Sunday 22nd July, 2018
 |
| Reading in the garden, something I have been enjoying in the afternoons this week |
Good morning everyone,
This week has had its ups and downs. There have been good bits and bad, just like "the curate's egg" and in a way I'm glad it's over and hope next week will be better. As you will read later I have been "baching" it since Friday when Eladio left for Montrondo to take care of his 96 year old Mother. That is not easy for either of us and there have been lots of challenges since he left as you will hear.
But let's rewind to last Sunday. My Portuguese guest left but he didn't say goodbye. I got a good written review from him but he only gave me 4 stars. The same thing happened with the English family from the week before. 4 stars out of 5 on Airbnb for a host is not good news as it takes down your average. My average so far was always 4.9 but now it's 4.8 and you have to have a minimum of 4.8 to be a "super host". That worried me because if I lose my super host status it means my listing will be less visible. Oh dear.
But that day I got a sudden booking from a French couple who would later give me 5 stars thank goodness. Isabel of Spanish origin and her husband drove from their home town Biarritz (oh how I love that elegant French seaside town where I spent many a summer in my youth thanks to my Uncle's flat there) to be with their daughter who is studying at the local university and take her home on Monday. So I had French guests in my house the day of the World Cup final between France and Croatia. I secretly wanted Croatia to win as France has already won the cup but couldn't tell my guests that. They sat and cheered on their team who would eventually win 4-2 and once again take the world cup back to France. The consolation prizes were the Golden Boot for Karry Kane of England and the Golden Ball for Croatian Real Madrid player Modric. France's win didn't make me particularly happy. Neither did Djokovic winning at Wimbledon again this time against Anderson. As you can guess I would have preferred to see Nadal win but that wasn't to be.
I didn't watch either match - well I couldn't have watched Wimbledon as it's pay per view here - and read outside on the kitchen patio. It was then that I noticed that our greengage tree actually had some greengages on it. Some years it's really plentiful but this year we thought it wouldn't bear any fruit. But it does and quite a lot. The greengages won't be ripe for quite a while and then it will be battle with the birds who usually eat all the fruit.
 |
| Greengages coming along nicely |
 |
| Our greengage tree |
The important news that day was Donald Trump's summit with Putin in Helsinki after he left the UK. No one in Finland welcomed either leader and there were many demonstrations which I was glad to see. I hated the idea of these two oligarchs in my beloved and free press country Finland which I know so well from having worked for a Finnish company, Nokia, for many years. On the eve of his visit, the unfit man for office gave an interview to the CBS describing the European Union as his foe. Then in Finland he acted as though Russia was his friend, denying their meddling in his elections. Oh what an idiot of a president. The United States doesn't deserve to have someone like him as President. So what did the two most powerful men in the world have to say to each other. Well, we don't know as their meeting was held in private except for their interpreters, so for now, we haven't a clue. What we do know though is that Trump has invited Putin to the White House in the autumn. Why is he befriending his enemy? No one understands.
 |
| Trump meets Putin in Helsinki |
Monday 16th July 2018 was the 100th anniversary of the massacre of the Tsar and his family as well as theor doctor and two of their servants.
My goodness a hundred years. My Mother being Russian and her family exiles, having fled the Russian revolution, I was brought up on all this. My Mother's family, the Lieven family who have the title of Prince or Princess, His Her Serene Highness, lived through the Tsar's tragedy until they left Russia in 1920. I always heard from my Mother that they left on the last ship provided by George V along with other nobles, including Prince Felix Yusupov, the richest man in Russia and killer of Rasputin. The Yusupovs were family friends as well as cousins on my Grandmother's side (Stachovich) and Felix' mother was my Mother's God Mother. No doubt they all mourned the massacre which could have been avoided if the Tsar and Tsarina had been willing to leave Russia but they weren't. In the history books we all read that the Tsar met this fate because George V and Lloyd George did not welcome the Russian royal family to England but after having read the latest history book on the subject, it was not quite as simple as that. The book I am reading "The race to save the Romanovs, the Truth behind the secret plans to rescue Russia's imperial family, by Hellen Rappaport
the prestigious historian, an expert on the Romanovs, questions that in many ways.
 |
| The Tsar, the Tsarina and their 5 children shot dead by the revolutionaries in Yekaterinburg a 100 years ago. |
But my mind was on something very different that Monday morning, not on the fate of the Tsar. As a bonus from Airbnb for having been a super host for 4 quarters in succession, I had applied for a professional photographer to do a proper photo shoot of the house. Eladio thought my photos were fine and so did I, all taken on my mobile photo, until I saw the photos Javier, Airbnb's official photographer in Spain, on his professional camera. He swears that his photos will boost my bookings. I really hope so. I won't get them until next week so I have to wait. The photos will belong to Airbnb and not to me and can only be put on one listing. However I have been able to buy a slightly different version of all of them to keep for myself which I will be able to put on the other listings. I also thought they might come in handy if one day, God forbid, we sell this house.
This house is far too big for us: 650m2 with 2.500m2 of grounds and no doubt one day we shall rattle around in it and probably it is not suitable for old age but while we are living in it we are enjoying it, even if we have to rent out rooms on Airbnb to keep it up. What I have been enjoying particularly this week, in the afternoons, is our Mediterranean garden as you will read.
After the photo shoot I had to rush off as I had an MRI on my back and hip both of which are giving me pain on and off. The appointment was at 12.30 but the MRI didn't start until past 1pm. I had only ever had one many years ago and didn't realise that it would last one whole hour and that I had to be completely still. I could only move my eye lids!! The MRI was a closed type tunnel and I hated every moment of the experience and the damned noise which despite the ear plugs I was given was excruciating. My hands became numb, my body began to feel itchy and I couldn't move to scratch it and I thought the torture would never end. It did end thank goodness though and I was out by 2.30 or so. It was great to feel free and be on my legs. As I lay immobile in that tunnel I thought of the fate of people with tetraplegia and felt for them. It was great to be out in the open and walking to my car afterwards. I will get to see the results on 1st August when I have an appointment with the traumatologist. Keep your fingers crossed it's just a bit of arthritis hahaha.
I was home late and had lunch on my own - leftovers that day. That afternoon was spent as most afternoons were this week reading. On Monday I read by the pool as I always do, except for when we have Airbnb guests when we go the garden to find a quiet spot under the trees. This week I have been devouring books by a new author for me, Kristin Hannah, famous for her book The Nightingale, about the French Resistance in the 2nd World War. I have read quite a few since then. I buy her books for my kindle via Amazon. It was Amazon Prime day on Monday but I didn't get anything. I heard later there were big strikes at Amazon warehouses by packers who do their work in dreadful conditions. Shame on you Amazon, treat your workers better.
Tuesday came and Oli would be back from Valencia to brighten up our lives. I was up early that morning as always and had my coffee outside on the kitchen patio where the greengage tree is and where I can contemplate the beautiful adelfa flowers on the hedges. They are so abundant and colourful. I have tried to capture them on camera but they are much better in real life. I do so love them although they say they are poisonous.
 |
| The adelfa bushes surrounding the kitchen patio |
My favourite moment of the day is my first cup of coffee which I drink outside in the garden.
Soon Eladio, the dogs and I were ready for our early morning walk. As we walk down the path to the gate I always inspect "my roses" and I love them. This week the miniature red ones came to flower. Aren't they beautiful?
 |
| Our miniature red roses are a delight to look at |
That morning the antenna people came to fix my Father's TV which had stopped working. It's vital for it to work as he watches the BBC World News everyday on his TV in his lounge/our study. There is always some repair to be made around the house and garden. It's never ending and damned expensive to keep up.
I was cheered up that morning by the arrival of my Emma Bridgewater parcel. I had been seduced by their email promoting their Sale and I am a sucker for their pottery of which I have a lot. This was what arrived on Tuesday morning to add to my collection.
 |
| More from Emma Bridgewater for my collection |
Joy of joys, Oli was back for lunch. I wasn't inspired as to what to serve so got out some frozen "bitki" (Russian style hamburgers) which are standard in our house. Later the three of us, Eladio, Oli and I and the dogs, of course, spent some quiet time under the horse chestnut trees by the pool. Here are Eladio and Oli that afternoon, Father and daughter together with Pippa (of course). Oh what I would have paid to have Suzy with us if only for the photo.
 |
| Oli, Pippa and Eladio and a little bit of Norah - Tuesday afternoon by the pool |
But we weren't there for long. I wanted to go and buy more flowers to replace some of the dead ones that hadn't survived the heat or the lack of irrigation when there was a burst pipe while we were in Santa Pola. Irrigation is another of Eladio's battles and another expense of course. So off we went to Verdecora a nearby garden centre. I wanted to get blue hydrangeas but there none to be seen. Instead I got lavanda, some yellow and orange flowers I don't know the name of, some jasmin (my favourite) and chrysanthemums or something similar. Here they are called simply "margaritas".
 |
| New flowers for the garden |
Eladio planted them all, bless him, when we got home and they are looking good. Let's see how long they last this time. While he planted our new flowers, Oli and I bathed in the pool. I have hardly bathed this season so it was lovely to be in the pool with my daughter. Since then we haven't as when we have Airbnb guests around the pool, we leave them to it and find a quiet corner in the garden so as not to be in their way:-(
Dinner was better than lunch. Oli and I made prawn cocktail with mangoes and avocados, perhaps one of my favourite dishes. This is what it looked like.
 |
| My delicious prawn cocktail for dinner on Tuesday |
The day ended with us watching a film called "Don't say a word" with Michael Douglas on Netflix comfortably from our bed in our air conditioned room. It was hot that night although the temperatures have been unusually cool most of the week not exceeding 33ºc. This is luxury compared to last year's intensive heat wave which lasted so long.
I slept reasonably well although I had a headache when I went to bed and it hadn't gone when I woke up on Wednesday morning. My first cup of coffee in one of my new Emma Bridgewater mugs cleared it up though quite quickly. I had a video call with Suzy in Bali that day and it was good to see her and also hear that she is feeling very happy there. Oli joined us on our morning walk after which I had lots of errands to do. It was lovely to do them with my daughter. My new Airbnb guests arrived that day, a family of four from Utrecht, Holland. They are lovely people. They arrived just as we were about to sit down to lunch but I soon showed them around and left them to it. They get up really late, owing to their teenage son and daughter, then go out sightseeing and come back early to use the pool. The pool is the big attraction here.
Thus we spent the afternoon in the garden and that is where I am discovering and enjoying our Mediterranean garden which we have hardly ever spent time in because of the pool patio. So it was that afternoon I discovered we even have a grape vine amidst the adelfas, hibiscus, an olive tree and God knows how many other shrubs, bushes, trees and even palm trees. I even discovered it has lots of budding bunches of green grapes on it. How come we never saw it before? Thanks to a recipe from my friend Jacky I shall be using the leaves soon to try out her recipe of stuffed vine leaves until the grapes turn ripe; that is if aren't all eaten by the birds.
 |
| A grape vine in our garden |
A grape vine, palm trees and an olive tree for me are the essential parts of a Mediterranean garden and I don't really know why I never appreciated the garden before. Now I do. I love it in fact and I feel so happy sitting under the big elm tree reading my book on our beach chairs. I would like to replace them with proper garden furniture one day. The photo illustrating this week's blog is of me reading in that particular spot and feeling at peace with the world.
While I sat, Oli preferred a towel on the grass where she was joined by the dogs. Or rather they hogged the other towel from her hahaha.
 |
| Oli reading in the garden with Pippa |
 |
| Norah and Pippa hogging one of the towels in the garden |
Oli went out for dinner that night but of course Eladio and I stayed in. For our meal that night I made a Spanish tortilla (omelet) adding spinach to the traditional ingredients: potatoes and onions. I served it on one of my new Emma Bridgewater plates.
 |
| It was tortilla for dinner on Wednesday night |
Having finished the Michael Douglas film, we started watching a new espionage series, an Australian one, called "The Secret City". It's not bad but not the best we've seen. And that was the end of Wednesday.
Thursday came, the day before Eladio would be leaving me for 10 whole days. The morning was a bit of a rush as after our walk I had to race to my appointment with my Father's doctor. For some reason we can't find his health card and have to go to the health centre to get his prescriptions. From there I went to the chemist where I was told the prescriptions were not valid because the doctor hadn't put some stamp somewhere. So I will have to go back. What an archaic system the chemists use here.
I came home to finish making roast ribs for lunch. Our Dutch family, meanwhile, had taken off to visit Madrid. I should rephrase that as they had gone to visit the Real Madrid stadium, not the city. They are obvious football fans. What is the point of visiting a stadium if there isn't a match going on I wonder? Apparently, after the Alhambra the Bernabeu stadium is the most visited place in Spain for tourists. It's not the Prado, no, it's football that is the lure.
While they were out we spent more time in the garden and our day on Thursday ended like most days this week, dinner, early to bed and more video streaming. Our Dutch family, meanwhile, had had their dinner and were playing table tennis which seems to be very popular with them. It's nice to see someone play on it as usually no one ever does.
Friday came and I was up having my coffee on the kitchen patio at 5.50. Now that is early but I had lots to do as I had to pack Eladio's clothes etc, as well as all the food he had to take. I had made him a list of meals to make with all of it. He is a man capable of many many things but can hardly fry an egg.
And off he went after our walk at around 10ish and it was goodbye to my husband and Oli's Father for 10 days for me. So both of us were "home alone" and as you say in Spanish "de Rodgriguez" which means you are temporarily without your spouse or partner. I looked up a translation of the expression in Spanish and actually found one in an Urban dictionary -to "batch it" coming from the world bachelor. So yes, I have been baching it since Eladio left and Oli has since she left Valencia but only until tomorrow when Miguel, her partner returns. It felt weird but actually quite liberating. We could do nearly what we wanted or so we thought and above all I could watch films and series on Netflix and Amazon Prime in English. With Eladio I have to watch everything dubbed into Spanish.
After he left, Oli and I went out fruit shopping and brought back the very best we could find, in cherries and select fruit from Carrefour Market and the rest from Mercadona, Spain's mainstream low cost supermarket which I actually quite detest, it's so unexciting. It was funny but by the evening half of them had been eaten but not by us. A mystery.
Being Friday night I suggested to Oli we go out for dinner and that's what we did. Oli took me to a new restaurant for me, "El Kiosko" in nearby Boadilla. I loved it and we shall be going back. For starters we had artichokes cooked deliciously and served as if they were flowers with some sort of honey sauce, followed by octopus and then guess what? Yes, fish and chips. That is why I shall be going back.
That night, after Oli left me, I went to sleep but not alone. Pippa was to be my bed partner while Eladio was away. It's amazing how she keeps me company God bless her. Ah, but before I went to sleep, I had to do my husband's nightly job of checking all the lights and doors and making sure the dogs were in their baskets in the kitchen. That's my husband's job but it will be mine now until he comes back.
Saturday was not a good day and when we most missed Eladio. On our walk Elsa got completely covered in sh** and we had to drag her into a bath tub when we got home, no mean feat as she weighs 25 kilos. It's not easy washing her either, a job my husband usually does. She wouldn't let me dry her properly and soon she was running up the stairs wetting everything in sight.
It was a stressful moment but doable I suppose. More stress was to come as I had to deal with or help Lucy, our housemaid and my Father's carer. She has had back pain for at least two weeks and there was nothing for it but to get medical assistance that day as she couldn't stand the pain more. Getting medical care for her when she has no health insurance, no residency papers, etc is not easy. She is petrified of being deported and I had to think quickly yesterday morning. Do I take her to a private clinic and pay a fortune for an appointment and x-ray or do I risk it at the local state hospital? I asked her to choose and she chose the latter. I was a bit worried she would be reported to the police but thankfully that didn't happen and she was attended to. 2.5 hours later we were outside and had a diagnosis; muscular contraction on her back and she had been injected a pain killer and prescribed more to take orally. She was also told to rest for 48 hours.
Olivia meanwhile was making our lunch, home made pizza which was delicious. Thank you darling.
 |
| Oli's home made pizza |
The problem for Oli and I was after lunch. Lucy had disappeared to rest in her room and lie down and we had to take my Father up the path and into the house through the garage and into his room. With Olivia that was ok but I couldn't do it on my own. The problem came when we had to get him out of his wheelchair and into his bed. We asked Lucy how to do and we got a very curt reply that if she had to do it she would leave the house immediately. I was only asking for her guidance. She may be in pain but she has been pretty bolshie recently and has been rude in replies on occasion and I feel as if I am bending down on my knees to keep her happy. That can't go on for much longer. Eladio has been taking my Father up in the wheel chair every day. If after her 48 hour resting period, she can no longer do the most important tasks of looking after my Father I shall have to find someone else. Olivia is going tomorrow, Eladio is away and I have my eye operation tomorrow so I am in quite a bit of a quandary. What to do? It's not an easy situation.
Oli and I spoke about it for a long time yesterday afternoon in the garden. Here we are together. Not a good photo but reflects the moment.
 |
| Oli and I in the garden yesterday |
Oli was joined by some of her friends which I love her to have but stress me a bit when we have Airbnb guests who I want to have a quiet atmosphere. However, the garden is big enough for everyone and I don't think our guests even saw Oli and her group. Later they, Oli and her friends, went out for dinner. I stayed of course, to supervise my Father's going to bed ritual, etc and by 8.45 was in my room with Pippa. What a day. It ended with me watching Mamma Mia (in bloody Spanish - don't know how to change the language on the remote control) on normal TV. I love the songs but the plot is downright stupid. I don't really know why it was such a success as it so so cheesy.
Today is Sunday and it seems Lucy is a bit better. She has done her chores but has been surly as usual. I don't think I can keep up with her surliness or bolshie attitude. I will have to talk to her but of course, being me and hating confrontation, that will not be easy. Oli, I'm sure could deal with it a lot better than me.
So my friends that has been my week, not the best week and not the best blog. I'm running late so will love you and leave you until next week.
Masha
PS "baching it" is ok for a day or two only:-(
No comments:
Post a Comment