Sunday, 11th April, 2021
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| This week we mourn the death of HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. His death was a shock for everyone and marks the end of an era. |
Good morning all. It's been a quiet week compared to last week. Last Sunday was Easter Day and we celebrated as we always do together with the family.
Our Airbnb guests left and it was a bit of a relief. Because of the pandemic we haven't had many group bookings and I had forgotten how stressful they can be. It was a rush to get the bedrooms all clean again and then in between that and our sunny walk I had to make an Easter day Sunday roast. I roasted 2 whole chickens as Oli and family were coming. I did not have the usual trimmings; sage and onion stuffing nor cranberry sauce but it was still delicious.
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| Our Easter day roast lunch |
Before we all tucked in I took a family photo. Here we are - except me - around the table.
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| The family Easter day lunch |
The best part of the lunch was the Easter eggs, bunnies, etc. Elliot adores chocolate like my father and Oli and Miguel have to ration it for him. However, being Easter day, he was allowed his fill and oh how he loved it.
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| Elliot in his element enjoying chocolate on Easter day |
I was in much need of a siesta after all that food, chocolate and wine and slept till after 5 pm when it was time for Oli and family to leave. The rest of the day was spent lazily watching my latest TV series - Grey's Anatomy on Prime Video. I love hospital series but I am still missing Outlander. There are 16 or so seasons each with more than 20 episodes so I have guaranteed entertainment for quite a while to come; my way of evading the pandemic.
Monday came and the sun shined as it would most of the week. That morning I spent a large part of my time writing a tribute to my Aunty Gloria, my father's sister, and all her family who died tragically in an air crash 50 years ago on 23rd May. The church in Ickenham where they lived had asked me to write an article for the church newsletter coming out in May or June. I wrote it from the bottom of my heart and included many of the lovely messages and poignant memories people from the village had written to me on the village Facebook page I stumbled upon last week. After finding that page and people who still remembered, I could not stop thinking about this. I'm still thinking about it today. I was hesitant to show the article to my father as I know this is something that, like me, he never got over but that he cannot express. It is too harrowing for him. It is harrowing for me but I am an expressive and emotional sort of person which he isn't. He keeps his sorrow to himself. I can't. The vicar thanked me for it but asked me to shorten it to 500 words - a difficult task - but wanted to use my tribute for the memorial service to be broadcast at St. Giles Church on 23rd May this year. There cannot be a proper physical one because of Covid of course. She has also asked me to send a video tribute to be included. That will be harder. I had to find photos too and I am so sad I don't have one photo of the family together, only of them separately. There is one photo of the three children - playing in the snow. It is not ours. It comes from one of the news clippings my father kept and which I still have. This is it.
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| My 3 cousins; Jacqueline, Michael and Antony. |
But I had to get on with the day. I had to make lunch and go on our walk and do typical day to day errands. I was only free in the afternoon. I was cheered up by my nearly 2 hour long Facetime call with Kathy from Keighley although our chat centred mostly on negative subjects; mostly Covid. I told her I wondered when the day would come when Covid was no longer news. Eladio said the other day that in his lifetime, at least, he thought it would never go away.
No, it's not going away at all. Believe it or now, our area of Madrid has gone into special lockdown meaning we cannot leave the village or town from 5th to 19th April. Spain is seeing numbers spike a bit, but mostly in the Madrid area. It is much worse in France, Italy, Germany and of course South America. In the UK the numbers are decreasing thanks to the fast vaccine roll out there. Worldwide the numbers went up again this week. When will they ever go down I wonder. If last Sunday the total number infections and death toll were 131.394.182 and 2.859.650, this week the numbers have gone up to 136.044.098 and 2.939.793. So, no we are not going away anytime soon unfortunately. It's "home arrest" for us for quite a while. Meanwhile in the UK, my birth country, the PM outlined the new traffic light easing of restrictions. Everyone was waiting to know when international travel would be allowed but Boris Johnson was hesitant on that.
Tuesday came and it was just another day in lockdown. We only left the house for our walk. Good news came that day from our head of government, Pedro Sánchez when he announced the State of Alarm would end on 9th May. That doesn't mean Covid is over in Spain. It just means any restrictions, ease of lockdown or otherwise will be dictated now by the 17 autonomous governments. Spain doesn't have 1 government it has 17 regional governments which often have more power than the central government. It's always a fight as different parties lead different regions. The other good news was that the vaccine roll out is accelerating and Sánchez assured the nation that 70% of the population will have received their two jabs by the end of August. That is one month behind the UK. Not bad if it is true. Signs are that it is as more and more supplies arrive and more vaccine hubs appear. What was not good news that day was findings from the head of vaccines at the European Medicine agency who claimed that blood clots were caused by the ever more maligned Oxford vaccine. The agency said the findings were not certain and that they would be announced towards the end of the week. Meanwhile, in the UK, trials of the vaccine on children were postponed. This Anglo Swedish vaccine got off to a bad start and has gone from bad to worse. In my opinion, no one dares say it's unsafe as that would play havoc with the vaccine roll out. I'm still not happy mine was the Oxford vaccine and am on the lookout for blood clots. They probably won't appear. But what if I am one of the unlucky ones? The clots are rare but people have died and more than would normally die with or without the vaccine.
The nurse's visit was the highlight of the day. She thought my father's huge wound looked less deep. It looked the same to me. We would know more after the follow up appointment with the plastic surgeon at the hospital on Thursday. I felt dreadful subjecting my father to that trip in an ambulance and back which takes up to 3 or 4 hours. He is far better off at home but then plastic surgeons don't do home visits. However, as you will read, it didn't happen, damn it.
The other highlight of Tuesday was my belated weekly Skype call with Amanda. I love my weekly calls with her and with Kathy. With my friends I can be my true self and tell them my worries, something I can't really do with my blog where I often have to censor myself for obvious reasons. With them I can pour out my soul. That's what friends are for isn't it?
That night Eladio and I finished a series we had binge watched in just 3 nights. Everyone was talking about "Who killed Sara" and now we are. It's addictive if a bit violent. It's a very well done Mexican TV who-dunnit series. Later I watched more of Grey's Anatomy. I always told you about my secret penchant for hospital series didn't I' I wonder why that is as I don't really like hospitals in real life.
Wednesday came and there was nothing on our agenda that day. How depressing. Every day is the same basically. It was on Wednesday that the EMA (European Medical Agency) announced there was a possible link between the blood clots and the Astrazeneca vaccine, as if we hadn't figured that out already. You can read the announcement here. Even so we are told the benefits are greater than the risks. Tell that to those whose loved ones have died. The ratio of blood clots is somewhere between one in 150 or 200.000. The study by the EMA looked at 86 cases in Europe where some 25 million jabs have been administered. So, the EMA confirmed the links but still recommended the vaccine. Reactions from governments and health authorities differed around the world even in the EU. Each country decided what to do after the announcement or what not to do and nowhere is it the same. This is more bad news for the Oxford company and the roll out of the vaccine programme. In the UK people under 30 were advised to take another vaccine. In Spain they limited its use to people aged 60 to 65 and the next day upped that to 69. This is all very confusing for the public. There has been such bad press for the vaccine that many people in Spain due for a jab did not turn up; as much as 45% in some areas. The governments now have to decide what to do with people not in the age group assigned for Astrazeneca who are due for their second jab. Each country will make its own decision. In Spain they are talking about skipping the second jab as the first supposedly gives you 70% immunity. I think that is damn right stupid to use plain language. Why not use Astrazeneca for their second jab for those people - the vast majority - who had no adverse reaction to the first jab? Oh, well, it's not up to me. In any case I am in the age range where I have no choice and therefore my second jab will be the same; the Oxford one. Do I still have side affects? Well, yes. I can't get rid of pain in my back which seems like it's where my kidneys are. But no blood clots so far. Unfortunately too there have been reports of blood clots coming from another vaccine, the Janssen, shortly to be used around Europe which is based on the same science as AstraZeneca. Not good.
On Wednesday it was Miguel's birthday. Oli's partner turned 46 that day but he would have to delay the celebrations as Elliot was ill with a stomach virus he caught at the nursery. Oli got it too as did many of the parents and children. On Wednesday I ventured out to the local chemist and was on the look out for police because of the local lockdwon. I had been told there were police controls at the two entry and exit points of the area we live in. This was to stop people leaving. There were controls and people were stopped. That meant that in theory this week we couldn't go shopping to Boadilla which is our nearest shopping centre, about 1.5km away. How depressing again. We did though as you will read later.
To cheer myself up I resorted to binge watching Grey's Anatomy every afternoon and at night. I know I'm stupid and should find something more productive to do but I'm beyond that. The state of alarm and this pandemic is getting me down.
Thursday came and stressed me out. That day my father had his appointment at 13.15 at the hospital for a follow up consultation with the plastic surgeon about the huge wound on his leg caused by a bruise after we took him for his first vaccine on 2nd March. His doctor had ordered him an ambulance as we cannot get him in our car. Well, I was blowed when I got a call from the ambulance service to say they would be at our house by 8.30 or 9. They insisted his appointment was at 10.10 but it wasn't. The doctor got the time wrong. The damned ambulance arrived and I had to send it back. I then quickly showered and drove to the health centre to try and get a later ambulance. It was impossible to do so on the phone. I must have spent 1.5 hours there and in the end there was no ambulance and we had to postpone his appointment until 22nd April. I should have been cross with his doctor but I wasn't. How could I be? She is so accommodating and kind to us. So I just had to accept what happened but it stressed me out. I came home to another "situation". Oli had come home with her stomach virus and I was worried sick we would catch it or more worryingly my father. She later brought Elliot and I had no option but to wear a mask around them and arrange for my father to have his lunch alone in his room.
There was good news though. While I was at the health centre Eladio got a call from the health services. Finally they were coming to our house to give my father his second jab and at the same time give Eladio his first jab. That's because my husband is his official carer on paper. It has been a long wait but well worth it.
There was some other minor good news too. As I drove home from the health centre I arrived to see the sight of a lorry removing the huge amount of garden waste from all the cutting and pruning that had to be done after the freak snow storm in Madrid in January called Filomena. I had to take a photo to record the occasion. We had been waiting for 3 months. All over the area debris was being removed finally and hopefully soon everything will be back to normal. Filomena caused havoc to our garden.
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| The lorry that came to remove all the garden waste after the snow storm in January |
When we went on our much needed walk after that, we saw more signs of clearing broken branches and trees not just on the roads but on the paths in between the houses. That was a good sign. But I was cross with one of the workers for throwing his cigarette buts on the path while working. This is a conservation area. He shouldn't do that. Spaniards are not very good at litter I'm afraid.
Friday came, the day of my father's second jab and Eladio's first. It was an important day and I was ready with my camera. Two nurses arrived promptly at 9.30 and after the paperwork I witnessed them preparing the two vital syringes for the two men I love most in my life. It was an historic moment and I was glad they were getting the Pfizer. Here is my father about to receive his dose. Eladio didn't like the picture I took of him so I shall have to keep it to myself.
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| My father getting his second jab at home on Friday morning |
That's my father done now and Eladio will get his second jab at the local health centre in 3 weeks time. We are nearly all set now thank goodness.
It rained most of the day and we did not go on our walk. I was totally shocked to read that HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, had passed away "peacefully" at Windsor Castle that morning, aged just 2 months short of 100. I first found out on whatsapp from my friend Amanda, who, although not a monarchist (like me) was totally stunned. I was so shocked I burst into tears. For me the Duke of Edinburgh, like The Queen, has been a presence in my life ever since I was born. He seemed eternal so his death was like the end of an era. I was so sorry for the Queen for whom he had always been her "strength and stay". I dare to say that Queen Elizabeth is the best monarch England has ever had but that she wouldn't have been able to do it without her beloved husband at her side. I think he was the only person in the world who was able to treat her as a normal person. I also think it was his sense of humour that was part of the glue of their marriage. He called her "Lilibet" but also "sausage". Her face always lit up when he walked into a room. He was the fun side to her seriousness and she needed him to light up the room for her. What will she do without him? No doubt she knew his end was coming as he had been very ill for quite a while, but, like Queen Victoria when Prince Albert died, she will mourn him in her heart from now until her death. Unlike her predecessor, though, Queen Elizabeth will carry on and keep her feelings to herself. How difficult that must be.
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| The announcement from Buckingham Palace |
He came from the same generation as my father and both of them were lieutenants in the Royal Navy fighting the Nazis in WW2. He spent much of the war, like my father, patrolling for U-boats in the North Sea. There are not many of them left. They are a generation to be admired for values we don't see so much today. My friend Amanda pointed out another similarity and a tragic one too. They both lost a sister in an air crash and both dealt with the loss in a similar stoic way. Emotions were pushed aside.
Prince Philip was the Queen's rock. He gave up his naval career for her, to be her consort, not King, and always to walk 3 steps behind her in public. For a man in the 50's that could not have been easy. When his wife became Queen he became her consort. He didn't know what that role involved and neither did anyone else. He only knew he had to protect her and be at her side. Frustrated without a clear role, he carved out his own career, involving himself enthusiastically in many projects and associations close to his heart such as the World Wildlife Fund and more famously the very prestigious Duke of Edinburgh Awards.
It is said the then Princess Royal and heir to the throne, first fell in love with this penniless ousted and homeless Greek Prince who made a dashing figure in his navy uniform, when she was just 13 and he was 18. It was a marriage many courtiers did not bet on yet it survived more than 70 years. The Queen was the head of the monarch, yet he was head of the family, the one was always there for you to quote his daughter Princess Anne and the one with a twinkle in his eye to quote his youngest son, Prince Edward. The family he and the Queen formed is now extensive and I copied the photo of family tree below from The Times (sorry) for the records. In any case, I love family trees.
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| The Duke of Edinburgh and The Queen's immediate family tree |
On Friday after the BBC announced his death there was "wall to wall coverage" of his life. I felt frustrated to be in Spain where there was no such thing.
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| An official portrait of the Duke of Edinburgh in his later years |
It was the twinkle in his eye and his sense of humour and irreverent way of speaking and breaking the ice that endeared the public to him - well not all the public. He may have been the man behind the strong woman but he was a forceful and strongly independent person himself; not someone to be dealt with lightly. My mother used to adore him; especially his so called "gaffes" - there is a list of them here. They weren't gaffes. I think they were ice breakers and a need to speak his own mind. He could be blunt and outspoken and even racist. He himself coined the term "dontopedalogy", "the science for opening your mouth and putting your foot in it". He will be remembered for saying on a trip to Canada in 1969: " I declare this thing open, whatever it is". On a visit to Scotland he asked a driving instructor "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to take the test?". His most famous gaff was probably on a visit to China when he told British students not to stay too long as they might get slit eyes. No other person in a role like his could have got away with speaking in such a way. But he was the Duke of Edinburgh, a unique person who could more or less get away with anything. The Queen probably loved him more because of this and she tolerated and secretly loved his talent for dontepedalogy. It was probably part of the glue too. I love him for it and so did many other people. His departure has left a huge gaping hole in the monarchy and in our lives. He will be sorely missed but never ever forgotten.
Anything else that happened on Friday paled in comparison, especially in our quiet little lives in lockdown here on the outskirts of Madrid. What did not go unnoticed though that day was the continued increase in the number of those infected with Covid and the ongoing media coverage and confusion over the Oxford vaccine.
Saturday came and it did not rain, at least in the morning. We went to do the food shopping yesterday; our "excursion" of the week. That's so funny. I used to hate food shopping and now, because of the pandemic, I actually look forward to it. We also broke the law to do so as we drove to nearby Boadilla. We expected a police control but we were lucky. Just as we got back with our provisions, all over England and nearer home, in Gibraltar, 41 gun salutes were fired in tribute to Prince Philip. In many churches too 99 bells were rung in his honour. This marked the beginning of two weeks of official mourning for the Duke. Shortly afterwards his son and heir to the throne, Prince Charles, wearing a black tie, made a special appearance outside his magnificent house in Highgrove paying tribute to his "dear Papa". He told the nation "my family and I miss my father enormously". I was interested to hear he calls his father "Papa" and his mother "Mama" and not Daddy and Mummy as you would expect. That was good to hear as we have always known relations between father and son were tense, at least when the heir was younger. Prince Philip obviously mellowed over the years. Preparations were being made for his funeral - one he had designed himself and which would have to be adapted to Covid restrictions; i.e. only 30 people present. That means Boris Johnson doesn't get to go; only the immediate family. The Duke did not want a state funeral but something quieter, just with the family and the military. He will get that next Saturday and I shall be watching it on my father's TV in the study where we can get the BBC World Service. I am seriously thinking now of signing up to some VPN service to be able to get the iPlayer.
Meanwhile in Yorkshire, in Sheffield, my dear friends Kathy and Phil were attending her son Tom's wedding to the lovely Indian girl Sital. Only 6 people were allowed which made it somewhat intimate. The rest of the family had to watch on Zoom. Imagine, a wedding on Zoom. The couple were going to marry last year before anyone knew anything about Covid. Their plans have been cancelled countless times but finally yesterday they were married. Hearty congratulation to the bride and groom and to the family. Kathy sent me a set of photos, two of which I want to share - after all they are followers of this blog. Today I look forward to hearing all the details in our weekly Facetime call.
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| The happy couple yesterday |
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| The other happy couple, Kathy and Phil |
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| Rachel Blackmore and Minella Times racing in The Grand National yesterday |
That's an amazing feat for her and her beautiful horse Minella Times and reminds me of the book and film, starring the young Elizabeth Taylor, called National Velvet. I adored that film where a young girl dresses like a boy to take place in the Grand National and wins it. Yesterday, Rachel Blackmore, made that tale come true. As one of the biggest horse fans in the world I hope the news comforted The Queen. If you are not a horse fan or don't live in England, you probably don't know what The Grand National means, not only to the Queen but to most of the country. It's a national institution. Like the Spanish national lottery, El Gordo, it is customary to bet on a horse and rider when you are not usually a gambler or person who bets on anything. I remember my father doing it when I was a child. Saturday thus ended on a happier note.
Today is Sunday and the rain has gone. We shall go on our walk as we do most days and look forward to another quiet day in lockdown. I'm not sure look forward is the right way to describe it. I should not complain but life is a bit boring. I just can't wait for it to be normal again.
So friends and readers, that's it for this week. I did not expect the Duke of Edinburgh to die this week but you never know what the next day will bring, so my friends, while you can and Covid permitting, "Carpe Diem". No doubt Prince Philip would have agreed with that.
Cheers till next Sunday,
Masha
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