Sunday 30th
August 2015
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| A selfie with the girls and the dogs on our walk this week |
Hello again
I am writing
from home this morning from the table on the terrace by the pool watching the
girls in the water with Elsa and Pippa.
It’s great to be with both girlies although I am missing Eladio but more
about that later.
I left off
last Sunday in Montrondo where it rained all day. Whilst I wrote my blog there, Eladio and his
beloved brother José Antonio spent their time trying to install the beds in our
miniscule bedrooms as well as other fixtures around the house. Both of them are good with their hands and
they got congratulations from all of us when they got the TV working - no mean
feat in Montrondo where the signal is weak – with no need for the the antenna man whose service the next day was
cancelled when they finished the job successfully.
On Monday
morning I woke up to rain again. This is
what beautiful Montrondo looked like on the walk that morning.
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| Montrondo in the rain on Monday morning this week |
I went with Adela,
José Antonio, Dolores but left Pippa behind as it was cold and raining. I made note to buy her a dog raincoat for
successive trips to our village.
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| Adela, Dolores and Toño on the wet Monday morning walk in Montrondo |
Just as I was
having my last breakfast in Montrondo that morning after our walk I was
surprised to spy a cow in our garden.
Pippa was ambling around and didn’t even notice it! I suppose it’s a normal thing to happen in
the village but to me it looked like a Milka advert and I just had to take a
photo to share with you. I love the
countryside and it’s not every morning you find a cow in your garden is it?
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| The cow in our garden |
Suzy and I had
decided to leave for better weather in Madrid and to be here for her
post-operation doctor appointment on Wednesday. Eladio had to stay behind as
the carpenters, electrician and other contractors were coming to put the final
touches on the house. He would be
getting a lift home with José Antonio and Dolores the following week.
We left just
after 11 and stopped at Senra to buy bread to take home; a special request from Olivia.
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| Suzy buying bread for Olivia at the old fashioned bakery in Senra as we left Montrondo |
We also had to stop at a chemist shop in Riello to buy car sick tablets for
little Pippa who seemed uncomfortable the whole way. I bought children’s tablets and gave her half
a tablet which I coaxed her to eat with a bit of cheese from Suzy’s
sandwich. It helped although she
remained awake the whole journey. Next
time I shall give her the tablet an hour before we leave.
We stopped at
Rueda for lunch where I indulged in a half platter of ham with a glass of delicious
verdejo Rueda wine. We ate outside so
that Pippa could be with us and I fed her tiny bits of ham and bread which she
polished down in a jiffy. She is
generally not a good eater; or rather she is not fond of her dry dog food and
is a very slow eater. Later in the week
I went to a pet shop in Majadahonda to find pet food she might like better and
came away with Royal Canin especially for dachshunds. She loves it!
They didn’t stock rain coats for dogs unfortunately as it’s still the
summer here.
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| Lunch in Rueda, outside this time |
As we were
driving home I spied photos of Suzy’s friends from “la manada” who had gone to
Thailand unfortunately without her.
Rocío, Anita, Elena, Chati and Carolina are missing her and they send
her messages every day. I feel so sorry
for Suzy missing the trip and losing all the money for the ticket and hotels
but she is taking it very well. Her
attitude is laudable.
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| 4 of Suzy's friends in Thailand, from left to right: Carolina, Ana, Elena and Rocio (pink shorts) |
We were home
at about 4.30 in the afternoon and Oli was here waiting for us, as were my
Father, Salud, our home-help and our dogs Elsa and Norah. Leaving Eladio in Montrondo was strange for
me but on the bright side I had a real girly week ahead to look forward to. As I said to them; whilst the cat’s away the
mice will play. Eladio is the one who
runs the safety of this house and he always checks the doors and windows before
going to bed and when we have all taken to our bedrooms he puts the alarm
on. I realized just as I was going to
bed that perhaps we had to do this job and asked Suzy to check the doors and
windows and to make sure Phoebe our cat was outside (otherwise the alarm goes
off at night). She remarked that whilst
Eladio was away I was the captain. I
laughingly agreed and went off to do the job as I have done every night during
his absence.
Monday was a
quiet day spent catching up with my work whilst accompanied by Suzy who was
applying for jobs online. That day Geoffrey Brindley died in hospital on Monday, 11 days after suffering a
stroke at home in Baildon. He was the Bradford Jesus man I wrote
about last week had. He was aged 88 and
the whole of Bradford is in mourning for his death. RIP the robe and sandal Jesus man I will
never forget. I hope you get the sendoff
you deserve in Bradford and I wish I could be there. Thanks for all those times you waved to me and
smiled at me as you walked along Manningham Lane.
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| The Bradford Jesus Man. R.I.P. |
On Tuesday, I
accompanied Suzy to the dentist, determined to spend as much time as possible
with her whilst she is recovering from the operation. She went to a new clinic run by two boys (men
I suppose is the right word now) she went to school with who are now experienced
dentists: Alex and Santiago. I think her
first kiss was to Alex but only she would know.
It was amazing to see him after all these years. He is so tall and of course a grown man. Before setting up the clinic with his brother
he studied and worked in New York where he met his wife a girl from
Taiwan. He refused to charge Suzy for
his services! Afterwards we went to have
a cup of coffee at a place called Atuel in Majadahonda and here I indulged in a
superb fresh fruit covered pastry which you can see in the photo below. Thankfully Suzy shared it with me otherwise I
would not have had any appetite for lunch that day.
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| Coffee and cake with Suzy at Atuel in Majadahonda this week |
We did some
food shopping that day too as our cupboards were pretty bare and then went home
for lunch with my Father. Suzy had some
of the sushi she bought at Carrefour. I
am glad to see her heeding the doctors’ advice to skip her vegan diet and get
stronger by eating animal protein. She
was very weak a month ago with low red blood cells and iron which are a
consequence of the vegan diet.
It was that
morning that we went to the pet shop, Petuluku, too where I bought the pet food
for Pippa. I also bought her a new toy. She loved it as you can see in the photo
below. However I later regretted it as
it was full of nylon threads which she got out with her teeth and ended up
being strewn all over the carpets and floors.
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| Pippa and the new toy |
On Wednesday I
went with Suzy to the hospital for her appointment. Once again thanks to Juan, Rocío’s father,
who has been a brick opening all the doors for us and treating us like his
family. We were so glad to hear that in
the biopsy there was nothing malignant.
They were a bit worried about the inflammation and are still looking for
the cause. Suzy was also warned about
her red blood count which is very low (3 million vs a normal 5m) and which
could have affected her immune system.
The doctor told her to stick to a proper diet, including animal protein –
until at least December when he will be seeing her again.
I went home to
catch up on lots of work; mostly to do with my current big project, the Yoigo
summer party for 250 people in El Rocío in South West Spain in September. In the afternoon Suzy and I did a girly thing
and went to have a pedicure and manicure respectively. Meanwhile in Montrondo, Eladio was
supervising the installation of the wooden staircase which he had insisted was
to be made of chestnut, quite an expensive wood. I would have been happy enough with pinewood
but not so Eladio. Here is the photo he
sent me.
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| The staircase was put in the house in Montrondo this week |
Now all that remains to be done is to put in the interior doors and install the kitchen which hopefully should happen towards the middle of September.
The three dogs
are very happy that all three “girls” are at home, i.e, Suzy, Oli and I. I observed them that day playing together
with one of their blankets and the new toy, a plastic orange grenade. Later I
posted a photo of Pippa who had won it over for herself. She is a bit bossy and a friend of mine said
on Facebook that she was beginning to feel sorry for Norah and Elsa. She is right, I must pay more attention to
them and a little less to Pippa, at least in front of them.
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| The three dogs playing together |
It was on
Wednesday when the world went into shock after seeing live footage of two
American TV journalists in Virginia being shot dead whilst doing a live TV report. A
disgruntled former employee, Flanagan, who had felt he had been a victim of
racism, shot 17 rounds from a glock pistol at reporter Alison Parker and
cameraman Adam Ward during a live interview.
They died immediately. Flanagan
ran off to his car, uploaded the video of the killing which he had filmed
himself on to You Tube and subsequently took his own life. The woman being
interviewed was the only survivor of the shooting. Once again the argument for and against the
possession of weapons in the US is being questioned the world around. It’s a pretty mad world isn’t it? My daughter Olivia who is a TV reporter was
especially shocked as you can imagine.
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| The live TV interview in Virginia this week when the TV reporter and cameraman were shot and killed |
That night
Suzy and I had dinner at a new fish restaurant in Majadahonda called
Panorama. Oli who came home late was too
tired to join us. We loved the décor but
the service was rather slow and I was not that keen with the items on the
menu. However other people must have
been as the place was packed.
On Thursday
whilst I had breakfast my preordered kindle edition of Ingrid Seward’s new
book, The Queen’s Speech, arrived. I
love reading royal biographies probably because I was brought up in England
when the Royal Family was so popular – not so much these days. I am no longer a
royalist but am still fascinated with books about the behind the doors stories
of the Queen and her family.
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| One of this week's new books |
That morning too,
after recommendations from my friend Sandra, I bought another kindle book,
The Girl on the Train, a very different genre indeed but one I like too. It is apparently one of this year’s
bestsellers and is being compared to Gone Girl. It is a psychological thriller
by the British author Paula Hawkins and I am looking forward to reading
it. Being a British thriller and not an
American one I expect a lot more from it and look forward to reading it after
The Queen’s Speech.
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| The other book I bought for my kindle this week |
That morning I
was busy working on the last minute details of the programme and invitation, as
well as the registration website for the Yoigo summer party in El Rocío. The worst part, the guest list, always falls
to me and it’s a job I hate. But finally
the list was ready and I sent the invitation and programme with the link to the
website that morning. I heaved a sigh of
relief as soon as I had finished.
When I had finished
I set upon making potato salad for lunch and to take to the dinner with the
girls’ cousins that night. The recipe comes from my grandfather and was passed
on to me. He was Russian and potato
salad in Spanish is called Russian salad funnily enough. If you are interested it is made of chopped
up boiled potatoes, carrots, peas, spring onion, boiled eggs and tuna
fish. The mayonnaise is also home made
and the final result is always delicious.
I didn’t decorate it this time but it does look better if it is.
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| The potato salad I made this week from my Grandfather's recipe. |
It went down
very well at the dinner with the cousins that night. The girls’ cousins who live in Madrid, Sara,
Juan, his partner Cris and their baby Gael, Paula, her boyfriend Pedro who are to be married next
year and Alicia, my goddaughter were meeting together to see Suzy and celebrate
the success of her operation. We were
also celebrating the future birth of another baby in the family. Needless to
say I invited myself along and was the only “Aunt” there. We had dinner at José Antonio and Dolores’
house in the block of flats in Madrid where we used to live many years
ago. Whenever I go there it is a like a
trip down memory lane. The girls
probably won’t remember much as we moved out when they were 3 and 4. It was a lovely reunion dinner and a chance for
the cousins to see each other which doesn’t happen too often, especially as
this year both Suzy and Oli missed the annual family gathering in Montrondo. Here is a photo of all of us taken by Ali and
for which I have permission from them to publish in my blog post this week
hahaha.
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| Dinner with the cousins on Thursday night in Madrid |
Whilst we were
having a lovely time at the flat a dreadful tragedy was unfolding in Austria
when a lorry was found with
71 dead migrants inside who had suffocated inside
the unventilated and cramped vehicle.
Rather than migrants these poor people who are mostly from Syria or
Afghanistan should be seen as refugees fleeing warzones or conflict of some
sort rather than illegal immigrants. They don't want to leave their countries but
circumstances force them. They somehow
get to Greece and from there human traffickers bring them illegally in
appalling conditions to Western Europe where their main destination is either
Germany or the UK – we have seen similar scenes in Calais and of course the
island of Lampedusa in Italy or Melilla in Spanish Africa. The rich world shuts their frontiers to them
or sends them back but they keep coming and risk their lives to do so. What the rich world often forgets is that
their countries were often made up of immigrants (take the US as the big example)
who now turn their backs on these people.
I always relate to the plight of refugees as my Mother’s whole family
fled Russia during the Russian revolution and became refugees themselves. When the Second World War finished my own
Mother could not return to her host country Bulgaria which had become
communist, thus never seeing her Father again.
She took a train to London and arrived as a refugee despite her
aristocratic background. She was
penniless and in order to become a legal resident had to work cleaning people’s
houses or cleaning in hospitals for 2 years before she was able to take a job
with the BBC as a radio commentator for the BBC World Service for its Bulgarian
programme. Her brothers and sisters were
scattered around the world living and starting a life in Canada, New York,
Paris and Munich. The difference is that
then the frontiers were open to them and they didn’t have to get to these
places illegally like the poor refugees who died last week in a cramped lorry
in Austria.
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| The lorry where the 7 1 dead refugees were found in Austria this week |
On Friday both
girls joined me on my walk in the morning and we took all three dogs. It was
Suzy’s first walk since her operation and I could see she has recovered very
well. I suppose her age is in her
favour. The photo illustrating this week’s
post is a selfie of us and the dogs.
I had a
conference call that morning and a lot of issues of guests for our summer party
to deal with. In the afternoon Suzy and
I went to do the proper weekly food shopping and she was amazed at the amount I
buy and spend. The explanation is that
there are five of us living here permanently plus 3 dogs and a cat. We get through a lot of fruit and I think I
must be the green grocer’s best customer or so he tells me. We bought a bit
more than usual as the girls were having guests for dinner that night. Nacho who had worked for Suzy in London and
Juli who is a sort of surrogate son or brother were both coming. We had a lovely meal which included my now
very popular open Swedish prawn sandwich, humus and meat and tuna pies. We had such a great time we all forgot to
take photos.
I was having a
truly girly week enjoying the girls’ company but by Saturday I was missing
Eladio. He is never away from home. If anyone is away it is me and the feeling is
a bit strange. I asked him for a photo
outside the new house in Montrondo for this week’s post and here it is. He is
very happy there working with his brother José Antonio but now he is ready to
come home which won’t be until next Tuesday I am afraid.
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| Eladio outside our house in Montrondo yesterday |
On Saturday
morning I went for a walk with Olivia.
She took this great shot of me with the three dogs together just before
we left.
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| With all 3 dogs about to go on our walk with Olivia yesterday |
Suzy preferred
to stay behind with Juli who doesn’t like walks and of all the things they
could have chosen to do they decided upon table tennis. They were still playing when we got back.
Here is a photo of the two of them.
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| Suzy with Juli yesterday playing table tennis. |
After a lovely
lunch together, I spent the afternoon reading by the pool. Suzy had another guest, this time a girl
called Monica who had lived with her at their awful digs in Whitechapel. I was waiting for my great friend Fátima to
come too but she was late as always. We
were going out to dinner on our own. We
chose De María, an Argentinian restaurant in Majadahonda. We were there until way past midnight. It was great catching up with my oldest
Spanish friend who worked with me both at Motorola and Nokia where she still
works. She is also my neighbour but we
don’t see much of each other as we are both so busy. Her daughter has just left to spend a year in
the US, so I do hope she will have more time on her hands for more girly
dinners or time together.
When I got
home I suddenly remembered that last night there would be a super moon. It’s the first of three happening this year.
Unfortunately it was a bit cloudy last night and I didn’t get a good shot on my
camera.
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| Yesterday's super moon somewhere in the world |
And today is
Sunday and I am back to the beginning of this post which I started this morning
by the pool with the girls. I left off
writing till they went and I am now sitting under the covered terrace whilst a
thunderstorm is in the making. Today the
temperature reached 36ºc, so I hope the rain brings the temperatures down over
the next few days.
Today is 30th
August, the end of the Spanish August holiday as most people here take their
holiday this month. It will be back to
work for most people tomorrow. I am
already back to work but taking it in my stride and working peacefully from
home. I am going to be very busy for the
next three weeks working on our big summer party. Wish me luck that all goes
well. It usually does but all events
have their hitches.
So I will
leave you now, publish this, print off a copy for my father and then read a bit
until it is time for diner, alone this time.
I wish you all
a good week ahead,
Cheers till
next time
Masha
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