Sunday 21st
December 2014
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| Happy with my two girlies in Madrid on Saturday |
Hi everyone
Here I am on
the last Sunday before Christmas writing my blog. The family is complete and
nearly everything is ready for the festivities.
Eladio just commented to me from his desk next to mine that today is the
first day of winter but you wouldn’t think so if you looked outside as the sun
is shining and there are many leaves still on the trees in the garden.
Monday was a
happy day for us. That day Eladio took
my Father to the hospital for a scan after his operation a few months ago. The good news is that he is completely clear
of the small tumour he had on his bladder.
We are so happy for him and I think he was very pleased too.
At lunchtime
that day I went to have my nails done at a beauty salon nearby. I had heard about “permanent” nail varnish
treatment and wanted to try it out. I
was very impressed with the results but not sure how permanent they would
be. However, so far so good; today is
Sunday and they still look perfect. The
15 euro investment was therefore worth the effort and if they last longer than
2 weeks I shall certainly be repeating the experience.
I was on edge
all morning on Monday because I knew that Suzy was coming for Christmas five
days earlier than planned but I had been sworn to secrecy. I later admitted to Suzy that I had told
Olivia. However Eladio and my Father had
no idea so when I had to go and meet her off the plane arriving at 16h I had to
invent an excuse for leaving the house.
Off I went on my own with butterflies in my stomach to meet my beautiful
daughter Suzy who I miss so much because she lives in London.
Her plane was
early and very soon we were home. We
hadn’t planned the entrance, so in we walked and the first person Suzy greeted
was my amazed Father who was sitting in our study watching the BBC News. Next we went upstairs. Suzy hid in her room and I called Eladio and
asked him to come into it to “look at some curtains”. He had the fright of his life as he walked in
and saw her. This is a photo of that
wonderful moment of pure love.
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| Pure love, Suzy gave her Father quite a shock with her surprise early arrival |
We spent the
next hour or so having a cup of tea in the lounge to enjoy the Christmas
decorations and it felt like having a visitor except that Suzy is no visitor,
she is our daughter. The dogs joined us
and here is a lovely photo of the occasion.
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| With Suzy and the dogs the afternoon she arrived |
I was to miss
Suzy and Oli’s moment of reuniting as that night I had to leave for a very
special Christmas event. Had it been any
normal event I would have stayed behind to be with the family but it wasn’t. I had been invited together with my friend Fátima
to a show cooking party at the Kitchen Club in Madrid where the chef would be
Samantha de España a famous caterer but also one of the members of the jury of
the popular TV programme Master Chef. It was a great evening and here you can
see me supposedly cooking side by side with Samantha. Actually I was only peeling an apple!
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| My Master Chef experience |
I was able to
get away early and spend some time with Suzy and Oli before we all went to bed.
On Monday the
big news was the siege in Sydney where an Islamic gunman entered a Lindt
Chocolate café in the city centre and took some 20 to 30 people hostage. Being so busy that day I only learned the
details later. Thankfully the siege was
over the next day when commandos stormed the café to free the hostages. In the shootout 2 people were killed as well
as the gunman, Man Haron Monis. The
story made me think just how vulnerable we all are to these fanatical Islamists
and that there seems to be no way of stopping them. This is the new type of war.
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| The Lindt cafe in Sydney. |
On Tuesday we
were all up early and had breakfast with our girlies. Both girls joined me on my walk which was
great. Olivia had to work of course
which was rather sad so we opted to drive her into Madrid where she works in
the centre. On our way home we stopped
at La Vaguada to have a coffee. It had
to be there as, unlike most cafes in Spain, it serves soya milk. Suzy being a vegan cannot drink cow’s
milk. Whilst at the shopping centre we
had a little look in Zara. I was on the
lookout for an elegant black coat. There
were quite a few but both Suzy and I agreed that I looked best in the one I
finally bought. This is it:
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| My new black coat from Zara |
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| Pakistan is in mourning after the Peshawar school massacre |
Wednesday was
a quiet day. I had lots of work to do, some of it related to the Yoigo
employees’ children’s party the next day.
On Wednesday a news bombshell was released when the world heard that the
United States and Cuba were to restore diplomatic relations. I’m not sure whether that means the blockade
will be over but it does mean the USA will open an Embassy in Havana after more
than half a century. Both countries
which are so near to each other yet with regimes so far apart began secret talks
some 18 months ago, some of them in Canada.
They were encouraged by Pope Francis who hosted the final meeting in the
Vatican. In a telephone call between
Raul Castro and Barack Obama the two countries agreed to put an end to 5
decades of hostility and to build a new relationship between the two
countries. The news came after the
release of an American prisoner and the release of the last three of the so-called
“Cuban Five” from a jail in the US who are considered national heroes. My nephew Miguel is living in Havana and witnessed
live this historical moment. He was
interviewed on a Spanish radio and also met with one of the previously released prisoners who had spent time in jail in the US, "Rene"; one of the "Cuban Five".
He told the journalist he found out about the news when a woman neighbor
started shouting out of the window. He
then explained that as there is very limited access to internet shouting out of
the window is a typical communications tool in Cuba. Hopefully when and if the blockade ends Cuba
can catch up with the rest of the world and enjoy internet, a better form of
finding out the news than shouting outside the window!
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| My nephew Miguel in Cuba with one of the previously released prisoners from a US jail; Rene one of the "Cuban Five". |
That evening I
had another Christmas event. This time I was invited to Madrid’s number one
culinary spot, a new restaurant called Dstage. The owner and chef Diego
Guerrero is more than a rising star. He
was the chef at the 2 michelin star Club Allard where I once tried out his
culinary creations. Dstage, opened in
July and where there is a three month waiting list to reserve one of the 8
tables, it is a different concept to Club Allard. It has the same high standard
of gastronomic creativity but in a more relaxed atmosphere. I can’t begin to
describe the 14 miniature courses we had which were beautifully served on the most
creative and attractive plates, so here is a collage of just some of the
dishes. If you haven’t been yet, you
really must go. I think Dstage comes
into my top 3 meals ever. One was in
Shanghai some years ago with Nokia when the best Chinese chef and top French
chef created a meal especially for us.
The second was at the famous Arzak restaurant in San Sebastian and my
third is now Dstage. However I cannot
put the three in order of preference as they were all just as good.
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| Just some of the dishes we had at Dstage on Wednesday night |
Thursday was
the Yoigo children’s Christmas party. We
have only 100 employees but over 180 children attended which proves that the
Christmas parties we organize are hugely popular. This year we set up everything on the outside
car park. There were inflatable castles, a stand for painting the kids’ faces,
a magician show and many other attractions, not least the Father Christmas
set. Father Christmas was very
authentic, in his 60’s at least, quite paunch and with his own real long white
beard and moustache. When I told him he
was the best Father Christmas I had ever seen he replied “that’s because I
really am Father Christmas” He was so
good the children did not feel duped.
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| With Father Christmas at the Yoigo Children's party on Thursday |
Suzy came
along to help and had to dress as an elf.
Here is a great photo of her and me together.
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| With Suzy at the children's Xmas party |
I invited our
ex home help Fátima (not to be confused with my best friend Fátima) to come and
bring her children who are 6 and 10 years old. They are really poor children who do not get
proper nourishment and live in a flat without heating. I think the party was more special for them
than for any of the “richer” children present.
The food was not halal but for once Fátima gave in and her children enjoyed
hamburgers and sausage dogs for the first time ever. Even she did!
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| Fatima with her children at the Yoigo children's Christmas party |
I felt very
privileged coming home with the company Christmas hamper in my car which I took
up to our room to open on our bed with Eladio as the girls had slightly invaded
the kitchen.
On Friday,
with the last of my big events under my belt, it was time for some more
Christmas shopping and off I went with Suzy and Eladio. Eladio came to buy my Christmas present which
I had reserved for me at El Corte Inglés.
I thought that at least he ought to pay for it. As we were running late we decided to have
lunch out. It was such a pity Olivia wasn’t there to join us.
Once home,
Suzy joined me on my weekly food shopping outing to Mercadona and our local
little supermarket at El Bosque. We were
home by 6.30pm. After putting everything away I had to concentrate on making
dinner for Julio and Fátima who were coming that night. Thankfully I had Gema to help as the kitchen
skivvy (what a luxury). For the record I
made spinach salad with mushrooms, pine nuts and fried bacon for starters. The main course was baked salmon with
asparagus and dessert was meringue with red fruit berries and whipped
cream. Everything was quite simple but delicious. Once the table was laid and the food organized
I had to get ready myself and then put on all the lights and candles in the
lounges.
It was lovely
to host my best friends for the annual Christmas dinner at home. They were impressed with the table and
decorations and Julio kept saying that everything, including our champagne
glasses, was very “Downton Abbey”. I
must admit he is right about the glasses as they belonged to my grandmother.
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| with Julio and Fatíma on Friday at home |
We were joined
by the dogs in the lounge afterwards.
Elsa behaved perfectly and I think Julio is very taken with her.
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| With Julio and Elsa after dinner on Friday night at home |
Norah,
meanwhile, totally misbehaved and I caught her jumping up onto the dining room
table. Thankfully there was no food left
on it and the champagne glasses were safe in the kitchen.
It was after
dinner that Fátima, Eladio and I discovered or used Shazam, the mobile app that
tells you what music you are listening to, for the first time. A Christmas record was playing and Julio
wanted to know who was singing. He
simply clicked on his phone and Shazam told him the record was Celtic Woman
singing “A white Christmas”. We were all
impressed. I had heard of Shazam before
but hadn’t used it but will be doing from now on.
And yesterday
was Saturday and I wanted to make it really special for my girls, so arranged
to go to a spa in Madrid and then have lunch together. Miguel was coming with us so I wanted Eladio
to come too but he preferred to stay at home and have lunch quietly with my
Father. First the girls went to the
hairdressers. At 12.30 Miguel and I
picked them up and we rushed to Madrid for our 1 o’clock appointment at Orfila Center. There we were greeted by the
owner Esperanza, a friend of Gloria’s, and she recommended different treatments
for us to choose. My first and only
choice was a massage which turned out to be fantastic, one of the reasons being
that the bed was warmed. Oli, Miguel and
Suzy all had different facial treatments.
I decided against the latter as once I had one many years ago and my
face went all red and bloated so I have never had one again. Funnily enough this morning Miguel’s face is
also red and a bit burned.
After our
session at Orfila Center we walked to the restaurant which was to be none other
than Casa Carolo where Bea from my events’ agency QuintaEsencia has a
stake. On our way we walked past the PP
(Partido Popular Spain’s governing party) headquarters which was surrounded by
TV press. The day before a man had
driven right into the main doors with his car on purpose. The owner, a ruined
business man, blamed Mariano Rajoy Spain’s President for his problems.
Once at Casa
Carolo I realized I hadn’t booked a table so we had to wait but it didn’t
matter as we were not in a hurry. Thus we didn’t start our lunch till past
3.30. Here is a selfie of Suzy and I at
Casa Carolo. On our way back to the car
after lunch we ambled into several boutiques.
In one of them called “Nice things” Olivia found a coat she liked and
which Miguel bought for her for Christmas.
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| A selfie with Suzy at Casa Carolo |
As we got to
Miguel’s car we realized we hadn’t taken any photos of the three of us so there
and then Miguel took one. It is the photo illustrating this week’s post. Just as we had taken the photo a car drove up
and the woman inside said “hello, is it really you?”. For a moment we didn’t recognize Carolina,
our neighbor for 18 years when we lived at our previous house. There she was with her three little girls and her
sister Alma’s two toddlers. Here is a
photo of this “super mama” as she really had a handful when we bumped into
her. Her life must be very busy what
with working for International Cooperation and bringing up three little girls
singlehandedly.
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| Carolina with her brood |
On our way
home, just as we were entering the area where we live, there was a huge traffic
jam which is not normal because we live in the country. We soon realized a herd of sheep was ahead of
the traffic and out of control. As we
waited and looked we suddenly realized a baby lamb had been born at the roundabout
ahead of us in midst of the chaos and that the mother had left it there and
followed the herd. Olivia and I rushed
out of the car just to see a man pick the lamb up by its feet and put in his
car. We can only hope he was going to
take it to the shepherd and not eat it for Christmas. Suzy’s friend Elena and who by coincidence
was at the front of the cars just where the lamb was born (she was on her way
to our house) had the presence of mind to take a photo. It is blurred but it is a souvenir of
yesterday’s miracle of a lamb being born on the country lane to our house. In any case it’s a very Christmassy sign.
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| A lamb was born |
After a quiet
dinner with Eladio whilst the girls entertained their friends in the lounge, we
went to bed early. I was very tired and must
have slept from 10pm until I woke up at 8.30 this morning. As usual I went for my walk and it was very
frosty though sunny. Today the girls will be entertaining their friends for
lunch and we shall be having a quiet day.
Gema has just left for her “weekend” and it will be up to me to make
lunch for my Father and Eladio after posting this week’s tales.
Next week will
be Christmas and I am much looking forward to it.
I hope you
have a great Christmas everyone, cheers till next week,
Masha.
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