Sunday May 10th 2020
 |
| On our walk on new secret country paths near home - last Monday - wearing shorts for the first time. |
Good morning all.
How has your week been? Some of you will be in full confinement and some coming out of it slowly. That's the case here in Spain. Monday 4th was the beginning of Phase 0 of 4 phases meaning some small business could open, including hairdressers. That was what pleased me most. Roll on phase 1 when people can meet again I kept thinking until later in the week it was revealed that the Madrid area would not progress to Phase 1. We shall have to wait.
Last Sunday the death toll in Spain went down to it's lowest level since before lockdown - just 164 - that's still a lot but we are well past the peak. Last week, the figures worldwide were: total cases 3.457.511, total deaths 243.200. Last night's figures were: total cases 4.077.176 and total number of deaths 279.041. In Spain the number went from 245.567 cases and 25.100 deaths to 262.782 cases (the highest in Europe) and 26.478 deaths. The UK has now got the highest death toll in Europe at 31.587, overtaking Italy and France, with 26.310, is more or less on a par with Spain. So the virus is still out there but moving differently in different parts of the world. This is the chart for last week.
 |
| Last week's chart |
Now compare it to last night's, one week later.
 |
| Last night's chart |
Last Sunday was day 50 of lockdown in Spain where we have had the strictest measures in Europe. It was a lovely sunny day, the first really hot day with temperatures rising to 29ºc. I finally persuaded Eladio to open the pool. That's easier said than done as it's a lot of work, removing the cover and cleaning it, freshening and filtering the water, etc after 6 months of closure. Oli helped as did we all at some stage as it's a very heavy job removing the cover which that day was full of green and nasty stagnant water. Here are Eladio and Oli about to start while I looked on in pleasure envisaging a summer with our wonderful pool.
 |
| Uncovering the cover on the pool - Eladio and Oli |
It would take Eladio most of the morning and even so the water still looked greenish towards the end of the day and would need more chlorine. Thus, we had to wait a bit for a first dip.
While he was engrossed in the chore, Oli and I made lunch in the kitchen. Rather, I helped her make a pumpkin and vegetable lasagne, not my favourite dish as I would have preferred it with meat hahahahhahaa. We had finished by 1 pm and went on our walk, just the two of us with the three dogs as Eladio said it was too hot and so did Miguel. It was indeed too hot and I wished I had put my then ever growing hair into a pony tail.
Lunch was outside as it would be all week and I love that. My father congratulated me on the birthday cake I had made for his 101st. That's high praise from him. I reminded him that as a child in Bradford I was keen on baking cakes. He didn't remember but I shall never forget my experiment with food dye on the icing of a cake I made. It turned out to be dark blue and the family teased me about my "blue cake". Only my father ate it, telling me it was very nice. Bless him.
The afternoon was spent in the garden. I got out one of the new comfortable sunbeds we bought last year and settled on the grass under the trees. With my cup of tea I started on another of my favourite novels from my Aunty Gloria's 1950's book club collection; The Willow Cabin. By Pamela Frankau it is a delightful love story with the most beautiful prose and was published in 1949. Similar to A Town like Alice, I think I must have read it at least 6 or 7 times. Again it was my Mother who recommended it to me.
 |
| One of my all time favourite books |
I didn't get much reading in though as I was soon joined by Oli and Elliot. We parked Elliot on a blanket on the grass next to me where he loves to attempt to crawl. Here is the little mite happily playing next to me.
 |
| Elliot next to me playing on his blanket in the garden by the pool last Sunday |
I had completely forgotten that I had a Skype call scheduled with my friends Sandra and Adele. It was Adele who rang. Then I got a huge surprise as my oldest daughter Suzy was also there - that was a surprise from my friends. It was great to see her. Sandra had also forgotten the call and joined us late. I do so love talking to my friends during lockdown and can't wait for it all to be over and to meet them either here or in Brussels.
Sunday was Mothers' day in Spain but we didn't make much of a fuss of it. It was Oli's first as a mother. I was just 28 years old when she was born. Here is a lovely photo of me with her when she was still a baby. It was the summer we went on holiday to a seaside town in Asturias. I remember it well.
 |
| With my baby Oli some 28 years ago. |
How time has flown and it's amazing to think that my baby is now a mother with her own baby.
We had a light dinner outside again that night and counted our blessings as we nearly always do. We watched the tail end of the news all about the relaxation of lockdown. When the weather report was over we turned to Netflix or was it Amazon Prime? That night we watched a delightful romantic film called "Me before you". Filmed mostly at Pembroke Castle (Wales) it is based on a book of the same name by British author Jojo Moyes. I was determined to read the book after seeing the film something I do often. .
 |
| Our entertainment last Sunday night - a film I can highly recommend |
Both Eladio and I loved every minute of it.
Monday came marking the start of Phase 0 to the end of lockdown. That meant small businesses including hairdressers were to open. Restaurants and bars would also be able to sell take away's. I was excited about my 10 am hair appointment and was there 15 minutes before. Things have changed of course to adjust to the new normal. The door was open and outside there was a table with a bottle of disinfectant and packet of wipers to to clean the soles of customers' shoes. Then of course there was the now omnipresent bottle of antibacterial lotion for hands as well as gloves. Everyone coming in had to be wearing a mask and have an appointment. Inside the salon which is quite big, there was already one customer and I think they have room enough for 4. This is me as I arrived with my mask on and all my grey and white hairs showing. What a mess my hair was in after 7 weeks of lockdown and probably 9 weeks of not having been to the hairdresser.
My hairdresser, Bella Brazil, in Boadilla was very busy that day. The phone kept ringing and the very loud Brazilian owner with her mask on seemed to be shouting during my 2 hour hairdressing experience. I had downloaded the Jojo Moyes book "Me before you" after seeing the film the night before and was hoping to read it at the hairdresser. It was mission impossible thanks to the very loud owner talking to people on the phone and others popping in to ask for appointments. In any case I was delighted to have my hair done; the roots, a wash, a cut and hair do as well as dying my eyebrows and eye lashes. The latter have got blonder and blonder over the years and I only recently took to dying them. 2 hours later I was ready and feeling like a new woman. It was thanks to my favourite haidresser, Elena. Thank you my dear. I cut my hair shorter than usual, just in case we have to go back to full confinement.
I posted the photo on social media and was embarrassed when I saw a comment telling me I was wearing my mask upside down. I thought I wasn't but I was - silly me. I suppose it's a question of getting used to the new normal and getting it right.
I felt very good when I came out. I noticed there were more people on the street and saw some shops open but with not many people in them. I didn't see any clothes boutiques open although I think they were allowed to start business again on Monday. I personally would think twice before trying on clothes in a shop. Hopefully phase 0 will not adversely affect the stabilising of the virus. I often think that one is just as likely to get the virus at a supermarket or chemist, so what's the difference with small businesses? I suppose the answer is not much but that supermarkets and chemists are so essential they could not be shut down.
For lunch we had leftovers, a sort of buffet meal, and we had it outside although rain was threatening. Thankfully there were only a few drops. By the time I was outside lying on the sunbed under the trees by the pool that afternoon, all sign of the rain had gone and the temperature was 30ºc. Wow. At 5.30 Amanda and I had our weekly Skype call where we compare notes on lockdown and the coronavirus crisis in Britain and Spain. As with Sandra and Adele, we also talk about films and series we are watching and the books we are reading. Last week we nattered on for 2 hours. This week the call was shorter and by 6.15 I was ready to go out on our walk with Eladio and the dogs. Oli and Miguel were out on their walk and before coming home they went to the chemist. It was Oli's first time out of the house, apart from her walks, and she was shocked to see the queue outside the chemist and everyone wearing masks. I have got used to it but I know it is shocking.
Our walk that day was so lovely. It's because nature is its best now and of course because of the weather. I can't stop admiring the wild flowers in such abundance with great long stems, the grass too and all because of the recent rain. My favourite are the poppies but I also love the great big Spanish wild bluebells of which there are so many. I have been told they are a plague but what a beautiful one.
I took Pippa, Eladio took Norah the beagle and Elsa our lab went free. She is the only well behaved of our dogs, sticks to the path and is always by our side, even when we cross one main road we have to cross to to get to the fields.
Since we started walking on the secret pathways behind the houses in this area, we have discovered lots and lots of different paths. It's thanks to coronavirus that we have discovered them. They are located in a veritable forest or wood and I suppose the reason our neighbourhood is called "El Bosque" (the wood) is because of that. They are literally endless and it's easy to get lost. The great thing about these paths is that there hardly any people. We have them more or less to ourselves. I can only say that it's thanks to lockdown that we have discovered them.
We had to cut our walk short after about 40 minutes as it was getting late. We were home by 7.30 or so and Miguel had gone out to get some shopping. We mostly needed eggs if we were to have "tortilla" for dinner that night. I couldn't believe we had run out of eggs as last week between Miguel and I we had bought 3 dozen!!!!!
I had an hour on my own with Oli and Elliot before dinner and we spent most of it on a blanket in the garden by the kitchen patio. Oh what a lovely little boy he is. Once we were all sitting down to our delicious and very Spanish dinner on the table outside, Eladio commented that every meal together during confinement is like a celebration. He always wonders at the miracle of sitting down to a ready table. In a way he is right. Our meals together en famille are a great joy during confinement which hardly feels like confinement where we live. We are so lucky. Someone commented this week that our confinement was more like a holiday. It does feel like that some times, that is when you forget what the real restrictions are.
We tend to linger over the table after dinner and again that night missed most of the news. That night we watched the most beautiful film. On Prime Video I found a romance drama called "What the day owes the night". It's a French film set in Algeria called "Ce que le jour doit à la nuit" based on the book by the Algerian author Yasmina Khadra. It's a story of an impossible love between a French woman and an Algerian during the tumult of the independence from the French. Oh what a drama, what a story and what a beautiful film.
Tuesday came and the temperatures dropped but only a bit, the maximum being about 24ºc that day. Tuesday was a very quiet day a lot of which I spent reading in the sun and the shade, often watching Eladio battle with the water in the swimming pool. Finally that day it began to return to its normal colour but it was not warm enough to bathe.
We all did the usual things only meeting for meals and for our walk. That day it was just Oli and Elliot who came with us as Miguel was doing one of his twice weekly workouts on zoom with friends. I'm always afraid for the floor boards, hahahaha. The walk again was beautiful and we did not encounter a single person. Even though people are allowed to go out for exercise and walks now, at designated times, Spaniards are not great walkers. I also think the paths are pretty empty here as most of the residents are in quite a high age bracket and just stay at home. It's also true that everyone here has huge gardens so will not have experienced the claustrophobia of lockdown anywhere near as much as city dwellers.
The day ended as normal, with all of us round the table outside for dinner - tuna fish salad that day - and then to bed. Well, Elliot gets his bath first. That night we watched what I thought was a promising film; "Labor Day" with Kate Winslet but it was rather disappointing and not a patch on "Me before you" or "Ce que le jour doit à la nit".
Wednesday dawned, my food shopping day which is always a big hassle and hard work too. I long for the time when Eladio can come with me. It's much more enjoyable to do it together. I also miss going for a coffee with him during our shopping trips. Of course now that is not possible with or without him as bars and restaurants are still closed.
It was on Wednesday that I read a rather shocking story that came out of the UK - my home country. One of the government's chief scientific advisors, Neil Ferguson was in trouble for breaking his own lockdown advice. He was the first advisor to advocate lockdown yet it was discovered this week that he had broken it. The reason? Well, in the UK nearly all scandals involve some sort of adultery. It turned out he had let his married lover, Antonia Staats, to travel across London to visit him at least twice. You may remember Ferguson was one of the team members who tested positive for Covid at around the same time as the PM. So I think his behaviour was not only rash but dangerous. He had to apologise and quit his job with the so called "secretive SAGE committee". Piers Morgan tweeted "so the government is following the science of scientists who don't even follow their own science. What a shameful shambles". No doubt he is the most embarrassed man in the UK at the moment. He broke lockdown but I have a feeling that many many more people are doing so in the UK. I have had first hand accounts from friends in the UK. Of course anonymous people can get away with it, but not the main scientist who first advocated the practice of social distancing and staying at home. All this came on the day or the day after the UK surpassed Italy in its death toll to become top of the European league of deaths with over 30.000 recorded. I wondered to myself why the British government is planning to start ease of lockdown so soon when the daily death toll is still so high - over 600 on Wednesday. The UK is a few weeks behind both Italy and Spain and I really think lockdown should continue to be as strict as possible if they want to avoid more deaths.
All this was on my mind as I went out shopping, this time wearing my mask the right way round. It took me a good two hours to do all the shopping I hoped would last us one week. I went to Mercadona, Carrefour and then the more exclusive BM. I came home with a huge load of food and was happy to be greeted by Eladio and his helping hands.
Meanwhile he had finally got the pool water up to standard. It had taken him 3 days of hard work to get it up and running and with clear water. When he first took off the cover the water was totally green and I had not hopes for it, thinking he would have to empty the pool and refill it - which costs about 400 euros in water as we know from other occasions. But, no, being the stubborn man he is when it comes to fixing things, he had fixed it and the pool was ready for use. Rather, it was ready for contemplating or sitting by as it is not warm enough for us to swim, at least for me. If I were a Brit or Scandinavian with temperatures here in the mid 20's no doubt I would love to go in. However, I have lived too long in Spain now and the mid 20's is not warm enough for me. I would only go in if the temperature was over 35c! But it looked lovely and that's what mattered. I took a few photos for the record.
When I say I sit by the pool, I actually sit in the shade under the trees on a bench or lie down on one of our comfortable recliners. This is my favourite place to be in the summer and preferably with a cup of tea in my hands and a good book to read.
Eladio had got the shady area ready too. He had cut the grass and brought up the summer furniture so that we could spend time there in the afternoons when we are less busy.
Talking of the summer, finally the aircon installation people came that morning while I was out shopping. We had bought a higher powered aircon unit for our own bedroom as the one we put in years ago was just not powerful enough to cool down the room properly. Eladio told me they came donned in masks and gloves and disinfected everything before they left.
It was just before lunch when I received a surprising request to book a room in our house on Airbnb for next week. All my bookings since the crisis started had been cancelled due to coronavirus and the last one I had for July was also cancelled that day. I wasn't sure whether to accept or not but then I thought that if we take all the precautions necessary it should be ok. The guest lives in the Canary Islands where there have been very few cases but the funny thing is that he is from West Yorkshire (Wakefield). In the end he didn't proceed to book and I think I am relieved.
I spent some time in the shady area reading in the afternoon. It was too warm for a walk so we decided to skip it until the next morning. I read until dinner time - apart from a few work related interruptions. For the first time ever I served "rape" (monk fish) which I have never made but is very easy to grill. I served it with garlic and parsley and we had it with a salad.
Entertainment that night was a film called Dangerous Lies which is a great thriller I can recommend if you are into thrillers.
I must say we have seen some pretty good films this week.
The week seemed to fly past and soon it was Thursday. I had some work to do that morning and have quite a lot on my plate at the moment. But I'm grateful for it as it keeps me busy. The day was pretty much the same as usual. After work I made everyone's lunch and in the free hour before we all sat down to eat, Eladio and I and all three dogs went on our secret walk. In the afternoon we all began to notice there was no wifi in the house. When Oli and her little family went on their walk they saw a huge branch from the tree outside our house had fallen and brought down with it the telephone line - fiber optic cable to be precise. That meant we had no fixed line or internet and would have to rely on our mobiles which is an inconvenience. I felt sorry for Lucy who couldn't.
I immediately rang our provider, my old company Yoigo. They promised it would be fixed in 48 hours but I thought that was a bit long and thus posted the photo on social media. I also got in touch with a good contact at their customer service. Soon Yoigo reacted and I got several phone calls. I think social media is the best way to get a customer to react. Shortly after posting the photo above on Twitter, my successor, Fernando was in touch to help and I got VIP treatment for which I was very grateful. We also rang the social services for them to remove the offending branch which apparently is the responsibility of the local police. Luckily we could use our mobiles for internet and also use them as mobile hot spots to connect to my computer, our smart TV and my iPad. Oh what would we do without internet especially in confinement?
Once my phone calls were over I settled down to my book by the pool. It looks so lovely now that Eladio has it up and running. I also admired the geraniums which he looks after so lovingly. They are not my favourite flowers but I have to say they are very colourful.
Soon we were interrupted by the return of Oli and Elliot. She brought him along to the pool and decided to put him on the lilo as if he was on a boat in the water. We thought it was hilarious and were not really worried he would fall in the water. He loved the experience although he did get wet hahahha and had to have his clothes changed.
I can't wait for the weather to be warmer and to see Elliot take his first dip with arm bands of course as he cant' swim. Hopefully, his parents who are both good swimmers will teach him soon.
By then it was dinner time and we had another pleasant meal on the kitchen patio. Our choice of film that night was not a great success. I had a read a good review in The Times about a Spanish film I had never heard of called "Sunday's illness" (La enfermedad del domingo). It was rather intense and had a dreadful ending.
That night I had nightmares. One was with my brother George. I was trying to go home to see my parents in Bradford and he wouldn't let me go. I have had quite a few nightmares and weird dreams which have coincided with lockdown and have also heard it is quite common now. I don't really know why, maybe it's to get things off our chest, a way of releasing emotions. Anyway, I don't like them.
Friday dawned and it was the 75th anniversary of VE day (Victory in Europe Day), the end of WW2 in Europe. In England it was celebrated everywhere, albeit in lockdown. Bunting was out everywhere and people held private parties at home; some of them 1940's style tea parties. How nice is that? My friend Kathy's parents from Keighley in West Yorkshire duly hung out the bunting too and the family gathered for just 5 minutes outside her parents' house, maintaining social distance, to mark the day.
Not much notice was taken of it here in Spain because Spain was not in the war. For me it was a very significant day, as I am a post war child and daughter of a veteran naval officer. Wanting to mark the day by linking it to his experience in the war, I dug out some of the material I used for his biography. The most memorable item I have is a letter he wrote on 13th May 1945 from the RN Base in Lyness Orkney, to his sister, Gloria (RIP) who was a Corporal in the Army (The ATS). This is it, all three pages of a letter I shall treasure always.
In this letter written just 5 days after VE day, my father recounts his own experience of it up in the Orkneys in Scotland. From what I can gather, he did not join the revelers. When I interviewed him for his book he told me that the war was not over on VE day and he felt that only when the "Jap War" was won by the allies would the war really be over and there be call for celebrations. Here is the paragraph from the letter to his sister about VE day in 1945, a first hand account of VE day from a WW2 veteran officer.
I treasure that letter and photocopied it for him to read that day. I have so much respect for my father and his contribution to the war. I then dug out some photos of my father in the war and the only one I have of my Aunty Gloria.
Aunty Gloria was just 19 at the time and joined the ATS, as did the Queen and at the same age too as both were born in 1926. Sadly as you will possibly know from my reference to my beloved father's sister, many times in this blog, Gloria died in 1971 with all her family in an air crash in former Yugoslavia.
Monday came marking the start of Phase 0 to the end of lockdown. That meant small businesses including hairdressers were to open. Restaurants and bars would also be able to sell take away's. I was excited about my 10 am hair appointment and was there 15 minutes before. Things have changed of course to adjust to the new normal. The door was open and outside there was a table with a bottle of disinfectant and packet of wipers to to clean the soles of customers' shoes. Then of course there was the now omnipresent bottle of antibacterial lotion for hands as well as gloves. Everyone coming in had to be wearing a mask and have an appointment. Inside the salon which is quite big, there was already one customer and I think they have room enough for 4. This is me as I arrived with my mask on and all my grey and white hairs showing. What a mess my hair was in after 7 weeks of lockdown and probably 9 weeks of not having been to the hairdresser.
 |
| The before picture |
 |
| Feeling like a new woman after my hair was done on Monday |
I felt very good when I came out. I noticed there were more people on the street and saw some shops open but with not many people in them. I didn't see any clothes boutiques open although I think they were allowed to start business again on Monday. I personally would think twice before trying on clothes in a shop. Hopefully phase 0 will not adversely affect the stabilising of the virus. I often think that one is just as likely to get the virus at a supermarket or chemist, so what's the difference with small businesses? I suppose the answer is not much but that supermarkets and chemists are so essential they could not be shut down.
For lunch we had leftovers, a sort of buffet meal, and we had it outside although rain was threatening. Thankfully there were only a few drops. By the time I was outside lying on the sunbed under the trees by the pool that afternoon, all sign of the rain had gone and the temperature was 30ºc. Wow. At 5.30 Amanda and I had our weekly Skype call where we compare notes on lockdown and the coronavirus crisis in Britain and Spain. As with Sandra and Adele, we also talk about films and series we are watching and the books we are reading. Last week we nattered on for 2 hours. This week the call was shorter and by 6.15 I was ready to go out on our walk with Eladio and the dogs. Oli and Miguel were out on their walk and before coming home they went to the chemist. It was Oli's first time out of the house, apart from her walks, and she was shocked to see the queue outside the chemist and everyone wearing masks. I have got used to it but I know it is shocking.
Our walk that day was so lovely. It's because nature is its best now and of course because of the weather. I can't stop admiring the wild flowers in such abundance with great long stems, the grass too and all because of the recent rain. My favourite are the poppies but I also love the great big Spanish wild bluebells of which there are so many. I have been told they are a plague but what a beautiful one.
 |
| Bluebells everywhere |
 |
| Eladio with Norah on the walk on Monday afternoon |
We had to cut our walk short after about 40 minutes as it was getting late. We were home by 7.30 or so and Miguel had gone out to get some shopping. We mostly needed eggs if we were to have "tortilla" for dinner that night. I couldn't believe we had run out of eggs as last week between Miguel and I we had bought 3 dozen!!!!!
I had an hour on my own with Oli and Elliot before dinner and we spent most of it on a blanket in the garden by the kitchen patio. Oh what a lovely little boy he is. Once we were all sitting down to our delicious and very Spanish dinner on the table outside, Eladio commented that every meal together during confinement is like a celebration. He always wonders at the miracle of sitting down to a ready table. In a way he is right. Our meals together en famille are a great joy during confinement which hardly feels like confinement where we live. We are so lucky. Someone commented this week that our confinement was more like a holiday. It does feel like that some times, that is when you forget what the real restrictions are.
We tend to linger over the table after dinner and again that night missed most of the news. That night we watched the most beautiful film. On Prime Video I found a romance drama called "What the day owes the night". It's a French film set in Algeria called "Ce que le jour doit à la nuit" based on the book by the Algerian author Yasmina Khadra. It's a story of an impossible love between a French woman and an Algerian during the tumult of the independence from the French. Oh what a drama, what a story and what a beautiful film.
 |
We all did the usual things only meeting for meals and for our walk. That day it was just Oli and Elliot who came with us as Miguel was doing one of his twice weekly workouts on zoom with friends. I'm always afraid for the floor boards, hahahaha. The walk again was beautiful and we did not encounter a single person. Even though people are allowed to go out for exercise and walks now, at designated times, Spaniards are not great walkers. I also think the paths are pretty empty here as most of the residents are in quite a high age bracket and just stay at home. It's also true that everyone here has huge gardens so will not have experienced the claustrophobia of lockdown anywhere near as much as city dwellers.
The day ended as normal, with all of us round the table outside for dinner - tuna fish salad that day - and then to bed. Well, Elliot gets his bath first. That night we watched what I thought was a promising film; "Labor Day" with Kate Winslet but it was rather disappointing and not a patch on "Me before you" or "Ce que le jour doit à la nit".
Wednesday dawned, my food shopping day which is always a big hassle and hard work too. I long for the time when Eladio can come with me. It's much more enjoyable to do it together. I also miss going for a coffee with him during our shopping trips. Of course now that is not possible with or without him as bars and restaurants are still closed.
It was on Wednesday that I read a rather shocking story that came out of the UK - my home country. One of the government's chief scientific advisors, Neil Ferguson was in trouble for breaking his own lockdown advice. He was the first advisor to advocate lockdown yet it was discovered this week that he had broken it. The reason? Well, in the UK nearly all scandals involve some sort of adultery. It turned out he had let his married lover, Antonia Staats, to travel across London to visit him at least twice. You may remember Ferguson was one of the team members who tested positive for Covid at around the same time as the PM. So I think his behaviour was not only rash but dangerous. He had to apologise and quit his job with the so called "secretive SAGE committee". Piers Morgan tweeted "so the government is following the science of scientists who don't even follow their own science. What a shameful shambles". No doubt he is the most embarrassed man in the UK at the moment. He broke lockdown but I have a feeling that many many more people are doing so in the UK. I have had first hand accounts from friends in the UK. Of course anonymous people can get away with it, but not the main scientist who first advocated the practice of social distancing and staying at home. All this came on the day or the day after the UK surpassed Italy in its death toll to become top of the European league of deaths with over 30.000 recorded. I wondered to myself why the British government is planning to start ease of lockdown so soon when the daily death toll is still so high - over 600 on Wednesday. The UK is a few weeks behind both Italy and Spain and I really think lockdown should continue to be as strict as possible if they want to avoid more deaths.
All this was on my mind as I went out shopping, this time wearing my mask the right way round. It took me a good two hours to do all the shopping I hoped would last us one week. I went to Mercadona, Carrefour and then the more exclusive BM. I came home with a huge load of food and was happy to be greeted by Eladio and his helping hands.
Meanwhile he had finally got the pool water up to standard. It had taken him 3 days of hard work to get it up and running and with clear water. When he first took off the cover the water was totally green and I had not hopes for it, thinking he would have to empty the pool and refill it - which costs about 400 euros in water as we know from other occasions. But, no, being the stubborn man he is when it comes to fixing things, he had fixed it and the pool was ready for use. Rather, it was ready for contemplating or sitting by as it is not warm enough for us to swim, at least for me. If I were a Brit or Scandinavian with temperatures here in the mid 20's no doubt I would love to go in. However, I have lived too long in Spain now and the mid 20's is not warm enough for me. I would only go in if the temperature was over 35c! But it looked lovely and that's what mattered. I took a few photos for the record.
 |
| The pool and pool area looking spick and span by Wednesday |
 |
| The shady area by the pool |
Talking of the summer, finally the aircon installation people came that morning while I was out shopping. We had bought a higher powered aircon unit for our own bedroom as the one we put in years ago was just not powerful enough to cool down the room properly. Eladio told me they came donned in masks and gloves and disinfected everything before they left.
It was just before lunch when I received a surprising request to book a room in our house on Airbnb for next week. All my bookings since the crisis started had been cancelled due to coronavirus and the last one I had for July was also cancelled that day. I wasn't sure whether to accept or not but then I thought that if we take all the precautions necessary it should be ok. The guest lives in the Canary Islands where there have been very few cases but the funny thing is that he is from West Yorkshire (Wakefield). In the end he didn't proceed to book and I think I am relieved.
I spent some time in the shady area reading in the afternoon. It was too warm for a walk so we decided to skip it until the next morning. I read until dinner time - apart from a few work related interruptions. For the first time ever I served "rape" (monk fish) which I have never made but is very easy to grill. I served it with garlic and parsley and we had it with a salad.
Entertainment that night was a film called Dangerous Lies which is a great thriller I can recommend if you are into thrillers.
 |
| The film we watched on Wednesday night. |
The week seemed to fly past and soon it was Thursday. I had some work to do that morning and have quite a lot on my plate at the moment. But I'm grateful for it as it keeps me busy. The day was pretty much the same as usual. After work I made everyone's lunch and in the free hour before we all sat down to eat, Eladio and I and all three dogs went on our secret walk. In the afternoon we all began to notice there was no wifi in the house. When Oli and her little family went on their walk they saw a huge branch from the tree outside our house had fallen and brought down with it the telephone line - fiber optic cable to be precise. That meant we had no fixed line or internet and would have to rely on our mobiles which is an inconvenience. I felt sorry for Lucy who couldn't.
 |
| Tree that fell and broke our telephone line |
Once my phone calls were over I settled down to my book by the pool. It looks so lovely now that Eladio has it up and running. I also admired the geraniums which he looks after so lovingly. They are not my favourite flowers but I have to say they are very colourful.
 |
| The geraniums by the pool |
 |
| Elliot's first experience on a lilo and first time in the pool |
By then it was dinner time and we had another pleasant meal on the kitchen patio. Our choice of film that night was not a great success. I had a read a good review in The Times about a Spanish film I had never heard of called "Sunday's illness" (La enfermedad del domingo). It was rather intense and had a dreadful ending.
That night I had nightmares. One was with my brother George. I was trying to go home to see my parents in Bradford and he wouldn't let me go. I have had quite a few nightmares and weird dreams which have coincided with lockdown and have also heard it is quite common now. I don't really know why, maybe it's to get things off our chest, a way of releasing emotions. Anyway, I don't like them.
Friday dawned and it was the 75th anniversary of VE day (Victory in Europe Day), the end of WW2 in Europe. In England it was celebrated everywhere, albeit in lockdown. Bunting was out everywhere and people held private parties at home; some of them 1940's style tea parties. How nice is that? My friend Kathy's parents from Keighley in West Yorkshire duly hung out the bunting too and the family gathered for just 5 minutes outside her parents' house, maintaining social distance, to mark the day.
 |
| Bunting outside Kathy's parents Jean and Brian's home on VE Day |
 |
| Page 1 |
 |
| Page 2 |
 |
| Page 3 |
"Your
remarks about VE day celebrations and the way it affected various people
correspond very much to the incidents that took place up here. There were
hundreds and hundreds of drunkards reeling about the place from lunch time to
well on into the next morning. Service cars were swiped and taken for joy rides
and then trashed and left in a damaged state. We were all privileged to “splice
the main brace” (naval order to issue crew with alcohol) whereby all and sundry
including officers were allowed to have an extra free toto of rum on the navy.
All the ships in the harbour sounded their sirens at midnight and really the
noise was tremendous for a place which is normally so quiet".
I treasure that letter and photocopied it for him to read that day. I have so much respect for my father and his contribution to the war. I then dug out some photos of my father in the war and the only one I have of my Aunty Gloria.
 |
| My father a naval officer during WW2 |
 |
| Aunty Gloria( dark haired girl on the right) my father's sister during the war where she was a corporal with the ATS Auxiliary Territorial Service |
So no, no bunting, no celebrations here at home; just my thoughts and my father's. Moments like VE day make me miss England.
But I had work to do that day so had to change my mindset and concentrate on two new press releases. I had to work on my PC using my mobile phone as a wifi hotspot. I wondered how long my phone company would take to restore the telephone line. My wish came true very quickly. At about 10 am I got a call from Telefonica, Yoigo's fast internet provider, that they would be at our house shortly, much faster than the 48h or more that I had expected. Meanwhile the police had come and gone after cordoning off the broken tree.
 |
| The end of our street cordoned off |
Soon the technician was there and within about 2 hours had restored our telephone line. I went out to congratulate and thank him. My neighbour Katty later sent me this photo of him right at the top of the telephone pole.
 |
The telephone man restoring our line |
I have to thank the company for giving me VIP treatment as I know that Yoigo pressured Telefonica to prioritise my issue. That's friends in high places or most probably because I was a founding employee. I also think that maybe the photos I put on social media will have helped. These days companies respond quicker to complaints if they are posted publicly. In any case, I am very grateful and happy to have internet back.
It was a quiet day otherwise and with work out of the way I was able to read a bit in the sun - it was very warm on Friday, temperatures reaching 27c. We noticed that on our walk in the afternoon and I came back sweating and longing for a shower. Maybe I should have taken my first dip in the pool but I didn't.
I spent a bit of time on my own scrolling for news on my phone before going down to join everyone. That afternoon the Spanish government announced which areas of the country would move from Phase 0 to Phase 1 of the so-called "de-escalation" plan of which there are 3 phases. Only 51% of the country will move on tomorrow to a slightly relaxed confinement and that does not include either Madrid or Barcelona. The rest will enjoy some new freedom such as: meeting friends and family (no more than 10 in a group), going to bars and restaurants which will be allowed to open their outdoor seating at 50% capacity only and more possibilities of shopping as small shops and street markets open. Some public buildings such as museums and churches will be opened with restrictions although people, without a valid reason, will not be able to move out of the province they live in. I felt sorry for Miguel who cannot see his parents for the moment and who will be missing little Elliot terribly.
I was in charge of dinner that night as I usually am although I get occasional help from Miguel and Oli who of course are busy with the baby. I made salmon leek parcels, a recipe which I found here. It was served with home made mushy peas and creme fraiche.
 |
| My salmon and leek parcles served with minty mushy peas and creme fraiche. |
This was followed by mango and ice cream; the perfect dinner for a summer night in May.
Just as we went up to bed, it was time for the Queen's VE speech, her 6th non Christmas speech ever. I had to watch her. She is part of my British DNA and the only monarch of my time. She is best at lifting the nations' spirits and that is just what she did on Friday night.
 |
| The Queen during her broadcast on Friday night to mark the 75th anniversary of VE day |
At 9pm, the exact same time and date 75 years after her father's VE day speech, her broadcast went live. She sat at a desk with a photo of her father, King George VI and her army cap, probably the same cap my Aunty Gloria had. Her main message was "never give up, never despair". I totally agreed with her words that "many people laid down their lives in that terrible conflict. They fought so we could live in peace, at home and abroad. They died so we could live as free people in a world of free nations". My father fought for that too I kept thinking as she spoke. In a reference to lockdown, the Queen said that coronavirus has "filled empty streets with love and care". Her Majesty also described briefly the well known fact that she and her sister Margaret, aged 14, joined the crowds. That must have been one of the few moments of real freedom of her life ever. Apparently, they left the palace with their father's permission after dinner and went out incognito. The King wrote in his diary later "Poor darlings, they have never had any fun yet". They certainly had fun and a wonderful sensation of freedom. In a BBC interview in 1985, the Queen described how she pulled her uniform cap well over her eyes so as not to be recognised. In the same interview she said "I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, and all of us were swept along by tides of happiness and relief".
Later that night and after the Queen's speech the nation took part in a sing-a-long of Dame Vera Lynn's wartime anthem, "We'll meet again". I certainly hope we all will.
That night I had more nightmares. This time they were about my beloved Aunty Gloria. In my dream she and my 3 cousins, Jacqueline, Michael and Antony, had survived the air crash but I only found out now, 40 years later and I was desperate to find them. In the dream a friend of my aunts tells me she doesn't want to meet anyone from the family after the trauma of the accident. I begged her to help me find her to be reunited with my father and told her of his letter in 1945. I woke up feeling most upset and it took me a while to fall asleep again. If only they had never died were my thoughts, thoughts that are in my mind very often even after all this time.
Saturday came and we had a splendid day. To enjoy it I had to get work out of the way. I spent time from about 8 am to 11 am on a press release. I always get Eladio to check the Spanish and these days I get Oli to check the text to see if it is journalistic enough. Quite happy with my work, I got on with the rest of the day. Lunch was to be a barbecue again for which I had bought some gourmet burgers and spicy sausages (butifarra) to be had with potatoes in their jackets, caramelised onion and sliced tomatoes.
Team work produced a lovely barbecue meal which looked like this once on our plates.
Of course the proverbial siesta was in need afterwards and I slept until about 5 pm. I came down to make a cup of tea and then joined Oli and her little family by the pool. It wasn't as warm yesterday and certainly not warm enough for me to go in the water but Oli and Miguel braved it. They were joined by Elsa our lab (hahaha)
The water was too cold for Elliot who sat on his favourite blanket on the grass next to me in the shady area. When his parents were in the water he couldn't keep his eyes off what he was seeing; it was all so new for him.
He joined hem when they came out of the water and sat in the sun.
A walk was in order after time lounging by the pool with the family and our dogs, so at about 6.20, off we all went. Our walk was slightly more populated than usual but I doubt we saw more than 4 or 5 groups of people with dogs, exercising or walking.
Dinner was team work again too and I love the time we spend together in the kitchen and kitchen patio getting our meals ready. Again we missed the news so turned to Netflix to continue watching the Israeli TV series we had restarted the other night called "Fauda". Basically it is a thriller series about the Mossad secret services against Hamas and Isis and is quite intense, a far cry from series like "Anne with an E". It had us up till quite late.
Today is Sunday 10th May and I have lost count of how many days we have now been in lockdown; possibly 57 which is nearly 2 months. Wow, who could have predicted what would happen when we were all celebrating on New Year's Eve, the day I think we first heard about the virus in China?
 |
| Barbecue in the making yesterday |
 |
| Yesterday's barbecue |
 |
| Oli and Miguel in the pool yesterday |
 |
| Elliot on his favourite blanket |
 |
| Oli, Miguel and Elliot in the sun by the pool yesterday |
Dinner was team work again too and I love the time we spend together in the kitchen and kitchen patio getting our meals ready. Again we missed the news so turned to Netflix to continue watching the Israeli TV series we had restarted the other night called "Fauda". Basically it is a thriller series about the Mossad secret services against Hamas and Isis and is quite intense, a far cry from series like "Anne with an E". It had us up till quite late.
Today is Sunday 10th May and I have lost count of how many days we have now been in lockdown; possibly 57 which is nearly 2 months. Wow, who could have predicted what would happen when we were all celebrating on New Year's Eve, the day I think we first heard about the virus in China?
So what will next week bring I wonder? What I am most hoping for is a decline in the number of cases and of deaths. Otherwise I know how the week will pan out. It will be not much different to the last 7 or 8 weeks.
Wishing you all a good Sunday in lockdown, cheers everyone until next week,
Masha
No comments:
Post a Comment