Last few days with Suzy, abuse in the work place, Elliot and his great grandfather hold hands, Franco's remains exhumed, to Montrondo with Phil and Kathy, a day in Oviedo and other stories.

Montrondo, Sunday 27th October 2019

My 100 year old father with his great grandson Elliot aged 1 month. Love this photo.

Good morning everyone from Montrondo, our beloved village where my husband Eladio was born. We got here on Thursday evening just after dropping Suzy off at the airport where she would start her long journey back to Bali, in her newly adopted country. She had been with us since 1st May and we will miss her especially at Christmas. It will be the first Christmas ever that we are not all together. Thankfully though we will have little Elliot who will fill a bit of the gap. Who knows when we shall see her again? I hope it's not a whole year.

Last Sunday saw us at home on a cold and rainy day. We went on our walk but had to go on the street rather than to the fields as hunters were out shooting rabbits and that's a bit scary.

Suzy had been out all night to a goodbye drinks party with friends and didn't emerge until we were having lunch. Good for her! Our day was quiet and calm. Carmen our new physiotherapist guest from Almeria left that morning but will be back in November. We hardly saw our other guests, Noel and Andy. 

It was also a calmer day in Barcelona, thank goodness. There were protests where demonstrators threw bags of rubbish at the police but they reacted pacifically. I have read the Spanish government is in constant contact with the Catalan authorities, bar the independence mad President, Quim Torra, who refuses to acknowledge the violence which last week made Barcelona look like Gaza at times. His team, at least have spoken out against the violence and there seems to be an unspoken pact with the central government, where they are reigning in Torra and they, the government are being careful with how the police manage the violence, not wanting a repeat of what happened two years ago. However, the toll in numbers of injuries and damage is high. 207 police have been injured, some very badly so, and 128 people  detained. In monetary costs the damage in Barcelona only comes to over 2 million euros. 

We didn't see little Elliot that day but got photos. Here is one of him "drunk on milk". Thankfully he is eating better now and seems less fretful. The nights are better too.

Little Elliot "drunk on milk"

We didn't get to see him but Suzy did. After her friends left, off she went to be with her sister. They only had a few days left together and both of them wanted to make the most of it,

Eladio and I had a quiet dinner and then went up to bed to watch the news. The news this week, at least in Europe, would be all about Brexit and what would happen after Johnson's defeat in the so-called Super Saturday Parliamentary session.

Later we watched a programme we always like; "Salvados" which began a new season last Sunday. It also changed presenters from the well known Jordi Evole to a chap called Fernando González otherwise known as "Gonzo". It was about sexual and sexist abuse at work, something I am very familiar with. As I watched I remembered the abuse I was on the receiving end of for many years at perhaps all my work places. I well remember at my first job which was with the arms company, Defex, being the subject of much improper behaviour and quite frequently too. I remember the names of the perpetrators; Sr. Trujillo and Sr. Atienza, and what they did to me. It was difficult to do anything about it at the time. There was nobody to report it too and no way of proving it. I remember even being frightened of telling my husband. At Motorola it was more the sexist attitude but there was also work harassment, so much so that I realised towards the end that the behaviour was aimed at my resigning, something I refused to do but it cost me a lot of pain. At Nokia there was no sexual harassment but plenty of bullying. I have to say it didn't come from the Finnish HQ where that sort of behaviour was not tolerated but from the Spanish subsidiary I worked for. It was unbearable towards the end. At Yoigo, I suppose I was too old for sexual abuse as they hired me when I was aged 49. That didn't stop some of the older men ogling at me. I remember too finally joining the all man management team as the first and only woman. I shall never forget the comments with which I was "welcomed" on board which were something along the sexist lines of "at last we have a pretty face in the team". I smiled stupidly at the time not really taking in the meaning but it was there and as the only woman on the team I was very aware of how I was never ever considered an equal. Today, aged 62 and being self employed nobody can touch me. But I have been there and suffered it just as so many other people do too. They said in the programme that only 8% of women report it. I can understand that as it's very very difficult to prove as there are no witnesses and it's your word against theirs. An EU figure from 2006, quite a while ago, estimates that 50% of women suffer some sort of sexual harassment. I can believe that. I sincerely hope my girls don't go through what I had to go through. If you are not strong it can it can ruin your professional life. 

Monday came and thankfully it did not rain although it was cold. In fact it was so cold I wore a puffer jacket for the first time in months on our walk that day. But the sun came out and made it a very pleasant day. The morning was spent working for my customer, Adamo, on two upcoming press releases. That had me busy until lunch time with my father. Lunch is the highlight of his day and I always try to make food he likes and can eat as he hasn't many teeth left hahaha. That's not surprising as he is aged 100 as well you know.

In the afternoon it was Suzy who had to work while I had a short siesta and read a bit in the lounge. At just after 6 pm we set off to see little Elliot. There was a lot of school and work traffic, something, thankfully, I rarely have to face as I work from home. As soon as we got to Oli and Miguel's flat we were greeted by a sleeping baby. He doesn't particularly like being put in a cot, far preferring his relatives' arms or like on Monday, Oli's breast feeding cushion. This is how we found him.

Little Elliot asleep on Oli's breast feeding cushion

He's adorable when he's asleep but we wanted to pick him up and hold him. That's when he started crying as after 3 hours - a long gap for him - he needed feeding again and Oli complied. She says she feels like a cow, although a contented cow hahaha. I remember the feeling.

Once fed and with his nappy changed, he was wide awake and it was time for play with his Auntie Suzy and Grandmother. He is beginning to smile and as I said has discovered his hands which he always puts into his mouth. He moves a lot too, kicking his arms and legs. Funny little boy he is. He played to the camera at that moment and I caught this lovely image of him all content and happy.

Happy little Elliot

Suzy took a video of that moment which I cherish and which of course I had to share on Instagram immediately. This is it.

We left late at around 8.30 as we couldn't drag ourselves away. Suzy was fully conscious she only had a few more days with him until she left for Bali and who knows when she will next see him. I am more fortunate as I see him often. We were home by about 9 pm and made dinner for the three of us. A new guest, Adrian, who had driven from Cádiz to our place, had arrived in my absence but I didn't see him.

After dinner it was news time and the topics were the same as usual: Catalonia and Brexit. I am fed up with both of them.

I slept quite well until I was woken up at 5.30 by little Pippa. Someone must have left the kitchen door open and she came up to find us. I couldn't sleep after that so went downstairs to feed the dogs, have my breakfast and start the day. Little Elliot, Oli and Miguel were coming for lunch on Tuesday. I decided to make "fabada" (Asturian stew) and had it simmering by about 7 a.m. After a rain free walk with the dogs, I spent part of the morning on another press release until it was time for the weekly food shopping trip out - what a bore.

We were home just before Jefferson, my young student from Ecuador who had finally arrived. It was his first time in Spain and he felt lost and I felt sorry for him. He's here to complete a masters' degree in commerce which was supposed to take place at the main campus of the UEM University. However, he had just been informed that all his classes will now take place at their Alcobendas campus which is 30 odd kilometres away and nearly unreachable by public transport. It takes 30 minutes by car but 2 hours on a various combination of buses. I felt very sorry for him but there was not much I could do to help. Later in the week I got to know my new guest a little better. He is just 24 years old and has never been outside Latin America. He explained to me that he lived in a small town in the north of the country on the border of Colombia and that he was an indigenous Ecuadorian and speaks the ancient language of the Incas, Quechua. He told me about the recent disturbances in his country led by the indigenous and said that they were marginalised by society as was their native language, making it difficult to progress in society. He is obviously an exception. Not many people like him can afford to come to Spain to a private university to study a masters' degree. No doubt he will go far in life.

Soon afterwards, Oli, Miguel and little Elliot arrived and we had a late lunch, joined by Suzy at the end as her classes that day didn't finish until 3.10. My father is extremely interested in his great grandson, more and more so every day. There was plenty of time for lots of interaction between the two after lunch which pleased my father enormously. We sat Elliot in my father's arms and he said "I have to be very careful" (so sweet). He sat there holding his 1 month old great grandson marveling at his little body. That had to be the photo of the week illustrating today's blog post. It is a photo I shall treasure forever. Notice Elliot's little red converse trainers. Aren't they sweet?

For my father it must have brought back memories of holding George and I as babies I'm sure. For my father's biography I included a photo of my father holding my brother George as a tiny baby in 1955. No doubt my father could never have known that 64 years later, he would be holding little Elliot, his great grandson.

My father holding his own son, his firstborn, my brother George in Cambridge in 1955, 64 years ago!

Elliot was perfectly content in his great grandfather's arms and touched his hands. What a sight to see their hands touching, the hands of a one month old baby and his 100 year old great grandfather. We had to have a picture, another one I shall treasure.

My father and Elliot holding hands

Suzy then took a photo of the 4 generations; my father and his descendants: his daughter, his granddaughter Olivia and his great grandson. 4 generations wow!

4 generations in one photo

Somehow, Elsa, our labrador, got in the photo too hahaha. Well she is part of the family:-)

As we left my father for him to be taken down to his room for his siesta, his parting words were to Elliot. My usually most undemonstrative father looked at his great grandson and said very clearly: "I love you". Oli and I were speechless. I was amazed and remarked that he had said to his grandson what he had never said to me when I was a child. It came from the bottom of his heart. The teacher who wrote his  Clifton College school report dated 1935 reflected : "finds it difficult to express his feelings". That is certainly true. However, I have learned over the years that even though he doesn't usually express his feelings, that doesn't mean he doesn't have them. On the contrary he is a very loving person except that he is too shy to say what he thinks when it comes to emotions. That's why I was stunned but delighted to hear him tell Elliot that he loved him. Thank you Daddy. I love you too.

Oli and her little family had to leave shortly after lunch as they were having visitors. Before leaving, Miguel helped Eladio cover the pool for the winter which is always a sad moment for me. Suzy left too as she had friends to see in Madrid. We would all meet again on Wednesday night for Suzy's goodbye dinner at Oli's place. Oh how sad.

Eladio and I went to have a siesta but ended up watching a film on Netflix called Fracture; a psychological thriller. The rest of the day panned out as normal.

The main news that day was again about Brexit. Johnson got his withdrawal vote through but was thwarted by MPs as to the length legislation would take to be put in place. He had hoped for 3 days but that won't be so now which means the Halloween deadline will not be met.

Wednesday came and it brought more rain.  It was Suzy's last full day at home and I kept thinking about it all day. She spent most of the day packing. Her limit is 30 kilos and she used an old Nike holdall which had once been a present from the Real Madrid basketball team. To get everything she needed in, she looked up methods to pack as much as possible in limited space. So there she was rolling all her clothes. Later we had to weigh her on the scales and then weigh her with the huge and heavy holdall.

That evening we were to hold a goodbye dinner for Suzy at Oli and Miguel's or should I say at Oli, Miguel's and Elliot's? Maybe. These goodbye dinners are always lovely as we are together but also tinged with sadness. It was also to be Suzy's last night with Elliot, her beloved nephew, although she would see him quickly the next morning when Oli and family came by at around 13h from the doctor nearby. Little Elliot (that's what we call him  -or "the little one") was fast asleep when we arrived and looked like a little angel which actually he isn't. He shows signs of having a lot of character but that is good I think. This is how we found him, on Oli's breast feeding cushion which he prefers to his cot.

Elliot asleep when we arrived on Wednesday evening

We wanted to pick him up but Oli said, no as she wanted some peace to be able to make dinner hahaha. There would be plenty of time to hold him during or after dinner. It's as if he smells the food as  soon as his mother is about to sit down to eat, wakes up, cries and wants feeding too haha. We had a lovely meal including a delicious mushroom soup which Oli's personal chef had made. We spoke about the Catalán issue, aka as "El Procés" but knowing Spanish politics bore Suzy we quickly changed topics. There was a a hilarious moment during dinner. Suzy was describing how she plans to settle down in Bali again when she returns. She will be staying with an Indonesian girlfriend who is the manager of the band her boyfriend plays in .We asked a bit about her and when Suzy said, "whatshername's boyfriend is in prison" you just had to see Eladio's face. He said it with a lump going up and down his throat. You see the band we are talking about is a band that was forged in a Bali prison where Suzy's boyfriend was once an inmate too. I don't like the fact that Suzy's friends have anything to do with prisons but there you are. I have been told to commiserate as the inmates from the band are in jail because of possessing a little bit of cannabis. Just for smoking it you can be imprisoned which is why I worry so much about the circle Suzy moves in. No doubt you understand me.

We had another hilarious moment when I asked for permission to recount the story in this week's blog post. On the topic of my blog, Eladio asked me if in the future I could refrain from mentioning his siestas! He says that in every post I write I always include his siestas. He protested saying everyone reading it would think he spends his time asleep hahaha. Oh how we laughed. Oli asked me whether I felt a little censored. Well, I did I suppose. But then again I often have to censor myself my friends. I cannot recount the more negative or intimate parts of our family life which thus makes our life look perfect in writing which it isn't. So, there are worries on my mind and we have our ups and downs but often I can't reveal them. Sorry.

All good things come to an end so at about 11 pm, we left although I found it difficult to tear my eyes away from little Elliot who is the joy of our lives,

We were home late of course, too late to watch the news. The most dreadful news had come out of England that day when a refrigerator lorry was found in Essex carrying 39 illegal immigrants. All of them were frozen to death.  Later we would read they were all Vietnamese and had boarded the container of the lorry in Belgium. This is human trafficking at its worst.

Thursday came. It was a very big day for Spain, the day the country would see the remains of the dictator, Francisco Franco, who died age 82 in 1975, be moved from the Valley of the Fallen to a cemetery nearby in El Pardo where the "Caudillo" had lived at the palace there during the dictatorship. It was such big news, 58 journalists from 17 countries covered the story alongside a multitude of Spanish media. The dictator who rubbed shoulders with Hitler and Mussolini and who ruled Spain with an iron fist, was buried in the Valley of the Fallen, a huge fascist monument and mausoleum built under his orders in the 50's. It is a shrine to fascism and it is also where over 30.000 victims of the Spanish civil war from both sides are buried in unmarked graves. When Pedro Sánchez, the caretaker socialist PM came to power over a year ago, he vowed to move the dictator against the family's wishes. It has been a long and drawn out story with many obstacles but finally on Thursday 24th October, Franco's remains would  be exhumed and moved to the Mingorrubios cemetery in El Pardo where he would lie next to his wife, Doña Carmen. It happened in strict privacy with very few people allowed inside the Basilica which is built inside a mountain. We would only see photos from the outside, including this one of his descendants carrying the coffin to the helicopter which would fly it to El Pardo.

Franco's coffin carried out of the Basilica by his descendants

There was nothing else on the news that day in Spain. The Prime Minister said in a televised speech that "Spain was fulfilling its duty to itself". That may be so but on the other hand in a way he has resuscitated Franco and opened old wounds. Nobody thought about the ex dictator much in recent times and only a few diehard fascists would visit his tomb. Now he is in everyone's thoughts and no doubt there will be lots of pilgrimages to his new grave which is in a public and place of significance. I, really think he should have been left where he was and forgotten about. The government has been praised for its actions but also accused of getting political leverage from it for the upcoming general election.

On the topic of general elections, Boris Johnson, said to the BBC that day that he would give MPs more time to debate his Brexit deal if they backed a 12th December general election. Thus the Brexit saga is not going away for a while my friends.

For me Thursday was important as it was the day Suzy was leaving. Oh gosh I had such a heavy heart that day. She won't be here for Christmas - the first time ever that we won't be together - and we may not see her for another year, God forbid. I sent her off with my blessing though to leave for Bali and to the country she now considers home. I only wish her happiness but that day my heart was broken as it is every time I think of her on the other side of the world, so far away from us. All I can say is God bless you my beloved daughter. Be happy and remember we are your real family and will always be there for you.

Suzy's last photo with her beloved nephew Elliot

She wouldn't leave until after an early lunch and we all had lots to do to be ready to go. We were to take her to the airport from where we would drive to Montrondo as our friends Kathy and Phil were coming on Friday. Suzy was doing the last of her packing and I had to do food shopping as well as our own packing. I drove my daughter to the hairdresser then went to get petrol, some cash out of the hole in the wall from a bank nearby and then to Mercadona for more food to take to Montrondo. Lunch was on the table at 1ish and by 1.15 or so Oli, Miguel and Elliot were home from the appointment with the doctor and here to wish Suzy a safe trip and say their final goodbyes. It was all so rushed really. There was no time for a family photo but I got one of my two beautiful daughters standing together after a long hug. Oli misses her sister too and would love to have her by her side as Elliot grows but she too knows that Suzy is happier in Bali and respects that although it hurts. Here are my two beautiful daughters about to be separated for a long period of time. Thank God I have Oli here and little Elliot.

Oli and Suzy just before Suzy left on Thursday

We left home at 1.30 to drive Suzy to the airport. We were there 30 minutes later with not much traffic and then it was time to really say goodbye. I hugged Suzy with a great big lump in my throat wondering when we would next see her. She was excited and happy to leave but also sad to say goodbye to us. Then that was it, she was off with her huge luggage and we waved goodbye until we could no longer see her.

From the airport we set off on our 4 hour journey to Montrondo. We wanted to stop in León to see a nephew who is in ill in hospital but were told he couldn't receive visits so we continued to Montrondo only stopping to get some water and to let Pippa out - she came with us of course. We arrived to quite good weather at around 5.30 and spent an hour or so unpacking and settling in. Thankfully the house was warm as Eladio had put the heating on remotely from his phone - great technology. By 8 pm we were sitting down to dinner and watching the news which was all about the exhumation and removal of Franco's remains. We continued watching more news about the same story until we began to feel sleepy. It had been a long day and I think we went to bed just after 10 pm which is pretty early.

I was up early on Friday as I had lots to do, preparing for a press release to be sent out the next day. Our friends, Kathy and Phil, from Yorkshire were coming at around lunchtime after a few days spent in the region of Santander - they came on the ferry from Portsmouth. We spent the morning getting the house ready; i.e. making it look as clean as possible although I later saw we missed the odd cobweb hahaha.

Meanwhile we got news from the girls. Suzy had just arrived in Bali after 17 hours or in the sky - what a long journey. She was as pleased as punch to be back as you can gather from the big smile on her face in the photo she sent us.

Suzy back in Bali on Saturday morning

Oli rang too to tell us she and her partner and their baby were off to Valencia to the good weather. She has felt very cooped up in their flat since Elliot was born and needed to get away. We heard later that "the little one" behaved well on his first long journey in a car.

I spent more of the time on making lunch. I made a three course meal of broccoli and mushroom soup, marinated ribs with potatoes (delicious) and fruit salad. They arrived at about 2.45 after getting slightly lost on the way to sunshine. They were wearing t-shirts and we were wearing jumpers and fleeces hahaha. It was sunny but cold for me but for them if the sun is out they consider it warm hahaha. They had been to Montrondo before but quite a few years ago and before our new house was built. This is it by the way if you haven't seen it before. We call it our house in the mountains.

Our house in Montrondo

Our friends loved our house - or at least that is what they told us. They got to sleep in the ensuite upstairs room which is compact but nice and warm and of course still very new.

Later in the afternoon before it got dark we took them on our "new" walk; the one we discovered quite recently on a path called "el camino valle". Here I am with my friends taking that path up into the woods.

With Phil and Kathy on our walk

The walk took us up into the mountains above the river and towards the next village, Murias de Paredes. On our way we saw lots of red mushrooms. Phil told me they are called fly agaric. I think they are pretty poisonous but some people eat them as drugs. They are really hallucinogenic mushrooms but we were not tempted. Neither was Pippa. It's funny how dogs know not to go near them.

The red poisonous mushrooms

The view of Murias at sunset was spectacular.

View of Murias from our walk

Apart from mushrooms we saw a few cows but also an apple tree with what looked like very tasty apples. Both Phil and Eladio picked some which we later planned to bake or maybe make apple crumble. Here is Eladio showing me his pickings which we later carried in Phil's puffer jacket bag -quite handy.

Eladio picking apples

We walked back home in the dusk and came home to a lovely warm house. I set about making dinner which was to be a prawn, mango and avocado salad, only to find that the prawns I had left outside cooling had been eaten with the bits of prawn shells strewed all over the ground. Pippa had a field day and I had to marshal her back into the house. Eladio asked me what I had been thinking when I left them outside and felt rather stupid. Thankfully the dog or dogs had only eaten half of them so I was still able to make the salad.

We had  a lovely drawn out dinner with lots of wine. I shouldn't drink wine as it gives me a headache but I blew caution to the wind and enjoyed two glasses of delicious Rueda wine. I went to bed quite late for me at just past midnight. Eladio talked for quite a while and I think it was at about 1 when I fell asleep.

I was up at 6.45  yesterday and had my quiet time, writing my blog. I also had some work to do for my main customer. I didn't have to cook on Saturday as we were going on a day trip to Oviedo, the capital city of the beautiful province or principality of Asturias to show the city to our friends, Phil and Kathy. We set off at about 10.30, with Pippa I should add - no way was I leaving her here locked up in the house all day. We took the mountain motorway and were there by about midday. We got amazing weather with temperatures reaching 23ºc, the same as down south which is pretty unusual for Asturias where it probably rains the most in Spain. Oviedo is a beautiful old city with its own unique architecture which is very well kept and where the people are known for being the best dressed in Spain. It has a population of about 200.000 but it didn't feel at all crowded. We headed for the old centre and decided on a cup of coffee - wine in the case of our English friends - in the sunny square by the cathedral. Here we are enjoying our outing and the sun.

Coffee time in Oviedo

From there we walked back up into the old streets but before heading for our next destination - the outdoor and indoor market - we had to have a photo with perhaps the best known statute in the city of which there are many. It is of the character, "La Regenta" from the book of the same name by the Asturian author, Leopoldo Arias Clarin, so well known in Spain. It's a fascinating and impossible love story which in a way put Oviedo (called Vetusta in the book) when it was written in 1885. Like most tourists to the city, Kathy and I also had to have a photo with the book's most famous heroine; La Regenta.

Kathy and I next to La Regenta with the cathedral in the background

From the cathedral square we walked to the outdoor market which I well remembered from our last visit to the city which was with Miguel and Oli in the summer of 2018. It was in full swing and there was lots going on. There were the usual clothes' stalls but also local farmers selling there produce, like this old lady selling chestnuts. Chestnuts are called "castañas" in Spanish but in the region of Asturias often words end in "in" a bit like "ita" in Spanish. This "in" ending turns the word into a diminutive. Thus the old lady was offering us "castañines" which I thought was very sweet. I had to have a photo of her but I'm afraid I didn't buy any of her little chestnuts as I'm not really a fan.

The old lady selling her "castañines"

I was more interested in visiting a shoe shop where Oli and I had bought some lovely coloured "espadrille". Called Las Zapatillas de Fontán" I found it easily by the market. I bought the same yellow suede rope shoes I had bought last time as well as some lovely blue ones which Oli had bought. I then got her some similar red ones as she had reminded me to go the shoe shop again. I bought more things at the outdoor market; two lovely jumpers with miniature bobbled hats sewn on. Oli will be delighted when I give her one of them.

From the open market we went to the closed market which has great local produce on sale. If I hadn't got so much food at home here I would have had a fresh fruit and vegetable spree. In the end I just got a mango and some lettuce.

The Fontán closed market in Oviedo

It was nearly 2 o'clock by then and we had to take poor Pippa back to the car before we went to the restaurant (El Gato Negro) where I had booked a table. We left the window slightly open and would be back for her as soon as we finished our lunch.

Not knowing other restaurants in the city and without a recommendation, I booked a table at the same place we went to last time and were not disappointed. It is also a cider bar, cider being very typical in the area. The cider in the region has to be poured from high and in small amounts so as not to lose its fizz. The usual thing is a for a waiter to perform the feat manually but these days there are little machines that can do the same job. You can see the device in the picture below of my handsome husband sitting down for lunch yesterday.

Eladio at El Gato Negro yesterday - notice the cider fizz machine 

Lunch was amazing. Kathy, Phil and I all went for the roast spring lamb and Eladio went for the monk fish. We also had a dessert - I naughtily had a big plate of ice cream. I would not be hungry for dinner that night I can tell you. As we left the restaurant I remembered that in the square nearby there was a lovely statue of a milk maid and a donkey so persuaded Kathy to have a photo taken there. She didn't need much persuasion as both of us have a lot the child inside still (hahaha). Here we are by that lovely statue. If course I had to be the one who sat on the donkey haha. I do have a thing about donkeys as I commented to Kathy, remembering riding them at the seaside in England as a child.

Kathy and I by the milk maid and donkey statue

By about 4 pm we picked Pippa up who was happy to see us again. Our intention then was to show our friends another part of the city, near the famous "Campoamor theatre" and also near the city park which I later found out is called Parque de San Francisco. We couldn't resist a walk in the lovely park. Nor could we resist another photo by another statue, the one below. None of us could work out what it was of. The plaque just the words  "la torera" written which means a female bullfighter but meant no sense. 

In the San Franciso Park in Oviedo by yet another statue with my friends

From the park we walked back to the old town to return to our car. I couldn't resist yet another photo of yet another statue, this time one of a traveller. Oviedo really is the city of statues but I'm not sure it's known for that. Here is Eladio next to it with Pippa of course.

Eladio and Pippa by the traveller statue yesterday in Oviedo

You can see just how sunny it was in the pictures I have posted. Our English friends were in their short sleeves but both Eladio and I were not. Well, 23ºc is not particularly warm for us but it is for them (hahaha). But even I was hot as I was wearing a thermal vest under my sweat shirt!

We drove home in the sunshine and Eladio took us on the scenic route which is a bit longer but wonderful for the views of the mountains clad in their autumn colours.

We were home before dusk. Yesterday it got dark here at 7.30 but today it will be dark at 6.30 as the damned clocks went back an hour last night. I hate it when the clocks change as it takes a lot of adjusting to.  So there was time for Eladio to finish mowing the grass in the area by our houses. Phil, Kathy and I were all dying for a "cuppa" and that's what we had. No one was hungry for dinner so I just served some of my broccoli and mushroom soup and a plate of cut and peeled fruit. The news was on the TV and the scenes of more violent demonstrations coming out of Barcelona sickened us all. When will it stop? Possibly never. I had hoped they would die down but not yet I am afraid.

We all went to bed early a bit tired after our long day out but feeling happy.

Today is Sunday and it will be another sunny day. We have no plans yet, apart from going for a walk in the area and enjoying a hearty lunch together. I shall be making "cocido" (a chickpea based dish).

So that's it for this week my friends. Cheers till next time,

Masha.

Home again, reunited with Elliot and how our grandson has changed our lives, Fátima meets Elliot, violence and hooliganism in Barcelona after Catalan separatists sentenced, the new EU deal for Brexit, Moroccan pastilla and other stories.

Sunday, 20th October, 2019

All together with little Elliot - oh how he unites us and oh how he has changed our lives totally and in such a positive way. 

Good morning everyone.

How has your week been? Let me tell you about mine.

This time last Sunday we were still in Santa Pola but rushing around the apartment getting ready to go. I hate the arriving and leaving part as it always involves washing and cleaning and takes a good two hours. We left in full sunshine with a temperature of 28ºc, the perfect day for the beach. But a week away had been enough to recharge batteries and it was time to go home, time to see Elliot who was now just under a month old and who had grown in our absence. I was dying to see him.

We were in the car with all our stuff and little Pippa in the back by 11.15 for our long drive back - it's 420 km away so quite  a way.  I took one last look at the view of the bay of Alicante from our flat vowing to come back again soon while the weather is good. I never tire of the view.

View of the Bay of Alicante from our apartment, a view I never tire of

We stopped for lunch at around 2 at one of our favourite places, El Mesón de los Rosales where unfortunately we had to leave Pippa in the car with the window slightly open and in the shade I should add. We like this place, one of the better choices on the road to and from Alicante, the A3 and have been many times. Eladio loves it because of the big choice of Spanish style stews made with pulses. I too like pulses but went for lamb chops and salad.

Eladio sitting down to lunch at Mesón Los Rosales on our way home to Madrid last Sunday

We were soon on the road again. I read my kindle in the car while Eladio drove - he always prefers to and I'm happy to let him - and we were outside the gate to our house in the early afternoon. All was quiet. We had 4 guests staying but only saw Andy our semi permanent lodger. Suzy was out with her friend Sandra at a lunch with Oli and their friends so the house was quiet. I was happy to see my father who I know must have missed us as a week is quite a long time to have lunch on his own every day. Facebook reminded me that 8 years ago that day, on 13th October 2011, my father, aged 92, had had his hip replacement operation. He recovered well but very sadly never walked again poor man. My father had walked everywhere all his life and I know it must have been very hard for him. I greeted him while he was watching the BBC news in the ground floor lounge which is his lounge and our study. The first thing I did when I got home after that was to print my blog as he is my most avid reader. I also gave him his treats; the polos, bounty bars and toblerones I had bought for him from Quicksave the British supermarket across the road from our house. He was delighted and his blue eyes lit up. He has a very sweet tooth which I, fortunately or unfortunately, have inherited from him.

It took me a while to unpack and settle in again. Eladio, meanwhile cleaned the pool as we found out there had been a huge rain storm the day before which we had been unaware of. It was good to be reunited with Elsa and Norah too who I know had missed us and their daily walks of course.  I read for a bit outside enjoying the weather and my peace and soon it was time to get ready to go out again. Eladio and I were off to dinner to Oli and Miguel's place. Unfortunately Suzy couldn't join us as she was entertaining her friend Sandra on her last night. I nearly didn't see her.

I was excited to be seeing Elliot again and so was Eladio. A whole week without him in the first few weeks of his little life seemed a long time and my had he grown. He has such long legs and a lot of his newborn sized baby clothes are too small. He is now wearing size 3 to 6 months.

Elliot had grown in our absence

While I was away, two more parcels had arrived for him, one from our darling Pernille from Denmark, the girls' adored au pair and another from our very special friends, Kathy and Phil from England. I also had a present, a pretty baby grow I had got at the Santa Pola market. It's amazing how many presents have arrived for Oli and so many of them from my friends. Later over dinner she opened them and loved them. Pernille's was a very Scandi looking striped baby grow which was perfect for him and Kathy and Phil's was a lovely little outfit themed "Royal Baby", striped too and rather naval in style. I couldn't wait to see him in his new outfits. He has so many. Thank you Pernille and thank you Kathy and Phil. The presents came with sweet cards too, a very non Spanish tradition. I suggested Oli kept them in the photo album I started for Elliot for him to see later in life. I still have the ones we got when our girls were born.

We found Olivia in her usual position, with Elliot at her breast. She told me he had been restless most of the day.  Soon he was in Eladio's arms. It's wonderful to see the soothing influence my husband has on his new born grandson. It must be his calm nature. Here they are together, little Elliot happy in his grandfather's outstretched arms.

Grandfather and grandson reunited

Soon it was my turn to hold him and here I am reunited with my grandson.

Delighted to be reunited with little Elliot on Sunday night

While we looked after the baby, Oli and Miguel rushed around making dinner for us. We had a vegetable based lasagne made by Oli's personal chef. The dessert was a chocolate concoction he had found from a Masterchef recipe which, despite my diet, I couldn't resist. It was a lovely lovely evening but of course had to end.

We left at around 10.30 and were home to a very silent and dark house with everyone seemingly in bed when we arrived. Little did we know that just after we left, Pippa had run away into the street, something she never does. She must have slipped out as we drove our car out of the gate. Suzy told me the story. She arrived shortly after we left. She didn't notice our little dachshund was not at home until some neighbours arrived to say they had seen her on the main road but that she wouldn't let them near her - she never lets anyone near her except for family. They had seen her come to our gate and rang the bell but when she saw them she ran off again, this time into the bushes. Suzy came out and tried to find her but she had disappeared. Thank God I wasn't there when this episode happened as I would have panicked. Luckily the couple who had spotted her, saw her again, rang the bell again and this time she was waiting by the gate and when Suzy opened it she rushed in. She had had  a big scare and I just hope she never runs away again. In any case I will be much more careful in the future. If I lost Pippa, I can't tell you what that would mean to me as I love her so so much. Dogs are not "just animals", dogs are part of our family and Pippa is the most special dog I have ever owned. I love her so. I'm so glad I heard the story afterwards and that it had a good ending.

We were in our own beautifully comfortable bed with its soft memory foam mattress and feather pillows quite late. I insisted on putting the TV on mostly to help me fall asleep but the film "Loving Pablo" with Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz about Pablo Escobar was on and I had to watch it even though I've seen it before. In a way I prefer it to Narcos, the more well known version of the story of Pablo Escobar, the Colombian drug trafficker.

Thus I didn't get my shut eye until very late. I was awake at 4.30 and had to take another sleeping tablet. Even so, I was awake again at 6 am. I decided to get up as I had lots to do on Monday. I'm glad I did as I coincided with Suzy and Sandra getting ready to go to the airport. Thus I finally got to meet her great friend and confidant, the lovely Angolan nurse with whom she lived in London before leaving for Bali. I only saw her for a few minutes but thought she was lovely.

On Monday the weather changed for the worse. Gone were the high temperatures. It was cold for us with the highest temperature being under 20ºc, it rained on and off and there was lots of wind. I was busy in the morning for at least 2 hours, gathering, scanning and sending all the invoices for the third semester to be sent to my accountant Pilar who deals with my self employment tax issues. I had to skip our walk and only hoped we would get one in the afternoon but that was not to be owing to the weather.

By the time I had finished it was midday. Lucy was in the throes of cleaning the house bless her, one of our Airbnb guests had been and gone and we never saw him - David. I had a young student, Jefferson David, arriving from Ecuador the next day and who would be staying for 17 nights. But the poor chap's travel plans were thrown askew due to the troubles in his country, most of it, in his words, paralysed. He kept asking to change the reservation but I can't as I have new people booked. I'm not sure how I am going to accommodate him but I shall try. It's amazing to think that such far away events could affect my little Airbnb business but I felt for him. It wasn't his fault. He's not arriving now until Tuesday.

For the first time in a while I wore long trousers - well jeans - and a fleece top as it was really cold outside. Joy of joys, Oli, Miguel and Elliot were coming for lunch  and it was up to me to feed everyone, 7 people excluding the baby of course who will be fed entirely on his mother's milk until he is 6 months old. With not much food to choose from as the cupboards were running bare, I had to be creative and make the most of what I could find. Our meal would consist of broccoli and mushroom soup (a bit repetitive I know, but we love it) followed by baked salmon, mushroom sauce, red cabbage, red peppers, artichokes and rice. I think you could consider that quite a healthy meal. At least Suzy agreed. We waited for her to finish her lessons at 2.30 as I wanted us to be all together.

Oli and her little family arrived quite early and as soon as I had little Elliot in my arms I went downstairs to my father's room to show him his great grandson again. He was delighted, touching his little head and saying "he's not bald". He again wished him a happy life and when he cried he said "poor  boy". We got Miguel to take a lovely photo of us, 4 generations in one picture. I wondered as it was taken whether Elliot would inherit his great grandfather's genes and luck in life and also live to be 100. To think a hundred years separates them in age. Here we are together. I was happy to see him wearing the size 3 to 6 month blue baby grow I had bought at the Santa Pola market last week. I just love the tender look on my father's dear face.

My father, getting to know his great grandson

It was Eladio who later coined what has happened to us all since little Elliot's arrival; he has changed our lives in a way we could never imagine. He has brought so much joy and has slipped into a family who will love and cherish him always. I'm not a baby person like Oli is, but I can't take my eyes off him. I just have to look at him to feel wondrously happy and content. He has also united our family even more if that is possible. Thus Monday was a lovely day again when we were all together. I said that to my father and out of nowhere, he quoted a line from a song  which we all clapped at. I can't remember the exact words as I haven't inherited his amazing memory but it was something along the lines of "the more we are together, the merrier we will be". He couldn't have described our time together on Monday in a better way.

Lunch together was a lovely drawn out meal. At one stage Elliot needed changing and we did so on the dining room table - big mistake as he peed on us while being changed hahaha. My mobile got wet but thankfully no one's food. It was not a good idea. Oli had brought along the new clothes from Pernille and Kath and Phil to take photos of him in them to send. He was first changed into Pernille's lovely Scandi striped body suit which was lovely. We then had a photo of the 5 of us with Elliot which is the one I have chosen to illustrate this week's post. In it you can see him wearing the Danish body suit which looked too big but it isn't. He is so tall now for his age, just one month old.

After lunch the sun was shining and we decided on more photos outside. The best place for the photo seemed to be the benches by the garden hut so that's where we sat. Suzy wanted a photo to show how the family has grown and later she remembered we had taken a similar photo in May. She dug it out and believe it or not we are sitting in the same position and both Elsa and Pippa are in it too. We decided to do a spot the difference collage which you can see below. Out of sheer coincidence we sat in the same positions as we had in May. Here is the funny collage. Love it.

The spot the differences photo - the above photo taken on Monday and the below photo taken in May just after Suzy arrived from Bali for my father's 100th. The family has indeed grown. 

We all went to have a siesta later, including Miguel and Oli who need their sleep. Suzy took Elliot off their hands and lay down watching her series "13 reasons" with him tucked against her body while he slept peacefully with his Auntie Suzy.

While we were sleeping peacefully there was huge unrest in Catalonia as that day the Spanish Supreme Court sentenced nine Catalan separatist leaders for their role in the illegal independence referendum two years ago. The sentence has been described as "harsh" but it was for sedition and not rebellion which would have seen them jailed for 25 years. Instead they got from 9 to 12 years which in real terms means they will get off very lightly and will most probably soon be in a semi free regime spending only 4 nights a week in jail and the rest of the time free to be with their families. The sentence sparked off huge protests from radical separatists who, I suspect, would have behaved the same way whatever the sentence had been. They were just waiting for the moment and they took it vowing to turn Barcelona into Hong Kong. Well, they certainly caused chaos on Monday when they took over the entrance to the airport and more than 100 flights were cancelled. Although the separatists or their leaders have always promised a non violent behaviour, there was a lot of violence this week which is no help to their cause. If it goes on, the only thing the Government will be able to do is apply Clause 155 from the Constitution again and run things from Madrid which is quite the opposite of what the demonstrators want. There is little way out of this mess. As I said last week, this is Spain's Brexit and it is looking ugly.

We watched the events unfold on the special news programmes and then turned our minds to little Elliot. It was time to try on Kathy and Phil's "Royal Baby" (Royal Navy) outfit on which they bought from Next (love that shop). He looked a treat and had a photo session afterwards. This photo below is perhaps the best of him so far. He looks so awake and aware with his great big staring eyes. He's adorable.

Elliot in his "Royal Baby" outfit

Oli then had the great idea of making a fun video to thank our friends for the outfit. We all dressed up and played out a scene inspired by the Royal town crier, not sure who he is, who dresses up on the streets of London to announce royal baby births. We looked up the words he uses and took his cue. Oli and I came on with a bell, she crying out "oyez oyez" which means "hear ye" to which I added the words, "a royal baby has been born". That was the cue for Suzy to come on to announce his name to huge laughter and to his little hat coming off. What a laugh. This is the video. It's silly but was a lot of fun and I hope Kathy and Phil liked it.

The day was drawing to a close and soon it was time to eat again - yes dinner time. Together we made tortilla which we had with a salad and with Elliot feeding from his mother's breast. She has become adept at eating with one hand only hahaha.

They left at around 10ish after which I spent some quality time with Suzy on her balcony talking for a long time. We have done that a lot while she has been here and I will miss our closeness and our talks. She will be going so soon, next week on 24th of this month and our time with her is running out.

So it was late to bed and we watched a debate on the latest crisis in Catalonia until we both fell asleep.

By mistake I was up at 5.30 on Tuesday morning. Bleary eyed, once again I had misread the time on my phone. Well the dogs were happy to see me so early as they were hungry for their breakfast.

It was sunny with a nip in the air on Tuesday. Eladio had a routine doctor's appointment which meant I went on my walk alone. Pippa came with me but not the other dogs as I can't handle three. I felt sorry for them.

Oli was coming for lunch with Elliot as Miguel had some errands to do. It would be the first time my daughter had ventured out in the car alone with her new baby and we wondered how it would go. We were going to do the food shopping together but she arrived late so Eladio and I went instead. We weren't home till nearly 2 which meant lunch would not be on schedule. That's another way Elliot has changed our lives. It meant though that Suzy whose lessons didn't finish till 3 pm could join us. 

That afternoon I had planned to go and see my friend Fátima. She has cancer as you probably know and has just been in hospital for 3 weeks after a rather invasive treatment on her liver. Oli and Elliot came with me and it was to be a surprise for her. She needed cheering up I know. My friend lives in the same neighbourhood but it's a good 25 minute walk. As the sun was shining we decided on walking there but we had to go slowly as poor Oli is still recovering from giving birth. We also had to stop to feed Elliot on route hahahah. I was delighted to push his pram, the first time I had done so. It reminded me of when the girls were babies and we first took them out in the pram. Here I am with the pram on the way to my friend's house.

Walking Elliot in his pram for the first time - the proud grandmother

I had forgotten the difficulties of steps and we had problems when we got to Fátima's house. Luckily I caught the attention of two men who would help us. I had no qualms in asking them although Olivia was a little embarrassed. When Fátima opened the door to let us in, she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw little Elliot in my arms. I was bringing him to show to my best friend and  first friend to see him. She was overjoyed and I was so happy to bring her some joy after all her suffering, especially the 3 weeks in hospital. We sat down and of course little Elliot needed breast feeding or comfort feeding immediately. He just wants to be at the nipple all the time hahaha. Finally when he was satiated, Fátima was able to hold him in her arms. It was a wonderful moment, a moment of pure joy, deep friendship and complicity, a moment when I realised from her smile that she loves him too. Oh how I love my friend. We have been friends since 1990 when she joined Motorola shortly after me. Very soon afterwards we both went to the Catalonia cycling race together. Just a few days together forged our friendship for life. We were in our early 30's then and now when we look back we can see we were both good looking in our own ways - she tall and dark, me short and blonde - but we were totally unaware of it.

Two good looking young women - Fátima and I at The Tour of Spain in the early to mid 90 s when we worked for Motorola

We have a lot of history together and part of that history is her having met little Elliot, her best friend's first grandchild for the first time this week. We have been through a lot together but for me, Tuesday was one of the best moments of our friendship. Here we are  with little Elliot and great big smiles on our faces.

Fátima holding little Elliot and me beside her smiling from pure joy

We were at her lovely flat for quite a while and didn't leave until past 7 pm. By then it was cold outside and none of us was wearing the right clothing. I knew that poor Elliot would be cold so instead of walking home, I rang Eladio to come and pick us up and rescue us  which he duly did. Later Oli and Elliot left, Suzy was out teaching and Eladio and I were left on our own with no sign of any guests either. Noel was out somewhere, Andy hadn't come back from work and my poor young student from Ecuador was waiting at the airport for a new flight. He was supposed to have arrived on Tuesday 15th but now won't fly until tomorrow. Poor guy.

Eladio and I had dinner together and then went upstairs to watch the news or rather how the clashes and violent demonstrations were unfolding in Barcelona and other big towns in Catalonia. They were pretty frightening to watch. There was no news programme that night as Spain played Sweden in another qualifier that ended in another draw (1-1). If Spain can't beat Norway and Sweden, then they can't be playing very well. Thankfully though they have now qualified for the European Cup and are top of their group. In any case I fell asleep quickly as I had been up at 5.30 that morning and I was soon dead to the world.

Wednesday came. The sun was out although there was quite a nip in the air. In this house and in most houses in Spain the central heating goes off on 1st May and comes on again on 1st November. It's rather a silly rule as it can be cold at the end of November. Eladio sticks to the rule religiously unless I protest strongly. Like most men he doesn't feel the cold as much as women. There is always a fight to turn the heat up and down. It was the same at home when I was a child. It wasn't really cold enough for the heating to go on although at night the temperature dropped and Wednesday was the first time since spring that I wore a coat, albeit a light one. Finally I got him to turn it on on Thursday arguing baby Elliot would be cold. That did the trick hahahaha. 

There's not much to report about Wednesday; the usual really. In the morning we went on our walk and what a glorious one it was in the sunshine. Eladio combed poor Elsa's molting hair which would save a few hairs from straying onto the carpets at home. She molts twice a year and abundantly. It was on Wednesday that my contract with the publishing house in London, LR Price Publications, finally arrived. I was beginning to suspect I might have been duped but I haven't.  Later in the week my publishers posted on their social media sites, twitter, instagram and facebook, the news of my being their latest author to sign with them. It was unexpected and made the whole thing come true.

My publishers, L.R. Price Publications announcing I was their new author this week .  I was as pleased as punch

The frustrating thing though is that their speed in publishing the book is not mine. In the contract they give themselves a year. Thus I have to be a little patient. I still have not started work on my next book on my mother's incredible story. I think that's partly because there hasn't been closure on my first book but I'm sure it's mainly to do with the birth of Elliot who is the centre of my universe at the moment. But I shall write it for him and promise to start soon.

We get news on Elliot every day of course. Oli always sends us a report on his night with a photo. He had slept quite well both on Monday and Tuesday and there are signs he is now beginning to realise the difference between night and day. The photo I got on Wednesday morning is of him wearing one of the Mothercare baby grows I had bought for him - size 3 to 6 months once again. 

My little angel all in white on Wednesday morning this week

He likes movement and that day he tried out his baby bouncer for the first time. I got a photo of that too.

Elliot in his baby bouncer for the first time

Unusually that day Eladio was out for lunch with his friends Roberto and Juanjo. They met to celebrate his birthday and the birth of Elliot. Eladio was joining a new club of grandfathers as they both have quite a few grandchildren between them and he treated them to lunch that day at the Vinoteca restaurant near us.

Thus I had lunch alone with my father although as we had it late, Suzy joined us. For some reason I was very tired that day and had a lot of wind for no known reason  which is quite painful. So I had a long siesta from 3.30 to 5.30 and didn't hear Eladio coming in. Afterwards I went with Suzy to a big shopping centre for her to buy some vegetable protein powder (hahaha) from a health shop. We then went to see Elliot again but had to manage with a lot of traffic on the roads. We finally got to their place at around 7 pm. And there was our little boy feeding once again. He is always feeding hahaha but when he was finally satiated Suzy held him lovingly until I quietly asked for my turn. Elliot at one month  is now very alert and can even smile, bless the little angel.

I took with me yet another present from friends; this time from Roberto and Mari Carmen. They had given him a lovely baby product set, coincidentally of the same make Oli and Miguel use. They were delighted. This is it.

Yet another present for Elliot

We didn't stay for dinner as neither of us was very hungry. We came home to find Eladio had already eaten so I just went for a bowl of fruit and then it was time for bed. The news was on and the stories of violence and sheer hooliganism coming out of Barcelona were horrific.  Barcelona was literally on fire. Do the protesters really have to burn rubbish containers and innocent people's cars to show their opposition to the judges' sentencing of the separatist politicians who they call political prisoners? They are not political prisoners, they are politicians who are in prison because they broke the law and they broke it big time. Apart from setting fire to containers and cars, they threw acid bombs and bricks at the police in the third night of violence. Earlier in the day they had sabotaged the high speed railway line, blocked roads and joined marches coming from other cities to Barcelona. The local government President, Quim Torra, refused to denounce the violence although he did so reluctantly the next day and while the city he presides over was burning down, he himself was on one of the marches.  Authorities are investigating phone calls between him and the instigators, so he is very possibly involved in the violent developments. I think it is time for the government to step in again and to impose direct rule as at the moment what is going on in the Catalan city and region is downright violence, sabotage and hooliganism, all in the name of democracy. What sort of democracy is it when people burn innocent people's cars and throw acid bombs at the police?

Barcelona on fire on the third night of hooliganism on Wednesday

I was disgusted at the images I saw and very saddened. This is not the image to portray to the rest of the world for a city that is so popular with tourists.  It's frustrating also to see that the international press are more influenced by the Catalan's story and so-called lack of democracy. Can you imagine a big province in the USA or the UK calling for independence and rioting on the streets? What would happen then I ask you? Well the same as here, the leaders would be judged and sentenced and the police would not put up with any violence. But for the international press it's the same old story; this is undemocratic Franco's Spain bearing down a repressed area of the country. I can tell you it is not repressed at all. Catalonia is one of the most autonomous regions in the world. They want to be an independent country but unlike Scotland, to whom they often liken themselves, Catalonia was never ever an independent country and what they are doing is completely unlawful. They are also giving Spain a very bad image. I for one am fed up of them. 

I woke up on Thursday morning, Elliot's 1st month "birthday" at 6.30 to rain. Rain had been forecast for the next few days. That's probably a good thing for dry Spain but not for our walks. Thus I missed my walk again.  If I think about it I didn't leave the house once that day. Oli, Miguel and little Elliot came for lunch again as they had been nearby at the pediatrician. He hadn't put on as much weight as he was supposed to and the nurse recommended extra feeding by extracting milk and feeding it to him in a bottle along with the normal breast feeding. He's not very good at latching on and when he does it seems he has to work too hard to feed and then constantly falls asleep. He was asleep when he came and for once let Olivia eat with two hands hahaha. I did the bread and fish miracle once again and that day served fish - yes - along with lots of different vegetables. 

Oli and Miguel couldn't stay long as Miguel's parents were visiting later that day. Suzy had to go off to give a lesson after which she was going out to dinner with friends. Thus Eladio and I went to have our siesta. Once again and very unusually for me I was feeling very tired and had wind. All I wanted was to go to bed which is what I did. I slept again until late. When I finally got up it was to realise our latest guest, Carmen, had arrived. She is a physiotherapist from Almeria who had driven here and it's more than 500km from where she lives. She will be doing a masters degree in pain management or something like that and will be staying here each time she comes for the course which will be once or twice a month from now until June. She seems a delightful girl and she loves the house and the dogs.

Eladio and I had a quiet dinner together watching more violence coming out of Catalonia, the fourth day of troubles before a general strike would take place on Friday.  The other main news was of course the new deal with the EU which Boris Johnson would be putting to the Commons on Saturday. Frankly it seems just the same as Teresa May's except for the Irish question. I can't pretend to understand what the new situation is to substitute the backstop as it seems so complicated. If it is that complicated in theory I dread to think what that will mean in practice. I dare you to understand it too if you read this article from the BBC,  The end to the backstop would be replaced by a border of some kind but only for goods. It would be something like a legal customs border between Northern Ireland and Eire but in practice the customs border would be between the UK and the whole of Ireland with "goods being checked at points of entry in Northern Ireland". Saturday would be the key day when Parliament would sit for the first time ever on a Saturday to vote on the new deal. However, as you will read later, there were surprises in the Brexit development that day that would delay the vote.

Friday came and it was raining again. Thankfully I woke up to a warm and cozy house.  I went on my walk with Pippa in drizzle because I needed the exercise. Eladio stayed behind to wait for the "central heating man" to come and fix some valve. There is always something to fix in this great big house. Friday was a quiet day at home, not so in Barcelona.

That day a friend of Suzy's, Paula, who lives in the Catalonian capital, came to stay. She confirmed what we are seeing on the TV and reading in the news; the complete and utter division of the region which she says is frightening. People never know what other people's opinions are and thus exercise caution when interacting. That reminds me of Brexit, it reminds me of the Basque question and of wars of all kinds. In Barcelona what was happening was street warfare instigated by the worst sort of individuals. At the same time there was a peaceful demonstration of up to half a million people but it was the images of sheer hooliganism that hit the headlines, hooliganism that had taken up the heart of the city and it was sickening to look at. Spain's Minister of the Interior, said Barcelona was completely safe to visit and urged tourists to go there but there have been many cancellations. Of course there have. Who wants to see that violence around the main landmarks of the city? 

I got on with my day, taking care of my new Airbn guests and managing new reservations of which I have a lot. I made our lunch - coq au vin - and read in the afternoon. Gone are the days of sitting outside by the pool I'm afraid.

The highlight of Friday was dinner out. I took Eladio to a Moroccan restaurant, "Tuareg Arab Restobar" in the old part of nearby Villaviciosa de Odón. I had heard about it from Fátima and read the reviews.  It seemed very authentic with typical Moroccan decor as well as Moroccan staff serving, low tables and rug type curtains as well as the lamps so typical of that north African country.  I love Arab food and maybe Moroccan isn't my favourite - I far prefer Lebanese, but I was lured by the offer of a dish I adore  chicken"pastilla" or "pastela" as it is also known. If you don't know it, let me try to describe it. It is basically a pie made with layers of filo pastry filled with soft roast chicken, almonds, cinnamon and sugar. We once had a home help, Fatima, who made it very well and I saw her doing it. It took her a whole day as it is very intricate to make.  This is the portion of pastela I had that night.

The chicken and almond pastilla I was served at the Moroccan restaurant on Friday

This is what it looks like on the inside.

Pastilla pie as seen from the inside

Eladio and I often have very different tastes for food and he is not keen on pastilla or pastela.  But we shared humus which we had with warm pita bread which we both love and a tabuleh salad. This was the humus.

Humus at Tuareg on Friday

The two other possibly flagship Moroccan dishes are couscous and tajin but I'm not keen on either of them. Eladio doesn't like couscous but he likes a stew so he went for the lamb and honey tajin. I tried it and found the meat hard. But the best was still to come; the mint tea accompanied by Moroccan pastries. I went for one which is generally known as baklava in the Middle East.

Baklava, a Middle Eastern sweet pastry delicacy

My mother and Auntie Masha used to adore baklava and my aunt even bought a pastry machine to make it.  It's actually very similar to pastilla except for the chicken. They had eaten baklava when they were young and lived in Bulgaria where it is fairly common thanks to the Turkish influence on that country. I went for the pistachio flavoured pastry, my favourite.  Eladio not having the sweet tooth I have, ordered a boring plate of melon hahaha.  I think it was me who really enjoyed the Moroccan restaurant and food, not my husband so much. I know my daughter Olivia will love it so hopefully there will be a chance of returning there soon.

We came home to sort the dogs out and put them to bed in the kitchen - as if they were children hahaha - and then went up to bed ourselves. Friday was the fifth night of violence in Barcelona and perhaps the worst so far this week. We watched a special programme reporting on the live events and the picture was not pretty.

Saturday came and it would be a big day for British politics. It was being called the Super Saturday Parliamentary session when MPs would vote for or against the new deal. However a spoke was put in the wheels of Boris Johnson when an MP called Sir Oliver Letwen proposed an amendment, the Letwin amendment, that was intended to ensure the PM would comply with the terms of the Benn Act, forcing him to request an extension to leaving from the EU. The amendment called for the Brexit deal to be on hold until legislation to implement it is in place. The amendment won the day and frustrated Boris had no other option than to send a letter to the EU, albeit unsigned. All this means is that the vote for or against the new deal will now be postponed until next week. Meanwhile outside Big Ben, a demonstration was going on in favour of a referendum. If only I thought.

Life continued as normal here. I was going to prepare a huge lunch for us all when Oli, Miguel and Elliot would come and Suzy would arrive with 4 of her friends meaning I had to make lunch for 11 people. Do you know what I did my friends? I got out of it by suggesting to Oli that Eladio and I go to their place for lunch. Suzy wouldn't arrive with her friends until much later and ended up ordering pizzas. As I write this Sunday morning, she has just come back - about an hour ago - after being out all night with them. Hopefully they will all be asleep when I make our lunch today hahaha. I can't wait for time out when we go to Montrondo where we will be joined by our friends Phil and Kathy next Friday.

We spent quality time with little Elliot. As we arrived we found him lying peacefully in his baby bouncer. It appears he has just discovered his little hands and keeps looking at them. I was rewarded with a stare and the odd smile.

Little Elliot yesterday, discovering his hands

Oli and Miguel served us lentils. The poor things are exhausted looking after their baby who is rather a cry baby who wants to be fed constantly, sometimes every 20 minutes. No wonder they are tired. We were there for moral support. I well remember the times we went through when our babies were small. I was alone at home with my new born babies and thankfully Oli has Miguel. But even so they are hard times.

We came home late and went to bed to read. We both drifted off to sleep only getting up to make our dinner and were soon back in bed again watching the news. We could hear Suzy and her 4 friends getting ready to go out. I wondered how on earth they would sleep as all the rooms are full of guests apart from Oli's. Well, they are young so no doubt that would not be a problem for them.

Today is Sunday, the end of this week and rain is forecast again.  What a difference from the 28ºc we experienced in Santa Pola last week.

I shall leave you now to get on with the day. All that remains is to wish you all a great week ahead and to hope that you have enjoyed this week's missal.

Cheers till next time,
Masha

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