Sunday 13th June, 2021
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| Family, happiness, sister reunion - last Sunday |
Good morning everyone.
How is life? Still sitting out the pandemic? Of course you are but it will be different for different people all over the world. In Spain we have some of our freedom back but not all. In other countries people are in lockdown or coming out of it. In the UK they are due to return to life as normal on 21st June but that may be put on hold because of the rise in cases thanks to the now called "Delta" variant. Last Sunday the global figures for infections and death were 173.729.468 and 3.736.514. Today these figures stand at 176.422.387and 3.810.952. I say we are sitting out the pandemic but I should not complain because I am just a side witness as Covid has not affected the health of this family. So far, none of us has been touched and for that I am very grateful.
I was very grateful too to have Suzy back sound and safe. It's wonderful to have her home after 8 months and I am much relieved she is doing well despite her Nicaraguan adventure which ended in an operation to remove her appendix. Not many people from the West will have had that experience. She will have a scar on her "tummy" forever but I see that as a "war scar", an experience she will never forget and will probably tell her grandchildren and nephews and nieces.
She was to see her nephew Elliot for the first time since late October and of course he has progressed enormously since then. She was also to see her sister Oli, now 6 months pregnant with Juliet. I was witness to that reunion as we went to have coffee last Sunday at their very nearby new flat which was a first for Suzy. We spent some lovely quality family time together at Oli's house and we all really like it. Elliot was overjoyed to see us and got very, very excited. He flapped his arms, rolled on the floor and made excited noises. It was so lovely to know that he knew who Suzy was; his "Aunty Bonny" even though he hadn't seen her for such a long time. That has to be thanks to video calls. He immediately accepted her as family which made me overjoyed. When he calmed down a bit and Suzy had seen the new flat, it was reading time. He loves me reading to him and this week I read him some of the Spot books, introduced to us by my friend Joanna. I also read him some old Peter and Jane books which belonged to the girls. I was in for a surprise. I could not believe just how old fashioned they were and sexist I should say. Peter fights with his friends and buys toy guns while his sister plays with dolls. None of that would be acceptable today hahahaha.
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| Reading to Elliot with Suzy last Sunday |
But soon he was tired and wanted some comfort breast milk. I am wondering whether he will still want to suckle at his mother's breast when Juliet is born. Oli is trying to wean him off; no easy task. He soon fell asleep at her breast and unfortunately we had to go as we had 11 guests arriving at midday to use the pool.
Raquel and her friends came just after we got back. They were delighted with the pool and terrace which had been impeccably cleaned especially for them as had the pool. Everything looked perfect and I think they had a great day. I later mused as I sat on the kitchen patio that swimming pool guests are just as lucrative as Airbnb guests but far less invasive.
I then had to deal with lunch and when I had everything on the go, out of the blue, I rang my dear cousin Katty who lives in New Zealand. She is the granddaughter of my mother's youngest brother, Nicholas, known to me as "Dyadya Kolya". What a delight to catch up. Love you Katty and family. We must talk more often.
We had our lunch in the dining room and the afternoon was spent chilling out. Suzy went off for a reunion with her great friend, Elenita and wasn't back until dinner time. Dinner for the three of us was on the kitchen patio where at 9 pm it was still light and warm (25ºc).
Meanwhile on Sunday, the big news in the UK, at least, was the birth of Prince Harry and Meghan's new daughter. They surprised us all by calling her Lilibet, the nickname of the Queen. They didn't surprise us with her second name, "Diana", after Harry's mother the beloved Princess Diana. Her full name is Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. So much for feminism and the Sussex's criticism of the Royal Family. Then they go and call their baby girl Lili for Lilibet. I wondered whether the Queen knew of approved. Well there is a fight now about that. According to the BBC, the Palace informed that the Queen hadn't been asked so now there is a real Royal fight as Lili's parents accused the BBC of libel. Not a good start to the baby's life nor the already estranged relations with Buckingham Palace.
Lilibet, or Lili, was born in California and I wonder when the Queen will be able to see her 11th great grandchild. Perhaps when Harry goes over to the UK for the unveiling of a statue of his mother at Kensington Palace. He really needs to make amends with his family.
Monday came and it was a busy morning for us. My thoughts, however, were about my mother as 7th June would have been her birthday. There are two dates when I remember her especially, her birthday and the day she left us, 1st October. If you know me well you will know about my mother and her very exotic roots. She was born Her Serene Highness Princess Elena von Lieven to Russian born parents in Rome on 7th June 1920 shortly after the family escaped the Russian Revolution. My mother was the most charismatic, cultured and fun person I every knew but she had a very hard early life. After Rome the family moved to live in Bulgaria where my grandfather became an Orthodox priest. Hers was a very strict upbringing. When WW2 broke out, my mother and her brothers had to flee the country and went to Germany where my mother and younger brother Nicholas were imprisoned by the Gestapo. They were not able to return to Bulgaria after the war as it was now a Russian satellite. Eventually my mother found stability in England where she married my father in Cambridge in the early 50's. The photo below is perhaps the best picture I have of her as a young woman. I think it was taken in Sofia shortly before she fled the country. My mother must have been about 24 when the photo was taken. I never thought my mother was particularly good looking but when she was young she obviously was. Many people pointed out to me that both Suzy and I look like her when I posted it on social media. What a life eh!
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| My mother as a young woman |
RIP Mummy. You are always in my heart.
As I said Monday was a busy day. Suzy spent the first part of it preparing an email to send to the health insurance company with all the details of her "repatriation" expenses. I helped her a bit and then we were off on our walk. It was very warm by then and we decided that from now on we will go earlier. Once home we were soon off again, this time to the local and public health centre to register Suzy there and get a doctor's appointment. I had work to do before lunch, work I always try to get out of the way in the morning so as to leave my afternoons free. My main job is really our little hospitality business. I spent part of the morning doing the "book keeping" of all upcoming reservations. This sounds easy but I have multiple ads to manage as well as the pool bookings. I was happy to get a new booking for our house in Asturias that day - a direct one too (i.e. no commission from the likes of Booking or Airbnb) and one for our house from a Danish lady and her son at the end of August. Ditte sounds lovely. I am so lucky with our guests. They are nearly always a delight to host.
Suzy had lunch with us but went to spend the rest of the day and the night with her friends Monica and Chati. That left Eladio and I alone in the afternoon, alone with no guests except for Felipe who was out. It was the perfect opportunity to take our first bathe of the year and we did so - skinny dipping btw (haha).
Perhaps the highlight of our bathe was using our new solar shower for the first time which holds up to 20 litres of warm water. Top marks to Eladio for choosing it when our old shower was destroyed by the January snow storm. It definitely took the edge off the feeling of cold as we took our first dip. I was in first - Eladio takes longer to decide hahaha and I had to have a photo to record the moment. Here I am in our pool which we had all to ourselves. What a luxury.
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| My first bathe of the year |
Soon Eladio was in too and I caught him on camera. Here he is enjoying the moment.
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| Eladio's first bathe |
Part of Monday afternoon was spent skyping with my dear friend Amanda. It's always lovely to catch up with her. Like me she was happy as she had had the pleasure of the company of her daughter Cordelia for 5 days and whom she hadn't seen since last summer because of Covid. Thus we were two more than contented mothers that day hahahaha.
That night Eladio and I finished Season 5 of Line of Duty. Wow what a series. I can't wait for the final season, 6, to be available on Netflix. I later read this week that The Queen is a great fan too. Good for her.
Tuesday dawned and it would be another scorcher with the temperature reaching 34ºc. We only left the house for our walk. We had an interesting encounter on our way back when we bumped into a group of children on a school field trip. They all wanted to pet little Pippa but she is very wary of strangers.Thus I gave the children a little lesson on how to approach animals. I spoke in English to some of them as the teachers told me English was high on the syllabus. One of the girls, Alejandra, aged 11 told me she was bilingual so I tried out her English too. She was bowled over to realise I am of English origin.
While all this was happening, Oli was doing her job at Prado del Rey, the TVE studios for the national broadcasters programmes. I always love to watch and her and Juliet now as her bump is very visible at six months pregnant.
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| Oli doing her job on Tuesday morning |
Her TV cameraman partner, Miguel, was working with her at the same programme that day. He works for different programmes but that day they were together. They often are. Oli posted a photo of them both. He was beaming. She was too. She later posted this photo on social media (quite rare for her) pronouncing her love for him at home and at work. They met 12 years ago at work too and their love has grown from strength to strength. I couldn't wish for a better son-in-law.
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| Oli and Miguel at work together this week |
It's amazing to think they will soon be a family of 4. Welcome Juliet. She is due, by the way, on 1st September. Even Elliot joins them at work as his day care centre is on the premises of the TV installations at Prado del Rey in nearby Pozuelo. Here he is that morning just after he had woken up. He looks so sweet. Eladio said that all he needed was wings to look like an angel. He is not an angel in real life though. He is high spirited and has been in trouble for biting his little companions at the day centre. Apparently he then hugs and kisses them. Hahaha.
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| Our little angel, Elliot |
Suzy was away that day spending time with Mónica and Chati, friends she lived with during her time in London. We wouldn't see her until later that night.
Thus our day was very quiet. It only livened up when she joined us for dinner. I had some quiet time with her after dinner, with a heart to heart mother and daughter talk. Her well being is my top priority.
For some reason, or for no reason, I didn't sleep well that night. I was awake at 7.30 on Wednesday morning after having fallen asleep in the small hours.
I had work to do that morning, updating my register and book keeping with more reservations for our various houses. I had a Danish lady and her son coming at the end of August at this house, a family of 5 from Madrid staying at our beach apartment, as well as 2 young couples from Albacete who also chose that apartment. My book keeping is looking good and the summer is very promising.
Wednesday was quiet. Our walk was hot as we are having a heat wave at the moment. Suzy and I spent most of the morning working quietly by the pool. I was mostly involved in my little hospitality business which at the moment is busy as it is the high season. I have also noticed now that international guests are on the rise. We spent the afternoon by the pool too but I didn't go in. I did go in though at midnight. There was a problem with the water in the area and it had been switched off. Thus I crept downstairs to have a midnight skinny dipping swim. It was luxury. Thankfully the water issue was cleared up and shortly afterwards the supply was back.
Thursday was to be the highlight of the week; both the afternoon and the evening. Oli had asked us round to her new flat to help with Elliot while Miguel was working an afternoon shift. We stepped outside the house at about 5.30 and it felt like being in an outside sauna with the temperature near 40ºc. Thank God Oli's new flat has air conditioning. Elliot was delighted to see his "Aunty Bonny" and his grandparents and we were delighted to see him. We spent quality playing time with him. The amount of toys and games he has could fill a toy shop! He has a new table come drawing board and Suzy and I did our best to draw. We are both hopeless. I can only draw a flower, a cat and stick men. Suzy is a bit better and drew a dog and a tree. I loved seeing her getting acquainted with her little nephew.
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| Aunty Bonny and Elliot |
When we opened the door to go outside, he insisted in riding up and down the lift, wanting to press all the buttons, including the alarm. That alarmed me hahahha. He also wanted to go up the steps which he is learning to do but also outside. It was still hot but we took him to the playground where there were other children on their bikes or playing in the sand. I did my best to introduce him to a little boy who looked just a bit older than him but he wasn't interested hahahaha. He seemed to prefer the swings.
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| Elliot on the swings on Thursday afternoon |
Soon it was time for Eladio and I to leave. Believe it or not we had a dinner date in the centre of Madrid. Julio, my dear friend and ex Nokia colleague, had invited us to dinner at a very swish restaurant; La Máquina in Jorge Juan, a swish street too in the heart of one of the richest areas in the city. Elliot didn't like to see us go and got into my car, a Mini, which he loves. He cried when we left but thankfully was later entertained by his mother and aunt. The girls had quality time together and enjoyed dinner with little Elliot. We were a bit late for our dinner date and I couldn't get over the amount of people out having dinner in the area of our restaurant. Julio was patiently waiting for us. I think Thursday night was our first time in the city in many many months and it has also been many months since we last saw my friend. He is a dear friend, an ex Nokia colleague. He hired my best "buddy", Fátima and we became firm friends. We called each other The Three Musketeers. Sadly Fátima is no longer with us but is always part of the conversation.
Julio being very wary of Covid - even more than us - had booked a table on the street terrace. In my mind there were too many people inside. It was so great to be together again. I had forgotten why Julio had invited us out and as we made a toast, I asked what we were celebrating. Julio's reply was "life". I second that. We have got through the Pandemic, so far, unscathed and consider ourselves lucky. So, yes we celebrated life that night and all our blessings. I got the waiter to take a photo to record the evening and for once I got a decent picture out of a waiter. Most waiters take dreadful photos but this was fine. Here we are with our glasses of Arzuaga wine from the Ribera del Duero region, about to make a toast.
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| Celebrating life - dinner in the city with Julio on Thursday evening. |
Julio chose Arzuaga wine as once at Nokia I organised a team building event at the bodega of the same name and what a wonderful event it was. We still speak about it today.
Our conversation was varied. We tried to steer away from any sad subjects in our lives and concentrate on the positive things we had to discuss. At one stage Eladio and Julio were reciting poetry. What memories they have. My husband has 3 degrees but Julio who has also has 2 is now embarking on his 3rd. He will study History of Art. My dear friend has a degree in telecoms engineering, economics and now he will turn to art. My husband has his Theology degree from the church as well as a degree in Educational Studies and Philosophy. What cultured company I was in that night. I love both men. All this happened over a delicious dinner as La Máquina which is famed for fabulous food. We had mini scallops, mini clams, artichokes and then each of chose a second course. Eladio had oxtail, Julio fish and I went for my favourite, "entrecot" steak. Thus there was little room for "pudding". The dinner came to an end just after 11 pm. We agreed to see each other this summer, either in Santa Pola near where Julio has a beach flat or maybe in Asturias if we can coincide. All in all it was fabulous dinner in the city and a great end to the day.
We were home by 11.30 or so and found Suzy up with the dogs. We sat for a while drinking copious amounts of cold water and I was in bed by past midnight.
While we had had a great day, the leaders of the UK and US, Johnson and Biden and their wives, met up in Cornwall ahead of this weekend's G7 summit at Carbis Bay near St. Ives. The hotel they are staying at looks like to die for so I shall add it to my bucket list. It was reported that Biden had warned Johnson not to jeopardise the Good Friday Northern Ireland agreement. His warnings come while the UK are arguing with the EU over the post Brexit agreement. Things don't look too good. I hoped Biden can put some sense into his UK ally. I'm not sure he was able as the now called "sausage war" came to a heat this weekend with neither side bowing. It's all about inspections on meat from the UK into Ireland. Now isn't that ridiculous?
That night also brought terrible news. At the end of April two little girls, Olivia aged 6 and her baby sister, Ana, aged 1, were kidnapped by their father and went missing in the Canary Islands. The news has been headlines for weeks now. It was on Thursday night we heard that Olivia had been found dead in a bag at the bottom of the sea. They are still looking for the father and Olivia's little sister, probably at the bottom of the sea too. How could a father do that? I just cannot begin to imagine the mother's pain, her worst nightmare. There is a name for killing your own children to spite your wife or partner and it is vicarious killing. Chilling isn't it?
Friday came and I was up at 6.50. While on our walk I got a message from the Madrid health authorities for my second vaccine appointment. It's been put forward to 15th June. My first jab of AstraZeneca was on 2nd April and I wasn't expecting my second one until 2nd July. That was good news. The authorities are now putting forward the second jab as people in my age bracket, the only ones to get the PR disastrous vaccine, were or are the must vulnerable because of the Indian vairiant (Delta) as a 1st dose only gives 30% efficacy. That is why the dates have been put forward. I am happy to get my second jab earlier but I am a bit wary of being injected with the Oxford vaccine again.
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| Confirmation for my second vaccine appointment came earlier than expected |
That morning was shopping day and Suzy came with us. The highlight was coffee at Alverán, a local bakery we tend to favour. It was sunny and pleasant and precious time with our oldest daughter who needs so much support at this time. Here she is with her father and below with me. I was feeling good as you can imagine.
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| Coffee time on Friday. Precious time with Suzy |
We were to spend more precious time with her that day as we were having dinner at Oli's place, at their new flat which is so near us. I ordered Moroccan food from El Tuareg and Lucy made us some tortillas. It was not only precious time with Suzy, we were visiting Elliot again and he loves our visits as we love going. As usual he was watching Peppa Pig. What a clever series. Our dinner was splendid. I have a not very good photo of the occasion but at least I have one to remember it.
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| Dinner at Oli's on Friday night |
We left early, for us, at around 10.30. Elliot came with us to the car and, as usual, did not want us to go. But no worries we would see him the next day.
While we were at dinner, Nadal and Djokovic were playing in the Roland Garros semi final. I was routing for Nadal as I wanted him to win his 14th French Open cup and become the male tennis player to have won most grand slams. But it was not to be. In an apparently thrilling match, the Serb won. Today he plays the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. Who do you think will win?
While we were at dinner, too, our new guests arrived at our apartment in Santa Pola. Lucy, our neighbour who takes care of the flat and the guests, told me they were delighted with the accommodation. We are so lucky to have her.
That night though there was a much fancier dinner going on in my home country, in Cornwall, a most beautiful part of England. The G7 were beginning their annual meeting which is now being dominated by the Northern Ireland Protocol post Brexit, world wide vaccination and climate change. Another big topic discussed was beating China in "making a better world". Joe Biden got support from the other leaders for his Build Back Better World plan to financially support lower and middle income countries vs China's Belt and Road Initiative to finance infrastructure in poor countries. In the picture of the world's richest countries leaders, there was only one woman, Angela Merkel. Ursula von der Leyen was there too in her capacity as President of the Commission but she is not a country President or Prime Minister. Thankfully the Queen stepped in to add a third woman to the official picture. It was wonderful to see her there taking her rightful place. If I were in charge of the agenda I would add gender equality. Wouldn't you?
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| The Queen in the centre, increasing the number of women to three. |
I suppose the Queen noticed the absence of women too. Then again, she is much acquainted with events where men's presence dominates everything. Only when we have real gender equality will this world be a better place.
Those were my thoughts when I went to bed, falling asleep after watching part of a German TV series called Deutschland. It will be familiar to Angela Merkel as it is about an East German man turned spy in the early 80s. It will be familiar to her as she was brought up in Communist East Germany. Not a nice place to grow up.
Saturday came and life was normal. I was particularly struck by the news that the Spanish photographer, Emilio Morenatti who works for the AP had won this year's Pulitzer Prize in the feature photo category. I was happy the photographer was Spanish but I was especially intrigued by the winning photo and his set of photos. Entitled "Loneliness" they include shots that of lockdown in Spain during the pandemic last year, especially the effect on old people. This is his winning shot.
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| The winning shot for this year's Pulitzer Prize in the feature photo category |
You can see the rest of the photos Emilio Morenatti submitted here. They couldn't represent better what lockdown and death meant for so many people
We went on our walk and just as we got back, Oli and Elliot had come. It was a surprise visit and we were delighted to have more time with Elliot. We took him to the swings where Eladio pushed him. He just didn't want to come off.
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| Elliot loving the swings |
Oli and Elliot had come as Miguel was busy with his brother putting up a new bed for Elliot and other furniture they had bought. Thus my youngest daughter and our grandson stayed for lunch. There was pool time too but Elliot didn't want to go in. He did though like to throw his socks into the water hahaha and splash around.
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| Oli and Elliot by the pool yesterday |
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| Elliot eating water melon for the first time yesterday |
They left just before 7 pm and shortly afterwards Suzy went to her sister's flat for dinner where they would be joined by Elenita. Thus Eladio and I had a quiet dinner together before going to bed to watch the news and whatever was on. We were asleep by midnight.
Today is Sunday and it will be warm again. Thus I must hurry so as not to miss our early morning walk to avoid the sun.
I wish you all the best and will leave you now until next Sunday.
Cheers till then/Masha.
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