Week 4 of coronavirus lockdown, Boris Johnson in hospital with the virus, the Queen addresses the nation, Oli and family join us, Miguel's birthday, family time in the garden, Easter week in confinement and other stories.

Easter Day, Sunday 12th April, 2020.

With smiling little Elliot yesterday in the garden

Good morning all and Happy Easter. It's a funny Easter week this year due to lockdown all over the world. Imagine pilgrims not being able to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem? Imagine, nearer home, Spain's most elaborate "Semana Santa" (Easter week) without processions? Well, that's all because we are in lockdown, at least most of the world with some countries reaching the peak and some a few weeks behind.  Last Sunday was Palm Sunday, the sort of  official start to Easter when St. Peter's Basilica and the square are usually swarming with people from all over the world except that this year they were empty. The Pope gave his homily from inside the Vatican and Catholics had to make do with watching him remotely. Palm Sunday for me is a happy memory as a child. I remember going to church in Ruskington (Linclolnshire) where we lived when my father taught at the RAF college in Cranwell. We were all given palm leaves in the shape of a cross and I loved them. Perhaps I loved best spending the few pennies my parents gave me to buy sweets at the local confectioners. Many years later, Easter found Eladio and I in Chile. It was Palm Sunday and we were visiting the outskirts of Santiago the capital. I remember visiting Valparaiso but also Reñaca nearby and either being given or buying a very elaborate palm leaf. I kept it for years. No doubt children all over the world that day would be missing a very special Sunday.

Last Sunday the virus figures were dire and this week they are worse as is to be expected.  Last week I reported there were a total of 1.182.830 cases in the world and a total of 63.925 deaths. The top three countries in that most terrible of leagues were the USA, Spain, my beloved adopted country, and Italy. Not far behind were Germany, France and the UK. In Spain alone there were 124k cases and a reported number of 11.744 deaths. Last night the total number of cases in the world has jumped to 1.760.971 and deaths are up to 107.645. In Spain we have gone from 124k cases to over 161k and from 11.744 deaths to 16.353. However both in Italy and Spain the numbers are progressively falling and we are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Here are last week's figures and below the figures just one week later. Many have doubled.

The figures for Saturday 4th April

The figures for last night 11th April 2020

But life continued for those of us behind closed doors, all counting our blessings we were not in hospital or suffering from the virus. Who was suffering was Britain's Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. After 10 days of symptoms which were not receding he was admitted to St. Thomas' hospital in London on Sunday night.   I hoped he would get well soon. I am no fan of him as a politician but as a fellow human being, a father and expecting another child, I can only wish him well. He did look a bit rough in some of his online addresses to the country I must say.

Boris Johnson admitted to hospital last Sunday

St. Thomas' hospital was  where my mother's sister, my Aunty Dara, trained to be a nurse, sent from Bulgaria especially to London. She stayed there until after WW2. I wonder what she would have thought of the pandemic?  The remainder of her later life was spent as a Russian Orthodox nun in New York where, amazingly, she succumbed to TB in the 90's. How could someone get TB in this day and age and in New York?  She would be appalled I'm sure, especially with her home town, New York which was and is one of the main epicentres of the pandemic today. Insiders from Downing Street admitted to the press that Boris Johnson had been hit hard by the illness, perhaps more psychologically than physically I hope. As we see again and again, this nasty tiny little virus that is causing havoc across the globe does not distinguish between classes.

But if anyone was to give us hope that day it was The Queen when she addressed the nation in one of its darkest hours.  There is only one Queen in the world who is referred to as "The Queen" and that is The Queen of England, the 94 year old longest living monarch in the world and a dearly beloved figurehead in the UK. 

The Queen wearing NHS green in her broadcast to the nation

The Queen only usually addresses the nation at Christmas. There have been very few exceptions to that; notably when her mother died, when Princess Diana died and I think on her Diamond Jubilee. But exceptional circumstances require an exception from The Queen and she made that exception on Sunday night when in her speech she evoked the wartime spirit to rally the country together in the fight against the virus. She told her people that "better days will return". She also made a reference to the famous Vera Lynn song during WW2 when she said "we will meet again". She also spoke of her very first speech which she made to children around the world when they were being evacuated at the beginning of the war. That was some 80 years ago when she was just a child herself.  She did so together with her beloved sister, Princess Margaret. If she comforted people as a teenager, she certainly comforted them this week. I, at least, took great comfort from her words. Her main message was of course for the nation to come together and for people to stay at home. You can watch her here if you haven't already seen her wonderful speech, written, by herself and not by politicians. I love the fact that she is apolitical. It makes her very credible. 

Sunday for us was another quiet Sunday. It was warm in the sun but cool in the shade. In between cooking, I sat and read outside in the sun, labouring with my book about Winston Churchill. He was the Queen's first Prime Minister and undoubtedly her favourite. Eladio, meanwhile, was busy in the garden. That day saw him turn into a bricklayer, mending tiles on the drive and around the house. My philosopher and ex priest husband is very good with his hands and is a great handyman which is very useful when running a large house like ours. Something nearly always needs mending. He had been meaning for a long while to mend some of the tiles and that day got down to it. Here he is pausing for a camera shot with a big smile on his face. Eladio doesn't complain about lockdown and is never bored. Oh what a rock he is now and always. 

Eladio the bricklayer

He only stopped to talk to the girls when they made a video call. Suzy was in a quiet park in London near where she is staying in Acton Town. There were lots of stories of people disobeying recommendations to stay at home and taking advantage of the warm weather flocking to parks and beauty spots. I wish they would stop. Suzy thankfully was at a very empty park.

Suzy is staying with her friend Sandra, a nurse, together with Sandra's mother who came from the US to mourn the death of her daughter in India. Also there is another sister of Sandra's and her daughter. Suzy told us the ages of the group of six range from 7 to 73. I pointed out she might have been more comfortable staying with us at home in Madrid but Suzy is a free spirit and often finds more comfort in other people rather than with her own family. 

It was Suzy who recommended me to watch a series called The Missing. I thought I had already seen it but when I looked on Prime Video I saw that I had seen season 1 but not season 2. I was delighted to have a new series to watch. I always seem to be attracted to films about children being kidnapped. Maybe it is because it is one of my greatest fears as a mother. 

Later I had a nightmare. In the nightmare, I don't know where I was, but my mobile phone, my iPad and my kindle were all stolen from me. That was a real nightmare for someone like me who has to be in touch with the world, the news, friends and family constantly.  I think the nightmare may have been an expression of our need of contact with the world in these strange circumstances. Thankfully I woke up to find it wasn't true.

I was up on Monday at around 6.30 and had lots to do. That day, Oli, Elliot and Miguel were returning from Valencia. Oh what joy. We hadn't seen them for a month and a month in the life of little Elliot is a long time. The next day would be Miguel's birthday, a birthday in confinement, so I decided to make him my standard Victoria Sponge cake. It has the same ingredients as any Victoria Sponge cake but I fill it with whipped cream and jam and decorate it with icing and fruit on top. As the jam was bilberry, I decided to put real fresh bilberries on top. This is what it looked like. I was quite proud of it and again it was great occupational therapy in confinement. I find comfort in cooking I have to say.

The Victoria sponge birthday cake I made for Miguel on Monday

I also popped out that morning into our brave new world, first to the chemist to get some stuff for my father. There I asked if, on the off chance, they might have face masks. Of course the reply was no but I was put on a list for when they do get them.  I then drove to our local bakery and cake shop, "Alverán" to pick up some pastries I had ordered for the birthday breakfast the next day. I was sad to see the cafeteria part shut and only one person serving. It was the owner, doing all the work herself. The other staff had been furloughed, that nasty new word which seems to be a synonym of being laid off temporarily. To cheer her up, I told her no doubt she would be doing roaring trade when normality comes back as Alverán is the best bakery in the area.

While we were having lunch with my Father, Oli, Miguel and Elliot were leaving Valencia. Here is a photo of my darling grandson setting off in the car. He had been cooped up in a small flat for one month, hardly seeing the outside. He needed our garden, more space and fresh air as did Oli and Miguel.

Happy little Elliot leaving Valencia on Monday

They arrived here at around 5.45 and were a joy to greet. Both Oli and Miguel were wearing masks and wary of touching us but I was not as I know Oli and Elliot have been self isolating and that Miguel while out working has taken extreme care. It was Eladio who first picked up our little cherub who now weighs a ton compared to when we last saw him. I was next and as I had predicted, our darling 6 but nearly 7 month old grandson did not remember us. Well how could he, he is so small? But soon he was smiling. He seemed to be amazed to be in the open air, surrounded by trees and a green garden and the dogs. It was the dogs he was most interested in. Soon we had him in his high chair in the kitchen and I was feeding him his afternoon fruit puree made of mango and pear. He loved it.

My father was delighted to see Oli and Elliot though both kept their distance from him - just in case. I had to explain to him the reason was the danger of coronavirus.

It was then time for our walk which Oli found hilarious as she has never seen us walking around the garden hahahhaa. She, meanwhile, stayed outside with her baby, breathing in the fresh air. At around 8 pm we could hear people clapping as they do every day to applaud hospital and other essential workers.

Oli and Miguel had brought lots of food from his flat and offered to make dinner. I was fine with that. It was nice to have a break. They made Spanish tortilla with a side dish of runner beans dashed with fried garlic and ham. I made a salad. We had our first meal together in the dining room and so did Elliot although his was different - some sort of chickpea and vegetable puree. We had some wine to celebrate and luckily that night I didn't get a headache. It was just so good to be together again.

Oh what joy, we are together again

Who was very much out of luck that day was Boris Johnson. Since being admitted to hospital on Sunday, his condition deteriorated on Monday evening and he was taken into intensive care. We heard this was a precautionary measure and that he was on oxygen but not on a ventilator. We could not escape the fact though that if he was in Intensive Care that meant he was very sick although we were told he did not have pneumonia. Today I read that his circle were told he had a 50/50 chance of living. Imagine. Very much all there, although suffering from the virus quite badly, he appointed the First Secretary, Dominic Raab, his "designated successor" and instructed him to "deputise for him where necessary" and lead the Government's fight against coronavirus. What extraordinary times we are living when even those in power leading the fight can fall ill with the virus. I was quite shocked as was the whole country and many people around the world. As I said above, I might not like the man's politics but as a fellow human being, partner, father, father to be, I am very sorry about his condition and wish him a speedy recovery. I think when a country's PM is taken into intensive care, the news shocks a whole nation and makes us all realise just how dangerous this virus is. I also think that for a politician like Boris Johnson, or any politician at the forefront of a nation's fight, to get the virus badly and see how it affects them must certainly open their eyes to the reality of the disease. I am trying to say that maybe in this situation they will be better prepared to take the virus even more seriously to the benefit of the nation they are fighting for. I was shocked when the former Mayor of London was admitted to hospital but even more shocked when he was moved to IC. I wished him a speedy recovery.

The day ended with Eladio and I watching more of our latest series, The Missing, until way past midnight. I was awake at 5 am and, unable to sleep, got up at 5.45. I was the first one up, obviously, and got to feed the dogs. My first thoughts were my worry over the fact that all the TVs in the house, except ours  -and we have a lot of TVs - were not working. Miguel being a cameraman is our in house TV expert. He thought the reason had to be due to the recent change in TV frequencies; the current ones being set aside for when 5G comes into operation. So what to do? Even Miguel was stumped. He tried to use smart TV box devices we have around the house to get some of them to work. Then, as if a miracle had occurred, suddenly the signal was back and all the TVs worked again. We reckoned it was because there must have been some local work going on vs a vs the TV masts or whatever. The good thing was that we didn't have to call a technician.

But back to Tuesday morning. That day Miguel turned 45 which to me sounds so young, except that I remember when I turned 45 I thought it was a big deal. We all had a birthday breakfast together and I ate far too many pastries and croissants which had me feeling far too full. If I was full after breakfast I was not hungry at lunch. For the birthday lunch I made everyone's favourite; beer battered fish with mountains of chips as well as mushy peas.  All this was followed by my Victoria Sponge cake fortified with thick icing and an even thicker layer of whipped cream inside. Here is Miguel with Elliot about to blow the candles.

Miguel's birthday cake moment

It was a lovely day all round. I think my coronavirus panic moment is now over. Of course I am still worried but at the same time relieved to see the number of cases and deaths slowly going down here in Spain and in the country's epicentre, Madrid. Also, having Oli and family brought me so much joy that  my mind was more on them than on the virus which has had a very positive impact on me.

I was stuffed after lunch and had a siesta but didn't sleep long as at 5.30 it was time for my weekly Skype call with Amanda, my oldest friend, who lives in Devon. She was to see Elliot for the first time during our call. We mostly spoke about Boris Johnson being in hospital and the consequences. Oli mentioned to me that morning that a journalist colleague of hers had already been asked to prepare his obituary just in case. Apparently, Andy, Amanda's partner, had said that morning that no doubt lots of the media would be writing one in case. I just hoped there would be no need to publish one and somehow felt hopeful that it wouldn't as whatever Boris Johnson may be, at the core of his being he is a fighter.

After our call we would all go on our respective walks. Amanda told me how when they had walked into their village that day they had come across a huge rainbow banner (rainbows are popping up everywhere I think to cheer up people in the midst of so much gloom) with a warning for people not from the area not to come and to stay at their primary home. As in Spain and many other countries, people have been warned not to go to their secondary or holiday homes. Who fell foul of the recommendation and lost her job because of it, was none less than the Scottish chief medical officer, Dr. Catherine Calderwood,  who, despite her own advice, went twice to her holiday home. She later apologised but the damage was done. Similarly in New Zealand, the Health Minister, David Clark, flouted the lockdown measures and went on a family trip to a beach. When the deed was discovered, he apologised, describing himself as an "idiot". I think, he too has been stripped of some of his responsibilities.

Our walk was not a 12 mile stroll on the beach like the New Zealand Minister, but our daily walk around the garden, 21 laps in 45 minutes. Well actually we only did 18 laps as on the 18th lap it began to rain heavily.

Once back inside the house, Miguel and Oli were beginning to make our dinner. But no way was I hungry after having eaten so much that day. However, I did try some of Miguel's delicious vichysoisse and that's all I had apart from a mandarin for dinner that night.

With Oli and family here now, I am seeing a lot less of the news as after our meals we tend to linger around the table chatting in what is known in Spanish as "sobremesa", a term that I don't think exists in any other language. So we only really catch the tail end of the news programmes now. Perhaps that's a good thing. Later we watched the last but one episode of The Missing.

I was awake at 7 am on Wednesday morning. Since Oli and her family came on Monday evening, our lives have changed for the better. I, at least, feel more relaxed, less worried and now have less time to follow the news as religiously as I did before. Of course I still follow it but with less intensity. Best of all is having little Elliot here who, of course, is completely oblivious to the pandemic.

However, I am still sleeping badly and not getting enough shut eye. That morning, after my domestic chores, I sat down to read my Churchill book and found myself nodding off. Thus at midday I trudged upstairs to bed and slept for 2 hours. Oli woke me up for lunch but I think if she hadn't I may well have slept longer. We missed the news after lunch but by scrolling through the news on my phone, I was happy to hear that Boris Johnson's condition was stable and that he was sitting up in the ICU at St. Thomas' hospital. I was not so pleased to hear that the death toll in Spain had gone up after we had thought the peak was over and the pandemic was stablising here. It would though in the following days but we are nowhere near out of the woods yet. It is in the US, the UK and France the numbers are rising alarmingly now.

Again I slept after lunch and I slept for another 2 hours. I really needed that extra sleep. I woke up to find a photo from Eladio of Elliot and Miguel in the garden on a blanket. I rushed to join them but making sure I took a cup of tea with me.

Elliot and Miguel on Wednesday afternoon in the garden

Wednesday was probably the sunniest day of the week and a lovely day to be out in the garden. It got quite strong so someone found a very old sun hat to put on Elliot's head to protect him from the sun. Oh he did look funny.

Elliot in the sun on Wednesday afternoon

Eladio was weeding the grass and Olivia was helping him. On our walks we had noticed lots of weeds, so maybe that is what prompted my husband to do some more gardening that day. Here he is, with a funny sun hat on like Elliot.

Eladio weeding on Wednesday

Oli showing me some of the weeds she had picked

On our walks I had also pointed out to Eladio that some of the leaves on one particular palm tree were dry and needed removing. However, they are quite high up and the job was not easy. Here is Olivia removing some of the leaves. I think it was the first time she has ever done any gardening and it is of course thanks to confinement brought about by lockdown. We all have so much time on our hands.

Oli with the dry palm leaves

All in all our time spent in the garden on Wednesday afternoon was special. Like Elliot, for a few hours at least, I felt oblivious to what was happening in the world. It felt like a normal thing to do with my family and I have to say it's nice to do "normal" things these days.

On our walk later we inspected the grass and found more weeds which had not been removed. They will have to be seen to in successive gardening stints.

Our day finished late but it didn't really matter as, as I say, we all have so much time on our hands. Miguel went to do some emergency shopping for our dinner while Oli and I prepared the rest of it. We made one of my flagship dishes for dinner; tuna fish salad. The ingredients are: tuna fish, chopped spring onion, home made mayonnaise, tomatoes, asparagus, avocado and boiled eggs. This is what it looked like.

Tuna fish salad for dinner on Wednesday 

In a way our routines are less rigid since Oli and co got here. I generally make the lunches and Miguel and Oli the dinners or sometimes the other way round. They make such a mess in the kitchen I am very grateful that Lucy comes and does the washing up and clears up after them hahahahaha.  As dinner was late we missed the 9 pm news again and so went straight to Netflix to watch the last episode of The Missing. Excuse the pun but we definitely missed it after that.

Thursday came, Maundy Thursday of course. I was up at the unearthly hour of 5.45. It was raining and we would not get any sun that day so would put off more gardening until the better weather came.

Everyone else is usually up after about 8.30 and it's lovely to greet Elliot at that time. He is always in such a a good mood in the morning - not like me hahahhaa. I need at least 2 cups of coffee before I can face the world. But by the time Elliot is up I'm all ready for the day. Oli caught him on camera with his grandfather and I have to share with you the picture she took of the two of them together that morning at breakfast.

Grandfather and grandson smiling

I went shopping on Thursday. For the first time I wore a mask, one Oli had given me. It was strange to wear it and made me feel very warm and itchy. I honestly don't know how hospital staff wear them all day long, not to mention other essential workers. Mercadona was closed so I went to Carrefour. I was lucky to be there quite early when there wasn't much of a queue. But, oh my, was the queue long when I came out. I suppose people were stocking up for the Easter weekend.

I came home to unload everything. Miguel was making a gigantic chickpea stew and Oli all sorts of different purees for Elliot which she would freeze. It was good not to be in charge of lunch for once. It was that afternoon that Boris Johnson was moved from the ICU to a ward or I suppose a private room at St. Thomas'. I wonder how long he will remain there. He would not have been happy to see the unhappy death toll of 765 that day and the rise to over 8000 in total. The pattern emerging looks dangerously similar to the experiences here and in Italy. Oh how I mourn for Spain, my birth country and the world.

The weather did not help to cheer me up on Thursday as it rained on and off all day. Even our walk was wet but, armed with rain coats and an umbrella we finished our 21 laps.

I was in charge of dinner that night - prawn, mango and avocado salad. In the middle of chopping the ingredients, I got a call from my customer for yet another press release they need me to write and send out. It's great to have some work in these funny times. Thus I sort of missed a call with Suzy on whatsapp but hoped to talk to her another day.

Elliot enjoys being with us while we are eating. He sits in his high spec Nordic high chair and when he has eaten his puree he enjoys a crust of bread. He takes to laughing for no apparent reason. Someone sneezed (no worries, not corona) and he began to laugh. To stir him on, we all started to pretend to sneeze and he just kept giggling so much we had to have him on camera. Here is the video of him chuckling away as his father pretends to sneeze. Isn't he funny?

We had a very healthy dinner but afterwards Oli persuaded me to open the Lindt chocolate egg to try the miniature eggs that came with them. I thus resisted temptation and have to admit I ate 5 in a row. Thankfully I did not get a headache later although I expected one.

Bereft of The Missing, we watched the first episode of the new version of The Name of the Rose based on the book by Umberto Ecco. I well remember the version with Sean Connery which apparently was made 33 years ago. I didn't like it then and wasn't impressed with the new version either. That's because I'm not particularly interested in the story line and nor am I particularly interested in Medieval times. So, no, not the series for me. Thus I fell asleep early and thus my friends I was up at 5.20 on Good Friday.

I had been looking forward to Good Friday for a long time. That's because we could finally taste the hot cross buns I had made for Easter and which in my family we can only begin to eat from Good Friday onward. Wow they were delicious. My father and Olivia thought so too.

That was a nice way to start the day. There was some good news too coming from Brussels to help the economies of the member states coping with the crisis. Spain, France and Italy had hoped for Euro bonds or Corona bonds. Instead the consensus came up with a 500 billion euro package. It's a start but I think not enough for the countries which are going to suffer the greatest financial crisis since the Wall Street Crash.

I spent time that morning doing a thankless but important task; i.e. gathering together all my invoices and receipts to send to my accountant. She will then work out how much tax I have to pay for January, February and February period which will amount to quite a lot and leave me out of pocket. Leaving me even more out of pocket is paying towards my pension at over 1000 euros per month, not to mention all the losses from no more Airbnb guests. All that will put us back financially but I know we will cope. Other people have it a lot worse. One of the things we won't be doing this year, if air travel comes back, is to go on an expensive holiday.

Once my administrative work was out of the way I concentrated on making everyone's lunch. I made the salmon and leek parcels which Miguel and Olivia had not yet tried. I was rewarded with the remark that the dish I served was top restaurant class. Thanks. It's so easy to make that's the truth and also very healthy.

My salmon and leek parcel dish

What was not so healthy but oh so delicious was giving into the temptation to eat some of the chocolate that came with the Cadbury Easter egg I had bought. I do think that since Oli and Miguel came we are eating more and also eating tempting things like chocolate which up till now I had been very good about. I vow to stop that from tomorrow or at least I hope to.

After the news and a siesta - well actually I never got to shut my eyes - the TV was still on and the time loved film, The Ten Commandments was on. Of course it's Easter and the TV, at least in Spain, often plays old films based on the Bible. Filmed in 1956, a year before I was born, it is a classic and stars Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner as well as Edward G. Robinson and others. It really is the story of Moses (Charlton Heston) and how he leads the Israelis out of Egypt and to the Promised Land. The film is 3h 40 minutes long so when it got to 7 pm, we had to leave it because it was getting late for our walk. I have seen The Ten Commandments countless times but for some reason I think I have never seen it from start to finish. It's a timeless film and for fans of religious history, a must. Both Eladio and I enjoyed it thoroughly and were sorry not to see the end.

Meanwhile, Oli and Miguel were cooking - a favourite pastime of theirs. By popular demand Miguel made his flagship soup, vichysoisse , again which tastes delicious, no doubt because he puts lots of cream in it hahahahahaah.

We went on our 21 lap walk and each time we passed my father's room or the kitchen we greeted our family. At one point Oli was on the phone to Suzy and Suzy thought our walk was hilarious. We came back in after 45 minutes to good news from Oli. Her boss had rung to say that she would be working from home when she goes back to work tomorrow after her maternity leave. That is great news. Her boss did not want her to be exposed to the virus because if she fell prey to it she would have to be separated from Elliot for 14 days and he is far too small. I thought that was very considerate. She will be going back to her usual programme on TVE, España Directo. I think a technician will be coming to set her up so that she can work from here and also do live reports.

Oli, happy with the news - and so were we as it means less danger to us all - carried on cooking. She made falafel that day with a delicious yoghurt sauce to which she added fresh mint leaves from our garden.

We didn't watch the news as we finished our dinner rather late that night. Of course though I was up to speed on the latest as I continually scroll on my phone for news. I was upset to see the very high death figure in my home country, the UK that day with over 980 dead. That's the highest record in Europe on any one day. In Europe both France and the UK are getting closer to the figures of Spain and Italy. In the US things are getting desperate, especially in New York and that day we saw mass graves being dug for the piling dead bodies. It doesn't bear thinking about.

Once in bed that night, I commented to Eladio how strange it is to be virtually locked inside our own home and not be able to go out apart from to get food and that I wondered how long it would go on for. My husband told me he preferred not to think about it as if he does it gets him down. I am now very glad we came back from Montrondo where we would have gone up the wall not being able to go out on walks. That's quite ridiculous really as the paths there are almost empty. I mean only a handful of people live there, not more than 11. The local town hall in Murias de Paredes issued yet another order or ban this week,  continuing with their campaign to stop people coming from the cities. It's hardly as if the hordes have gone as only a handful of people from other cities have a house there. The order asked people to report on any people coming from the cities. One villager who lives in Madrid commented icily that it would be a good idea if the bullish local mayoress could be as insistent in on getting the many needed services the village doesn't have (wifi, good TV signal, health and banking service, etc), as she is in publishing orders for city people to stay away. Miguel commented that if we aren't allowed to go then we shouldn't be made to pay taxes. My daughter commented that the order to keep city people away and for local people to snitch on them, was very similar to the practices of totalitarian governments, be they communist or fascist. I commented that this virus brings out the very best in people but also the very worst. It did seem a little fanatical I must say.

Fanatical is the Scientologist Church I thought after watching a documentary on it that night. More than a religion it seems to be a money making machine and a fanatical and dangerous one at that. I hate sects and always did.

Joy of joys I slept quite well that night and in fact woke up at 6.50 yesterday morning. I enjoyed more of the Hot Cross Buns and then got down to some work. I had to do another press release for Adamo. It was handy to have my journalist daughter Oli at home to give me her feedback. By 10.30 a.m. I had sent off a version I was very pleased with.

Easter Saturday, day 29 of lockdown, was a busy and pleasurable day, despite confinement. Oli went off to her flat to get lots of clothes for Elliot as he has grown so much in the past month, now weighing 10 kilos (8kg is the average for a baby his age) as hardly any she had here fitted him any more. I went to Mercadona to do more shopping as it was closed on Thursday. It was my second time out with a mask on and again I asked myself how anyone can bear wearing one all day. I could hardly bear wearing mine for more than an hour it get's so hot inside.  

I didn't have to worry about lunch that day as we had plenty of leftovers. I think our cupboards and fridge have never been so full. The ingredient out of stock these days seems to be yeast as a lot of people are doing home baking. There wasn't any to be found at Mercadona. I still have some left over from when I made the  hot cross buns. 

Our siesta was short as I was keen to be outside in the sunshine. For once the rain remitted. I sat in the sun on one of the benches in the kitchen patio with my cup of tea and Churchill book on my kindle. Eladio was gardening and shortly we were joined by Miguel, Oli and little Elliot also keen to enjoy the good weather. Again we had lovely family time in the garden. Here is Oli feeding Elliot with his afternoon fruit puree. He ate it all.

Elliot enjoying his fruit puree in the open air  

I then held Elliot and Oli took a super picture of us together. It's the one I have chosen to illustrate this week's blog. She tried to get one of us with all three dogs and this is the result.

With Elliot and the dogs yesterday in the garden

I then took Elliot to our old swings at the end of the garden. They have quite a history. Eladio bought them for the girls when we moved to our old house in Río Tajo. They were 3 and 4 at the time and many a happy moment was spent on them. When we moved to this house in the summer of 2006, we brought them with us. They have only been used since then by children of our Airbnb guests. So it gave me enormous pleasure to see Elliot enjoying them for the first time ever. Here he is on the swing smiling away. He actually had tried them out earlier in the week but on his parents' laps, not on his own and he really enjoyed the experience. 

Elliot enjoying the swings for the first time yesterday

I love swings too and always have so soon I joined him swinging up and down in the air although they are a little low for me.

On the swings with Elliot yesterday

Eladio continued gardening, doing a lot of late pruning and shearing of bushes. He was helped by Miguel who was introduced to gardening for the first time this week. There is a lot more pruning and cutting of bushes, etc to do, so I hope to see the two of them at work again in the coming days as our garden is still looking pretty wild after the winter.

Eladio and Miguel gardening yesterday

Soon it was time for Elliot's bath and time also for our walk. Just as I was starting on our walk I got a message from my school friend Geraldine. She had written to tell me she had visited her parents' graves at Charlestown Cemetery in Baildon (West Yorkshire) to place flowers on them and that she had put some on my mother's. She has done that many times and it always makes me so happy. She also told me that there were some white flowers already on my mother's grave which rather mystified me. Geraldine looked to see if there were more of them on graves nearby put there randomly by people visiting but there weren't. I really would love to know who had put them there. It's a complete mystery. All the people who were close to my mother and still alive today live far away and are elderly. In any case it cheered my heart to know that someone had put them there and it cheered my heart too that Geraldine always remembers to put flowers on my mother's grave for me. It was a lovely sunny day there with the blossom out and this is the photo my friend sent me. Thank you once again Geraldine. 

My mother's grave at Charlestown cemetery in Baildon yesterday with Geraldine's yellow roses and some mystery white flowers.

We came back  in later from our walk  to prepare a simple but tasty meal of salad and ham, followed by strawberries and more chocolate!

We went to bed late last night and watched a debate on coronavirus and the next steps to take etc. For once it was a debate between doctors and health specialists rather than politicians. Sleep came early and after a rather fitful night I was up this morning at 6.50.

Today is Easter Day, a day of joy for many Christians. No one of course will be able to go to church anywhere. We wouldn't have gone but we always respect Easter Day. I shall be making a special lunch and finally we shall be able to eat the chocolate Easter eggs. Tomorrow will be another day,  the day I say goodbye to chocolates, etc.

It looks like it might be another sunny day too and I look forward to spending more time this afternoon in the garden with Elliot. I am so lucky; 1) to have a garden and 2) to have Elliot here with us. No doubt many many grandparents are missing their grandchildren. He makes confinement so much easier.

Now all that remains my friends is to wish you a Happy Easter in confinement. 

Cheers till next week.

Masha