Last day in Brussels, the Scottish connection to my father's family, home again, my second masterclass, meet Emily Collins MBE, Olivia reporting on the River Tagus and other stories.

Sunday 17th March

With my father  on Wednesday

Good morning all.

It's hard to believe that this time one week ago I was in Brussels. But I was. It was my last full day there. It turned out to be a very lazy day owing to the dreadful weather. My goodness it was so cold, windy and rainy it was a day to be indoors. But we had to step outside to  to take Adele to the train station. She was leaving at 12.30 or so. How could our lovely long and extended girly weekend together be suddenly over when we had been planning it for such a long time? Well, as my father always says, 'all good things come to an end'. Yes they do, I'm afraid and when they are good they usually go by far too fast.

Adele was taking the train to Paris and then another one to Orleans where she lives. Really she is quite near Sandra as Paris is only 1.15h hours from Brussels and Orleans just an hour from Paris. Oh I do wish I lived nearer my friends. Madrid is so far away. On the plus side we have much better weather in Spain but then of course you all know that. Once we dropped Adele off , Sandra took me to a big open air market next to the station.  It was a bit like being in Bangladesh or similar except for the frightful weather. You could see all the usual rubbish you see in markets around the world; the usual trash. Everything is so globalised these days, that markets seem all the same. Only perhaps the fruit and veg is local. Everything else comes from slave labour workshops in Asia.

A fruit stall at the open air market by the train station in Brussels last Sunday

It was noisy and a bit worrying because of the wind. Stall keepers were doing their best to hang on to their awnings as any minute they could all come down. We just bought some fruit and vegetables and then headed home.

Dear Magda had invited us out to lunch. Mother and daughter often go for lunch on Sundays and it was nice to be able to join them. Sandra took us to a place called Miss Kang, an Asian restaurant, on the shores of Lake Genval, not so far from her house. We had wonderful views of the pretty lake which was not at its best that day due to the ferocious wind and rain.

Lake Genval

I don't think Asian food is my favourite. I far prefer Spanish, Italian and Middle East although I do like a good Indian. However I was pleasantly surprised by what we had and loved every morsel. Would you believe I had never eaten lacquered duck or Peking duck as I think it is called until that day? Thanks to Sandra and her mother I can add it to my list of favourite meals. Magda loves Chinese food. We also had dim sum dumplings which I love too. I learned that day that dim sum actually means something similar to 'small heart'. Sandra caught Magda and I unawares on camera. I don't like myself in the photo but I am reproducing the photo here to remember the moment.

With Magda at lunch by Lake Genval last Sunday

We finished really late for Belgian eating hours, at about 3.30 and we were the last people in the restaurant. It was a challenge getting Magda into the car because of the weather but we managed it.

We had planned to go to the gym again that afternoon but the weather was so foul there was nothing we could do but stay indoors. There is a Spanish expression for doing that and it is "sofa y manta". That means,  sofa and a blanket; i.e. curl up on the sofa with a blanket and either read or watch the TV. We chose the latter and watched a romantic film on Netflix about Grace Kelly as Princess Grace of Monaco. I loved it. Later we chatted a lot, Sandra did some work, I did too and we generally had a lazy time which helped me wind down and relax, something I needed so much. We made no dinner as such and just had fruit. Well I had the last of the cake I'm afraid hahaha. No more cake, etc upon my return from Brussels of course. Later we watched an old episode from Season 8 of Call the Midwife. I have only ever seen the first three seasons and if I could I'd watch each and every one of the episodes of all the seasons I have missed. I identify with the times so much - the late 50's and early 60' and of course I, like many of the women in the series, was given birth to at home. It's a wonderful series and was great entertainment.

I had got up at 5.15 that morning and after reading a bit in bed, I didn't switch off until about nearly 1 in the morning. I often ask myself how the hell I can get by with so little sleep.

But that night I slept relatively well and on Monday morning I woke up at 6.15. It was 11th March, the 15th anniversary of the terrible train bombings in Madrid. We all remember where we were and what we were doing when it happened. It was Spain's 11th September and the memory will never fade. We still do not know if what happened was from the hand of ETA or Al Queda. 

It was to be my last morning in Brussels. My plane was not leaving until 5 pm. Sandra and I spent the morning very leisurely, something I needed to charge my batteries for all that faced me once home; the master class on Wednesday which I would change completely after brain storming with my friend and of course the family tree and biography after new findings.

That morning my friend my unofficial genealogist, Andrew D came up trumps again. He found my father's "Scottish family", i.e the missing link we had to his cousins in Glasgow. That is the descendants of his Uncle Will - the second brother down of his father John Collins Lloyd: William Fox Lloyd jr. We knew he had married a lady "Aunty Gwenny", Gwendolyn or Gwendoline Price Hughes. We knew they had two daughters, Blodwen Price Lloyd and another Gwendolyn, Gwendolyn Elizabeth Fox Lloyd but that's all we knew.  Through his findings on Ancestry.com, he came across another Lloyd tree with all these people on it. He got in touch with the tree builder, someone called Chrisann Constantino who lives in Ontario and whose great Aunt was Gwendolen Price Hughes. He wrote back to say that he had a cousin called Katriona  who lives in Glasgow and whose father was William Evans Fox Lloyd Dr. That day we learned that my father's Uncle Will not only had two daughters, but a son - William Evans Fox Lloyd, the father of Katriona. That very day, I was in touch with her and she sent me many photos. Through her I could reach the rest of the descendants of my father's first cousins, who are all alive and living in Glasgow. Isn't that just great? When I got home that night, I rushed to see my father and to tell him the news. Wow, now we had the complete picture of the tree thanks to these new findings. Katriona also sent me a wonderful photo of our common great grandfather, my father's grandfather, William Fox Lloyd Senior, the famous Chief Steward on the Holyhead to Dublin ferry. Here he is with his captain's cap,  surrounded by his crew.

My great great grandfather, William Fox Lloyd (in the middle with the captain's cap) surrounded by his crew where he was Chief Steward.

I was very excited about the news and so was Andy. None of these findings could have happened without the internet. There we were on Monday, me in Brussels on my way back to Madrid, Andy in France on the Swiss border, a distant cousin in Ontario and then Katriona in Glasgow. I could add to that my editor Amanda in Devon.

You know this journey in the quest to complete the puzzle of my father's life and family is one of the most rewarding and important things I have ever done. It has made me come closer to my father despite all his hearing difficulties and his age. It's like I've finally understood the man behind my charismatic mother. He was always there but we were not close because he can't show his feelings. Now with all this work, I am talking to him every day and he is loving it. This is perhaps what makes me happiest. At the same time, I have discovered I have a love of writing. It just seems to flow. I am aware I do not have real writer's skills and that I write very simply. When I told Andy that, he replied that my father's favourite author and his, Chekhov, said about writing "keep it simple, don't use unusual expressions and remember to hold your reader's attention with detail, even minor elements". He apparently said this in a letter to his publisher, Marks. Well, I cannot be compared to Chekhov, but it's encouraging to know I am following his mantra. Am I boring you with all this? I hope not.

Anyway, I had to come back to the present, do my packing and have lunch with my dear friend Sandra and Magda. Here is my soul sister sitting on one of her lovely sofas with her adored dog Barney lying behind her. I think it's a lovely image of her.

Sandra in her flat on Monday morning

Sandra made a delicious lunch which we had with her mother. Then the two of them took me to the airport. I had to be there by 15.05 for my 17.05 flight to Madrid. It all went smoothly. Of course once in the departure lounge I couldn't resist the chocolates. Even though I had bought lots in Brussels, I bought some more and ate them there and then at the airport while whatsapping to Andrew in France and Katriona in Glasgow. I also got some of my father's favourite Belgian biscuits, the thin almond variety of the well known "speculoos" type.

My flight was on time and on board I read and slept alternatively. I finished the biography of Clementine Churchill by Sonia Purnell and then started on Winston and Clementine's daughter Mary Soame's biography of her parents, "A daughter's tale". It makes for fascinating reading. We were in Madrid well on time and getting off the plane, retrieving my luggage and making my way to the meeting point in arrivals at T1 where Eladio would be waiting for me, was smooth and fast. It was lovely to be in his arms and back in my adopted home country.

We were home by 8.30, just on time to talk to my father. He was already tucked up in bed but not yet asleep. He was delighted with the latest results of the research on his family. Apart from the Scottish Connection, I updated him on the finding of his father's youngest brother, Owen Noel Lloyd who died aged 16. He hadn't remembered till then. So I was delighted to hear him say"Oh Noel! My father always used to mention him". So now I know that the young boy Own Noel Lloyd had not been forgotten, just that his memory was at the back of my father's head.

Eladio made our dinner - I was not hungry - while I unpacked. The dogs were waiting for me in the kitchen. Pippa was the most pleased of course. It was good to see my Nespresso (Intensso Krups) coffee making machine had arrived. Finally I had decided on buying one after using Sandra's every day while I was in Brussels. It was also good to sleep in my own bed with my husband again, just as things should be and I had quite a  good night's sleep.

I was up on Tuesday morning at 6.15 and had plenty to do. I should have gone to do the food shopping and later go for a walk with the dogs but I had to forego everything I was doing to concentrate on the family tree and biography. I had so much new information to add to them plus lots of photos. This all came through my newly found second cousin Katriona. Her father as you will have read above, was my grandfather's second brother down, William Fox Lloyd. Some of the photos she sent were amazing and would help to add to my father's story in print. Here for example is a photo of my father's brother Raymond, her sister Gwendoline (on the horse) and her father William behind her. My father was amazed and knew immediately the photo was from a holiday in North Wales when they were children. It must have been around 1936.

My father's brother Raymond and their Scottish cousins Gwendoline and William

It's funny to see the boys on the beach with their ties on. How fashion has changed. Katriona also sent me another photo, this time of my father probably aged 17 with all his immediate family.  We are not sure who the lady in glasses is or the slightly older girl but we think they are my grandmother's sister also Gwendoline and her daughter Angela, the recently found cousin who lives in Wales.

My father (the tall boy) with his whole family and possibly Aunty Gwendoline and her daughter Angela. Henbury Vicarage circa 1936

The photo that pleased me most though was one of the young boy, Owen Noel Lloyd. He was of course my grandfather's youngest brother who died of TB aged 16 and who we had only discovered recently. The photo is dated 1913 when he was just 13. On the back of it he had written poignantly "with love from Noel". Welcome Noel, lovely to have found you. You already have a place in my heart.

Owen Noel Lloyd in 1913. 

I was so busy I never looked up from my desk. I did stop for lunch though to show my father the new photos. They sparked his memory and he told me about their holidays as children in North Wales. He is very surprised I have been able to gather all this information. Well, 20 years ago it wouldn't have been possible.

After lunch I worked again, this time on the masterclass I would give on Wednesday. I completely changed the whole presentation and script after brainstorming with Sandra in Brussels - thanks my friend. I wanted to make it more engaging and I hope I did.

Meanwhile in the Houses of Parliament, there was a vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal. As predicted, it didn't go through. Later in the week there would be another vote on whether Britain leaves without a deal - imagine - or whether the PM asks for an extension to the leave period from Article 50. It seems one big shambles to me. What also surprised me enormously was that a very large group were for leaving the EU without a plan and all that that entails; total chaos.

I was on the point of going out to do the shopping, when I became engrossed in a conversation on whatsapp with my cousin Katriona. So I rang her and my goodness we had lots to talk about. I loved her slight Scottish accent. To realise I was talking to the daughter of my father's first cousin, William Fox Lloyd and that we were long lost second cousins was sort of mind blowing. You may think, so what, a second cousin. But for me it's a lot as I really thought there was only my Father and I left from his side of the Lloyd family. Well now I have a lot more people to get to know who are from flesh and blood. In the same way I go to the Cousinades organised by my cousins in France on my mother's side of the family, maybe I should do something in Scotland or in Holyhead for my new found cousins from Glasgow.

All these new cousins had to be added to the family tree poster. This is what it is looking like at the moment. Isn't it beautiful?

The family tree for my father. It's nearly finished

So, as you can see, my whole day was filled up with all of this and I did not have a moment to myself. I even went to bed later than usual.  Finally I relaxed though when we watched a new episode of the Spanish series "Secrets of State" on Netflix and I would sleep quite well.

Wednesday came, the day of my masterclass. Of course I had prepared for it but hadn't rehearsed much. But I would do that before I left for the campus in the swanky area of La Moraleja. It was to be a long and happy day but at the end of it I realised just how dog tired I was. 

I dressed to go out, wearing a pair of trousers I had bought in Brussels which I wore with an orange jacket. It was the perfect moment to have a photo with my father for the biography - something I didn't have as I always seem to be the one who takes the photos. Thus Eladio obliged. I love it and I love the fact that the old family portrait of Tsar Nicholas II is behind us, hahaha. My mother would have approved. I have chosen it to illustrate this week's post. 

I left the house nice and early to be on time for my masterclass which I had prepared thoroughly. The class was to take place at the worldwide training HQ of the Spanish bank BBVA in La Moraleja, an expat hive in Madrid and very expensive too. The campus was amazing. What a beautiful place and surroundings. Soon, Víctor S, a friend and ex colleague who was facilitating the course, greeted me and we had a coffee together before my class. It was to be a very interactive class, where I engaged my audience, a mix of about 15 people, throughout. I think we all enjoyed ourselves. The topic was "pitching a press release to the media: the difference between editorial and advertising". As I said last week, it was right up my street. At the end of the class I got the pupils - all working in communication jobs with BBVA, to split into groups and do an exercise. They had to make up a piece of news  and then come up with a headline and subtitle for a fictional press release. There would be a prize for the winner. It worked a treat and I gave them some Adamo goodies. Later we had a group photo and then we had lunch together. 

With the group from my masterclass on Wednesday

I didn't leave until about 3.30 but was home soon. I had lots to do but very soon and very suddenly a big headache came on and I felt utterly exhausted. I was too tired to go on our walk - sorry dogs - but  I had no choice and I had to go out and do the shopping as our cupboards were almost bare. 

Once home and with everything put away, I went upstairs to my room to rest. For once I could watch Oli's programme but for once she wasn't on. I fell asleep and Eladio had to wake me up to have dinner. We had a light meal and were up in our room just on time for the news. 

But I didn't watch the news as my other unofficial genealogist and researcher Barry H from Holyhead,  was writing to me and to Andy concerning my grandfather's time in WW1. He told us that he could tell from his uniform cap that he was in the Chaplain's Service. 

John Collins Lloyd - my paternal grandfather in his WW1 uniform

He sent me the link to my grandfather's application card. Imagine. Apparently to be admitted he would have been interviewed at the War Office in London by the Chaplain General, Bishop John Taylor Smith. He was responsible for the recruitment of Church of England chaplains. Apart from passing the medical test, there were lots of questions to the candidates. It was nice to see the comment at the bottom of the application card: "bright frank fellow" Indeed I think he was or he must have been. 

My grandfather's application card to become Chaplain to the Forces in WW1

Later I found a letter from my grandfather written from The Bonnington Hotel on Southampton Row in London dated 2^nd April 1917 which must have been the day of his interview. In the letter he tells his fiancee, Dorothy Gertrude Scull, how it went: “You will of course be anxious to hear how I got on with the Chaplain General this afternoon. I have nothing definite to tell you. The old chap was awfully decent, but inclined to be very pious in his conversation. He asked me all sorts of questions and finally gave me a paper to take to the Medical Board at Chelsea Hospital. I did my best to get him to commit himself one way or another, but he said he could do nothing until he heard from the Medical Board. Eventually, after a good deal of coaxing, I induced him to admit that my case would receive his favourable consideration. I also caught him writing the two words “after Easter” on the sheet containing my record”. He then goes on to say “After leaving him I called at Burberry’s to be measured”. I presume he meant to be measured for his chaplain’s uniform.  The Captain General must have had a good impression of my grandfather otherwise he would probably not have sent him for the medical test. Indeed those words “after Easter” are on the card and they came true as John Collins Lloyd was admitted and became an Army Chaplain on 3^rd May 1917.  Below is a photograph of the first page of the letter. I do love his old fashioned language. 

The first page of my grandfather's letter to his fiancee about his interview to become a Chaplain of the Army in WW1

It was wonderful to get his firsthand account of the interview.

That night I slept relatively well. I had a lot to do on Thursday. It was on Thursday that I discovered more about "Aunty Emily". Recently I wrote about her husband, David John Collins, my father's great uncle. I thought he was the most illustrious ancestor in my father's family for his medals from the King of Siam (now Thailand) for his surveyor work there. But it turns out his wife, Elian Emily Collins née Pemberton MBE (1858-1945) could well rival that. So meet Emily Collins my friends.

Elian Emily Collins née Pemberton MBE (1858-1945) sitting in her town house "Collinston" in Bangkok

It was thanks to my new found cousin Katriona that I heard about her being a botanist and  holding an MBE, the only one in the family. This is what I have written about her in my biography (exclusive chapter coming up here):

Among my father’s old family papers and photographs I finally discovered that the mysterious lady sitting in a drawing room was Emily Pemberton, David John Lloyd’s wife. I hadn’t thought to look on the back of the photo where my father had written the following: “Aunty Emily in her drawing room in Bangkok. She was half Burmese, I think and married to my paternal grandmother’s brother David Collins”

There was also a post card of their beautiful house  called, unsurprisingly, “Collinston” which was on Sarthorn Road in Bangkok. Sadly, today, it no longer exists. 

Uncle David and Aunty Emily's townhouse in Bangkok

I must say my father’s notes on the back of photos have turned out to be very useful in documenting the history of his family. On the back of this photo my father had written: “Uncle David’s town house in Bangkok. Aunty (Emily Pemberton) left it in her will to the British Government. It is now British Embassy in Bangkok”. My father told me that his father had always told her that Emily was rather rich. When, during doing research for this book, I finally made contact with my cousin Katriona Fox Lloyd in Scotland, she knew a little bit more about Elian Emily Collins née Pemberton. It seems she was an eminence in herself.

Emily Pemberton was born in Burma. Her father was Colonel Walker Pemberton who at the time was Deputy Commissioner with British Burma.  Later he was with the Madras Staff Corps in India. We are not sure who her mother was.  Emily married David John Collins on 25^th June 1877 in Moulmein, British Burmah.  It was interesting to note from their marriage record that he worked for the G.T. Survey in India at that time.  So Uncle David had worked for the “Great Trigonometrical Survey” in India. This included the measurement of the height of the Himalayan Mountains, Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga. 

She travelled with him in his surveyor work to India and to Thailand where she would later live until her death in 1945.  They had two daughters. Ellen Marion Collins was their first born, one year after their marriage. Ellen Marion married Basil Edwin Le Blond Holloway (1874-1939) in Ticehurst, Sussex on 5^th September 1901. Sadly she died, aged only 25, on 13^th September 1903 in Leigh (Kent). Aunty Emily and Uncle David’s other child, Emily Pemberton Collins was born in 1980 and did not live more than one year. Both daughters were born in Darjeeling. 

Emily’s husband died in 1912 but she lived on until 1945. She buried him at the Protestant Cemetery in Bangkok. I think she lies there with him too.  It must have been a huge blow for her to lose her children so early and then her husband aged only 58.

She would become a big name in botany, finding and exporting species in Thailand to be sent to fellow botanists and gardens all over the world. I can only imagine that she found solace in this field and perhaps also among the large British community in former Siam.

Emily was also a naturalist and would become one of the first members of The Natural History Society of Siam when it was established on 6^th March 1914. It was thanks to her that the mosquito eating fish, the Gamusia, was released into Thailand waters in 1929.

She frequently sent specimens to the Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew Gardens). Emily Pemberton corresponded with Sir Arthur William Hill the Director of the RBG at the time. Some of them can be seen at the Natural History Museum in London. Several plant species have the term “collinsae” or “collinsiae in their name in her honour. Indeed what an honour. The Argyreia Collinsae (Na Songhkla) is just one example.

The Argyreia Collinsae (Na Songhkla) plant discovered by Aunty Emily

She was awarded an MBE of the British Empire (Member of the Most Excellent Order) in about 1938 for her contributions to botany. It seems she was very much the doyenne of British residents in Bangkok.  This makes her our most illustrious ancestor together with Uncle David. As she outlived all her family she left her properties and money to the British government.

I am curious to know how her photo, the photo of her house and the medal and medal scrolls of her husband, Uncle David, somehow ended up in my house near Madrid. I can only imagine she or her husband, sent them to my grandfather at some time. I have my father to thank for keeping them for all these years. They are in good hands here.

I hope you found that interesting. Aunty Emily would take up most of my day. 

I kept being interrupted in my work though with lots of Airbnb enquiries. Business is picking up as spring approaches. That day I got 4 new bookings. One was from a man from China called Xiao. He was coming that day for 3 nights, on his own and would arrive at around 5 pm. He arrived ok but didn't ring the bell so we never saw him and worried where he had gone.  It was very difficult to contact him but thankfully he finally arrived just before we went to bed. He didn't come alone, he brought a partner who hadn't been in the booking. I then had a hassle with Airbnb which I hope works out ok in the end.

Who was having an extremely tense day, once again, was our dear Prime Minister, who I am getting very fed up of. On Thursday Parliament voted to extend Article 50 and thus delay the UK leaving the EU. It's not very clear what the hell will happen now. This could go on and on forever while we all feel in limbo. Hate Brexit. 

Villagers in a small town called Villarramiel in Spain were having a wonderful day. Someone has been leaving mystery envelopes with up to 100 euros in cash in quite a few of their post boxes. The Daily Mail dubbed the person the "mystery Spanish Robin Hood". What a lovely story I thought. I wonder if he or she will continue to distribute money anonymously or if we will ever find out who is doing it. The villagers are mystified as is the whole of Spain. 

Olivia, my younger daughter, was having a good day too. She spent the whole of Thursday in the province of Cáceres on the border of Portugal. Thursday was International River Day. She was to report on Spain's longest river, the River Tagus or "Tajo" in Spanish. It is 1.007 km long and starts in Teruel and empties into the Atlantic Ocean near Lisbon. It was an important trading route between Spain and Portugal.  Here is Olivia by the part of the river in Alcántara near the Portuguese border.

Olivia by the River Tagus on Thursday in Alcántara near Portugal

 Miguel went with her and he sent me a photo of her reporting live on TV which we would watch too.

Olivia reporting on the River Tagus on Thursday

She did a live report and then a beautiful report on her discoveries of the river. She did so on board a boat going along the river where on one side it is Portugal and the other side  is Spain. She was literally in a Spanish fjord, beautiful enough to rival a fjord in Norway. I had no idea Spain had fjords but I found that out thanks to my daughter's reports that day. You can see it here I hope.

We watched her just as we had got back from our walk, the first walk since I returned from Brussels. And oh what a glorious walk it was because the weather is so fine at the moment. There is light too until at least 7.30 pm.

Soon after her report, we had a quick dinner where I was interrupted by my Chinese guests. Thankfully they didn't come too late. I did not get a good night's sleep, waking up at 4.30 in the morning and finding it extremely difficult to fall asleep again. In the end I got up at 5.30.

Friday came and we all woke up to dreadful news from New Zealand. New Zealand is normally a very quiet and peaceful land. I have cousins who live there and they always sing the praises of their country. Two mosques in Christchurch were attacked in a mass shooting incident, killing 49 people. The main instigator, a right wing fanatic, Brenton Tarant, who uploaded a video of the killings on social media, has now been detained. The whole country is in shock. My cousin Katty wrote "we are all in shock and disbelief that this could happen here in NZ  - it has just been too devastating to listen to and watch unfold. This is not New Zealand. This is NZ, this is our home and their home too and we will stand strong and not be defined by this horrific event". Her husband Tony wrote, "we are on high alert for the first time ever. It's very upsetting. We are only a small country and now we are the same as everywhere else". I think he defined it well, you just don't expect terrorist attacks in New Zealand. My heart goes out to the victims and their families and to the whole country.

I was cheered up shortly after reading the news by an early morning video call from Suzy. She had just bought her ticket to come to Spain and will be here for "Grandpa's" 100th. Hopefully, this time she will stay for at least a few months. Oh Suzy, can't wait to see your smiling face and hug you to bits.

I was extremely tired on Friday. Funnily enough Friday was International Sleep Day and sleep would be important for me that day and every day I should add. I think the lack of sleep and so much work is catching up on me. I could barely concentrate on much. It helped a bit when I went out with Eladio to do a little more shopping at the local Carrefour Market. But when I got home I just had to go up to bed to rest and I flaked out for about half an hour and had to be woken up for lunch. That day it would just be my father and me at the table as Eladio went out to have lunch with his friends and ex colleagues, Juanjo and Roberto. 

He wasn't back until 6pm. He doesn't go out very often, so I was pleased for him that day. While he was out, I rested as much as I could as I was feeling so very tired. Just before he came home, I perked up when I received an email from my father's old college from Cambridge University. Someone will be coming out from Selwyn College to visit him on 8th April on the occasion of his 100th on 1st May. Now isn't that wonderful? They have told me his is their oldest living pupil and want to celebrate that fact. When I told him the next day he was overjoyed. He doesn't often express his feelings, so seeing his eyes light up touched my heart. At lunchtime I also told him Suzy would be here for his birthday and he said he was very touched. Oh, how I adore him, the father who has always been there for me.  I told him he must carry on living and carry on being there for me as there is only him and me left. I shall do my utmost for that to happen. 

As I hadn't been out all day, I told Eladio on our sunny walk, that I felt like going out for dinner. He agreed immediately. Thus I booked a table at La Txitxarrería for 8.30pm. We had a lovely dinner and drank a whole bottle of cider between us. It would help me sleep just a bit better than lately. Very naughtily when I got back I ate a Cadbury creme egg. I had bought some from the English supermarket in Gran Alacant, Quicksave, for Easter and I just couldn't resist eating one on Friday night after our dinner.

We went to bed late of course - no sign of our Chinese guests - and watched a documentary about ageing and how old people live and are treated in our times. The other day, when two nurses came to treat a small wound on my father's foot, they commented on how well looked after he was and how lovely that we hadn't put him in a home. I would never ever do that. His home is with us for as long as he lives. 

I slept until 5.10 but thankfully got up an hour later. Thus I had recovered some lost sleep, although not all. 

On Saturday, I decided to take it easy and it worked to some extent. However, Emily Collins née Pemberton got in my way. Both Andy and I wanted to find out who her parents were to see if she really was half Burmese. Well, thanks to Barry's research documents, we found her marriage record where we could see she had married in Moulmein (then British Burma) although registered in West Bengal. I think Burma at the time was an Indian province under the Raj. There we could see that her father was William Walker Pemberton (b. Quebec (Canada) 1835, died 1901 Royal Parade Cheltenham)  Obviously we looked him up and found him in military records. We then saw he had been Deputy Commissioner, 4th Grade in British Burmah. We also saw in the digitalized articles of The London Gazette that he was later promoted to Lt. Colonel and later Colonel but in the Madras Corps. Then we looked to see who he had married. Well, he married a lady called Adele Sandfield in Kensington London with whom it appears he had no less than 6 children. However, none of these children was Emily Pemberton. So who was her mother? If we can't find her mother, then maybe my father's comment on her possibly being half Burmese could be true. We are now on a mission to find out whether he ever married a second lady, possibly Burmese. Andy has a friend who works for the British Library and  hopefully she will be able to resolve the mystery of who the mother of Aunty Emily is.  But what a story. Andy and I are having great fun doing all this research and I think we make a great team. All this researching into my father's ancestors is becoming extremely addictive.  

So, yes my thoughts were mostly focused on dear old Aunt Emily, my father's great Aunt. We also know she received an MBE and think she travelled to London to receive it from King George V at Buckingham Palace in 1935 as we have found her on a passenger list that year but yet have to confirm the fact.

But I had other things to do, or rather I tried to relax. I did so by sitting outside in our recently cleaned swimming pool terrace. Boy was it warm yesterday, reaching 24ºc. There I found Andy, our lovely Scottish lodger and we chatted a while. I always enjoy talking to him. I also continued reading Mary Churchill's biography of her life and her parents. It's such fun to read. Oh, I am a Churchill fan. To think he was the Prime Minister when my father was a young man .

Airbnb kept me busy too yesterday, with lots of enquiries and more bookings. That night, a "chap" called Kumar was coming to stay. He is from the UK but of Indian origin. He was to arrive between 8 pm and 9 but didn't get here until about 10.30. Oh bother (the sort of word my grandfather used in his letters). I was asleep when he arrived. He arrived, by the way, in a very luxurious Lotus motorcar, which looked so sleek I was impressed. He told me he is travelling around Europe in it. After settling in, the funny young man, mysteriously left to go to Madrid at around midnight and would not return until the time I got up, at around 6 am. 

The rest of our day was quiet. We enjoyed our walk in the sunshine in the late afternoon, as did the dogs. There were hardly any other people or dogs on the path that day. I had to take off my cardigan and walked in my short sleeves. Meanwhile it was raining hard in England or so my new found friend, Joanne told me. She asked for a photo with some blue sky to cheer her up, so I took a photo of my husband and the dogs on our walk. It must be the umpteenth photo of us on our daily walk. Here it is. 

Eladio and the dogs on our walk yesterday

The day ended as most days too, with a lovely dinner together in the kitchen and then up to bed to watch the news.  But of course I was interrupted by Kumar. I did not see my Chinese guests at all either that day.

I think I fell asleep at around midnight and slept dreaming about guess what? Yes, Aunty Emily. What a mysterious and interesting woman she seems to me. 

This morning I was up at 6, just as Kumar had come home, as I told you. I had the kitchen to myself and the dogs, just how I like it in the morning. Over my first Nespresso of the day, I browsed Instagram and Facebook as one does these days, or I do at least. It was there that I found this lovely photograph of my darling daughter Suzy. It is one of her singing passionately in her band "Los Chuchis". Doesn't she look gorgeous? Well, she is gorgeous I can assure you and I can't wait for her to be here on 30th April. Only 6 weeks to go!

A snapshot of Suzy singing in her band in Bali. 

Today, is St. Patrick's Day. Normally that doesn't mean much to me but with all the talk about the "backstop" with damned Brexit it made me think about Ireland. Also in my journey to find out more about my father's ancestors, I have found Irish roots. I have also found Welsh, Scottish, Canadian and now Burmese. So, if you are celebrating, Happy St. Patrick's Day.

On that happy note, let me say cheers for the moment. I hope I haven't bored you with my tales of my father's ancestors. But for me their tales are fascinating.

Cheers my friends until next Sunday,

Masha