To Montrondo for a few days, Boris Johnson suspends Parliament, honey from a quaint house, home again, Gordon the guinea pig; Elliot's first friend, family dinner and other stories.

Sunday 1st September, 2019

Saturday night family dinner at Oli and Miguel's, the highlight of the week

Good morning all. It's 1st September today. How fast the summer has gone or is going. I suppose most of you are back from your holidays. Our main vacation to the UK, Wales and Ireland in June now seems so far away.

Last Sunday saw us home alone again after our Dutch guests left. We had the pool to ourselves and took advantage of it. Suzy had been out all night with her Australian friend whose phone, she told me, was stolen just as they were taking a taxi home. There are so many robberies in the streets of Madrid and Barcelona as there are in many other cities like London or Paris. What a world we live in.

She joined us by the pool and the four of us spent the afternoon reading. As usual we were accompanied by the dogs. Here are Elsa, our lab, Norah, our beagle and Pippa, our miniature dachshund, at Suzy's feet begging for some crumbs from her late lunch. You will be pleased to know they got a morsel each.

The dogs begging for some food

It would be our last day together for a while. The next day Suzy was having friends from London and they would be off to Cáceres to see another friend and wouldn't be back until Thursday. Miguel would be back from Valencia and for good until after his paternity leave and they would be at their flat near the city. Eladio and I, as you know now, would be off to Montrondo. I wasn't really for leaving, preferring to stay in Madrid in case Oli went into labour but Eladio persuaded me as he wanted to see about a leak on the terrace we have here and promised if she did go into labour we would head straight home. I went reluctantly. Thankfully she did not go into labour during our absence. I didn't want to miss a minute of it. 

We left at about 10 am on Monday morning. Eladio wanted to visit his mother too who had a recent fall and is now in a home for the elderly in León. On the bright side we stopped off at Palacio de Bornos for our traditional glass of wine - verdejo for me and sauvignon for Eladio - and plate of delicious ham. That was at 11.30 and would have to suffice as our lunch for the day.

Eladio at Palacio de Bornos on Monday morning

By 1.30 or so we reached the home and went to see Eladio's mother. We were there for about an hour after which we left for Montrondo, about an hour's drive away. I wanted to take Pippa with us into the home but she wasn't allowed. Spain as I always tell you is a very unfriendly country when it comes to dogs. I was sure her presence would bring a smile to the senior citizens and my mother-in-law which of course it would have but I had no option but to take her back to the car. I could have left her tied to a post outside but she hates that and is also at the mercy of dog thieves. Later I was upset to see how hot she had got in the car despite leaving the window open. The poor thing drank loads of water and was soon better but it was a lesson in the dangers of leaving a dog in a car, especially in the summer. 

We arrived in my husband's village to brilliant sunshine. Meanwhile in Madrid there were torrential downpours of rain There was a heavy and unexpected downfall at home in the morning before we left but later in the day the capital was hit by flash floods and hail with streets turning into rivers. It even affected the metro.  Down south, in Campillos, in the Málaga region there were even tornados. We never get tornados in Spain so what happened? Well, people are saying this extreme weather is a sign of climate change and it is of course. Luckily, we were not affected in our neighbourhood. Later the cold front moved east  to the Valencia region, causing  more damage and from there it went to the Balearic Islands after it left the peninsula making its way to Italy. 

But there was no sign of any rain in Montrondo. After unpacking the food we had brought to last us, Pippa and I went on a walk to Murias and back and a bit further to add a kilometre or two to Monday's exercise. The village looked lush and green as it always does but is even more beautiful in sunshine as you can see in the photo below.

The village as seen on my walk on Monday

I came home to read on the new sunbeds in the back garden for about an hour when at 8 pm it started to get cold. Just before I got a message from our new Airbnb guests, two couples from Israel, to say they had arrived. Only Lucy would be there to welcome them in and show them their rooms. Unfortunately though she does not speak English but I heard later everything went smoothly.

8 pm is usually our dinner time so I went in to make it and soon we were sitting at the table enjoying a tuna fish salad. Later we watched the news; mainly about the outcome of the G7 in Biarritz one of the topics being the fires in the Amazon and a bit of a row between Bolsonaro and Macron.  At long last the new President of Brazil, a far right and controversial figure, had bowed down to international pressure and had sent the army out.  However, he refused financial aid offered by France from the EU claiming they had a colonial attitude he would not accept. What a stupid man he is. The Amazon fires affect the world and what's wrong in accepting international aid? Last week I wrote that none of the G7 leaders would bathe in the sea but I was wrong; some of them did, although under heavy security. 

I have no idea what else we watched on TV or Netflix that night as by about 10.20 pm I had fallen asleep on the sofa and Eladio nudged me to go to bed. I slept until 5 but it was too early to get up and luckily I was able to sleep until about 6.30.

Tuesday came and it was another good day weather wise. It was sunny throughout our stay in Montrondo although the maximum temperature never surpassed 22ºc but that was fine with me and a bit of a respite from the heat in Madrid.  After breakfast I set about an important domestic task, changing the sheets in the bedrooms and cleaning all four bathrooms which I hadn't had time to do when we left last time. Later I spent time cooking; something I love to do here. I made home made broccoli and mushroom soup followed by a pork rib stew with potatoes. As usual I made too much and we would be having leftovers at some stage.

I also did some work that morning. I love working from my little study in our house in Montrondo. As there is no one else around it's much easier to concentrate. With work out of the way, I got on with the day.

I slept a marathon siesta with Pips at my feet and we woke up at nearly 6 pm. A cup of tea was in order after that followed by an evening walk in the sun with my husband. The three of us enjoyed the quiet and beautiful walk to the end of Murias and back. It was quite warm and both Pippa and I were thirsty when we entered the village. Pippa headed straight for the natural mountain spring and I followed suit. The water comes straight from the hill tops and is cool and chemical free. Eladio took a photo to capture the moment and I love it.

In Montrondo this week - here drinking fresh mountain water after a walk.

Meanwhile back in Madrid, Oli and Miguel were nesting before Elliot's birth, the right thing to do as they both need a lot of rest to conserve their energy for his arrival, especially my daughter. That day the put up some wall prints to decorate his room. They later sent a photo. I was to see it with my own eyes on Saturday night when we were invited to dinner by Oli and Miguel. 

Everything is ready for Elliot's arrival.

Suzy, being foot loose and fancy free - lucky her - was with her London friends in Cáceres and sent us a photo too. Here she is enjoying the company of her friends and some of their family.  I asked her who was who but never got an answer. No doubt she was having too good a time to look at her phone, for once. 

Suzy having a good time in Cáceres this week

Instead of going straight home from the spring, I meandered off to see one of the villagers, Manolita. I wanted to offer her my condolences for the recent passing away of her brother Isaac. Not so many years ago she lost her other brother and is now the only sibling left. I know the feeling. Thankfully though she has a niece and a nephew with whom she is in close contact. She was making a pie accompanied by her nephew Isaac's wife, Ana, curiously a teacher of English. I had a good chat with both of them until it was time to leave. Really it was time for our dinner.

Dinner was a light affair; scrambled eggs with fresh asparagus. However, I indulged in a glass of red wine we had bought at the Palacio de Bornos which had me nodding off during the news. Thus, once again, we were in bed super early - just after 10 pm. We were too tired and sleepy to watch anything on Netflix that night.

On Wednesday morning I was awake at 5.30. I saw I had some Airbnb enquiries. I cannot ignore them, so after answering them, I was wide awake and got out of bed and went upstairs to our kitchen to have my morning caffeine fix.

It was another quiet day for us but not for the UK. The most dreadful thing happened. Our hard line Brexiter and un-voted for Prime Minister (by the people),  Boris Johnson, just shocked the world when he asked the Queen to suspend Parliament for 5 weeks. His reason? To get on with important government legislation. So, sure, he needs lots of time for that. In reality and although he denies it, what he has really done is to cut short the time needed to debate Brexit and the UK leaving the EU.  I am disappointed the Queen gave him his way. Did she have a choice, I wonder, from her bolt hole in Scotland? How could this happen? Apparently this is allowed in UK Government law, so yes it is legal. It may be legal but in my eyes it is completely immoral. I am furious and am one of those who has signed a petition to stop the suspension. Have you signed it yet? If not here it is.

Boris Johnson and the Queen

I often wonder, between you and me, whether the Queen is for Brexit or against it. I suspect it is the latter but that she had no power to stop Bojo's undemocratic move. I do suspect also that he may well be her least favourite Prime Minister of all those she has worked alongside. But we will never know unless someone one day writes a biography and includes what she thinks both about Boris Johnson and Brexit.

We got on with the day. After some work, I spent the morning reading in the back garden. What a luxury and what lovely weather. At midday we drove to Murias, the next village. The day before we had spied a small poster advertising locally made honey being sold by a villager. Eladio was not brought up on treats such as chocolates and sweets like most of us were. When he was a child, he lived under Franco's rule and when he was born in 1944 the dictator was at the height of his power and it was not long since the Civil War had finished. Rationing was the norm and although there was more food to be found in the villages, there were no such luxuries as sweets for children or certainly not on a frequent basis. His treat as a child was honey and has been ever since. Thus our home is always stocked with it. We had run out here so when I saw the sign, I rang the number and agreed to come and pick up 3 large jars on Wednesday. It so happened that the family selling their home made honey are from one of my favourite houses in Murias. I have only ever seen it from the outside and have always admired its old fashioned and quaint structure and one of the few houses to have preserved its 19th century style. This is it.

My favourite house in Murias

The style of houses in this area is quite unique and most of the façades are white or stone. Many people in recent years who have rebuilt old houses or built new ones, have ignored the local style and spoiled it by painting houses yellow, pink, orange or even purple believe it or not. They have used modern style roofing not at all in keeping with the style of the past and there are quite a few monstrosities around I can tell you; complete eye sores. But this beautiful house is a sight for sore eyes. Eladio told me it used to be where the local priest lived when he was a little boy. A certain "Don Juan" lived in it and was the priest who baptised my husband when he was born.

On Wednesday I was to see inside it as we knocked on the door to pick up the honey. We were greeted by the owner, a delightful lady called Chus. She showed us around the old house with its quaint patios and old fashioned beams and floors. She took us into the kitchen and lounge which felt like walking into a house in the 19th century. Oh how lovingly she had restored this most singular of houses in Murias. It was the highlight of the day to see inside.  The world is a small place we learned again that day when the owner told Eladio she thought he had taught her sons when he was a teacher of philosophy at a military school in Madrid called El Gran Capitán in the 80's. Indeed it is.

We came home to make lunch - fish and chips was on the menu that day which we wolfed down. After a shorter siesta than usual, Eladio mowed the lawn while I went out for my walk with Pippa. It was a warm evening and I didn't need my cardigan.

We had the old path to ourselves. Here is Pippa charging towards me on the green path.

Pippa charging towards me on the old path 

We did see the odd animal though but not my favourite donkey and pony which must have been in another field. I did see a beautiful white horse though at the end of the village in Murias. I went up to it to take a photo and it came up to be stroked. I would have done so with great pleasure but it was covered in flies; quite disgusting. If I had a horse, I would keep it immaculate like I keep our dogs.

The white horse in Murias 

We saw just one person on our walk back; "Logio" (Elogio), an elderly man who lives in Murias but was born in Montrondo. I nearly always see him on my walk. We always say hello and in a very English fashion, always comment on the weather.

I came home to read a bit more in the sun before it was time for dinner. Back home in Madrid, the girls were entertaining. Suzy was back with her London friends from Cáceres, Oli was there with Miguel and they had invited their bosom pal, Elena, and must have had a splendid dinner on our terrace. Above all Oli was pleased the house was guest free as that day the Israelis had left. Suzy later sent me a photo of the girls together. Unfortunately I was not to meet her friends from London as when we got back they had already left.

The girls and their friends at our house on Wednesday night

We had a simple dinner and then watched the news. I was disgusted with the news of the suspension of Parliament as I told you. Later we watched a British TV series on Netflix, or rather started one: "Requiem" which is a bit slow and by about 11 pm we were both nodding off.

On Thursday morning I was up a bit later but still early; at 6.15. We were leaving that morning. We took it leisurely and were ready to go at about 10.30. Rather than heading straight for Madrid we took a detour and drove to León to visit Eladio's mother. When we got to the home, she was being taken on a walk outside and seemed in good spirits. With Pippa in the hot car, we couldn't stay long so at about 12.30, we set off again. I was dying for a coffee and we found a little bar just on the outskirts of the city and before the motorway. I was very surprised to see that Pippa was allowed in, after all dogs are strictly out of bounds in cafés and restaurants in Spain or so I thought. The owner told me that there was a new law making it up to the owner of the establishment to let pets in or not and that she had chosen to let them in. She was a dog enthusiast and told me she had just adopted a beagle. "A beagle I said. Oh I have to see it". As you know we have a beagle, Norah, and used to breed them in our younger days. What I didn't like seeing was that the poor dog was tied up albeit on a very long leash. The owner explained it was because she was afraid it would run away. The place looked closed up enough to me and I urged her to let it loose. Oh what a sucker I am for dogs.

Soon we were on the motorway and discussing where to have lunch on the way. We decided on the Parador in Tordesillas and that's where we went. It's not one of the most stunning Paradors in that it's not a restored old castle, palace or monastery but it is still lovely as they all are.

The facade of the Parador just outside Tordesillas

Here Pippa was definitely not allowed in. I'm not sure about this new law the lady at the bar in León told me about. So, we left our little dog in the car in the shade with the window partially down. I do wish Spain was a more dog friendly country. Eladio and I love the state run Paradors in Spain and the food on offer at their well run restaurants, even if they are a little slow. Eladio went for a chickpea stew and I went for my proverbial steak and chips. I was served a nice piece of meat but with just 4 chips!! Having quite a lot of English blood in me, I protested, so was brought 4 more! Spaniards don't go much for "sides" with their main meals I'm afraid and the Parador in Tordesillas wasn't much different. On the bright side that was good for my figure hahaha.

We were home by about 5ish to find just Suzy waiting for us. Well, she was sitting at the table outside the kitchen working and we didn't see much of her that afternoon, although she joined us for dinner that night. I had stuff to do but at about 7 pm was able to relax by the pool, take a dip and read a bit. Eladio had to deal with a leak in the water mains which had happened while we were away. It was nice to see my father again and good to hear he had been well looked after.  What was not nice was to see three speeding fines had arrived in the post. They were from our road trip to France where Suzy had driven like Schumacher so I suppose they were not unexpected. Two were from France and one from Spain. All in all I paid about 200 euros, enough to have gone by plane to Bordeaux commented Eladio ironically. I paid them immediately and was impressed with how they do it in France, fast and quick through a special app. Paying the Spanish one was easy too but had to be done talking to a machine on the phone on an expensive number to ring.

The house was clean and tidy, thanks to Lucy and it was also guest free. Our next set of guests are not coming until today; a couple with their baby from Holland.

We lingered too long after dinner to watch the news and thus started on a film on Amazon Prime. However, we soon fell asleep feeling tired from our journey.

Friday came and I had lots to do. I had drawn up a to do list as I often do and that would also include making lunch for everyone including Miguel and Oi who would be joining us.  At the moment I have two press releases in the making so they kept me busy that morning. Thankfully Lucy was on hand to make lunch for everyone. Oli had yet another baby monitoring session at the hospital and all seems fine. Not long now. On her way back she stopped at the post office to pick up a parcel. Very annoyingly, the postal service in this area no longer delivers parcels and you have to pick them up. Soon she had in her hands Gordon the guinea pig who will be Elliot's first friend. My dear friend Jacky had lovingly knitted it for Elliot. It's so sweet and anything handmade for a baby has, in my mind, an extra meaning. It just can't beat bought stuffed toys. So meet Gordon, the Guinea Pig:

Gordon the guinea pig, Elliot's first friend

By lunchtime, my work was out of the way or part of it. Thus I was able to enjoy the family meal. Later we all had siestas and then convened by the pool to read. Thunder threatened and I got caught in a huge rain storm when I went out to do some quick food shopping for dinner and the weekend. Driving home was a challenge as the roads turned to rivers and I was a little afraid. Thank God I wasn't on a motorway. In any case the drive was short and I was home soon with my shopping load.

Oli and Miguel went out to dinner and Suzy preferred to stay at home and have dinner with us. For the first time in ages we had it inside. It was at that time, internet, decided to play up or rather the fixed line connection which meant wifi was not working. I rang the provider to hear a taped message that the line was down as there was an incident in the area. No doubt it was because of the thunder storm. It wasn't restored until the early hours of Saturday. Things never come in ones, they come in twos and threes and it was not only internet that was giving us trouble. The other day there was a water leak and it turns out there is problem with the pipe buried in the garden which channels the water to the house. Various plumbers have been and of course Eladio has been in touch with the Insurance company but so far not so good as it seems the affected pipe is very deep under the garden. That means we are losing precious and expensive water until it is repaired. We now have to wait until tomorrow Monday for a plumber to come with the right machinery to mend the leak. Cross your fingers.

That night we had to watch Netflix using our phones as a modem. We began watching a new series on RTVE, a family suspense thriller but soon fell asleep. I woke up at 3.30 in the morning, looked at my phone to see the time and saw various important emails which I was unable to avoid reading. Thinking about them and the work that would entail because of them kept me awake for at least an hour so I had very interrupted sleep that night.

Saturday came and the atmosphere was cooler after the rain but then all trace of it left and the sun was out again and the temperature reached 34ºc. Saturday was 31st August and the 22nd anniversary of the tragic death of Lady Diana, Princess of Wales. We all still miss her and can never forget her. There are no words to describe the "people's princess" and what she meant to everyone. I remember as if it was yesterday finding out about her death. I think it was a weekend and when I saw the newspaper headlines, I burst into tears. England and the world had lost someone so special, someone we would never forget. She was just 36, 4 years younger than me and I couldn't believe it was happening. Even the girls who were quite small then remember me crying, especially during her funeral which I watched glued to the TV. Maybe one of the most emotional moments was when Elton John sang the newly worded "Candle in the Wind" especially for her which began with the phrase "Goodbye England's Rose". I bought the song and played it over and over again. In fact it would later become my phone's ring tone for many years. Remembering her and prompted by Olivia I have recently watched bits of 2 documentaries on Netflix about her tragic life: "The Story of Diana" with interviews with her brother and "Diana in her own words". The latter is fascinating as it is nearly entirely made up of taped interviews with her so the story is told by her in the first person. I love her voice.  I don't think there will ever be anyone like her again.  I shall always miss her.

Irreplaceable Lady Diana 

But Facebook reminded me of something far more positive yesterday. 8 years ago that day, Olivia made her first live TV report when she worked for a programme called "La Mañana" on TVE. Until then she did lots of behind the scenes stuff and some taped reports but that day was to be her debut as  a live TV reporter. She told us, chillingly,  later that it was her first chance to become one and that if she had got it wrong or made a mistake she would never have been asked again.  It was a make it or break it moment and no doubt she must have been very nervous although that wasn't obvious when we saw her on TV. Thankfully she did it perfectly. Her debut, believe it or not, was with Pedro Almodovar and Antonio Banderas at the press conference for the premiere of the film "La piel que habito". Here she is with the famous Spanish director. She was just 26 at the time and told me yesterday that she didn't wear any make up. Amazing. Since then she has grown professionaly and become an accomplished and successful TV journalist. I was proud of her that day and am proud of her today. I still get a thrill when I see her on TV. What is it about TV I wonder?

Oli with Pedro Almodovar 8 years ago after her first live report with TVE

I remember Suzy and I were so excited and happy for her, we decided to make her favourite food for lunch that day. In those days she worked from 6 in the morning till 2 as La Mañana is a morning programme. We decided to make "croquetas". The problem was we had never made them before and they are fiddly to prepare. But we did it. Here we are proud mother and sister making croquettes for Olivia to celebrate her first live TV appearance.

Saturday was a quiet day after the storm. I had lots of work to do in the morning including drafting a new press release which had me busy until lunch time. I tried to get all my work out of the way so as to be free to read by the pool in the afternoon. I nearly managed it although I had to leave my sunbed and return to my desk a couple of times. While my afternoon was quiet, the streets of England were full of people demonstrating against Boris Johnson's suspension of Parliament. I am so angry with what is happening in politics in the UK at the moment and have been ever since the referendum in which I was not allowed to vote in even though the outcome would affect me a lot.

On a more positive not, last night we were invited for dinner by Miguel and Oli to their house. I wondered to myself whether it would be the last dinner there before Elliot arrives. I was keen to see his new room and all the paraphernalia the couple have gathered, bought and collected for their new baby.

As we were leaving, the dogs were by the kitchen patio looking at us woefully as if to say, "take us with you". We weren't going on a walk so we couldn't and they looked a little mournful and turned their backs on us but not before I had caught them on camera.  Here they are, our little dachshund Pippa, our labrador Elsa and, slightly hidden, our naughty beagle, Norah. I say naughty because she is a food snatcher. Apparently when the Israeli guests were here this week and we were in Montrondo, one night while they were eating at the big wooden table outside the kitchen, Norah jumped up on the table and gobbled down all their food. Poor things. I hadn't been there to warn them to keep the chairs close to the table as if one is pushed out a bit, she can jump on it and then jump from the chair to the table. I'm still dreading their review which they haven't posted yet. Oh dear! Anyway they look very sweet here.

Leaving the dogs behind yesterday when we went out for dinner to Oli and Miguel's

Suzy had gone ahead in my car as she would be sleeping over. On the way she bought some ice cream for dessert. We left a little while later with a bottle of our favourite wine, "Juan Gil". We arrived to find Oli and Miguel in the throes of finishing cooking what looked like a sumptuous meal. It was lovely to be the guest for a change and not the cook which is the norm in our family gatherings and dinners. I took the opportunity to take a proper look at Elliot's room which I loved. I couldn't believe how much stuff they have for him. Suzy and I have been wracking our brains to buy something for Elliot which they haven't got and it's difficult to come up with anything.  Hopefully next time we go to their flat Elliot will be using all the paraphernalia hahaha.

Before we tucked in we had to have the proverbial photo to capture the moment and that is the photo I have chosen to illustrate today's post.  It's lovely. As to the dinner it was lovely too. Miguel and Oli served us stuffed aubergines, octopus with potato pure, croquettes and giant prawns. Everything was made from scratch and was delicious. For dessert there was  a choice between rice pudding (Eladio's favourite - not mine), fruit and ice cream.  On offer was Haagen-Dazs macadamia, Jerry and Ben's vegan cookie and chocolate chip and even coconut. I had to try them all.

Later we all went for a walk around the block or rather behind the apartments which has a lit path at night. We said our goodbyes at around 11 pm with strict instructions to Oli to let us know when the first signs of labour appear.

The house was quiet when we got back and we were in bed by midnight. I was wide awake so watched a bit of the documentary "Diana in her own words" until I fell asleep.

Today is Sunday 1st September and the start of a new month.  I will be busy preparing for our new Airbn guests, a young couple from Holland and their one and a half year old baby which of course means I shall be having to hide Pippa.

I shall sign off now, publish this, give a hard copy to my father and then go on our morning walk.

I wish you all a great week ahead. I wonder if this will be the week that Elliot arrives. It's all so exciting.

Cheers till next Sunday
Masha.

Home alone! exciting news about my book, 36 years together, our anniversary dinner, Elliot is coming and other stories.

Sunday 25th August, 2019

Photo taken during our anniversary dinner on Wednesday night

Dear all.

How has your week been? Are you still on holiday? Away at some exotic location? Not us, we are at home; that is the four of us and my father. It's been a quiet week.

Last Sunday saw our 6 Brazilian guests finally leave after a rather invasive 3 days with us when they never left the house. They finally left, leaving us a nice note in the guest book, an hour after check out time which is at noon. Thankfully, later they gave me a 5 star rating.

When they left, it meant we were home alone. Pippa was the one who was most pleased as finally she was able to run free. With little children in the house I have to hide her as she is afraid of them and barks a lot. The girls came back from their excursion to Lozoya but only Suzy came for lunch.

Eladio and I had the pool to ourselves that day and we took advantage of it. My dear husband had to clean it first though, ridding it of the green rim that appears when people use sun screen lotion. It means cleaning it on your knees using a scrubber and a strong detergent. But he got his reward though, a swim alone in the freshly cleaned pool to cool off after his work. I had to have a photo as he hardly ever goes in.

Eladio enjoying the pool to himself on Sunday afternoon

Miguel was returning to Valencia that night. Thus Oli came to spend the week which meant the four of us would be together. And together that night we had a lovely dinner. Lucy made two small Spanish "tortillas" which we all enjoyed.   I  treasure the memory of us around the table together when I was fully conscious that each and every meal together is a gift as soon Suzy will be going back to Bali and Oli will be very busy with her new baby. Probably we all will. Oh gosh, how her life and our lives are going to change. I keep looking at her ever growing bump which now at 38 weeks, with just 2 to go, looks like it's bursting. Elliot is growing and is expected to weigh over 3.5 kg when he makes his way into this world.

Monday came and I was up earlier than ever. I went down to feed the dogs and have breakfast and only then did I realise that it wasn't 6.30 as I had thought but actually half past five in the morning. Silly me, I had not looked properly at the time on my phone. It was too late to go back to bed so I just got on with the day. I had to edit a document I had written for a customer, so spent the time finishing it off. By 7.30 it was sent.

By 8.15, Eladio and I set off on our walk with the dogs. Thankfully on Monday there were no horrible rabbit and pigeon hunters - oh how I hate them. On Monday we were alone at home too and would be until that night when Andy our Scottish lodger was returning from a short break home to see his family in Antibes. Our next set of guests, a group of 5 young Dutch people wouldn't be coming until Wednesday night. So again we made the most of the day together.

Unusually for her Suzy also went swimming in the pool. Wearing a hat and with some new blue tooth ear phones, she did some lazy exercise while Oli and I looked on. Until last Sunday the weather had been very hot in the mid to high 30's. Thankfully this week we have had a respite with temperatures at just 30 or 31c which is far more tolerable.

Suzy in the pool on Monday morning

 I left the girls there to go and do a bit of shopping at Carrefour Market mostly to get fruit. I would do the main shopping at Mercadona the next day.

Lunch was together again too which I know pleases my father. We remarked to him that Wednesday would be our wedding anniversary. He congratulated us and commented "so you stayed together" or something similar to which I replied, "it's too late to leave him now". That had him chuckling. One of the most special moments of my wedding day 36 years ago was walking down the aisle with my father. I think it was probably one of the proudest days of his life. We were married on 21st August 1983 and he was aged 64, just two years older than I am now. I'm sure he has remembered the moment all his life, just as I have. Here he is walking me down the aisle. I love the picture and all that it represents.

Walking down the aisle with my father on my wedding day. There are no words to describe what it meant to me. For my father it must have been one of the proudest and happiest moments of his life. 

We all had a siesta afterwards and then congregated by the pool which we had all to ourselves. What a luxury. The girls and I spent most of the afternoon there. I was reading my new book, "Winter in Madrid" by C.J. Sanson, set in Madrid before, during and after the Civil War. It makes for fascinating reading. Oli was reading a brochure her midwife had given her which may have been about giving birth - no doubt that is on her mind the whole time. I don't know what Suzy was reading but it was lovely to be together. It was somewhat cloudy but still very warm and Eladio thought it was the perfect moment to mow the lawn. The grass had grown so much since he last did it that he had to mow it twice poor chap.

Later the girls and I made our dinner. Both Oli and I had a craving for pasta which I hadn't eaten for yonks and made some wholemeal pasta to which we added home made tomato sauce, basil from the garden and some left over green beans with garlic. Again we had a lovely meal together.

That night Eladio and I continued watching a series we had begun when we had finished the hospital one called New Amsterdam. "La Víctima número ocho" (Victim number 8) is a terrorist thriller set in Bilbao in the north of Spain and is one of the best series we have seen in a while.

We have binge watched it and that night watched episodes 5 and 6 - there are only 8 and switched the light off after midnight.

On Tuesday morning I woke up at 5.30 but this time looked closely at my phone and promptly went back to sleep until 6.30. Tuesday was a another quiet day with not much to report. It was another day with the girls, all four of us, and the last day of us being "alone at home".

We are nearing the end of August and most of Spain is on vacation but we are enjoying a quiet time at home, treasuring moments together. On the news scene, there are 3 main topics at the moment or 4. First the wild fires in Spain on the Costa del Sol and the more terrible one in Gran Canaria. But a much worse fire is burning elsewhere in the Brazil rainforest, due to deforestation which could have catastrophic consequences. The so-called lung of our planet has been on fire for 3 weeks yet not much has been reported on it.

Then there is the story of the Spanish NGO ship, Open Arms, with over a 100 migrants on board who are coming to the end of their tether waiting to be allowed to disembark in Italy. Finally they were allowed to disembark but the ship was retained by the Italian authorities. The third topic or maybe the first is Brexit of course. Boris Johnson is hoping to get the countries of the EU to rethink the Irish backstop. We have seen leaked documents from the Government about their preparations for a crash out of the EU on 31st October and we have also read that as from day 1, free movement of EU nationals will be over in the UK. That can only have one consequence and that is a reciprocal approach by the EU countries. So, if the UK doesn't respect EU citizens' rights in the UK, the same will happen to UK citizens in the EU, like my father and I. That doesn't bear thinking about. I shall now have to pursue the route to getting Spanish nationality. The fourth topic is hardly news really, it's a total farce. It seems Bojo's crazy American counterpart, Donald Trump, wants to buy Greenland. Did you hear that right? Is this believable? Is the man mad? Greenland is not up for sale. This is not the Empire and countries cannot buy other countries but Trump doesn't seem to know. Luckily this piece of news is not going to happen but it is just one more thing that shows how deranged the US President is.

All these thoughts were on my mind when I took my walk that morning with Pippa alone. Eladio was tired after mowing the lawn and slept in. It was on my walk that I got a sudden piece of good news. Back in July I got a surprising email from a London publisher, one that I had written to submitting the manuscript of my father's book. Since then there has been a lot of tooing and froing of emails about its publication. Well that day I got an email from the Senior Editor to say a full appraisal had been made of my good and the outcome is that they want to go ahead with publishing it. Of course I have yet to see the contract which I shall share with a lawyer friend before I sign it. The nicest part of the email was when they told me the book was well written. Their exact words were: "your book is well written and interesting and and clearly has historic value". That for me in a way was praise enough. For a publisher to tell me, a first time author with no real training in writing, was very flattering. At that moment the person I most wanted to share the news with was my mother but of course she is no longer here. She died aged 79 on 1st October 1999, nearly 20 years ago and we miss her every day. I thought how proud she would be of me. Then I began to think how sad she won't be here for Elliot's birth and then I welled up and talked to her from my heart. Oh how I wish she could still be here with us.

I came home to tell the family the news. I also told my father who was surprised and pleased. The publisher has mentioned my book being sold in Foyles and Waterstones. I can hardly believe it. It's funny but my mother used to buy her books at Foyles in London when she lived there after WW2 and my father's favourite book shop in Bradford was Waterstones. Will my book really be sold there? Will people want to buy it I wonder? Well, we can only try.

Front cover of my father's book soon to be published officially 

The good news gave me a big high that day. The publishers who seem a very serious business sent me links to other authors' books they had published as well as examples of PR they had done. Some of it was of authors on TV shows in the UK. I can hardly imagine myself going on TV to talk about my book or can I? Of course I can. I'd love to do that.

On Friday I got even better news from my soon to be London based publisher. It was to confirm their interest in publishing the book and to send me their publishing proposal. If I accepted it which I did, the next step is for them to send me a contract. Once that is signed the publishing can begin. Gosh this exciting news has made my week. I loved the words, black on white in the second email which said: "You will probably have guessed from this email that we would indeed like to publish your book, so I am pleased to attach our publishing proposal for the Biography of C. Courtenay Lloyd". By the way, if you haven't read it yet and are a Kindle reader, you can find it on any Amazon site. This is the UK one. When I looked up the link to paste it here, I had a surprise. A customer had left a 5 star review, my first review. This is it.

First customer review on Amazon for my father's book

I think I know who it's from and I am very grateful. I encourage you all to read my father's book and give me your candid opinion. 

I lived on that news on Tuesday as we spent a very quiet day together. It panned out a lot like Monday and I told my family at dinner that I treasure each and every meal together as I said earlier. Soon our lives will change, Elliot will be here and sadly Suzy will be gone at the end of October.

Wednesday came and our new set of guests would be coming, the bunch of 5 from Holland aged between 23 and 29 who came for a wedding and an extended weekend in Madrid. They sounded like nice people.

Wednesday was 21st August and our anniversary. It's amazing to think that we got married so long ago. I was just 26 and Eladio was 39 but looked 10 years younger.  Every year I dig out the same photo of our wedding. This year though I made more of an effort and went to find the old album to choose some different photos. One I particularly like is of the moment just after Eladio had made his vows in English (I made mine in Spanish). It was in front of the Very Revd. Brandon Jackson, a vicar and family friend who came over specially to marry us. When Eladio pronounced these most beautiful words, hesitatingly in English, words that were unfamiliar to him as he didn't know English at the time; I welled up. "I, Eladio Freijo Calzada, take thee, Masha Lloyd, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge thee my troth". It was the last sentence: "thereto I pledge thee my troth" which he pronounced with a very sweet Spanish accent that made me well up when it was my turn to say the same words. I couldn't carry on and began to cry uncontrollably, unable to stop. All the women in the pews began to cry too. Brandon Jackson, Eladio, my Father and my mother-in-law, all tried to comfort me and held my hand. In the photo below you can see I am crying. I remember thinking "I can't stop" and then dear Brandon Jackson looked at me and said; "we have all the time in the world, you just take your time and when you are ready we shall continue". Thankfully those words calmed me down, I stopped crying and was able to make my vows too. My make up was ruined though hahaha. It is a moment I remember as if it were yesterday.

The moment I welled up during our marriage ceremony 

I also love the one of Eladio putting the ring on my finger, the decisive moment I should say.

Our wedding 36 years ago on 21st August

I have never taken it off since and neither has Eladio taken his off. 36 years is a long time but looking back it seems time has flown. We started off our marriage in our newly bought old flat in the Salamanca district of Madrid. It had no kitchen, we hardly had any furniture but it was our nest, the nest that we would build and become the family we are today. It took a lot of hard work to reach the standard of living we have today and we still have to work hard to keep that standard of living. That's one of the reasons we offer up our huge house to Airbnb guests. We have had many years of what I would call "a marriage as good as it gets" and I am blessed to have married the man of my dreams who I loved then and still love today. Today aged 62 and nearly 75, we face the difficult prospect of growing old together. How much quality time do we have left I often ask myself? However much time it is I promise we shall live it to the full. We shall do so together with companionship and always putting the right foot forward, always helping each other until death do us part as we promised in our marriage vows 36 years ago.

Wednesday was quite a busy day. It started off with our morning walk for which we had the pleasure of Suzy's company. It was the main food shopping day and Eladio and I went off to Mercadona for the basics. I was caught in the kitchen unloading everything and making lunch too, by the arrival of our 5 Dutch guests who had arrived far earlier than I thought. I had to leave everything I was doing and rush out to greet them. They are a lovely bunch of young people but I'm afraid I can't remember all their names. They loved their rooms and the fruit platters I had prepared for them. I showed them to their rooms and around the house leaving the kitchen until later when it would be cleared and empty.

Straight after lunch I had a conference call with one of my customers after which I had to send off some documents. I worked till about 5.30. The girls meanwhile had gone out to have their hair cut. They looked gorgeous when they came back. It's funny but their new hairstyle is a bit like mine. Here they are together. Suzy completely clipped her long locks as she had so many split hairs but I think the new hairstyle really suits her. Hopefully she will still be able to put it up in her trademark bun.

The girls after having a hair cut

The Dutch guys spent the afternoon by the pool. That afternoon we didn't have time for reading in the garden. We had to go out and buy a mattress for Suzy to sleep on as the Ikea single sofa bed was to be used by our guests. We decided to get an inflatable mattress so it can be put away when not in use. We also had to get bedding for it and while at the department store, El Corté Inglés, I also had to buy some new kitchen towels as the ones we have are so old they are tearing apart.

We came home to make up the new bed. The inflatable mattress is great and pumps up and down electrically thank goodness.

By then it was nearly time to go out to dinner. I had booked a table for 9 pm. We wanted to go earlier so I rang the restaurant only to find The Fork app had let me down as it as it was closed in August. Thus we had to quickly find an alternative. We chose "Denominación de Origen" in nearby Boadilla which only I had been to and only once. We all got dressed up as fitted the occasion, Oli and I wearing dresses Suzy and I had bought in France and Suzy wearing a lovely little white number. As we reached the restaurant Eladio took this photo of the three of us.

My lovely daughters and I on our anniversary dinner out on Wednesday

We liked the choice of restaurant, not so all the dishes although some were really good. Best was the dessert though as they had one of our favourite ice cream flavours; coconut which you don't find often here.  It was very special to celebrate our 36th anniversary together with both our daughters. It was actually a very special night. Oli, who usually takes our anniversary dinner photo ever year, obliged again this year and took the one featuring this week's post. She took quite a few and I also like this one of me looking at my lovely husband. Part of the secret of a love marriage is admiration and respect and I am full of both for my husband.

Another photo of us at our anniversary dinner this week

All in all it was a lovely dinner and we all went home feeling happy and also rather full. We came home to find water was leaking badly from a neighbour's house. They are neighbours we don't know as their house has an entrance on a different street. Oli and Eladio drove around to tell them and it's rather funny but they knew who we were and said a lot of English was spoken at our house. They even knew the names of our dogs. Of course they would know all that and possibly more I thought as I realised they must hear us quite a lot. That's because their swimming pool is at the end of our garden just behind the hedge by our kitchen terrace. Thankfully the leak was stopped.

We were in bed late and I woke up on Thursday morning at 7 pm, not too bad for a change. As usual I read "the papers" at breakfast online on my iPad. I think the news I liked best that day was about the New Zealand Parliament speaker Trevor Mallard holding and feeding the baby belonging to a fellow member of parliament, Tamati Coffey, who was occupied on his first day back from paternity leave. I wonder in which other country that could possibly happen and absolutely applaud the action.

The NZ speaker holding and feeding a colleague's baby in Parliament this week

As you can imagine the story went viral. It was one of the loveliest stories of the week.

That morning, we went on our walk as we try to do so every day. Suzy joined us again and it seems we were the only people out and about. I caught Suzy, Eladio and the dogs on camera from a distance and realised just how dry the terrain is. It looks like we are walking through a desert. Well, that is hardly surprising after all the heat of the summer. But, oh, how I miss the green of England or the north of Spain.

Our desert like morning walk on Thursday

I had to hurry  back to be on time to join Oli on an important doctor's appointment. That morning she was to have her baby's heart monitored. It was quite a procedure and I think we were at the hospital for more than 2 hours, time well worth spending on the health of my future grandson I can tell you. 

At the hospital with Oli on Thursday

They monitored Elliot's heart in a similar way to how an electrocardiogram while Oli lay with all the wires attached to a display where we could see how his heart was beating. It seemed to beat very fast to me. However, he fell asleep in the middle of the test and we had to wait for him to wake up again to get the results the doctor wanted. The results were good; his heart was beating fine. We then went in to see the gynecologist who was also to do another scan. 2 weeks previously Elliot had weighed just over 2.9 kilos. On Thursday he had reached 3.3k so had grown considerably. The gynecologist told us he was already full term and could be born any time from then until a maximum of 2 weeks. Her due date is 6th September but he could well be born before.

Later in the week Oli herself posted a photo of her wonderful bump which I am happy to reproduce here.

Elliot is inside Oli's big bump and could be born any minute now. 

So, my dear friends, I am happy to tell you Elliot is coming. He is on his way and it's not long till we get to see his little face not just on a screen in a scan but for real. Oli is so prepared she even has the baby seat installed in her car!

We came home to tell everyone the good news although of course we had already shared it on the family whatsapp chat and with Miguel, Elliot's father who is working in Valencia this week. He will be back for good and until the baby is born tomorrow I think.

We were home quite late, after 1 pm and I had to make lunch. While I was preparing the food, some of our Dutch guests came into the kitchen. One of the girls, Karen, told us how they loved our house which she said is "so big" and what laid back and easy going hosts we were. She said they had never felt so good at an Airbnb and they had been to lots. I was pleased to hear her words. She asked if I didn't mind having guests in the kitchen to which I replied that of course not. I went on to explain that I loved having international guests and that if I had chosen to do Airbnb it was my job to make my guests feel welcome. I certainly hope they felt welcome.

The afternoon was spent in the garden while the Dutch group were by the pool. The four of us sat reading or working - in the case of Suzy, accompanied by our dogs. Pippa always likes to lie on something soft, a towel or beach wrap rather than on the grass. Here she is  on Oli's towel while Oli is reading on one of our new and very comfortable sun beds.

Oli and little Pippa in the garden 

Later we all made dinner together and went to bed quite early. Oli definitely needs her sleep and as much rest as possible before Elliot comes into this world. Her life is going to change completely and I suspect ours will too.

Friday came and it was a good day as of course, as mentioned above, I got the official acceptance from my soon to be publisher about publishing my father's book. Wow is all I can say. I doubt it's going to be a best seller but it's wonderful to know it will be available in the UK in the shops, etc.

That day saw me cooking with Oli all morning. For lunch we made broccoli and mushroom soup, roast red peppers and then little Russian pies (pirozhki) for lunch and also some "bitki" (Russian type small hamburgers) for freezing. These were the pirozhki and they were delicious.

Pirozhki for lunch on Friday

We spent part of the afternoon lounging in the garden and reading. When our Dutch guests left for their wedding, we convened to the swimming pool enjoying it to ourselves. It was a warm day and both Oli and I went in.

Just before they went, they called me to say they were off to the wedding and I came up to the pool to take a photo of them. They looked very smart and no doubt had a great time as they didn't get back till 5 in the morning hahaha.

My Dutch Airbnb guests off to a wedding

As they left they wished me a good evening. I said theirs would be much more exciting than mine hahaha. Ours would be a quiet dinner with Oli - Suzy went out to see a friend - and then off to bed. Not very exciting for a Friday night the night we usually go out for dinner. We didn't this week as we had been out on Wednesday for our anniversary celebrations.

I heard them come home but fell asleep again until about 6.20 when my body clock told me it was time to get up and get my first caffeine fix of the day. Saturday panned out as most days of this week. After our walk, I took Suzy to the bus stop as she would be going into Madrid to see an Australian friend, Bernie, and we wouldn't see her until the next day. I'm sure she had a grand time although it would have been a hot and sticky day in the capital. Oli joined me to do some quick shopping for things we had run out of; mostly fruit - oh we eat so much of it. Thus it was just the 4 of us for lunch that day. My Dutch guests were up late and we hardly saw them all day as they went out in the afternoon. That meant we had the pool to ourselves and both Oli and I bathed.  We spent a quiet afternoon and evening together. She is in a sort of "nesting mode" prior to giving birth and needs lots of rest  as she has to gain as much energy as she can for what is coming poor girl. I don't envy her. Giving birth is probably the hardest thing a woman can go through and I'm not exaggerating.

Meanwhile on Saturday, the leaders of the world gathered in that very chic town on the French coast, Biarritz, which is close to the Spanish border. They would have a lot on their agenda. But what a farce;  Bojo and Trump together hogging the limelight for all the wrong reasons. For me Biarritz brings back happy memories of holidays there as a child and teenager with my parents and with my mother. We used to stay at my Uncle Kolya's apartments and I loved going there. My mother's nanny who came out of Russia with the family in 1920 was working for one of the Tsar's nieces, whose name, I'm afraid I don't know but could have been "Irina". She had a house or rather small palace in Biarritz which would have been her holiday home. I shall have to ask my Aunty Valya her exact name as I shall need it for my mother's book. We called her "Princess" or "Knyaginya" in Russian. I remember having afternoon tea with her in the splendid dining room of her palace home. I also remember having tea with "Nanya" or "Nashinka" as my mother called her tiny wizened nanny and who spoke pigeon French, in the basement which were her quarters.  Later, on my inter rail travels to Spain with friends, we would often stop in Biarritz to see her and have a well needed shower.  I would always be taken upstairs to greet the "Grand Duchess" an old lady by then. There are two great beaches in the town, the Côte Basque and La Grande Plage. Being the Atlantic and Bay of Biscay it's a haven for surfers because of the huge waves. I remember swimming in the sea there with my brother and often getting engulfed in the waves. No doubt the G7 leaders will not be swimming in any of the beaches but I'm sure they will enjoy the wonderful Basque food in the area. One day I must go back.

Today is Sunday my friends. Our Dutch guests will be leaving and we shall be guest free apart from our lodger Andy, until tomorrow when our next set of guests come. They are from Israel.  This house is just like the United Nations I can tell you.

I shall sign off now as it's 8 am and time for my walk. But first I must print a copy of today's post for my dear Father and most loyal reader.

Wishing you all a great week ahead,
Cheers till next Sunday / Masha

The last day in Île de Ré, "Nokia reuniting colleagues" the end of the Cousinade, home to La Teillée, RIP Bruce and our road trip back to Madrid, EU no longer on UK passports, lady in red and other stories.

Sunday 18th August, 2019

4 generations of the Lieven family at Île de Ré last Sunday at Aunty Olga's house

Good morning everyone,

It's hard to think that last Sunday it was the final day of our big cousinade in Île de Ré, that beautiful island on the south west coast of France that I promise to go back to one day. It's just so heavenly.

Everyone woke up really late that morning, except for me. I woke up to rain. In fact it would pour it down all morning. I had no rain clothes whatsoever, no umbrella or coat and so I ventured out into the market street with just my yellow hoodie. First things first of course and I went to buy a rain coat and an umbrella. I bought them at the same shop where I had bought some clothes the day before. I had actually spied there a typical striped one that all of the island people seemed to be wearing that morning. You could get it in blue, white, red or yellow. I went for blue as I think it's the more traditional type. It's very French and I love it.

With my lovely new coat on and protected from the rain I went to post my father's post card which of course would arrive in Madrid after we got back, and then went to have breakfast. I could have had it at the big house "Paix" with everyone else but no one would serve fresh croissants and that day was my chance to have a really typical French breakfast, my favourite in the world. Here it is; café au lait, baguette with butter and Bonne Maman strawberry jam, fresh orange juice and of course the proverbial croissant.

My petit dejeuner at a café in Les Portes en Ré last Sunday

That morning we were all free to do what we wanted apart from those responsible for that day's lunch which was my cousin Masha and her girls. By the way, to distinguish us, they call me "baby Masha". I was called that at home as a child too to distinguish myself from my mother's youngest sister also called Masha.  Thus all the younger generation here call me that hahaha.

Suzy and the boys were fast asleep as they had been out late that night. Thus it was the perfect moment to go and see a long lost Nokia colleague, Xavier who, very coincidentally, happened to be on the island when I was there. His parents have a lovely old fishing house at the next village to ours in Ars-en-Ré, just 8km or so from Les-Portes-en-Ré where we were staying. I hadn't seen him since I left Nokia in 2005. At the time, he was Nokia's Director of Communication for France and I was Nokia's Director of Communication for Spain. Today he works for Microsoft after the latter bought Nokia quite a few years ago now.

I drove in pouring rain and could hardly see beyond my nose but I got there. We were to meet in Place de d'église at a lovely little French café called Tour du Sénéchal. His house turned out to be just behind it. He told me his parents had bought it in the 70's. My cousins' families had bought some of theirs in the 50's when the island was not as popular as it is now and when houses went for a song. Today you can get nothing for less than about 450.000 euros and that would be a tiny house. Imagine what the big ones cost; millions of course.

We were very close colleagues when we were at Nokia as we were part of the European Communications team and as we drank our coffee we reminisced about the "golden days" with Nokia when we had the most fabulous meetings at amazing locations; in my case in Shanghai and in both our cases in Marrakesh and of course many in Finland. We spoke about those happy days and about many of our colleagues and we did so with much affection. We were a lovely team and we worked well together. Nokia had a slogan which you all know and is "Nokia Connecting People" but inside the company we used to add two others. One was "Nokia disconnecting families" as we worked so hard and the other was one which fitted our reunion that day; "Nokia reuniting colleagues". There was nothing nicer for us when we worked for that great Finnish company in its hay day than the people we worked with and it is the people, like Xavier and me, that make companies.

Later Xavier took me to his house to meet his wife and parents and children, although I only met his youngest "Priscille" as all the others were sleeping - they had been out the  night before like our "children". I had to speak French and I was pleased with myself that I was able to do so quite fluently. I'm sure if I stayed in France and was surrounded by only French speakers, my French would improve by leaps and bounds. It was getting late and I had to be "home" at my Aunt Olga's huge big house on time for lunch, so after taking a few photos, courtesy of Xavier's daughter, we parted with a great big hug. It was great to see Xavier, my ex colleague but also my friend, after so many years and it was also great to see him looking so well. He said the same about me.

Nokia reuniting colleagues in Ars-en-Ré last Sunday - Xavier and I meeting for the first time in 15 years.

Xavier then walked me back to the harbour where I had parked my car and we said goodbye again and went our own ways, remarking that we must meet again; hopefully in Madrid if Xavier gets to come here for a Microsoft meeting some day.

I didn't go straight back as I wanted to visit the market I had been told was a very good one. But first I took a look at the lovely little harbour, imagining I had a house of my own on the island. Wouldn't that be nice?

The little harbour at Ars-en-Ré last Sunday

By then the rain had stopped and the sun would come out later. I ambled towards the market where everyone was buying fresh produce. I wanted something to take home and a present for little Elliot to take to Olivia. I found a beautiful white ceramic bowl with big blue spots which I loved and snapped up immediately. Eladio and I have a tradition of buying beautiful salad sized bowls on our trips and this would be one more to add to  the collection. Every time we use them, we remember the places we have travelled to. So this lovely blue and white one will remind me always of my stay at Île de Ré. I came across a beautiful baby stall where I bought some very original little presents for Elliot, my first presents to him. Everything was hand made and I got a bib, a comforter, a tooth biter and a little embroidered bag with  cotton mouth wipes which I hoped Olivia would like.

From the market I walked back to my car and drove home to Les-Portes-en-Ré to find everyone at home doing their own thing. Masha and the girls were putting the last touches to the Russian lunch they were preparing and everyone else was milling around, most of them with a glass of wine in hand hahaha. There was an awful lot of wine drunk at the cousinade I can tell you.

We all sat down to a table heaving with Russian fare, including a meat loaf with runner beans and rice. At the start there was  a fruit cake literally made only of fruit for one of Masha's girls, Sophie, whose birthday it had been on the 5th August when she turned 28 .  She was plied with presents from her family too.

Sophie's fruit birthday cakes 

After lunch we all went into the garden to have coffee, tea and some delicious Anton Berg chocolates Masha had brought. My Aunty Valya, who her great grandchildren call "Koka", was enjoying being surrounded by her family.  It was the perfect moment to catch her on camera with the four generations of women from the Lieven family together with her. Next year, if Oli comes with Elliot, we could do a photo of 5 generations. That's the one I have chosen for this week's feature photo. But we took others such as this one with Suzy and her great aunt, smoking together!

Suzy with her great aunt (Aunty Valya or Koka to her great grandchildren) on the last day in Les-Portes-en-Ré

The big cousinade was soon to finish and it went off with a bang. Masha's girls, Marie, Anne, Sophie and Elisabeth, had arranged to do a Russian traditional welcoming or honouring drinking ceremony for some of the people. This was the first time Suzy was to experience it and she just loved it. A man kneels down in front of a woman and offers her a drink which she has to down in one go. This is accompanied by chanting songs and laughter of course.  I was in for  a surprise too when the cooks were honoured with the same tradition. I had seen the ceremony before but had never had it performed on me. I have to say I loved it and welled up with a very strong feeling of my Russian roots.

The Russian drinking and honouring ceremony 

That symbolised the end of the big cousinade after which we had a group photo taken as we do every year. I would love to reproduce it here but this year I'm afraid I wasn't the one to take it and whoever did hasn't got round to sending us a copy yet.

Then it was time to get ready to go and when Suzy and I had packed we said goodbye to everyone. Zuka and Sasha her son went off in their cars with my aunt and the children and Suzy, Katty and I drove back in my Mini which for some reason everyone seemed to love, probably because of my Union Jack side windows hahaha.

So off we went and crossed the island and the bridge to La Rochelle, more or less traffic free thankfully. We were home by about 8 pm when guess what? It was time for an "aperitif" - i.e. more wine drinking.  I call my cousin's house "home" as that is what it feels like to me. So, yes it was nice to be home again. It was to be the last night of our stay in La Teillée for Suzy and I with our Lieven cousins and the end of the smaller cousinade; my favourite actually. Sam started playing the guitar and Katty and Suzy sang and you know what? It made me cry as all I could think was how much I wanted to have my mother and her sister, my Aunty Masha, with us because they loved singing. At that moment I missed them so much that I welled up again and couldn't stop crying with emotion.

The singing session on our last night in La Teillée

I felt better when Ruby and Sasha started telling jokes to cheer me up. My favourite was this one. "What do you call a Mexican without a car? Carlos" hahaha. We sat down to a great dinner of bangers and mash and roast red peppers. It was followed by ice cream - pistachio flavour in my case and in Suzy's - and the remains of the giant meringue I had bought last week at the market in Lezay.

We chatted outside on Zuka's terrace after dinner for some time. At about half past twelve I just had to call it a day and go upstairs to sleep.

Monday morning came and it was to be our last day in La Teillée as we were leaving  for Madrid but not until after Suzy's lessons and lunch. 

Monday was 12th August, the "glorious 12th" and would have been the birthday of Zuka's husband Bruce who died some 16 years ago aged just 59. Zuka had been keeping his ashes for an appropriate time to bury them at La Teillée although she may move them to be with her when she goes if the house is ever sold. That was the morning she chose to bury her beloved husband while both her children, Katty and Sasha were there with their children. I joined the small and intimate ceremony but unfortunately Suzy couldn't be there because of her lessons. My Aunty Valya was driven the very short way to the burying place, beneath a beautiful holly tree. Chairs were taken for my Aunt and Sam to sit on  -he would play a guitar piece during the ceremony - as well as champagne and glasses along with, of course, Bruce's box.

Bruce's box

Under the trees and some rain we all had a glass of champagne to toast the life of Bruce, a wonderful man, husband and father who I knew very well, in fact since before he married my cousin. He was a Yorkshireman and successful business man whose work took him all over the world, mainly in the Middle East. He had looked forward to retiring at La Teillée, his dream house, but it was not to be. His death, just before his retirement, was very cruel. Both he and Zuka had looked forward to their retirement together and suddenly Zuka found herself a relatively young widow and has had to fend for herself since then. She does a great job of it but misses him every day as does his family. Zuka made a lovely little speech and so did Katty. Here is Zuka taking the box out of the car just before the ceremony.

Zuka with Bruce's ashes on Monday morning

I was happy to be there to give them some comfort and to salute the wonderful man Bruce was. If you read my father's book you will find out just how they met and it was by chance but entirely thanks to my mother.

Later I went to the supermarket in Lusignan to get some food for our journey back. Katty, Ruby and Sam joined me on what would be our last excursion together. We came home to have lunch, cooked by Sasha - barbecued steak with salad. By then Suzy's lessons were over and at about 3 pm we all sat down to eat our last meal together. 

Then the time to go came, the time we dreaded. We really wanted to stay but had obligations at home; not to mention we knew we should be with Olivia who could give birth any day between now and the beginning of September. It was with a very heavy heart and some tears that we all hugged each other. Then Suzy and I got into my very full mini. As we drove out of the gates, there was my Aunty Valya who had walked from the terrace - a long walk for her with her stick - to wave us off. Then the children came running up for last minute kisses. Zuka was on the road to say a final goodbye and Katty had walked further up the road to surprise us. As we drove slowly, Ruby ran behind the car not wanting us to leave. We didn't want to leave either. They gave us the most beautiful sendoff it touched our hearts and when we got to the end of the village, both of us welled up. We just couldn't help it.

We had a long drive ahead of us - 900 kilometres which we did in 9 hours including stops. I had my own private concert nearly the whole of the way as Suzy sang to her play list which I have to say was a little loud at times. The Spanish border was the approximate half way mark. We had paid at 5 different tolls to get there and there would be 2 more in Spain. We only stopped to get a bit of petrol in France before crossing the border at 1.68 euros per litre. We later filled up in Spain at 1.38 euros per litre. That's quite a big difference.

I had bought sandwiches and fruit but Suzy wasn't hungry. So I ate my sandwich in the car. Google Maps played a trick on us after San Sebastián and instead of putting us on the Vitoria Burgos motorway, it took us off the motorway and along a very mountainous road to Vitoria. This was to add at least 25 minutes to the journey which was supposed to end at 1.30 a.m. However Suzy would speed up and we made it by 1.20. The mountain road in the dark was a bit of an unwanted adventure. I could hardly believe we drove along the Urkiola mountain pass, one I remember well from my cycling sponsorship days.

The last hour or so to Madrid became very uphill figuratively speaking and I dozed off just for half an hour. I didn't want to sleep so as to keep Suzy company but I couldn't help it.  We were home, as I said, at 1.20 to find a quiet and dark house. We had lots of luggage and bags to unload. The dogs greeted us in the kitchen as we put food away. Pippa was ecstatic as was I to see her. 

Eladio woke up when I walked into our bedroom and I gave him a kiss goodnight. I was in bed by 2 and slept until 7 in the morning but would feel dozy much of the following day.

On Tuesday morning, the first thing I did after breakfast was to greet my father and take him a printed version of my last blog post all about the cousinade. He was thrilled to see me and told me he had been looking forward to seeing me and that he had thought about me while I was away. He's not often that sentimental and I loved his words and told him so when I hugged him.

While I was away, as you know, his new passport had arrived, the one he needed for his bank account in Spain to remain open. It had come along with his old passport and Eladio pointed out to me that the new one, although still burgundy, no longer has the words European Union on it. I was gutted and thought it totally wrong as the UK hasn't actually left the EU yet. In fact I was furious at the pettiness of it. This is just not on as the UK is still officially in the EU!!  

The old passport with the European Union on it.

The new passport with the words European Union gone!

But the country is acting as if it had already happened. Just last week the UK pulled out of Inter rail, another nail in the Brexit coffin. It was first introduced in 1972 when I remember my brother George using it for just 25 pounds. The following year I followed suit and it cost me 32 pounds to travel around Europe for a month.   Later this week I also read that the Erasmus programme is a big question mark for 2020 and of course will end very soon. The British who voted to leave have shot themselves and everyone else in the foot.  Those of us who don't want to leave and those who like I live in the EU but couldn't vote in the Referendum, have been stripped of our EU citizenship without a thought of the consequences. We weren't even taken into account, the same as the Irish border was never taken into account.  It makes my blood boil. 

The house was full of guests, an English family from Wells; Helen, her husband Max and two daughters, Olive and Catherine and younger son Jake. They were a lovely family. Bless them they had read my father's book of which there is a copy in all the guests' rooms. They had enjoyed our house and pool so much that they stayed here most of the time. That day they chilled out all day by the pool to enjoy it before they left on Wednesday morning.

I did some quick shopping with Eladio so as to have food for lunch but would do the proper food shopping the next day as I just wasn't up to it.  Suzy had her lessons so couldn't join us for lunch which we had with my father. Later I had a siesta, a much needed one, but only slept for about 1 hour.

The afternoon was spent in the garden on the pink sunbeds reading. Suzy joined us and I had to have this photo of her with Pippa.  Lovely aren't they?

Suzy in the garden with Pippa

We spent the rest of the afternoon there enjoying the quiet and also the weather. It was warm but not hot which was bliss.  That, though, was just a respite as it would get much hotter as the week went by. 

Suzy had a date out that night - the mother of her bosom  friend Copi, Celeste, was to celebrate her birthday in the company of Copi who had come from Vitoria for the occasion to surprise her mother, along with other friends, including Oli and Miguel. We were not to see Oli until the next day.

Our guests went out to dinner on their last night and Eladio and I had the place to ourselves. We enjoyed our quiet dinner on the terrace and then went up to bed. We watched a bit of New Amsterdam Hospital on Amazon Prime until we fell asleep.

I was up at 7 am on Tuesday feeling quite refreshed although if I think about it I did still feel tired after the return journey from France. It certainly took its toll on me. That morning, Eladio and I resumed our habit of an early morning walk with the dogs and they were raring to go. It was quite cool when we left but got quite warm when the sun came out.  I came home to find Suzy back from her night out and making her coffee. I joined her then had my shower. However, it was interrupted as our British guests from Wells were leaving earlier than I had thought. Both Suzy and I saw them off. They were very good guests and really nice people. Our next guests were not coming until the next day so joy of joys we had the house and pool to ourselves until then.

Eladio and I did the main food shopping and I came back to make a big lunch for us all as Oli and Miguel were coming. I made  broccoli and mushroom soup followed by "bitki" (Russian hamburgers) which we had with home made tomato sauce and potato puré. It was nice for once to be all together that day and I know it made my father happy.

We all went to have a siesta afterwards and I could hardly believe it was 6.30 pm when I woke up. I had slept 2.5h. It was obvious I needed the sleep. I joined the rest of the family in the garden where we chatted until it was time for dinner. Miguel and Oli stayed for dinner and it was another long family meal.

When I went upstairs afterwards I saw that Miguel and Oli had installed a cot in her room at home for little Elliot. Seeing it made his arrival feel real to me. I could hardly believe that in 3 weeks time or so he would be sleeping there. This is it.

Elliot's cot in Oli's bedroom at home 

Miguel and Oli are very prepared for his arrival and have been given nearly everything. They have also bought lots of things in preparation for his birth. They will have to have nearly double of everything, for their flat and for our house.  They were lucky that a lot of it has come from a friend of Olivia whose children have grown out of it and they are moving to Switzerland. This is just some of the stuff they have. The photo was taken in Elliot's little room in their flat.

Everything is ready for Elliot's arrival. This is just some of the stuff Oli and Miguel have acquired for him. 

They are much more prepared than I was when Suzy was about to be born. It's funny but when I was pregnant for the first time, I could hardly believe I was and didn't have much ready. I didn't even prepare a suitcase to be taken to the hospital and the poor mite had to be dressed in hospital clothes when she was born. In a way I am having the same feeling with Oli's pregnancy. Yes, I can see she is very pregnant but just won't believe it until my grandson is here. Only three weeks to go now. 

I slept quite well that night waking up at 7 a.m. on Thursday morning. Thursday was 15th August, a big holiday in Spain and in France by the way, The Virgin of the Assumption and also the midway mark of the August holidays, a very busy time.

We would have new guests that day coming to enjoy the "puente" (bank holiday weekend); 2 couples with a small child each who are Brazilian but live in Madrid and would be coming for 3 nights. I was rather dreading them as babies and small children can be a challenge. In my house rules I state we don't accept children under 5 but no one reads the rules. It meant we would have to keep poor little Pippa hidden all the time. Oli and Miguel fled until they went this morning as Oli hates our house being invaded by Airbnb guests.

We had a quiet morning  before their arrival. We went on our walk. After my ablutions, I decided to wear my new red dress from Les-Porte-en-Ré. I wore it with my Cuban bean necklace and matching bracelet and it looked like I was ready to go out but I wasn't. I just felt like wearing it. At one point in the morning I was sitting on our red sofa in our study with its red Jordanian cushions which we brought back from our holiday there in 2010. Eladio took a photo as everything was so red and you know what? I think he took one of the best photos of me in recent times, despite the wrinkles on my neck. I was the proverbial woman or lady in red in but in a red background. It's funny but both the red tones were exactly the same. Here I am in a photo I rather like.

"Lady in red"

I dead headed the roses that morning and picked some of the better ones for the guest rooms. I also prepared a plate of fruit for each room.

Our guests arrived just as we were about to sit down to lunch and of course I had to welcome them and show them their rooms and the house. They immediately set about preparing a huge barbecue. We thus ate in the dining room with Pippa well hidden.

The guests enjoyed the pool all afternoon while we had our siesta and later read in the garden. It got quite hot that day with temperatures rising to 35ºc.  We would have had our dinner on the kitchen terrace but it was just too hot and also there were too many flies - there seem to be more of them than any other year and I'm not sure why. Thus we had dinner in the air conditioned dining room that night.

Friday was another quiet day with not much to report really. The house was full of the Brazilian families and it was a very hot day. Suzy left in the late afternoon to spend the night at Elenita's as the next day they were going on a trip to the mountains of Madrid with Oli and Miguel. I had some work to do that afternoon and while I was engrossed in it I got a sudden Airbnb reservation for a slot at the end of August for which I had a cancellation. I could only work out that my guests were from Israel as the name was in Hebrew script: אריאל ידוובסקי. Google translate didn't help at all in this case although it usually does. The person who booked told me that he or she did so after seeing such good reviews. I have had 5 star reviews all summer with some lovely comments from our guests, including the British family from Wells who wants to come back next year.

Being Friday night, Eladio and I went out for dinner. At the last moment we chose to go a new restaurant very nearby called "El Tinglao".  The food is excellent I have to admit and we should go more often. Eladio went for their so-called fish and chips and I had two first courses, a fancily cooked artichoke followed by the most divine foie. The dish is called "a dessert of foie" as it is literally ground to look like sand and it can be eaten by the spoonful.  This is it.

The foie at El Tinglao

I had lemon pie for "pudding" and it was superb. We came home to watch the final two episodes of New Amsterdam and were left wondering what we would watch next.

Saturday came. The girls went off to Lozoya, about an hour from Madrid where family of Elenita owns a house. I asked for photos and was rewarded with this one. It's funny to see all three girls wearing a similar white t-shirt.

The girls, Oli and Suzy with Elena and with Miguel in Lozoya yesterday

Suzy told me they were planning to go kayaking like we did in France. I was a bit worried about my pregnant daughter but neither Miguel nor her seemed to think it was at all dangerous so I can only hope they had a good time.  They did have a good time and later sent us photos of the 4 of them kayaking. I'm glad Oli was alright. They will be home for lunch today.

The girls and Miguel kayaking yesterday near Lozoya

After our walk with the dogs which had to be on the road and not on the fields because of the shooting - the glorious twelfth is on 15th August here - and after leaving lunch in the good hands of Lucy, Eladio and I went out on a few errands. One was pretty urgent. His HP computer of a few years was playing up. The keyboard doesn't work and we have tried everything. At the IT customer care section of El Corte Inglés we were told it would cost about 200 euros to repair but probably isn't worth it as the operating system is Windows 7 for which there will no longer be any updates from Microsoft next year. Gripes I thought, mine is Windows 7 too. We shall probably both have to buy a new PC now, not money we want to spend. There is always something isn't there? I later tried installing Windows 10 drivers in my PC and am still in the process. Fingers crossed folks.

Sunday came, the day our Brazilian guests would leave which means that we will have the house to ourselves. As I said the girls will be coming for lunch and hopefully we will all spend the afternoon by the pool together. We shall need it as today the temperatures will rise to about 36ºc again. We are thinking of going to Montrondo next week to escape the heat. Let's see if we do. No doubt you will hear whether we did or not in next week's post.

So that's it for now folks. I've come to the end of the stories of this week. Amazing to think this time last week we were still at the big cousinade in lovely Île de Ré. How time flies.

I shall leave you now to print this for my father and then go on our early morning walk with the dogs.

Till next week,
Cheers to you all,
Masha