Sunday 4th
October 2015
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| In my Marimekko t-shirt on Friday with Pippa at my feet! |
Hi everyone
It’s Sunday
again and we are now into the first week of October. It’s raining this morning. That’s news my friends as it hardly ever does
here. It also means we won’t be going
for our walk until later.
This time last
week I was in Montrondo with Eladio and his brother José Antonio. After preparing the lunch and publishing my
blog, off I went with Pippa for our last walk to Murias and back. When we got there the “Palloza” bar was open
and I had a lovely cup of coffee there with Pippa playing at my feet.
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| The entrance to "la palloza" in Murias de Paredes where I had a coffee with Pippa last Sunday |
Meanwhile the
men were waiting for a ton of firewood to arrive. This is the wood we shall be using for our
kitchen range and fire place when we hopefully move into the house next
weekend.
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| The firewood Eladio ordered for Montrondo last Sunday |
On our way
home we listened to the radio to find out how the Catalan elections, a de facto
plebiscite for independence, were doing.
We wouldn’t get the final result until 10.30 that night. The pro independent group (Junts per Si –
Together for yes) had won but do not have an overall majority unless they join
together with the radical left group CUP who got 10% of the seats – the latter
don’t want to see Artur Más as head of the group but more worryingly they want
to see Catalonia out of the EU, the United Nations and any other similar
institution. It doesn’t look like there will be a consensus anytime soon on who
will be governing in this region. I
personally am fed up of the Catalan question and would be quite happy to see
them leave Spain but it’s not as easy as that as the region is divided with approximately 47% for independence and 53% against; not to mention that a referendum is
illegal and for it go ahead there would have to be a change in Spain’s
Constitution. Furthermore Junts per Si
only see eye to eye on one issue; independence and on practically nothing else
as it is made up of parties from the full spectrum of right to left. Only time
will tell.
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| The results of last Sunday's elections in Catalonia |
As we were on
our way back, Oli was in Madrid meeting up with two of her dearest school
friends, Sonia and Begoña. They had lunch together in town and here is a great
photo of the three of them. They have
been friends since they were 4 and met at St. Michael’s school. Sonia was a neighbour and when they were
small they were inseparable. It’s nice
to see they have carried on their friendship after so many years.
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| Oli left, Begoña in the centre and Sonia in red on the right last Sunday in Madrid together |
That night
there was a super moon or lunar eclipse.
I only saw the moon seeming bigger and brighter than usual. If I had stayed up until 3 or 4 in the
morning maybe I would have seen the eclipse.
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| The super moon as seen from Oli's balcony last Sunday night |
On Monday it
was back to work. Work and fasting are
quite a good combination as the former takes your mind off food. I had to be in Madrid by 10 a.m. for the
final proposal meeting of our PR Agency pitch.
That was quite a challenge due to the traffic and I kept thinking how
lucky I am not to have to face it every day.
Meanwhile the
world was stunned to hear that day that there was evidence there is “flowing”
water on the red planet, Mars. The next
question of course is if there is life there and if there could be in the
future. I doubt it. At least I doubt
there is any human life there now. There
has been lots in the news on the subject but it was this picture I liked best
and which needs no explaining if you are an English chocolate lover or know
what a “mars bar” is.
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| So there is water on Mars! |
Tuesday was
busy. I was up early as usual and we
took the dogs for their early morning walk straight after breakfast. We don’t even have to say the word “paseo” or
“walkies” as they know when it’s time and all 3 of them appear in the garage
behind the glass door. This is them
waiting for us:
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| The 3 dogs waiting for their walk this week - left Norah our beagle, in the middle Elsa our Lab and far right Pippa our mini dachshund. |
Once back at
my desk I finalized our media coverage report on the impact Yoigo had had
thanks to taking part in the Spanish version of Undercover Boss. If you count all the clippings, both TV,
offline and online, we had a total audience of nearly 14.5 million people which
would have had an equivalent advertising spend of approximately 4.5 million
euros; except that you cannot buy one hour of prime time TV. So, yeah, I’m very happy with the results.
When I wrote
my “pending” list that morning that includes all my work items but non work
related issues too, I wrote down all the things needed for finalizing the house
in Montrondo. Two of the items were to
find and buy some entrance furniture for the hall and a desk for me in the
study. I just looked up white wooden
furniture and came across these two lovely items from Maison Du Monde. I especially love the wooden bench which will
be great for storing boots and shoes etc.
They have now been ordered and will be delivered this month. I can’t wait to see them in our new house.
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| The furniture I ordered this week from Maison Du Monde for Montrondo. |
Hopefully next
Friday we will be moving in. The doors
which have been delivered today will be installed on Monday or Tuesday and
meanwhile the builders have to connect the kitchen extractor, put ceramics
around the kitchen range and of course connect the kitchen sink to the main
water supply. On Friday a firm from
nearby Villablino will spend the day cleaning the whole place professionally
and that night, all going well, we look forward to moving in and sleeping there
for the first time. It’s so exciting.
Right now the house is looking like this on the outside – front and back. Next
week I will be posting photos of the inside.
I hope you like the style, a sort of mixture of country and Scandinavian;
very simple but hopefully cozy too. If
Pernille, our lovely ex Danish au pair, is reading this, we hope it will be “hyggeligt”
(pronounced ”hugali”) that lovely Danish word which she taught us, a word that
sums up homely, comfortable and cozy all in one. Don’t worry Pernille, I will also fill the
house with candles just like you taught me.
Hope you guys come and stay soon.
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| A close up of the front and back of our house in Montrondo which we have taken nearly 1.5 years to restore |
Just before
lunch on Monday I went out to do some quick food shopping. When I came back Pippa was in the kitchen
looking strange. I immediately knew something was wrong as I picked her up and
put her on the floor and she had trouble standing and couldn’t walk and was
trembling quite strongly. I was worried stiff it was her back as dachshunds
have weak backs. It was lunchtime but
Eladio and I didn’t hesitate to take her straight to the vet. Once there she did walk, although haltingly
and the diagnosis was a possible injured but not fractured paw. We came home for lunch and straight afterwards
the poor pup had diarrhea. I rang the
vet and she told me to observe her and to take a sample if it happened
again. Well it did and off we went
again, this time with the sample. It was
analysed and we were shown on the screen that Pippa had a nasty bacteria in her
intestines, Giardia, which can be caught from other infected dogs’ “business” (great
English euphemism here hahaha). Well she certainly does taste all sorts of
funny looking stuff on our walks and it’s difficult to stop her. She was put on a bug killer and antibiotics
for 5 days. That very night they seemed
to work and she woke up her usual perky self the next day but I must say she
gave us a scare.
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| Pippa was not well this week |
Not much
happened on Wednesday. I did more
domestic work than usual as Salud took her 2 days off in lieu of the
weekend. One piece of news interested me
that day; the announcement that Netfilx will be available in Spain from 20th
October this year. I will certainly be
signing up as for this is like Spotify but for films and TV series on demand at
quite a reasonable price per month.
Thursday was 1st
October, a date ingrained in my mind always as it was the day my Mother
died. She was 79 when she left us on 1st
October 1999. She can never be forgotten
and I am sure my Father, who must think about her every day of his life,
thought about her even more on Thursday than usual. I did too.
I just wish she had lived to see her granddaughters grow up to be the
beautiful and talented young women they are.
I just wish she was here to talk to and to listen to her amazing stories
of leaving Bulgaria and being a refugee in the Second World War and all the
incredible things that happened to her.
I just wish she was here to love Pippa and Norah and Elsa, to see our
house in Montrondo. I would have loved
her to watch me in Undercover Boss but above all I just wish she was here to
keep my Father company. He is the person
who misses her most. God bless you
Mummy. You are forever in my heart.
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| My mother in the porch in Bradford in the 70's |
Thursday 1st
October was bitter because of the memory of the loss of my Mother but it was
also sweet as it was my 9th anniversary with Yoigo. I can now say that my position with Yoigo is
the job I have had for the longest time; some 6 months more than Motorola for
example. I can also say that it is the
best job I have ever had and still when I occasionally get a call from
headhunters who wouldn’t ring me if they knew I was nearer 60 than 50, I always
tell them I am not interested. Yoigo is
a great challenge and a great company to work for. Below is the photo taken on
my first day at Yoigo on 1st October 2006 and it was for my company
badge. I don’t look great, bit of a
double chin but I do remember wearing the nice suede green jacket which
thankfully is now too big for me hahaha.
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| The photo taken of me for my badge on my first day at work at Yoigo on 1st October 2006. |
Oli meanwhile
was at a childcare exhibition in Madrid reporting on the latest products on
show for children and babies. I never
got to see the report but laughed at the photo below of her and some of her
colleagues wearing baby carriers except that the babies were dolls. That got me
thinking how much I would love to be a grandmother. I hope it’s not a case of “I want never
gets”.
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| Oli having a bit of fun with her colleagues at a childcare exhibition in Madrid on Thursday which she would later report on. |
On the subject
of children, that day in the US there was yet another terrible shooting this
time at a school in Oregon. A bitter
young man shot dead 9 people and injured many more. When, oh when will there be a bill to
prohibit the sale and use of weapons in the US?
If Obama can’t do it, then I cannot imagine any other US President being
able to. Meanwhile we shall carry on
reading and watching more shooting horror stories in that supposed haven of
democracy and freedom. It makes me
laugh. So much freedom, you can buy a gun
and kill anyone you want. WTF!
On Friday I
had a sudden interest in the Shetland Islands.
You are probably wondering why it is included in this week’s
headline. Well, it might have been a
coincidence, but the day before at lunch my Father was once again remembering
his time there during the Second World War.
He was an officer with the Royal Navy and was given a medal from the
King of Norway for his help in the liberation of that country he grew to love –
not so far away from The Shetlands!. He was also reading for the 3rd
or 4th time a book about his beloved islands. They have been familiar to me since I was a
child from his stories. On Thursday at
lunch he told me that when he was there in 1956, when my Mother was pregnant
with me, he had visited the outermost island, Unst. I listened respectfully and then low and
behold on Friday morning Suzy told me she was applying for a locum job with the
NHS as a dietitian in guess where? Yes
the Shetland Islands. My Father was tickled pink when I told him.
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| The Shetland Islands - the remotest part of the UK 100km north of Scotland |
Suzy had no
idea where they were as she wasn’t brought up on the tales I was brought up
on. She told me they were near Norway.
Actually they are not that far off. They are indeed the most distant islands
from Scotland to which they belong, being some 100 miles north of the East
Coast and further north of course of the Orkneys and Hebrides. I began to read all about the Islands and
found out that some 23.000 people live on the 16 inhabited islands (there are
at least 100) and that the population of the capital Lerwick which is on the
Mainland is around 7.000. Suzy told me
she had received a call from a woman from the hospital there and added “God
what an accent”. So, having never heard
anyone from the Shetlands speak English I looked up the accent on You
Tube. I then commiserated with Suzy as I
too found it very difficult to understand.
It sounds Scottish but also Nordic and instead of using the “th” in
words they say “d”. There is also a
dialect called Shetlandic also known as auld or braid which is derived from the now extinct Norn language -
old German - and which was spoken on the islands until the late 18th
century. It seems the Shetlanders prefer the English to the Scots funnily
enough or so my Father tells me. So you
see I have been reading up a lot about the Islands. I told Suzy I thought it would be a great
experience for her, as well as the step she needs if she wants to get on the
NHS ladder. It sounds like the interview
went well and hopefully she should be round to the next one. So please cross
your fingers. After getting so excited about the islands, I told Eladio that
even if Suzy doesn’t get a job there, I really want to visit them and that
perhaps our next holiday abroad could be there. I sincerely hope so.
Suzy had the
interview on the phone whilst she was in Oxford for the day. She and her great
friend Chati took the train from London to visit the beautiful University City
of such prestige. She loved it although
she told me later that she prefers Cambridge.
I am sure she does as I do too and not just because I was born
there. It’s because it’s smaller and has
the lovely River Cam. She sent us some
photos and I particularly like the one of her by the famous bridge. It is one of the city’s main landmarks. It is
known as the Bridge of Sighs after the similar looking bridge in Venice but its
real name is Hertford Bridge and it joins two parts of the college of the same
name.
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| Suzy by the bridge of Sighs in Oxford on Friday |
They were lucky
with the weather and were able to eat and drink outside as the sun was
shining. Oxford looked at its best to
judge from her photos. I like this one
too of Suzy taken from a rooftop with the spires in the background.
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| Suzy in sunny Oxford on Friday |
Whilst Suzy
was in Oxford I had my own engagement; lunch with my ex Nokia girlfriends. Ana couldn’t make it, Fátima’s day got
complicated so in the end we were just 5; Susana, Zenaida, Jill, Juana and
myself. We went to La Vaca Argentina
which was rather full and the service was slower than usual although the food
was as good as always. I only remembered
to take a photo when we were leaving and by that time Zenaida had gone, so
there are only 4 of us. It’s not a good
photo either but it’s what I’ve got to remember the lunch.
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| A selfie with 3 of my ex Nokia girl friends on Friday |
I forgot to
mention too that on Friday morning I received a wonderful box full of
crumpets. They were from Teresa, head of
my PR agency who had been in London this week. She had asked if I wanted anything
from the UK. At first I was polite and
said no but then I couldn’t resist and asked her to bring me some crumpets. I
just love them for breakfast and can only get them from the UK or at a British
supermarket on the Costa Blanca when I go. This was the lovely box with the
crumpets which were from Marks and Spencer. Thanks so much Teresa.
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| The crumpets from London that arrived on Friday. Thanks Teresa |
In the
afternoon I did the food shopping with Salud. When I got home, Oli was back
from work – it must have been nearly 8 in the evening. I walked into her room
and laughed when I saw that we were both wearing a long-sleeved black and white
striped t-shirt. Hers was a present from
me from Lindex in Sweden and mine is made by Mari Marimekko, the famous Finnish
designer. We just had to have a selfie
to record the funny moment of Mother and daughter in stripes together. Later people said on Facebook that we looked
like sisters. I know that’s not true but it was nice to read in any case.
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| Mother and daughter both in stripes on Friday evening! |
Friday
finished with more food. Eladio and I
had decided to try out the new Ginos in Boadilla and Olivia joined us – we were
still wearing our striped tops hahaha -.
It was a good choice and we enjoyed our meal thoroughly. We raised our glasses to Suzy wishing her
luck in getting the job in Lerwick. Now
wouldn’t that be funny if my Father’s granddaughter ended up working in his
beloved Shetland Islands?
It was a
cloudy morning for our walk on Saturday. Olivia joined us and later the two of
us went to our local supermarket, Mercadona, to get stuff for her to make
sandwiches to take to a surprise birthday party for Teresa, one of the members
of the girls’ group called “la manada” (the herd). After the shopping we decided on a cup of
coffee and very naughtily chose to go to a churros place. Churros are very Spanish and are like long
thin and heart shaped donuts. There is a thicker kind I like even more which
are called Porras (literally a truncheon).
These are usually eaten dipped in thick chocolate hence the name “chocolate
con churros” (chocolate with churros).
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| Chocolate, coffee, churros and a porra with Olivia on Saturday morning |
Just as we
were walking towards my car we spied a beautifully kept blue Seat 600e, a tiny
car, equivalent maybe to the British mini, which was very popular here in the
70’s and 80’s. It started off as an
affordable family car and latterly, when I became familiar with it, it was more
a mother’s car. My sister-in-law Dolores
used to drive one and she would pick me up in the city to drive to work at the
school she taught at where I was a conversation assistant, part of my University
studies. The school was at
Moratalaz. I don’t remember the colour
of her car but I’m sure Dolores does.
Anyway, I just had to have a photo with this very emblematic Spanish
vehicle from the past. It was nice to
see how well kept it was.
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| Me by the Seat 600 yesterday |
For lunch I
made roast chicken with all the trimmings although it was Saturday and not
Sunday. I actually cheated and did chicken
legs, not the whole chicken, but added the most important “trimmings” – sage and
onion stuffing and cranberry sauce. When
I put the photo below of the meal on Facebook I was asked for the recipe. It’s quite simple really but to make the
perfect British roast, you have to make it with a lot of love and care. There is no need to resort to a Jamie Oliver
recipe. Mine has been handed down to me
by my Grandmother and parents but I think I have perfected it. So here goes: place the meat (in this case
chicken) with peeled and quartered potatoes on an oven tray and baste in
oil. Put into the oven at the highest
temperature and turn around at least every 20 minutes to make sure both the
meat and the potatoes are crisp. When
making a chicken roast, one of the essential trimmings is “sage and onion
stuffing”. This can be made by hand but
it is far easier to use Paxo’s. All you have to do is follow the measurements
and add the right amount of boiling water.
Then cover and leave for about 20 minutes until it is time to place it into
an oven tray and roast besides the meat and potatoes. Meanwhile boil any
vegetables you fancy (I did carrots and peas) and once they are cooked how you
like them, remove the water and keep it to make the gravy. To make the gravy, pour the juice from the
meat into a saucepan and add a stock cube and a tablespoon or two of flour.
Once you have stirred this into a sort of “roux”, gently add the vegetable
water and stir fast making sure there are no lumps. Bring to the boil and
simmer for a while and then remove from the heat. When everything is ready, serve the meat with
the potatoes, the stuffing and the vegetables. Then pour the gravy and add a
teaspoon or so of cranberry sauce for each serving. And there you have it the perfect British
roast which is more normally made on a Sunday.
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| Yesterday's roast chicken lunch |
In the
afternoon I watched as Eladio, helped by Miguel, covered the swimming pool for
the winter; finally putting an end to the summer season. I always hate the day he does that and am
never very willing to help. Here he is
caught unawares as he is fixing the cover around the edges of the pool. Goodbye swimming pool until next summer.
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| Eladio covering the pool for the season yesterday |
The rest of
the day was spent reading by the now covered pool. Dinner was at home and it was a very quiet
Saturday night as I remarked to Eladio when we got into bed to watch the
TV. I fell asleep watching a film I had
seen before. “12 years a slave” is a great film but has some horribly violent
moments.
And today is
Sunday and I am at the end of this week’s tales. It seems like we have done nothing but eat
all week; but then I suppose you all have too; it’s just that I record some of
the food I make. For lunch today I made
another great British dish, fish and chips.
The batter was made with beer and the fish was hake and this is what it
looked like:
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| Fish and chips for lunch today |
On that
savoury note I shall leave you now until next Sunday. Wishing you all a great week ahead,
Cheers
Masha
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