The best rose in the garden, voting with the family, Suzy’s last day, furniture for Montrondo, chocolates from India, to the Swedish Embassy, discovering the “e-cloth”, Oli’s debut as a TV presenter, dinner at De María, Oli’s second birthday party and other stories.

Sunday 31^st May 2015

The family, all 5 of us, about to vote last Sunday

Hello again,

Another week has passed and it has been a good one.  The wonderful weather helps of course and our garden is looking beautiful.  What I most love about it at this time of year are the roses, or my roses, as the family calls them.  Last Saturday when I last wrote, I picked what I think must be the most beautiful rose in our garden.  It is called a “black rose” but is actually a very deep red. 

The best rose from our garden

I think it would probably win a competition.  Our black roses do not have a scent but the dark pink and orange ones do and it is a delight to smell them when I walk down our drive to the gate.  I just adore them and fill the house with them when they are in bloom. To do so I use the rose pruners which come from our old house in Bradford as Eladio pointed out to me the other day. Here is a selection of just some of the roses we have.  My favourites are the red and yellow ones.

Beautiful roses from our garden

When I wrote last week Olivia’s 30^th birthday party was in full swing and Susana was here.  That night was the Eurovision Contest.  We only watched a little of it and fell asleep during the voting.  There are so many countries these days, it goes on for far too long.  Sweden won in the end with a song called Heroes.  What I was most impressed with was the amazing stage put up by the host country Austria and by the special effects many of the contestants used.

Sunday was Suzy’s last day with us and it was also the day of the Spanish regional and local elections.  We packed a lot into that day.  After breakfast the whole family, including my Father went to vote.  The picture illustrating this week’s post is of the five of us about to go and do our electoral duty.

We took my Father in his wheel chair and he was wearing his elegant panama hat.  I think he may well have been the oldest voter. 

My Father about to vote

We are a very democratic family and between the five of us we voted for Ciudadanos, the new centre party, UPD, a new centre party and Podemos, the new and now famous anti- corruption party born from the “indignados” movement and who some say are communist.  I don’t think they are. Not one of us voted for the two main parties, PSOE (left wing) or PP (right wing and governing party); fed up with their corruption and austerity measures.  After voting, we decided to celebrate this democratic and, in a way, festive activity by going for a coffee together to a cafeteria a stone’s throw from the polling station.  Some of us had “churros” with chocolate and most of all we enjoyed being together.  For my Father the outing was a huge success as he hasn’t left the house for a long time. We shall have to take him out again for churros or a glass of wine as he seemed to enjoy himself so much.  Good for him!

At a cafeteria all together after voting last Sunday

To work off breakfast and the churros, afterwards, the four of us then went for a walk together with all three dogs.  It was a very warm day as you can see from the clothes we were wearing.  It was so warm that a halo formed around the sun; something I have never seen before.  It was quite a unique phenomenon to quote Eladio.  Here are my lovely girls and Eladio and the dogs on our walk that day.

The girls and their Father and the dogs on our walk after voting last Sunday

The family walk was followed by the last family lunch with Suzy as she was leaving that afternoon.  This is a selfie of Olivia and I with her just before she left.

Last moments with Suzy last Sunday afternoon

I’m not sure when we will see her next as she is starting a new job with Planet Organic and will not have much holiday as she is going away to Thailand with the “manada” in September for two weeks which will leave only a few days of any entitled holiday she may have from then till the end of the year. Oli and I took her to the airport and when we came home the house felt so empty.  We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around, reading and playing trivial on our phones.  It is so addictive I had to uninstall the app.

On Monday we woke up to the results of the elections.  They surprised us all.  The PP lost many votes as did the PSOE most of them going to Podemos and Ciudadanos.  In both Madrid and Barcelona we shall shortly see two women Mayors from parties associated with Podemos.  Meanwhile as not one party has a majority there will be all sorts of coalitions; the most likely ones being with Podemos and PSOE to oust out the increasingly unpopular PP. 

Election results

Whilst the two dominating parties were licking their wounds, life went on. That morning I had many errands to do as well as an appointment with the dentist.  In the evening we had an appointment with our decorator at Ikea and we spent a good two or three hours there going over the lists of furniture we have ordered for the house in Montrondo.  The most exciting part will of course be the kitchen.

The kitchen we have chosen for our house in Montrondo

Also for the first time in my life I will be choosing and buying bathroom furniture, rather than inheriting it.  This is the bathroom furniture we have chosen for our own bathroom which I think will go beautifully with the black and white checkered floor.

The furniture we have chosen for our own bathroom in Montrondo

On our way out we spied the new collection of garden furniture. There and then we bought four small tables which can be used singly or together and 10 chairs for our two terraces in Montrondo. They are very Scandinavian, don’t you think?

The terrace furniture we have bought for Montrondo

Our car was full to the brim and it was then that we got a call from Olivia to come and pick her up from a place called Colmenar Viejo, some 20km further north where she had been reporting on a story for her TV programme. She only just fitted in the back; it was such a squeeze.  When she got home my daughter was delighted to receive a parcel from her beloved Indian friends Sumit and Sandeep for her 30^th birthday.  It was a box of Belgian chocolates sent, or rather ordered, all the way from India.  Sumit and Sandeep are her friends from their Erasmus year in Falmouth in Cornwall and I know they will be life-long friends.  I’m still hoping one of them might marry one of my daughters but it seems not.  They are more like brothers and sisters, God bless them.

Oli with Sumit and Sandeep's chocolates

Monday was also Suzy’s first day as a nutritionist with Planet Organic.  I had asked for a photo but never got one.  We haven’t heard from her since she left apart from the odd whatsapp message to say everything is going fine.  I really hope it is.  Love you Suzy.

On Tuesday I had to go to an event at the Swedish Embassy where Yoigo was taking part in a debate on the European Digital Single Market.  It was my first time there which is quite strange really as our Mother Company, TeliaSonera is Swedish.  I only realized when I was dressed to leave that I was actually wearing the colours of the Swedish flag; blue and yellow.  Here I am, by my roses, dressed for the occasion.

Off to the Swedish Embassy in the right colours

The Ambassador’s residence is in a very smart street in the centre of Madrid and is really a beautiful old palace.  It has a small patio and garden which when I arrived was full of men, mostly tall Swedes. It made me think that whilst the Swedes residing in Madrid often go to their Embassy events, I have not once been to the British Embassy for anything other than a new passport which you can’t even do anymore as it’s all online.  Maybe I have to register with them to get invited to their glamorous events or maybe they wouldn’t invite me.  However all the Swedes I know in Madrid seem to be invited to all sorts of events at their Embassy and the Press attaché promised to send me an invitation to a Swedish gastro event as well as to their Midsummer party.  I look forward to them.

The event was quite political as the Secretaries of State for telecommunications from both Sweden and Spain were present, as was a Swedish representative from the European Commission for Economy. Below is a collection of photos I took that day.  Take a look at the one of the speakers; there is only one woman.  She, of course, is Swedish and is actually the Ambassador who speaks perfect Spanish. 

At the Swedish Embassy on Tuesday

At the cocktail party later I found myself talking to the Ambassador, the Commercial Attaché and the EU representative, all of them women and we spoke about how few women are in high positions in Spain, about maternity leave in Sweden vs Spain and even about Ikea meat balls.  I must say that this conversation was the best part of the whole event.  I should add that the presentation of the Single Digital Market by Ann W, the EU representative was another  highlight of  as she made understandable and did not resort to what I call “Brussels Speak”. 

I rushed home afterwards to have lunch with my men but go there afterwards.  On my kitchen “island” waiting for me were two small parcels from Amazon. They were my “e-cloths”, one sent by Suzy and the other that I had ordered. It was my friend Lorraine who stayed with us recently who recommended them.  I am a bit obsessed with keeping the “island” clean and clear of wipe marks.  Salu, our home-help is especially “good” at creating wipe marks.  Unbelievably I read on the instructions that the e-cloth is to be used with just water and that it doesn’t leave a mark.  I tried it out immediately and it’s true; it cleans and leaves no mark. The packet also included a polishing cloth for glass and similar surfaces.  Again you use only water with it and to clean glass you spray water and wipe it with the dry polishing cloth.  Our windows are now looking spotless.  I just wonder how I had never heard of the e-cloth before and if it is available in Spain.  At about 5 pounds per pack of two cloths – the dry and the wet one, they are well worth investing in.  I shall be getting more for Montrondo and Santa Pola and for my sister-in-law Dolores.

E-Cloths, the miracle cloths I discovered this week

On Wednesday I fasted as I did on Monday.  After our morning walk  - these days we go early in the morning or late at night to avoid the heat – I had appointments with two doctors.  The first was with the surgeon who had operated my fractured ankle.  It was to see the scar which doesn’t seem to heal. When he first saw it he thought the screws in the bone might be affecting it; i.e. my body was rejecting them and even suggested taking them out via another operation after which I would have to walk on crutches again. But he’s not sure so has asked me to go back next week to see how it is.  Do cross your fingers I don’t have to have the screws out.  I shall spare you the photo here of the scar which is rather ugly haha.

What cheered me up after the appointment was one of the press clippings about Yoigo that day.  It was a result of our press release from last week which I issued after the Ministry of Industry had published its study on the level of customer care of the Spanish operators.  Yoigo was top of the league with least complaints.  Here is the clipping from the Spanish financial daily newspaper, El Economista.

A clipping that made me happy this week

The next day Thursday, I was to issue another press release.  This time we were announcing a new prepaid tariff.  I’m hoping for good coverage about this too like this article in English, surprisingly.

Our new prepaid tariff which we announced this week

It was also on Thursday that my boss and I had lunch with El Mundo, the Spanish newspaper or rather with their telecoms reporter, Ana and her boss their editor of economy, Vicente.  We went to El Quënco de Pepa near Alberto Alcocer where they serve fruit and vegetables from their own orchard.  Just look as these cherries.  Cherries are my favourite fruit and the season is now starting much to my joy.

Giant cherries at El Quënco de Pepa

We talked shop of course, but even more interesting for me was to talk about the newspaper itself. El Mundo, traditionally right wing, was headed up by a very famous Spanish journalist, Pedro J. Ramirez and some of the journalists are very well known.  For example Ana Romero their ex royal correspondent who has just published a book about the abdication of the King of Spain – the supposed real story which I have read; or Javier Espinosa and the photographer Ricardo García who were kidnapped by ISIS.  In the lunch on Thursday my suspicions that the Spanish government paid for their release were confirmed.  They were held in captivity together with other Western journalists who were later beheaded probably because their Governments would not pay for their release. 

After the lunch I rushed home to catch up with lots of work.  I have a lot on my plate these days with two big events coming up and lots of other things.  I didn’t stop until dinner which I prepared with great haste just before Oli was back from work.  On Thursdays in our house there is never much choice for food as the weekly shopping happens on a Friday afternoon and the cupboards are rather bare by then.  But I managed to rustle up a lovely meal of Swedish open prawn sandwiches and Spanish ham which we had “al fresco” that evening.  I love eating outside at night these days as it is light until past 10 at night.

Dinner al fresco on Thursday night

On Friday I was up at 7 as I nearly always am.  The earlier I get up the more I can pack into a day.  I worked most of the morning but was pleasantly interrupted by the arrival of another parcel from my online shopping. This time it was a pair of Clarks white summer shoes with a low heel, ideal for wearing with jeans or a dress and very comfortable.  Clarks seem to make shoes just for me; they are not only practical and comfortable – with the option of extra width, but quite chic too.  They are not the Clarks we wore as kids at school in the 60’s and 70’s.  They have come a long way since then but perhaps have kept that image as a bit frumpy or old fashioned.

My new Clarks shoes

Salu made us lunch that day as she usually does.  This time she made Spanish “cocido” or rather “cocido madrileño” which is really a winter dish.  But it’s a dish we love so much we eat it all year round.  This is what it looked like and, believe me it tasted delicious.

Salu's "cocido madrileño" for lunch on Friday

Whilst Salu and I were doing the weekly shopping that afternoon, Olivia was making her debut as a TV presenter.  Up till now she has always worked as a TV reporter, although she is the official substitute presenter for her programme “Aquí en Madrid” but has never presented.  So Friday was a big day for her when she had her own set in the Retiro Park where she was to present the Madrid Book Fair, a big event in the literary world. 

Oli made her debut as a TV presenter on Friday

I watched it online the next day and was very impressed with her ability to present, especially as she has never done it before. You can see her too on this link but will have to fiddle around to find the exact moments. Well done Oli. 

That night we celebrated her debut by going out to dinner.  I had chosen De María in Majadahonda, a great favourite with the Atlético de Madrid football players as their practice grounds are right next door.  Here is a selfie of the three of us at dinner.

A selfie at dinner on Friday night

And yesterday, Saturday, Olivia invited 7 of her colleagues from her programme to lunch to celebrate her 30^th birthday. It was to be her second birthday party.  I was very proud of her culinary efforts as I watched her make a superb carrot cake and 6 home-made pizzas.

Oli cooking for her friends on Saturday.  Notice Elsa got in the pic!

I helped by making the first course, Salmorejo (from Córdoba) and being the general skivvy haha.

They had a very civilized lunch by the pool after which they swam in the water, listened to music and drank mojitos.  I tried one which was delicious.  Here they are together relaxing by our pool.

Oli and her colleagues yesterday at her second birthday party

After the party, Oli left for another party, this time in Majadahonda to celebrate Rocio’s 31^st birthday.  Meanwhile we stayed at home, going to bed early to watch the Sinking of the Laconia, a real story that happened in the Second World War.  After Pippa’s evening sponge bath, she settled down in our bed too, but to sleep rather than watch the TV hahaha.  Here is a collage of photos of the sequence of her settling down to sleep.  Pippa will be 6 months old next week and has reached the weight of 4 kilos!  She looks bigger than when she first came but is still the size of a large new born baby. And oh, how we love her.

Pippa who is nearly 6 months old - settling down for the night.

Today is Sunday and it is quiet.  We shall be having fish and chips for lunch, after I have written this post.  I imagine the afternoon will be spent by the pool reading.  Next week promises to be busy.  Thursday is a national holiday – Corpus Christi – and we shall be going to Montrondo again and taking the chairs and tables with us, as well as not so little Pippa.

I do hope you all have a great week.  I look forward to telling you about mine next Sunday.

Meanwhile cheers everyone and all the best till next time

Masha

Yoigo best mobile operator for customer care, Suzy came, fun trying to donate blood, English is weird, making räksmörgås, a girly lunch, Oli turns 30, God voting yes to gay marriage in Ireland and other stories.

Saturday 23^rd May 2015

Oli's 30th birthday dinner at home on Friday night

Hi everyone,

I am writing this week’s post this sunny Saturday afternoon whilst the girls are celebrating Olivia’s 30^th birthday on the other side of the house with “the manada”.  Tomorrow will be Suzy’s last day with us and I want to spend as much time with her as possible.  So here goes.

I left off this last Tuesday, so let me start from Wednesday this week.  Wednesday 20^th May was the 10^th anniversary of the passing away of Antonio.  Antonio is Eladio’s Father and was quite a character.  I loved him very much and we all miss him a lot.  He would be happy to know we are all building houses in Montrondo and probably especially interested in the house we are rebuilding which was the original family home.  God bless you Antonio.  I wonder if you can see us from up there.  I hope you can.  One thing you have achieved and that is bringing us together as a family for which I am forever grateful.

On Wednesday I worked from home as usual and was very busy.  I was working on a press release to inform the media of a study made by the Spanish Ministry of Industry where Yoigo came top in customer care with only 1.35 complaints per 10.000 customers. The figure is even smaller than last year when we also topped the ranking. This really is thanks to our insistence on quality in Yoigo in everything we do.  I must say I was very proud. This was our press release. The photo below is of the table of operators in Spain in how they fare in customer care. 

Yoigo has fewest complaints of all mobile operators in the market!

I was too busy to go and pick Suzy up from the airport so Eladio went instead.  She arrived on time for lunch and it was great to see her again.  She had been here at the end of April for her birthday and had come back in time to celebrate her sister’s 30^th.  Here is a photo of her at lunch on Wednesday.

Suzy at lunch on Wednesday just after she arrived in Madrid from London

Keen to spend time together, she came with me to the doctor at the Montepríncipe Hospital in Pozuelo.  I had an appointment about the scar on my ankle from the fracture after the operation at the end of January which doesn’t seem to be healing well.  I went for a scan on Friday. I was a bit worried the problem may be related to the 7 screws on the fibula bone but the doctor who did the scan said he thought it didn’t but that I should show it to my surgeon. I will be seeing him next week but I am much relieved that the screws will not have to be removed which was my fear.  At least I don’t think they will have to be but will know more after seeing the doctor.

As we left the hospital we spied a blood donation van.  I have never donated blood because until not so long ago you couldn’t do so if you had ever had hepatitis A (jaundice) which was my case.  So this was a great opportunity to do so.  My blood group is -0, the universal donor blood so I hoped I would be doing a good deed.  Suzy and I had a great time inside the van as the nurse and assistant were such good fun.  We made quite a show of the whole thing; me wanting a photo for my blog etc.  We had to fill out an exhaustive list of questions, one of which was whether we had lived in the UK during the mad cow disease years.  Actually I hadn’t but it did make me wonder if they were as strict about this in the UK.  After all the palaver I couldn’t donate blood as I was still on a course of antibiotics after my dental implant.  I was most disappointed. Suzy, happily, was able to donate her +0 blood after which she had to drink a can of coke.

Having fun with Suzy - donatng blood

From the hospital we had to rush by car into Madrid to an unknown area to us to pick up Oli.  She was reporting for TV on the death of a gypsy after a fight.  We were a bit worried about parking our car in such an area but that never happened as just as we arrived amid what seemed hundreds of police cars, Oli had just finished and got into the car and we drove off.  That was not before Suzy getting out at the traffic lights to embrace her darling sister.  The three of us went to have a coffee together and do some purchases.  It was lovely to be together.  Here is the photo of my two lovely daughters embracing.

Suzy and Oli reunited on Wednesday when we went to pick Oli up after work in Madrid

Much to our chagrin Suzy was going to sleep at her friend Elena’s house that night so we didn’t have the pleasure of her company for dinner which is what we wanted most but we had to be understanding as Elena is her best friend.  So we just got on with life and I turned my attention to making dinner for Eladio, Oli, Miguel and myself.  Whilst doing so I came across a lovely bit of trivia on Facebook about the English language which I made everyone read at dinner.  It was this phrase which even if you are English you have to read slowly: "Yes, English can be weird. It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though."

English certainly is at its wierdest when it comes to spelling and pronunciation.  I remember learning at school from my English teacher at St. Joseph’s College, Miss Speak, that according to George Bernard Shaw the word “fish” could easily be spelled as “ghoti”: gh (f) is pronounced as in tough, o (i) is pronounced as in women and ti (sh) is pronounced as in nation. This is certainly not trivia and something I have remembered forever. 

George Bernard Shaw said that "fish" could be pronounced or spelled as "ghoti" Isn't English wierd?

In relation to this a friend of Suzy’s posted a link to a marvelous poem which basically makes fun of English pronunciation and which I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you
On hiccough, thorough, slough, and through.
Well don't! And now you wish, perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps.
Beware of heard, a dreadful word
That looks like beard but sounds like bird.
And dead: it's said like bed, not bead,
For goodness sake don't call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt).
A moth is not a moth as in mother
Nor both as in bother, nor broth as in brother,
And here is not a match for there,
Nor dear and fear, for bear and pear.
And then there's dose and rose and lose--
Just look them up--and goose and choose
And cork and work and card and ward
And font and front and word and sword
And do and go, then thwart and cart,
Come, come! I've hardly made a start.
A dreadful Language? Why man alive!
I learned to talk it when I was five.
And yet to write it, the more I tried,
I hadn't learned it at fifty-five.

I amused Eladio and Olivia with the poem and also posted it on Facebook dedicated to my friends who are teachers of English like Jacky, Grainne or my sister-in-law Dolores. 

But let me tell you about dinner.  Miguel made this superb home-made pizza which you can see in the photo below.

Miguel's home-made pizza is delicious

I, on the other hand, finding a bag of frozen prawns in the deep freeze had decided to try my hand at making my favourite Swedish dish.  It really is just an open prawn sandwich but the Swedes call it “räksmörgås”.  I have eaten it many times both in Finland and in Sweden and have often written about eating it at my favourite hotel in Stockholm, the Skeppsholmen.  It’s so easy to make I don’t know why I haven’t made it before.  Basically it is a piece of bread or toast, covered with lettuce then a bed of prawns to which you add mayonnaise and sliced boiled egg. This is what mine looked like. All in all, dinner was great except that we missed Suzy.

The Swedish prawn open sandwich I made for dinner this week called räksmörgås

On Thursday morning I spent as much time with Suzy as I could in between work.  At 2pm we had a lunch date in town with my nieces Alicia and Paula.  We hoped Olivia who works near the restaurant would be able to join us but that didn’t happen as she was too busy and was sent off to shoot something for her programme.

Suzy and I got dressed up for the occasion and this is the photo Eladio took of us as we were about to leave.  To quote my friend Kathryn, we looked like two peas in a pod, bar the 27 year difference of course haha.

Suzy and I ready to go out for lunch on Thursday

It’s not often Suzy gets to see her cousins so this was a lovely occasion to make up for lost time.  Here is a photo of the four of us around the table at the restaurant we went to on Thursday.  We had hoped my other niece Sara would be able to join us but unfortunately she was on a training course and couldn’t make it.  Paula had some lovely news for Suzy which made the lunch very special.

After lunch we took Paula back to work to Aegon, the Dutch insurance company where she works and reports to a good friend of mine from my Nokia days, Marta, who is the communications director.  Then we went to Alicia’s house to pick up her things as she was coming with us to the town near where we live and where her boyfriend Chema resides, near the UEM University where Oli studied and where he is studying medicine in his 4^th year.  Alicia has just finished her Nursing Studies and was free to be with us.  Not so Chema who is studying for his exams in June.  So we came home to our house and immediately the girls went to lie by the pool. It wasn’t very warm but it was lovely and sunny and both of them decided to take their first dip of the season. Here they are in the pool together with Elsa our lab looking on.

Alicia and Suzy taking a dip in our pool - their first

Soon Oli was back with Miguel and we all had dinner together.  Salu made us a big tortilla and Miguel made another of his excellent pizzas, yummy.

Friday was Olivia’s 30^th birthday.  In order to have breakfast all together we had to have it early as she had to be at work early that morning.  I got up at 6.30 and laid the table lovingly.  We had already set out all the presents; most of which were from Miguel her boyfriend.  I had prepared coffee, fresh orange juice and had bought some delicious croissants.  Just before Olivia came down Miguel went out to buy churros and chocolate which are her favourite.  Here is a photo of everyone enjoying Oli’s family birthday breakfast.  

Olivia's family birthday breakfast

30 is a milestone certainly.  I will never forget the day she was born as no Mother can ever forget any birth.  She came into our lives on 22^nd May 1985 and I gave birth at the Francisco de Asis private hospital in Madrid which is where both girls were born.  Here is a picture of the four of us together shortly after my little baby girl Oli was born.  Little did I know, she would grow into the  beautiful and accomplished young woman she is today.

The day Olivia was born - 22nd May 1985

Miguel her boyfriend had made a wonderful video of the time they have spent together since they met in 2012 and which I am happy to share with you here.  It is very romantic I must admit and I shed a tear or two when I watched it.  Maybe you will too.  She is a very lucky girl to be loved so much by someone like Miguel.  Bravo Miguel for the video.  It is wonderful.  I give him a lot of credit for the video of course but part of the credit is also due to the fact that he earns his living as a cameraman.

After Oli had left I did some work then spent as much of the rest of the day with Suzy as I could.  I accompanied her to the hairdressers, we had a coffee together and also did the weekly shopping; some of it for Oli’s party today. There was time for a walk before lunch too and Suzy joined Eladio, the dogs and I on the more strenuous walk which we prefer these days because of the shade but also because there are no nasty dead rabbits for Elsa or Pippa to feed on hahaha. 

Eladio and Suzy on our walk yesterday

In the afternoon Alicia returned.  I started on preparations for Olivia’s birthday dinner and Suzy made her cake. Oli managed to get away early from work if you can call 7pm early; although it is for her.  I made a lovely “bits and bobs” dinner, consisting once again of the Swedish prawn open sandwiches.  I also made chicken waldorf salad and tuna spread canapes.  On the table too were bacon rolls with dates, a cheese platter and foie to be eaten with lingonberry jam. The photo illustrating this week’s post is of the dinner.

The piece de resistance was Suzy’s Victoria Sponge cake, made the way Oli likes it; cut in the middle with a layer of jam and spread with icing and decorated with fresh raspberries.  Here is Olivia making a wish whilst cutting the cake.

Oli making a wish whilst cutting her birthday cake

And Saturday came and the celebrations continued.  Even I slept in, if you can call 8am sleeping in.  But it is for me as most days I am awake at 7 or earlier.  There were big preparations for Oli’s party.  My contribution was a huge bowl of fresh salmorejo for ourselves and her 16 guests.  The main chef of the day though was Miguel who made a superb risotto for lunch.  Ana, Oli’s University friend, who specializes in cakes, brought 3 at least but I only got to try the meringue one which was delicious.

I have just been to the kitchen to get a cup of tea and check on the party. Most of the friends have left now but here are the rest of them enjoying drinks and cake and playing cards, including my sweet god daughter Alicia.

The end of Olivia's birthday party today

Meanwhile in Ireland there has been a referendum today on gay marriage.  So when I saw a photo of a rainbow in Dublin on internet I thought it was quite a coincidence as of course a rainbow also symbolizes bisexuality.  One young chap in Dublin posted a photo of it on Twitter and suggested this was possibly God’s way of voting yes.  I thought that was very much to the point and that it is about time the Catholic Church admitted gays and lesbians, single sex marriages, women priests, etc.  I do like the new Pope and wonder what he thought if and when he saw the photo of the rainbow as well as the outcome of the referendum. It seems gay marriage has been the victor of the day in the Irish referendum.

A very appropriate tweet about Ireland today

And now my friends I have come to the end of the week, ending today on Saturday.  Tonight will be the Eurovision Song Contest, not something that interests me especially; apart from the voting bit at the end.  I wonder which country will win.  We will all know that when I write next week.

So I will leave you now and return to my girlies, make my Father’s dinner as well as ours, if there is any room in the kitchen which is currently invaded by the “manada” haha.

Cheers all until next week

Masha

PS nearly forgot to add that today is Primo’s birthday; my lovely brother-in-law – Felicidades Primo.