Monday 30th May 2016
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| Eladio and I ready to go to the wedding on Saturday |
Hi
everyone.
Sorry I didn’t
write yesterday. I meant to but Sunday
turned out to be completely KO for me after Lucía’s wedding on Saturday. I woke up with a cold which both Eladio and
Olivia thought was a massive hangover but it wasn’t. I swear I only drank 2
glasses of wine – well maybe 3 – although going to bed at past 3 in the morning
only exacerbated how I felt, so I had a terrible day with the cold, my body
aching all over the place and absolutely no energy. I spent the whole day in bed. It’s so funny for someone like me who is
usually hyperactive to have no energy and very frustrating. One day is one day and thankfully this
morning I am better although not yet 100%.
I have to get better this week as we have visitors from the USA and
Finland to host on Thursday, Friday and the weekend. That’s going to be fun. You will hear all
about it in next week’s chronicle, but let me tell you about last week first.
Sunday 22nd
May was Oli’s 31st birthday and Suzy had come to celebrate it with
her, their friends and the family. I
left off last week just after the birthday breakfast. The next item on the
birthday agenda was shopping with the girls, just the three of us. We went to
Plaza Norte where I took a photo of the girls buying and exchanging shoes from
a shop there.
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| The girls shopping last Sunday morning |
The family
lunch was to be fish and chips at Oli’s request which we made together. Then of course came the birthday cake ritual;
the third of the cakes I had made last weekend and which turned out to be a
huge success. It was also time for a
selfie to immortalize the moment and here we are the 5 of us toasting Oli:
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| The birthday cake moment selfie on Oli's birthday last Sunday |
The girls then
went to spend some time with their friends “la manada” whilst Eladio and I got
on with our Sunday afternoon routine which is usually a siesta after lunch, a
cup of tea, some reading and then a walk with the dogs, in that order. The day would end with a family dinner and I couldn’t
believe that Oli wanted egg and chips for dinner. I mean chips twice in a day, but her wish was
my command. It was to be Suzy’s last
night with us.
On Monday I
was up at 5.45 to take Suzy to the airport.
My heart always sinks when she goes.
We do miss her so much. I had been to the airport to pick her up and
there I was suddenly taking her back; the two and a half days seemed very
short. We had time to talk and she told
me about her new job. It’s so funny that
she is the manager not only for training at Hifas da Terra (The Spanish Company
from Galicia which specializes in mycology and makes amazing health and beauty
products from mushrooms!) but also for social media, press and events. I never thought Suzy would end up doing a
similar job to me. She is getting lots
of mentoring, coaching and help from me at a distance and I am happy to pass on
lots of my experience in PR and events to her.
I love to be there for her just as I love to be there for Olivia.
Meanwhile at
home we had the people from the swimming pool company cleaning and scraping the
paint which attracted dust to most of the house. Other people came to give us estimates on
mending the leak which seems pretty complicated. Oh I do hope it will be painted, repaired and
ready for use soon; although the weather has not been really warm enough to
take the plunge yet.
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| The pool as it looks now after the cleaning and scraping. I can't wait for it to be ready |
The highlight
of Monday was going to see Oli and Miguel’s new flat, the one they will be
renting from 1st July. It’s
in the nice leafy area of Mirasierra, some 28km from home and just 5 stops on
the metro to Oli’s place of work in Plaza Castilla. We liked the flat as soon as we saw it. It is clean, recently refurbished and very
light.
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| The lounge in Oli and Miguel's new flat we went to see this week |
They would be
signing the contract on Wednesday and their main priority from now on is to
find everything they need to furnish it.
I can’t really believe Oli will be flying the nest but it has to happen.
Tuesday was another
working day. I went into the office for
a management team meeting where we all got up to date on the different areas of
the business. I also left my car to be taken for servicing and lucky me I was
given a substitute one; a very modern medium sized Merc which needed quite a
few instructions before I could drive it hahaha.
One of my jobs
at this time of year is keeping the roses looking neat. I cut them with the rose pruners from our
house in Bradford. They must have been my Father’s and are still going strong.
As soon I cut them, just a few hours later, more are blooming. These are the ones I cut on Wednesday morning
to adorn the house. I always give my Father
a vase in the dining room and another one for his bedroom.
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| Roses from our garden |
Another daily
job of mine is making dinner; or nearly always.
Usually we are 4 for dinner when Miguel is here. When they go in July, it’ll just be Eladio
and me (heave). That night I made them a
tuna fish salad as you can see in the photo below. It’s one of our favourites for dinners. Usually it’s made with tuna mayonnaise (with
spring onion), peppers, asparagus and tomatoes.
On Wednesday I didn’t have the latter two so substituted them for
avocado which was nearly as nice.
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| My tuna fish salad |
That night
Eladio and I finished watching Homeland Season 4 for the second time in my
case. There was time to start a new
series and we began on The Americans based on the true story of 2 Russian KGB
spies living in America as a married couple with 2 children who have no idea
who their parents really are. I
mentioned the story not so long ago in my blog which, being the daughter of a
Russian mother and parents who taught the language and part of the Cold War
generation was right up my street. We
are now half way through. It’s not as
good as Homeland (what is?) but we are enjoying it.
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| The TV series we are currently watching |
Thursday was a
special day. It was Winnie-the-Pooh’s 90th
birthday which of course coincided with the Queen’s 90th. And “he”, Pooh, via Disney who owns all the
rights wrote a story called Winne-the-Pooh and the Royal Birthday. Pooh leaves the Hundred Acre Wood for
Buckingham Palace with Christopher Robin, Piglet and Eyeore to deliver his
special gift to the Queen – a poem or “hum” written for the occasion. I am sure
both AA Milne the writer and E.H. Shepherd the illustrator would have been
happy with the outcome.
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| The Queen and Winnie-the-Pooh - a celebration of their mutual 90th birthday |
This is the “hum”.
“The Queen lived in her palace, as Queens often do.
Doing all those busy things that busy Queens do.
But the Queen could never know, as you and I do,
That doing nothing much can be the BEST thing to
do.
So from a forest far away, for your special day,
We’re sending you some quiet and a little time to
play.”
I was interested in this piece of news because I was brought up on the
tales of Christopher Robin and Winnie-The-Pooh and always loved the stories and
the poems. It was my Mother who
introduced me to them and I had all the books and used to know some of the
poems off by heart. I know the Queen
loved them too when she was a child. I
think it was a very befitting gift and I particularly loved that piece of news
on Thursday.
I did some shopping on Thursday, yes again.
I must curb my shopaholic instinct which Suzy reprimanded me for that
day when I posted on Facebook the photos of the colourful and incredibly
comfortable Skecher walking shoes I had bought that morning. I threw my other walking shoes away as they
had so many holes hahaha.
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| My new skechers, quite a discovery |
On Friday I spent some time with Eladio measuring Oli’s study, the room
next to her bedroom which she never really uses and which we want to turn into
a new spare bedroom. That had me
browsing Ikea and the Maison du Monde websites.
As I was making the lunch that day – fabada (bean stew) – I came across
more red roses in our garden, the one near the kitchen, which I hadn’t spied
before. They were the result of the
roses Miguel gave to Olivia for Valentine’s Day quite a few years ago. They have grown enormously since then as I
imagine their love has too. So I cut
them too and since then more have bloomed. They are perfect scented red roses. You must know by now that roses are my
absolute favourite flowers. If you didn’t,
you do now hahaha.
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| Miguel's scented red roses in the front garden |
That night Eladio and I went out to dinner as we nearly always do on Friday
nights. I made a reservation via The Fork.
I wanted to try somewhere new but regretted it later that night. We went to “Entre Capotes” in Majadahonda
which was a disappointment. The food was
nothing special, the service unacceptable and the place lacking in
atmosphere. We will not be going back.
It was on Friday that Barack Obama visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial;
the first American President in office to do so. He laid a wreath at the memorial and embraced
a survivor of the US atomic bombing that killed 140.000 people. That was a very
emotional moment.
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| President Obama embracing the survivor of the atom bombs, Shigeaki Mori who was 8 at the time. |
As expected he spoke against the use and building of nuclear weapons but
did not apologize or justify the terrible attacks on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. But his very presence and
gesture suggest his condemnation of what happened, the most terrible war attack
ever. Of course he didn’t apologise, as
it was the Japs who began with their attack on Pearl Harbour which I am sure
they have regretted ever since. Thankfully
there has been no nuclear attack ever since and I hope there will never be one.
Bravo Barack Obama for your gesture.
On Saturday
I was upset to read that Rafa Nadal had pulled out of Roland Garros after
reaching the 3rd round, due to a wrist injury. Rafa who has won it 9 times out of 11
attempts and was hoping to become the first tennis player to win a grand slam
10 times, was in tears when he announced the news. I was very sorry for him.
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| It was bad news for Nadal on Saturday when he had to pull out of the French Open |
That morning
I slaved in the kitchen and at times it felt like I was running a restaurant
hahaha. I was making “salmorejo” (a
thick type of gazpacho that hails from Córdoba), artichoke hearts and yet
another bilberry birthday cake for Olivia who was having another party that
day, this time for her work colleagues. To
make the salmorejo I used the Kenwood my Mother bought me for my wedding,
nearly 33 years ago. I am amazed it is
still going strong and wonder why kitchen appliances today are not made to
last. It’s called “programmed obsolescence”. Thankfully when my Kenwood was manufactured
that didn’t exist.
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| Making "salmorejo" with my 33 year old Kenwood |
Then I made
the 4th and last of Oli’s birthday cakes for this year – another bilberry
and cream one.
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| Oli's 4th birthday cake! |
Eladio and I
helped Oli with the preparations. The
most important part was the barbecue which of course my husband was in charge
of. Unfortunately it rained whilst he
was cooking the meat. Here is the photo
of this rather strange moment where he is cooking and holding an umbrella at the
same time.
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| Eladio cooking the meat for Oli's bbq in the rain using an umbrella! |
Whilst
Olivia continued her party, Eladio and I got ready to go to a wedding. It was
to be a very special one. Lucía, the
youngest daughter of the González Gálvez family was to marry Juan Carlos that
evening in the chapel at La Moraleja. I
consider this family to be my Spanish family.
I lived with them when I spent my 3rd year at University in
Spain (1978-1979) in Madrid. Pili and
Gerardo, the parents, took me into the bosom of their well-to-do, family. I was to be an au pair to their children: Gerardo,
Irene, Julieta and Toti and teacher of English to Gerardo and Irene. I was 21
and they were in the early teens and we hit it off immediately. I loved them then and always. I am eternally grateful to how they accepted Eladio
when I first brought him to their summer house in Galapagar. He was of course a priest and our
relationship was a total secret except for my parents and Eladio’s brother and
sister-in-law, José Antonio and Dolores.
I wasn’t sure how Pili and Gerardo would react as they were a well off,
Catholic and right wing family and having a boyfriend as a priest in the early
80s in Spain would have been a scandal.
But they were wonderful; never criticized and accepted our relationship
from the start.
They were to
play a big part in my wedding 33 years ago. Gerardo would be our chauffeur and Irene and
Julieta our bridesmaids. This morning I
dug out a photo of them at our wedding and here it is.
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| The González Gálvez family, my Spanish family, at our wedding in August 1983 |
One year
later I was pregnant with Susana and Pili was pregnant too with Lucía, late in
life and they were born in April and August 1984 respectively. It was to
Lucia`s wedding that we were going on Saturday.
I don’t normally like weddings, but if they are for people very close to
me, like the González Gálvez family, then of course I do. We dressed up the
best we could and just before we left Oli took some photos of us ready to go.
She is such a good photographer. The photo illustrating this blog is the one I
like best. Eladio looks great in a suit
and bow tie doesn’t he?
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| Dressed up to go to Lucía's wedding |
Spanish weddings are very different to English ones. They are a lot less formal. At church people
hang around talking and when the bride comes in they remain standing gawking at
the procession. Then when the wedding is
over, instead of sitting quietly for the bridal procession to leave, they all
go out ahead of her. Children run around and people even go outside to chat or
to smoke.
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| The bridal procession arriving |
It was a lovely ceremony and thankfully the weather
held. Once the bride and groom were
outside everyone threw rice at them. A
quirk of luck had it that Eladio and I would have the honour of taking the
bride and groom in our car to the wedding party at the Club de Golf in La
Moraleja. Sadly their driver had to
leave in haste as his pregnant wife had been taken into hospital. I hope
everything is ok.
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| The bride and groom in our car |
The venue was spectacular and the views from the terrace
of the luxury Moraleja complex with the golf course in front view was the best
place to take photos. I took this one of
Eladio which got some favourable comments on Facebook.
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| Eladio looking like James Bond (hahaha) at Lucía's wedding |
The best photo I have seen so far is the one of the
González Gálvez family all together.
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| The González Gálvez family at the wedding on Saturday. |
My, how they have grown since the photo of them taken at
our wedding in 1983! Gerardo is now the
proud father of 5 (Vicky, Lucía, Ana, Gerardo and Irene), Irene the proud mother
of 4 (Tomy, Paula, Celia and Nacho) and Toti (Alberto) the father of a brood
who I only met on Saturday. His youngest
son, Miguel, aged 3 is the spitting image of him when I first met him aged 5 when
I joined the family in 1978. He is
adorable.
Whilst the wedding reception started, believe it or not,
many people were glued to the television. Lucía had the bad luck that the all
Madrid Champions League final in Milan coincided with her wedding.
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| Football at the wedding! |
At the end of the match the two teams had drawn 1-1 which
meant there would be over time and dinner wouldn’t start until 11. Wisely, however, the family had decided to
start the dinner even if there was over time.
Here is the lovely moment when the bride and groom arrive at their
table.
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| The bride and groom arriving at their table |
Again I was grateful to the family who could have put us
on any old table. But no, we were placed
on table 2 with Gerardo and his wife, Vicky, Irene and her husband Tomas, Julieta and
their close friends and cousins.
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| Our table with Eladio and Gerardo at the forefront clapping at the bride and groom as they arrive at their table |
The food was out of this world; strawberry gazpacho,
lobster salad, fillet steak and a divine chocolate dessert. Our table was abuzz with happy
conversation. We talked about the past
and the present, including the issue of Brexit.
More importantly we fixed a time for Irene, Tomas, Gerardo and Vicky to
visit us in Montrondo in September.
It was during the dinner that Real Madrid played Atlético
de Madrid for another agonizing 30 minutes.
Atlético could have won if they had scored the penalty awarded to
them. In the end the final was resolved
with a very unfair penalty shootout which Gerardo and I rushed from our table
to watch. As most of the more than 17
million spectators around the world predicted, Real Madrid won the match,
albeit with a penalty shootout, Ronaldo
scoring the final goal. I was happy that my team had won the 11th
Cup (“la undécima”) and sorry at the same time for Atlético de Madrid who after
3 attempts in the history of the club have yet to win the most coveted football
club championship in the world.
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| Hala Madrid! They did it again for the 11th time. |
Most of the Real Madrid fans were chanting Hala Madrid to
which I join my voice. They really know
how to win this championship. I do wish
though that they could win La Liga or La Copa del Rey more often, both of which
went to their eternal rival, Barcelona this year.
After dinner the dancing started. Here the Spaniards are
traditional and the first dance was a waltz by the bride and groom, followed by
Pili and her son Toti. Even Eladio and I
danced although we are dreadful dancers.
We left at about 2 in the morning, very late for us. It was in the car on the way home I realised
I was getting a cold as I could feel it in my throat. It took a lot of effort to get ready and
finally collapse into bed.
As I told you, yesterday, I woke up feeling k.o. and the
day was a wash out. Thankfully today I
am feeling a lot better.
I wonder how the bride and groom were feeling
yesterday. I always remember feeling
exhausted the day after our wedding.
They left for New York and Punta Cana this morning and I was happy to
hear that they used the suitcases we had bought for them as a wedding
present. Here is Lucía smiling at the
airport this morning with one of the cases.
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| The happy bride with one of our wedding present suitcases at the airport this morning, destination honeymoon in NY and Cancun. |
Now that I have told you all about last week, I shall get
on with publishing this post as I am sure my Father is anxious to read it. I shall have a rest now and hopefully my cold
will fizzle out over the next few days and I shall be fine to host our visitors
this week.
Cheers all till next time
Masha.
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