Wrapping up the presents, RIP Carlos Marin (Il Divo), torn meniscus, festive dinner at home with Julio, a pre Christmas family lunch, "Nochebuena" dinner, Christmas Day 2021 and other stories.

Boxing Day, Sunday 26th December, 2021.

With little Juliet on Christmas Day

Dear all.

I really hope you are having a great Christmas. Ours has been much quieter and far less lavish than other years but I have done my best.

This last week was all about preparations, medical appointments but also social engagements, the highlight being this year's Christmas dinner for my friend Julio. But more about that later.

This time last Sunday I was still in preparatory mode. Most of the items on my Christmas to-do lists were ticked off but not all. One important job and one I never really like was delegated to my husband who is a bit of a passerby when it comes to planning Christmas. Thus he got the job. Yes, he wrapped the presents; far fewer than other years but it still took him some time. We were home alone and knowing "he who should not be mentioned" (our squatter) had left in the morning, we had the house to ourselves. When the job was finished we took the presents upstairs to place under the tree. This I had to record for this week's stories. And here they are, the tree with the presents, Eladio posing behind the tree and one where you can see some of my mechanical Christmas toys, the ones Elliot loves so much - me too as I'm quite a child at heart when it comes to the festive season.

Our very little and old fake tree with the presents that Eladio had wrapped up last Sunday morning

Eladio posing behind the tree

Just showing off my mechanical Christmas toys - that's the child in me

When Oli saw the photos she commented we shouldn't have put the presents under the tree. The reason, although, she did not spell it out, was the unwanted presence of "he who shall not be mentioned".  Would he really stoop as low as that I wonder? What would he do with Elliot and Juliet's toys? 

I spent some silly time using a Christmas frame photo app to come up with a Christmas photo for this year. I didn't find one of all the family so made do with a good one of Eladio and I during one of the happy moments this year - visiting the pretty seaside town of Lastres in Asturias. This is it, the best I could do.

My attempt at a Christmas photo for this year. 

We did not go for a walk. My knee was not up to it that day. We spent a lazy day all round, just us and Pippa. Lunch was leftovers of the roast stuffed shoulder of lamb but I promise I didn't touch the French tart. I had made far too large a tart for just one lunch and there was no one at home to eat the rest of it; what a waste and I hate waste.

I spent a quiet afternoon as did Eladio and we only met again at dinner which again was just us with Pippa in the kitchen. We watched the news as usual, making sure the alarm was on before we went into our bedroom. There was good news that night. Sunday last marked 3 months since the beginning of the devastating volcano, "Cumbre Viejo" in the Palma Island in the Canaries. It had quietened down completely and there had been no lava for 6 days. Scientists said though that we would have to wait until Christmas Eve to declare it finished. It really was high time. The good news came yesterday, 25th December, it was the official end of the volcano. If you don't live in Spain you will have missed every day coverage of the disaster for the last 3 months; some of it very dramatic. It is estimated that 3000 houses have been destroyed and many banana plantations too. Huge effort and funding are needed for this small but beautiful island to return to normality. 

The story of Downing Street's "partygate" was in the news too as yet another illegal party surfaced. This time the exclusive came from The Guardian. They got hold of a photo of Boris Johnson and staff at a cheese and wine party in the gardens of number 10 and number 11 in May 2020 when the country was in lockdown. The newspaper reports there were 19 people present and bottles of wine and a cheeseboard. This happened when across the country people were banned from meeting more than one adult from another household. Can Boris Johnson really deny that happened or that he wasn't breaking the rules he enforced on the population? No doubt he will have said it was a work meeting and that they were socially distancing so not breaking the rules. Indeed he did say that but no one believes him. 

The garden party which BJ insists was a work meeting. 

Like my squatter he is a "compulsive liar" (not my words but words that come from an article in El País about "he who should not be mentioned"). I do no dare to write his name here as I may be accused of slander. Frustrating right? Well the squatter situation we are living, and we are not the only ones, I can tell you, is the direct result of the current socialist government in this country which is in a coalition with the  minority communist party, Podemos. We all know what happened to private property in Russia when Lenin stepped in. No doubt Podemos would be on "his" side. Damn the man, damn the situation.

Monday came and I had more medical appointments. I woke up to very sad news; the death of the Spanish baritone, Carlos Marín who was part of the Il Divo cross over classical music group of singers. Oli sent us the news via the twitter handle of the group.

Very sad news 

He died, very sadly, it seems of Covid at the Manchester Royal Infirmary aged only 53 although this has not been confirmed by the family. The Il Divo group formed by Simon Cowell in about 2004 was and is a huge success so I was surprised that the death of the Spanish member of the group was not even mentioned in the main news programme in Spain, his home country. On the other hand The Times included a two page obituary. I have always been a fan of this group who made classical music popular a bit like The Three Tenors. In 2006 I was privileged to meet three of the group's members, including the very good looking Carlos Marin who was 35 when he joined Il Divo, being the oldest member. But he was by far the best looking. It was while searching for a venue for the Yoigo launch in December with my boss Johan. I immediately spotted the trio on the rooftop of the ME hotel in Madrid who were there for a photo shoot for the glossy magazine Hola. I had to talk to them and have a photo. They were happy to oblige and we had a short chat. I immediately took in the charisma Carlos Marín emanated as well as his jolly disposition. I told him I loved their voices and records. He laughingly replied most people bought them for their grandparents. I was not a grandparent at the time and although many grandparents will love this group, it turns out Il Divo is popular with many generations. I think their music and voices are universal. 

Me enchanted to meet Carlos Marín in person

A chance meeting with IL Divo in 2006. Carlos Marín is on my right. Isn't he to die for gorgeous looking?

I don't know why but I was quite affected by his death. I was stunned really. Such a gorgeous man and wonderful voice have now gone and it's thanks to Covid. It seems so unfair. I read too that he got the dreaded virus when it first erupted in the early months of 2020 and that he had been very ill then. He was happy to have survived. Marín had been doubly jabbed and was quite young to die of Covid but there you have it, Covid is very dangerous and can kill. We know that and this week it killed Carlos Marín. May he rest in peace.

That day I would be in hospitals too for my medical appointments, dangerous places to catch Covid and me not yet having had my third jab. In the morning I had an appointment with a traumatologist after the MRI on my knee. You may remember I injured it at the end of September and that there was water accumulated. The news was not good. Yes, I had a leak on the joint but I also had a torn meniscus. Additionally I had "grade II patellar chondropathy" - had to look that up and it is commonly called "runner's knee - Basically the cartilage has degenerated and there is not much that can be done. The torn meniscus though can be operated on and the doctor scheduled an operation on 13th January. He offered me one on 3rd January but I prefer to wait until well after Christmas as I know it takes from 6 to 8 weeks to recover and that I will have to use crutches. The date I chose was 13th January. Damn it! More bad news. But, as Oli said, at least it wasn't cancer. The medical conclusion was this: "Joint leak. Grade II patellar chondropathy. External meniscopathy with degenerative meniscal tear in the wall-horn area. posterior and chondropathy in this compartment-" translated by Google my friends. None of these names was familiar really. I mean I had heard of the meniscus but didn't really know what it was. Spaniards learn anatomy in great detail at school so are familiar with the names of bones and muscles. I am not, so had to look all this up. I found out that the meniscus is a "c-shaped pad of cartilage in the knee that acts as a shock absorber" and that each knee has two menisci. I also read that meniscus tears are common knee injuries. The operation is performed with a procedure called an "arthroscopy" which is a sort of camera. So one of the menisci is torn and can be operated on, but the other has degenerated and there is no cure for it. Thus I foresee knee trouble from now on which is a huge pain and means the end of our long walks, such a vital part of our lives.  Oh dear I wasn't a happy bunny when I left the hospital. Below is a photo of a normal meniscus and the other is of a broken one, like mine. Not good news I'm afraid. Again I can hear my mother saying "shitty, could be shittier". 

I really felt as though I was jinxed with so much bad luck recently. In the afternoon I was to have my annual gynecological  "MOT". I really was worried that as I am having so much bad luck recently that there may be bad news in that field too. In Spain women do a gynecological test each year from about the age of 20. This includes a smear, a vagina and uterus scan, a mammogram and a breast scan. This means you get prodded and poked both above and below. The mammogram is the worst. Since my mother died of breast cancer aged 79, I am very aware of the dangers of getting it too and go religiously each year. So far, so good. I think my mother never went or her generation hardly ever had any check ups. The lovely gynecologist, told me my lower region was in tip top health - bar the results of the smear and it seems the upper region is ok too. 

I came home feeling down and kept telling myself this bad spate of luck has to end soon. I have always thought of  myself as generally a very lucky person but that is not completely true as I have had my fair share of tragedies. I have to start to think positively again.  I am convinced a positive attitude makes for a positive life so I tried to keep the dark thoughts away.

That night I slept well and was happy that our squatter was not here. We would have known he was as we now put on the alarm.

Tuesday 21st December dawned, the first day of winter. I had something to look forward to that day, dinner at home with Julio my dear friend and ex Nokia colleague. Thus I would be busy preparing the festive meal. 

We went out that morning to buy the main ingredients for that night's dinner: smoked salmon and red clams (almejas rojas). The best salmon to be found in this area is at the big Carrefjour hypermarket in Majadahonda so that is where we headed mid morning. They smoke it and add dill there at the store and it as good as the best you can find in Scandinavia. I wanted it to make salmon "pin roles" by filling it with crème fraîche and dill. The recipe said cheese, Philadelphia, I suppose, but as I don't like cheese, I decided on the former. I also wanted clams to make "almejas a la marinera" - basically fresh clams in seafood sauce. There was quite a queue when we arrived and I just have to show you the display of seafood which by the way is the king when it comes to Spanish Christmas Eve dinners. Wow you will probably say. That's what I said when I saw the counter with so much variety.

The seafood counter at Carrefour on Tuesday

We got a few more items and then made our way to Boadilla for coffee at Alverán. I popped into the photo print shop to see if my Christmas calendars were ready - they weren't - and then to the florist to buy a beautiful big poinsettia plant called "flor de pascua" here. Most Spanish houses have one to decorate their homes at Christmas. Mine was for my father's GP here, dear Doctora Martín

I came home to start on the salmon and the seafood sauce. It was then I got a message from Oli to ask if I could babysit for Juliet while she went swimming from 3 - 4 that day. Of course I could but her household was supposed to be in quarantine after Elliot had been in contact with a Covid case at his class the week before and the 10 days were not up. It is true his test proved negative but I was still hesitant. However, I couldn't say no to my daughter. I turned up at just before 3 and there was my little grandchild fast asleep like the little cherub she is.

Baby Juliet sleeping when I went to babysit on Tuesday

After Oli left, Juliet slept for a while and I was able to watch a bit of Downton Abbey. But, unusually for her, she woke up and was fretting so I had to hold her. Soon she was crying and there I was walking her up and down the flat with her in my arms and singing all the nursery rhymes I could remember. But there was no soothing her. At one point I was dying to go to the loo and there was nothing for it but to put her in her cot. I spoke to her from the loo while she cried and rushed back to pick her up again, only to find her smiling and sucking her thumb - she prefers that to a dummy. Miraculously she fell asleep again and so did I for about 10 minutes before Oli returned. That night we realised the reason for her crying. She had a bad nappy rash poor thing. 

I was home by about 6 and as Julio was coming at 7.30 or 8, it was time to lay the table to make it look festive and to prepare more of the dinner. This was the menu: prawn cocktail vol au vents, perushki (my little Russian meat pies), ham croquettes, the rolled salmon and the pièce de resistance were the clams. Dessert was the rest of my French fruit tart.  The table looked great. If only I had taken a photo.

The lounges looked great too, all decorated and with the candles lit and music on it felt like we were in Winter Wonderland. It was beautiful and, despite our troubles, I was determined to enjoy the evening. Julio was punctual and loved all the decor and Christmas atmosphere I had created. We were all hungry so sat down soon after drinks in the lounge. As tradition dictates we had a photo session first .We all commented of course that our dear friend Fátima was missing. Oh how I hate empty chairs at Christmas. But I hope she is happy we have continued our tradition. Here are just some taken by Eladio. Thank you my dear husband. We are decked in green festive Christmas hats which added to the atmosphere and fun we enjoyed that night.

Our best effort at a selfie, thanks to Julio's long arms

Sitting down to dinner with Julio - notice the spread

With Julio

Of course we spoke about our troubles but I tried to steer the conversation to more positive topics. It was Julio who inspired me when he said that every time he meets me he goes away feeling positive and happy. I have to find the old me and stop being sorry for myself. I mustn't let the situation get me down. Thanks Juli for putting me on the right track.

Thus a great evening was had by all. He left early as he always does and we were in bed, late for us, at about 10.15. That night, maybe because of the wine, I slept well.

Wednesday 22nd came, the day of the draw of the Spanish Christmas lottery called "El Gordo". Would we be rich by the end of the day? Well no. So that was 300 euros down the drain but if it made my husband happy to buy the tickets, that could be interpreted as well spent hahaha. Actually though, we did get some money back as 5 of Eladio's tickets ended in the number 8 just as the El Gordo (The Fat One) did. If your ticket number ends in the same one as El Gordo, you get the price of the ticket back. My husband wanted to spend it all on the even bigger prize lottery, "El Niño" (the child) which is held on 5th January. This time I put my foot down and he only bought one ticket (décimo). Décimos cost 20 euros each. 

But we had a lovely day; an unplanned pre Christmas lunch and day spent with Oli and her family. With no errands that day and me not being able to walk, Eladio put on the fire in the library lounge (aka as the cat lounge as Phoebe spends most of her day there) and I decided to put up my feet and continue enjoying Downton Abbey. Meanwhile my worries kept surfacing as "he who shall not be mentioned" was at home and in fact was there all day and the following night. Did that mean our squatter is not welcome where he was staying and that we will now have him here all the time? I sincerely hoped not as his presence makes me nervous. At least though he avoids us so we hardly see him. He only goes into the kitchen surreptitiously to make his tea but we have now removed the kettle to thwart him. That is not against the law I think so he can lump it.

That morning Oli and Miguel took little Juliet to the doctor about her rash and brought Elliot first. Eladio was on his walk with Pippa (not fair I can't go on walks) so I had the pleasure of my adorable two year old grandson on my own for a while. I got all my Christmas mechanical toys going and found two green hats to wear. When I put mine on, Elliot wanted to put the other one on. He looked so sweet I had to have a selfie.

Elliot and I in festive hats

We danced together and I kept saying Christmas for Elliot to learn the word but he still says "Cwima" which I find awfully funny. We were soon joined by his "booboo" (grandpa) and I got a photo of the two of them by the lovely fire. Elliot was excited about it as he has never seen a real fire and is mad about "Fireman Sam". He now knows the word "fire" and says it quite well. His accent in English is impeccable.

Eladio and Elliot by the fire

Elliot was happy to see Pippa too. I think she was happy for a while and let him rub her tummy. Now, I had to get that on camera also didn't I? Later he bothered her a bit too much and off she went. 

Elliot rubbing Pippa's tummy. He kept trying to roll her back on her feet hahaha

Elliot got tired of the green hat when Juliet came. We had hoped for a photo of us with our two grandchildren with the hats on but it was not to be. We did, though get one with little Juliet. 

A festive photo with Juliet, courtesy of her father Miguel

As I hadn't planned for a pre Christmas family lunch, I had to make do with what we had in the fridge and some more. Thus lunch was more like a buffet with these dishes on the table: bean stew, carrot and coriander soup, left over stuffed shoulder of lamb, a newly made chicken Waldorf salad and some of my newly made "perushki". There was even some of my French fruit tart for dessert. But I was good and stuck to my diet or tried to, if you exclude the glass of wine I had to celebrate.

Oli and family left in the early evening and I resumed watching Downton Abbey in our very cozy lounge with the fire on. After dinner we returned to the lounge to watch the news. It was grim. The Omicron variant had hit Spain by now with 70.000 new cases reported. Even more were reported in Germany, France and the UK. The Spanish government should have reacted faster and it wasn't until Wednesday when the only new measure was announced; a return to wearing masks outdoors but nothing else apart from a speed up of the booster vaccination programme. That, in my opinion, is not enough.

That night I got news that cheered me up. I was thinking about the absence of my father this Christmas when I suddenly saw an email from the journalist from the obituary section of The Telegraph. He had written back in November about my father's obituary. He had written in between to say he would be in touch with me after reading my father's book. I had totally forgotten about it until that night. In his email, the journalist who is also a book credit for the same paper,  enclosed a draft "based on your very enjoyable book" (high praise from a journalist from a top national newspaper in the UK). I liked his draft very much. I pointed out a few tiny inaccuracies and now I look forward to hearing from him after his editor has seen the piece and finally to seeing it in print. This is great homage to my dear father. I will share the obituary with you when it is printed. 

I didn't sleep well that night knowing our squatter was in the room next door and I wasn't happy to be interrupted by him in the early morning either. But I was glad he was thwarted by the absence of the kettle. I do think this saying is quite fit for the occurrence: "revenge is a dish served cold". So he can have cold tea now if he wants, hahaha. Luckily he scuttled off as soon as he saw me. Damn the man. I was determined though that he wasn't going to spoil our Christmas. It's not a question of there being no room at the Inn. We want him out whether we have room or not and we have plenty of them but not for him.  Luckily he left around 13 and did not sleep the night. He hasn't been back since thank God. 

That day I had an appointment with my GP, Pilar, who was also my father's GP. She was always there for me and for him. I even had her whatsapp number and could contact her any time. That is so special. No doubt only family members and very close friends can contact her on whatsapp. She was there for me and for him when he was dying. I am eternally grateful for both her professional and personal support that day, 8th November which was a Bank holiday in Spain. Yet she was in contact with me the whole day, giving me the support I needed. So I wanted to thank her in person and bought tge poinsettia and a "roscón" to take along. I felt bad about wasting a GP's precious time by making an appointment for something so frivolous when they are all so busy now for obvious reasons, but I had to do it. The Health clinic was divided into the Covid area and the non Covid area - scary. There seemed to be so many more people in the former. Gosh, I was so glad not to be one of them. I only took up  a few minute's of Pilar's time and I think she liked my Christmas gifts. I hope they cheered up her day. It gave me the closure I needed.

I then went home to get Eladio to go on more errands - all to do with my father's passing away (closing his bank account) and my new identity (informing my bank). Neither of the errands was successful and we shall have to go back. Damn it. Does the process never end? At least we had a nice cup of coffee at Alverán where I would be picking up our pastries the next day for our Christmas morning breakfast.

Lucy made our lunch and we later watched the news - Omicron on the rise but less dangerous than the earlier variants - and I actually managed a short siesta. In the afternoon, Eladio lit the fire again in the library lounge which I am now getting very fond of being in. It's funny but we hardly use our lounges during the year. All my Christmas planning was done and all that remained was to pick up some orders on 24th and not much more. 

The 24th came and there was lots to do. I got that night's dinner on the start when I made the mayonnaise which curdled twice before I got it right and I whipped the cream for the trifle. There is no such thing as double cream in Spain so whipping single cream can be a challenge. One of our main dishes for Christmas Eve is potato salad made to my grandfather's Swiss recipe and I got Lucy to cook all the ingredients for us. With preparations on the go, out we went  in the morning to get the last ingredients we needed to make our Christmas meals perfect.

It was wet and cold. Eladio commented it was Christmas weather. Christmas weather for me is snow but there was no sign of it. Our first stop was to BM to get our "pularda (poularde - a large chicken basically). I had ordered one to be boned to fill with the sage and onion stuffing I had bought from The British Corner shop online. We also got some good wine as well as some small sirloin steak for lunch. From BM we drove to Alverán where we didn't have coffee as it was a bit early. There were big queues and I had to wait patiently to pick up my order: a big "Roscón" (Kings' cake), a large chocolate "palmera" and 15 "vigilantes" - a sort of thin croissant. This was for our Christmas Day breakfast.  Our next stop was at Mercadona, that run of the mill omnipresent and supposedly low cost chain of supermarkets where everyone does their shopping in Spain except the rich. It was 11 by then and I couldn't believe what I saw; shelves empty and so many people doing their last minute shopping; mainly buying the food for their tables that important night. Christmas Eve is called "Nochebuena" (good night) in Spanish. There is no typical choice for a meal on Christmas Eve but people go all out to lay their tables beautifully and serve excellent dishes such as sea food of some sort often followed by roast lamb but not always. While there I got our baby lamb for New Year's Day. Our last stop was the more upmarket Carrefour where we got the last of our ingredients.

I came home to unpack with the help of Lucy and then got on with some of dishes I would serve for dinner. Our menu was this: potato salad, lobster and mango salad, bacon rolls stuffed with mushrooms, our "perushki" (Russian meat pies), salmon stuffed with dill and crème frâiche, vol au vents with egg mayonnaise. Dessert was to be trifle and I had to make it early so that the jelly would set on time. Luckily it did. This was my beautiful trifle, one of my favourite desserts.

Trifle - we always have this dessert on Christmas Eve

I also finished the potato salad which I hoped my grandfather would have approved of. The ingredients are potatoes, carrots, peas, spring onion, egg, prawns  and home made mayonnaise of course. This is it. 

My potato salad

You will notice there is not one traditional English item on the menu - although there would be for Christmas Day. I could have made sausage rolls but this wasn't something we had at home and English type sausage meat is impossible to make. There could also have been mince pies and Christmas cake but I find both too filling. I do like a bit of Christmas pudding though which I would serve for dessert on Christmas Day. 

My knee was hurting from so much standing up and cooking so I rested for a while before lunch. I had been up at 5.30 am and thus  deserved a siesta. It only lasted an hour. Then Eladio and I convened in the library lounge where he put the fire on and we watched more of Downton Abbey. It felt so cozy and festive. We could have been more British and started on the alcohol except that we only really drink wine and then during meals not in between them. I wouldn't mind the odd Christmas tipple but it would only give me a headache.

Oli and Juliet joined us at around 7 pm so that we wouldn't be alone for "Nochebuena". Thank God for them. This time last year there were all three dogs and of course my dear dear father. Suzy wasn't here last year and she wasn't here this year either although she may make it for "Reyes" - Kings' Day. I tried to downsize the size of the dishes as we were only three diners but I ended up making too much. No worries though as I have lots of leftovers for today Boxing day and the coming days. 

Together we put the finishing touches to what would be our Nochebuena dinner. By 8 ish everything was on the table. My husband always wants to tuck in straight away but he is not allowed to. First we had to savour what is in front of us and then take the all important photos to remember the night. This is what our table looked like - yummy right?

The food for our Christmas Eve dinner

I love laying a festive table and think it is so important to make it look as beautiful as possible. I do a decent job but know many people do a much better one. For the dinner I had chosen a festive red table cloth and the dining service was one of our best, Villeroy & Boch. The wine glasses are from the set we bought when we married as is the cutlery. Crackers were there of course as no Christmas table should be without them. That was the only English tradition, apart from trifle, perhaps, for our dinner that all important night.

And here are some of the pictures we took before digging in hahahaha. 

Photos before tucking in to our delicious Christmas Eve dinner

It was wonderful to eat forbidden fruits - i.e. food I have been avoiding since I started a new diet on 3rd October. Thus I was able to wear the blue dress from Zara you can see in the picture. I don't remember when I last wore it but was gutted to find it had 3 stains. Thankfully you can't see them in the photos. I must take it to the dry cleaners. 

As we ate and drank we tried to avoid talking about our squatter - "he who should not be mentioned " - and thank God he wasn't there that night - The food was sublime and I got lots of compliments. It was just before dessert that Eladio reminded us the King's Christmas message was on at 9 pm. Thus we got out my iPad to watch him as many Spaniards do. I'm not that keen on the Spanish monarchy but I do love our Queen and all her Christmas messages. I have to watch them alone after the broadcast as no one in this house is particularly interested. God bless her.

God bless Juliet too who slept through most of our meal until the end. Here she is in my arms, our little cherub. It was her first Christmas but of course she wasn't aware as she smiled or slept. 

With Juliet on Christmas Eve

And here she is in her mother's arms and with Pippa too who also wanted to be in the picture. Oh dear Pippa, what wonderful company she is. 

Juliet and Pippa with Oli on Christmas Eve

Olivia commented and rightly, that in the next few years when Elliot and Juliet are older they will brighten up our Christmases. Indeed they will. Elliot was with Miguel and his family that night but he would be with us on Christmas Day. 

By about 9.40 or so we had finished our splendid meal. As Lucy had gone for the weekend it was our job to clear everything away and that we did quite fast as we were only three diners. We then convened again in the library lounge to enjoy the fire. I'm not one to watch silly shows on TV on Christmas Eve but Oli wanted to see her channel TVE1 which is of course her employer. I was not impressed and by 11 or so both Eladio and I had fallen asleep in front of the TV. Thus Oli left with Juliet but they would be back the next morning for Christmas Day.

I had had at least 2 glasses of red wine and with all the food in my stomach, I actually felt sleepy. I slept well until 6.20 or so. 

Christmas Day came, the first without my father for nearly all my life and certainly the 16 years he had lived with us. What a big gaping hole I felt in my heart and at the table of course which he would have presided along with Eladio - one at each end of the table. His side looks empty and no one dares sit in his chair. It just doesn't feel right. 

He loved Christmas and always enjoyed our Christmas breakfasts. So again we missed him that morning. But we carried on just as he would have wanted us to. He loved sweet things at breakfast and would have adored the spread on the table. I was up at 6.20 I think and as soon as I had had my morning coffee and an orange, began on our special breakfast. Oli and family wouldn't be here until 9.30 as their babies were sleeping so I had plenty of time.

I put on all the Christmas lights and the lounges looked splendid. There was our tree with all the presents waiting for my favourite moment of the year, except that this year my dear father wouldn't be here. I heaved a sigh of sadness in his memory.

The part of the main lounge where we open our presents on Christmas Day. My father's corner was next to the sideboard. Oh how I missed him yesterday

For breakfast I chose a floral M+S table cloth I bought many moons ago. The crockery was my Emma Bridgewater set now used only for special occasions as a lot of my mugs have "disappeared" this year. The menu was the "roscón", "vigilantes" and a chocolate "palmera". I also found some crumpets in the freezer from years ago. I thought I had scones but I didn't; just hot cross buns which wouldn't do. This is what the table looked like.

Our Christmas breakfast table

I then had a shower and chose a pretty dress to wear for Christmas Day. I even put on a bit of makeup for our annual photo - every year Miguel takes a photo of Eladio and I. He always wears a white shirt with a bow tie which suits him so much. 

Not long after Oli and family arrived with their sleeping babies. Elliot soon woke up and jumped into his grandfather's arms but Juliet continued sleeping. Before digging in we had to have more photos. Here is one of the family just before we devoured the delicious breakfast. The thing I love most about Christmas Day is that you can eat anything you want without feeling guilty. Is it the same for you? 

Oli, Miguel, Elliot and Eladio - Christmas morning breakfast

We all enjoyed the breakfast and devoured a lot of the delicious cake and pastries. Eladio is not so keen so only had one "vigilante" and a small piece of the cream filled "roscón". Oli would take all the remains home as we could never finish the cake.

It must have been about 11 am when my favourite moment of the year started - the ritual of opening the presents. But first for photos. Miguel was to take our annual photo. I came out a bit scrawny - nice that I have lost weight but I am looking older. Eladio also complained his hair is getting whiter. Well he is 77 so it's natural. This is it. 

Our annual official Christmas Day photo - looking a bit older

By then both babies were dressed - Juliet in Elliot's last year Christmas outfit - and I took photos of Oli and her family. They represent our future and I hope it is a very bright one. What would we have done yesterday without them. It's the children that made it so special.

Oli and family on Christmas Day - their official photo

The first present was for Elliot. It is only now at Christmas that he has begun to understand the concept of presents and of Father Christmas, "Papa Noel". It was a car circuit toy from us and I'm happy to say it was a success.

Elliot loved our toy from us

There were fewer presents this year so we savoured each and every one. There were presents for Juliet too though she was not aware, poor mite. It's our photo with her that I have chosen as this week's feature photo. It's so sweet, just as she is. 

When the present opening session was over, I had to turn my thoughts to making our Christmas lunch, no mean feat. I started at 12, we sat down at 3 and finished at 4.30 - very late for us. I was bushed when all was done. My legs were killing from so much standing up but it was worth it. The table looked divine heaving with my English lunch - poularde instead of turkey which I am not fond of but with all the trimmings; sprouts and peas, roast potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce. It's all very heavy but even heavier is the Christmas pudding with white sauce. This is our table. I got praise from all the family and we all felt so full afterwards neither Eladio nor I could manage another morsel until today.

Our Christmas Day lunch

Elliot didn't eat anything but he loved the crackers bless him. When we had cleared everything away Eladio and I went upstairs to rest and shortly afterwards Oli and her family left. Thus we were left alone for the rest of Christmas Day which was strange. At about 6 we went to the lounge with the fire on. Slouching on the sofa, we watched the Sandra Bullock film, "The unforgiveable". It took a while to get in but it was quite good. I would have preferred to watch one of my favourite Christmas Day films; probably The Sound of Music or Gone with the Wind but I had to cater to my husband's tastes. We did not have dinner, we did not watch the news which is a break in our routine. We were in bed by 9.30 and watched another episode of "Spanish Princess" about Catherine of Aragon. I don't know what time I fell asleep but I did sleep well. 

This morning, Boxing Day, I woke again at 6.20. It was back to usual for breakfast with my oat bran porridge, orange and coffee. Then I read the headlines and now I am sitting at my desk finishing off this week's blog post which I hope you enjoy. Today we shall be alone possibly for the first time ever on Boxing Day - sad really but much sadder for those in quarantine with Covid. Today I have a very important appointment - my booster jab at 10.30. I must rush now to get through my ablutions and set off to the hospital where I hope there won't be too long a queue. I shall tell you all about it in next week's blog post.

Hoping you are all enjoying Christmas as much as you can, I shall sign off now until next Sunday. God bless you all,

Masha.

 

Omicron on the rise, babysitting for Juliet in the streets of Madrid, Olivia presenting at an awards ceremony, Elliot's class in quarantine, cooking for a festive lunch and other stories.

 Sunday, 19th December, 2021

Me showing off my home made French fruit tart in the kitchen on Saturday morning

Good morning again everyone. It's just one week to Christmas. Are you excited? I wish I was and I am doing my best but this year is just not the same. . 

It's not the same anywhere really these days. I think we all thought we were past the worst of the Covid pandemic but then came the Omicron variant. It is many times more infectious than the Delta variant but so far seems not quite as deadly in that it doesn't generally affect the lungs. The country bearing the brunt at the moment is the UK. This week saw daily highest records of over 90.000 new infections in one day. Soon Omicrom will be the main cause. As if Boris Johnson and his government didn't have enough on their plate at the moment, and now this. I suppose it is a distraction from "partygate" - the scandal of the Tory Government Christmas parties last year when everyone else was supposed not to mingle. This week with the new wave on top of the Delta wave and not really enough people double jabbed and only a third of Londoners (amazing), Johnson is hell bound on a new vaccination programme to make sure everyone gets a booster jab. No doubt he thinks this mission will be a distraction from all his other problems. But no it won't. As he continues to lie through his leadership, the latest blow is losing a seat in the North Shropshire by elections which has always been in the hands of the Conservatives. His party is losing faith in him,  something the public lost a long time ago. The trouble is there is no alternative, no knight in shining armour, who could take over and do a proper job of taking the UK out of its myriad of problems, the biggest being the sorry state of the NHS as well as Brexit of course.  Just yesterday his minister for Brexit, David Frost, resigned. Apart from not being able to do his job - who could? - the Mail on Sunday reported he had resigned because of "growing disillusionment with Johnson's policies" That will be yet another nail in the Prime Minister's coffin and a sign that some time, sooner or later, he has to go. 

It was this time last week that Boris Johnson announced a ramp up for the booster vaccine, promising 1 million a day until the end of the year.  Many have been jabbed but not a million a day and this morning I read of a leaked NHS email with warnings about the supply of vaccines in the coming week owing to transport problems. Dear God, could it get worse?  I was amazed to read the Army would be on hand. I get it that the NHS can't cope, so why on earth doesn't the government approach this new vaccination programme differently and not put pressure on the health system? It shouldn't all have to go through GPs. In general in Spain, vaccines are not administered via the local health system. They are administered in great big vaccine centres and in some hospitals. Thus there is less need to sacrifice other necessary health care. 

All over 50's and 60's and children from 11 to 5 are being vaccinated here this month. It will soon be the turn of those over 40 and all those who were previously vaccinated with the UK Swedish vaccine, Astrazeneca which no one seems to want these days. If only the UK government had poured money into the NHS instead of this vaccine. Silly me, I hadn't caught up on the news and was wondering why I hadn't received a message for my booster jab. It occurred to me to use the Public Health App and voila, I easily got an appointment. This system for booking the appointment had been in place since 3rd December but I had missed the news - probably because my mind was on other things - my own quiet little hell. The two nearest available slots were on 24th and 26th December and I chose Boxing Day. I shall have to be careful until I get my 3rd dose as this new variant is extremely contagious and only with a 3rd dose will I get more protection.

But back to my story. Last Sunday, our squatter, "he who should not be mentioned", came for much longer than usual. He continued this behaviour during the week which worries me.   He is constantly on my mind and I keep asking myself that if he hardly sleeps here (he didn't until the last 2 or 3 days)  then why does he want to continue coming?  Even he can't be happy as when he is here, he tries to avoid us. When he wants a cup of tea, he opens the kitchen door carefully and if we are inside, he retreats. Is it really just to have the last word, a one up on us,  is it because he enjoys making our life hell or is it that he isn't happy with his new home whether that may be.   

He was here this time last week when we went for our walk -the first in a long time. We enjoyed the sun. There have been dreadful floods in the north of Spain but Madrid was dry. Sunday all in all was an extremely quiet day. We didn't go out to dinner, we didn't have anyone over and I, at least, felt a bit like a recluse.

Monday came and I had things to do. This week has been our turn to take Elliot to school and collect him in the afternoon as Miguel is working. It was Eladio's job to take him and mine to pick him up. He still doesn't like going to school and often cries. My husband comes home feeling like a criminal. I, on the other hand, get greeted with huge smiles, hugs and kisses. I love picking him up. It was my high of the week until Thursday came as you will read. 

We went to do some physical Christmas shopping  - most of our purchase are online - and it should have been a happy occasion but I just wasn't in the mood. Part of the job was getting something for me which is always my duty but I didn't find anything I liked at the normal stores: Zara, H&M and Primark. I did get things for the family though. In the old days our Christmases were quite lavish with huge piles of presents. Not this year I am afraid. 

We came home for lunch made by Lucy bless her and soon I was picking up Elliot. I wasn't able to spend the rest of the afternoon with him, Oli and Juliet as I had a dental appointment at 5.30. I thought it was to put in the new crown but unfortunately it was just for the fitting. I shall have go back in January for a final appointment. 

Tuesday came and that morning I managed the whole of our one hour long walk which I hadn't done since September before slipping and getting water on my knee. The joint had felt a lot better and I dared to do the whole walk. I would regret it later as the pain came back. That morning I had yet another appointment related to my new identity in Spain after getting nationality. It was at the local town hall to change the information on their register. What I really wanted was to figure on the electoral roll for when there are elections. I haven't been able to vote properly since I left the UK in 1981 - 40 years. However, I was told by a clerk that when elections came up I should go to the Town Hall again to make sure my name was on the list with the right identity. So what was the trip for then I asked myself? Just more bureaucracy. We then went to Social Services in another building to take my father off their list. . I hate taking his death certificate for this sort of paperwork. Will it ever end?

I had to pick up Elliot again that afternoon but instead of taking him to his house I was to bring him home as I had to accompany Oli into the city. Eladio was in the street waiting for us and his little grandson jumped into his arms. Oh how trusting and loving he is.

Elliot with his grandfather on Tuesday - smiling for the camera

I had 20 minutes with Elliot before I had to leave and I entertained him showing him all our animated Christmas decorations of which I have quite a few - a collection in fact. Every year, apart from this year, I add one item to my collection. Elliot was ecstatic and started to dance, making us join him. Bless the little tot. He lifted my spirits. I took a quick video which you can see below. 

But soon I had to disappear and join Oli. Eladio would have to babysit for Elliot and he had a crisis - there were none of his nappies at home and my husband had no option but to use one of Juliet's hahahaa. He had another crisis when two people turned up to buy my father's old wheelchair. He didn't expect two people to arrive and asked them to come to an agreement among themselves. How funny. I am glad to see the chair go as it was a constant reminder of my father's demise and death. I hated him having to use it after losing his mobility. For a man who had walked all his life, it was his prison. Yet he never complained.

Juliet seems to take after he great grandfather too as she never complains. She was a pleasure to be with that afternoon. I was to be her babysitter while Oli did the job of MC for an awards event organised by the Madrid Convention Bureau that night in the city centre. It took place at the beautiful building belonging to the Musuem and Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. We went by taxi and as soon as we got out we spied the most beautifully decorated building ever - the Metropolis building which is now a Four Seasons Hotel. It was so funny to suddenly be in the middle of the city with all the Christmas lights and decor. 

Four Seasons Hotel in Madrid

We went into the beautiful Fine Arts Museum where Oli had to go and rehearse. I decided I would do my babysitting outside until Juliet needed breast feeding. That's when I spied a wonderful street concert playing. There were 3 violinists, 2 cello and 1 base player. Juliet seemed to enjoy it until the wonderful music lulled her to sleep

The street concert that kept me entertained in Madrid on Tuesday while Oli did her presenting job and I babysat for Juliet

It was such a treat to be entertained thus and many people stopped to listen. I couldn't thank the group more for making my babysitting task less boring while my dear granddaughter slept.

But it was getting cold and nearing 6.30 pm when I had to take Juliet inside. To get to the auditorium I had to go past wonderful paintings, some by Rubens with cherub like babies a bit like Juliet. She would have made a great model for the painter. I was taken to Oli's dressing room which was magnificent. She had just finished rehearsing and took her daughter to her breast.

Olivia with Juliet backstage

I kept thinking what a wonderful place to be in but I wasn't going to see my beautiful daughter in action. During my career I have created and managed many events so was not used to being behind the scenes. This time it was my daughter in the driving seat and I could not have been more proud of her. But there was time to see the stage which was easily accessed through the dressing room and there I took photos of my daughter ready to go. 

Oli ready on stage

She looked great in her long black dress - one she bought for her presenting jobs. Good for her. I only wished I could have seen her live but that wasn't to be. But I did get sent a copy of an email from the organisers praising her for her efforts and saying they would be hiring her again. I am not surprised.

Juliet and I left just before the event started and returned to the festive streets, the live concert and all the people teeming around in a Christmas spirit. The academy is on the famous Alcala street, a stone's throw from La Puerta del Sol. But I avoided that like the plague - never better said - because of the crowds. I do not nor did I want to get Omicrom. No thank you.

 We were not home until past 9 pm and my husband had had his dinner. Thus I just opted for two baked apples. I thought the scales would have budged down more than they did the next day - only 100 grammes which is not fair given the effort I am putting in to shed weight before Christmas. I was luckier on Friday morning when I had lost another 400 grammes. It takes such effort to budge. 

Wednesday came and it was not a good day although parts of it were. The beginning was depressing. Oli, Eladio and I had to be at the Magistrates Court at 9.30 am. Thus I was up at the crack of dawn. The mission?  A useless one really: to ratify our appeal against the left wing woman judge who had deemed our squatter ok to continue living (unlawfully) in our house. That was part of our penal law suit. It won't go anywhere. We have higher hopes for the civil law suit. 

We were soon outside and Oli and I decided to go and do the rest of the Christmas shopping as we had time on our hands. We had a few good moments before we got more bad news. The highlight was a wonderful café con leche at our local shopping centre. The other was choosing jumpers at Oysho - love that store which also belongs to Inditex (owners of Zara). While we were in Etam buying a nightgown for me Oli got bad news. A child in Elliot's class had tested positive for Covid. That meant the immediate closing of his class and the class next door. It also meant Elliot had to self isolate for 10 days at home with his mother and Juliet. In turn that meant we wouldn't be able to see them until Christmas. Oli immediately cancelled her lunch plans that day and bought two Covid tests at the chemist. We immediately drove home and that was that. We won't see them again until Christmas Eve. What bloody bad luck. 

So as you see Wednesday was not a good day. The night was bad too. We had put on the alarm as we always do these days now that we are alone and our squatter wasn't sleeping here (or so we thought) - he generally just comes each morning to take possession of his room and to make a statement. Well, at 12.30 when we were both fast asleep the alarm went off. We thought it was the cat but when my husband opened our bedroom door he was confronted with our squatter who had obviously decided to stay the night that day. Blast the man whose name shall not be mentioned. Needless to say it took me a long time to fall asleep again. We felt downright violated. Horrible.  If my mother were still alive she would probably describe our situation as "shitty, could be shittier". She had a great sense of humour. But there is nothing funny about this situation as I'm sure she will agree.

If my mother is looking out for us from above I'm sure she would have wished that Thursday would turn out better. It did turn out better. That morning both Eladio and I had an appointment with our hairdresser, Caty. She has moved her premises to a tiny location in a small street in the village nearby.  Eladio had a wash, cut and blow dry and even had his eyebrows fixed and I had my roots done, a cut and a blow dry - and all for 29 euros between the two of us. We came out looking good I suppose or at least it made us feel better. Our next stop was a coffee together at the nearest cafe we could find with chairs in the sun. Eladio took this picture of me with my new hair cut. Notice the style is always the same. I haven't changed it in  about 30 years. Eladio mourns the long hair I used to have but at my age that wouldn't look good anymore.

My new hair cut - over coffee with Eladio on Thursday morning

From there we drove to Ikea, said to be the biggest in Europe. We went to get  a new dining service for Oli and Miguel for Christmas. I wanted to visit the food store to get salmon, jam and prawns and was disappointed to see it very scaled down and no jam or prawns. 

From Ikea we drove to Boadilla to pick up this year's Christmas calendars from our local printer. Once in our car I opened them and was disappointed to see there were mistakes so we drove back and now I have to wait for the corrections to be made. I only hope they will be ready by Christmas Eve.

We came home to have what turned out to be a vegan lunch: broccoli soup and lentil stew which wasn't very filling but at least it was hot and good winter food for cold weather.

The highlight of my afternoon was Skyping with Amanda. We hadn't spoken for 2 weeks. Of course I only really had bad news to convey but it was good to get it off my chest with my best friend. She didn't have much good news either with lots of health issues, made worse by the state of the NHS. We both agreed England is not what the country we knew as children when we first met at St. Joseph's - our Catholic grammar school in Bradford, when we were about 10.

Meanwhile Oli was trying to cope on her own with both children. Suddenly she sent us a photo of our old house in Río Tajo, Boadilla, where we lived from 1988 to 2006. I wondered why she was there. Well, she had done what many parents do when their children won't take a nap or fall asleep, she drove her kids around for them to do so and it worked.

Our old house which Oli visited on Thursday afternoon

She then visited the girls' old school - St. Michael's - which was a short walk away from our old house. She told me she felt very emotional. I was also when she wrote what a wonderful childhood they had had. I think they did.

Later when her partner Miguel was back home, there was fun to be had at their new house. Miguel decided on a race between three month old Juliet and 2 year old Elliot. Poor little Juliet, she is far too tiny to be riding Elliot's scooter I thought but loved the video which you can see here on You tube if you can't see it below.

It's a good place here to add  Elliot's official school Christmas photo which Oli sent me too this week. I think he looks lovely don't you? I am probably biased but I do think he is a very handsome little boy. If only I had had this photo on time for my Christmas calendar.

Elliot's official Christmas school photo - love it

I saw all this while starting Downton Abbey over again for perhaps the third time but it's one of those series I never tire of. I have finished all my hospital series and not finding anything else to entertain me enough to take all my troubles off my mind, I decided Downton would be my comfort series for the next few days or weeks.

That night with the alarm on again, we were not interrupted by "he who shall not be mentioned". I did have a nightmare though and woke up. As I couldn't get back to sleep again, I continued watching my favourite series.

Friday came and it would be shopping day;a lot of it for Christmas meals. I am very organised about Christmas and have to do lists, menu lists as well as Christmas present lists so that all will be ready on the day. In Spain the main festive days or nights are Christmas Eve and Kings' Day (6th January) and most children will get something symbolic from Father Christmas but their main presents on Kings' Day. At our house we observe both English and Spanish traditions and thus we get to celebrate Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve of course and "Reyes" (Kings' Day). On my lists was food for a festive family lunch on Saturday when my brother and sister in law would be coming, as well as dinner at home with our friend Julio. When Fátima was alive we created a tradition of dinner at our place around Christmas and dinner at Julio's around King's Day. When she died in 2019 we didn't have the heart to continue the tradition. Last year we couldn't because of the pandemic so this year we are continuing it and I think that is a good thing. It's good for my mental state to be preparing for Christmas meals for family and friends. I love the preparations and they take my mind off other things; things you know about.

There was time for coffee at Alverán where Eladio thinks I have shares. There I ordered stuff for our Christmas morning breakfast and soon we were home with nearly all the Christmas food shopping done. We had also done some shopping for Oli which Eladio took to her - standing only at the door (sad). I had to go to the hospital for yet another appointment; this time to remove the stitches from the wound on my back after surgery 2 weeks ago. It's fine now.

Lunch was late - what did we eat? I can't remember - I managed a short siesta but at least rested and spent the rest of the afternoon cooking with the help of Lucy. I made the pastry for a French fruit tart I was making for our lunch on Saturday while Lucy did my "perushki" - Russian meat and rice pies - and a must at Christmas.

I do remember what we had for dinner:  grilled fresh hake with garlic and parsley - delicious and then it was bed time. Again the alarm went off and again it was because of our squatter. My husband found "him" in the kitchen and feeling very annoyed asked him when he was leaving (we are not supposed to communicate with him). His answer was "pronto". That can mean anything, a year, months, who knows. Damn the man. A new episode of Spanish Princess about Catherine of Aragon took him off our minds. It's not a bad series. I slept fitfully but got some rest.

Yesterday I was up at  6 am and Pippa and I had the kitchen to ourselves. Eager to prepare the festive lunch (prawn cocktail, apricot stuffed lamb shoulder with rosemary roast potatoes and my French fruit tart), I finished off the tart and was very proud of myself. I have always loved this French tart but have never made one myself. It's not too difficult. Perhaps the pastry (pâte sucrée) is the most difficult part.

My home made French fruit tart

I got Eladio to take a photo of me with the tart and have chosen it as this week's feature photo for want of another one. 

As to the lamb, well the stuffing was easy (apricots, rosemary, dates, pistachios, bread crumbs, orange zest, lemon juice). What was not easy was closing the joints and putting them through a roasting net. But I managed. 

Spreading the stuffing on the shoulder of lamb - a boned shoulder of course

The difficult part - getting the stuffed lamb joints into the roasting net

I had the whole morning to prepare the festive lunch and I went all out and enjoyed every moment. Soon my prawn cocktails were done too. I read that this famous starter is having something of a come back. It has always been my favourite. The ingredients were lettuce, prawns, thousand island sauce, strips of mango and pomegranate. I decided on the latter when I realised our avocados were far too hard. Here is the end result.

My fancy prawn cocktails 

With the Christmas lights and music on, I then turned to laying the table for the first of our festive meals this season. Laying the table and cooking for 4 is quite relaxing and there was no rush. I decided on a very old Christmas table cloth my mother had bought me at El Corte Inglés many, many years ago. The dining set was one of our best - our Villeroy & Boch  fruit basket design which is now discontinued. We haven't broken one piece since we bought it at least 15 years ago. The wine glasses were from the set we bought when we first got married and are cut glass - my mother always said they had to be cut glass - and of course crackers and candles. This is what the table looked like before we sat down.

Table laid for our first festive meal this season

Our guests and their dog, Nuba, arrived just as everything was ready. We had a great meal. The prawn cocktails were perfect, the stuffed lamb was good too although could have done with more salt. As to the tart, I was a bit disappointed with the pastry which I thought was too thick and not really sweet enough. Either I shall rectify that next time or just buy ready to bake pastry. 

We then spent time in our gorgeously decorated lounges. It was such a relaxing afternoon when I even forgot at times about my troubles. Before it got dark we took our guests and their dog on our no longer new walk - but new for them - through the woods. We hardly saw anyone, just a young man and his dog. We invited our guests for dinner but actually none of us was hungry after such a filling lunch. Next time it will be at theirs in the centre of Madrid where they still live. We lived in the same block of flats when we first got married and were there for just 5 years - that seems a lifetime ago.

We had been expecting guests that day; a couple from Murcia. But they never came and only wrote to me late in the evening. The best type of guests are those who cancel at the last minute as there is no refund for late cancellations. They would have been our last guests of the year. Thus it was just us for dinner and a very small dinner it was too; a bit of soup and some fruit for me before we tucked in. I fell asleep over the news, woke again at 3 am and then at 6. Amazingly I slept one more hour and was up at 7 am.

Today my friends is Sunday. Next Sunday will be Boxing Day and Christmas Day will have passed. Soon it will be a new year. I can only hope it will be better than this year. As to Covid, well that won't be over. Pfizer predicts it won't be gone until 2024. So hang on in there everyone.

It just remains for me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas until I write again,

Cheers Masha