To Asturias to settle into our new house, signing the deeds, Elliot turns 1 year old, exploring the area, Madrid in semi lock down and other stories.

El Cueto de Meré, Asturias, Sunday 20th September, 2020

Signing the deeds, an important moment in our life

Good morning all from Asturias, from our new house in El Cueto Meré where we moved in on Tuesday 15th September, a day to be remembered.

Last Sunday saw us at home with much warmer temperatures. We had lots of guests from both Airbnb and Swimmy. We only saw the French couple for a moment in the morning but they are delightful. I was astonished to learn the wife (a nurse) was from Madagascar. So we had a guest from Africa and one from Polynesia hahahahhaa. On the subject of Airbnb guests, I was delighted to receive a glowing review from Marlène, my guest from the weekend before. I have to share it with you, in French, of course which amazingly I could understand every word of. This is what she wrote:

Marlène's review

This is a rough translation of what she wrote: “You can go to Masha with confidence. My daughter and I were very pleasantly received. Whatever your language, you will have no communication problem because Masha speaks so many !! In addition, her house is ideally located for anyone like me to settle their child in Spain, in order to study at EMU. Address and hostess recommended !!!! ”

Thank you Masha for your welcome. Emma and I are delighted to have spent a few days with you, we felt very comfortable. Your family is charming, just like you. Thank you again and see you soon I hope;)”

She also gave me an overall 5 stars and then 5 stars for each of the 6 categories (accuracy, check-in, cleanliness, location and value). I don't always score well for location - well we are out in the sticks, but I did this time. 

5 stars for all categories

It's review like this, and I have had many, that make it all worth while. I go out of my way to make my guests feel happy and comfortable but I also very often enjoy their company. So Marlène's review on Sunday was well received. It's like a pat on the back from a boss. I have no boss so to say in my new "job", it's the guests who are my bosses and all positive feedback from them only spurs me on to continue my good work. 

The group of girls coming to use the pool arrived at about midday, behaved perfectly and left at around 8pm. The only problem we had was with water as that morning Eladio found a big leak in the irrigation system (this happens often) and switched off the water in the garden which meant the outdoor loo had no water so the guests had to use the one on the ground floor. Later they left me a 5 star review as did the group of boys who came last Saturday. That had me pleased as punch too. I hardly saw our guests that day. It was as if we had the house to ourselves. Guests who only come to sleep and don't use the house are the best kind. 

I spent most of the day hooked on Exodus - oh what a book and what a tale, about the beginnings of the state of Israel. It fascinated me. 

There really is not much else to say about last Sunday, a very quiet day despite the guests. It ended with dinner with Eladio and Suzy on the kitchen terrace. We had duck, melon and avocado salad while Suzy ate her vegetarian dinner. We watched more of Borgen which we are hooked on. We started Season 2 and were not happy that the dubbing for the audio was with Latin American Spanish rather than Castillian Spanish. We had got used to the characters' dubbed voices and found the change rather off putting. Even so, the script is so good we carried on. If Borgen is a Danish type West Wing series, I do wish there could be a UK or Spanish version. I would never ever want to be the Prime Minister of any country after seeing this political series. Everything gets thrown at the PM Birgitte Nyborg and any episode that affects the country is used by the opposition and against her. She never has a moment of peace and when she does she is embroiled in personal problems as her work invades her personal life too.  The role of the press in the series is equally enthralling as the life of the woman PM and anything that can be turned into a scandal against the government is used by them. Sounds familiar? In most countries, yes, but it surprises me that this series aims to be a reflection on politics in Denmark, a country I look up to as a model of democracy, women's rights, standard of living, etc. Well, no country is perfect I suppose. 

Monday came, 14th September and just one day before we left for Asturias. I spent most of the day planning our trip and stay in my head. Monday was rather a lazy day spent in anticipation. It started with me watching Olivia live on TV reporting on the cost of working from home and using augmented reality. How clever I thought. This was just before the Minister of Work was to be interviewed live and one of the topics would be the new law regulating work at home. 

I have been working from home for years. What does that cost me? Well, actually not much. After an initial investment in home office furniture, it's just internet and printing really. That day saw me work on and off on various minor issues for my main customer. I was able to do so mostly on my mobile phone. 

That morning saw me too exchanging emails with the London publisher of my father's book. It has been one year since I signed the contract and the book is not yet out which frustrates me. Of course they blame Covid but I blame them for having missed my most important email to them (sent twice) where I had sent them the original manuscript and a word document with changes I wanted to make. They apparently never saw the word document. Well, they have now and we are, according to them, "now on the same page". I find that a bit sloppy but have to keep on good terms with them as I have no other option.

What would my world be without books I always wonder? What would my father's world be without them? I come from a book family although my taste is nowhere near as high brow as my father's. This week I finished Exodus by Leon Uris. I was inspired to read it after seeing the 1960 film starring Paul Newman on Filmin a while ago. What a book it is. Of course it is pro Jewish and pro Israel but even so it opened my eyes to all the events around the making of the State of Israel in the late 40's. My mother always used to tell us how clever the Jews had been by turning an arid and barren part of Palestine into an oasis of land where fruit grows as if it were Spain or South Africa. They turned a medieval and barren land into the country it is today, prosperous of course, although never ever gaining peace. Leon Uris does a very good job in explaining why and there are an awful lot of politics behind it, a festering history that started thousands and thousands of years ago. We went to The Holy Land 10 years ago; an amazing experience. Having been there made me understand Exodos better. It also made me want to go again. Oh, there are so many places I want to return to. Don't you?

So, yes, with my chores out of the way, I spent most of the day avidly reading Exodus. It is a page turner and is also a love story which in itself is of a very different kind to those I normally read about. I felt rather guilty "wasting my time" but on the other hand, it was a great break after the stress of the last week, "exam week". Thankfully that is over now.

Apart from reading I also saw the news and it was dire. Raging fires in the US with deaths and thousands losing their houses was one of the main topics. It seems impossible that such a powerful country cannot control the fires. Much further away on the Greek island of Lesbos, approximately 12.000 refugees who had seen their camps in Moria burned also by fire, were struggling to pick up their abysmal lives again. No one wants them, like no one wanted the Jews in Israel. It's the same story always. In the UK a bill was passed to go ahead with a no deal Brexit. But there was some good news too. It seems "life" has been found on Venus. I wondered as I watched the news whether perhaps Elliot or his offspring would ever see or witness life in "space". I sort of doubt it but astrologists and other scientists spend their lives on studies like this. So who knows? 

We saw the first day of rain on Monday as the temperatures dropped slightly. It rained a bit at dinner and we had to push the table nearer the kitchen and squeezed around the dry part to finish our meal. It would be the last dinner there for a while. 

Another episode of Borgen entertained us that night. I found it difficult to sleep. When I was a child I was always excited before a trip. My mother used to call the sensation "reisefieber", a German term meaning "travel fever". It's a term that describes well the butterflies in your stomach before a trip or something exciting happening.  Before leaving the house she would always make us sit for a minute in the porch and pray. I don't pray anymore before a trip but I still get travel fever. 

I somehow got through the night and finally it was Tuesday morning 15th September, the day we would move into our new house, our fourth house, believe it or not. After packing food and clothes, we said all our goodbyes, to my father, to Suzy, to Lucy and to the French couple. I did not, however see my guest from New Caledonia, Louis, who I presumed was asleep. At about 10.45 we left, leaving all the responsibility of running our great big house behind and you know what? We felt free as a bird and as happy as Larry. We were about to embark on a new adventure and a new chapter in our life. We spoke about how we had got to this point, from our humble beginnings when we first met in the summer of 1980 with hardly a penny between us. Of course my parents helped us get on the property ladder for which I am forever grateful but it has been sheer hard work that took us to the top plus maybe a little bit of luck. We also commented that my three severance pays from Motorola, Nokia and latterly Yoigo, certainly contributed to our now owning 4 houses. Of course there is only one, our main home outside Madrid, that is really valuable; the others are much more modest. This fourth house which we have bought as an investment, for our pleasure and to maximise  through renting, will hopefully pay itself back eventually. 

It's just over 500 km away so we had a long drive ahead of us. The Satnav took us via Valladolid, Palencia and then towards Santander and onto Asturias from Torrelavega. We stopped in some small village on the way for our picnic lunch which we set out on the banks of a river as we could not find anywhere to stop on the motorway. Here is Eladio about to enjoy our picnic - way to go these days because of Covid.

Eladio at our picnic table on the way to Asturias

Meanwhile in Madrid, Oli had finished work for the day and was with Elliot and Miguel. I love to see photos and videos of him. He is on the point of walking as you can see in this video , albeit with the help of his adored tractor. Oh how he loves his tractor.

Elliot on his new tractor with his friends on Tuesday

We were soon in lush Asturias with the wonderful backdrop of the mountains and were surprised to arrive to sun and warm weather as the forecast had been for rain. It wasn't raining when we finally arrived in our new village; "El Cuetu" next to Meré. To think we had bought the house after just seeing it for 5 or 10 minutes. Were we mad? We were so happy to be finally there and about to take possession of it. I took lots of photos. Here are just some of them.

The house as seen from the terrace

One of the windows close up.  I do love the windows

Soon the previous owners, Mari and José, arrived to hand us over the keys and show us the house again and tell us how everything works. They are a couple in their 60' and 70's, like us,  and who used to have a herd of cows until 20 years ago when they began renting this house and then went on to rent two more. This house, they told me, belonged to Jose's mother and was built more than 100 years ago. Mari told me the kitchen was bombed during the Spanish civil war and that one of her mother-in-law's siblings who had moved to Cuba, sent the money needed to restore it. So this house has a lot of history. It certainly has character and I love most of it although I will have to change some of the rather cheesy decor. Eladio thinks everything is fine including the ghastly old brown leather settee but hopefully we won't argue about the changes. 

Mari had cleaned the house beautifully. Everything was immaculate. There was a beautiful bunch of hydrangeas too in the entrance to the hall. She had also baked us a sponge cake and left us three jars of her home made jam as well as eggs laid by their hens. With this amazing welcome pack there was a letter for us. A letter for us? How could that be as no one knows this address? Ah, but it was a card from my friend Joanne in the UK who is very good at detective work. She is  amazing when it comes to things like birthdays. Since I met her and we became friends - 2 years or so ago when she came because of Airbnb - she always sends something for important occasions in our life. She has even sent a present for Elliot's first birthday! I was so touched.

Our welcome pack including Joanne's card

Before leaving, Mari  introduced us to a neighbour, "Loli"who has agreed to look after the house in our absence. We certainly need someone here as we live so far away.

Soon the previous owners left and we agreed to meet the next day in Llanes at 1.30 to go together to the notary to sign the deeds. Then finally it was time to move in. Here is Eladio with two supermarket bags at the entrance, hahaha.

Moving in

As soon as all the food was put away, the most urgent task for me was setting up the wifi. I had got a router from Movistar that will provide it although it is neither fiber or ADSL: It is like a radio and has a sim card inside to connect to the 4G network here and in the same way we use our phones as hotspots, it is the hotspot. It didn't take me long and I was amazed to see it working with full coverage not long afterwards. Internet for me here is as important as water or electricity. We cannot live without it today.

My next task was to choose which of the 4 bedrooms would be ours. They are all of similar size so I didn't go on size but rather on bed comfort and I chose the blue room. The others are red, yellow and green. They are small but lovely and all have two windows. I only wish the double beds were not all 135cm but bigger.

By then it was time for dinner and it felt strange to be preparing dinner in this new kitchen. We felt like guests staying at a holiday cottage and kept having to pinch ourselves to realise it was ours. That will take a while I think. And here is Eladio sitting down at the kitchen table and raising a glass of wine to cheer the occasion. 

Dinner on our first night

We had lots to celebrate and should be grateful for that. That evening I got a message from my dear friend Kathy to tell me her father has cancer again and if he agrees will have to have his voice box removed. Just how awful is that? Brian, bless the man, told Kathy that he has followed Elliot (on instagram) since the day he was born "because of his beautiful eyes". I was both touched yet sad for him. Poor Kathy has a lot on her plate at the moment. Her dear husband Philip, our good friend, was to be operated on his shoulder the next day and was terrified. Because of damned Covid she couldn't be with him. She told me it had been a horrible year for them. I am so sorry. 

We later got ready for bed, got in and watched an episode of Borgen on my iPad. We switched it off at around 11 pm but I found it difficult to sleep. I think I was just too excited. I was awake at 4.30, then 5.30 and lay in bed waiting for it to be 6 am, the earliest I think I should rise. 

We had a leisurely breakfast which included the delicious sponge cake from the welcome pack. That day would be a day to remember, the day we signed the deeds to the house. We didn't have to be in Llanes until 1.30 when we would meet the owners and walk to the notary. Thus after breakfast we made our way to Posada de Llanes, the nearest town to here, to do some basic shopping at the local supermarket, Alimerka, and also to stock up on things like "bog roll", etc for the house. Before leaving I wanted a photo of me outside the house. After all I had dressed up a bit for the signing of the deeds at the Notary.

Outside our house the day we went to sign the deeds

On our way to Posada we stopped at  little village, very near here, Puente Nuevo where we were told there is a general store and cafe. We went in to take a look and I liked what I saw; a very typical village store which I am sure will be useful on occasions. "In Posada we did the shopping and also visited an ironmonger for various things the house needed. Then before leaving for Llanes, we had a coffee there, sitting pleasantly in the sun. That's when we found out that things were not good in Madrid after many more people were found to be infected with Covid. The local government there had declared that the areas most affected would most probably go into lockdown. I wanted to know where these areas are, so looked them up. I knew where we live would not be on the list thankfully. It seems the working class district of Vallecas seems to be the worst hit. I was worried and I am worried that other measures, like freedom of movement outside the province may come into force too, thus wrecking my Airbnb business. 

I cheered up when we arrived in the very pretty town of Llanes, the capital of the province. Here we parked by the town's beach, "El Sablón" which is quite famous. People were enjoying the sun and swimming. I wished I could too but we had to go to the notary. There was time for a photo though and here I am on the steps to the beach.

By the El Sablón beach in Llanes on Wednesday

It was while walking back to the car park to meet Mari and José (the owners) that we spied what looked like a great restaurant to celebrate afterwards, "Sablons" right by the beach with great views which is actually part of a hotel.  We wanted to invite Mari and José but unfortunately that didn't happen as Mari felt very unwell that day and spent the afternoon at A&E. She had stomach issues and was put on a strict diet.

The restaurant where we celebrated after signing the deeds on Wednesday

By 13.40 or so we were at the Notary. The notary is a woman called Angela and I later learned we had a common friend. This world is indeed small. It was all quite efficient and we didn't have to wait long until the deeds were ready to sign. I wanted a photo of the occasion and Mari took a few for this blog. In the feature photo I am signing and in the photo below Eladio is signing while I look on smiling. 

Eladio signing

It was a funny feeling when the act was over. Now the house was ours but have we done the right thing putting all our eggs in one basket with nothing now left? I think we have  because even if the going gets tough, the house market, at least for houses outside towns - thanks to Covid - has picked up enormously. In any case it was an important moment for us. Straight afterwards we went to see Pilar, the lady at the accountancy that does all Mari and José's paperwork. She will be doing it for us too for all things related to the house. Especially important is transferring the tourist licence to our name to be able to rent the house. 

When that was over we said goodbye to Mari and José and walked to the restaurant for a  lovely meal. We actually had a "menu del día" for just 15 euros which was excellent. I think the views were worth more. We will be back no doubt.

We got into our car to drive "home" but stopped on the way to explore one of the many beaches not so far from our house. There are quite a few to choose form which are about a 10 minute drive. The one that most rang a bell was "Playa de Barro". We had been told that films and series had chosen its location for filming. I could see why when I saw it; it's stunning. I was interested to hear too that part of one of our overall favourite Spanish series, "La Señora" was filmed there. I love the Playa de Barro and know it's somewhere we shall go a lot.

Playa de Barro 

We were home by about 5ish and I spent the whole afternoon - well 2 hours of it at least, sitting on our terrace and reading Exodus which I finished that afternoon. We were not hungry for dinner but ended up having a glass of wine with pistachios and a bit of tortilla and fruit. I went outside afterwards to enjoy the evening area and looked into our kitchen from the street. There was Eladio washing up. It was a funny feeling. This is our house, yes, but I still feel like a guest. 

Eladio inside the kitchen  - photo taken from the street. 

We were in bed quite early and watched a bit of Borgen until ours eyes began to shut.

I didn't sleep too badly and was up at 7 the next morning, 17th September. That day was Elliot's first birthday but we would not be with him which was a great pity. That day, because it was his birthday, he did not go to the nursery which he still doesn't like poor boy. Instead he would celebrate his 1 year on this earth with his other grandparents and with his cousins. However, I later saw that at some point this week the nursery had put a special birthday crown on him for his 1st birthday. He is wearing it but doesn't look particularly happy.

Elliot at the nursery wearing his 1st birthday crown

He probably far enjoyed the "party" with his parents. Here he is on his 1st birthday with Oli and Miguel. I did wish we could have been there that day.

Elliot on his first birthday

We shall have to wait until 26th September. Suzy created this beautiful picture for her sister and beloved nephew.

Happy birthday Elliot

I can hardly believe a year has passed since his arrival and oh how he has changed all our lives. We love the darling boy so much. He is our future and we all wish him the very best. My father always says he wishes him a "very productive life". Hear hear to that.

Thursday was a day of errands that had to be done about the house; mainly passing on utility accounts to put them in our name. In the morning we waited for the "gas man" and in the afternoon we went to the insurance office. We waited all morning for the gas man and meanwhile missed the bread van. I asked our neighbour, Loli, to ask him to stop outside our house from then on. He apparently sells great bread, croissants and pies which we have to try. While we waited Eladio watered all the flowers, mostly the geraniums. They are on all the balconies and need tending to. I, meanwhile, took my first walk through the small village getting to know it. We are at the end of the road and surrounded by mountains so I suspect there must be some good walks. 

Exploring the village

I came across a mirador from where you can see Meré below. El Cueto, although a separate village, really belongs to the bigger Meré. This is the view.

View of Meré from El Cuetu

The village of El Cueto seems quite smart to me with some lovely houses although there are a lot of ruins too. Asturias has become so popular, people buy ruins and barns and old farm properties and do them up so I suspect some of the old buildings in front of our house will be next on the list. There is a property across the street at the back of the house which we might be interested in but not for now. Later I heard from Loli that there are 11 holiday cottages just in El Cueto. Oh my God I thought that is stiff competition. On the bright side she told us that our house is the most popular. However, I cannot list it anywhere yet, apart from Airbnb, until I have the coveted tourist licence and its corresponding number.

We had our first lunch at Casa del Cueto that morning. I didn't do anything fancy, just some gourmet burgers with mushrooms and tomatoes after which we had a short siesta. At 5 pm we had to be at the insurance broker's office in a village not so far from here called "Nueva". I later learned it had been voted prettiest village in Asturias in the 50's and it was pretty. Even prettier were the nearby beaches we would see afterwards. With the insurance sorted from 1st October, we drove to the beach called "Playa Cuevas del Mar" which we found delightful as we do all the beaches we have seen in Asturias. It was a balmy afternoon and I wished we had bought our swimming costumes. Next time I would put them in the boot of the car. I never thought we would need them as rain had been forecast for the whole week of our arrival but the forecast was wrong and we had glorious weather when we arrived until rain came yesterday. Here I am on the pretty beach feeling a bit too warm in a long sleeved t-shirt, one of the oldest I have but also one of my favourite. I have countless photos in that trusted Zara blue and white striped t-shirt hahahaha.

Playa Cuevas del Mar on Thursday afternoon

We spied a path at the end of the beach where a sign showed us it led to another beach, Playa de San Antonio. We followed it with our damned masks on which kept steaming up my glasses which I had to take off to enjoy the view and what a view it was. I never tire of Asturian beaches, coves and cliffs, they are so dramatic.

Eladio on the coastal path from Cuevas del Mar beach to San Antonio beach

To access the San Antonio beach which was hardly sign posted, we had to walk past a farm with pigs, horses and cows, animals I can never resist. The cows were lovely and clean with their young and even the huge bull seemed quite placid. What a lovely place for them to live I thought. What a dream location for a farm I also thought.

Cows and their young on the farm we had to pass to access the San Antonio beach

At the end of the path we were rewarded with the beautiful view of the San Antonio beach where people were swimming. It looked like a small cove but was in fact two coves and bigger than the Cuevas del Mar beach. Eladio took a photo of me at the entrance to the steps leading down. 

At the entrance to the San Antonio beach

I walked down the steps eagerly wanting to see this jewel of a beach surrounded by cliffs and shaped in two coves which were separated by a rock. I sat on a rock contemplating the sea and of course taking numerous photos. I wasn't the only one doing that as you will see if you watch this video.

We enjoyed our walk and visits to these two beaches which was really a part of our exploring the area. We must get to know it as we shall be coming a lot and of course to be able to pass on information to any future guests. 

On the way home we stopped to get some ice cream (and chocolate) at Alimerka in Posada de Llanes and were soon home. I had a nice chat with Suzy who was having a good day (hurray). She was out to dinner at her friend's house Elenita. She had news for us this week. Instead of returning to Bali which in any case she can't do until at least next January, she has decided to go and live, for the moment at least, in ..... Guess where? Costa Rica is the answer. We support her 100% as we do not want her to return to Bali where we know she is in danger. 

We had our own dinner shortly afterwards. We missed the news but knew it would be about the rising number of cases in Madrid. We kept crossing our fingers the city and county would not be put in lock down. We mostly fear the end of freedom of movement outside the province. We both fell asleep watching another episode of Borgen and I was awake at 6 am on Friday morning. 

Friday was a day of exploring the area; the mountains in the Picos de Europa and more local beaches. First, though we went to Posada de Llanes, our nearest "town" where the local Friday market was on. It was quite small and I didn't buy anything. My husband, though, couldn't resist getting some local chorizo. I am not a great fan.

Eladio at the market in Posada on Friday morning

Whilst in Posada we went into to see an architect studio that does plans for reforming houses. We are keen to transform the huge empty attic in this house and turn it into an en suite bedroom and study. An architect from the firm will be coming tomorrow to take a look. There are quite a few changes we want to make, Apart from the attic we would like to build a door from the pantry to a small terrace outside, knock down the wall between the pantry and the kitchen and make one giant kitchen, knock down the wall between the small lounge and garage and turn it into a much larger lounge. We even want to add bathrooms to two of the bedrooms upstairs. These are all future plans which finances will not permit us to do for the moment. But we can dream can't we?

From Posada we drove back towards our village and this time carried on up the mountains towards The Picos de Europa - a wonderful mountain range in this area which is a very popular tourist destination. The house we have bought is in a very strategic location, near both the beaches and the Picos. It was our first time up that road and it was beautiful. We stopped to take a photo of the famous Naranjo de Bulnes mountain popular with rock climbers. It is around 2.600m high and stands out on the horizon like a big tooth or that's how Eladio pointed it out to me from the viewing point we stopped at on the way up to the Picos.

View of the Naranjo de Bulnes mountain

There is actually a cable car you can ride to get to the summit of the Naranjo de Bulnes that is on our bucket list of things to do round here and there are many. As you can see it was a sunny day.  We have been very lucky with the weather.  The weather in Asturias is often very unpredictable. You can wake up to fog and rain and an hour or so later the sun may come up. The sun was definitely out for us that day and we were grateful.

We reached the town of Arenas de Cabrales about 15km from our house and one of the main gateways to the Picos. I thought it was nearly as pretty as Potes. Here we ambled the streets enjoying the picturesque village and even took photos on a bicycle statue that seems to be one of the main local attractions. Of course I had to get on it. The backdrop was to die for - the road leading to the famous "Ruta del Cares".

Enjoying life in Arenas de Cabrales

Arenas de Cabrales is famous for its very smelly cheese. As you know I absolutely hate cheese so of course I wasn't tempted. I thought Eladio would buy some as he does like cheese but he didn't. From Cabrales we drove further up the mountain. Eladio was keen for me to see the famous Gorge of the Cares river. People go there in their droves there to walk along the famous and long and arduous but beautiful Cares Route but we are not mountaineers and of course did not have the right equipment. The road ends at the gorge or entrance to the route which in itself is a sight for sore eyes.

The river Cares gorge up in the Picos de Europa

It was lunch time by the time we reached the end of the road so after taking a few photos we drove down the mountain road again and this time made our way to the small village of Carreña. I had spied a popular restaurant there, Los Montañeros, on internet and we were not disappointed. Their "fabada" (local bean stew with chorizo and blood sausage) was one of the best I have ever tasted. We had a most magnificent "menú del día" for just 14 euros each. We drowned the food down with local cider - typical too of the area - and I later bought a box of 6 bottles for just 11 euros at the enticing looking local store.

Los Montañeros bar and restaurant where we had lunch on the terrace by the river on Friday and where we shall be going back.

We both marveled at the food, the place and the warm weather. It was raining in most of the rest of Spain and here we were eating in our shirt sleeves and basking in 25 or 26c. We couldn't believe it. We came home with a doggy bag as the portions were so big. I was about to have a siesta when I got an alarming message from Suzy. 

Norah was ill with a temperature of 41c which is terribly dangerous. She spent most of the afternoon at the local vet. Poor Norah has a tumour on one of her teats, a cyst in her ovaries and some grey area on her thorax, ulcers and also gastroenteritis and  she most probably has cancer. Her white blood cells were very low. But none of this explained her high temperature. Thus she was admitted into the hospital for more tests. That night the vet rang to say they had sent a sample of her blood for a test and wouldn't have the results for 5 days but were giving her antibiotics. They suspect the fever is a by product of her ongoing illness - leishmania which comes from a mosquito of the same name. She is an old dog, nearly 12  and is in a very sorry state. I felt so bad for not being there with her but followed her progress all afternoon and evening. She stayed one night and Suzy picked her up with all her medicines on Saturday evening. There were two hefty bills to be paid by me which I did to do online from here. 

Feeling bad about Norah, we went out again, this time to explore more local beaches and even to take a bathe. That was in sharp contrast to the downpour of rain in Madrid and many other places in Spain. My new Airbnb guests had arrived that afternoon and I may or may not coincide with them next week. 

We set off to visit our nearest beach, Playa de San Antolín, about a 10 or 15 minute drive from here. We were a bit disappointed that is next to the motorway and wasn't nearly as nice as Playa de Barro or Playa de Cuevas del Mar. But the sun was shining and we got our beach chairs out from the car and changed into our swimming costumes. There was a lot of seaweed but I still went in as I was determined to make the best of the weather. Here I am in the water.

Swimming in the water at the San Antolín beach on Friday evening

We weren't too keen on this beach and had spied signs of more beaches not so far away. We were interested in seeing one in particular, the "Gulpiyuri beach". The sign post said it was 1km away but it was much further. I walked in my bathing costume, mask on my face, and wished I had been wearing clothes. We got to this curious beach and finally understood its attraction. It is really an inland beach. Wikipedia describes this phenomenon with this description "Playa de Gulpiyuri is a flooded sinkhole with an inland beach ........ it is fully tidal due to a series of tunnels carved by the salt water of the Cantabrian sea which allows water from the Bay of Biscay to create small waves". Apparently the word "gulpiyuri" means "water circle". The water looked a bit murky but I was determined to go in and swim even though it was freezing. Eladio eventually followed suit as you can see from the photo below.

The curious and unique Playa de Gulpiyuri

From the beach we could see people walking on cliffs further up the hill so decided to join them. We were happy we did as we discovered the most amazing cliffs and views. What a unique place the cliffs of Gulpihyuri are I have to say. The backdrop was magnificent too, the mountains of the Picos de 

Europa. This was a fabulous destination to discover. 

Up on the rocky cliffs near the Gulpiyuri beach

While we were gallivanting and exploring new beaches, in Madrid there was bad news. Madrid has the highest number of cases in Europe and they are on the rise. The death toll is slowly rising too so it's obvious we are going through a second wave. The authorities announced that afternoon that 37 areas of the city and province were to go back into semi lock down. These areas are almost all working class where the population density is higher and this affects over 800.000 people. The lock down is not as strict as the national lock down we all had to suffer and people will still be going to work and to school. I wonder if that is enough to quash the virus. I think it is not. I was sorry for those affected but also glad that where we live is not on the list. I think that is probably because of the low population density there. Most people live in large houses separated from their neighbours. Asturias, by the way, is the area in Spain with the fewest cases and has been since the start of the pandemic. Maybe that's why so many people, like us, bought houses here this summer. 

I was sad to hear this but also happy to be away in Asturias. We came back home to take a shower and then had a semi light dinner accompanied by a glass or two of cider. The day ended with more of Borgen on my iPad in bed. My giant iPad is the best present I ever got during my time as Communications Director of Yoigo.

Saturday came and it rained for the first time.  When there was a lull we drove to Posada to get some money from a cash point. We had run out and lots of establishments in this area don't take cards. We had a coffee there too and then out of nowhere the skies opened and discharged so much water in the form of a rain storm that we had to stay for nearly 40 minutes for it to die down. It was, apparently, a tropical rainstorm. Wow, I hadn't seen so much rain in an age. When it finally receded we ran to our car and drove home, mostly to change our clothes as we were a bit wet. We had booked a table for lunch at the local bar, Bar La Tilar, which had great reviews. It was good I have to say but the portions were enormous and again we brought back doggy bags. Our fridge is full of them. I don't know when we will get through all the food there is in the fridge but we shall have to finish it before going out for a meal again.

The girls at home were also out to lunch that day and Miguel sent me a photo of them with Elliot and Elenita, their great friend. Here they are together with my grandson. 

Elliot with the girls yesterday

We had a great siesta after the food and cider and I was awake at 5.15.  I couldn't believe the rain had gone and the sun was shining. I went outside to the small terrace where I had placed two chairs. This is the little terrace I want to have a door to the pantry. Of course we have the other much bigger terrace but if you sit there you are in full view of everyone whereas on the small terrace there is a lot more privacy.

The little terrace

It was sitting here that I had a skype call with Kathy and Phil. I was keen to have news of his operation and was happy to see him home and in good shape. We had a good old natter for at least an hour. The sun was out and we wanted to make the most of it and go for a walk. It was to be our first walk in the village. We took a route towards a beautiful valley leading to the small village of Debodes and passing a pretty stream. There was much corn being grown and I could see the cobs clearly. There were cows in the distance and I thought this looks a bit like a mini Switzerland. It's paradise.

The fields on our walk yesterday

Parts of the walk were steep but we loved the views. We also loved the village of Debodes which has some beautiful houses. Many of them were on sale and I thought what a pity we hadn't come across them when we were searching for a house. 

In the nearby village of Debodes yesterday

It's a bit like having bought new shoes and then looking at shop windows and seeing others you like better. I can't help looking at the houses but we are very happy with ours. It's what we could afford too, as we had our limits. This is it yesterday in the rain, still looking pretty.

Our house in the rain

We came back to watch the news  and were depressed to hear of more and more cases in Europe, not only in Spain but in France, Germany, Portugal and the UK. It is very obvious we are now experiencing a second wave. Today's figures world wide, as I record every week, have gone up too as they always do. The number of cases now is near to 31 million and the death toll, at 961.461, nearing a million. Meanwhile the race is on for a vaccine and countries are going back into a sort of lock down with more and more restrictions. For the moment we can still move around the country and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that won't change. 

So my friends, today is Sunday and time to publish the stories of the week, a milestone for us when we moved into our new house and signed the deeds.  We still feel like guests but are loving it.

I wish you all a good Sunday and cheers until next week,

Masha