Tuesday 21st
July 2015
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| Working for the BBC would have been my dream job |
Hi everyone,
Sorry I am
late with my blog but in all honesty I haven’t had a moment to myself for more
than 10 days. Finally I have found the time.
I left off on
Sunday 19th July. That day Olivia
came back from Almeria where she had been on holiday with her boyfriend Miguel
for a week. From all accounts they had a
great time and above all Oli relaxed and recharged her batteries and is now
back at work. Here is a photo of the two
of them enjoying a cocktail in Cabo de Gata.
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| Olivia with Miguel in Cabo de Gata on the last day of their holidays |
On Sunday no
one was surprised to hear that Djokovic beat Federer in the Men’s final at Wimbledon. I had lost interest in the championship since
the Spaniard Garbiñe Muguruza lost to Serena Williams
in the women’s final. I was far more
interested that day to watch Real’s goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, announce alone
in the Bernabeu Stadium press room that he was leaving for Oporto. His announcement was sad and a farce as he
was not leaving of his own will and everyone knew so. He is a legend in the team and one of the
best captains they have ever had. I just
hope he will still form part of the Spanish national team, “La Roja” and that
it is not a real goodbye Iker. What a
gentleman, what a player, what a pity Real Madrid let him go.
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| A sad goodbye for Real Madrid's captain and goalkeeper, Iker Casillas |
Monday
was a big day for Greece. The previous
Sunday the Greeks voted no against the conditions of a very strict deal. The week in between was difficult for Greece
and for Europe. Would they leave the
Euro? Would they leave the EU? What
would be the implications for the rest of the countries? But finally Alexis Tsipras reached a new deal
on Monday after 17 hours of negotiations.
The irony of it all is that the conditions of the new deal were actually
worse than the previous ones and now the new young Prime Minister will have to
call new elections. The good thing is that Greece will remain in the Euro and
in the EU. However their population will
now have to suffer an austerity that will bring many of them to their
knees. In my honest opinion I think they
should have been allowed to be forgiven part of their debt as they are never
going to be able to return it all. It’s
a bit like Monopoly really, the bank always wins.
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| Alexis Tsipras returning to Athens to explain the new deal to the Greek Parliament |
Most
of the week I worked from home, bearing the heat the best we could. We are at the end of our second long heatwave
and just as the temperatures are decreasing by just a few degrees we are now on
the verge of an even more intense heatwave. This is the hottest summer I
remember in all the years I have lived in Spain.
I
had good news and bad this week. On the
one hand my friend from school, Maureen, who has been battling with cancer at
the Bradford Royal Infirmary where she has been staying for months, is now
clear of the dreaded illness. She has
been a heroine and instead of moaning or getting depressed which I am sure most
people would do in her situation, she has made real that super English
expression, “chin up” or more likely made use of the very British “stiff upper
lip”. She went out to celebrate with her
friends from school, “girls” I was at school with too. I would have loved to have been there too. I
am delighted for you Maureen.
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| So happy my brave school friend Maureen (front right) is now cancer free |
The
sad news is that my dear friend Adele who went to Nottingham University with
me, lost her mother this week. I knew
her Mother and Father from our student days and know what a lovely family Adele
has. My heart goes out to Adele and to
her family. Their only consolation was
that they were all with her whilst she died and that she did so in peace
surrounded by her family. Darling Adele,
I’m so sorry for you and know what you have gone through and what you are
feeling. I only have to think about my
Mother to say so. R.I.P. Mrs. Brierley.
Friday
was a big day for me. It was the day
Yoigo’s mother company, TeliaSonera, announced the quarterly financial
results. We had made an ambitious PR
plan to present our results locally, with statements, q+as, interviews etc
which bore its fruits. I was happy
later to see headlines such as this.
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| Yoigo announced good financial results last Friday |
That
day I had an interview on the television.
I sort of mentioned to the producer that I would have loved to work for
the BBC and the dear man took a screen shot of me on camera. Later he edited the photo for it to look as
if I was presenting the BBC news. It’s
the photo I have chosen for this week’s cover photo. Certainly it would have been my dream job but
I never knew that when I was young and now of course it is too late. In a way my daughter Olivia is doing what I
should have done.
Saturday
was a great day. It was the day Suzy
received her HCPC card which means she is an officially registered UK
dietitian. We can’t wait to celebrate
with her in person.
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| Suzy's HCPC card |
That
day Isidro, Eladio’s youngest brother, came with his wife Yoli and their
youngest daughter Alicia for lunch. They
also came to take my mother-in-law home.
In the summer she stays 2 weeks with each of her offspring. I am sure
she was happy to leave sweltering Madrid and go back to cooler León. Here is a photo of Eladio with Yoli, Isidro
and Ernestina, my mother-in-law, on her last day with us.
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| From left to right, Yoli, Ernestina, Eladio and Isidro |
That
night Oli and Alicia went out with some of Olivia’s friends and here is a great
picture of them both enjoying what looks like a mojito.
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| Alicia and Olivia out on the tiles on Saturday night |
Alicia
is my goddaughter. She graduated very recently as a nurse and is now working at
a big Madrid Hospital, “Ramón y Cajal” in the intensive care unit. I asked her for a photo and this is what I
got. I’m extremely proud of her and was
happy to hear her tell me that this is her dream job and that she would like to
work there forever. Not many people can
say that about their jobs. Alicia, who is her in her early 20’s knows now what
she wants to do in life, unlike me who only knew later on in life when it was
too late. However I’m not
complaining. I have always enjoyed my
job. It’s just that I never chose it.
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| Alicia, my goddaughter, the nurse |
Yoli
brought me some lovely summer shoes; flat white lace sneakers. This is what they look like. Thanks Yoli.
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| My new sneakers |
It
was on Sunday that our golden Labrador Elsa finally took the plunge and swam in our pool. Labradors are known for loving water. However Elsa has always been reluctant to go into water
for some reason. Thanks to Juli, the girls’ friend and my “adopted” son, she
finally took to the water and swam in our pool.
She loves playing fetch and Juli with a bit of coaching was able to get
her to jump in, fetch the ball and come back up the pool steps with the ball in her mouth. And she did it
over and over again. Here she is with
Oli in the pool. It’s lovely to watch her.
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| Elsa in the pool with Olivia |
Here,
by the way is a lovely photo of Eladio, Olivia, Alicia, Juli and myself last
Sunday which I nearly forgot to include.
I just wish Suzy had been with us too.
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| From left to right; Juli, Alicia, me, Oli and Eladio |
On
Monday after our early morning walk, Olivia and I tried to coach Pippa into the
pool too. She was able to swim but kept
swimming back to us. Pippa prefers to
sit with me in the water on the steps.
Here is the photo I was able to capture on my camera of little Pippa
swimming.
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| Pippa swimming |
Yesterday
Monday I spent the whole morning catching up with my work. I had a lot of media calls too which I had to
attend. But by lunchtime I was semi
free. Toño, Eladio’s next brother down,
and his wife Dolores, were coming for lunch and to pick up their mongrel dog
Nuba. It had been staying with us whilst
they were away in Cuba visiting their son Miguel who now lives there semi
permanently. He is setting up a music
school for tourists to learn Cuban Music.
It is called Havana Music School and looks very promising. It was their first visit to Cuba and apart
from being with their son Miguel, José Antonio wanted to visit the descendents
of my in-law’s family who emigrated there from Montrondo in the 1920s and they travelled all over the country to do so. It must have been quite an adventure.
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| José Antonio, Dolores and Miguel in Cuba |
We
spent part of the afternoon in the shade by the pool listening to the tales
they had to tell of their experience in Cuba. We will be seeing them again when we return to
Montrondo on 1st August for this year’s family get together. Unfortunately our house won’t quite be ready for the occasion. Tomorrow we are
going to Ikea hopefully to sign the order for the kitchen to be installed as well as
everything else we have ordered there.
And
that folks is all there is to tell this week.
Sorry it’s a short blog post but really there is not much else to tell.
Wishing you all the best, cheers till next time,
Masha.
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