Jennifer found, my grandfather's WWI records, the manuscript is finished, "About this book", tribute to my father from Bradford Grammar School and other stories.

Sunday 7th April 2019

The front cover of the biography I have written about my father on the occasion of his upcoming hundredth birthday on 1 May 2019.

Good morning again.

Gosh the week has gone by fast. I suppose it has because I've been so busy.

Last Sunday I left you with the lovely news of my daughter Olivia's pregnancy. This week she has entered 18 weeks and according to an online site I use to follow how her baby will be growing, The Bump, she is now nearly 4 months pregnant. It was lovely to finally be able to share the news with the world. The news came, as my friend Kathryn pointed out, on the perfect day; Mothering Sunday. Not that we celebrate it here  - besides it's on a different day in Spain - but it was a great day to announce our exciting and yes, life changing news.

Our life will change but not until mid September. Thus life continued as normal. Last Sunday was a good day and quite quiet. Of course it was the day the clocks went forward which always leaves me a bit out of sorts. Sunday was also the day we found Jennifer, or rather my new friend who is a very persevering sort of person, Joanne, found her. Jennifer you might remember is a cousin on my father's side and was the last piece in the puzzle to complete the family tree. She is the daughter of his cousin Mona who was the daughter of his great aunt, Aunty Nell (Ellen Lloyd), the only sister of his father John Collins Lloyd. Joanne found her through the funeral directors of her mother in Morecambe and we now know she lives in the Lake District. Joanne actually spoke to Jennifer on the phone and my cousin gave her her email for me to write. I did write and a very long email it was too. I thought she wasn't going to answer but she did, one week later. Her reply was most interesting. She had been most surprised to have been tracked down. But she was pleased to learn that my father is soon approaching his centenary. She told a few facts about his and her uncles and aunts, my great uncles and aunts: Uncle Will, Aunty Gwen and Uncle Tom and Aunty Peggy. I knew that Uncle Tom, Thomas Fox Lloyd, my paternal grandfather's brother, had been a captain in the Merchant Navy. She told me she had visited him on his ship when it was berthed in Liverpool "after his regular voyages as Master on the Calcutta run". She said she has momentoes of his travels in India in her house. Well, I have too; they are 2 beautiful carved wooden elephants which he once gave to my father. They are on one of his book shelves. I have seen them all my life. Now I know where they come from, I shall treasure them forever. She even sent me a photo and I could see a certain  resemblance to my father.

Jennifer or Jenny, my new found Lloyd cousin who lives in the The Lake District

I had to add Jenny's photo to the family tree which means I shall now have to print another version. Hopefully it will be the final one. This is what the beautiful tree looks like. Thanks Andy for adding yet another photo. Now I think it is complete.

The family tree with Jenny's photo 

That day I spoke on the phone to my dearest friend Amanda who is my official proofreader and we had lots to discuss. Oh how I love that it is her who is travelling on this journey with me into my father's past. After all she has known us since she and I were aged 11 after we met on our first day at St. Joseph's College in the First Form at our school.

It was Amanda who inspired me to read my current book, The Signature of Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. It is a story set in the past about a woman botanist and is right up my street. I do love stories from the past and especially biographies.

Funnily enough it rained on Sunday. That shouldn't be news should it? Except that it hasn't rained here for "yonks", literally for months so I suppose it was much needed. It was cold too and we ended up not going on our walk. It would be cold all week in sharp contrast to the sunny days we were getting used to. 

That night we watched an interview with the Pope by the famous Spanish journalist Jordi Evole. I don't think the Pope has ever given an interview to any Spanish media  so it was quite a big thing. I was looking forward to it as I had a very good opinion of Jorge Mario Bergoglio. I was expecting a charismatic man and a very interesting interview. But you know what? He disappointed me. I think the image I had of him was that built up by the press; a pope who is different from his predecessors, who lives more modestly, who is more outspoken and perhaps more human. However, he disappointed "big time". The way he talks is monotonous. His words are enigmatic. It's hard to understand what he really means. I suppose that is because he knows that later every word he utters will be put under a magnifying glass. However, he did say some quite outright things but nothing new. His pet subject was that of the receiving of migrants in Europe and elsewhere and how they are unwelcome. He said, in reference to Donald Trump and perhaps the Spanish government too; that those who build walls end up imprisoning themselves. He was not forthcoming on the big subject tainting the Catholic Church, the abuse by pedophiles nor would he give an opinion on the moving of the Spanish Dictator Franco from his tomb at the Valley of the Fallen. He disappointed me and I even fell asleep as his speech is so flat and monotonous.

So I fell asleep listening to the Pope hahaa. Yes I did and on Monday I woke up all refreshed and ready to go. I had a lot on my plate on Monday. I was about to go out and do lots of errands I was behind with when I got a sudden request from my lovely Swedish customer, Adamo, to prepare a press release on the expansion of their fiber optic network in rural areas of Extremadura. The lack of infrastructure in rural areas is a big topic in Spain. The press release had to be issued on Thursday so I didn't have much time to prepare. That would take me most of the afternoon.

It was on Monday that my friend and unofficial genealogist, Andy D. received my grandfather John Collins Lloyd's WW1 records. We knew little about his war and the records arrived just in time if any new changes had to be included in the biography  But actually they were a big disappointment and don't really add anything new to what we already  knew. I had hoped to see what regiment he had belonged to and where he served. My father thinks he served on the Italian front but in the records there is no evidence of that at all. Maybe the records for WW1 are more lacking than those for WWII. My father's for example include every move he made from 1940 to 1946 and are very complete.

My grandfather's WW1 orders

An interesting document is the letter above where my grandfather is given his orders to report to the Senior Chaplain to the Forces in Whitchurch Salop. Interestingly it gives as an address for my grandfather, The Rev. J.C.Lloyd T.C.P c/o The A.C.O, Eastern Command. I suppose WWI historians or people who know more about the Great War will understand what that means. Hopefully, my other unofficial genealogist and war historian, Barry H from Anglesey, will be able to enlighten me as he has before. I must say his help has been essential to my research and I can't thank him enough.

But the document I liked most for its historical value was the letter sent to my grandfather informing him of his appointment and giving details of his retribution, etc. 

Letter to my grandfather telling him to report for service

It encloses a voucher for half the price of his train ticket and informs him that his pay will be 10 shillings a day. I do wish I knew more.

So yes, I was very busy on Monday but made sure I stopped for our walk. I was happy to see when I got home that the Amazon Fire Stick replacement remote control had arrived. I tried it and great it worked. So the previous problem had been the remote control and not the fire stick. It took me about half an hour to reconfigure all the apps but by dinner time, our TV streaming service was up and running again.  Thus we were able to continue watching our current series, Secretos de Estado (Secrets of State) on Amazon Prime. The past 10 days of only being able to watch conventional TV have made me appreciate  TV on demand so much more.

Both Amanda and I had hoped the final proofreading of the biography would be done by Monday and I would have the final manuscript ready to send to the publisher. But it didn't work that way. The biography is 130 pages long and contains more than 50 thousand words so the process has been very slow. Plus, both of us kept thinking of new little gems to add to the story of my unique parents. Thus Tuesday saw us both work non stop all day. She was doing the proofreading and consulting me, I was doing the About this Book part and documenting all the   photos. I realised that the book has 136 photos which worried me a lot. I have never seen or read a book be it hardback or digital with so many photos and wondered what my publisher would say. 

We both only stopped for short breaks and for lunch as well as our walks - we seem to have the same routines but at different times as Amanda is in the UK and I am here in Spain. Everyone knows that in Spain all meals are much later, perhaps the latest in the world.

What I wouldn't have missed for the world was seeing Oli on TV in the evening just after I came back from our walk. This time she was reporting on an antiques fair at the big Ifema exhibition centre in Madrid. If I had had time and known about it, I would have loved to have gone as I adore antiques and our house is full of them. But I had to content myself with seeing it on TV.

Oli reporting on the antiques fair on TV on Tuesday evening. 

She later joined us for dinner and spent the night. I love it when she comes. I always inspect her "bump" to see how it is growing and growing it is although she has hardly put on any weight. Not like me. When I was pregnant with Suzy in 1983 I ballooned from 60 kilos to 84 on the day of her birth. This is much more controlled these days as are many more things. I can't keep up with the novelties. It seems that the only thing that has not  changed since my day is the actual giving of birth. That, so far, is the same as since the beginning of time hahaha.

We later spent quality time together where I showed her the progress of her baby in week 18 in The Bump website. She was interested of course, but is not reading anything. If I had had the information she has today, I would have been reading it all. I only had a couple of brochures to go on which I picked up from the doctor's surgery.

Once in bed and it was quite late for me - 10 pm - we continued watching a film we had started a while ago, The Body. It was  a bit gruesome but even so it sent me to sleep.

I was awake at 5.30 on Wednesday morning. My body is still adjusting to the change of the clocks, so for me it was still 6.30 am. It took just about all day for Amanda and I to finish our work but by about 5.30 the manuscript was finished. Yes, really finished. I couldn't believe it. There and then I sent it to my e-book publisher in Vitoria. Mikel the publisher took a quick look and said it looked ok but we would talk the next day. I felt rather elated, I have to tell you. I have done the most rewarding thing in my life, after marrying and giving birth.  I think it's quite an achievement. I have given birth to a book.  Yes little me has written a book and the book I have written is the history of my father's family for my children and their children. Who knows if anyone else will read it? I am not objective but have to tell you it's quite entertaining in parts. That's because it tells the tales of my quirky upbringing in an Anglo Russian household with the most unique parents that could ever exist. Just to whet your appetite here is the introduction and the About this Book section that will be in the e-book. This section in a e-book is the absolute click bait. A person usually bases his or her decision on acquiring a book if what he or she reads there is interesting enough.  So here is my About this Book section below. Please let me know if it is  interesting enough for someone to want to acquire the book as  I am dying to find out what people outside my immediate circle think.

The Front cover and the About the Book section of my father's biography

I was also very happy this week when I saw and read a wonderful tribute to my father from his old school, Bradford Grammar School where he taught French, German and Russian and occasionally Swedish and Norwegian from 1964-1983. It was the school, BGS, who first reached out to me about celebrating his 100th. That was in November and it is thanks to them that I actually wrote my father's story. They have sent an email to all their old pupils inviting them to send birthday cards. How lovely. They also wrote a special tribute to him in their magazine, The Bradfordian where they describe him as "a legendary teacher". Wow! Words cannot describe the pride that filled my heart.  You can read the tribute they published via this link.

Bradford Grammar School's invitation to "old boys" to send cards for my father's 100th birthday. What a wonderful gesture.

Feeling somewhat elated, I joined Eladio on our walk. I came home and went once again to my desk as I had to tie up some loose ends for the publishing of the Adamo press release the next morning. That would keep me busy until dinner time.

At dinner, determined to celebrate the finishing of the manuscript, after our very ordinary meal of scrambled eggs, I had a glass of red wine and then one of the 3  Cadbury creme eggs Joanne had sent from England via her daughter Elisa. I loved every moment of both and adore the combination of wine and chocolate. I knew it would give me a headache later but the occasion merited my indulgence.

Later we watched a new series on Amazon Prime which has been widely advertised, Hanna. We must have very different taste to the large majority of film and series viewers as we were not impressed at all and shall not be carrying on with the series.

Thursday was the day I had to issue the press release I had written for my Swedish fiber optic operator. That day we announced the expansion of their network into rural areas of Extremadura. You wouldn't think that is exactly breaking news. I didn't either. However, it came at a moment when there is a lot of discussion in the Spanish press about lack of infrastructure  in rural areas and the depopulation of them too. Last Sunday in the capital there was a demonstration against what was called "empty Spain". 53% of the territory has only 12 inhabitants per square kilometer. Even worse, 80% of villages in 14 provinces are in danger of extinction. People who live in sparsely populated areas complain of a lack of services and people in towns who wouldn't mind living in the country, don't do so precisely because of the lack of services. The main service required is fast internet, just what Adamo provides. Adamo's main target in building its super fast network is in rural areas. That day we presented the plan for the region to the local government, to the Junta de Extremadura and to its President, the well known socialist politician Guillermo Fernández Vara in the region's capital, Mérida.

Adamo presenting its plan for fiber internet in Extremadura on Thursday

I must say it went down well with the press and I was delighted to see the next day that we had garnered 60 clippings in the Spanish media, many of them in the Extremadura region which is just what I wanted.  I was in doubts as to whether to go to the event but as there wasn't a press conference per se, I decided I would be more useful working from my desk at home. Besides, Mérida is pretty difficult to get to. Another complaint in the area is the lack of a good railway service.

That kept me busy for most of the day.  The rest of the day was our usual and lovely routine. I can't complain about my work life balance can I?

But Thursday was not a good day for the House of Commons at Westminster. Brexit discussions were suspended when water poured through the ceiling. Is that an ominous sign I wonder? This week Theresa May has reached out to Jeremy Corbyn to see if they can find some consensus on Brexit. I think they have too many differences to reach one but we shall see.

On Friday I was up extra early. The change in the clocks was still affecting me. That morning I spoke to the publisher of the book. I thought they would just be doing the e-book but it turns out they can do the book itself. They even said the hard cover version may be on time for 1st May. Hurray. Now I would have to work on a hard book manuscript, rather different from an e-book one. Oh well, I love tweaking with the document hahaha.

That morning, inspired by friends and family telling me my father's story was worth sharing with the wider public, I wrote a press release on the book and his life. I sent it timidly to an English freelance  journalist who lives in Madrid and who I am quite friendly with. Her response was very positive and I spent much of the rest of the day promoting my father to the press in England and in Spain. Anyway, watch this space to see if I get any further.

Friday was our shopping day. However much I hate being interrupted from my new passion (my father's hundredth), the cupboards were practically bare and I just had to go out and buy food. We came back with a loaded car and with enough provisions to feed an army or so I thought. No doubt it will all be gone by the end of next week.

This week the weather has turned for the worse. In the last month or so it seemed as if summer was nearly here but then winter returned. It was wet and cold on Friday and in parts of Spain it snowed. That day Olivia was in La Manga in Cartagena, a supposedly warm area of the country, except that it was cold there too. She would be reporting on how beaches are cleaned of algae for the Easter holidays. Apparently algae is fundamental for the ecosystem but tourists don't like it so it has to be removed twice a year; at Easter and in the summer.  Later we would watch her report from one of the beaches. She looked as though she was freezing and I noted that once again she was wearing my clothes - well one of my coats hahaha.

Oli reporting from La Manga on Friday

She would spend the night there and return on Saturday, just on time for lunch with us.  As I watched her I tried to spy whether her pregnancy bump showed. Well, it did, just a little but I suppose no one would notice unless they knew she was expecting.

Being Friday, Eladio and I went out to dinner. This week we chose a new restaurant that has opened recently nearby and seems to have become an instant success. Last week we couldn't get a table so this week I rang on Wednesday to secure one. Called "El Tinglado" it is an oyster bar and restaurant in nearby Boadilla. We loved it. The food is great as is the atmosphere. For starters I had what they call "desert foie". I wasn't sure what to expect but what came was amazing. They had  finely chopped the foie so that it looked like a pile of  edible sand.

The "foie desert" dish we enjoyed at El Tinglado on Friday evening. It was amazing.

It was scrumptious and I know when I go back I will order it again. Eladio ordered battered cod which was very similar to fish and chips, something very difficult to find in Spain. We liked it enough to go back and I can't wait to take Oli there as she likes foie too and no doubt will be impressed by El Tinglado's "desert foie".

We came home to find light in the kitchen. Our two Airbnb guests Alba and Javi were making their dinner. They are both physiotherapists and are studying to do a master's degree at the local University (UEM) in guess what? "Pelvic Floor Health". It's quite specialised and a new subject but if you think about it it is very important for women who are pregnant or who have just given birth. They are lovely young people and a delight to have in our house week in week out.

We went to bed late and just as we were about to search for something to watch on Netflix I checked my phone for the latest news. I do that very often, being a bit of a news freak hahaha. I was aghast when I read in The Guardian that in preparation for the supposed exit of the UK from the EU on 29th March which did not happen, the Home Office had removed the words "European Union" from newly issued passports! It felt like a stab in the back and yet another nail in the coffin of Brexit. Thank goodness my passport still has those words on it but I wonder for how long.

Yesterday was a relatively quiet day and I had less work to do. Thus I concentrated on preparing food  to eat that day and to freeze. I made oxtail stew which we had with sauteed potatoes. I also made a huge batch of "bitki" (Russian meat patties which are a sort of enhanced type of hamburger) for freezing. Oli would join us for lunch, or rather arrive just as we were having dessert. That morning she left Cartagena, took a bus to Murcia from where she took a train to Madrid which is a 4 hour journey. A TVE car picked her up at the station and brought her home. What a wonderful perk to have.

Yesterday I did have a siesta or rather went upstairs to rest after lunch. I started watching the Coco Chanel film on Netflix which seemed promising but I fell asleep, sleep I much needed. It was cold and windy outside but the sun was shining so the three of us went for our walk with the dogs. So far so good but on the way back it started to rain until we were caught in a hail storm which was most unpleasant. We just walked back as fast as we could and came home drenched and frozen. Pippa went straight into the bath and Oli and I had to change our clothes completely and dry our hair. It had stopped raining by the time we got back and instead of changing his wet clothes, Eladio did some gardening.

It was a full house last night with three guests but as our house is so big we only saw Andy, our Scottish lodger. It was early to bed for us, as usual, and we watched the news and later a talent show (Prodigios) but for classical music instrument playing and ballet. The performers are aged 7-16 and some of them are fantastic. I slept through the last part of it though.

This morning I was up at 5.30 - still on winter time I am afraid and here I am now sitting at my desk finishing this week's post which I hope you will like.

That's it for now from me until next Sunday.

Cheers until then,
Masha