Sunday 21st February, 2021
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| Elliot came to visit. Here in the lounge on Friday afternoon. |
Dear all. How are you doing? Well, I hope, under the circumstances. The circumstances always mean the Coronavirus pandemic which continues to dominate our lives or rather obstruct them. I have to count my blessings as, touch wood, we haven't yet been affected. I hope we get a vaccine before that happens. The news this week vs a vs Covid is not so dire. The numbers are going down and in Spain the average number per 100.000 is declining rapidly. Hospitals are still full of course and the death toll too high, but the curve is going down. Thank God for that. Globally too the numbers are going down and maybe soon we shall see light after the tunnel. If last week the total number of those infected was 109.131.595 this week it stands at 111.681.925. The total death toll last week was 2.406.116 and today that figure is 2.473.050.
The week has been full of news and events and, for once, not all about Covid. We have had mild weather here but over the pond, Texas suffered a huge snow storm and power outage and has been declared a major disaster. It was big news in the UK when it was announced that ousted Prince Harry and Meghan his US wife will not be returning as working members of the royal family. I think we could see this coming. They will shortly be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey which will no doubt have The Firm shaking in its shoes. Meanwhile, Prince Philip, soon to be 100, is in hospital but it is not Covid related. In Spain we have had the issue with the "rapper" Pablo Hasel who is now in prison for "glorifying terrorism and slandering the state and crown with his tweets and lyrics (read some of them and you will be shocked). That has caused riots all over the country and questions freedom of speech in Spain. This is a thorny question.
But let me wind back to last Sunday to tell you about my week. Sunday was 14th February and St. Valentine's Day. We didn't go out for dinner as we normally do (sniff) but I made efforts to celebrate at home and spread a little bit of love. We all need love.
I made a spectacular heart shaped Victorian sponge cake, using my grandmother's recipe. This was it and I was pleased with the result.
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| My heart shaped St. Valentine's cake |
If you are interested these are the ingredients to make the sponge: 225g soft butter, 225g sugar, 2 level teaspoons baking powder and 4 large eggs. I had made the sponge the day before using my heart shaped silicone cake mold and it turned out a treat. All I had to do on Sunday morning was to turn it into a sandwich cake and decorate it. The ingredients for this were: Bonne Maman strawberry jam, whipped cream, icing cream (turned pink using a bit of the jam), fresh strawberries and some chocolate hearts. You can see the stages I followed to turn my sponge cake into a magnificent St. Valentine's cake:
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| The stages I followed to turn my sponge cake into a St. Valentine's cake. |
Facebook reminded me that Eladio and I had celebrated St. Valentine's with dinner at Tinglao, a nearby favourite restaurant a year ago. This was the photo. I am posting it as this year we don't have a photo of the two of us on this significant day.
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| Last year's St. Valentine's dinner |
So no we couldn't go out to dinner but I made a magnificent lunch to celebrate too. I chose one of my favourite meals, a sort of lamb pot roast / lamb casserole. It was delicious and I'm sorry I didn't take a photo to show. The cake was delicious too and we all needed a long siesta afterwards.
I had a surprise Skype call that afternoon with my dear friends Sandra and Adele who live in Orleans (France) and Brussels respectively. I do miss my lovely Nottingham Uni friends. We usually see each other at least once a year but of course Covid has put an end to that for now. Adele had good news in that she and her husband have been vaccinated. Not so Sandra's mother or my father. We spoke about Covid but we also spoke about the repercussions for trade post Brexit. The three of us are avid shoppers of UK produce but it seems that will be coming to an end now as receivers of goods from the UK have to pay taxes when they are delivered. The deal announced on Christmas Eve was one big lie. The three of us agreed.
While I was happy enjoying St. Valentine's Day and talking to my friends, all eyes in Spain, at least, were on Catalonia where the regional elections were being held. Of course you all know the issue in Catalonia where about half the population want independence from Spain and the other half don't. Historically pro independence parties always get enough votes to rule but not one party ever gets a majority. There was a big hooha about holding elections during the Pandemic for obvious reasons and this year only half of the voters went to the poling stations; not surprising. Thus only 3 million of the 6 million got to vote which I think skewed the election results. The efforts taken to make voting safe, or as safe as possible, were quite extreme with officials wearing masks and some of them wearing the whole outfit (PPE's) as you can see in the photo below. It makes for a very strange picture.
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| A scene from voting on Sunday in Catalonia |
Voting was allowed for people with the virus from 7 pm to 8 pm, something which appalled me but apparently their voting rights are sacrosanct. Unbelievable.
I wasn't surprised at the results. The PSOE (left wing constitutional party in government) won but with not enough votes to do anything, except perhaps make an alliance with the left wing ERC independence party. But that won't happen. Instead the independence parties will form a three party alliance which is what they have at the moment. Thus the bottom line here is that things will remain as they are today; no change. The only surprise of the night was when the far right party, Vox, a bit like UKIP, won 11 seats.
We watched the votes coming in until about 10 pm and by then it was obvious what the result was. I was bored stiff of watching as I am bored stiff of the Catalan issue. Thus I turned to Prime Video to continue watching The Americans. It's a TV series based on the astonishing real life story of two KGB spies who lived in the US posing as a normal family with two kids for decades causing havoc for the US until they are caught. They even live next door to an FBI agent and become friends. The kids know nothing of their parents' origins and live the lives of typical American kids. The story is amazing and it's also amazing because it really happened. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. I watched till late and woke up late too, at 7.15 on Monday morning.
First things first; breakfast, the news on my iPad and then watching Oli live on TV. It still gives me a thrill to see her. The main news was the results of the Catalan elections.
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| Oli live on TV on Monday morning |
First things first for Eladio was to take Elsa, our 9 year old Labrador who is very ill, to the vet yet again for laser treatment on her leg and mouth. He has taken her countless times in the last 2 months since she first got the mouth infection and after the operation on a ligament in her knee (the wound is now infected too). Off she went with the big horrible collar on her and I didn't hear more until they were back two and a half hours later.
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| Dear Elsa our lovely Labrador, together with Pippa a few years ago . |
The news was not good. The results of the biopsy on her mouth were terrible. The infection had caused necrosis!!!!! The vets warned Eladio she was in for the long haul and may not make it. They didn't say the latter but did say people died of necrosis. Of course they do. They also thought the wound on her leg may have been infected too by the same bacteria. The only treatment is to continue giving her the same antibiotics she has been on now for a long time. I'm wondering is she hasn't become resistant to them. I was also wondering whether she could pass on the infection to Norah our beagle and Pippa, our mini dachshund. Oh dear.
I kept saying "oh dear" to myself as I left he house when they got back. I had a coffee date with a friend and neighbour at 12 and walked to the cafe with Pippa who was the only dog to get a walk that morning. We have never lost a dog to illness and I can't envisage losing Elsa. My friend Elena commiserated with me as we sat in the sun having coffee together. We had a good natter and it was nice to do something different and we agreed to meet more often. We have a lot in common as apart from being neighbours, we are the same age and come from the same sector - telecoms - both us with experience in communications. The walk home did me good and it was great to see Oli already there. She had come to have lunch with us again. Oli was extremely upset about Elsa, her favourite dog. I was probably a little too frank but I told her we will have to be prepared for the worst, although I really hope it doesn't come to that. Now it seems she may be over the hill. So please either pray if you are the praying type or cross your fingers if you are not.
While we had been out and about, 5 gardeners arrived that day, hired by Eladio to prune and tidy the garden. The garden is more than 2.500m2 of land and was severely battered by the winter and especially storm Filomena; the huge snowfall last month. It needed 5 strong men to tackle it. Usually my husband tends to the garden but this time it was far too big a task for him and we needed professionals and manpower. They came at 8 in the morning and didn't leave until sunset at around 19h; a very full day's work. Here is the view of the garden being pruned at the back and at the front.
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| Serious gardening and pruning went on when 5 young South American gardeners came to deal with our battered garden. |
Later it looked as if everything had been chopped down and I can only hope nature will perform its magic and all will bloom again soon. We have had great weather this week and the forecast is for sun for the next 10 days or so. We really need the sun after all the snow, rain, fog and cold weather. I'm not sure whether the gardeners stopped for lunch. There is no tradition of offering them cups of tea in this country. I can hardly imagine these teenage South Americans wanting my English tea, hahahhaa. I suppose they must have stopped for lunch of some kind. They would need it too as they worked hard and non stop for nearly 12 hours.
Our own lunch was the same as the day before, leftovers of St .Valentine's Day: lamb casserole and the second half of my lovely heart shaped cake. Oli appreciated both. She left at about 4.30 to pick up Elliot and not long afterwards I had my weekly Skype call with my dear friend Amanda who lives in Devon. She told me about the terrible wind they had suffered as part of the Beast from the East storm that hit the UK. They suffered gale force winds for 3 days and could not leave the house. This affected their internet coverage and our call was not good quality that day. Even so it was great to see each other and talk. This time we did not dig into the past but focused on the present. Amanda had great news for me; she was to be vaccinated this week and she is not yet 65, so wow. Good for the UK vaccination programme which is working perfectly.
I had two hours of free time until dinner after our call and I spent it binge watching The Americans. What a great series and right up my street. Dinner was a small affair and later after the very repetitive news which bored us this day we turned to Prime Video to watch a Spanish film set in the aftermath of the Civil War called The Blind Sunflowers (Los girasoles ciegos). It was right up my street again and Eladio's too. The story includes the figure of a young deacon - like Eladio once was - and the hiding of a republican (anti Franco) literature teacher and how his family - wife and child live on tenterhooks less he is discovered. It's a great story and a great film.
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| Film The blind sunflowers set in post Civil War Spain |
These things happened in the 40's in Spain and although this film is fiction it is really based on fact. Terrible times but fascinating for me always. I have a thing about the first half of the twentieth century, it always intrigues me. I then watched more of The Americans and I think I didn't switch off the light until past 1 in the morning.
Unbelievably I woke up at 7.50 on Tuesday morning!! I think my sleep pattern is changing. I had lots to do that morning and Eladio too. He took Elsa to the vet again. As I said they are treating her with laser and the vet, Eladio and even Elsa have to wear protective glasses!. He came home to tell me her wound was already better. Overall she seemed so. We were overjoyed. So was our dear Spanish Russian guest Felipe who adores our dogs. I haven't told you but he keeps extending his stay and has been here since 7th January and now seems part of the furniture except that I hardly see him. He is the best type of guest.
In between cooking and some freelance work, we went on our walk with the two dogs and I wondered when Elsa will be well enough to join us. The weather was wonderful with the sun out the whole time and the temperatures mild. For the first time this year I didn't have to wear a coat on our walk.
Who was not so well too was my soon-to-be 102 year old father who caught a cold this week. I was immediately worried about Covid but he had no breathing problems nor a temperature. He is being well looked after but a cold is not pleasant at his age. I hoped he'd get over it soon. He is so strong for his age, it's amazing.
All in all Tuesday was a very quiet day. That night we watched another Spanish Civil War themed film on Prime Video - I have found quite a few. We both loved "Carol's Journey"
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| Beautiful film - Carol's Journey |
It's based on the book of the same name by Angel Garcia Roldán set in Spain in 1940 just after the Spanish Civil War and during WW2 - both favourite genres - It's the story of 11 year old Carol who was born in New York to a Spanish mother and American father who during the story is fighting with the International Brigade against Franco. The dying mother with her daughter return to her village in the north of Spain and the cultural shock for Carol coming from the USA is probably the mainline of the story. We really loved it. The actress, Clara Lago, is a favourite of ours too. She was a great child actress, starting her career at the tender age of 9 and is most famous for her appearance in films as a child. In Carol's Journey she won the award for best supporting actress in the Spanish Goya film awards in 2002. It was well deserved.
Wednesday dawned and it was sunny again. I had missed sending birthday wishes to one of my most loyal blog readers, my dear friend Jackie. We both hail from Bradford and know each other since about the age of 11. She was my dear school friend, Amanda's neighbour and now lives in Spain. I only realised the next day. It's funny we are both the same age and were brought up in Yorkshire. I like that. I shouldn't forget either to record that on Wednesday our darling grandson, Elliot, turned 17 months old, soon to be one and a half; a milestone in a baby's life.
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| Elliot at the nursery this week - at the back in blue with his mouth wide open hahaha |
I was once again very proud of my daughter Olivia again that morning. As you know I watch her every morning from 8 am when her programme, La Hora de La 1 on TVE, begins. She is such a professional and looks so good too. Her stylist took a photo of her with the main presenter, Mónica, just as the programme was about to begin. I treasure it and that's why I want to share it with you. As a mother, I couldn't be prouder of her. Understandable right?
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| Oli ready to go live on TVE1 on Wednesday morning |
I wished I could share this photo with my dear friend Fátima. Years ago (20018) when Oli was on her Erasmus year in Falmouth (UK), she appeared in various videos and short films done by her lovely Indian friends, Sumit and Sandeep, who now work in production and script writing in the UK and India.They used her in their work and when Fátima saw her "presenting in a TV studio" or pretending to, she told me she thought Oli would have a great career in TV. She was right and was proved right. Oh how I miss my dear friend, my comrade in arms. I later tried to find these old videos and with the help of one their creators, Sandeep, I uploaded them to my You Tube channel. Here is the one where Oli, aged just 22, made her beginnings as a TV presenter. Interestingly, in that pretend TV programme - Teen Screen - Oli interviews fellow student Ben Howard, a singer and guitarist who is now an international star. Watch that part in minute 7.20 or so. I remember meeting him at Tesco in Falmouth hahaha. As I watched him and Oli greet there, it looked like he was interested in her romantically or was it my imagination?
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| Olivia with Ben Howard in their first TV appearances, back in 2008. |
It was obvious at the time that they both had talent. As someone said to me this week, "the rest is history".
The film Oli appears in, "Love will find a way" is worth a watch and you can see it here. It's a funny, slap stick, short film made by Oli's Indian colleagues, Sumit and Sandeep as part of some Uni work to give in for their course. The main character is played by Oli's fellow student, Rafa, who makes for an unusual suitor of a very young and beautiful girl, my daughter. It's fun, watch it. It was great to retrieve these videos, the beginning of the careers of the makers and those who featured in them.
The day was quiet and I only left the house for our walk, again without a coat as the weather is lovely. There is not much to report about that quiet day except for one highlight. That night I was reunited with a long standing friend, an ex Nokia colleague, Keka, who I hadn't seen since 2012 and hadn't heard from since 2017.
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With my beloved Keka in her beloved Galicia - summer of 2012 |
I had wondered where she was, when suddenly, out of the blue, she contacted me that night. "Keka", who is really called Esther was a trainee in marketing in our team in Nokia Spain in the early 2000's and I remember her vividly. She and I always remember her first day. Anne, her Finnish boss, asked her to do the "meeting minutes" during her first meeting ever in her first job ever. Later it transpired she had no idea what we were talking about - all in English and using acronyms - and somehow she made her way to me to ask for help which of course I gave her. I helped her on many occasions until she grew her own wings and off she went to international destinations, a very clever, funny, empathetic, kind and passionate woman. I have missed her in my life and am so happy to have her back. We spoke for at least an hour and a half and it was late when Eladio and I watched that night's film, another one about the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. I couldn't sleep after that and am ashamed to say I was up binge watching The Russians till 2 in the morning. That was late and naughty of me. No wonder my sleep pattern is changing.
Just a few hours later it was Thursday. That morning I had an unpleasant appointment awaiting me. Eladio and I were due at the dentist at 11.45. We went after he came back with Elsa from the vet where she had been applied more laser treatment both on her leg and mouth. Eladio was going for a check up, his first in 2 years, and I was going to get the mould made for my upcoming dental overlays. My husband came out quickly with no issues with his almost perfect teeth the colour of which is still A1 at his age (76). I envied him as I had to suffer an hour long treatment which included: a nasty anesthetic injection, the removal of the temporary fillings of my three molars, the making of 3 molds and then more temporary fillings. They will have to last until I get the overlays (a sort of crown like filling) on 4th March. I was dying for a cup of coffee afterwards but had to drink it with a straw as my mouth was numb. PD all three fillings have fallen out and I will have to go back to the dentist tomorrow. Poor me.
We were home on time for lunch and had missed our walk unfortunately. I spent the afternoon talking to my darling Suzy in Costa Rica and also on the phone to my dear friend Anne in Finland. So nice to speak to them both. I was happy to find Suzy in good spirits.
While we were having a quiet day, something very exciting was happening in the world. The spacecraft, dubbed "Perseverance" was attempting to land on Mars. It landed successfully as you will all know now.
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The Mars landing on Thursday evening |
I wasn't really sure why this was exciting. After all, it wasn't the first Mars landing and there was no one board and only a robot would land. For science though it was, apparently. From what I understand the craft which cost 2.7 billion dollars (read that?) took 6 months to reach the red planet. There have been 19 Mars landings but only 4 have been successful, all coming from the US. The intention it to determine whether there was once life on this very hostile planet. I understand this is exciting but I do think the cost - 2.7 billion dollars - is obscene and could be put to much better use.
That was the big news of the day on the international front. In Spain the news was about violent demonstrations in big cities protesting about the imprisonment of a rapper (hate that word and hate what rappers do). The person in question as I mentioned briefly above, is one very provocative man called Pablo Hasel. He is charged with glorifying terrorism and insulting the Crown. He was convicted to prison in a very high profile free speech case which has a lot of people up in arms. I'm all for free speech and protesting but I'm not for violence by the protesters of which there has been a lot. This has added fuel to the already tense Catalan question as well as made a divide in the fragile left wing coalition government with those on the far left inciting more violence.
The big news at home that day was that Elsa was on the mend finally. After 5 laser sessions she seemed definitely better. For the first time that day, in 2 months, she got up from her bed on her three legs and joined in the chorus of dogs demanding their daily treats. It was a sight for sore eyes and a huge relief. There was a time this week when we thought she wouldn't make it but now we have reason for hope.
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| Elsa on the mend - here with Norah our beagle and Pippa, our dachshund, getting their treats |
Friday came and it was to be another sunny day. It turned out to be the best day of the week for more than one reason. That morning I had a phone call appointment with the maxillofacial consultant who was to give me the results of the biopsy of the lump on my tongue. Two weeks before that when she removed it she was quite confident it was benign but only the results of the biopsy would confirm that. I was so relieved then to hear from her that what I had was candidiasis, commonly known as oral thrush. When I told Eladio he wondered whether it was a sexually transmitted disease which had me laughing. It wasn't hahahah. It's the result of an imbalance in the bacteria in the mouth. I have to take some tablets so hopefully it will go away soon. That was news to celebrate and we did so when we went to have a coffee (and a "porra") at the local churros cafe while out food shopping, our outing of the week. While we were out I had a surprise when I bumped into Fátima junior and her cousin Sara. Fátima junior is the daughter of my dearest friend Fátima who died in December 2019. How wonderful to see them. We had to have a selfie of course and here we are, with our damned masks on but happy to be reunited.
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| Great to bump into Fátima junior and her sweet cousin Sara on Friday morning |
Oli joined us for lunch which I had made early that morning - cream of asparagus and mushroom soup followed by meat balls - all home made. We were surprised to be woken up during our siesta afterwards by the sound of a baby crying. Who could it be? Well, only Elliot, of course. Oli had surprised us by asking Miguel and Elliot to come to our house and for them to stay the rest of the day and the night. Oh how lovely to be reunited with our grandson again. He was soon rediscovering his toys which we keep in boxes behind one of the sofas. Here he is getting them out.
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| Elliot rediscovering his toys at our house during his surprise visit on Friday |
It was such a lovely sunny day, we took him out to the swings and on his tricycle. He wouldn't come off it but refused to try and use the pedals although he can now reach them - he is just so big for his age.
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| Elliot on his tricycle - moments with his very happy grandfather |
When it got dark at about 6.45, we went in and resumed to the lounge to listen to music and for Elliot to play with all the bric a brac I have in the lounge - dangerous moments hahahahaha. That was when Miguel took the lovely photo of me which I have chosen for this week's feature photo. I love it. He looks so serious but of course he isn't.
It wasn't time for dinner but Eladio brought in some sliced chorizo and "salchichón" and then I asked for wine which was my downfall. I got drunk, I really did. Not fall over the floor type drunk but very tipsy. Making our dinner afterwards was not easy because of being tipsy, plus I wasn't hungry any more. But I somehow rustled up a dinner of sorts which everyone ate except me. I did have a few bites and I definitely had more of my share of some viennetta ice cream I had bought at Mercadona that morning.
We were in bed early and that night I did not watch anything but fell asleep really soon - at about 9.30 and slept through the night apart from 2 excursions to the bathroom. I woke up at 7.15 on Saturday morning. Elliot was already up and it was great to have breakfast with him. His parents had bought churros and porras and I had to give in to 2 of the latter. Our walk yesterday in the sun was divine. Oli and family went to a park near town and came back with lunch - lovely steak which we had with chips. That had us all full and I wasn't hungry until the next morning. My New Year's resolution to lose weight is not working. I must get more motivated. You can do it Masha. Well, I can but it's difficult.
When Oli and family left in the afternoon the house was quiet and we followed our usual routine. Luckily our house is so big we all have space to do our own thing. I think couples or families in small houses or flats must find it stifling during lock down. As to people living this alone, that must be so lonely and bad for the mind. Eladio and I do our own thing but meet for our walks, for morning coffee, our meals, etc, which is a great balance. Eladio's "thing" yesterday was to mow the lawn after the gardeners had done all the pruning. It's a big job but I must say the lawn looks great today.
Today is Sunday and we shall have another quiet day in semi lock down. It has been nearly a year since the first lock down in March. I don't think society can take much more of it. We are gritting our teeth and bearing it but long to travel and just have our lives back as they were before Covid. I'm sure you all feel the same.
So my friends, I have come to the end of the tales of this week which I hope you enjoy reading about.
Keep safe and cheers till next week,
Masha
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