Sunday 10th May 2015
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| Walking in flowery fields with the dogs on Friday |
Hi everyone,
There is not
that much to tell this week, so hopefully this post will be short and I will be
able to spend the rest of the day going on our walk, having a family lunch and
taking the first dip of the year in our pool.
The weather has been very warm and today the forecast is 30ºc and while
I write, Eladio, helped by Olivia and Miguel, are removing the winter cover and
cleaning the tiles where it was fixed.
This is, of course because of the good weather but it’s also in honour
of the visit of our English friends Keith and Lorraine who are coming to stay
with us next week. I feel a little
guilty I am not helping them but I need the time to write this week’s post if I
am going to enjoy the pool later on today.
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| Eladio, Oli and Miguel getting the pool ready for the summer |
But I am
already telling you about today Sunday and should start with last Sunday. I forget to tell when I wrote last week that
on Sunday 3rd of May Pippa, our irresistible chocolate coloured
smooth haired miniature dachshund, turned the grand old age of 5 months. This is her with Olivia in the dining room
last Sunday. I was going to say isn’t
she gorgeous referring to Pippa but perhaps I should say aren’t they gorgeous
referring to both Oli and Pippa.
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| Pippa is 5 - here with Olivia last Sunday in our dining room |
Most of the photos I take during the week are
of little Pippa or of Pippa with Elsa as they are such a twosome and here is
one of Pippa I especially like. It’s a
close-up I took of her on our bed one afternoon this week.
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| Pippa, who is very spoiled, here on our bed |
Monday was
busy. I had to attend a management team meeting after which I drove to Madrid
where I had a lunch date with my boss and a journalist from a Spanish news
agency. You may be interested to know
that it was at Asador de Donostiarra, one of the main haunts of the Real Madrid
team. It’s a great place if you like
classic traditional Basque food which I do.
It was on Monday that
the name or should I say names, of the royal baby (a sister to George) was announced. She, the royal “she” will be called Charlotte
Elizabeth Diana but formally known as HRH Princess Charlotte of Cambridge. I love the name Charlotte and in fact wanted
to call either of our girls that but Eladio was against it as the name in
Spanish is not half as nice (Carlota).
The name Charlotte could be a tribute to her grandfather Prince Charles.
As to Elizabeth, well that’s clearly because of the Queen and well Diana is in
memory of the baby’s grandmother, “the nation’s beloved child”. I read later that Charlotte Elizabeth Diana
are Prince Charles’ most hated names. To
quote the article: “It combines the
person who refuses to relinquish the throne he covets and the person who made
everyone think he was a shit. And Charlotte is a woman on eBay who keeps
beating him to the Franklin Mint royal memorabilia he collects”. I thought that was very funny. I wonder what he really thinks.
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| The royal baby who was named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana |
Especially
interesting was seeing a copy of the royal baby’s birth certificate which I
share with you here. What wonderful occupations the parents of Charlotte
Elizabeth Diana have of which there are very few vacancies in the world.
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| The royal baby's birth certificate |
Tuesday was
not a good day. I fasted, got a headache
at the end of the day and took an overdose of pain killers which made me sick
during the night. Quite ghastly I can
tell you. Tuesday was not a good day for
Real Madrid either who lost to Juventus in Turin 1-2 in the first leg of the
semi-finals of the Champions League. I
would have preferred their rival’s result for them: the next day Barcelona beat
Bayern de Munich 3-0 in their first leg of the semis in Camp Nou. It was to be Pep Guardiola’s first time back
as a rival team coach and despite the ovation given to him by Barça fans it
must have been a humiliating night for him.
On Wednesday I
was busy with meetings in Madrid. I also
coordinated the press release on prolonged free calls and sms to and from Nepal
for a further 2 weeks. There are still Spaniards
missing there after the earthquake and I hoped that in this way we could do our
bit, however little that is.
Wednesday was
the first day we had dinner outside. The
weather has been wonderful and life is so much more pleasant when you can dress
in t-shirts and shorts, smell the jazmine coming to life, the new roses or
Eladio mowing the lawn.
On Thursday I
had more meetings in Madrid. Eladio
liked the way I was dressed (Zara summer emerald green coat and H+M flowery
dress). He took this photo of me just before I left. I’m not sure I like it too much but it did
represent the moment so here it is.
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| Dressed up to the nines going to town this week for meetings |
My meeting was
in one of Madrid’s swanky streets, Lagasca.
Just as I was arriving, Gloria from my events agency, QuintaEsencia
whose offices are in the same street ,was driving along in her little Smart. We said a quick hello and agreed to have a
coffee afterwards and before my next meeting. Gloria was joined by her sister
Cristina and “Yoigo” her chocolate mini dachshund who is now 9 months old and a
possible future boyfriend for Pippa. It
was uncanny to see just how similar the puppies are. Thanks girls for the coffee it was great to
have coffee with you in Madrid in the sunshine.
See you for lunch next week!
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| Gloria with Yoigo, Pippa's potential boyfriend |
Madrid was
looking great in the summery weather with people having meals or coffee outside
like us. So I wasn’t surprised to read
later that Spain has been named the most tourist friendly country in the worldin this year’s World Economic Forum’s biennial travel and
tourism competitiveness report. Its
popularity stems not only from its friendly hosts and gastronomy, but from its excellent
culture, entertainment, and infrastructure. I was interested to read that Spain
comes third in the world in the ranking of Unesco world heritage sites: 44
after Italy (47) and China (50). France
came second in the World Economic Forum’s report. They never like being beaten
by their supposed poorer neighbours but it has happened over and over again,
especially in sport. If you don’t
believe me look back on the years that Spaniard Miguel Indurain dominated their
coveted national treasure “Le Tour” or Rafa Nadal’s multiple wins at Roland
Garros the French Open.
Thursday was a big day
in the UK. It was voting day for the
general elections and unlike when I was a voter when I lived there, itwas held
during the week and not on a Sunday. The
pooling stations wouldn’t close until 10 at night and as the votes are still
hand counted, we wouldn’t know until the next day what the results would
be. Pollsters had warned us the country
would be more divided in their choice since the second world war and an even
more hung parliament was predicted than in 2010 when the Conservatives won 306
seats, insufficient for a majority and had to form a coalition with the Liberal
Democrats, led by Nick Clegg (famous in Spain for his Spanish wife, Miriam
González from Olmedo) who garnered 57 of the 650 available seats.
Friday came and it
brought a sweet victory for David Cameron whose Conservative party won a slim
majority – 331 seats but enough to form a government without a coalition. His rivals, Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and the
loud Nigel Farage of the Labour, Liberal and anti-immigrant UKIP parties all
had disastrous results and immediately resigned.
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| The General Election results this week |
Upon winning David
Cameron posted a photo on twitter where he is kissing his wife Samantha. I suspect like many others that he was trying
to copy Obama whose photo with Michele when he won is one of the most retweeted
photos in the history of the social media site.
However the photo was just not as good or as emotional or as glamourous,
mostly because in it, as one person on twitter pointed out, “he is digging his
nose in her eye”.
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| David Cameron's photo of him kissing his wife in a copy of Obama's famous tweet |
The other victor of the day was the Scottish
National Party led by Nicola Sturgeon who won 56 of the 59 seats in Scotland
with a landslide victory. Most of the
seats they won were Labour’s. In the
news following the results of the elections, there is much talk of the possible
British exit of the EU as Cameron promised a referendum on the subject in
2017. However I suspect he is offering
this possibility knowing that most people will vote against it. I sincerely
hope they do.
The other talk is about
the independence of Scotland and how after the SNP’s victory, the party may
want another referendum. I’m not sure
that is what is on their mind. Friday’s
votes were for Scotland’s representation at Westminster and not for
independence. Of course now they will
have a stronger voice in obtaining the increased authority David Cameron had
promised them if he won.
Whilst the UK and the world were digesting
the results, Eladio and I continued life as usual. As it has been so warm this week, we took to
going on our walks in the morning rather the afternoon as the day before poor
Pippa and Norah suddenly went on strike in the middle of the walk and lay down
in the shade refusing to continue. So on
Friday just before lunch, off we went.
Our walk at this time of year is a joy not only because of the weather
but because of nature and the wonderful budding of wild flowers
everywhere. The photo illustrating this
week’s post is of me on the walk in flowery fields with the dogs. Here below is a collage of these “flowery
fields” on our walk which we enjoy so much.
Whilst the Conservatives and the SNP were probably celebrating and the other
parties drowning their sorrows, Eladio and I went out to dinner as always on
Friday night. I had found a new place on
La Fourchette, an Argentinian restaurant in Boadilla and we were joined there
by Olivia and Miguel. Neither Oli nor I
liked my choice and had to persuade the men to leave, despite their
embarrassment. In the end we had dinner
at La Txitxarrería, always a guarantee.
By the way, I nearly
forgot to tell you the best news of the day.
My daughter Suzy who lives in London and is not at all interested in the
results of the general election, had an interview that morning with a group
called Revital UK which has a chain of health shops in London. She landed the job and is looking forward to
working in her industry, whilst she waits for the HCPC to finally approve her
submission to be a registered nutritionist in the UK. Good news Suzy.
Saturday was quiet and
we spent most of the day at home. Having
a bit more time on my hands than usual I decided to make the lunch that
day. Unfortunately neither Olivia nor Miguel
would be there to enjoy my oxtail dish.
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| The oxtail dish I made for lunch yesterday |
I made the oxtail cooked
in white wine and with two large onions and 4 or 5 carrots (these get made into
a sauce afterwards), according to the “bible of traditional Spanish cookery”,
the 1080 recipes by Simone Ortega. This
is a book I bought when I first came to Spain and it has stood me in good stead
over the years with very easy to make and well explained recipes.
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| The Spanish "bible" of traditional cooking which has always held me in good stead. |
And today is Sunday
which I have already told you about at the beginning of this post. In next week’s post there will be a photo of
my first dip of the year. Meanwhile I
wish you all a great week ahead. We look
forward to Keith and Lorraine’s visit which you will also read about next week.
Meanwhile all the best
Masha
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