A humiliated prince, Elliot here for the week, Season 3 of The Crown (spoilers), to the cinema, Friday night dinner at Tuareg, mother and baby school reunion and other stories.

Sunday 24th November, 2019

Holding and kissing little Elliot my adored grandson

Top of the morning to you my friends. How has your week been? Let me tell you about mine.

Last Sunday was another cold yet sunny day and we enjoyed our walk with the dogs. There were people out shooting as there are on Sundays and we always worry a stray bullet might hit us. I do hate these shooting men who are out to kill animals. They call it a sport, I call it a killing game. Do you agree?

I came home to a quiet house and to make our lunch which would include a hearty winter soup. In between cooking I took the time to watch the now famous BBC interview with Prince Andrew, reportedly the Queen's favourite son. After our quiet lunch and siesta I watched the end of the interview feeling disgusted with the British Royal family, an institution as a British born person I was brought up to revere. Sorry but I don't revere them any more.

The interview which took place in Buckingham Palace

You will all be aware it was to screen him on his relationship with the now dead sex predator Jeffrey Epstein and on whether he also had sex with underage girls trafficked by Epstein. This story has rocked the Royal family's image once again and in my mind this was a pretty bad PR blunder as the prince did not come out well from it. Far from it, I'm afraid. I was waiting for the moment when he would sympathise with the victims or say he regretted his relationship with Epstein but he did neither. He could at least have apologised or said he was sorry for what had happened but he was unapologetic throughout the interview. Throughout he appeared remorseless but throughout he also appeared to be not speaking the truth at least to me. I didn't believe him at all. On the subject of sex with one of the victims, Virginia Giuffre,  who claimed she was trafficked to him three times, his answer was he couldn't remember. He couldn't remember? Maybe because he had sex with so many underage girls he just couldn't remember who they were. Whatever you or I thought about the interview, the story is not going to go away and will haunt the prince as it has tainted his image as the party prince forever. The story will not go away as the victims speak out and trials take place. Andrew cannot be immune to this and I would not be surprised to see him extradited to the US to speak before a judge. However, as this is a game of my word against yours and there is no real proof, he will, no doubt, in the end, get away with murder or should I say get away scot free from very possibly also being a sex predator or at least party to one of them. This is an awful business.

Less than a week after the interview, on Tuesday, the Duke of York, announced his resignation from public life. It was not just his involvement in the scandal but probably more because of the interview for which he was hugely scathed. Since his appearance on TV, nearly all the companies backing his royal projects announced their withdrawal.

The Duke of York announces his retirement from public duty

He must have learned his lesson from the interview and finally, in the announcement from the Palace, he shows remorse and regret for his friendship with Epstein and shows sympathies to the predator's victims. If he had done that in the BBC interview, maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have had to take this historical step. The last time a member of the Royal Family stepped down from public life was when his great uncle, Edward VIII abdicated from the throne. No doubt the Queen will have been most upset just as she was when her uncle abdicated to marry Wallace Simpson and her own father became king, putting her in direct succession, something she was not prepared for. In a way this is one of the final nails on the coffin of a very humiliated prince. Let's see now if he will have to face justice in the USA. 

On Sunday I was expecting a woman to come and see the house who had booked a night for 6 with us  in May. It's highly unusual for people who book to come and see the house and in a way I don't know why I accepted. I could only smell trouble from her with all her interrogation on the Airbn platform. They  came just after Oli, Miguel and Elliot arrived and in pouring rain. I had to get all the baby kit out of the way quickly and rush outside in my hotel slippers to open the gate for them. It was a couple and their two small daughters which meant we had to hide Pippa too. Only after they had inspected the garden in the rain did it transpire they had booked our place to use it for a first holy communion party for the 6 of them and friends and family. On my listings I specifically prohibit parties or events but the woman had not read the text on the listing as many people don't. She didn't even realise that this is the house we live in and had expected to be able to hire the whole house - even though the listing only mentions 3 rooms - and also bring along other guests (free of charge) when in the listing we say no extra guests apart from those who have booked to spend the night.  Did she really expect that for the price of 6 people staying a night, she could hire the whole house and bring along as many guests as she wanted. It was an awkward situation but thankfully I had Eladio on my side. In the end she had no option but to cancel and later cheekily asked me, the host, to cancel. I explained that if I cancelled I would lose my super host status. I haven't heard from her since. Fortunately this is a one off incident in my overall positive Airbnb experience but from now on I shall not be showing our house ahead of a booking. I have learned my lesson.

Finally when they left I was able to concentrate on my own visitors or rather my own family. It was lovely to see little Elliot again and I took him down to my father to see before he (me father) went to bed. 

Elliot aged 2 months last Sunday

Miguel was leaving again for Valencia and would be away until tomorrow. This meant that Oli and Elliot would be with us for the whole week. We had originally planned to go to Montrondo but after the snow and the interruption of electricity which could have happened again, we didn't dare go.

The day ended with dinner in the dining room and my famous prawn, avocado and mango salad while Elliot was fed too hahaha. Then it was time for bed and TV time. That night we watched the Salvados programme about the problem of unaccompanied foreign minors. Called "MENAs", these are mostly underage Moroccan boys who have traveled illegally to Spain but as they are minors they don't get sent back. Instead they are put into immigrant institutions and at the age of 18 they are left on the streets with no papers and unable to work awaiting residency which never seems to arrive.  Thus they have to forage or rob food to survive. It is a vicious circle for them and a problem the Spanish authorities are not dealing with properly.

Monday came and it was another cold but sunny day, in the morning at least. It was just Oli, Elliot, Pippa and I on the walk that day as Eladio had to go into the city on an errand. Most of the day was spent with little Elliot who at over 5 kilos is quite a heavy weight to carry. He was quite fretful all through Monday but we were all there to give Oli a helping hand. He wouldn't sleep at all during the day and Oli's siesta was spent playing with him. Here they are together.

Elliot and his Mummy

I joined them and we took a selfie. Oli was on the phone to Miguel and it was amazing to see little Elliot looking at the screen and smiling. Was he smiling at his father? It really seemed so.

A threesome selfie with little Elliot

Before our dinner - Elliot eats all day (hahahaha) - I helped Oli bathe her little boy. I think it was the first time he didn't protest and that he actually enjoyed his bath. Later bathed, clean and changed into his pyjamas we went down to make dinner. Eladio joined us. He was holding little Pippa, our adored chocolate coloured miniature dachshund who you know is the apple of my eye. So far she has been very curious about this new addition to the "pack" but we have been wary of contact between them as we don't really trust her. Dachshunds are notoriously bad with children so we have been very careful. But Monday was a turning point with Pippa reaching out to the baby and licking its hand with no sign of aggressiveness. Here they are, getting to know each other. Lovely isn't it?

Pippa and Elliot getting to know each other

After a healthy and delicious dinner together which we had in the dining room rather than the kitchen so that Oli can have privacy if she needs to feed the baby, we went up to watch the news.

The news was over by then however and instead a qualifying match was on between Spain and Romania. I had no interest whatsoever in the match and was dying to begin Season 3 of The Crown. For the records Spain beat Romania 5-0 which puts them top of their group.

Both Eladio and I had watched season 1 and 2 of The Crown and I, at least, loved them. I think Eladio goes along with it because of me. Thankfully I was allowed to watch it in English but with Spanish subtitles.  We binge watched the first three episodes, only switching off the television well after midnight.

Season 3 opens with the beginning of the Labour PM, Harold Wilson's tenure. That was in 1964 when I was just 7 but I remember it very well. I understood at the time that my parents were appalled that Labour had beaten the conservatives. Maybe the Queen was too, I don't know. The pòrtrayal of Harold Wilson, a Yorkshireman who studied at Oxford and who smoked a pipe, is not quite correct.  In the episode it is made clear that the Queen becomes very fond of the new Prime Minister. I think history proves she was, after Churchill of course. 

The Queen with Harold Wilson

What I do not like about The Crown is when the story line is not based on absolute facts. I think any period drama should be and that the script writers of this wonderful period piece should stick to them. I really do. In the first episode Winston Churchill dies. That is something I remember very clearly too as a child. The country came to a standstill. I remember spending my pocket money (half a crown - I think) on a souvenir booklet about the greatest British PM to live. I must have had some money leftover as I remember my brother and I getting on a bus to Keighley while my parents watched the funeral. We went to visit Cliff Castle. There I was mesmerised by a dolls' house and old fashioned toys. I went back for the first time since in January 2017 when our friends, Kath and Phil, took us there. I wonder whether our parents realised we had gone.

Espisode 2 is all about Princess Margaret. She outshone the Queen as far as personality goes but I think her behaviour is a bit exaggerated in the series. Episode 3 about the tragedy in the South Wales mining village of Aberfan seems to stick more to the facts. I well remember it as it was a national disaster when in 1966 a huge pile of coal waste suddenly collapsed and poured down into the village. Tragically it struck the local school, Pantglass Junior School,  just after assembly when lessons had started. 116 children  and 28 adults died buried under the coal in Britain's biggest mining disaster ever. It was a tragic story that has lived on. In the episode and in real life  it took the Queen 8 days to decide to visit the village and comfort its people. 

The Queen visiting Aberfan a few days after the tragedy

Apparently it is something she has regretted all her life and she has been back at least 4 times. We would have to wait until Tuesday night to see the next episodes.  Somehow I think the Queen comes across as far too cold and inaccessible. Maybe she is but I, for one, think she is more human than she is portrayed in the series. In this episode the story features on the Queen being unable to show emotions in public and how she later recounted the one tear she spilled while visiting the damaged village was a dry tear. History tells otherwise. She was very moved although she did not show any tear at all, dry or wet. Once again the series uses fiction. 

Tuesday came and when I woke up it was under zero for the first time this year -1ºc . However the sun came out and it didn't rain. Eladio and I did the food shopping in the morning - unbelievable that we had finished our supplies from the week before - came back to unload them and then we went for our walk and were joined by Oli and Elliot. He loves his walks and sleeps most of the way.

That afternoon or evening as it was at 6.30 pm and is dark then, the four of us went to visit my dear friend Fátima. Eladio hadn't seen her since 12th September when she came to see us and noticed just how  much her health had declined since then. However, she was on great form and good spirits. We arrived to find her with a visitor, Sonia, a Nokia colleague who I hadn't seen since I left that Finnish company. Soon afterwards we were joined by another Nokia colleague, Maria Angeles and we had a veritable party going. Fátima was delighted to see Elliot again and noticed how he had grown too and he has I can assure you.  At about 8 pm we all left as it was getting late.  I was glad to have spent more quality time with my dear friend. I want to spend as much time as I can with her now and we agreed to go out to dinner together on Friday. We were to go to the Moroccan restaurant, El Tuareg, on Friday, the one she had introduced us to and which Oli and I adore. I couldn't wait to try their "pastille" again.

We came home to make dinner. We left Eladio in charge of Elliot as Oli and I made the preparations. He loves his grandfather's calming influence and I had to get yet another photo. I must have taken at least 1000 since he was born hahaha.

Grandfather and grandson communicating

Earlier in the day, Oli took yet another one of me with little Elliot. I was holding and kissing him, my favourite occupation at this time hahahaha. The feeling of being his grandmother is something so beautiful yet difficult to describe. I suppose only grandparents can understand it. That's the photo I have chosen to illustrate this week's blog post. Sorry if I am boring you with tales of Elliot.

Entertainment that night was watching two more episodes of The Crown. One was about Prince Philip's most unusual mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg who went to live at Buckingham Palace, aged 82,  in the 60s after troubles in Greece. She was great granddaughter of Queen Victoria and of course the Queen's mother-in-law. What I didn't know is that she was also the sister of Lord Mountbatten. Most of the episode about her origins was true to fact. What was not true to the fact was that she gave an interview to The Guardian about her mental health and tortuous life. The mental health issues are true. She also became a nun but what isn't mentioned in the episode and deserves to be is that she is a "Righteous among nations" after saving Jews in Greece during WW2.

Prince Philip and his extraordinary mother Princess Alice of Battenberg

I found her character incredibly interesting - she smoked woodbines in Buckingham palace - and most read more about her.  The other episode concentrated on the Queen's love of horses and included a hint that there might have been a bit more than just friendship between her and Porchie (Lord Porchester). I doubt it as there is no shred of evidence at all as she has been in love with Prince Philip since she was a teenager.

Wednesday came and as I was having my cup of coffee I got a video from Suzy showing her new home. In very Indonesian style it looks great and even has a swimming pool. Now that she has room for us, I must save up some money to go and visit her. Now that would be nice. We had a video call and it was great to see my daughter over the seas and so far away from us. She sent us a video from You Tube where she is singing the song Hotel California on a beach in Bali. I love to hear her singing. This is the link if you are interested.

Wednesday was a quiet day, the only thing we did differently was to go to the cinema. Eladio wanted to see a film about the Spanish Civil War by the Chilean director, Alejandro Amenabar, called "While at War". The film centres on the uprising of the nationalists when Franco is named leader "generalisimo" and later "caudillo" and on a revered Spanish literary figure, Miguel de Unamuno who is the director or Rector of the University of Salamanca. He switches from backing the republicans to backing Franco and then backs neither. For me it was interesting to see the figure of Unamuno on screen. It brought back memories of my degree in Hispanic Studies at Nottingham University when our lecturer in modern literature, Dr. Richard Cardwell, taught us about him. I think the first book I read in my first year was "Niebla" by the Basque writer and my Spanish was not good enough to understand it at the time. Eladio who is mesmerised with films and books about Spain's cruel and bloody war among its citizens, was more interested in Franco's figure who comes across as quite ridiculous in Amenabar's film, but then again the film director is left wing. If you are interested this is the trailer. 

The film we went to see on Wednesday

It was nice to go to the cinema and I don't remember the last time we did but it was a cold and wet November evening and there would be no pop corn while watching or dinner out afterwards. I commented to Eladio that perhaps in these circumstances it would have been more agreeable to be able to watch it on Netflix. That of course is not possible for the moment.

We came home to make dinner and to spend more time with little Elliot. Later I took him upstairs as he was fast asleep although we wouldn't know how long that would last hahaha. Here is the little cherub in slumberland.

Elliot asleep bless the little angel

We watched two more episodes of The Crown that night. The first one was about Prince Charles learning Welsh ahead of his investiture which I found very interesting. The second was less so. It covered the Moon landings which of course I lived through but also focused on Prince Philip undergoing a mid life existential crisis.

Thursday came and it brought  rain. I must say I find November one of the most depressing months of the year. While eating a mango at lunch that day I wondered whether they now grow in peninsular Spain and found they do in an area called La Axarquia in the province of Malaga.  I read that this is an area with a sub tropical climate and has the best weather to be found in the whole of Europe. That got me thinking that maybe Eladio and I should retire there. It's a thought.  I have even been googling property in the area.  Some time ago, our idea was to retire to the Costa del Sol but since then we gave up the idea and decided we would live out our time here in this great big house. But who knows now what we shall do.

That morning I accompanied Oli to the doctor for a check up and of course we took little Elliot along. When Oli was called in she had to interrupt her breast feeding and left me with a very fretful little baby. I had to pull out all the stops to calm his crying in a crowded maternity waiting room with everyone looking at me.  I was very relieved when she finally came out and his feeding could be resumed. He slept all the way home in the car again to my relief.

Thursday was a quiet day at home with the baby. I am cherishing this time with Oli and Elliot, privileged time of bonding with my little grandson.  I also love being a hands on grandmother helping Oli look after the little tot. Oh how I love him. I helped her get him to sleep with soft lighting and lullabies on spotify and then I went into our own room free of baby responsibility and able to watch the TV with Eladio. That's the best thing about being a grandmother - not having the direct responsibility and thus enjoying my time with the baby in a way I couldn't when I was a mother.

The day finished with two more episodes of The Crown. I enjoyed the one about the death of the Duke of Windsor and how Queen Elisabeth finally made amends with her favourite uncle before he died. I also enjoyed the episode when Charles meets Camilla. Both Eladio and I remarked afterwards that if Charles had been able to marry her, the love of his life, there would have been no Diana tragedy. It's quite obvious he was forced into marriage with the people's princess and although the whole world loved her, the love of his life was Camilla. I bet the Queen who was not apposed to him marrying her at the time, wished he had then and not later.

Friday came and it was raining again. That day Suzy was off to Singapore and back so as to get a renewed visa. To get one she has to leave the country. Poor Suzy, what a waste of time and poor Suzy as she doesn't like flying very much. Wehad a video call with her. She loves them as that is when she gets to see Elliot. He's only 2 months old but seems to respond to communication on mobile phones and I have seen him smiling at his father during one video call. Amazing!

It was such a wet and horrible morning we skipped our walk until it was a little drier in the afternoon. Oli and I spent precious time with the baby and then made our escape for her to do some food shopping for school friend guests coming for afternoon tea yesterday. We left Elliot after he had been changed and fed with his grandfather for one whole hour. While at Carrefour Market and at Lidl both of us worried he would fret and be difficult but we came home to find him asleep in Eladio's arms. My husband complained his arms were hurting as they can do when you hold a 5 kilo baby for a long time. Well, Oli's partner, Miguel, came up with a solution, a state of the art gadget for the baby to be able to sit around your middle without the holder feeling the weight. This is the gadget or contraption, a sort of belt with a seat which you wear around your middle for the baby to sit on. It's great.

Oli trying out the new baby sitting belt while carrying her baby around

There are so many things available these days for mothers and babies which did not exist in our day, like the baby rucksack carrier Oli wore to carry Elliot on our walk that day. We went in the afternoon when the rain  halted for a while but not long. Here she is with him in the rucksack and with Eladio about to set off.

Oli carrying her baby on our walk yesterday

It was very wet and slippery so we walked around the block rather than across the fields to avoid the mud. The rain appeared again during our walk and we came back pretty wet except for Elliot whose coat was waterproof. It was time for his bath when we came back. I love bathing him with Olivia and the little one is beginning to enjoy it too although it was very funny to watch him when self protection kicked in and which must be an instinct in babies. He lay in the water with his mother holding his head but crossed his arms against his chest with his fists tightly closed, so closed that you could see his knuckles going white poor lamb. I wish I had taken a photo.

When Elliot was ready, Oli and I got ready too as we were going out to dinner to our latest favourite place, the Arab Gastro Bar in nearby Villaviciosa, "Tuareg" My friend Fátima and her daughter were going to join us and I was looking forward to that so much that I was dismayed when Fátima rang to say she was in too much pain to go out. Oh my poor dear Fátima; even the extra  dose of morphine she took hoping to lessen the pain and allow her to go out didn't work. I was very sad she didn't feel well enough to go out and will be visiting her tomorrow. I do hope she will be well enough to take part in this week's Nokia colleague homage dinner for her planned for Thursday. Cross your fingers. I am crossing mine.

So just the three of us with Elliot went out to dinner that night. It was raining and it's always a bore getting the little baby into his car seat and putting away the pram and then getting it out again. He didn't complain though and promptly fell asleep in the car and then in the pram. At the restaurant he carried on sleeping so his mother was able to enjoy the meal.

Our Moroccan dinner on Friday night

He only woke up when she had finished, was fed a bit and promptly fell asleep again. He had behaved perfectly. As to us, we adored our meal and ordered the same things as last time; hummus with pita bread, falafel (to die for), sabila (Oli and Eladio) and of course pastille (Pastela) the Moroccan flaky chicken pie. We also had the Arab tea with baklava. I would have liked to try the "shisha" (Moroccan smoking pipe) which does not have tobacco. I didn't in the end but must try it next time.

We came home to put little Elliot to bed, something he is not too keen on. Later Eladio and I watched the last episode of The Crown. It's about the breakup of Princess Margaret's marriage with Lord Snowden and her steamy relationship with the young Roddy Llewellyn. We always knew she was a difficult character but she is portrayed as an absolutely vial person which I think is perhaps only one side of her. What is also shown is the devotion her sister the Queen has for her, even saying she couldn't bare to live without her. I'm sure that was true.

We had a new guest that night, a young French girl called Fanny of all names. She went out to a party as soon as she arrived but Eladio didn't know or hear me telling him and put the alarm on when we went to bed. Of course that set it off when she arrived home in the early hours of the morning waking up the whole household, the baby and me included. I needed another tablet to get back to sleep. I firmly told Eladio to consult me the next time he wants to put it on as there is nothing more annoying than it going off in the middle of the night.

I was up at 6.30 yesterday morning and finally the rain had gone and the sun made its appearance. Eladio and I went on our walk and I came home to find Lucy had made our lunch - what luxury - Our siesta was short as Oli had invited ex school friends from the girls' school, St. Michael's for afternoon tea. I was in charge of preparing it; lots of fruit which did not get eaten and lots of croissants which did. Her two friends Elena and Cristina came, Cristina with her husband Edu and three boys Nico, Rafa (was that his name?) and little Guille. So we had a house full of children. I had not seen Cristina or Elena for many many years, perhaps not since the girls left school, now nearly 17 years ago. Of course I remember them very well from their childhood. It was a bit of a shock to see them now as grown up women and Cristina with three children. I wonder how she copes. Here is a photo of Oli with Cristina and another one of all of Oli with all her guests.

Cristina and Oli 17 years later - both mothers now

The St. Michael's Mother and baby reunion yesterday at home

The talk was mostly baby talk, some of it very useful to Oli coming from a far more experienced mother, Cris who has 3 children. We also talked about their other friends from school; Miriam, Sonia, Begoña and more, children I remember well from countless school functions and who are all now grown women, some married, some with children and some not. Both our girls were very happy at St. Michael's, a bilingual private school very near where we lived where they made friends for life. The most important friend of all was Copi (Ana María Vázquez). She is half white and half black and the girls first met when they were 3 and 4. As soon as Suzy saw her on her first day at school, her words were: "Who is that little black girl over there? I want to be her friend". Copi went on to be an important part of our family. She now lives in Vitoria some 4 hours north of Madrid but will be coming to lunch today with her boyfriend and mother Celeste. She has an interesting story in that she was born to Celeste who was the family maid. Instead of throwing them out, the family who would later be Copi's godparents, let both of them stay on and Copi was given the same advantages as their own daughter. Celeste still works for the family today.

Oli's guests left at around 8 pm and believe it or not Oli went out again - she had been out to lunch too yesterday - and we were left to have dinner on our own with no sign of our guests. I fell asleep quite quickly but woke up at 5 am today and just couldn't get back to sleep. Thus I got up at the unearthly hour of 5.30 am. I have lots to do today: publish this blog post, write a draft press release, go on our walk and prepare lunch for 8. That's a lot in a day isn't it? No doubt, I shall manage.

I must leave you now but just let me wish you all a great week ahead before I do so.

Cheers till next Sunday friends and readers,

Masha

Remembrance Day, voting on Sunday, fragmented results in the Spanish elections and a pact with the devil, Elliot came to stay, Bradford, UK's most improved city, a special Motorola dinner for Fátima and other stories.

Sunday 17th November, 2019

With my adored dear Fátima at the ex Motorola dinner on Thursday

Hi again,

Today is Elliot's month day if that term exists in English. He is two months old today and we are celebrating. These two months with him have brought nothing but joy for all of us and it is marvelous to see him grow. He is now a very long baby measuring 60 cm and weighing just over 5 kilos. And he is just so cute although at night he is a bit of a devil as the poor mite suffers on and off from colic. 

Last Sunday he came to visit. Sunday was Remembrance or Armistice Day as it used to be known. It was first observed in 1919 to remember those who fell in the Great War otherwise known as World War 1. I think it is fitting that I remember too. While  writing my father's biography I came across photos of my grandfather, my father's father, Revd. John Collins Lloyd who was a chaplain in WW1. Here he is in his uniform.

My grandfather in his Army chaplain uniform in WW1

I also learned that my father's uncle, Harold Benson, the husband of his mother's sister, Gwendoline, was also in WW1. Sadly a few years later he died of wounds from the war. Here he is too in his uniform.

My father's uncle, Harold Benson in WW1

And finally here is a photo of my father in his WW2 navy uniform which no doubt you have seen many times. We should remember especially now that there are not many veterans left, my father being one of them. Soon there will be none left.

My father in his RNVR uniform, Bristol 1940. 

If in England Remembrance weekend was being celebrated, in Spain its fourth general election in so many years was taking place.  We went to vote with Oli and Miguel who brought little Elliot with them wrapped up warmly for a cold November day. Miguel had voted by post as his home is officially Valencia and I of course cannot vote which is very frustrating. So all I could do was watch my husband and daughter vote; for two different candidates by the way as democracy dictates and which is a good thing. Here they are voting together.

Oli and Eladio voting with Miguel looking on.

Later as tradition dictates in our family we went to have a coffee together. Both Miguel and I indulged in a "porra" (sort of thick churro) even though it was already 1 pm and only an hour to lunch.

We all had lunch together at home to my father's joy. He loves it when Elliot comes and so do we. The little tot was asleep throughout lunch allowing his mother to eat with two hands hahaha. We offered to have him during our siesta and up he went in his pram to be laid by my side of the bed. Here he is asleep in our room.

Elliot asleep in our room 

He slept for a while until about 40 minutes later he began to wake up and started to cry. I had hoped to give Oli and Miguel time to catch up on their much needed sleep but it was not to be. 

Sunday was a guest free day after Manuel and Gelia, our Catalán guests, had left in a rush to get back to Barcelona to vote. It was on Sunday that I gathered together old photos of my dear friend Fátima for the Motorola colleague dinner being especially organised for her. I had told some of our old colleagues how ill she was and that rallied them to the cause wanting to pay homage to her in a special dinner. Vicente would organise it and suggested making a special album;   a book of photos to present to her. I found quite a few, nearly all related to our Motorola cycling days. That's when our friendship was forged. It happened during the first cycling event we went to together in Catalonia where we stayed at the Parador in Cardona - unforgettable. We had so much fun during those days as you can see in one of the photos below. It was taken during the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain) in 1995, 24 years ago! We were in our 30's then and looking good don't you think?

Fátima and I in stitches in 1995 during the Tour of Spain - 24 years ago

Looking at that photo now I can hardly believe that was us. We were so young! What wonderful memories.

Sunday was all about the general election and by 8 pm, just as the polling stations closed, Eladio and I were having dinner in the kitchen and beginning to watch a special programme on the results which began to come in about an hour or so later. 

We watched the rest of it from bed. I was brought up at home on watching election results which of course never came in until the next day when I was young and living in Yorkshire. Both my parents considered those nights as very special and they were almost like a party. Politics was important in our house. My parents were staunch conservatives and my brother was staunch labour much to their disapproval. I went along with them and when I could vote, also voted conservative. I wouldn't vote conservative today. Sadly I can no longer vote in the UK because of the stupid rule that doesn't allow you to  if you have lived outside the country for more than 15 years. As I have told you before I can't vote here in Spain either unless I have Spanish citizenship so I am in voting limbo although very interested in politics just as my husband is and Olivia. Suzy doesn't give a damn really especially now that she is far away in Bali. 

So we watched as the first results came in and from the very start it was clear what the outcome would be with even more fragmentation than in April. By midnight we knew for sure the incumbent caretaker left wing PSOE party had won with 120 seats (3 down from last time) but is far from having a majority. There are 350 seats in the lower house (Congress) and 176 are needed to govern. Their natural partners, the far left party Podemos got 35 (7 down) which means that if they are to be allies they will need the votes of the independence parties. The big surprise of the night was the increase in seats of the far right party Vox and the sinking of the central party Citizens (Ciudadanos) from 47 to 10. If you divide these parties into right wing and left wing blocks, the right wing block now has 150 and the left wing block has 158 approximately. So deadlock and stalemate again. One solution would be the allying of the two main parties, PSOE and PP (right wing) which would give a government an overall majority of 208 seats. Easy peasy you would think. That would keep away the far right party VOX and keep in check all claims for independence in Catalonia. However it is easier to see on paper than in reality as there are maybe too many differences between these two historic parties. 

The results of Sunday's election compared to the outcome of the April general election.

Forming a government is going to prove very difficult and will take quite a long time. 

Monday came and brought news of the outcome of the elections with lots of speculation on possible pacts or coalitions between the parties as the maths just don't add up. The biggest news of the day was the resignation of the leader and founder of the Ciudadanos Party, Albert Rivera after losing so many seats, down from over 50 to just 10. I felt sorry for him as I had been up until a while ago quite a fan of his. However, he is the victim of his own mistakes. Had he backed the PSOE party last April we would have had a stable government by now and he would have had a big say in the running of the country. I wonder while he is licking his wounds he is thinking about how he made the completely wrong decision.

Life continued normally for us at home. It was very cold so we postponed our walk until midday when we could enjoy the few rays of sunshine of the day. In the evening Eladio and I went out to see the doctor to get a prescription for our flu jabs which my husband would later inject on both of us. You see he is not only my husband but many other things too, including my doctor hahaha.

We came home to prepare for Oli and Elliot's arrival. Elliot was coming to stay for four nights as Miguel went back to work this week. He still has a month left from his holiday quota but will use that time later on. Oli drove to our house with Elliot screaming in his baby seat all the way and she arrived very flustered. We soon helped  to calm the little tot down. He was having a very fretful day probably due to colic. He calmed down enough for his mother to be able to eat with one hand. She had brought the most delicious "ibérico" ham which we all wolfed down.

We were all in bed by about 10 pm and I hoped Oli and little Elliot would have a reasonable night, the first without his father. That night Eladio and I finished watching "Hache" which we can highly recommend.

We didn't have long to see the first political negotiation coming to fruition and it brought with it a pact with the devil, a pact between the socialist winning party with the communist leader of Spain's extreme far left party, Podemos. I, like most of the country, couldn't believe it. The socialist leader, Pedro Sánchez had negotiated before with Iglesias and at the last moment their pact after the April elections was abandoned with Sánchez saying he wouldn't be able to sleep at night in a coalition government with Iglesias. Well it seems now he can as on Tuesday the two ego centrical political animals who see more in this for their own political gain than for the country, sealed a pact with a hug. The hug is a sham as they do not see eye to eye. Between them they have 155 seats, 29 short of a majority. In all likelihood and despite Sanchez' promise not to gather support from the pro independence parties, he will again go against his word and use them.  If the pact goes through he will be in the hands of a communist and radical pro independence parties; not a good outlook for Spain. 

A sham of a hug between a communist and a socialist

I dread to think how they will deal with the Catalán problem. That day anti system, ultra pro independence forces blocked the main motorway in Junkeras, the AP7 from Barcelona to France. It was the French gendarmes who broke them apart with force. I thought to myself it's ok if the Gendarmes bring force on them but if it had been the Spanish police, Spain would have been dubbed again as anti democratic and fascist. That's the reason why Pedro Sánchez doesn't dare be high handed in dealing with the violence we have seen. Why is that you may wonder? Well, because of international opinion. Spain will never be allowed to be free of its fascist roots from Franco's times, whatever it does, so any force from the police here is seen as fascist. Whereas, police all over the world would not be judged so. It's unfair as Franco died in 1975, Spain has a flourishing democracy but is still judged from its past. That makes my blood boil.

What made me much happier that day was to hear that my childhood city, Bradford, that dark and ugly industrial city in the north of England which I am always a bit embarrassed to tell people that I  lived there, was named "The UK's most improved city". I had heard from some people that Bradford is undergoing some sort of revival which surprised me so I was delighted that people will now be hearing some good news from Bradford instead of bad. You can read all about it here. Below is its most beautiful landmark, the Town Hall. 

Bradford Town Hall

It is also, unsurprisingly, UK's top curry city. I well remember the very first curry house that opened in Bradford when I was a teenager, The Kashmir. I used to go with my brother George and I reckon we were some of the first British curry fans ever. He used to go for the Vindaloo and I used to go for the mildest dish, "korma". No cutlery was offered and we learned to eat curry with chapatis, something I still do today. I remember having to drink a whole jug of water they would place on the table every time we went. I also remember going along with some of my St. Joseph's College school 6th form friends and once, one of them, Jacky Mosley (daughter of the Coronation Street actor who played Alf Roberts), found a cockroach up her leg after our lunch at The Kashmir. The food was brilliant though and we didn't care about the cockroaches or that the curry house was right next door to the Bradford Morgue hahaha.

Tuesday saw us on our walk in the morning in brilliant November sunshine. We came home to greet Oli having breakfast with little Elliot in Lucy's arms. He was fretful all day I'm afraid poor little mite. Eladio and I went to do the weekly food shopping - what an enormous amount of food we buy every week  - and I came home to help unload it and make our lunch. Luckily Elliot slept through lunch. He didn't sleep through his siesta with us though. Oli went to have her nails done and we were in charge. He had a few crying episodes in her absence and she came back, feeling guilty, to hear his screams. He spent the afternoon and evening almost permanently at her breast. But he has his quiet moments when I love bonding with him and talking and singing to him in English. That's when he seems like a little angel. Here he is in his pram in one of his quiet moments which of course is when we love him most hahaha.

One of Elliot's quiet moments on Tuesday

The day did not end well. We were having a quiet dinner with Oli in the kitchen when I got a phone call from Indonesia not from Suzy's phone, but from her boyfriend's. I immediately thought the worst but she calmed me down telling me she was ok. She went on to explain there had been an accident in a bar. She had gone to get a beer and without knowing it there was  a fight going on between some Russian tourists. One of them hit her hard with his fist by mistake as the fist was aimed at someone else. She was hit hard, was nearly knocked out and needed four stitches in her head. Her friends took her to a clinic where she was cleaned up and seen to. The problem was her health insurance which I had to help her with. She couldn't ring them from her phone as the Indonesian sim card she uses doesn't allow international calls. Thus I did all the ringing and eventually managed to get the insurance company, Ocaso, in touch with Suzy on her Indonesian number. It was 4 in the morning there and the clinic wouldn't let her go until payment was made - quite a hefty payment too. In the end, they let her go but she had to leave behind her credit card and driving licence and it wasn't until the next day that Ocaso got in touch with the clinic. Suzy was quite shell shocked when she rang us and we were too. I wondered what she was doing so late out at night in probably a none too salubrious location. She gave us a shock.

Thus we were in bed very late. That night we started watching Season 2 of Jack Ryan on Netflix but I couldn't concentrate as I kept thinking of Suzy. At 4.30 am I was awake and texting her.

Wednesday came and there was a lot of rain. As soon as I had drunk my first nespresso - first things first - I was on the phone to the insurance company and to Suzy and a few hours later the former settled the clinic bill after ensuring it was on their list in that country.   I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

 Eladio was up early too which is very unusual but that's because he was off to León that day to meet up with his brothers and sisters and sign some documents about our various houses in Montrondo which until now were all in his mother's name. He wouldn't be back until late that night.

Thus the day was for the taking and Oli, Elliot and I had a grand time. In the mornings he is always at his brightest and very wide awake. While Oli went to have a shower I spent time entertaining him. I love my moments with him, singing and talking which he appears to love. He communicates with me with little sounds and lots of smiles like this one.

Little Elliot responding to my songs and talking

It was a lovely sunny day and we took him and Pippa for a walk. He slept most of the way and all through lunch. In fact he slept a whole 2.5 hours, a record for him, allowing his mother to catch up on some sleep too. Later we gave him a bath. He is still not sure whether he likes his bath or not; typical of boys hahaha.

That wasn't our only excursion that day. In the evening we went to visit Fátima for her to see little Elliot again. She was at home with her darling daughter also called Fátima and I know we cheered them up enormously with the arrival of Elliot. He behaved perfectly during the visit only needing a feed once and spent most of the time in my best friend's arms.

At about 8 pm we left saying goodbye until the next day when the special ex Motorola dinner was to be held. We came home to get changed and make dinner before Eladio arrived home. He was back by about 9 pm and we had a nice private dinner in our huge dining room. Elliot was awake again by then and when we took him upstairs to bed, he was in a delightful mood and it was time for more talking and singing. This time Eladio joined me. Oli took this lovely photo of us playing with our 2 month old grandson who I assured her I now loved as much as I love my own daughters. She was a bit surprised but that is how it is. I told her she would know what I mean when she herself becomes a grandmother.

Eladio and I playing with little Elliot 

We went to bed pretty late. Eladio soon fell asleep but I got caught up in a Hitchcock film with Grace Kelly and James Stewart called Rear Window.

Thursday came and brought rain. I was up late that day, at 7.30. I was pretty astonished but pleased to have slept a bit more than usual.  Eladio and I managed our walk with the dogs when the rain had receded and even the sun came out. I got home feeling refreshed and happy with myself. Our walks are fundamental to our health both physical and spiritual.

After leaving lunch sorted, I accompanied Oli to the doctor for a check up  after having given birth. Of course we took Elliot along as wherever Oli goes, Elliot goes too.  He behaved very well for a small baby. Lunch was late but wonderful - coq au vin, etc - and then soon it was time to go out again, this time to take Elliot for his check up and first vaccines. The poor little thing did not know what he was in for. The nurse was amazed at his progress in weight and height, size of his head, his strength etc for such a young baby. That we were happy to hear, but didn't like it when she "pricked" him on both legs. The poor little boy yelled in pain. We had to wait outside for 10 minutes to make sure there was no negative reaction and there we could calm him down. We came home for him to be breastfed again, changed and bathed. He is beginning to like his baths.  And here he is all warm and clean afterwards propped up on Oli's breastfeeding pillow looking like a little cherub.

Little Elliot straight after his bath

He had a long and stressful day. Luckily there was no bad reaction to the vaccines and he slept well that night.

My night was just beginning after I had helped Oli bathe him. I had to get ready to go out to pick up my dear friend Fátima and take her to the ex Motorola dinner. It's sad to see how each day she seems  a little weaker and has more pain. But that night she made  a supreme effort and was looking gorgeous when her daughter brought her up the steep ramp from her garage. The two of us went off as if it was just another corporate event we were going to. When we worked together at both Motorola and Nokia we went to many. This one was to be a very special one, one of our last together, something both of us were very aware of. Fátima, like Maria in The Sound of Music is "late for every meal" and is not known for her punctuality. Thus I had told her to be ready by 8 but really the dinner wasn't starting until 8.30. Amazingly we were nearly the first ones to arrive.

Soon our old colleagues and friends began to arrive one by one and very soon we were a group of some of our closest colleagues, 20 people. Everyone had responded affirmatively, no one wanted to miss this most special occasion. We began working at Motorola 29 years ago when mobile phones hadn't even really taken off. It was difficult to explain our jobs at the beginning. I used to have to tell people that we made cordless phones but ones you could take with you. People replied, "oh you mean a pager?". Little did we know at the time how popular they would become. I remember using text messages for the first time when one of our technicians, Alex Good, showed me how. I thought it was very cumbersome and told him I thought it would never take off. How wrong I was. We made an extraordinary team who together, made mobile phones popular in Spain. We also made extraordinary friends, so much so that the bond still exists today. Time has passed but our friendship remains and that night everyone wanted to be there to pay homage to one of our team, to my dear friend Motorola. I have that American mobile phone company to thank for my deep friendship with Fátima.

We were so excited to be together again, we had to have a group photo as soon as we arrived and this is one of them. I love it. We were in our 20's and 30's then and now we are in our 50's and 60's, looking older of course but still a group of colleagues who are also friends who are bound together forever. I call us "the Motorola family" because that is what we are.

The Motorola family together again.

Fátima was overjoyed and so was I. A lot of people told me they had come expecting a sad night but that it had been joyful and that was because of Fátima and her amazing positive attitude. There were not enough hours in the night to talk to everyone and to eat too. The food, although superb, was the least important thing that night. We had all sent photos to Vicente who organised the dinner - round of applause Vicente - and Susana had made up a beautiful album of photos from our past for us all to write in and give to Fátima. She would later read everyone's messages with joy. Towards the end of the dinner, my dear friend, got up to give a short speech. With tears in her eyes she gave thanks for a wonderful life and said that her Motorola days had been the happiest in her working life and that she would carry everyone in her heart. I think we all cried - well I did. Here she is, with great courage, making that beautiful speech.

Fátima giving her emotional speech

All good things come to an end. It was getting late and time to disband but it took ages to say goodbye to everyone. I had had an emotional night, not just because of Fátima but also because two of my ex colleagues had very sad stories to tell that was news for me.

But I drove Fátima home feeling happy for being part of a beautiful event made possible by our ex Motorola colleagues who had made her night so special. Thanks everyone, especially Alex for having the idea, Vicente for organising everything, Susana for making the album and thanks too to everyone for coming.

After leaving Fátima at her house, I drove home and I think it must have been past 2 when I got into bed - pretty late for me. It took me a long time to fall asleep.

Friday came and brought sunshine. I had breakfast late for once and was delighted when Oli and Elliot came down to the kitchen early. I love to see my little grandson first thing in the morning when he is so awake and smiley. 

Another photo of my grandson and I that I shall treasure. 

Oli and Elliot joined us on our walk that day pushing her baby in his state of the art pram. When I was first a mother I used a very old hand me down pram, nothing like what Oli and Miguel have for little Elliot. It was to be Eladio's first walk with his grandson. Here they are wrapped up on our walk on Friday morning.

Eladio, Oli and Elliot in his pram with our dogs on the walk on Friday morning

For once I didn't have to make lunch that day. Oli was going out to have lunch to meet her childhood school friend, Paula, from St. Michael's school and who had just had her second baby and I was going out to lunch with Fátima again, this time with two Nokia girl friends; Paloma and Mari Angeles. Thus, after changing little Elliot, we both got ready to go out. I chose to wear my trusted red Brussels woolen dress with a tartan red coat which I haven't worn much but which I love. Here I am just before I went out.

In my tartan red coat

My father and husband would have lunch alone and it would be leftovers; bean stew which I had made a few days ago. My lunch would be much more appetising hahahaha.

I went to pick up Fátima who came out of her flat via the garage ramp aided by her sweet daughter. She saw us off as if she was the mother and we the children.  When she was very young I would go and pick up my friend to go to a corporate event of some kind and little Fátima would protest at her mother leaving. On Friday she sent us off telling us to have a good time. How the tables have turned I said to my friend. 

We didn't have to drive very far to the restaurant, La Tagliatella, where we were met by dear Paloma outside. Paloma has been at Nokia for 20 years and was my boss Felix' secretary when we first met. She was then aged 26 so I could hardly believe it when she told me she is now 45! She married two years ago and now has a 7 month old baby. I told her if she could have a baby at 44 there was hope yet for my daughter Suzy who is 10 years younger than her hahahaha. 

I was to meet Mari Angeles for the second time, one of Fátima's best friends after I left Nokia in 2005 - wow 14 years since I left that wonderful Finnish company. It was a chin wag lunch which lasted until way past 5 pm. In fact I think we were the last diners to leave. Before we left we had to have a photo taken. This is it.  A girly lunch was a wonderful end to the working week. 

The girly Nokia lunch with Paloma, Fátima and Mari Angeles on Friday

We also agreed to organise a similar dinner to the Motorola one but with ex and non ex Nokia colleagues. Fátima was delighted at the idea and we fixed the date for next week. We will all look forward to that. 

I drove Fátima home and then came home myself and rushed upstairs to see Oli and little Elliot who had come back from their lunch in Majadahonda. Oli had sent me a photo of her and Paula and their babies which I must share here.

Paula and Oli with their respective babies at lunch on Friday

It was curious to see both girls together, now grown ups and with their own babies when it seems like yesterday that I would drive Oli to Paula's house to see her friend when they were just children. Where has the time gone I asked myself?

Well, on the topic of time, I had some quality time with Oli and her baby when I got back from my lunch until her partner, Miguel, arrived back from Valencia after a short week back at work. He was delighted to see them. I was curious to see who he would kiss first and, unsurprisingly, it was Elliot hahaha. Oli and I made dinner although I wasn't at all hungry and we had a nice meal together in our big dining room surrounded by our dogs. Little Elliot had a bit of a crying spell and so it was up to Eladio to calm him down. He did it the usual way but when the baby started crying again he used new tactics which seemed to work. Oli and I cracked up watching Eladio carrying his grandson high up and pacing around the room. At least it helped to settle the baby hahaha.

Eladio using new tactics to settle the baby!

We went to bed a bit late and watched some more of season two of Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime which neither of us has got into. I think we shall not be watching any more of it.

Saturday came and it was another dry and sunny day.  In Montrondo, our village, however, there had been the biggest snowfall for a long time. We were planning to go tomorrow but it seems that the electricity is down. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's restored as if there is no central heating, no warm water, no internet connection, we just can't go, especially if we are taking little Elliot. This is just one of the photos Javi, the youngest inhabitant, took of the beautiful scenery created in the village. It looks like the snow is 1 metre or so high. That's an awful lot.  If you saw this photo and didn't know where it was taken, no doubt you would guess it was in Switzerland but no, it is  in Montrondo high up in the mountains in north west Spain.

Snow in Montrondo this weekend

As usual we went on our walk and it was beautiful with the sun. I had to take off two layers of clothing believe it or not. I came home to find our latest guest, Carmen, had already left and Lucy was preparing the rooms for our new guests who would be arriving that day. Communication was not too good and I spent the day waiting for them and they did not turn up till past 9 pm when I was already in bed. They are a couple from Almeria who came with their 7 and 1 year old children. They will be leaving today at noon and then we will have the house to ourselves again for the moment.

Saturday was a quiet day for us with not much to tell. On the news front, disturbances carried on in Bolivia after Evo Morales was forced to flee to Mexico. He says there was a coup but it's not clear.
What is clear is that after 14 years in government, elections were held and there are accusations the results were rigged. When he came to power it was quite something for a native Indian to do so but passing a law to make presidency almost perpetual is not in my mind very democratic. In Chile too and in Hong Kong the disturbances continued as they did in Barcelona. Yesterday the CDR (ultra independent seekers) tried to barricade the train stations but thankfully were thwarted. One of the reasons I do not like the new "pact with the devil" is the need for support from the independence parties. I think this pact is not popular and we have yet to see if it will work out.

On a much happier note, Oli and Miguel enjoyed their time together this weekend with little Elliot who turns 2 months today. Wow 2 months! How fast time flies. Here is a lovely photo of mother and child taken by Miguel yesterday where both of them are smiling.

Elliot is 2 months old today

He is clearly smiling too in a video Oli took of him in his new play pad which looks very attractive to me.

Elliot in his new toy contraption playing happily by himself

He is quite clearly playing in it and smiling as you can see in the video. Oli remarked that while she is talking to him he is responding and I think it's true. He seems to be a very alert baby for his age.

We watched the news that night and then a political debate and fell asleep quite early. I was up this morning at 7 am. Over my cup of coffee I had a phone call with Suzy who is in Ubud today. She was happy to tell me she has found a new house to rent and has also bought a scooter. Good for her. Talking to Suzy was a lovely start to today.

Well friends and readers, I have now come to the end of this week's blog post and it's time to get on with the day.

Until next Sunday,

Cheers/Masha