The perfect Yorkshire pudding, Christopher Robin, lunch with Julio and Fátima, 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, remembering my mother and other stories.

Sunday 9th June, 2019

With Fátima and Julio after our lunch on Wednesday

Good morning everyone.

I hope you have all had a good week. Mine has been quiet; a sort of calm after the storm of the preparations for my father's 100th and frankly I've been pretty lazy ever since. Maybe I needed to be though or I like to think so.  But in a way I am missing the activity.

Last Sunday was hot with the temperature rising to 33ºc. That't not hot for Madrid where we can expect anything up to 45ºc in the summer but it felt hot as the heat was quite sudden. Thank goodness we have to pool to cool off in. It was a quiet day, just the 4 of us, Eladio, my Father, Zena - his weekend carer - and I as Oli and Miguel left early in the morning to go back to their flat. Our French guests Romain and Alexandre left too but after we had gone on our walk so I only ever saw them once throughout their visit. They left me a good review. We had no new guests that night - only Andy our Scottish lodger. He went off into the mountains climbing thus the house was very quiet.

I spent part of the morning reading a new book  Victoria and Abdul.  My father's ex pupil had sent him it for his birthday. Called "The House by the Dvina" by Eugenie Fraser, it is an autobiography about her origins and childhood. I was intrigued to read the story of a girl who was half Scottish half Russian and how her family would survive the Russian Revolution. It is a book right up my street.

My book of the week

I only stopped to make lunch. That day I decided to do a Sunday roast and I made roast beef with all the trimmings which delighted my father. As I served him his food, he remarked "magnificent". Well what was magnificent was the Yorkshire pudding I made. I have tried many recipes over the years, including my paternal grandmother's but have found none better than this one from BBC Good Food website which you can find here. I had used it before and I find it perfect as the mixture really rises and puffs up just as it should. Here is the result.

My perfect Yorkshire pudding

I think my grandmother would have been proud of me. I remember when we lived in Yorkshire and having lunch at other people's houses and being served the Yorkshire "pud" alone with gravy. That must be a very Yorkshire thing.

We all needed a siesta afterwards. I couldn't sleep so turned to TV streaming and decided to watch a film I have been wanting to watch for a while but knew that Eladio would not be interested in. It was Christopher Robin of A.A. Milne fame. I was brought up on the Christopher Robin books by my mother who adored them. She used to read all the lovely poems to us as well as the stories of Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre wood. I am not sure why she was familiar with them as she certainly wasn't brought up on them in her strict Russian orthodox home in Bulgaria. In any case I have always loved the stories and brought up my children to love them too. If you haven't seen the film it's about when Christopher Robin grows up and finds his furry friends who will bring him to rescue from his midlife crisis  to the magic and love of his past. At the same time his wife and child will also get to know his friends. I just loved every minute of it.

Poster of the Christopher Robin film.

If you are an AA Milne fan and haven't seen the film I highly recommend it.

I later joined Eladio by the pool to carry on reading but first I had a bathe to cool off.  I spent a lovely two hours by the pool in perfect peace and harmony surrounded by our beautiful trees and flowers and feeling at peace with myself. Oh what a lovely home we have. I am so blessed to live in this marvelous house with its amazing Mediterranean garden and so much space. I feel sorry for people cooped up in tiny flats in this heat in Spain. However, not everyone here likes big houses. Many prefer to live in high rise blocks on top of each other. Not me.

Now the summer is here we have all our meals outside. Oli came back that evening after dropping Miguel off at the station who was travelling back to Valencia. I made a cold chicken salad which we had again surrounded by trees and flowers. The hedges at the back of the house are mostly adelfa trees which are so tall you can't see anything behind them. They are in flower now as are our hydrangeas, roses, geraniums, honeysuckle, etc. I am still waiting for my favourite flower of all to bloom, the jasmine. I have always associated summer in Spain with the fragrance of jasmine of which there was much in the area where my parents bought their Spanish house in Callosa de Ensarría. Every time I smell it I am transported back to my teenage years in Callosa in the 70s.

We sat at the table for a long time after our meal chatting and just enjoying our own company and our surroundings. At about 10.30 we went up to bed and I think I got quite a good night's sleep.

 I had been wondering how Suzy was getting on in London. I hadn't heard from her for quite a while so was pleased to see the photos she sent us on whatsapp which I woke up to on Monday morning. I particularly like this fun one of her outside an English red phone box. She has never used one but I of course have as I grew up with them. It's nice to see they are still around but I do wonder what they are used for these days. Maybe just nostalgia?

Suzy in London by a red English phone booth

Later in the day we had a long whatsapp call to catch up on each other's news and lives. Suzy is loving London and told me she has more friends there than in Madrid. Well, she did live there for 5 years so perhaps it's natural.

Monday was another hot day and a quiet one too. I spent the morning on e-mails but also on building the family tree to include my cousins in France from my mother's side. Andrew D. was once again instrumental in building it. I have cousins from both my mother's parents but the most complicated part is the tree of cousins from her mother's side. Her mother, Sophie Lieven née Stakhovitch had a brother Alexander who fled the Russian revolution and went to Paris while his sister and family went to Bulgaria. However there was a lot of contact over the years and my mother well remembers her adored cousins, Alexander's children; Alexander (Sasha), Marie (Masha), Olga and Anastasia (Nastushka). I only ever met Masha when she was very old and it was after my  mother's death but I felt the close relationship my mother had had with her.  I did also meet Nastushka but I was very young and don't remember. However, I met two of their daughters when we were bridesmaids at the wedding of my first cousin Zuka (Sophie - the daughter of my mother's brother Nicolai who also lived in Paris). They were Masha, daughter of Masha above who was 14 at the time and Marie Helene, daughter of Olga. It is with them and their families that we meet every year in France. Complicated eh? Well it is but I am determined to get it right so that the younger generations, especially my daughters and the daughters of Masha and Marie Helene, see the connection. Poor Andy who is building the tree is having a struggle with all the Maries or Mashas and Stakhovitches and all their Alexanders or Sashas. Not easy but something to get our teeth into. 

With all my cousins from last year's "Cousinade" in France. 

That took up most of the morning and would continue into the night as my cousins gave us more information or, mostly, wanted their photos changed haha. 

Meanwhile in England, Donald Trump and all his family and entourage had arrived in London for the US state visit where he would meet the Queen and of course Theresa May in her last days as Prime Minister. What a lark, what a farce, can't stand the man and I cringe to see him being hosted by the Queen of England.  Not many people lined the streets to see him. There were protests against his visit and a huge balloon resembling his face flew the skies of London.

My mind was on England this week and Wales and Ireland but not on Donald Trump. I worked all week on fine tuning our programme.  I always prepare a programme when we go on holiday; something I have inherited from my corporate days. I have also been in touch with Amanda to see her in The Cotswolds, with Kathryn for our time in Yorkshire and with Barry and Joanne about our time in Anglesey. In my mind on our walks I am doing our packing as we shall have to juggle with Ryan Air rules I'm afraid. Flying is not what it used to be I'm afraid. I can't believe the time has nearly come and we will be off next week.

Lunch was a light meal, fish and veg followed by fruit as all our meals are. Later I had a short siesta but was down again soon to enjoy the pool to myself. Later Eladio joined me and as we were on our very own I persuaded him to go in for his first bathe of the season. So, like Adam and Eve in our very own garden of Eden we bathed that day. 

Eladio's first bathe of the season was on Monday

It's not often he goes in the pool so I was glad to see him join me on Monday. He doesn't go in much but is in charge of its upkeep. He spent a lot of Monday trying to find spare parts for the old filter engine and also looking longingly at pool robot cleaners. 

I meanwhile continued reading my lovely book, The House by the Dvina. We had no interruptions until our latest guest, Sergio arrived. Originally from Colombia he lives in faraway Tarragona and had chosen our house to stay at while working for Orange the telephone company in Pozuelo. I only ever saw him once.

Believe it or not I got a freelance job proposal that afternoon that I actually turned down. It was to be as an MC at a University event and the pay was good but it would have consumed all my weekend so I turned it down. There would have been a lot of preparation too, no doubt and rehearsals and frankly I couldn't be bothered. I would have to be a lot worse off to accept it. However I was very grateful for the offer which came through a good friend, now a politician, who is always on the lookout for me. 

By that time Oli was back from work. That day she was not on camera but equally busy preparing reports, etc. We had dinner with her on the terrace and spoke well into the night only going up to bed after 10.30. That night, Eladio and I watched a film my friend Andrew D had sent to us called "Woman in Gold" about the attempt to retrieve, among other looted works of art by the Nazis, the family owned painting by Klimt called Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. 

The famous Klimt painting

I found it fascinating. You may be familiar with the story of Austria's "Mona Lisa" which was finally returned to the family and worth 135 million dollars. 

Tuesday came and it was another hot day although the temperature dropped to 28ºc and there was some wind which we would later see do its damage by our pool.

That morning Eladio and I did the food shopping, not our favourite task. We always wonder at the amount we buy and how in one week it is all gone. We spend a lot on fresh produce, mainly fruit and vegetable and that day I got a 2 kilo box of the thickest black cherries you can imagine. They are still very expensive as the season for cherries is just beginning but oh how I love them. I think that cherries, sweet mango and raspberries are my favourite fruit. Not me for apples, bananas and pears.

The wind made its appearance in the afternoon. I was carrying my book and cup of tea to the swimming pool terrace when I suddenly saw our huge parasol and wooden table had been blown into the pool obviously by a very strong gust of wind. This is what it looked like and some of the wooden planks from the table had come off and were floating on the water. I had hoped the table which is so old would be broken which would give me an excuse to buy a new one but that didn't happen.

The parasol and wooden table in the pool on Tuesday afternoon

I really thought that was the end of them both. I had to wake Eladio up from his siesta poor guy but it was a bit of an emergency. He is so strong he was able to lift both things out with only a bit of help from me. Soon he was putting everything back together again a bit like Humpty Dumpty. Here he is piecing together the table, the planks and the parasol which had not really been damaged as I suppose we caught them on time.

Eladio, like Humpty Dumpty, putting everything back together again.

From now on we shall keep the parasol closed to avoid it taking off into the air and landing in our swimming pool.

We spent the rest of the afternoon reading under the trees, well away from the wet table hahaha and were joined by our dogs as usual. Here is a super picture of Pippa asking Eladio to pick her up - she is so long. Of course she is as she is a sausage dog hahaha.

Eladio with Pippa on his lap in the garden on Tuesday afternoon

We spent the afternoon reading but did not go in the pool that day as it wasn't so hot. Later I prepared dinner we would have with Olivia that night; prawn, mango and avocado salad. Oli was delighted to see it on the table when she arrived back from work at just before 9 pm.

That night we watched episode 2 of Season 2 of "La Otra Mirada" on RTVE. We love the series. People in the Uk were watching something called UP63 on ITV which people are raving about but of course we can't get ITV here.

Wednesday came and it was the highlight of the week; the day I went out to lunch with my great friends Julio and Fátima to celebrate his birthday.

The weather turned that day and there was a cold wind. The temperature dropped by about 10ºc. Thus we went from 33 or so to 23. Unbelievably, in the mountain area of Madrid it snowed in June! We felt it on our walk and had to don a jumper each. Storm "Miguel" had made its appearance in the north of Spain and would then move to France and England causing havoc in some places. This is extremely unusual for June. That's climate change for you I'm afraid. 

That morning I pruned the roses and the geraniums. I also picked some for our upcoming Airbnb guests. My absolute favourites are the Racy Lady white roses tinged with pink and the orange ones.

Our Racy Lady roses. 

Our orange roses

That morning the sample of the second batch of my father's book arrived. The first 20 were published in haste to be on time for 1st May so we had to make corrections afterwards. Unfortunately they had got something wrong on the cover so it will have to be corrected. It is a never ending process.

Making sure lunch was organised for Eladio and my father - fish and chips - I got ready to go out. It was so nice to dress up, wear jewelry and put make up on for the occasion. Fátima picked me up and arrived late as usual at nearly 1.30 which was the time of our lunch appointment. Julio was waiting for us at the table he had booked at an Asturian restaurant in Pozuelo called Carús and one I know quite well and can highly recommend. It had been Julio's birthday on 16th May so it was to be a belated celebration. The three of us always go out for lunch on our birthdays. It was great to catch up on each other's lives and talk about our plans for the summer. Hopefully we will meet up in Santa Pola in July sometime. The food was divine. We had miniature scallops (zamburriñas) and artichokes for starters and I chose "fabada" (Asturian bean stew) for my second course, half of which I had to take home in a doggy bag.

I was home on time for a late siesta but sort of needed it after a rather copious lunch although we did not drink any alcohol. While I was out dining with my friends, Olivia was visiting the paraplegic hospital in Toledo, famous in Spain and which I once went to with my bladder issue. It is a very depressing place but does wonderful work for people who become paralysed after accidents. Olivia told us that most people there were victims of home accidents more than car accidents. She met two people who would feature in her TV report whose stories were those of extreme bad luck. In a question of a minute or so, just by falling the wrong one, their lives were suddenly truncated. She asked one of them what was the worst thing about being paralysed. He replied, not being able to control his own bodily functions. When I broke my leg a few years ago, I was able to experience what it is like to be disabled in a society which is set up for able people and it is not easy I can tell you. Here is our daughter with her cameraman and a rather sad looking victim of an accident. His face tells his story. However, he told her that life goes on and many people just have to put up with it and rise like the Phoenix bird from its ashes, learning how to adapt to society. Sad, sad, sad and bravo to them all.

Oli reporting from the Paraplegic hospital in Toledo on Wednesday

A TVE car brought her home and thus she was back earlier than usual. At around 8 pm we started making dinner together although I was not one bit hungry after my lunch out.

Thursday was another cool day. It was probably cold too in France where the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of D-Day were taking place. Macron and Trump took central stage with Putin not invited. Many veterans took part, all in their mid 90's to a hundred and so they should. They were much lauded. On 6th June 1944, the Allies invaded Normandy in the largest seaborne invasion in history. It was to be the beginning of the end of the war in Europe. The aim was to liberate France from Nazi invasion and it would eventually lay the foundations for the complete surrender of the German troops. Many died in the attempt with a similar amount of casualties on both sides. There were 10.500 Allied casualties with more than 4.000 dead and on the German side the figures are between 4 and 9 thousand.  Those who fought and died and those who fought and survived should never be forgotten. They fought for peace in Europe and the veterans today lament Brexit saying that all they did would have been for nothing if Europe is divided again. I could not agree more. There are very few of them left, their numbers are dwindling and their voices should be heard.

6th June 1944 - a date to be remembered.

These thoughts were on my mind as we went on our walk in the morning. It would be another quiet day for us but I did wish my dear father could have been among the veterans, although it must be said he was not involved in D-Day. I asked him where he was on that day and he said he thought he was either in Orkney or in The Shetlands. His missions were always in the Atlantic where his base was in Scotland and they were dangerous missions too, looking out for Nazi U-boats and mine sweeping. He is lucky to have survived.

That morning, the final manuscript of my father's book was sent off to the printers. Keep your fingers crossed I will get my new copies on time for our trip to the UK next week. My father began reading his book again that day, maybe for the 3rd or 4th time and Eladio started reading it again for the first time although he had read some of the original manuscripts. He found a mistake in the translation of a Latin phrase but it was too late for it to be corrected in the printed version of my book. I read, meanwhile, my father's latest book, The Terror of Tobermorey but frankly it was far too naval for me.

In France too that day, the men's semi-finals at Roland Garros, the French Open were being played and in pretty stormy conditions too.  Nadal was playing Federer in a truly classic match between the two tennis titans. Nadal, the King of Clay, once again robbed Federer of his chance of winning the French grand slam which the younger Nadal has won 11 times. He beat the Swiss in three straight sets. Later in the week I was surprised to see that Dominic Thiem beat the world's current number one, Novak Djokovic so Rafa will play the Austrian in today's final. What are your bets that the Spaniard raises the "Coupe des Mousquetaires" for the 12th time today. I'm certainly hoping he will. 

Not much else happened on Thursday. The highlight for me was watching Olivia on TV in the report she had done on the paraplegic hospital in Toledo the day before. It was a good but rather somber story as I wrote earlier. Here she is with one of the patients learning how to live from a wheel chair.

Olivia interviewing one of the paraplegic patients at the Toledo hospital in her report on Thursday.

On Thursday, our Colombian guest, Sergio, left without saying goodbye but thankfully left the keys. Later that night Alba and Javi, our repeat student guests were here again in what will be one of their last stays with us. They have been marvelous guests and feel more like friends than anything else.

Friday came and after an early, brisk and cool walk, I accompanied Oli to the clinic for her appointment. She is now in her 27th week and we learned that day that her baby boy is progressing so well he is really one week more developed than expected which means he may make his arrival a week early at the end of August . We saw the little boy with no name on the screen although I could only really work out his head and eyes. The gynecologist pointed out all the other parts of his body but I found them hard to relate to.  It is was very good news to know that my youngest daughter's pregnancy is going so well. After the appointment she went off to work to RTVE nearby and I went home after doing a few errands.

Friday was 7th June, a date etched in my memory as it would have been my mother's birthday.  It seems incredible that she died nearly 20 years ago. It was a day spent remembering her a bit more than usual as she is forever in my heart. I searched for a photo of her from the many I have posted over the years and I came up with a rare one of her as a young woman. In the original photo she is with her friend "Lyoka" a beautiful young girl who went on to live in Germany where we once visited her. My mother also looked beautiful in the photo. She was in her prime and it is perhaps the very best photo ever taken of her. I wonder what she was doing or thinking at that moment. It must have been in the early 40s when she was in her early 20s as she was born in 1920. This is it.

My mother as a young woman in Bulgaria in the early 40s.

Her family had fled Russia after the revolution and took refuge in an Orthodox country, living in Sophia. However, towards the end of WW2 the Red Army was about to take Bulgaria over and my mother escaped to Germany. She ended up in a refugee camp in Berlin and was later imprisoned by the Gestapo. She had a very eventful war in Germany with her brothers Nicki and Sasha and found herself in Austria when it finished having escaped the Red Army again just 4 days before it entered Berlin. She couldn't go back to Bulgaria which was now in the hands of the communists and stayed in Austria waiting for her parents and sisters Masha and Olga to arrive. But they never came as my grandfather who was an Orthodox priest decided to stay with his church, a decision he would late regret. My mother ended up working for the French Control Commission in Feldkirch helping displaced people. She eventually went to live in England where after quite a few trials and tribulations she met my father in Cambridge at the Cold War Russian courses for English servicemen and they married in 1953. Finally she found stability and happiness when she wed her Englishman but forever missed her family. My mother was the most charismatic and fun person I ever knew and a very cultured person loved by everyone who knew her too. We miss her everyday and we carry her in our hearts. 

When I posted the photo above on Facebook and Instagram many people pointed out that I looked just like her and that my daughter Suzy does too. It's funny because I never thought I did and it's only in this particular photo I see the resemblance. We have in common our green eyes but not much else. My mother was much taller than me, measuring 5.9 ft. Her limbs were longer and I remember her beautiful tapered hands. Mine are much shorter. She was very elegant in her own way although had little interest in things feminine being too much of an academic for that. 

We had lunch with my father and of course the subject of my mother's birthday came up. No doubt he was thinking of how hard it has been without her since she passed away nearly 20 years ago on 1st October 1999. Oh Mummy RIP. I do hope you can see us from "up there". 

So Friday was tinged with sadness as all 7th Junes and 1st Octobers are as are 12th February and 15th May the dates of my brother George's birthday and passing away. I only have my father left from our original family and I treasure him so much I dread the day he leaves us. He has to go on. I told him that when he reaches 105 he will get another card from the Queen. The Queen sends cards to centenarians and to those who reach 105 and every year after that. I hope the idea spurs him on. Bless you Daddy. We love and cherish you. 

Eladio and I spent the afternoon reading. He continued reading my father's book and later told me he was loving it and admired me for writing it.  Oh what a joy to have written the book about my father. Soon I shall start on my mother's story.

On Friday night we went out to dinner with Olivia and she got to choose where we went that night - to Nuevo Fogón in Majadahonda, a rich little town near where we live. Eladio and I went for fish and chips which, although nothing like real English fish and chips, were quite nice. I can't wait to have my favourite dish when in England next week. We came home to a quiet house and after enjoying some chocolate, went to bed quite late for us. 

Saturday came and the temperature would rise again. It was a quiet day. I went out to do some errands and came home to make lunch. Again we spent the afternoon reading although I had some very welcome interruptions from my girlfriends Kathy and Amanda about our holiday in the UK next week. Oli was out for most of the day socialising and didn't come back until the early evening. She brought with her her friend Elena or Elenita as the girls call her who joined us for dinner; a simple chicken salad which we had outside.

So my friends, the tales of this week have come to an end. Next week I will be writing from my beloved Yorkshire and that day will be off to see Sledmere where my father lived as a child.

So, until next week, all the very best to you all,
Cheers Masha

c