. He laughed and said of course I bought my own presents as I was the ultimate "Reina Maga" (Christmas Queen). He reminded me of all the times I had handed out corporate gifts left right and centre and included him and we laughed as we always do. We would laugh in person when he came on Friday for our annual dinner together. He loves our decorations and always says Christmas only starts for him when he comes to our house. Bless him. 

By last Sunday I had everything more or less ready so could feel in peace. That day the Spanish lottery, El Gordo, was drawn and once again we didn't win a cent. We never do but always buy the "décimos". I was happy some of the winnings went to areas of Valencia devastated by the the Dana in late October.

I was in peace but poor Suzy wasn't. She had a crisis; her first since coming back to live with us at the beginning of October. She is off her meds, is not having therapy and I know for sure she has not quit smoking dope. We do our best not to finance her addiction and to do that you have to be cruel to be kind. That brought us problems at the beginning of the week which also endangered a peaceful and harmonious Christmas. 

Thus on Monday I was also out of sorts. As someone once said to me "you can only ever be as happy as your unhappiest child". So true. While she suffers, we suffer. But life goes on and you have to go through the motions. So we went on our walk and had coffee at La Flaca. There we discussed our future; i.e. where  are we going to live when we are older. We are already old so must prepare for our future. Will we stay here, will we sell the house and move to the sea or to nearby Boadilla? We don't know yet but we talk about it a lot. But just the thought of dismantling our huge sprawling house with belongings from a whole life time and more, is very daunting. 

I think I didn't sleep more than 3 or 4 hours that night and woke up on Tuesday 24th feeling like something the cat brought in. It was Suzy who cheered me up as she had got over her crisis and was looking forward to celebrating Christmas with all the family.  Without her, Christmas would have been sad and incomplete. Last year she spent it on her own in Santa Pola which broke my heart. Her wanting to spend it with us this year was my best Christmas present. She sank into my arms and all was good. 

I did lots of the food preparation in the morning with Tana's help. Here are two of my creations; first the potato salad which is always the pièce de résistance of any festive meal in our house. And then the "pudding" - Raspberry and cream mille feuille. Wonderful eh?

We always have potato salad at Christmas. It is from my Russian grandfather's Swiss recipe book. My only variation is to add prawns. 

Strawberry and raspberry mille-feuille for dessert

I managed to sleep a siesta for about 2 hours which recharged my batteries completely. Thus I was ready to put the final touches to our Christmas Eve dinner - the all important "Nochebuena"  where  Spaniards gather around the table for the most important family meal of the year. Unlike in the UK, the Christmas Eve dinner is more important than the Christmas Day lunch. We get to have both being an Anglo Spanish family:-)

Suzy helped me and Olivia arrived around 6 to lend a helping hand too until the children arrived bringing their usual chaos and fun. Our menu is always our favourite "bits and bobs" type food which, apart from the potato salad, also includes "perushki" (little Russian meat pies"), croquettes for the kids, asparagus, Ibérico ham and sundry. The dessert is sometimes trifle but as Oli is not keen I made the tart. All this which for Spaniards would just be a first course, is followed by a tray of sweets and chocolates including the famous "turrón"; a sort of hard nougat made with almonds and sugar. This is what the table looked like.

Our Christmas Eve dinner 

We had photos taken before dinner but owing the lighting in the lounges they came out a bit blurry. We had all put on our finest clothes as is the custom for Christmas Even dinner in Spain. Suzy was wearing my elegant but now far too small, dark green velvet trouser suit in which she looked smashing. She even put on high heels. We all then put on green Santa hats and even danced. What lovely moments.

Highlights from Christmas Eve

True to its name Nochebuena meaning a good night, a good night was had by all. We were in bed by 11 o'clock and that night I slept so much better. 

Of course I was the first up on Wednesday, Christmas Day. I had my coffee and then laid the table for a special breakfast for Eladio, Suzy and I. Eladio had his usual, I had a crumpet and piece of toast and Suzy had toast too with Bonne Maman jam which she adores. 

Christmas morning breakfast

Meanwhile at Oli's house down the road, Juliet and Elliot were ecstatically opening their presents. We had warned Elliot (5) that if he didn't behave he may not get any presents to which he replied "I always get presents". Eladio had told him of the time when he and his brother José Antonio only received a lump of coal. It came in an embroidered bag with the words "for two rebellious boys". Elliot has heard the story before and always listens attentively but he firmly believes it will never happen to him. Of course it won't. That day both he and his sister would be getting presents not just at their house but also at our place and at their other grandmother's house. 

Before they came we brought up the presents hidden in  one of the rooms downstairs and placed them under the tree.

Presents under the tree on Christmas morning

Before opening them, I insisted on taking the annual family photos. Miguel is the chief photographer, he being a professional. I have chosen the one of the 4 of us as this week's feature photo as it's not often we have the opportunity of a photo together. And here are more of this year's official photos which I am delighted to share with you too.

Some of this year's official Christmas morning photos

Christmas tree present opening is a ceremony at our house with the opening of each present being watched by everyone so each present is savoured. This is how it happened at my grandparents' house and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Suzy was the MC, handing out the presents with carols in the background. I had a hard job of instilling this tradition in my small grandchildren aged 3 and 5 who wanted to open all the presents at once regardless if they were for them or someone else. I felt a bit like Scrooge trying to discipline them. But I think I was right. I just wasn't having them opening other people's presents as well as their own hahahaha. Here are some photos of them enjoying what they got.

The children enjoying their presents

Father Christmas had made some excellent choices. Eladio and I got perfumes (from each other and chosen by me, hahaha  - Esencia by Loewe and Orange Blossom by Joe Malone), socks and a jumper. From Oli and Miguel we got a milk frother and more perfume (Hugo Boss) for Eladio but also a voucher for dinner or lunch at a fish restaurant they recommend in Pozuelo called Barco Aparicio. Thank you darling. 

Soon I had to get on with the lunch, always a traditional English one, except that we have chicken instead of turkey which I am not too keen on. Oli was staying with us as she said she wouldn't miss it for the world and Juliet stayed too. Miguel went with Elliot to his mother's house where Oli and Juliet would join them later.

This was our Christmas lunch table -photo courtesy of Olivia.

Our traditional English Christmas day lunch

The trimmings included sprouts, peas, sage and onion stuffing, roast potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce. It did not include pigs in blankets which is not a tradition I was brought up on. I was delighted to see Suzy partake of the chicken which means she is less fanatical about being vegetarian. We didn't have pig in blankets but we all ate like pigs. Then of course there was the Christmas pudding flambeed   with rum as we didn't have any brandy and smothered in sweet white sauce with more rum. It's not my favourite pudding but I do like to have it on Christmas Day. I then treated my family to a small glass of Cream of Limoncello which I had bought somewhere in Italy during our road trip. It was and is delicious. Here is Suzy savouring it with her hat from the crackers, another integral part of meals at Christmas in England and which I had to import from Germany of all places.

Suzy on Christmas Day enjoying a glass of Limoncello after our copious lunch

I was so full after lunch I felt bloated. Oh why do we all indulge so much these festive days?  If we had been in England, no doubt we would have watched the King's speech at 3pm on Christmas Day, another tradition I was brought up on, except that it was The Queen, King Charles' mother. In Spain the King's speech is at 9pm on Christmas Eve and is usually very boring and there is no mention of the religious side of Christmas. If King Felipe even dared mention Jesus, he would be literally burned at the stake by Spaniards. It's as if it is politically incorrect to do so. But don't people realise that Christmas is about celebrating his birth?  King Charles goes right the other way and whether you like his words or not, the setting is always marvelous with some magnificent music. I think the Spanish monarchy could up the King's speech at least in this direction and add some spice and mystery. Eladio loves to listen to the King's speech which I respect of course but I later sent him King Charles' speech for him to see what I mean and he agrees. This is it if you didn't see it. And here is the King of Spain's speech if you want to take a look. 

None of us were hungry for dinner but I kept thinking about the raspberry tart and Suzy kept thinking about the leftover potato salad. So the three of us gathered in the kitchen to have a "little something" a bit like Pooh Bear, remember?

We went to bed early after a wonderful Christmas, as good as it gets. Peace and harmony reigned in our house and the family was united. What else could I ask for? Thus I slept like a babe that night and woke up on Thursday, Boxing Day at 8 am after a good 8 hours sleep. It was my best night's sleep in a long time. 

Boxing Day is not a holiday in Spain. It is St. Stephen's Day which is a holiday in some parts but not in Madrid and  Oli had to go to work. I always love Boxing Day, the laziest day of the year when you can do what you want, eat what you want and above all you don't have to cook as you can eat leftovers. Suzy asked me the origin of Boxing Day. I told her it was something to do with giving out boxes of alms, leftover food, etc to the poor in boxes the day after Christmas. If anyone was thinking it has  to do with sport (football is played in England that day) or boxing, then no, that is not the origin which I think goes back to the 17th century and is mentioned in Samuel Pepys diary. We didn't give our leftovers to anyone. There were many including all the baklava I made and we have been eating them for most of the week meaning I haven't had to cook or do much meal planning except for Julio's dinner on Friday. 

Eladio and I went on a much needed walk with Pippa to work off some of the excesses and then we drove to Boadilla for coffee at Manacor. Meanwhile Suzy laid the table for our Boxing Day lunch and honestly I didn't know what to choose for my meal. Thank you Suzy.

The news that day was all about the 20th anniversary of the terrible Tsunami in South East Asia on Boxing Day in 2004. It was the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century and one of the worst in recorded history, killing over 227.000 people most of them in Indonesia. Hard hit too were Thailand, Sri Lanka and The Maldives.  Caused by an earthquake under the sea measuring 9.1 on the Richter scale, it struck off the coast of Java, just before 8 am on Boxing Day 20 years ago this week. What a terrible tragedy that was.  

Friday came and we went out to do some shopping to get a few ingredients for dinner with Julio. I was so happy Suzy wanted to join us as she rather shuns society apart from her immediate family. That was a good sign. She has known Julio as long as I have; since the year 2000 when I joined Nokia. Soon we will have been friends for 25 years which I look forward to celebrating. Our other great friend was, of course, Fátima and we were known as the "3 Musketeers". Oh how we miss her. Our annual Christmas dinners must have started in 2001 and for years we went to Julio's house for dinner and then he and Fátima came here. When the girls were younger, they also partook of this tradition and even my Father when he was still able. These days Julio comes here for dinner, then invites us to a restaurant around Kings Day. We look forward to that next week.

For dinner I had made a simple meal of more bits and bobs: Ibérico ham, tomato and tuna salad, small mussels sprinkled with garlic and lemon, peeled large prawns with avocado, bacon rolls,  as well as some leftover potato salad. The wine was Luis Cañas Reserva which is divine and dessert was a King's Day cake known as Roscón de Reyes filled with whipped cream. It's Julio's favourite. He came bringing presents and we will be giving him his next week if only I could think what to get him. Before we sat down we had to have the de rigeuer photos where each year we look just a little bit older. When I first met Julio I was 42 and he was 30. I like to think we have aged well as has our friendship.

Annual Christmas dinner with Julio at our house this week

My friend who today is a University professor, always loves my Christmas decor, lights and candles so after our Limoncello we retired to the main lounge and continued conversing until about 10.30. Julio always loves to make a French exit at corporate events but he doesn't have to do that with me and we allowed him to leave early. We always go to bed so early so we didn't mind at all. We were mentioning just how difficult it is these days to stay up till midnight on New Year's Eve after a dinner that ends around 9.30. He has a simple answer; put on the You Tube midnight chimes from the year before, celebrate and go to bed early. Later Suzy and I thought we might do the same that is, if Olivia and family agree, hahaha. We are becoming old fogies aren't we? But honestly staying up till midnight and watching the rubbish on TV before the clock strikes midnight is a real bore. So watch this space. 

Yesterday, Saturday 28th December was the Spanish equivalent of All Fools' Day - the day of the Innocents (when Herod killed all the baby boys). We just had a quiet day, enjoying having the house to ourselves with no guests and not even Tana. 

And today is Sunday 29th December and I am finishing writing the last post for this year. I have been publishing a weekly blog post since September 2005; nearly 20 years. I only wish I had started earlier to record more of  my life but 20 years is quite a chunk. When I write next it will be the  New Year, 2025 which we shall celebrate quietly - no parties this year. The last party we had was on December 31st 2019 just before the Pandemic. When we were toasting the New Year then and eating our grapes we had no idea what was coming. To think that was now 5 years ago. Covid is something those of us who lived through it will never forget and it will go down in history as one of the worst plagues in ever. 

So here's to a great New Year everyone - no Covid, no more wars, peace in the world and at home, health and prosperity and above all love. Love is what makes the world go round.

Wishing you all a good Sunday too, cheers until the first Sunday of next year when in my first blog post of 2025 I will reflect on what 2004 brought for us all. 

Till then, all the best, Masha

Happy Christmas to you all. Putting up the decorations, getting into the spirit of Christmas, making baklava with Suzy and Oli, the children's school concert, buying El Gordo lottery tickets, Dominique Pelicot to rot in jail and other stories of the week.

 Madrid, Sunday 22nd December, 2024

Happy Christmas to you all (photo taken in Ravello on the Almafi Coast during this year's road trip)

Good morning everyone and Happy Christmas to you all.  I can't believe it's only 3 days till Christmas. This time last week I was hardly prepared due to a lack of festive spirit. Slowly things got better and I had to make up for lost time. Thus I have been very busy and have had rather a pleasant week. 

Finally on Monday we put up the Christmas decorations which is always a big job. Suzy helped enormously for which I was very grateful. Eladio's main job, apart from bringing up the tree and the great big box of decorations, was to change the batteries of our countless Christmas gimmicky objects which I so love. It's difficult to show you the decorations as they are all over the lounges and dining room but here is a glimpse.

Some of our Christmas decorations

Suzy suggested we put on carols as we always did when the girls were young and the festive music helped the spirit of Christmas entering our house this year. 

In our Skype call that afternoon my friend Amanda was glad to hear my spirits had been lifted and that I was now looking forward to celebrating Christmas; something which has never happened to me before. 

On Tuesday we woke up to the news that a  Russian general, Igor Kirillov - now ex head of chemical weapons, had been killed in broad daylight from a bomb attached to a scooter. The Russians immediately blamed the Ukrainians and they were not wrong. There was also a lot of news this week about  the disgraced Prince Andrew being embroiled in a scandal to do with a Chinese spy. It's a good thing his mother isn't alive to witness yet one more scandal involving her supposed favourite son; not that I believe she had a favourite. Mothers can't. 

Eladio and I finally went Christmas present shopping that morning or rather he accompanied me. He must have been bored stiff going round perfume stalls at El Corte Inglés. We shall all smell very nice this year by the way. I haven't been very creative in choosing presents I'm afraid and I  did more than half of my shopping on Amazon - yes, feeding the monster again but it is so practical.

We stopped at Mercadona on the way back to get ingredients to make baklava. Baklava is a Middle Eastern dessert made with phyllo pastry, honey syrup and nuts.  From Turkey it spread to Greece, Bulgaria and even Hungary and my mother and Aunty Masha always adored it. I made it last year, under the watching eyes of my Iraqi guest Mohammad who declared my baklava to be as good as his mother's - high praise indeed. As we all love it in this house, I decided to make it again this Christmas. Oli wanted to make it as well as an entry for her language school seasonal cooking contest.  Later I heard she came second. This year I had Suzy to help me make ours and it took us a good two hours. The most tedious part is the buttering of 40 sheets of pastry and the trickiest part is cutting it before putting it in the oven. This is the recipe I used. If you decide to use it, add a bit more of everything as I ran short of syrup and butter. And voilá her is my baklava minus the chopped pistachios on the top which I got the next day.

My baklava 

I ended up making 56 pieces so will probably have to freeze some of it as that's  far too much. But, oh, it's so delicious. Suzy and I were very pleased with ourselves when we had finished and would have to repeat the process on Wednesday with Olivia.  She benefited from our experience and was able to pour on more syrup and add pistachios. My younger daughter was more ambitious and cut hers in diamond shapes.  Here is Suzy helping her. 

Suzy and Oli making baklava

Thus hers looked more authentic.

Oli's baklava looks more professional than mine but both taste divine

If I spent the morning making baklava and going for a walk, I spent most of the afternoon closing the books for this year's rental business and opening them for 2025. I have at least 15 upcoming reservations and just hope that 2025 will be as good as 2024. 

On Thursday our last guest of the year, Alan, who describes himself as "Irish and outdoorsy" on his Airbnb profile, left for County Mayo. I really hope he comes back as he was a joy to host as were most of my guests this year. But I have to say it's lovely to have the house to ourselves for Christmas and New Year when we shut down and I think we deserve to. 

That morning saw us out early. We went to the see our grandchildren perform in their school Christmas concert. Both of their classes had prepared two songs; one in Spanish and one in English, and were dressed as elves (Juliet aged 3) and with Father Christmas hats and red tops (Elliot aged 5). Poor Juliet froze when her concert started. She obviously got stage fright which I put down to her being overwhelmed by the lights and the public, poor lamb. She even cried at the end but she also looked gorgeous, don't you think? 

Juliet got stage fright at her Christmas concert this week, poor lamb

Elliot was on next and seemed to enjoy himself thoroughly although I remember him freezing on stage also when he was three. And here he is looking gorgeous too. 

Elliot enjoying his Christmas concert

Some people commented to me that he looks like both Eladio and Olivia. I think they may be right but I'm not sure who Juliet resembles; maybe me when I was very small.

There are a few Christmas traditions which we haven't kept up with this year, such as my yearly calendar, a family photo, putting lights in the garden or a trip to Madrid to buy lottery tickets for El Gordo which is taking place this morning. But of course we had to buy tickets, just not in the centre of the city. If you didn't know, El Gordo which is drawn always on 22nd December, is famous for giving out the most cash prizes per ticket purchased in  the world. The overall winnings come to 2.700.000 euros. Any Spaniard worth his salt buys at least one 10th of a ticket (un décimo) for El Gordo which costs 20 euros. If it gets first prize the winnings are  400.000 euros. When I first came to live in Spain in 1981, 2 years before I married, I was horrified to find out my husband had bought so many tickets and worried he was a gambler. It took years for this custom to become mine as well. And here is Eladio after purchasing our tickets, two of which are for the girls. 

Eladio buying lottery tickets for El Gordo which is drawn today

I doubt we will win but we can always hope. It's huge news today and all the reporters from Olivia's newsroom have been sent to the four corners of the country to cover the stories of ordinary people's wins which are much celebrated. She has been sent to Santander, a lovely city on the north coast.

Another Spanish tradition I have adopted  is buying a poinsettia (flor de pascua) to grace our lounge  and it looks splendid. Just let's see how long it lasts though. We got one that morning  after which we did the food shopping which I hope will be enough to last until Boxing Day. It probably won't haha. Gosh Christmas is all about eating isn't it? I don't think there was much food at the Inn where Jesus was born in Bethlehem but there you go.

Friday dawned and new painters came to repaint the cabin. Remember the last ones painted it too dark. Well these ones have painted it too light and the colour looks nothing like the one on the palette of colours I chose from. But c'est la vie and I refuse to get cross. 

What was not nice that morning was to read the news of the sentencing of France's most notorious rapist, 72 year old Dominique Pelicot. His wife, Gisèle, in her 70's found out not so long ago that her apparently loving husband had been drugging and raping her and inviting over 50 other men to use and abuse her for years. It is thoroughly disgusting and he deserves to rot in hell. This mass rape trial should have sent the man and his collaborators to hell. Instead, all he gets is a paltry 20 year sentence. That's because French rape laws are so lax. I just hope he rots in jail and doesn't get to eat turkey on Christmas Day. How can the man live with himself I ask? This case will go down in history which is why I am mentioning it here as one of the many objectives of this blog is tell the stories of my life in the context of world affairs. This sentence will not be much consolation for Gisèle Pelicot who has been so brave to come out of anonymity in a case like this. She did it to tell the world and to encourage other women to do the same. Like her, I am sure there are other perverts duping their wives in a similar way and just getting away with it. May they rot in hell too but may they first be found out and brought to the public eye. Bravo Gisèle and thank you. I only hope you can get some comfort out of your brave actions and enjoy the love of your family now that he is gone. 

I cheered up when I went out to do more Christmas shopping, this time on my own. I had to get a few more things for the children and for one of my daughters. While at Centro Oeste I also found a lovely black and white striped jumper for myself from Pull and Bear. Then I came across a jumper which I knew was just up Suzy's street and had to get it there and then. It's from a little boutique called "Algo Bonito". She was delighted. I was also delighted with a black sequin dress I got for myself at H&M. I had to invest in a cocktail dress as none of mine fit. I later showed it to Suzy who was enthusiastic about it. That's when I offered her some of my tiny size S party dresses which of course no longer fit. They fit her perfectly and she looked gorgeous in a long gold and sparkly blazer, a dark green velvet trouser suit and my mother's cocktail dress from the 60's which I have kept. I know I will never be a Zara size S again but I'm not fretting.

I am nearing 70, turning 68 in February, and was cheered up that day not just from the retail therapy but  from  an article published  in The Times reporting that 70 is the new 60. You can read it here if you can get past the paywall. It's based on a study that finds people in their 70's feel ten years younger as they enjoy better health than people born before them. That is so good to know. I refuse to see myself as an "old person" even if I am nearing 70. My body obviously says otherwise but it's how you feel that is important.

It was on Friday that I created my annual Christmas photo of Eladio and I. I may not send Christmas cards,  a tradition I gave up when I left England but I do love to make a Christmas photo. I made a few and chose the one of us in beautiful Ravello on the Almafi coast during this year's road trip for this week's feature photo.  A close second came one of the two of us in San Gimignano during the same trip. This is it.

Another Christmas photo of the two of us - in San Gimignano during this year's road trip.

I got quite inspired using the app and made one of Juliet and Elliot too.

Another Christmas photo, this time from our grandchildren, Juliet and Elliot

So you see, I am now finally getting into the spirit of Christmas.

I spent part of Friday afternoon finishing Season 6 of the new version of All Creatures Great and Small. It is based on the tales of Scottish vet, James Herriot's experiences as a young vet in Yorkshire. Oh how I love it. I also spent time writing this blog before having dinner with Suzy and Eladio. 

It was at about that time that a Saudi doctor purposefully drove into the crowds of a Christmas market in the German town of Magdeburg. He killed a nine year old boy and 4 women as well as injuring over 200 people. We all thought the man who is from Saudi Arabia was an Islamic fanatic. But it turns out he was a mixture of things so fits no profile. 50 year old psychiatrist, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, who had been living in Germany for 10 years was on a Saudi list of  criminals for being anti Islam. Dr. Peter Neumann, professor of security studies at King's College London described him thus: "If anything, the Magdeburg attacker was far right: a self-declared Islam-hating, ex Muslim atheist, who despised German society not for being against Islam but for facilitating its spread. He also very much liked the AfD" (German far right party). As a psychiatrist his work helped drug addicts and after he was detained it was discovered he had drugs in his blood. Looks like he himself needed help. In my mind he is a terrorist and  lone wolf terrorism is the bane of our lives these days. 

Entertainment that night was a Norwegian film called La Palma about a tsunami in this island in the Canaries. It was probably inspired by the tragic volcano eruption that happened there not so long ago. I have to say it was well done and had us riveted until the end.

Yesterday, Saturday, was 21st December and the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. That's basically when the day is shorter than the night. The 21st marks the shortest day of the year too while it was the Summer Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. Apparently the solstices happen when the earth is at its most extreme tilt away or near form the sun and I read that scientists can't really explain why our planet tilts on its axis. What that meant for us was about 9h of sunshine or daylight and 8h in London. Slowly from today, daylight hours will grow at a rhythm of 3 minutes a day until we reach the summer solstice with 15 or 16 h of daylight. I far prefer the summer solstice don't you?  

I was up early cooking yesterday as I had to feed our grandchildren who were being dropped off at our house from 1 until 6.30 as Oli had to fly to Santander and Miguel was working too. I made meatballs which is their favourite dish. They love it so much they had it both for lunch and for dinner!

We had some time to ourselves though before they came and used it to go for our walk and have a coffee  at La Flaca. I needed the peace before the storm. They were having lunch when we got home and shortly afterwards Oli left for Santander and we had the task of entertaining them for the afternoon. They are very boisterous and tend to hit each other rather a lot. They certainly know how to wind up adults as do most small children. The highlights were pushing them on the swings in the garden and showing Elliot how to play dominoes. He loved it. 

Elliot enjoyed learning to play dominoes with Suzy and I yesterday

We played with a set Oli had as a child and it was wonderful to watch how he understood how to play immediately. You can tell he is competitive too by the way hahahah. 

After they left we had more peace time which I used to finish this week's post. I slept relatively well last night and woke up today, Sunday, at 8 am which is quite rare. We have no plans for today. Everything is ready for Christmas so I shall be going on a walk and putting up my feet. That's for sure.

Next week when I write Christmas will be over or rather Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So all that remains is to wish you once again a very happy Christmas. I have noticed in many places, the word Christmas is substituted for Holidays and thus you see and hear "Happy Holidays" instead of "Happy Christmas". May we all remember that the real reason for celebrating Christmas is the birth of Jesus Christ so whether you are a believer or not, there is absolutely no need to change the name. Would anyone dare change the names of other religions' celebrations such as Eid or Hanukkah? I`ll leave you to think about your answer.

So once again Happy Christmas friends and readers. All the best till next Sunday,

Masha