This is a diary of my life today for friends and family, past and present. For those who know me and those who don't, hi, cheers, welcome. Born in the UK to an English Father and Russian emigré Mother I married a Spaniard and have lived in Spain since 1981. Mother and grandmother, I was a PR professional in the telecoms sector until recently retiring. I'm passionate about my family, my new job as a successful Airbnb host, Pippa our dog, travel, food, news, the outdoors, reading and this blog.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Getting ready to go the UK. Do I miss it? My beautiful girls
Hi again,
Here you have me writing this post on the plane – Easy Jet EZY5476 destination London Gatwick. It`s always exciting for me to travel; there is a travel bug in me inherited from my Father. To add to the excitement, when we had just boarded we had to evacuate the plane because the fuel vehicle had bumped into one of the wings!
I have spent the last few months anticipating this trip to England; my first time back in one year. This time it is to my school’s centenary in my childhood home, Bradford in West Yorkshire. That is the excuse for a 5 day jolly in England with my beloved school friend, Amanda. She will be picking me up today at Gatwick and we will spend today at her lovely home in Surrey with Andy, her husband and dearest Jake, her youngest boy. The other kids are all away at boarding school or University and I will not see them. I am well armed with Rioja and Rueda wine for a good dinner tonight.
Tomorrow Amanda and I will drive to Bradford and book into our charming guest house Ashmount House in Haworth, the home of the Brontë sisters, a place which was important in my childhood. We will actually be staying at what was once the home of the sisters’ physician. Imagine! And then at 7pm the fun starts. We will meet up with Brenda Maher and Ellen Byrne, school friends from St. Joseph’s College and whom I have not seen in years. We will be attending the “Centenary grand Dinner” at the Bankfield Hotel in Bingley (now called the Ramada). It’s a dinner for 400 people and the one person I really hope to see is our old Geography teacher Miss Fair who became the Headmistress when we left!
Saturday is the School Open day which we are much looking forward to. I am also looking forward to seeing our old house at 6 Heaton Grove and our neighbours, the Wrights. I will not carry on about the trip otherwise I will be repeating myself in my post next week.
Suffice it to say, this is very exciting for me. It’s always lovely to go back to the UK and really I did not expect to go back to Bradford. The last time I was there was to close the old house and bring my Father back to live with us in October 2004. I have lived in Spain happily now for nearly 27 years now (amazing!). You may wonder if I ever miss the UK. I wonder that too sometimes and of course I do; so each time is very special. And what do I miss? Silly unimportant things like M+S. the BBC, English newspapers, chocolate, book shops, the countryside. But I do not miss many things about the way of life, or, of course, the weather.
On a different note, the week has been quiet and pleasant at home. The girls came back from Santa Pola and Jerez and we have gone back to our routine. The weather has been gorgeous and inspired by the lush garden, Eladio and I went flower and plant shopping again. My overall favourite just has to be this Hibiscus plant which seems to be blooming since it was planted on Sunday.
I just have to mention my beautiful girls. This morning I said goodbye to them. They were having breakfast and working on their new Mac laptops in the kitchen and I could not resist taking these wonderful pictures of them. They protested a bit because they were in their pyjamas but you have to admit they look so lovely.
More next time.
Cheers
Masha
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