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| In my new "office" in bed - here with the lovely basket of fruit from Teresa and Tony |
Hi everyone,
It’s Sunday
and the time to write my blog again.
This time last Sunday we were on that fatal walk in the mountains in
Montrondo, the walk where I broke my ankle and which has caused me to be
grounded at home for at least 2 or 3 months as you will have read in my last
post.
I left off on Wednesday
this week. I was very much cheered up
that afternoon with the arrival of a spectacular bunch of yellow roses from my
team at Ketchum, our PR Agency. I don’t
know how to thank Carlos, Isabel, Mario and Ludi, except that to say they are a
wonderful team. This is the photo of me
with the flowers. I don’t how they knew
but roses are my favourite flowers and yellow my favourite colour for
roses.
Then later
that night when Olivia returned with Miguel she brought with her a present from
her colleagues from the programme she works for “Aquí en Madrid”. It was a box of gourmet Belgian chocolates and
a huge card signed by all of them. I was
very touched. Here I am with their
present. Thanks guys, when I’m up on my
feet again I will go to your newsroom to meet you all and to thank you
personally. I should add that I won’t be
eating them until then. That’s because in
my position I have to be very careful with my diet as I am doing little
exercise. Thus I am steering clear of
anything fattening and an on a high fiber diet as prescribed at the hospital.
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| Thank you Oli's colleagues from Aqui En Madrid! |
You are
probably wondering how I am getting on.
Well I am doing the best I can.
First of all I have decided this will not beat me. My ex-boss Johan commented on Facebook “what
does not kill you makes you stronger”. I
loved that piece of advice and as always the smartest boss I ever had is
right. So yes it’s been chin up and
carry-on. I move around on the top floor
where our bedroom is using my computer chair with wheels so I can at least get
to the bathroom on my own. You may
wonder why I am not using crutches. The
answer to that is that my arms are not strong enough and when I tried to use
them a few years ago when I sprained my ankle, I fell flat on my face, hit my
head and had to be taken to hospital. I
am quite happy with the chair with wheels and will stick to it rather than risk
crutches. Gema, our new Moroccan home help, has been a marvel and is treating
me as if she was my Mother. Not only
does she have to shower my Father now but she has to help to shower me
too. I don’t know what I would do
without her.
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| Gema, our Moroccan home help. She is a jewel. |
As for getting
up and down the stairs that is more difficult but I manage to do so using my
backside and the exercise is great. I
can’t sit down on a chair for very long as the blood rushes down my leg and the
pain sets in so mostly I am in bed with my leg in a horizontal position. As to the pain, well it comes and goes. On Monday I shall be going to the hospital to
have the cast and bandage off for them to see to the scar after the operation
which at the moment itches a lot. Then
on 4th February I will be having an X-ray and seeing the orthopedic
surgeon who I suppose will be telling me how well the bone (fibula) is heeling.
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| My way of tackling the stairs at home! |
On Thursday I
was cheered up again by a phone call from my ex-secretary Monica from our Nokia
days. It was great to talk to her. She also recommended all sorts of TV series
to watch and I am taking her advice. I
was also cheered up that day by the arrival of a beautiful basket of fruit,
flowers and biscuits from Tony and Teresa, the directors of Ketchum. They come from a company called “Naranjas de la China” which I highly recommend. The
photo illustrating this week’s post is of me in bed with the hamper and my pc
next to me which shows you what my new “office” in bed looks like.
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| The beautiful hamper from Naranjas de la China |
So here I am
surrounded by my pc, mobile phone, headphones and all sorts of cables (mukula
in Finnish right Anne?). It’s amazing what you can do from bed. I started catching up with my work on
Wednesday as I have a lot on my plate.
My biggest project coming up is our participation at this year’s Mobile
World Congress at the beginning of March in Barcelona. I won’t be able to go so will be delegating a
lot to my teams from Ketchum and QuintaEsencia for our main events there, a
blogger trip, a big party and a press conference. Thus I called a meeting at home on Thursday
afternoon which they attended. Here is a
photo of us around our dining room table.
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| A meeting with a difference at home in our dining room on Thursday with my two teams. |
It was
certainly a very special meeting and lovely to see my team. We went over the main project points and now
it’s just a question of executing them one by one. Gloria from QE (QuintaEsencia) my events
agency brought little Yoigo – you know, the miniature chocolate coloured and
smooth haired dachshund, who was the centre of attention. Here is a photo of me with little “Yoigo”. I can’t wait for Yoigo’s girlfriend “Pippa”
to arrive at the end of February.
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| With little "Yoigo" at our meeting at home on Thursday |
Gloria and
Miguel surprised me too with a present, an amazing hamper of gourmet
vegetables, oil, bread and ham. They
later told me they had bought the produce from a new gastro gourmet market
called Platea in Colón in Madrid. When
I’m up on my feet I really want to visit it.
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| I was delighted with the vegetable hamper I received from QuintaEsencia |
This week with
so much time on my hands, mostly thanks to my non 2 hour walks a day, I was
able to watch Olivia on the television.
That evening she reported on the snow from a village in the mountains of
Madrid called Braojos. Here is a photo
of her doing that.
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| Olivia reporting on the snow in a place called Braojos in Madrid this week |
She also did a
report on what is called in Spain “la cuesta de enero” – the “January hill”
which refers to people’s reduced spending power after Christmas. Here she is in this report too.
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| Olivia doing on a report on people's spending power in January |
That night the
girls’ friend Copi who they have known since they were 3 and 4, came to have
dinner. She mainly came to see Suzy who is here briefly. I have to mention here that it wonderful to
have both daughters at home while I’m grounded.
We had a great dinner mostly made up of QuintaEsencia’s veg and Tony and
Teresa’s fruit. We forgot to take a
photo. However Copi spent the night and took some photos of Suzy which she made
into this lovely collage I want to share with you.
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| It was great to have Suzy here this week (collage courtesy of Copi) |
Whilst the
girls spent time together after dinner, I of course went back to bed. There is nowhere else for me to go these days
haha. That night Eladio and I watched a BBC drama called Hawking. I thought I had bought the new film about
Stephen Hawking, The Theory of Everything, but alas I hadn’t as it isn’t out
yet. In any case the BBC version is good
although it only focuses on his early days in Cambridge in 1963. We nearly coincided with him there as I was
born in Cambridge in 1957 but we left I think in 1960.
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| Enjoyed this film with Eladio this week |
I haven’t been
following the news as avidly as usual since I had my accident but I was
interested to read on Friday morning that the ailing 90 year old King Abdullah
of Saudi Arabia, the third biggest oil exporter in the world had died. He will be succeeded by his half-brother
Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, aged 79, also with frail health. Within the royal family of this harsh Kingdom
for women, there is a dispute about the succession. I was ironically surprised to read that King
Abdullah was actually considered a moderate reformist but still Saudi Arabia
remains to be the only country in the world where women cannot drive and still
need permission from a male member of the family to work, travel, study, marry
or even receive surgery. How awful it
must be to be a woman living there.
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| The "so-called" moderate king of Saudi Arabia died this week |
It was on
Friday that Olivia did one of her most entertaining reports on TV so far. It was about the pros and cons of the Father
being present in the delivery room. She
had to interview a gynaecologist in a delivery room and to do so the whole team
had to dress up in the standard sterilized outfits. Here is a photo of the three of them; Oli
with the cameraman and technician. I
asked her what the conclusion was and she said it went both ways. I remember
when I gave birth saying I wouldn’t do so if Eladio wasn’t present. Funnily enough in my first delivery with
Susana things went wrong and they had to get her out using suction and Eladio
had to leave the delivery room. I think
I was not even aware that he left.
Thankfully he was there the moment she was born and I will never forget
the joint emotion, the same as when Olivia was born. So, yes, I’m for Fathers being present in the
delivery room.
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| Oli having fun doing a report on whether fathers should be present in the delivery room |
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| The Honourable Woman, a great series set in the turmoil of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. |
I asked for
more recommendations from my friends on Facebook and of the ones they proposed
I shall be downloading State of Affairs, 7.39, Last Tango in Halifax and Happy
Valley. Meanwhile Broadchurch series 2
is on its way from Amazon.
Whilst I
finished watching the gripping series The Missing about an abducted little boy
in France, Suzy and Eladio did the shopping.
That day my colleague Belén rang about work and it was nice to have a
chat, as it was nice to speak to Maryvonne to congratulate her on her new
promotion. It will be great to no longer
be the only woman on the Yoigo Management Team!
But I didn’t
only have chats and messages with friends on Friday. I also had a visit. My darling niece and god daughter Alicia came
to dinner. She is just about to graduate
as a nurse and I’m so proud of her.
Olivia and Miguel joined us but Suzy couldn’t as she had made
plans. Here is a selfie of all of us at
dinner using one of the selfie sticks we got for Christmas. Thanks Ali darling for coming.
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| It was lovely to have Alicia to dinner on Friday night. |
Afterwards of
course I went to bed. Well where else
would I go haha. But Oli and Miguel went
out and they joined Suzy and the rest of the “manada” as their group of friends
is called. I love their friendship. Here is a photo of them all together on Friday
night I think at Elena’s house.
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| The "manada" on Friday night |
On Saturday I
spent most of the day watching The Honourable Woman. There is nothing much else to report apart
from the fact that we all had lunch together.
Gema had gone for her two days off, so it was down to Eladio to make
lunch, at least partially, as she had laid the table. In the end I came down to help but felt
pretty useless around the kitchen. It
was quite frustrating seeing my family trying to do my role and my not being
able to help.
What was big
news yesterday Saturday, at least in England, was that Bradford City, my home
town football team, beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge 4-2 in the FA Cup. That is real merit as the former are the
underdogs to quote my friend Kathy.
Bradford are in the 1st league which in my days was the 3rd
division and Chelsea are of course in the Premiership which used to be the 1st
division. Bradford City FC. now called
the Bantams, have made football history in England and I am very proud of
them. Even if they don’t win the next
round no one will ever forget this victory.
I’m sure one day it will be included in future questions of
Trivial. If that is so and I ever get the
question I will get it right.
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| Happy to hear Bradford City FC made football history yesterday beating Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup |
At night
Eladio and I watched some of the last episodes of the gripping detective series
The Fall set in Belfast – Series 2 - It
was nearly 1 in the morning when we finished the last but one and reluctantly we
have left if for tonight. It is a great
series although a bit gruesome as it’s about a serial killer. It very much reminds me of the times of the
Bradford Ripper. I was in my early 20s
and living in Bradford when he was on the prowl and remember the relief when he
was finally caught. Not a nice
story. Neither is The Fall but it’s very
well done.
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| About to finish series 2 tonight. This series is very gripping if a little gruesome |
And today is
Sunday and as is natural in my condition now, I am writing from my bed. This morning I did something very
stupid. Remember I got a lovely Michael
Kors white handbag for Christmas? Well I wanted a black one for my birthday in
February. Olivia knew and she found a
link where you could buy them at a discount.
Instead of costing approximately 200 euros each, they cost about 60 so
there and then I bought 3. I was a
little suspicious of the page so before buying them I googled Michael Kors
Spain and the same page came up. This is it. It looked genuine so I went ahead
thinking the discount was because the bags were from 2013 and 2014 and not new
in. Everything went well except that I
didn’t get an email confirmation. Then I
began to suspect so I rang my bank.
After much questioning they confirmed the payment was being made (not
yet terminated) to a company called Beijing paper something or other. I knew then and there that the page was fake
and a fraud. So I blocked my card. Then I rang the police and they said to make
a report. So off Eladio went to do so in
my name. Tomorrow I will try to recover
the money from the bank. Later I rang a
CIO (chief information officer) friend I know and he told me the Spanish police
will only be able to intervene or close down the page if it is housed somewhere
on the net in Spain or in a country Interpol has agreements with. I doubt they have any agreements with
China. Some people have commented to me
I will be sent 3 false handbags I don’t want but somehow I think they will keep
my money and not send me anything. All I
can say is that I have learned a lesson in life. I should have suspected that the page was
false when the prices were so low. Oh
well, you get what you pay for or as they say in Spanish “nadie da duros por
pesetas”. Apparently pages like these are rife, so maybe this is a warning to
some of you too. I hope so. I will be much more careful next time.
On a much more
pleasant note the girls are not here until this afternoon. They went off earlier to have their hair and
makeup done at the Beauty Salon Copi works at for its new website. I would have loved to go along but have had
to suffice with the photos they sent me.
Here they are together, smiling and looking beautiful, don’t you think?
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| My beautiful daughters Olis (left with black spots) and Suzy right today after their hair and makeup session today at the beauty salon Copi works at. Photos are for the salon's website. |
Well my
friends, that’s all for this week. This
afternoon my best friend Fátima will be coming and I shall be watching more of
The Honourable Woman. As to next week
well I imagine it will be much the same as this bar the presents. But as Eladio keeps saying, my job right now
is to heal my ankle/leg, so that’s what I’ll be doing.
Cheers till
next week my friends
Masha
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