Covid even changes our vocabulary, the non profit Oxford vaccine , precious time with Elliot, Trump grudgingly agrees to transition, football legend Maradona dies aged 60, family dinner and other stories.

 Sunday 29th November, 2020

Feeding Elliot with chocolate when he came for lunch last Sunday

Good morning, readers and friends. How has your week been? Let me tell you about mine which was much better than last week. 

A week ago today we were expecting Elliot and his mother for lunch and to spend part of the day with us as Miguel was working. Last Sunday I was getting over my cold and recovering some of the energy I had lost. We both still have it by the way but are slowly feeling better. Thus I got into family lunch mode and made a soup and fabada - the Asturian bean stew which everyone loves. It was a sunny day and things were looking good. They weren't looking good though for the virus, damned Covid. The second wave we are immersed in was taking its toll. That day the number of those who died worldwide jumped from 1.387.452  to 1.458.944 and the number of infected went from 58.5 million to 62.6. In Spain we seem to be finally over the peak but far from flattening the curve. The curve is considered flattened when there are just 25 people ill for every 100.000. That's going to take some time and of course Christmas is looming. Christmas will not be the same this year; although it probably will be for us as we are very few and of course Suzy won't be here this year (sniff:-). It will just be my father, Eladio, Oli and I, so only our "bubble".  Bubble is a popular term these days. 

Haven't you noticed all the new vocabulary or previously uncommon words becoming popular this year? The virus has even changed the way we speak, damn it. According to the Global Language Monitor, Covid is the top word for 2020 with Coronavirus coming a close second. For the Collins Dictionary the word of the year is "lockdown". The  OED (Oxford English Dictionary), has expanded its word of the year to several "words of an unprecedented year". Interestingly it reports that the word pandemic has increased by 57k% this year. The top Covid realated words include: Covid-19, lockdown, circuit-breakers, support bubbles, keyworkers, furlough and moonshot". 

Social distancing is very new to us, as are furlough, face masks, PPE, superspreader (!) and mask shaming.  We also have vocabulary coming from the new way of working; WFH (working from home). We have all discovered Zoom meetings and now we talk about workcation (holiday when you also work) and of course staycation. I think the list is endless but I hate this and all it means. 

Covid has even changed our vocabulary

But we have room for hope. The news right now is full of information about the new viruses coming and countries' plans to vaccinate the population. Last Sunday, Spain's PM announced the country's plans for its implementation. Basically it will be down to the local health centres - 13.000 of them dotted around the country. As to who will be given the jab first, it will obviously be the more fragile in our population and our health workers. Other countries are announcing their own plans and the US may well be the first country to benefit from the new vaccine as early as 11th December and the UK possibly even earlier. For the rest of us, the expectations are for the start to be in the new year. I sincerely hope there will be enough vaccines for the whole of the world, not just the first world. So far it seems only the "rich countries" have secured supplies. At the end of the G20 summit last weekend, the leaders there did however commit to making the vaccine available to everyone. I hope they do because it is in everyone's interest to eradicate the virus. If not everyone is vaccinated, the virus will lurk and continue to cause its very dangerous mischief. 

But last Sunday I wasn't thinking about a vaccine. I was looking forward to seeing Elliot again - and his mother of course. We are so lucky to be able to see him as often as we do - twice this week - compared to so many other grandparents all over the world who are deprived of contact with their grandchildren because of Covid. I do treasure every moment with him. They came just before lunch and we had some great fun and quality time with our little boy who turned 14 months old last week. He loves coming here. The house is so big and is full of interesting things and he is not careful with my ornaments, hahaha. This house is not baby proofed which is why he probably loves it hahahaha. He discovered my collection of ducks, many of them made of china. He tends to throw things around so we had to distract him. Thus I put him in front of the piano on the original piano seat. They belonged to his great great grandmother - my father's mother who was a pianist and who became a licenciate at the Royal Academy of Music in 1916. The piano is an heirloom and normally I wouldn't let a child near it but of course I made an exception with Elliot. He was very interested as you can see in the photo below.

Elliot sitting at his great great grandmother's piano last Sunday

It was lovely to have him for lunch and my father was amused at his antics. He had brought along some of his baby books which I showed to my father. They are interactive and some have music and I don't think he'd ever seen anything like them. He did, though, approve 100% as he is a great reader himself. I love Elliot's books and he does too, especially the ones with music. As soon as music is played he begins to dance and moves his arms. I wonder if he has inherited any musical talent from my family. Both sets of my grandparents were very musical. My brother was too. He used to play this very piano at our home in Bradford and even write songs which I would sing to while he played. I don't know whether he will go on to play the piano but he certainly loves music and starts bopping up and down to any tune bless the boy. 

I broke my diet that day and ate chocolate. Naughty me. Oh how naughty but how nice. Before Oli and Elliot came that morning, Eladio and I did some emergency shopping at Carrefour Market and there I tried and failed to resist some of the Christmas confectionery. I controlled myself though and only bought a little bit. It was much appreciated. Even Elliot tried it and liked it.  Here he is, in my arms, while I am feeding him a small piece of chocolate. 

With Elliot last week

I grabbed the moment to ask Oli to take a photo as I don't have many of him with me. It's always me that takes photos of him with Eladio. I have chosen one of them as this week's feature photo to remember the lovely occasion. Elliot liked the chocolate but doesn't seem to have inherited my very sweet tooth which I got from my father, so far. Time will tell.

We all had a short nap and later rejoined in the library lounge. Miguel had come in between time but had to be off again at 6 pm. We all had a roaring time with Elliot and I played hide and seek with him which he adores. It was then time for his bath. He was reluctant to go in so his grandmother had to join him didn't she hahahaha? We caught up with Suzy just afterwards. She seemed in good spirits but still pines for Bali. 

Oli and Elliot stayed for an early dinner which I somehow rustled up and they were off by 8 pm. We adjoined to our bedroom and watched the news followed by "Salvados" all about media coverage on the former King Juan Carlos's financial misdemeanors. Soon I fell into the arms of Morpheus who usually rejects me but that night, except for one coughing episode, my quality of sleep was quite acceptable.

I woke up on Monday morning still with the remains of my cold but with a bit more energy. Early that morning I finished work on my 2021 family calendar and submitted it for printing. 

My 2021 family calendar in the making

We actually went out that morning; an unusual occurrence these days. We went to the big department store, El Corte Inglés, to return the pyjamas Oli had given her father for his birthday in September. He had suggested them as a present without realising he has about 9 pairs already (hahahha). He got a new memory foam pillow instead. We then drove to a shop called Taste of America which, as its name suggests, sells produce from the US. It does indeed but also stocks Christmas crackers which are hard to come by here. I normally buy them on Amazon but the transport costs are often higher than the product themselves. I came out with 2 boxes of 8 giant crackers each, pleased with my purchase. The whole shop seemed dedicated to Thanksgiving for this weekend. I spotted a woman buying the typical "pecan pie" (never tried it actually). Puzzled at seeing so many boxes of crackers around I asked her if they are popular in the US. She said "oh no, they are a UK thing". That's what I thought. Taste of America, actually owned by former Motorola colleagues, must want to cater to UK customers too. Eladio waited in the car while I made my choice, not being very interested in crackers. But oh, no, I thought Christmas is not the same without them. Saying that, I do wish the manufacturers, probably all Chinese, could up the quality of the novelties they contain. I am always trying to find crackers with better gifts but unless you buy them at Fortnum and Mason I suppose that is not possible. Maybe this year I shall sneak in better little gifts. 

Now I had my crackers and I had also ordered other Christmas essentials such as Christmas pudding, cranberry sauce and Paxo's sage and onion stuffing. In the same order I got a selection box for my father and a box of Quality Street. Just love the ones wrapped in purple paper don't you? It arrived this week  and is now being stored in ground floor pantry waiting for consumption. 

It was lovely to be out and about but it was all very socially distanced and nothing like our trips into the city to do our Christmas shopping other years. This year will be the first time we don't visit the traditional seasonal market in the Plaza Mayor in Madrid or buy our presents at Zara or similar. Last year we had lunch in town. This year we wouldn't dream of doing that. What a pity. 

I had some important work to do when I got back - the tweaking of a relatively important press release but as I had done my homework, soon the ball was in someone else's court. 

The good news that day came from the UK. The much awaited Oxford University vaccine to be manufactured by Astrazeneca, announced it was also in the final stages and that it had an efficacy of 70% or even 90% depending on the dose. 

The profit free new vaccine from Oxford (and Cambridge)

Maybe that is not as good as rivals Pfizer and Moderna. However the Oxford vaccine beats its rivals hands down in two areas. First it can be stored at normal fridge temperatures and second it is much much cheaper. Why is it much cheaper then? That's because AstraZeneca has promised not to profit from the vaccine during the pandemic. And on a permanent basis they have said that lower income countries will receive the vaccine profit free. Wow! That is so laudable coming from a pharmaceutical company. Did you read that? That for me is the most wonderful thing about the Oxford vaccine and its partner the Cambridge based pharmaceutical company. What good news to come out of the UK or so I thought until I learned later that there was no data for the outcome for the over 55's in the tests. The scientific community has complained that vaccine developers should publish their findings in The Lancet and similar and not by press releases. I can only agree to that. 

I discussed this with my friend Amanda when we had our Skype call that afternoon. We also discussed Christmas, just as Boris Johnson was announcing the new three tier restriction system. He was warning that Christmas will not be the same. Well, we know that don't we? I  was pleased that Amanda and Andy will be able to celebrate it with their kids. I know she is looking forward to that so much. I'm looking forward to Christmas too and am enjoying all the planning. Having something to look forward to is so important in life I always find. Later in the week Boris announced three households could get together for Christmas. The three tier system is very complicated and has been met with criticism even from members of the Tory Party. It's so difficult to sum up, I have resorted to a a picture from The Times I read on Friday. This explains the tiers. There are only three areas not in Tier 2 or 3 and they are Cornwall, The Isle of Man and the Isles of Scilly. 

Restrictions for the three tiers as described by The Times this week. 

It looks like it will be as strict or even stricter  in Spain. The central Government has proposed that only 6 people can get together and that's only for the actual festive days. Curfew to be from 1 to 6 in the morning making New Year's Eve celebrations short. As to Kings' Day (Reyes) on 6th January, that will be toned down too with no processions as we know them. How sad for children. However, this proposal has not been well received with the heads of the autonomous region and it seems now that each area will fix its own conditions. We shall see. 

Another king was affected by the pandemic on Monday. We ended the day learning that King Felipe VI of Spain has to self quarantine as he was in close contact with someone who tested positive. Later the King tested negative. People arriving in Spain from Monday this week onward  no longer have to self quarantine. However, they have to present a negative PCR test. I really think that is the way to go if we want to restore travel. Some airlines are already announcing that people will have to show proof of vaccine in order to fly. That's a good idea too. The problem is that the cost of the test can be anything up to 250 euros, often more than the flight itself.  Another problem is the timing. It's not always easy to get results within the 72 hour barrier. Even so, it makes travel safer and I can't wait to travel again. I don't mean across the world. Just to Montrondo, Santa Pola or El Cuetu would do, but that's not on for the moment. Madrid will close its borders from 4th to 13th December and Castilla León where Montrondo is located is also closed to travelers. 

So for the moment we are sitting tight at home and not going out much although when we do it feels thrilling. Just simple pleasures like having coffee out with friends or going to a shop seem like luxury. Food shopping is the new leisure hahaa. 

Tuesday came and I woke up to an Airbnb booking for our house - a young Panamanian man will be coming tomorrow and staying until 20th December. That came as good news. It will be funny though to have a guest in the house again.

On Tuesday, finally, Trump agreed to the start of transition to the new Biden government. Finally, I thought.  I think the world heaved a huge sigh of relief. However he still vowed to keep contesting the election results. The news came as Biden's win in Michigan was officially certified, another blow to Trump. The announcement came from the GSA (General Services Administration) and means that Joe Biden now has access to top security information and can prepare for taking office on 20th January. His first moves were to name some of his key people. I was happy to hear he had appointed the first "latino" (Alejandro Mayorkas) as his head of homeland security and Avril Haines, the first woman to head National Intelligence. He needs more diversity all round and not just a bunch of white men, however capable they are. 

Tuesday for us was a quiet day. We did the weekly shop - the new form of leisure in this new normal world - and then went on our first walk for a whole week. We really needed it and so did the dogs. I was busy working until lunch updating the press release to be sent out on Wednesday. Oli pleased us by joining us for lunch and without Elliot. Although we missed him, it did mean we could eat in peace hahahaha. 

Wednesday would be another quiet day. It was busy for me though as that morning I had to send out the press release for my customer, the fiber operator, Adamo. The story was a first for the company who has received 72 million euros in Government grants to further extend its network in rural areas. I worried whether we could get much media coverage as the news was already public, the Ministry involved, already having announcing it but only giving us green light on Monday. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see the articles trickling in during the whole of the day. That had me contacting journalists and checking my phone for much of the day. On our walk I often tripped up while holding Pippa's lead and checking my phone hahahaha. It was a sunny day but I hardly noticed it. 

But the big news that day came from Argentina and soon spread world wide. Diego Maradona, perhaps the best football player ever or in the same league as Pelé, had died of a heart attack aged just 60. Argentina and the world of sport went into mourning, mourning for the football legend often called "el pelusa" owing to his generous locks of hair. His beginnings were very humble but he went on to win the World Cup for his country in 1986. That was the pinnacle of his career and the best moment for this football legend who will always be remembered. He was larger than life in nearly every aspect. 

Maradona holding the World Cup for Argentina in 1986

In the UK he is most remembered for thwarting their squad's side in the quarter finals of the 86 World Cup in Mexico, when he scored a goal later donned "hand of God". The referee did not see he had used his hand. The match had political taints as it was held just 4 years after the Falklands War and beating England was a huge moral victory too for the Argentinians. 

The "hand of God goal"

After the match the Argentinian striker famously said the goal was scored "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God". Many years later he confessed that the most controversial goal in history was actually scored with his hand but that a goal is still a goal. He was though, forgiven for this as he was for everything although maybe not in England. Straight after the hand goal he went on to score what is considered the "goal of the century".  His life was full of ups and downs. He was the instigator of his own downfall being an addict to drugs, alcohol, sex and food. He is also linked to financial corruption and the Mafia. It was so sad to see his figure, reaching a weight of over 100 kilos at only 5.5 ft. going from bad to worse. His fame went to his famous head in detriment to his amazing talent. He could have been so much more in football. Even he himself mused once how much better he would have played had he not bumped into cocaine. But he was still loved by his countrymen. and football lovers everywhere. No doubt though there are mixed feelings about him in the UK. In Argentina he is a legend up there with the likes of Eva Perón. His fans in their millions said of him yesterday "Don't judge his life, judge him for what he brought to our lives". I love that. I am no football lover but I do love sport and remember his time in Spain when he played for Barcelona and Seville. Despite the pandemic, it was expected that up to a million people would pay their respects where he lay in state in the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires the next day. RIP Diego. 

Our day ended talking to Suzy on skype. I doubt she even knows who Maradona was, not being a news or football fan. She was happy to tell us about a new project that has landed at her feet, a big translating job. I wish her all the luck in the world. She is being helped by my dear friend Jacky, pointing her in all the right directions. Thank you my dear from the bottom of my heart.

Thursday came and brought rain here.  It wasn't raining though in Buenos Aires where crowds gathered to mourn the death of their hero, Maradona. There were kilometre long queues to pay respects at his coffin which became violent as mobs brought down crowd barriers. The story of his death was probably on the front page of nearly every newspaper in the world. Oli had her part in this story when that day she read out some of them, like the one by L'Equipe, France's famous sports paper, below.

Oli showing some of the headlines about Maradona in the world's press

My personal favourite headline came from possibly my least favourite newspaper, The Mirror, but have to admit they are great at headlines. 

The Mirror's front page the day after Diego Mardona's death. 

The Mirror, correctly, described him  as: "a hero, a villain, a cheat and a genius". Thursday was also International day for the elimination of violence against women. Not many wanted to remember he had been accused of rape at least twice. Everyone preferred to remember his genius as a footballer. The news went on for days. I was stunned by the global outpouring of grief just everywhere. I have never seen anything like it since the death of JF Kennedy or Churchill.  Have you? Can you think of any other person in the world today who could command such a reaction? I can't. 

Apart from reading about Maradona and the world's news, I was very interested in reading news created by me, through the the press release I had sent out the day before. Well, I couldn't have been more delighted with up to 37 articles. I particularly liked the one in the paper version of Spain's top financial paper, Expansión. So I am reproducing it here as a pat on the back to myself.

Press clipping in Expansión reporting on the news I sent out to the media on Wednesday

I commented to Eladio at lunchtime that I had once again passed my test, the test of achieving coverage in the media with my press releases. It is always touch and go and even now at the end of my career, I still have my doubts. So, yes, that day I was happy with the results. I wasn't happy with the weather though. It rained all day and we couldn't go on our walk.

Thursday of course was Thanksgiving in the US and it was painful to watch people traveling all over the country despite the pandemic. I am curious to see too how this American festival is slowly spreading its tentacles to other countries, just as it did with St. Valentines and Halloween. I don't get it. The day after Thanksgiving is always Black Friday, another symbolic day that for a few years now has more than spread the globe. More than a one day spree shopping, retailers are making it a lot longer, I suppose to counteract their loss from the pandemic. This year consumption is down, especially on the high street. I'm not sure what the percentage of sales is online but I suspect it is higher than 40%. Amazon is the biggest winner here. 

Friday came and I largely ignored Black Friday. I am against it really. However, in the end I gave into temptation when my son-in-law Miguel told me that night that our favourite coffee brand, Oquendo, was selling their bio degradable Nespresso compatible capsules at a 25% discount. So there and then I ordered 25 boxes of 10 capsules. I am beginning to realise just how expensive it is to maintain a Nespresso machine. However the coffee it makes, especially with Oquendo (from Asturias), is sublime. While I can, we shall continue to use it. 

On Friday we had something to look forward to. Oli and Elliot were coming for lunch again. Whoopee! Even better, they stayed on and were joined by Miguel and slept over night. They brought a breath of fresh air and joy to the house. It rained that day again so there was no walk. Thus I turned my hands to cooking and made a roast red pepper and carrot soup followed by a rather dry lasagna I'm afraid. In the afternoon I went with Oli to take Elliot for a routine vaccination. Kids today are so lucky that there are vaccinations for all those deadly diseases which killed children until the second half of the last century. My father lost his brother to polio which would not happen today. When I was a child there were vaccines for small pox and polio but not for mumps, measles or chicken pox, all of which most children got. Measles was dangerous. I remember having it myself and the high temperature and days in bed with the curtains closed. It was said children could turn blind. A vaccine for another deadly children's illness, meningitis, didn't come onto the market until the early 80's. So Elliot is very lucky today. Soon too we shall have a vaccine for Covid 19.

I spent some time watching more of Call the Midwife thanks to the box set that arrived this week. I had to watch it in the lounge as our smart TV is too modern for the dvd player. If it's smart it should work with a dvd player but it doesn't. I was soon interrupted by Oli and Elliot though and we changed to "Peppa Pig". I think it's charming and I would have loved it as a child. I love the fact that Peppa has a brother called George as my own brother was called George. It is so much more sophisticated than what was available to me on TV as a child. We didn't actually get  a TV (black and white of course) until I was about 5 or 6. We were living in Ruskington in Lincolnshire at the time. I remember "Listen with Mother" which always started with the the presenter saying "Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin". I also loved Andy Pandy and The Flower Pot men. How times have changed. For the better? Not always. 

Dinner was a family affair on Friday night. Lucy made three small and delicious Spanish potato and onion omelets which we had with ham and salad. We washed it all down with Asturian cider poured from our cider pump "Isidrin". Here is my family around the table. Only Suzy was missing but we had the privilege of talking to her on skype earlier on in the day. 

Friday night's family dinner

It was a substitute for going out to dinner really, something we don't do these days thanks to Covid. Eladio doesn't like going inside places in case we catch it and I don't either. I do, though, miss going to restaurants. 

Saturday came and I was up at 6 in the morning. At about 8 am, while I was writing my blog I was joined by little Elliot. He loves sitting on my lap at my computer and touching the keys. I was a little afraid that he may screw up some of the settings by mistake and tried to distract him otherwise. I did so with my lovely blue tooth cordless headphones Suzy gave to me for Christmas some years ago.  I turned to Beethoven's 9th symphony and popped the headphones on his head. He was amazed. It was the first time he had experienced headphones and I had to have a photo. This child loves music and friends have told me he should be listening to Mozart for better brain development. I must look up why and suggest it to his parents. 

Elliot mesmerised listening to Beethoven on my head phones yesterday

While he was listening to music and playing on my PC, Oli had sent out his father to buy churros and porras (the thicker version) and chocolate for their breakfast. This is a very Spanish tradition at weekends and Oli and Miguel adore them. I do too, so even though I had had my oat bran I couldn't resist one porra, one churro and a tiny bit of thick liquid chocolate. We later went for a walk, all together, so hopefully I worked at least the churro off. 

We were alone for the rest of the day when Oli and her family left for lunch at Elenita's house. It was a quiet day and I spent the whole afternoon watching most of season 6 of Call the Midwife with Pippa curled up on the sofa next to me. Bliss!

It is now Sunday and let's see what the day brings. So let me wish you all a good Covid free week ahead, friends and readers. Cheers till next week,

Masha

Reunited with The Crown, flu jab and a brush with Covid, another new vaccine, a new cold, binge watching Call the Midwife, the luxury of coffee with friends in this "new normal" life and other stories.

 Sunday 22nd November, 2020

Coffee out with friends was the absolute highlight of this week. Something so normal has become a luxury in this "new normal" life of ours during Covid. 

Good morning all.

I hope my blog this week finds you all well. It has been another grizzly November week - as I told you my least favourite month. We have not done anything of significance being in semi lockdown as probably most of you are. In fact we both caught a nasty cold which knocked me out for most of the week and really I would prefer this week to  be blacked out from my life. Maybe that's a bit strong but it has not been a good week. Factor in Covid and all I can say is what a strange new world we are living in and thanks to this dreadful virus which has completely torn our lives apart. I still can't get used to it and still sometimes when I get out of the car, I forget to put my face mask on and only remember when I see people wearing one. Before Covid (B.C.) we only really saw Chinese or South East Asian people wearing masks and now we all are. What is the world coming to? Covid is still very much here, despite hopes for a vaccine, and the rising figures of those infected and those who have died are testament to it. Last week the figure for those infected was over 54 million. This week it jumped to over 58.5 million. Last week the official global death toll was 1.318.452. This week it stands at 1.387.179

Last Sunday was a very grey and depressing day with very little to report I'm afraid. Eladio had a cough and wasn't feeling too good. Oh my God, I thought he might have caught Covid. He just said it was a common cold. It was to be his second and mine too as you will read on. Thus he spent the day in his dressing gown. He only ever does that when he doesn't feel well. That was the perfect excuse not to go for a walk for the third day in a row. I should have made the effort but just couldn't be bothered. I had no energy and it decreased as the week progressed. The highlight of the day was a 2 hour skype call with our friends Kathy and Phil who live in Keighley in West Yorkshire. I think we must have spoken about Covid for nearly half of it until I suggested we change the topic, desperate to find something that would make us laugh. We didn't find much but it was a tonic to talk to my friends. If only we could meet in the flesh. 

The other highlight of the day came in the evening after dinner when we finally got to watch the beginning of Season 4 of one of my most beloved series on Netflix; "The Crown". I had been waiting for months for it to premiere and that night was the night, the night I was reunited with the series.  Season 4 starts in 1979 when Margaret Thatcher becomes the UK's first woman PM and centres too on the beginning (and decline) of the relationship between Lady Diana and Prince Charles. Of course this was an era I lived through. At the time I was about to leave Bradford to go up to Nottingham University. So, of course, these two topics were the biggest of those times; hence my interest. I have to admit too that my interest also has to do with my fixation with the Royal Family. I'm not sure where it comes from; probably my UK citizenship per se but it may also have been inherited from my Russian born Mother. She adored the Queen and I do too. That doesn't mean to say I don't see The Firm's flaws. I do but I am still fascinated. Did I like what I saw when the two most influential women in many years; Thatcher and Lady DI, are introduced? Well yes and no. I was eager to see how the actresses portrayed them and how alike they were. Gillian Anderson is a US actress so I was a bit sceptical, mostly about her accent. She doesn't do a bad job but she doesn't convince. Emma Corrin is probably more convincing as Lady Diana, although I think her looks are not a patch on the latter's. How could they be I suppose as in my opinion she was one of the most beautiful women to ever walk the earth. 

Margaret Thatcher, the Queen and Lady Diana in Season 4 of The Crown

As to the other royals, or all of them really, except for the "people's princess,  are portrayed in quite an ugly light and there has been criticism of this, so much so there have been calls for Harry and Meghan to quit their contract with Netflix. I doubt they will do that. We binge watched 3 whole episodes that night and looked forward to more over the coming days. The main criticism of the series is  that it is too fictionalished. The Guardian even called it "fake news". I actually agree as I would far prefer to see a series based on fact. The stories themselves are mostly true but it's the fictionalising of the development of them that makes it a non serious quasi biographical series of an era that would deserves a true portrait of what really happened. But, as I am so addicted, I still enjoyed it. 

Monday came. I had things to do, for a change. I woke up to the news that Boris was self isolating again after coming into contact with an MP who tested positive. I also woke up to the news that Trump seems to be beginning to accept Joe Biden's win. The problem this week is the time his administration is taking to hand over information for a vital transition period. The President Elect has to get on with his job, especially dealing with Coronavirus. Help came though that day when a second company, "Moderna" from the US, announced their vaccine was coming to the end of its clinical trials. The good news they say is that it will be 95% effective and, in contrast to Pfizer's vaccine, does not need to be stored at 70 or 80 c below zero. The news brought more hope for a world ravaged by the virus. In fact ever since these announcements, there has been nothing but headlines about when and where and how we will be vaccinated and finally beat the virus. There is so much hype and I do wish our respective governments would be more truthful about when we really will be vaccinated. 

These topics were in my head as I left the house at 9.45 to go to my new hairdresser, Caty, the one who charges only 22 euros for dying my roots, cutting my hair and blow drying it. She is very quick, efficient and all anti Covid measures are in place. I left under 1.5h later with my hair looking better and drove home. I liked the way she had done it but found it a bit too sleek. Frankly I am the only one who knows how to blow dry my hair. Thus the next day I washed it and did it the usual way. It looked a lot better. 

Once home, I saw to lunch and then set about creating this year's desk calendar. Each year I create one as a Christmas present for those near to me. It's difficult to find the best photo of each month of the year as I take so many. I think I am happy with the result. This year Elliot, of course, features heavily. So does Sandra who visited us last January, my Kiwi and French cousins and my dear friend Julio as well as Miguel's family who were with us for New Year's Eve. Who could have imagined then what 2020 would bring'  Fewer people than usual, outside the family,  feature this year, as our social life has been reduced drastically because of damned Covid.   Who does feature is my dear friend Fátima as I can never forget her or the last three months of 2019, before she passed away, when we had some very intimate moments. Perhaps the happiest of them all was when Oli and I took Elliot to see her. It was  a lovely surprise for her and a wonderful moment for us both. Here is just one of the photos taken by Olivia of the encounter. 

Fátima meeting Elliot last year, shortly before she died. It's a moment I shall never forget. 

Selecting the photos made me look back on 2020 which so far has been horrible. However, we have been very lucky. We were still able to travel, saw a lot of our immediate family and of course we bought a new house. Once I had finished the calendar , there was time for some exercise before lunch. We hadn't been on a walk for 3 days and i needed it. With the sun shining there was no excuse, except for Eladio who had a cold. I went off on my own accompanied by Spotify (British hymns!!!!) and enjoyed the sunny walk and my own thoughts. 

In the afternoon, both my husband and I had an appointment at the local private clinic for our annual flu jab. Eladio, worried he shouldn't have the jab because of his cold, booked a last minute appointment with one of the GPs, just before the flu vaccine appointment. I, meanwhile, had my flu jab. When I came out Eladio was still waiting. I wasn't allowed in when it was finally his turn and sat outside feeling a bit worried he may have Covid. The doctor must have been worried too as he prescribed one of those new quick anti body tests and his diagnosis was "suspected Covid"!  He thought it was a precautionary step because of Eladio's age. Gosh, that is the closest we have come to Covid so far. We got an appointment for his  test for Wednesday morning at 10 am. We  didn't want to take it seriously but of course inside both of us were slightly worried that he may have the virus and what that would mean. We even discussed how he would self isolate and which room to choose. We both hoped it wouldn't come to that. He would get the green room and I would get to keep our bedroom hahhaha. 

As I sat in the waiting room, I shared the news with the girls. I shouldn't have worried them but then I needed to share my troubles. They both responded immediately of course. Later Suzy and I spoke on whatsapp via audio messages. I was happy to hear she had found a new best friend; Mercy, a young woman from the US who lives in Costa Rica and who is also  teacher of English online. They seem to have a lot in common. I'm so glad Suzy is making friends. She was in a much more positive mood since the last time we had spoken.

Suzy, delighted with her new friend, Mercy.

We spoke about the events of the day over dinner together. I was happy to see Eladio had an appetite and that his "cold" seemed quite mild. It was later in the night, after 3 more episodes of The Crown, that I myself began to develop cold systems. Damn, I thought it wasn't a good time to get a cold straight after my flu jab. 

I woke up with light symptoms of what was obviously a common cold, caught from Eladio, our second this winter but worse than last time.  Oh dear I thought. What if it is Covid? Eladio went off for his test and came back much later. In between time he had me worried. He was home by about midday and soon received an email from the clinic with the results. We were over the moon to see he had tested negative. Oh great! We were overjoyed and hugged and kissed. Eladio later admitted he got worried when his family had started to organise his self isolation. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. 

It was sunny and we went on our walk. I kept calling Eladio "the negative man" hahahaha. I had to have a photo of my Covid free husband to celebrate the news. Here he is on our walk that morning.

My Covid free husband on our walk with the dogs on Tuesday morning

Other people were not so lucky. That day France passed the 2 million mark of people infected and Spain passed the 1.5 million mark with the UK closely at its heels. France is now the 4th country in the world in this terrible ranking. 

As the day progressed my cold got a bit worse so I kept warmly dressed and took paracetamol and cough mixture. The afternoon was spent mostly on skype with a long call with Amanda and then with Suzy. I do love the calls with my oldest best friend and our daughter in Costa Rica. I was worried the new Hurricane Iota in Central America would affect her but she told me Costa Rica never really gets hurricanes, just lots of rain because of them. Thankfully the building where her flat is, is well protected and there are no leaks. 

Dinner was delicious. I made fresh grilled hake with garlic accompanied by steamed artichoke hearts and fresh asparagus. Entertainment that night was two more episodes of The Crown. One particularly intrigued me. It shed light on some of the Queen's cousin's on her mother, The Queen Mother née Bowes Lyon's side;  the sisters Nerissa and Katherine. When they were young, they had learning difficulties and were classified as "imbeciles" and shut away in a mental institution, never to be seen again or so the series hints. In actual fact, their mother, the sister-in-law of The Queen Mother, did visit them and later in life the latter did too. The terrible thing is that these girls apparently knew who their family was - they had the mental age of 6 year old's - and that they were hidden away and registered as dead when in actual fact they died quite recently. This story came to light in the 80's but I had never heard of it. I suppose in those days mental issues were not seen as they are today and the girls were hidden so as not to bring shame on the Royal Family. It doesn't bear thinking about. 

Eladio would have wanted to watch Spain play Germany that night instead of The Crown especially when we learned Spain thrashed the Germans 6-0 - making football history I think. The match was part of the UEFA nations league tournament; not that I care very much. 

I coughed a bit during the night as did Eladio but on the whole, given my cold, I didn't get too bad a night's sleep. I woke up on Wednesday morning at about 6.40 and enjoyed my breakfast on my own with the dogs and the news as usual. I also watched Oli live at 8 am. She and Elliot were coming for lunch that day but I realised it wasn't a good idea as they would probably catch our cold. It was a pity but a sensible decision. My symptoms got worse and all I could do was go to bed.

We were shocked to hear from Eladio later that morning that two more men from Montrondo had died of Coronavirus, apparently. One was Goyo, a well known neighbour who was probably in his 90's and the other was "Pepín", better known to the girls as J.M.'s father; J.M, being one of their closest friends from the village since their childhood. We were shocked, very shocked and my heart went out to their families, especially Marisa, Goyo's daughter and Pacita, Pepin's wife. Oh how awful for them all and what a tragedy. And there I was complaining about a cold. I had nothing to complain about.

Well, actually I did, as it got me down and I was already a bit down. The only thing to keep my mind on other things was to binge watch one of my favourite TV series, "Call the Midwife". I love it because it is set in the 60's when I was a child and even though it takes place in the East End of London, I can relate to a lot of it. In  actual fact season one starts in 1957, the year I was born. The decade through which it is told represents the first 10 years of my life but tells the story of a very different life to the privileged one I was brought up in, although I recognise the symbols of the times which is why it's very nostalgic for me. t portrays the lives of people in one of London's poorest neighbourhoods with its slums, poverty, lack of hygeine (outside toilets), post war immigration - the Irish then the West Indies and Asian population, general prejudice and how society and the NHS begins to progress. We see how women were stigmatised for getting pregnant out of wedlock, illegal abortion of course but also the introduction of the pill in 1961. It was only for married women until 1967. I well remember my mother taking me to a family planning clinic in Bradford in  the 70's to go on the pill.  I felt elated but guilty and actually hated the pill because of the side effects. It must have been more potent than it is today. I was born at a time when women were like second class citizens. Young women today battling for equality have no idea what mothers of my generation had to suffer. One of the stories is about a teacher who becomes pregnant out of wedlock. At the time a teacher could not even be married and to be a pregnant and single  was an absolute scandal. The school found out and she was expelled. She had no money for a back street abortion and tried to perform one on herself and nearly lost her life. This is not fiction. These things really happened. I remember at my Catholic school,St. Joseph's College in Bradford -  run by nuns, a 17 year old girl in my year became pregnant. We had just joined the Lower VI and would do our A levels and go on to University. Once the news was out, she left the school the next day and at the weekend she was married off in a shot gun wedding. Of course she would never go to University. Another friend, Cathy, was adopted and knew that her mother had been an Irish single mother, an even worse situation in Ireland than in England at the time. 

During the setting of the series most women gave birth at home just as I was born at home. The series also portrays the progress of the welfare state - the beginnings of the NHS and free health care. One dreadful episode of those times is portrayed in the series, one I remember well - "thalidomide". Babies were being born without limbs or just hands and feet but no arms or legs. No one knew why until it was discovered some years later that the thalidomide drug administered for morning sickness was what provoked the dreadful malformations of babies. My mother always told me she was offered it but didn't take it as she never had morning sickness. Thank goodness for that. 

Some of the main characters from Call the Midwife. 

So yes I have spent the most part of my time in bed looking after my cold, binge watching this marvelous series which takes me back to my childhood and a past revisited. It's nostalgic to see the Sunday schools, the Church halls etc, youth clubs (my first kiss took place at a Youth Club in Shipley. The boy's name was Kelvin Rhodes), boy scouts and girl guides, all of which formed part of my own childhood. 

Needless to say, we didn't leave the house, not even to go on our walk. We just weren't up for it. With great difficulty and not feeling at all hungry, I rustled up a very simple dinner. My taste buds and sense of smell were severely reduced so eating was no fun. We watched a bit of the news. One of the main topics this week is the non stop arrival of migrants to the Canary Islands and what to do with them. The other was the possibility of the Covid Anti body test to be done on a massive scale at Spain's network of chemist shops. I think that would be a good idea although it presents some logistical issues. That night too we finished The Crown. We had binge watched the whole of it in just 3 nights. We miss it now and will have to wait a whole year for Season 5. I think I might watch it from the beginning again hahaha.

The night was difficult but I managed to sleep and was up at 6.30 on Thursday morning. My cold wasn't better and I was feeling sorry for myself. I shouldn't should I? Sorry for complaining. As soon as the chemists opened I drove to the one nearest our home to buy two bottles of cough mixture and some nasal spray. Once home, I put my pyjamas on, got into bed again and continued watching Call the Midwife. Eladio is not keen and is rather amused at my fascination with series and films that have to do with doctors, nurses, nuns, priests, prisons, in fact nearly any sort of institution. I wonder what that says about me? Well, as a little girl and like many little girls I wanted to be a nurse but of course was far too squeamish about blood. As to nuns, I think my first interest came from watching one of my favourite films ever, "The Nun's Story with Audrey Hepburn. I had no inkling to become a nun but was just fascinated to know why other women did. I still am. 

Thus there is very little more to tell about Thursday. I kept thinking what is there to look forward to? Not much really; no trips, no dinners out or visitors. How depressing. But again, I shouldn't complain as compared to many many people in the world we are very privileged. I didn't even enjoy my food that day and I still don't as the cold has affected my taste buds and all the congestion in my nose has affected my sense of smell. That makes me feel very sorry for people who lack these senses. How awful not to be able to enjoy food. In a similar way, when I broke my leg a few years ago, I was able to understand what life must be like for people who are paralytic. Again, I mustn't complain.

Friday came and Oli and Elliot were supposed to be coming but of course had to stay away so as not to catch our cold. We missed them dreadfully. I didn't feel much better on Friday either and again stayed in bed binge watching Call the Midwife. I finished season 5 which is the last season available on Prime Video and then started on season 1 again which I watched years ago. Seasons 6-9 are not available so I have indulged and bought myself the whole box set including the Christmas specials. Can't wait. 

Nothing of any interest happened on Friday so let me move on to yesterday, Saturday. Did I feel better? Well, I wasn't sure. However I had a motivation to get up and find some energy as we had a date for a coffee with friends (at an outside café, no worries) at 12 midday which I was determined to honour. That of course was something to look forward to and I really needed something to look forward to. And we had a wonderful time, despite the restrictions caused by "the new normal", our new way of life. It is so sad not to be able to greet people with a hug and a kiss here which is how they do it in Spain. All we could do was touch our hearts with our hands and grin with our face masks on. But it was so nice to see them, so nice to be outside the house. Something so normal "bc" (before Covid) as having a cup of coffee with friends at a bar or café is now a luxury. We didn't realise what we had b.c. did we? We certainly do now. So we sat outside at Alverán, our local favourite bakery, and ordered a coffee. Javier had  a slice of the red velvet cake and we had the baker's "vigilantes", a bit like croissants but slim and elongated. We chatted non stop for 2 hours catching up on each other's lives. Javer and Ana don't get to see their two grandchildren who now live in Zaragoza and Valencia and we commiserated as we see Elliot very often. I couldn't bear not to. It was great to see Javier and Ana again and I do hope that in the not too distant future we can invite them to our new house in Asturias or see them at their lovely holiday home in Salamanca. Before we parted we had to have a photograph. We asked someone to take one of the four of us but the lady we asked was hesitant to touch a phone because of Covid. In the end Eladio took one of the three of us. He told us to take our masks off for the photo but we didn't. It could have been dangerous and, as Ana said, it was a sign of our times, living history to be recorded.  One day, she said, too, children will be learning about 2020 in their history books. She is right. These are extraordinary times.

We parted at 2 as we all had to go and have lunch and I didn't want to keep my father waiting. I came home feeling much better for having been out to have a coffee with friends. My energy levels felt higher and I felt good. We must do it again.

And today, despite our colds, Oli will be coming with Elliot for lunch as Miguel has to work today. I'm still worried they may catch our bug but Oli doesn't seem to be worried. I can't wait to see them. They will bring some much needed joy to the house.

Now my friends, having told you all the stories of the week - not many of them really- I must get on with the day with my renewed energy.

Cheers then till next Sunday. Keep well my friends,

Masha

The week after the results of the US elections, Norilsk not a city to visit, a vaccine "that works" on the horizon, Elliot came for lunch, Armistice Day, RIP baby Joseph, Yorkshire Ripper dies, goodbye Dominic Cummings, dinner at Oli's and other tales of the week.

 Sunday 15th November, 2020.

Wearing my poppy with pride on Armistice Day

Hi again everyone. It's another Sunday in November my least favourite month. Most of the leaves are off the trees and are all over the lawn and the canvas on the swimming pool. It's so different from the summer when our house is at its best.

November is the worst month of the year for hosting guests at our properties. But add to that the Corona pandemic and you get zero guests which is harming our domestic economy big time and that is getting me down. The pandemic doesn't even let us visit our houses as most areas in Spain are in lockdown and movement between provinces or cities is more or less impossible. 

There was some sunshine in the morning though when we took the dogs for their walk and got ours of course. There were only a few cyclists out. While walking we discussed where we want to live when I retire in two years time or after my retirement.  We debated and debate whether to continue in this huge house which we rattle in and which is so expensive to upkeep. Will we sell it at some time and buy something smaller here and something bigger in Asturias than the house we bought in the summer or will we maybe give it a complete transformation? We can't decide. I suppose time will decide for us. 

Sunday was a very quiet day. I missed the girls. We did skype with Suzy at lunchtime though and my father was able to see her for the first time since she left now over 3 weeks ago. Last weekend saw her singing on stage at a local live music joint (if that is the word). Good for her. She also met new people, another Spanish woman (Marta) and an American (Matthew) a very bearded young man who turns out to be a Trump supporter.

There are plenty of them as we know from the US election results. The world was still reeling from the outcome last Sunday when Joe Biden became President Elect, something Trump still won't accept. He will have to at some time and then America  can move forward. It has to.  The headlines of I guess nearly all the world's newspapers last Sunday were about Biden's win and Trump's loss. Newspapers had a field day to come up with inspiring headlines. I particular liked the Times (Times of London) headline: "Sleepy Joe wakes up America". Joe Biden sleepy? He may have seemed so during the campaign but I don't think there is anything sleepy about him and I do hope he wakes up America in a good way. 

It was last Sunday too that Joe Biden and VP  elect Kamala Harris set up  their transition website called "Build back better" and I was especially interested to see their list of priorities which I totally approve of: Covid 19, economic recovery, race equality and climate change. They sure need to tackle Covid. If last Sunday the world had reached the 50 million figure of those infected and 1.2m deaths, this week the figures have risen again as they do week by week to over 54 million and 1.318.452. If you look at the country by country chart  on the Worldometers coronavirus update site which I do constantly, it is the US that heads the global chart of nearly all the figures. Trump dismissed Coronavirus as a flu, took few measures, did not wear a mask and literally let his fellow citizens die in their hundreds of thousands, not seeming to care. Little did he realise that this would hit the US economy too and maybe his bad handling of the pandemic in the US is one of the reasons he did not win the elections. 

So, this week again the main news has been the outcome of the US elections and Covid, Covid everywhere. It got me down a bit that day although I do try not to think about it. Sorry for ranting again. My dear friend Adele sent me a photo of her son Tom's wedding in France. Only 6 people including the bride and groom were allowed to be there. How sad. In the UK, unless you are dying you can't even get married so I am sorry for my friend Kathy's son who has now had to postpone his wedding twice. Sorry, I'm ranting on again. I do wish I had something more positive to report on.

Well, I could tell you about our lunch if you are interested in food, something that is a top priority in my life, in terms of loving eating. Oh I do love good food and have engaged in my own personal "battle of the bulge" all my life because of it. That day though the meal was not too calorific. Zena, our  Ukrainian weekend carer, made us that delicious Russian and Ukrainian dish; "golubtsi" (stuffed cabbage rolls) for lunch. It's a dish both my father and I adore and a dish my mother used to make. Zena sometimes makes us "borsch" too and buys us frozen pelmeni (Russian type of ravioli) from Slav shops in the city. 

Zena's golubtsi, delicious

Zena had her own personal tragedy last week. She told us last weekend that her brother had died that week of a heart attack aged just 60. We were so sorry for her. She is the sad story of the result of a need to emigrate to the "west" for a so called better life while having to sacrifice her own family life. Well, her own brother did that too but he did not come to sunny Madrid. Instead he went to live in Norilsk in the Tundra in Siberia where  earnings are generally high.  It is one of the the world's most northerly cities and is the largest city built on permafrost inside the Artic Circle. Basically you couldn't go much further north in Russia. It's 1800 miles away from Moscow and not easy to get to. In the winter you can go by plane and in the summer by train or ferry too but never by car. 

Location of Norilsk in Siberia

It is one of the coldest towns in the world with temperatures reaching below  50 degrees celsius in the winter.  It has what is called a sub arctic climate with very long severely cold winters(snow for up to 270 days a year) and very short mild summers. So why the hell do people go to live there or why is it a city at all I wondered? It seems for money, as wages are high here. Most work in nickel. I read that the buildings and infrastructure for mining nickel and other minerals was done by Gulag prisoners. Norilsk was originally one of Stalin's gulags. Imagine. Nickel smelting causes such pollution it affects the populations' health dramatically. No wonder that the  average life span is 10 years less than in the rest of the world. What an awful place to live and what an awful place to die. Zena's brother who had a heart condition, died of a heart attack on the street just as he was returning from a visit to the hospital. My heart went out to her and to him. RIP. My father was sorry for his carer and being an expert on most things Russian, of course had heard of Norilsk. For me it was the first I had heard of it. No, not a city to put on any travel bucket list I think. I read that only 200 people a year travel there for tourism. 

Norbilsk in the the northern most part of Russia in Siberia. 

It is not only difficult to travel to but as a foreigner  you also need special permission. On Wikivoyages I read that "because of its strategic importance for nickel ore processing, Norilsk is a closed city and special permission (except for Russian and Belarussian nationals) is needed for travel, which will likely be denied unless you have a really good reason" No wonder only 200 people a year get to visit it. 

I actually managed to sleep a siesta on Sunday, 2.5 hours which was a record. Of course that meant I would not sleep well again that night, for the third night in a row. When we woke up, Eladio and I turned to Prime Video and Netflix and found an interesting Israeli film called "A borrowed identity". About a young boy from the Arab community who makes it to a prestigious boarding school in Jerusalem and the problems he has integrating into Jewish society. It was just up our street. 

Interesting Israeli film

We stopped our viewing to have dinner - a bowl of my rather too spicy creamy red lentil soup. It's delicious and very healthy but next time I shall put in much less cayenne pepper and cumin so that it is not too hot on the taste buds. My brother George who used to devour vindaloo curry at the Kashmir in Bradford - the UK's first curry house - would probably have loved it. 

The news was no news to us that night so we turned to TV streaming again. I found an amazing film based on an equally amazing true story; The Whistleblower. It really disturbed me as it has some horrific scenes. It tells the story of US Police officer, Kathryn Bolkovac who was assigned to the UN peace keeper forces in Bosnia as head of gender issues. She uncovered a sex trafficking organisation  which horrified her. As she continued her investigations it became clear that many of her fellow workers,  UN personnel and personnel from the DynCorp contractor were heavily involved. They should have been in charge of keeping peace and restoring order in Bosnia after the war but many did quite the opposite and their bosses turned a blind eye. No one wanted Bolkovac to uncover what could damage the image of the UN peace keeping forces. She was dismissed. Thankfully she was able to retrieve many of the files and went with them to the BBC in London. In her book and in interviews Bolkovac suggests the practice still goes on all over the world and that about 2.5 million people are trafficked every year. 

An extraordinary story and film

Certainly sleep did not come easily after watching the The Whistleblower. 

Again I was up an hour earlier, at 5.50, on Monday morning, again thinking it was 6.50. Thus I was bushed for most of the day. It was a holiday in Madrid - the capital, not the province - La Almudena - Madrid's patron saint. For those off work there would be no enjoying the bank holiday as all travel outside Madrid is forbidden and if you  live in one of the 41 or so lockdown areas, it probably meant just staying at home. . 

We didn't even notice it was a holiday and went about our normal business which included our morning walk. 

There was good news that day; a light at the end of the tunnel in the announcement by Pfizer (US) and BioNtech (Germany) that their vaccine against Covid, in the final phase of clinical tests, was or is 90%  effective. The main news was that "it works". I hope it does. Pfizer is getting all the publicity and credit for this breakthrough but the truth is it was a Turkish couple, the founders of BioNtech, who are the minds behind the virus. But their company needed funding for their research and they got it from the US pharma giant Pfizer. We really owe this good news to Doctors Ozlem Tureci and Ugur Sahin. They are Turkish immigrants in Germany and The Guardian described them as "children of  long-maligned guest workers from Turkey" and that the success of the company they founded was a "shot in the arm for Germany's Turkish community". In my opinion it makes the whole story so much more human. Who cares where the scientists came from or what their nationality is? Secretly though, I am pleased for the Turkish couple and the Turkish community in Germany. 

The companies developing this first vaccine

Pfizer, taking nearly all the credit,  described it as a major victory in the war against the virus. The news was much welcomed but caution please as it won't be on the market for a while and we do not know how long immunity lasts in a person nor whether it be available for everyone.  But it is a big step forward. Testing was done on over 40.000 people. It was also comforting to hear that the side effects were not dangerous. The company or companies as this seems to be a joint venture, expects to roll out up to 50 million doses this year, enough to protect 25 million people and to produce up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.   Apparently this vaccine consists of two jabs and one of the difficulties is its distribution as it has to be kept at below 70ºc. Of course other companies, quite a few in fact, are also in the race to find a vaccine to protect us from Covid. It's just that Pfizer's is at the most advanced stage. Finally we had some good news allowing us some hope for a better future, especially now during this terrible second wave of the virus. The stock markets reacted with furor and soared after the news, many of the companies belonging to the tourism and aviation industries. Oh wow, wouldn't it be great to be able to travel again? If I was pleased with this news, I was not at all pleased with the behaviour of Pfizer's CEO, Albert Bourla, who sold 62% of his shares earning 5.6 million dollars after he announced the vaccine breakthrough. This sounded like a scam, using inside information for personal gain. The company clarified this was part of a pre-planned sale of his shares notified in August. But don't tell me he didn't know about the vaccine then? For me this was opportunistic greed, quite shameful really making money in this greedy way when so many people are suffering in the pandemic. 

There was good news for me too that day when I got my first reservation on Booking for our house in Asturias. It came as a big surprise as I had only listed the property the day before. This is it by the way - ah and if you are a reader of this blog you are welcome to book direct and at a discount. 

Casa del Cuetu

Ok so the reservation is for August but it's a glimmer of light in my own personal tunnel. If you are a corporate employee working from home and with no family ties, it's the perfect place to get away from it all and to be able to work remotely and in peace. As I have probably pointed out before, Asturias is part of what is known as "Green Spain". If you want to know more about the region, the other day I found a great article from The New York Times. You can read it here. 

There is not much more to tell about Monday, a quiet day for us, so let me move on to Tuesday. I actually slept better on Monday night (finally). I must have been exhausted after 3 bad night's sleep. I was awake at 6.50 and fed the dogs - always my first task. I had something to look forward to that day; Oli and Elliot were coming for lunch (hurray). 

I made sure we had a lovely lunch and made my new creamy roast pepper and carrot soup with coriander for starters. The main course was my "bitki" (Russian hamburgers) with an assortment of vegetables. Oli said it reminded her of our meals when she was small. They arrived shortly after our walk at about 1.30. We hadn't seen them since they parted from El Cueto on 1st November. Now that Elliot is nearly 1 year and 2 months old, he recognises us immediately and it was a delight to hold him in my arms again. Oh but he is so heavy. Their arrival brightened up our day and was the highlight of the week I have to say. 

Olivia and Elliot when they came for lunch on Tuesday

Elliot had already eaten at the nursery and wasn't keen for us to eat, wanting our attention. Thus we took it in turns to eat and in between time entertained him. Thank goodness for the little tricycle we had bought for his 1st birthday.  But he is at his happiest in his grandfather's arms as you can see from the photo below. 

Elliot delighted to be in his grandfather's arms

They only stayed an hour as Elliot needed his nap and Oli needed time at home. She is rushed off her feet at the moment, with her job and looking after a one year old. We had some mother and daughter time in her bathroom as she removed her makeup from her TV appearance that morning. She looked so glamorous when she came but makeup can be tiring as many women know.  In her room at home, she found a parcel on her bed. It contained a ukelele that Suzy had ordered for her just before she left for Costa Rica. Oli was pleased but is still wondering how to tune it. 

Oli with her ukelele

When they left we watched the news we already knew what was coming and again I fell asleep - again for 2.5 hours! I woke up with pain in the joint of my thumb on my left hand. I know it's from arthritis and I have a special bandage to wear which immobilises it. However, it leaves me with only one hand to use; thankfully the right hand. I had to take anti inflammatory tablets as well as pain killers and Eladio had to help me with the usually easy tasks of cutting tomatoes, etc for our salad for dinner. That night I slept relatively well and was awake at 6.15 on Wednesday morning. Thankfully it only gave me trouble for a few days and this particular bout seems to be over. 

Wednesday was 11th November. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, armistice was signed between the allies and the Germans and thus marked the end of the Great War. It became known as Armistice Day and later Remembrance Day to remember all those fallen in war, including of course WW2. In the UK people wear a poppy to mark the date and last year my friend Jacky sent me two poppies as they are not to be found in Spain. Thus on Wednesday I was able to give my father his poppy to wear. Here he is wearing it proudly. He was most happy to receive it.

My father wearing his poppy proudly on 11th November. 

Of course my father could never forget. He was born in 1919 just 2 years after the Armistice and of course he fought in WW2 as I have told you countless times. Here he is in his Navy officer uniform looking so dapper. I just love that photo. 

My father, a Naval officer in WW2

If you haven't read the biography about his life that I wrote on the occasion of his 100th birthday, here is the link to the ebook on Amazon.  My publisher in the UK is taking ages to make it available but meanwhile it can be found online. 

Another friend, Joanne, sent me the most beautiful poppy in the form of a ceramic brooch last Christmas, which I would wear proudly too that day. Thank you Jacky and Joanne.

Joanne's ceramic poppy brooch. 

I wore it for the first time when I went to the doctor that day. Eladio took a photo of me wearing it and I have chosen the close up as this week's feature photo.

Proudly wearing my lovely enamel poppy on Armistice Day

A friend on Facebook pointed out that I should have been wearing it on my left lapel, not on my right. I had no idea there were rules on how to wear it. I did a bit of research on internet and it seems it doesn't matter where you wear it so long as you do so proudly. To quote internet, this is what I found out: "Many people say you should wear it on the left side of your coat or clothes, showing that you keep those who died close to your heart. It's also the side that military medals are worn. Others say men should wear it on the left and women on the right, like a brooch. The Queen wears hers on the left". My friend turned my picture round (the feature photo) so the brooch is on the left. I shall take heed for next year, especially to follow what our dear Queen does. 

It was funny to be dressing up to go out. I only venture out to the supermarket or on our walks so going to the hospital was a sort of occasion. No worries, my friends, it was only a routine check up with the gynecologist. She had all the reports from my blood, boob and bone tests hahhaa and thank you God, all is well. I wonder how many of the women she sees aren't as lucky. I left feeling good.

On my way to the car I got more good news; minor but good news and good news, my friends, these days is scarce. I had passed the Spanish language test needed to proceed with processing Spanish nationality. I had no doubt I would pass but it all took so long. 

I was home on time for our morning coffee and walk. Later that day I had two Skype calls, one at 5 pm with my dear friends Sandra and Adele and one with my dearest daughter Suzy in Costa Rica at 6 pm. That kept me busy and on screen for 2.5 hours. Suzy was feeling a bit down and lonely. Life is tough for her at the moment as everything is new and she doesn't know anyone in Jacó. But I have all faith in her that she will be up to the challenge and this is one new experience for her which hopefully will be beneficial. She still pines to return to Bali but that for the moment because of Covid is off the cards.

It was dinner time by the time I had finished and I managed to make "gambas al ajillo" (prawns in garlic) despite the pain from the  arthritis in my thumb joints. There was good and bad news on the TV while we had our dinner. On the one hand, the Spanish government, had finally submitted to pressure and reduced the VAT on the price of face masks. Later in the week they also reduced the maximum price. I think the other announcement from the government was a good move too. Visitors to Spain from "high risk countries" will have to have passed a PCR test to enter the country. I think all countries should do this and maybe if they did travel could resume in some way. The bad news were the figures for deaths and new cases. That day Spain passed the 40k mark and the UK passed the 50k mark. But it is France and now Italy who are presenting the highest number of daily cases now. The situation is dire. 

Spain was playing Holland that night but Eladio didn't get to watch the match. Instead we turned to TV streaming and came up with a film called "Invader" (or Invasor). It tells the story, apparently based on a true story, of a Spanish military doctor in Iraq who is nearly killed in an attack which leaves numerous civilian victims. The authorities try to cover this up but Pablo, the doctor, is determined for the truth to come out. Not sure it is up your street but it was our sort of film. You may have noticed we nearly always prefer biography to fiction based films or series. 

I didn't sleep too badly that night and was up at 6.30 on Thursday morning. I was very busy that day. I spent a lot of the morning - the early morning - listing our new house in Asturias on various holiday home platforms. I also had to organise a video conference interview with a journalist and my fiber operator customer that afternoon and prepare for it. 

I had a bit of light relief that day when Oli sent us photos of Elliot eating pancakes with chocolate. Oli adores pancakes and so, apparently, does Elliot. Here he is eating one and getting very sticky in the process. Oh he is so funny. He will soon turn 1 year and 2 months old but is as big as an average 2 year old boy and even Primark clothing for two year old's are becoming small on him. He is quite the little boy now and beginning to develop his own features with less and less of a baby face.

Elliot enjoying pancakes with chocolate haha

Thursday saw Suzy making friends and exploring Jacó in Costa Rica. That day a young couple with their small children who she had met on the beach near where she lives, invited her out. They took her to the city's "Miro" (view point) with views of the sea and the city. She looks so happy. When she is happy, I am happy. Isn't she lovely? 

Suzy at the "Miro" in Jacó, Costa Rica, on Thursday

If I was a happy mother that day, my heart went out to an anonymous refugee mother from Guinea-Conakry who lost her six month old baby Joseph. It happened in a frightening rescue operation in the Middle East, off the coast of Libya. The Spanish ship, Open Arms, with a very limited crew had to rescue over 116 migrants when their boat capsized. 5 died, including little Joseph. His mother was rescued first and once on board, her harrowing screams could be heard as she shouted "Did you see my baby? I lose my baby! Why me? Where is my baby?". Can you imagine her horror? I can't. The whole scene was filmed and was seen on news programmes the world over. 

Desperate cries by the mother of baby Joseph

Her baby was found and rescued but shortly afterwards died on board. What a different life for poor baby Joseph compared to my pampered and western born grandson, Elliot. Why is life so unfair? It usually boils down to where you are born and that itself is something that will never change. I shall never forget the image of Joseph's mother screaming out for him, unable to help. It is a mother's worst nightmare. I am such a lucky mother in comparison, although like Joseph's mother and all mother's I am only happy when my children are safe and happy. 

When my work was finished that evening there was time to talk to both of my daughters. Oli rang me with Elliot who always cuts us off as he loves to press the "red button" hahahhaa. With Suzy it was via  a lot of audio messages - her favourite way of communicating. Both girls were fine and if they are fine, I am fine. I'm sure all mothers and fathers reading this will agree. I self invited ourselves to Oli's place for dinner the next night, offering to make and take the food for dinner. It would be something wonderful to look forward to.

Dinner that night was quiet - just the two of us, as usual now. And as usual we had the news on during our meal. The main topic of course was about Covid with rising numbers everywhere, depressing, depressing.  What caught my attention though that day was a piece of news which is actually not that new but I only heard of it on Thursday. The news is that the next James Bond will be a woman. The black woman actress, Lashana Lynch is to replace Daniel Craig and star as 007 in the new Bond film, "No time to die". What? Really? I am all for gender equality and for raising the profiles of women, especially black women but maybe this is pushing the limits. I mean, can you imagine Little Red Riding Hood suddenly becoming a boy or Father Christmas  becoming Mother Christmas? Let's give her a chance but I'm not sure Ian Fleming would be pleased as his 007 is a man and has always been played by one. It's a pity we can't hear the opinion of Sean Connery who sadly passed away recently. 

The black woman actress, Lashana Lynch is to replace Daniel Craig and star as 007 in the new Bond film, "No time to die"

Friday came and it was Friday 13th, never a date I like. I hoped nothing unlucky would happen. In actual fact two major news stories emerged from my home country, that day and that coincidentally happened on a Friday the 13th. The first story was the death of 74 year old Peter Sutcliffe, better known as the Yorkshire Ripper. and possibly England's most gruesome serial killer ever.  He died in hospital of Coronavirus. Someone said that was one good piece of news to come out of Covid. I couldn't agree more. After his reign of terror in Yorkshire from 1975-1980 he has spent the rest of his life in prison. Peter Sutcliffe lived in Bradford, the city I grew up in and where I went to school. In fact his house was very near ours and after his trial, I remember driving to see it with my mother and aunt and feeling the shivers. That man caused terror for all women in Yorkshire and Manchester. I was just a young student at the time but remember to this day the culture of fear he caused. He killed 13 women between 1975 and 1980 and badly injured 7 more. These are the women he killed. For their families life would never be the same: I hope they now find some sort of closure.

The women he killed

 For me, more than closure, I felt relief. I shall never forget those years when we lived in fear. We were told not to trust any man "not even your father, brother or husband". I was once on a train coming home from Leeds to Bradford and sitting on a seat opposite a man reading a newspaper with headlines about the Ripper's latest kill. I was terrified and began to suspect it "was him". I remember clearly that when I arrived at Bradford Exchange train station, I was so worried he would follow me that instead of taking a bus home, I took a taxi, a luxury in those days.  Despite the headlines there was never ever any question of me doubting the men in my family. On many many occasions my dear sweet Father, worried for me too, would wait for me at the bus stop near our house to escort me home to safety. I distinctly remember too the killing of his last victim, although we didn't know it would be his last. Jacqueline Hill, aged just 20, was a student of English at Leeds University where my mother taught Russian in the same building! I remember being with my Mother at the University possibly a day a two after the student's grisly death. The fear could be felt in the building and in the streets. No, this is something I can never forget as all my generation in the north of England can't either. I think everyone of my age and era have their own particular stories to tell of that gruesome period. The story of his death brought back all the memories of those terrifying times, a period in my life that I shall never forget, just as his victims' families and survivors' and people of my generation will never forget either. Good riddance is what I really thought. 

I'ts rather coincidental that on the same day, Friday 13th, too, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson's chief aide or advisor, Dominic Cummings was finally ousted from Number 10. I can say good riddance too but for very different reasons. This man who is supposed to be an "aide" became a hated figure both inside Number 10 and outside. He will be remembered by insiders for his reign of fear, macho culture and series of communications crises and he will mainly be remembered by the public for the flouting of his own Covid rules when he drove to Durham during lockdown. The story was headlines for weeks, especially the tale of his visiting Barnard Castle to test his vision. I think Barnard Castle will always be related to this supposedly very clever man who in the end wasn't clever at all. Usually an aide in politics is pretty anonymous but this man, the mind behind the Leave Campaign and Getting Brexit done, became the story. He had too much influence on the PM and created a culture of fear according to insiders. For very different reasons, I was happy to see him leave. He was caught doing so on Friday evening. 

The end of Dominic Cummings? Photo of him leaving Downing Street on Friday evening

The end of his reign came about after weeks of infighting that saw his colleague, Lee Cain, head of communications fired. The story is long and I'm sure you all know about it but the bottom line is the that his "instant departure" came after he was accused by Bojo of briefing against him. In my opinion the Prime Minister depended on him for too long and should have seen him for what he was. I think the PM's girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, was the person who finally made him see the truth and I can only hope that some good can come out of his departure. All this comes at a time when the government should be focusing on fighting coronavirus  and  not on internal political fighting. Maybe Brexit followers will not agree but then he didn't even get that right did he? I mean there is still no deal and time is running short. I can't begin to guess what sort of professional future he will have 

So Friday 13th, in my mind brought some good news. It was a very ordinary day for me. I did a lot of cooking that morning for our lunch and to take dinner to Oli's house that night. Lunch would be  carrot, pumpkin and mushroom soup followed by pork rib casserole. For dinner I made one of my signature dishes; potato salad. It is a dish my mother taught me to make, the recipe having been passed on by her Russian father who got it from a Swiss cookery book published more than 100 years ago. All my life this dish has been served on special occasions. This is the end result. 

My potato salad.

So the recipe for our potato salad came from my Russian grandfather. That's sort of funny as in Spain potato salad is called "Russian salad". Don't ask me why as I think this is a universal dish, albeit with varying ingredients.  In the same way, in Spain a plain omelet is a called a "French omelet" while a Spanish omelet is made with potatoes and onions. The ingredients I use for my grandfather's recipe of potato salad are: boiled eggs, fresh peeled prawns, spring onion, peas, carrots and potatoes. Everything gets chopped and mixed together with home made mayonnaise. As to the quantities, I play it by ear. The decoration is a fine layer of mayonnaise with some giant prawns and sliced boiled eggs ah and a sprinkling of parsley.  

We went early to Oli's house, our only real outing of the week. It was great to be at their little flat and to see  Elliot who was delighted to see us. Apart from the food we had brought - green salad, potato salad and home made apple crumble, Oli and Miguel provided delicious ham and croquettes - another Spanish tapas favourite. To accompany the food we drank cider we had all bought in Asturias and we took along our cider pump ("Isidrín"). It was a very hearty dinner but a happy one too. Elliot was not hungry having eaten loads of fruit mid afternoon. Thus he interrupted our dinner, as usual, going from one person's arms to another's. Here he is with his grandfather who he adores.

Elliot with his grandfather on Friday night when we went to Oli's house for dinner

After dinner we played with him in his toy corner. He has some very sophisticated toys I have to say and absolutely everything he needs and more. Lucky little boy. When we left he knew to say goodbye by waving his hands, something he has learned recently. I wondered when we would next see him and hoped it would be soon. We are very lucky to be able to have access to him during Covid. Other grandparents are deprived of access to their grandchildren and that must be very hard.

We were home early at about 10 pm and caught the middle of the film, The Pelican File. I had seen it before years ago but soon fell asleep. I was up on Saturday morning at 6.30 and it would be a very quiet day.

Saturday was a miserable day weather wise and we never left the house. Oli and her little family braved the elements and went to a local park. I got photos, including this one, from Miguel. Oli told me she just needed to get out as all she does is go from home to work and back. 

Oli and Elliot out in the rain yesterday

Suzy was out and about yesterday and we got a rare photo from her - she doesn't send many. She was with a new found friend, Marta from Catalonia who also lives in Jacó. Last night Suzy sang again at the Green Room Café, a place she found which plays live music. She is so happy to have found it. Music does her good. 

Suzy (right) with her friend Marta in Jacó yesterday

I should have been with a friend too, my friend and ex Nokia colleague, Juana, who turned 50 yesterday. Of course Covid has put a stop to all parties and celebrations. Hopefully when this is all over or some day in the future we will be able to celebrate together. Her family went all out though to make her day special. Oscar, her husband, together with her son, Santi, made an amazing 1.5h video for her with more than 100 of her friends contributing. Wow! Here she is: 50 and looking fabulous.

Fabulous Juana turned 50 yesterday

Ironically it was one year ago yesterday that we organised a goodbye dinner for Fátima with her ex Motorola colleagues. It was at Motorola that we met and became friends in the spring of 1991. Fátima knew she had little time to live, yet wanted to live every day to the full until the end. That's what she did. The Motorola dinner was testament to that. I remember the night as being emotional, sad, yet uplifting. Just today I looked a the photos on Facebook and found Fátima's comment: "It was one of the happiest days of my life". I'm glad. 

The farewell dinner for Fátima a year ago with her ex Motorola colleagues. 

This month has been and will be difficult for me with all the memories from last year which led up to her passing away; something I have never really been able to accept. She accepted it though. This is what she wrote to me on Whatsapp on 5th November last year: "My dearest, don't be sad. We all come to this world to leave it. It's my turn now to take that step. I do so in peace and feeling very fortunate and thankful for the life I have had, but above all fortunate and grateful because life brought me the best friend one could have. Thank you my friend for always having been there for me". Oh, how I miss her.

So yes I was a bit down yesterday. The weather didn't help. I suggested to Eladio we should follow that lovely Spanish tradition of "sofa y manta" - literally being on the sofa and covering yourself with a blanket when the weather is bad and supposedly reading or watching something on TV. We didn't just watch something, we watched one of our favourite films ever, Richard Attenborough's 1982 film, "Gandhi" played brilliantly by Ben Kingsley. 

One of our favourite films ever

That film had such an impact on both us it prompted us to visit India on our 25th wedding anniversary. Yesterday was a revisit to the film we have seen many times but which always fascinates us. We spent over 3 hours of the day watching it. If you haven't seen it, I urge you to watch it if you are at all interested in the history of India's independence from the British Empire and the terrible partition which divided Muslims and Hindus even more. That of course is the background of the film but it is the life of Gandhi that most fascinates me. The very clever man, Albert Einstein, described him thus: "Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth". I can only agree. 

Both Eladio and I agree that it is difficult to find films so good as Gandhi. Our other favourites are Dr. Zhivago and for me Gone with the Wind and The Sound of Music. Epic films seem to be a thing of the past. We did get hooked last night on a new series on Netflix - a Spanish series; "The favourites of Midas" yet it is just another suspenseful who dunnit type of TV series. 

Today is Sunday and it's another dreary day. But of course you will hear all about it in next week's post. Meanwhile my friends, take care, keep well and stay safe.

Cheers till next Sunday, Masha.