Sunday 28th February, 2021.
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| With the coveted new TIE cards, especially for British residents in Spain post Brexit |
Good morning everyone. How are you all today? How has your week been? How are you bearing with life under the pandemic? Got "cabin fever", to quote my friend Andy? I have and I've got it badly.
It's now been just under a year since the first lock down in Spain. This time last year we rushed off to Montrondo, to my husband's tiny village in the mountains of León in the north of Spain. We did so on the spur of the moment when it looked like Spain would declare a state of alarm. It happened while we were there and went into force on Sunday 15th March last year. We came home to Madrid before that as we could not sit out lock down away from my father for more than a couple of weeks. Otherwise, we may well have stayed there for the duration as it's such a peaceful place where it is easy to maintain social distance. There are only about 11 permanent inhabitants. That number was increased when other people like us who are from the village but live elsewhere, did go there for the duration. I'm not sure I could have stood a year's isolation from society as the village is so remote but I do know that I miss it and the lovely house we rebuilt from the original family house now 5 years ago. For the moment we can't go anywhere and have no choice but to stay at home.
However, there is some light at the end of the tunnel as the numbers of cases and deaths are on the decrease, mostly because of restrictions but also because of the new vaccines. Those in the UK will have more hope than others with a new road map outlined to lift restrictions. This is because more than 17 million people have been vaccinated there. Spain has much further to go with only about 3 million people vaccinated.My father's could have been this week as finally got the call but, as you will read later, he couldn't go for it. Last Sunday the worldwide figures for infections and death were 111.681.925 and 2.473.050. Today they stand at 114.408.267 and 2.538.246. The US passed a dreadful mile stone this week with more than half a million deaths. These figures are dire but there is hope as for the sixth consecutive week they are going down. This time last year I was lamenting figures in their thousands and had no idea what was coming. None of us did.
So last Sunday was just another Sunday during the pandemic, an period in history that will forever be remembered. Last Sunday was of no significance at all really. The sun had gone but we got our walk in just before the rain. I cooked again - a great tool to keep away the stress and that day made my flagship lamb casserole dish which we enjoyed with my father.
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| My lamb casserole which I served for lunch last Sunday |
As nothing happened of note on Sunday let me move on to Monday. I didn't watch Oli on TV that morning or any day this week as she has been on holiday. She was owed 5 days or so which would have expired if she hadn't taken them this week. Of course, she had nowhere to go as we can't travel but at least she could get some sleep and have mornings free while Elliot was at the nursery. I was glad she could get some rest but missed seeing her on TV which is part of my day's routine.
That day I had an important appointment. At 10.15 I had to be at the police station in Carabanchel, a working class area outside Madrid. It was to pick up our new TIE residency cards to replace our pre Brexit EU residency cards. Ouch that hurts. You may remember I took my father in December to request them and give in all the damned paper work. It took two months for them to be processed. They are new ID cards only for Brits living in Spain post Brexit. The old residency documents are apparently still valid but soon won't be so I needed the new TIE card, especially for travel. The clerk at the Police Station told me that there had been issues with UK residents wanting to return to Spain using the old cards and some hadn't been let in. Luckily I didn't have to take my father with me this time and go through the humiliating process of checking his finger prints; something they could not do because of his age. There were a few questions as to why he wasn't there but when I explained all was good. I was soon outside the police station with the coveted cards which are for permanent residency for us both and last 10 years before renewing them. I wondered whether my father would be alive by then and you know? He could well be. I hope so. Eladio had driven me there and was waiting outside. Before setting off I asked for a photo of the historic moment and I got it. That's the one I have used as this week's feature photo. These are our new ID cards with our mug shots.
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| Our new post Brexit residency cards |
I won't need to renew mine as I have applied for Spanish nationality and maybe within a year or so I will get a Spanish passport and Spanish ID card. If you are a reader of this blog you will know I have spent the best part of the last year gathering the paperwork which has been so daunting I may never have bothered if I had known. However, what I want is a EU passport as Brexit scrapped my EU citizenship and that is what made me go on. Thankfully, I should be still able to use my UK passport as although in the eyes of Spanish law I will renounce British citizenship, in the eyes of UK law that is not recognised and I shall be able to keep my UK passport. Thus, like my girls, I will have both passports. That is what I have been told and I hope it holds up.
The rest of the day was unexciting. We went for our walk, we had leftovers for lunch and in the afternoon, after our siesta, I watched more of The Americans. I had reached the beginning of Season 5 (there are 6 seasons). I stopped watching for my weekly 5.30 pm skype call with my dear friend Amanda in the UK. You will know we went to school together and that she is my oldest friend. I always love our long weekly chats which last about 1.5 hours. We tried to give each other some news but neither of us had much. Ah but my friend had been vaccinated and that was news as she is only 64. She was puzzled she got her jab before her husband who is a year or two older. We talked too about the Covid situation in the UK vs Spain. She had hope, more than I did, as that day the UK PM, Boris Johnson, was to reveal the road map for lifting restrictions in the UK. They will be able to travel months before us and my friend was hoping against hope that her holiday in Scotland which she had booked for the end of April would be possible. If the road map later published stays the same, then she will be able to, as staycations will be allowed from 12th April. Again though that will depend on what restrictions are in place in Scotland. A bit like in Spain, there are different rules in place in the different "nations"; England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
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| The road map for lifting restrictions in the UK |
In the chart above you can see the main restrictions lifted at each phase. I was interested to see that international travel may be resumed from 17th May. Hopefully, there will be safe travel corridors again to Spain and my Airbnb business may pick up. There is talk too of vaccine passports to make this possible. I especially want reservations for our apartment in Santa Pola near the sea and our new house in Asturias. It will all depend too on what the numbers look like in Spain I suppose.
The day ended with a light dinner of tuna fish salad and then the news on the TV in bed. There was nothing much new for us to learn. Soon we switched to Netflix to watch a British TV series, much announced, called Behind Her Eyes. This is a description of it I copied from the link: "A single mother enters a world of twisted mind games when she begins an affair with her psychiatrist boss while secretly befriending his mysterious wife." We were soon hooked I have to say but we didn't stay up late watching it and I think I was asleep before midnight.
I woke up at 6.50 (not bad) on Tuesday morning. Tuesday was 23rd February and marked the 40th anniversary of Spain's last attempted coup d'etat in 1981. At the time I was in England and Eladio was a teacher at the Seminary in León (north of Spain). That summer, in June, I came to live here permanently. The news on the TV of the scene of the Spanish parliament being taken over by the military was a huge shock to me that night. I immediately tried to ring Eladio but it was impossible as all phone lines to and from Spain were cut off. This coup took place 6 years after Franco's death and shocked the country just as it had started its path to democracy. The coup was led by a group from the military, mostly disgruntled by the UCD government having made the communist party legal. They were old school, pro Franco and wanted to topple the government, place one of their own as President and had counted on the support of the young Spanish king, restored by Franco, King Juan Carlos 1.
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| Lt. Col. Antonio Tejero who led the storming of the Spanish parliament. |
Parliament was in a live session to vote in a new President, thus images of the storming of Parliament were seen live all over the world and they were frightening. Tejero led 200 armed civil guards into the building to stop proceedings and take over parliament. The politicians were held hostage for 18 hours. Some journalists were present too and attempted to transmit from within until they were stopped. TVE, Spain's national broadcaster was also taken over by the military. The military group leading the coup, had expected support from Spain's new King. Whether he hesitated or not to give it remains an open question in Spain in many people's minds. However, late that night, several hours after the coup started, he addressed the country calling for law and order and democracy to continue. Without the king's support the coup could not succeed and the next day those held hostage were released. This episode in Spanish history marked an important point in the country's road map in its transition to democracy after the death of Franco. Those crucial hours when the government was taken over by the military, terrified the population, my husband included. I was terrified too and wondered if he would be ok and what would happen to the country I had planned to go and live in. Thankfully, all turned out for the best and today Spain, may have its ups and downs, but we live in peace and democracy. For me that was a night I shall never forget when I watched the 9 o'clock news with my parents in our lounge at 6 Heaton Grove in Bradford. Yesterday in Spain there were events to mark the anniversary, the anniversary of hopefully Spain's last ever coup d'etat. It was sad to see that the former king of Spain, instrumental in stopping the coup, was not there but rather hiding in Dubai due to his financial scandals. Before his financial scandals he was revered for his part in the transition to democracy. But now his image has been tainted forever and he will go down in history for his elephant hunting, his womanising and his fortune amassing rather than for his role in building Spain's democracy.
I didn't think too much about the Coup as we were busy that morning, out on errands. It was a sunny day and we enjoyed each other's company as we went to the chemist, to the medical centre and to have a cup of coffee in the street. We had a bit of a scare that morning though when Lucy, my father's carer, announced he had problems breathing. Oh my God, I immediately thought of Covid. He has had a cold I thought he had got over but has a persistent cough. So I whatsapped his doctor who sent in a nurse the next day to do a PCR test. I didn't think he had the virus but wanted to make sure. I cannot imagine how our lives would be turned upside down if he did; all of our lives. Apart from Covid, I really thought they should take a look at his chest and hear his cough. I am happy to be able to tell you that we got the results yesterday and they are negative. Hurray!
As I waited for the nurse to come on Thursday, I wiled away some of the time creating whatsapp stickers. They are in fashion and I copied the idea from my new found friend Keka. Using the app "sticker-ly" which I downloaded from the Android Play Store, I soon made a few of my own, like the one below. It's a bit silly but amuses me.
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| This week's fad was making whatsapp stickers. They amuse me. |
There was time before the nurse came, for our one hour long morning walk through the forest, the walk we discovered during our first lock down and which we love. My father coughed a lot at lunch. He tends to do that and it worried me. The rest of the day was quiet, too quiet really. As Eladio remarked at dinner that night, every day seems to be practically the same. We told Suzy that too when we had a rare video call with her. Costa Rica seems to be suiting her. It was difficult to talk as there was a cacophony of bird song and dogs barking. Suzy said we would love the country for its wildlife and that she had thought of her father that day when she saw swarms of flamingos flying over the beach. I'm sure we would like it. But we can only dream of going there one day when all this is over.
The nurse came equipped in full PPE kit. I felt sorry for my father when she put the swab right up his nose. He told me later it didn't hurt but was just uncomfortable. Patricia, the nurse, told me she thought his cough was not a sign of Covid as it is not a dry cough. I was relieved. She remarked that her grandfather was 99 and had had the virus but with very few symptoms. In her mind, people my father's age and her grandfather's age are made of stronger stuff. I suppose Darwin would agree. If you live to your late 90's in good health the answer has to be a combination of: luck, a healthy lifestyle and genes, of course. My father walked all his life but he has also eaten a lot of sweet things and was subjected to my mother smoking for years. Yet he is still here and doing well. We would have to wait until yesterday to get the results. I also heard from the nurse that finally vaccinations for the over 80's was starting the next day in our local health centre and that my father would be called as soon as possible. They did call the next day and gave us an appointment but it was bad timing as we had to wait for the Covid test results, damn it. I've been waiting for him to be vaccinated for months and now when it was finally his turn we would have to wait again. Hopefully, it will happen next week now.
Oli joined us that morning and for lunch. In the afternoon she was off to the health clinic but for something very different and very exciting. I am happy to announce my younger daughter is 3 months pregnant and the baby is due on 1st September. I knew from 6th January (Kings' day - what a present) that she was pregnant but was sworn to secrecy until she reached the 3 month milestone. It has been difficult to keep this to myself. I mean, another grandchild, is a huge blessing and wonderful news. From the ultrasound scan the happy parents were told there is an 80% chance of the baby being a girl. They want a girl but of course would be happy with a boy. I don't mind at all. When choosing names for their first baby they came up with Juliet or Juilette if it was a girl. That's a name Oli loves. I commented she might want to choose the spelling. Juliet as in Romeo and Juliet or the more "Frenchified" Juliette. She has gone for Shakespeare's spelling. I'm not sure little Elliot, who will be 2 when his sibling is born, will be very happy at her arrival. After all, he is now the centre of his parents' universe and will have to share this space. We will make sure he gets as much love as he always does. But, no, he doesn't know what is coming poor little tot. Isn't that great news? We are over the moon. We were over the moon with the arrival of Elliot and didn't expect another grandchild so soon. Lucky us. Being grandparents is so, so special. Only grandparents can understand that. Being an aunt too is very special. As Suzy said after Elliot was born "I didn't know this feeling until you came along". How right she was. Elliot has changed all our lives for the better and has been a ray of light in these dark Covid times.
So that's my big news of the week. Thursday came and it was another quiet groundhog day until the afternoon when Oli and her family paid a surprise visit. In walked little Elliot into our bedroom while we were having a siesta (well I was binge watching The Americans). He immediately made a beeline for my bedside table drawer which is like an Aladdin's cave for him. It had him engrossed for a long time until Eladio suggested going and finding his toys, the toys we keep for him here. Soon the two of them were on the carpet in the main lounge playing. It was a lovely grandfather, grandson moment; a treasured moment.
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| Grandfather and grandson playing together in the lounge on Thursday afternoon |
I joined them of course and so did Oli when Miguel left for work and we had what used to be called a "jolly" time. We took him to see my father, his 101 year old great grandfather and I gave him the news that Oli's baby is very likely to be a girl and is due on 1st September. I think he is very pleased that he will be a great grandfather again. I am for us all.
We had a lovely dinner together and Eladio and I were in bed quite early, before Miguel returned from work, and were able to enjoy or rather watch the final episode of "Behind her Eyes", the much acclaimed psychological thriller. We found it rather silly I'm afraid, especially the end. I thus turned to more episodes of The Americans. I remarked that day to Eladio and Oli that I found the dialogues in Russian sort of special. You all know my mother was Russian and my father a teacher of Russian except that I wasn't brought up to speak the language. However, I do understand a lot and watching this series is bringing it all back. I recognise so many of the words. My attraction to this series has a lot to do with my Russian roots. It's true too that as the series is set in the Cold War that is another attraction as my youth was much dominated by it, with talk of Soviet Russia and the visit of so many Soviets to our house. We knew exactly how bad Russia was faring and that's what I'm seeing or reliving in this series.
I watched until late into the night and woke up at 7.30 on Friday morning. By then Miguel had left for work and had taken Elliot to the nursery. Oli was up and making her breakfast and I joined her. How nice to have mother and daughter time.
I spent a couple of hours after breakfast going over the proof of my father's book - the one being published in the UK. It is taking ages. It's now been a year and a half since I signed the contract with them. The excuse for the delay is of course Covid. I had already checked the final text and that morning I had to check all the photos were in the right place with the right captions. They were which was good and I was able to give my final ok. God knows now how long it will take for my father's biography to hit the bookshelves? At least the process is still ongoing.
Oli came with me to do the weekly shopping together and while at the chemist spied Eladio and Elsa at the vet next door, who had just had her first rehab session for the leg that was operated on and which is now half the size of the other three. What worries us most is the infection in her mouth which is not going away. They have upped the antibiotics but we are still worried.
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| Eladio with Elsa waiting outside the vet on Friday morning |
My husband has been and is her constant carer and it's not been an easy journey. I realised this week that even if restrictions were lifted and we could travel, we wouldn't be able to as we have to care for Elsa who is at the vet nearly every day.
Oli and I had a bit of a rush to get all the provisions including food for that day's lunch. But we did stop for a coffee at Alverán - no churros there unfortunately - It was a very relaxing moment, especially for her as she is constantly tired from her pregnancy and looking after Elliot. She will be back to work tomorrow and I hope she has charged her batteries a bit this week.
We came home with enough food for an army - well a small army - and I set about making lunch; carrot and coriander soup with grilled hake and garlic with steamed asparagus and mushrooms for side dishes. I was a bit stressed by them, especially with the rush of food shopping and making lunch for 6. Thankfully I could rest in the afternoon. If you know me or read this blog frequently, you will also know that I try to get all my chores out of the way in the morning so as to have the afternoon free. I was free to call Suzy in Costa Rica and we had a good chat. I had put her and Keka (my newly found friend and ex trainee at Nokia) in contact as they are kindred spirits. Keka is helping Suzy in so many ways and wants to take her on as a coach in wellness and sustainability in a new business she is building. For the job Suzy had to take a personality test. You may nor not believe in them but there is always some truth in the results and I found it interesting to take the same test Suzy did. If you are interested,
here is the link. I turned out to be a "consul" and Suzy, unsurpisingly, a "campaigner". Take the test and see what you are if you like these types of tests. It was fun to while the time away. My friend Kathy in Keighley, took it too and she is a "defender".
Kathy is lucky, as like my friend Amanda, also in the UK, she has now been given her first Covid jab.
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| Kathy happy after her first jab taken at Skipton Hospital this week |
This week she was given the Pfizer vaccine as was her husband Phil. In the EU, especially Germany, there is low acceptance for the Oxford based Aztrozeneca vaccine and stocks are piling up there. In Spain the process is much slower than the UK. Right at the top of the chart for vaccine roll out are Israel and the UK. Spain lags behind in 9th place with just 4.7% of the population having received the vaccine.
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| Vaccine roll out in the world (figures 27.2.21). |
The sooner we are all vaccinated, the sooner we can lift restrictions and the sooner we can travel again. Whether that be with vaccine passports, PCR tests or whatever, all I want is to be and to feel free again.
On Friday, late into the night, I finished the TV series, The Americans. I binge watched 6 whole seasons in record time. I will miss Elizabeth and Philip or rather Nadezhda and Mischa. What a story. I am now watching Season 3 of The Good Doctor. As you know, I am a sucker for hospital series hahaha.
Saturday was a sunny day and also a very quiet day without Oli and family. They went to spend the day in Rascafría in the mountains of Madrid - did you know Madrid is the highest capital in Spain? Thus we were on our own.
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| Olivia and Elliot yesterday in Rascafría |
Of significance yesterday was the funeral of the late Captain Sir Tom Moore who needs no introduction.
He had a very appropriate send off. The dear man had told his daughters exactly how he wanted his funeral and the main message was that it be simple. Only 8 people could be at the funeral in his home town in Bedfordshire because of Covid but he will be buried in the family grave in Yorkshire. He was from Keighley very near where I lived as a child and teenager. He was thus a Yorkshire man which, in my mind, makes him extra special. The service though was broadcast live and across the world. He wanted a small tomb stone with the words "I told you I was old". He was inspired by Spike Milligan's inscription: "I told you I was ill". He even told his daughters what food he wanted at the wake and that included Victoria sponge cake. He wrote a poem for his own funeral and the words are poignant: "Let no mournful word be said by daughters that I leave behind and their children all the kind near to them and to my wife. I was happy all my life. My two daughters I married right and their children I rocked at night. Death nor sorrow never brought cause for one unhappy thought. Now and with no need for tears here they leave me full of years. Leave me to my quiet rest in the region of the blessed". Fittingly, church bells rang out across the country in honour of Captain Tom. I'm not sure he knew that would be happening but it would have gladdened him as would the wreath sent by the Queen to be laid in his hometown of Keighley and the Second World War plane that flew over the ceremony. He couldn't have had a better send off. He always said "tomorrow will be a good day" and yesterday was a good one. Of all the tributes the one I like best is from his daughter: "Daddy you may be gone but your message and your spirit lives on". It certainly does. Farewell Captain Tom and thank you for being a beacon of hope during the darkest days of Covid. You will always be remembered.
I thought about him that day. He is of the same generation as my father; people made of harder stuff to quote Patricia the nurse. They just got on with it when faced with difficulties; all their generation really, a generation that inspires me a lot.
Our day was quiet without Oli and family. We went on our walk in the sun with Pippa and Norah. I wonder if we will ever take Elsa on a walk again? I sincerely hope so. Eladio spent part of the afternoon doing some rehab exercises with Elsa. I caught him unawares on camera. He is such a good carer of our lovely Labrador who is so ill, bless her.
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| Eladio doing rehab with Elsa |
I always think my husband should have been a vet or a doctor but he never had that opportunity. In any case he is our own resident doctor, vet, plumber, electrician, etc as you probably know.
Today will be another sunny day and we shall go out on our walk. The rest of the day will be quiet but I do have a Facetime call to look forward to this afternoon with my friends Kathy and Phil from Keighley, Captain Tom's home town.
So my friends, I have come to the end of the tales of this week, another week during the pandemic. As I see the numbers go down and more people being vaccinated I begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. On that more positive note, I wish you all a great week ahead.
Cheers till next Sunday,
Masha
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