Sunday 27th September 2015
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| Happy in Montrondo to see a donkey and a pony on a walk to Murias |
Hi again,
It’s blog day
and I am writing from José Antonio and Dolores’s kitchen in Montrondo whilst
the lentil stew I am making for lunch is bubbling on the hob.
Last Sunday
was a quiet day. I was on my own until the evening when I went to pick up
Olivia and Miguel from the airport when they came back from their week’s
holiday in Ibiza and Formentera. Later
that night the Undercover Boss episode I was in was broadcast again on TV and
once again my twitter began to go up in smoke with all the comments; this time
much more positive than before. Eladio
didn’t come home until very late that night.
He had spent the weekend with José Antonio in Montrondo and I was asleep
when he arrived.
It was on
Sunday that the Spanish national basketball team won the European Championship,
beating Lithuania in the final to go on to win for the fourth time in recent
years. I did not find any news about the
victory in the British papers who never write about this sport. But then again I suppose the Spanish newspapers
never write about cricket or rugby.
There was of course news and much praise for Spain’s captain Pau Gasol
who is a star in the NBA in the US media.
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| Spain Eurobasket champions again |
On Monday I
fasted and worked from home, catching up on a lot of work after the El Rocío
summer party the week before; the same week I “starred” in the Spanish edition
of Undercover Boss. That morning Miguel’s
friends and colleagues from Valencia were coming to pick him up in a big
caravan which they would take to Galicia for a week’s holiday. They would be going surfing amongst other
things and it would be Miguel’s first attempt. Not surprisingly he took to it
like a duck to water.
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| With Miguel (orange t-shirt) and the friends he went with to Galicia this week for a caravan holiday |
On Tuesday a
scandal involving the British conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron, erupted
after an extract of a non-authorized biography was published in The Daily Mail.
It was written by his ex-friend and crony Lord Ashcroft and Isabel Oakeshott
and entitled “Call me Dave”. It was a
vendetta by Michael Ashcroft who had funded Cameron’s party and campaigns but
never got what he wanted in exchange, probably a ministerial post. The allegations in the book about Cameron’s behavior
as a student at Oxford could not have been more damaging and the story went on
to become known as “Piggate”. According
to the book, David Cameron “put a private part of his anatomy into a dead pig’s
mouth as part of the antics of the very exclusive Oxford Piers Gaveston Society
of which he was a member. There were
many other allegations, but this particular story was by far the most newsworthy. The Prime Minister has not made any statement
and is trying to ignore the news but it could well be his downfall. The society in question is a sort of
exclusive old boy’s network where all the members know the secrets of the other
members which gives them all a power whereby they go on in life to be part of
the ruling establishment and help each other up the ladder whilst the antics are
supposed to be kept secret. But this
week Lord Ashcroft’s vendetta broke the rules and all hell was let loose in
British politics. I have pre ordered the
kindle edition which I shall read with gusto when it is released in November.
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| The book that gave rise to the "piggate scandal" |
Tuesday was a
busy day. I had to all sorts of errands
to do; mostly organizing Eladio’s birthday which was the next day. I also had an important lunch with a journalist
and my CFO and CEO and I didn’t get home till after 5. Everything is late in Spain; especially meal
times but that’s something I cannot change.
On Wednesday
too I finally got to see the photos of the Yoigo party in El Rocío. And here is this year’s picture of the Yoigo
family outside the “Eermita” (church) in that magical village just before we
went inside to listen to the wonderful “Salve” the Rociero choir would sing
especially for us.
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| The Yoigo family in El Rocío |
You can see
all the photos here by the way. One I especially liked was of me with the
participants from the Undercover Boss programme (El Jefe Infiltrado); Miguel Angel, Sergio, Javier,
Patricia and Ana.
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| With the Undercover participants in El Rocío last week |
Little did I
know that that evening in one of Spain’s most popular after news evening programmes,
El Intermedio, I would be featured again on TV.
It was in a manipulated video where I am seen telling off a very famous
Spanish politician; Pablo Casado. You
can see it here. I must say even I found
it very funny watching myself telling the guy off and asking him if he was happy
whilst he just nodded his head hahaha.
Wednesday was
the highlight of the week. It was Eladio’s
birthday. I can hardly believe he turned
71 whilst he looks 20 years younger and that’s not just me being
subjective. I had lovingly prepared a wonderful
day for him which started off with a family breakfast for which I went out to
buy “chocolate con churros”. This is
what the table looked like.
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| Olivia at Eladio's birthday breakfast table on Wednesday morning |
And here is
Olivia with her Father that morning when he was about to read his birthday card
and open his presents. My Father and I
bought him a tablet and Oli got him the case.
Later in the day Suzy’s card and presents arrived and he was delighted
with them – she got him special vitamins from Planet Organic which he is now
taking religiously.
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| Olivia with her Father on his birthday |
I didn’t go
all out to make a special lunch as Salud was away and I was busy working but I
did get Eladio a lovely cake. I think it’s
one of our favourites. This is the cake
which my Father especially enjoyed owing to the raspberries and cream in it.
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| Eladio's birthday cake |
In the evening
we had dinner at home with Olivia and I made Swedish open prawn
sandwiches. All in all it was a very
special day for Eladio.
Wednesday 23rd
was also the beginning of autumn. So of
course it marked the end of the summer but it didn’t feel like it as the
weather has been great. It’s always so
in the last week of September. It is
Spain’s Indian summer. However the forecast
for Montrondo was rain so that morning on my way to the meeting I stopped off
at El Corte Inglés (Spain’s most famous department store) in search of a coat
with a hood for Pippa in case of rain and cold in the village. I bought what I thought was a small one but
actually it turned out to be too big. As
it can’t be returned we shall have to find a way of making it smaller around
her middle. This is what she looked
like. Suzy exclaimed “you got her a
hoodie”. Well yes I did so as to protect
her little head. You probably think that
a coat for Pippa is just spoiling her but actually as she is so thin and has
such short fur she trembles from cold when the temperature goes down. This is what she looked like.
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| Pippa in her new hoodie coat |
Thursday
morning was taken up by a meeting with one of the finalist PR agencies in a
pitch I am doing. It started at 11 and
went on till past 1.30. That meant I got
home rather late for lunch; thankfully made by Salud. I then had to rush to get everything ready
for our trip to Montrondo. In fact that
morning I got up at about 6.30 to start on the packing and preparations. José Antonio was coming with us and the car
was full to the brim with bedding, kitchen stuff, lamps and heaven knows what
else for the house. I sat in the back
with Pippa whilst Eladio drove rather too fast to get to the village and sometimes
I had to hold my arm up to stop packages falling on top of Pippa and I. We were going to Montrondo because the next
day the Ikea kitchen fitter was coming to finally install the kitchen in our
refurbished house. All that is needed
now for us to be able to move in is for the inside doors to be put in. There is one more very necessary thing too
and that is the task of cleaning as there is dust and dirt everywhere. Eladio thinks we can tackle it ourselves but
I feel very daunted at the thought of it, not really knowing where to start. I
have suggested we find a professional cleaning firm to do the job but first we
have to find one.
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| Photo taken on our arrival in Montrondo on Thursday evening |
We arrived
just before 8.30 and guess what it was warm.
The forecast was wrong and we have had wonderful weather throughout the
weekend. Pippa only had to wear her
hoodie one evening and not because of the rain, just the evening chill.
As soon as we
had unloaded and taken a look at the house, it was time for dinner. I made everyone’s favourite here; egg and
chips. Very yummy.
On Friday the
man from Ikea came. A guy called Nico
who had driven all the way from Madrid.
We were astonished that only one person had come as the job required
would really have needed three people at least.
At the same time he was also supposed to assemble a sofa, the washing
machine and a bathroom cupboard which he was very reluctant to do. He was in a bad mood all day and we tried to
butter him up by offering him lunch but he refused. I was a bit hurt that he didn’t want to try my
“cocido madrileño”. We also had to be on
hand the whole time as there were many minor details he would have preferred to
forget and which I kept pointing out to him. Thankfully I had support on the
phone from Paula, the Ikea outsourced decorating company, and in the end he
installed everything apart from the kitchen lights. There were some incidents, such as broken
kitchen drawers which will have to be replaced.
Also he couldn’t install the extractor which will now have to be done by
an electrician or a plumber. However we
were very happy with how the kitchen looked like after all his efforts. As my
friend Lorraine commented it looked very “Scandi”. Yes the idea was to have a Nordic inspired
country style for our house whilst respecting the local architecture; such as
the stone walls. Here is a photo of the
kitchen when Nico had finished.
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| The kitchen front after it was just installed |
Below is a
view of the kitchen area taken from the end of the big room which is the centre
of the house and encompasses not only the kitchen but also the dining area and
lounge.
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| The new kitchen |
That same
morning the central heating expert came and got it to work. It was a pleasure to see the smoke coming out
of one of the chimneys as you can see in the photo below.
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| Smoke coming out of the chimney! |
Meanwhile in
London, Suzy had news about a possible new job as a dietitian in a
hospital. I was amazed to hear that it
would be working for the children’s wing of the Norfolk and Norwich University
Hospital. I mean it could have been in
any other town in England but it had to be Norwich; a town that means so much
to my family in England from so many stays there when my parents taught Russian
at the summer courses organized by the East Anglia University when I was a
teenager. My Aunty Masha went on to be a
lecturer there and lived in Norwhich for many years. Even the girls know the town; not from when
they were babies and we used to spend summers there, but from an English summer
course they went on when they were in their late teens and which was organized by
my sister-in-law Dolores. I do hope she
gets the job. Cross your fingers please.
On Saturday I
was up early as usual. After breakfast
Toño and Eladio made a fire to burn all the cardboard waste from fitting the
kitchen. Meanwhile I went for a walk to
Murias de Paredes and back with Pippa.
It was a glorious morning and I took photos all the way and back which
you can see if you click here on the album of photos I have uploaded on
Facebook.
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| Pippa on our walk yesterday |
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| Beautiful Montrondo as seen on our walk yesterday |
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| Oxen in the fields yesterday |
And today is
Sunday and our last day here. But we
plan to make it is long as possible and enjoy the sunshine and great country
air. After I finish this post, I shall
go on my last walk to Murias and back with little Pippa. The men meanwhile are waiting for their order
of firewood which should be arriving shortly.
Eladio can’t wait to use it in our fireplace in our new home in
Montrondo. I can’t either but we shall
have to wait still until the doors are fitted and the whole place is properly
cleaned until we can move in. The time
never seems to come but now it is much nearer.
We will love our new home when it is finished and look forward to
bringing many of our friends here.
So I shall
leave you now. The lentils are ready and
all I have to do now is upload the photos and publish this post before I can
enjoy the rest of the day.
This evening
there is supposed to be yet another super moon; or a lunar eclipse which with a
bit of luck I shall be able to witness tonight at home in Madrid, clouds
permitting.
Wishing you
all a great week ahead,
Cheers till
next time
Masha
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