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| We are the walking family. On our walk this Saturday before lunch. |
Hello again
Today is Sunday
and time to write my blog. After last
week’s bumper edition, there is not much to tell. I was trying to sum up the week’s activities
for the headline and what mostly came to mind was that it has been quiet and
wet this first week in November with a lot of time spent with the family. Autumn has really set in and it has rained on
quite a few occasions. Thanks to the
rain, the first in months and months, finally the trees are shedding their
leaves. This you can appreciate in a picture Suzy posted on Facebook one
morning this week as she was working from her desk at home.
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| It was cold and wet this week. The photo was taken from Suzy's desk whilst she was working one morning this week |
It has been a
quiet week because of the holiday on 1st November. As it was a Tuesday a lot of people in Spain
also took the Monday off, something called a “Puente” (bridge) in Spain, all of
which served to bring about a quieter week than normal.
Thursday was
the family highlight as Suzy was interviewed on television on a football programme
(Punto Pelota) in her caliber as a specialist in nutrition. Why would they want to interview a
nutritionist on a football programme you may ask? The reason is to do with Real Madrid having
to change its eating habits as it was playing a match today at 12 o’clock (mid
morning in Spain, not midday) rather than at the normal time in the early
evening. We thought she did a great job,
but judge for your selves in this clipping. The interview took place in a
famous gourmet food market in the centre of Madrid called El Mercado de SanMiguel. Here you have Suzy pointing out
to the interviewer the most appropriate food for Mourinho’s players, the
funniest moment being when he asked if pulses were a good idea to which she
replied that maybe not as they produced “wind”.
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| Suzy was on the television this week, being interviewed about Real Madrid's eating habits. |
Whilst Suzy
was being interviewed I was undergoing a ghastly test at the Quirón Hospital in
Pozuelo performed on my bladder called urodynamics. I won’t go into the details
but suffice it to say it was very painful.
I have suffered all my life, even as a child, from frequent trips to the
loo both during the day and at night. I
consulted a urologist some ten years ago, underwent all sorts of tests and
nothing was found. I was just told I had
an overactive bladder and given some tablets which didn’t work. However, when I
looked on the internet, not all the symptoms coincided, especially the ones
about sudden urges and leakages. I have neither
of those but am getting very weary of the frequency which at times is more than
every half an hour. Night time, of
course, is even worse. So I finally
decided to see another urologist, thinking that maybe after ten years there
could be some kind of cure. The test
told the doctor on Wednesday, a different story, although I have to undergo
many more before he comes to a final diagnosis.
I apparently have what is called Interstitial Cystitis which is also called the Painful
Bladder Syndrome. In my case, rather
than pain, there is a constant pressure, as if you always wanted to go to the
loo. I thought a lot about including
this story here in my blog, but I wouldn’t be true to myself if I didn’t
include it as it is something I have to bear and live with always and has an
enormous importance in my daily life. You
cannot begin to imagine the inconveniences it causes me. I read on internet that many people get
depression with this syndrome and I understand them completely. The reason I don’t is because I have decided
to enjoy my life and get on with it despite this disability. I don’t have much faith in any cure, as I don’t
think there is one, but shall go through all the tests until a confirmation of
the diagnosis is final. Well now you know
what I have to live with.
Later that evening my Father, my mentor in
getting on with life despite tragedies or disabilities, went to his hospital in
Alcorcón, with Eladio for the appointment he had for a head scan. The appointment was thanks to Rocio’s father
who works there. The scan is to see what
damage may have been done by a small stroke he has obviously had as the mobility
in his right hand and leg have been affected.
Meanwhile he continues to attend physiotherapy sessions three times a
week when he is accompanied by the ever faithful Olga.
Friday was
probably our busiest day. After getting
up early and digging well into my work to-do list, I went with Eladio to the do
the weekly shopping, a task my Father used to perform before his accident and
which I know he sorely misses. I suspect
what he most misses is the glass of wine and a tapa he used to have with Eladio
in between shopping at Mercadona for the basics and at the little supermarket
in El Bosque for the more exquisite produce we prefer. Weekly shopping for a household of 6 people, 2
dogs and 2 cats, is an enormous task and requires preparing an accurate list,
if you want to avoid having to pop out continuously during the week for things
you have forgotten. That is because we
live quite far from the shops and need to go by car to do our shopping.
Just as we
were returning with our huge load of food, Dolores and Juan arrived from Montrondo. Dolores is my sister-in-law, the wife of
Eladio’s next brother down, José Antonio, and Juan is their son and Eladio’s
godson. They were coming to see my Father on their way home, but also to bring
us some potatoes from the village. I
should add that they brought us some delicatessen “cecina” (air dried beef)
from León where they say the best cecina comes from and which we have yet to
try. Whilst Dolores chatted with my Father, Eladio, Juan and I put everything
away whilst Olga prepared lunch for 8 in a jiffy and it was the lunch we always
have on shopping day; fresh fish and chips.
It was a lovely family lunch, all of us together round the table. I just
wish we could see them more often
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| A visit from Dolores and Juan, made for yet another nice family lunch |
That evening,
skipping the walk because of the rain, Eladio and I went to the cinema. We had great hopes of the film we were going
to see “Habemus Papam” (We have a Pope), given our mutual fascination of things
religious. However, it turned out to be
rather a silly comedy, although the storyline sounded promising, about a cardinal
who was elected pope and got cold feet.
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| "We have a pope" was a rather disappointing film for us |
Dinner
afterwards was right next door at Foster Hollywoods, where we enjoyed steak and
ribs and a naughty brownie for dessert.
Saturday was
bonfire night, which as I explained last week, we don’t celebrate here. However I thought it was the right time of
year and the right sort of weather for making a family cocido (typical Spanish
winter dish with chickpeas, all sorts of meats and vegetables). Of course I used some of the potatoes Dolores
had brought us from Upiano’s little farm in Montrondo. The sack of them, some 30 kilos, is in a dark
room next to the garage. So happy was I
to have potatoes from Montrondo that I thought they deserved both a mention and
a photo in my blog. Thanks Dolores!
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| The potatoes Dolorese brought us from Montrondo, Eladio's village. |
This was to be
yet another family lunch when we were all together, but to make the day even
more complete, the four of us went for a walk before lunch with our beloved
dogs, Elsa and Norah. This is the photo illustrating this post. Elsa is now nearly 6 months old and getting
bigger and bigger. You can appreciate
her size much better in this picture I took of her with Eladio today.
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| Elsa getting bigger and bigger. She will be 7 months old next week. |
The afternoon
was spent sleeping a siesta and reading together in the candlelit lounge with
music in the background before making a light dinner and putting my Father to
bed.
Today Sunday,
has been another quiet day, dedicated to the family. I spent most of the morning cooking: roast
chicken, fresh artichokes and salad, all of which were much appreciated later
at the family lunch. Like yesterday we
went for our daily walk before lunch with the girls and the dogs and wow did we
work up a big appetite. It’s nicer to go
for the walk in the mornings because of the light but much better to do so
after a meal rather than before one. In
any case it was wonderful to walk all together as a family. I call us “the walking family”.
As you can see
it really has been a quiet week, dedicated to the family. The week ahead will be quite different, at
least the beginning. Tomorrow I will be
up early to catch an early morning high speed train to Barcelona. I will be having lunch with two journalists,
Carmen and Toñi and on Tuesday I will be attending a full day course on social
media organized by HSM and taking place at the IESE Business School in
Barcelona. It sounds very promising as the key note speaker is Charlene Li,
apparently one of the 50 most influential people from Silicon Valley. You will be hearing all about it in next week’s
blog post.
Meanwhile have
a great week
All the
best/Masha
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