Sunday, 27th June, 2021
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| On our walk, prepared for rain, last Sunday in Montrondo |
Good morning folks!
How are you all? Well, I hope. I have nothing to complain about and my only wishes are that my family keep safe and well and that the damned pandemic decreases the damage it is doing. One thing shining on the horizon here in Spain is that from yesterday 26th June, facial masks are no longer required in public. That may be too soon as we still have about 95 cases per 100.000 people and are seeing approximately 4000 cases a day but Covid is finally getting under control in Spain with the vaccination programme having inoculated over 50% of the population. Right or wrong a decision, I am all for not wearing masks in the open air where it is more difficult to catch the horrible virus. I think really it should be up to the individual when to and when not to wear a mask in public. The rules for Covid are all based on city life but in Montrondo, for instance, there are only about 15 inhabitants and where we live outside Madrid is pretty sparse. I have to admit that no one in Montrondo wears one outside their houses and we didn't wear one on our walks where we hardly saw a soul. We may have been flouting the rules but there was absolutely no danger there. I would, however, wear one in the street if I saw a lot of people. So, using caution, I thing mask wearing in public is not necessary and I hail the fact that they are no longer obligatory as I particularly hate them. I hate them because you can't see people's faces properly and because, in my case, masks make my chin and neck itch which is very annoying.
Away in Montrondo you would be forgiven if you didn't think about Covid as the village is so rural and remote that social distancing is the norm. But Covid continues to dominate our lives. Worldwide last week the figures for infections and mortality were 178.965.038 and 3.875.687. Today these figures have risen to 181.669.092 and 3.932.982. Vaccination is key to fighting Covid and rich countries continue their successful programmes. Not so for the underdeveloped world I'm afraid. I am happy to announce that Spain has now vaccinated more than 50% of the population and vaccines will be offered for all those between 19 and 40 by appointment from 1st July. That means my 7 month pregnant daughter will get her jab soon. Suzy, I am afraid is anti vaccine. What can I do?
Last Sunday saw us in Montrondo with our minds not on Covid but on enjoying our stay despite the rain. It rained there every day while we were there but we managed to thwart the weather apart from on 21st June - the summer solstice, going out for our walks when the rain stopped and it generally worked. We had planned to stay a day or too more and then go on to Asturias to our new house but the weather has been so bad in the north of Spain that we decided to cut short our stay and return to sunny and warm Madrid on Wednesday. Besides, I was keen to get home to see my father, be with Suzy and to get things ready for new guests who arrived on Thursday, Swimmy bathers who are coming today and a trio group of Argentinians arriving tomorrow. Most of all the lawn needed mowing. With all this rain the grass had gone wild.
This day last week we went for our walk about 2 hours before lunch and enjoyed a rain free if humid and windy walk. The sun made a short appearance and never came out again. Here are Eladio and little Pippa on the road leading us back to Montrondo from Murias. We couldn't take the old path as the grass is high there and we would have got soaked.
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| Eladio on our walk last Sunday |
I came home to make our lunch, a splendid Sunday roast. I had bought 2 small shoulders of baby lamb from Mercadona and I roasted them in baking bags and then added potatoes. I also made gravy and some veg (leeks). My, what a treat. Of course we were not hungry again for hours after that. There is something in the mountain air that makes food taste better and your appetite bigger in Montrondo. Thus, it is not a good idea to stay for long periods of time at our house in the village.
The rest of the day was spent lazily inside as it was pouring down outside. Eladio lit the fire and the central heating was on. That is unprecedented in June in Montrondo in my experience. I had more book keeping to do as more reservations came in that day and both Santa Pola and the house in Asturias are almost fully booked for the summer. That makes me happy.
Meanwhile, Oli and her family were enjoying the last day of their holiday in Benicassim, Castellón, where it rained too. I think I showed you the video of little Elliot splashing around in puddles in my last post. Here now is a photo of my little grandson on the beach that day. It's a wonderful photo that I shall treasure.
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| Elliot's last day on the beach |
I asked Oli if Elliot had enjoyed his holiday and was told he had except that he didn't like the sand getting in his toes hahaha. Never a good sleeper, he slept generally quite well at the hotel, his first time at a hotel. If he follows in my footsteps he will love hotels.
In fact I have booked 3 nights at hotel called Hospedería Señorío de Briñas in La Rioja for our wedding anniversary in August. I added two nights in Nájera, also in La Rioja at an Airbnb that ended up costing me just 15 euros as I had a coupon for being a Super Host and some credit. That is something to look forward to. We stayed at the Señorío de Briñas hotel in 2009 on a site inspection trip for my former employer, Yoigo, and have wonderful memories of both the hotel and the area. Of course we plan to visit bodegas and buy Rioja wine.
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| I have booked 3 nights at the Señorio de Briñas hotel in August |
That will be our real holiday and something to look forward to. I would have loved a trip to England but because of the pandemic I cannot go. I hope to next year.
Sunday was a quiet day for us but a day in history for Spanish golf when the Basque player Jon Rham, currently the world's number two, won the US Open. He is the first Spaniard to win the US Open. I am not really a golf fan but always celebrate Spanish sporting victories. So I was happy to read that this young player had won his first major title. He dedicated it to his hero, Seve Ballesteros who died 10 years ago of cancer. Ballesteros is a golf legend who won 5 major titles but never the US Open.
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| Jon Rham holding up the US Open cup. What a win for Spain |
If only the Spanish football team, La Rioja, were doing as well as Rham. The fact is in the Euro Cup they have only managed to draw with Portugal and Poland so far. Luckily they beat Slovakia and are through but as runners up in their group. They actually thrashed the Slovaks 5-0. England will be playing Germany at Wembley this week and all that that means for both sides. I don't have to go into the history of their rivalry which still resonates some hostility from both WW1 and WW2. May the best side win but I do hope the best side is England.
That night we watched the famous South Korean film, Parasite which won an Oscar and many more film awards. Curious to see why, I watched some of it that night but found it a bit too silly. The idea is good but I got bored with the script and once again turned to Grey's Anatomy.
Monday came and it was the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. and also the official beginning of summer. In Montrondo, daylight came at 6.46 and dusk at 22.42 (wow). However there was little sun to be seen that day in our village. It rained non stop until about 9 pm just before dusk. I always love this day but this year was a sheer disappointment. If you didn't know it, below is a simple explanation of the summer solstice, also called estival solstice or midsummer: " it occurs when one of the earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the sun". It happens twice a year, once in each hemisphere. I always wonder why the longest day of the year is also called "midsummer" as it is not midsummer but the beginning of summer. Weird right?
I only hope that those celebrating what is a festival for some countries - notably in Scandinavia - had better weather. In Spain Midsummer is called St. John (San Juan) and bonfires are lit on beaches especially in the north of Spain. I reckon there were no bonfires this year in the north of Spain because of the damned rain.
We stayed inside literally all day and were robbed of our walk. I spent the whole morning making a chickpea stew like dish called "cocido madrileño". In Spain the cost of electricity has gone up 40% this month and costs more than any other country in Europe. There have been timetables introduced with cheaper and more expensive hours. The whole thing is stupid as it means you have to put the washing machine on at midnight and cook between 8 and 10 am. I suggested to my husband that we try out our cast iron wood fueled cooker - so typical in this area of Spain - which we had never used until Tuesday instead of our induction stove. It was there more for decoration than anything else. However, we had used the old one at our house in Asturias recently and successfully so I thought Tuesday would be a good idea to try it out. Here is Eladio after having lit the wood and my God does it consume a lot of it.
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| Eladio lighting the cast iron stove |
The experience was good and bad. To maintain a high temperature you have to constantly feed the cooker with wood and watch it. If you don't the fire goes out and the food cooking loses temperature. The stew which includes bones and all sorts of meats can take up to 3h on a normal stove but took longer on Tuesday precisely because the fire kept going out. For the last 30 minutes I had to resort to my induction cooker. In any case the meal was delicious if a bit copious and there was loads left over. I had too many leftovers in our fridge to know what to do with hahahhaa.
I was happy that day to be visited by my nephew, his wife and their child who is just a little older than Elliot. I can't wait for them to meet and play. That was my only distraction on Tuesday. With the rain there was nothing to do but stay inside.
Tuesday would be similar. It rained again all day. That day in Spain, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced the official government pardons of the leaders of the illegal Catalan independence referendum. This has been much questioned by many and has the country and political parties divided. In a poll, more than 60% of the population is against it. So why did Sánchez do this? The answer is easy, he depends on the Catalan independence parties for support in government. He argues it is to smooth relations and I suppose let bygones be bygones but that is not fair for all others in prison. I think he could have found people more worthy of pardons and not this lot who caused so much angst in Spain and divided people even more.
The pardoning made my blood boil and I largely tried to ignore the news I'm afraid. It was a rainy day again but we managed another walk just before lunch and before it bucketed it down again. Again we walked on the tarmac road to Murias as any other path would have been too wet. On our way back Eladio pointed out one of the plots of land, a field, he owns very near the village. Not that we shall ever do anything with it as it doesn't have planning permission. I guess it's just nice to have. Funnily enough a young man called David, perhaps the youngest person in Murias, and his wife have a herd of cows for their meat business (poor cows) and came last week to ask if they could rent the field. Rent here is symbolic, about 3 euros a year hahahaha. Of course we said yes. This is the field and Eladio looking at it.
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| Eladio showing his field outside the village |
Lunch was leftovers and our siesta short that day as we were visiting Eladio's 99 year old mother, my mother-in-law, Ernestina, at her care home in León at 5.30. She is allowed just one visit a week - on Tuesdays from 5.30 to 6 pm and this would be our second visit since the first lockdown. It's just over an hour's drive to the capital of the province also called León. We left Montrondo in pouring rain and a temperature of 11ºc and just 70km away in the capital the temperature was double that and the sun was shining. It was, however, very windy. We had rung to ask if we could take flowers and were told we could. There is a florist next to the care home where I bought a great big bunch to make her happy. I argued that women in general love flowers. Well, I do and only wish my dear husband would remember that occasionally.
This time it was relatively easy to visit Ernestina and they even let us take her out in her wheelchair. Wow, she is now allowed out. She certainly needs it as the rest of the week she is cooped up inside. We were delighted to see her as she was us, although communication is extremely limited. Here she is with Eladio and the flowers.
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| Eladio and his mother on Tuesday outside her residence |
As she doesn't get out often we decided to treat her to a coffee in a bar. Once there we offered her a "decaf" to which she whispered "a normal one please" . That had the other drinkers laughing out loud. My mother-in-law has always loved a good cup of coffee.
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| Eladio's mother kissing him |
We could hardly talk as Ernestina is nearly totally deaf. She can barely talk anymore either as her vocal chords seem not to work so she can only really whisper and we can't hear her. Thus communication is very frustrating. We had to resort to sign language and to writing words in big letters on a piece of paper. She understood as much as possible. Eladio then showed her pictures of the family, notably of Elliot and while he did, she reached up to kiss her oldest son. We had been told no hugging or kissing but again we broke the rules. An old lady like that devoid of communication needs to hug and kiss. I was very touched to see the gesture. She also clapped her hands in appreciation of the visit. We then took her for a walk around the block for her to see normal life outside her quiet residency which I'm sure did her a lot of good. The only thing was that the cold and blustery wind was not too good for a very old lady who hardly ever goes out. We were with her for over an hour and when it got even colder we took her back. We were told not to kiss her goodbye but we had already done so outside (sorry). Once inside, the nurse or carer sprayed her entirely with alcohol (damned Covid) and off she went. I wondered when we would see her again. She looked very good physically so I hope we can see her again in August as it was obvious our visit was a tonic for her.
It was another hour's journey back to the village where Pippa was anxiously awaiting us. We had more leftovers for dinner and then watched part of a film called Tokyo Trial about the trial of Japanese war criminals after WW2 (yes more WW2 films). I found it difficult to sleep that night - damn it - and eventually dosed off at about 2 am.
On Wednesday I woke up at 7.15 and felt tired and down most of the day. The weather was slightly better but just not what you expect in Spain at the end of June. Thus we decided to go home to sunnier Madrid and of course to skip Asturias. We stayed for lunch though and that day Eladio made a barbecue out of two pieces of steak which would have gone bad. Here he is lighting the barbecue. I, meanwhile, made chips to go with our meal.
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| Eladio making the barbecue |
The whole point of a barbecue is to have it outside but it was too cold and we ate our meal indoors as we did all meals during our rainy and cold stay in the village. After a short siesta and all the packing, we left the house at around 5 pm. I took one last goodbye photo of the field with the church which shows you just how dark and cloudy it was; not good enough weather to continue our stay.
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| Dark and gloomy Montrondo, my goodbye photo |
As our journey progressed south so did the thermometer and upwards and we arrived to 24ºc in Madrid. Oh how lovely compared to Montrondo. The rest of the week and the week to come is summer as usual in the centre of the country.
It was great to be home but it was late and I didn't see my father until the next day. I spent at least an hour unpacking food and clothes and at about 10 pm, when it was still light (I love this time of year); Eladio and I had a small dinner "al fresco", something I missed in Montrondo.
I slept wonderfully that night in my own bed - in my opinion the most comfortable in the world - and was awake on Thursday morning at 7.15 ready to face the world. I had a lazy and quiet day compared to events in the world. Much in the news this week was the story of a British RN destroyer ship in the Crimea. Crimea, in the Ukraine, was annexed by Russia in recent years but the UK and many other countries do not recognise it as part of Russia. The Russians do of course and warned the British ship by actually firing at it. This has led to a diplomatic row between the two countries. The last thing we need right now is a row between the UK and Russia, just as the sausage row over Northern Ireland with the EU seems to be cooling down.
Thursday was my dear friend Kathy's father, "Brian" - Mr. Lindley's 90th birthday. A Yorkshire man born and bred, I have only met him once but was impressed with the man who is kind and gentle and a very loving father and husband. He is by the way a rose expert (I admire people who know a lot about roses - he used to be the rose judge at the Yorkshire Show). My generation find it difficult to call people older than us by their name rather than their surnames. So I shall stick to Mr. Lindley in a sign of respect. Mr. Lindley was diagnosed with cancer 5 years ago but somehow has battled through to make it to 90 - his wish. That day he was surrounded by his loved ones, wife, Jean and daughters and grandchildren of which he has a few. I was so glad for him as he and his wife have had to live in semi isolation since the damned pandemic began at the beginning of 2019. Thankfully his 90th birthday fell when there are now fewer restrictions and he was able to be with his family; no doubt his greatest wish. too
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| Mr Lindley and Mrs Lindley - aka Brian and Jean. Mr. Lindley turned 90 this year, quite an achievement. |
I spent a lot of the morning on my work - aka my little hospitality business. I had more book keeping to do after new reservations (and one cancellation sniff). I also had to prune the roses and the geraniums for them to look in good shape for our new guests arriving that day. Eladio mowed the small lawns, leaving the big one for Saturday.
Joy of joys Oli and Miguel came to lunch although without Elliot who I missed. We had leftovers from the big cocido I made on the cast iron stove in Montrondo. It was then siesta time but mine was interrupted by my guests arriving. Patrick, who is from Toulon is of Spanish origin as is his brother Jack with whom he came. Patrick and his wife, Corinne, a nurse (busy vaccinating now) came last year to bring their daughter Jade to her accommodation for her Erasmus year in Spain at the local Uni (Universidad Europea de Madrid). Patrick and his brother had come to take Jade back. I felt sorry for Jade whose Erasmus year was so interrupted by the pandemic. It was nice to have repeat guests and we had built up a rapport with Patrick who often wrote to us during the pandemic.
When they were settled in and gone again, there was no point trying to return to my siesta. In any case Suzy joined me in the kitchen where I made my afternoon "cuppa" (decaf tea by the way) and we later convened to the wicker sofas by the pristine pool. Patrick and co would not be using it as they have their own pool in Toulon, France, and live by the sea. We didn't go in but we sat by the pool all afternoon. Suzy was working on an article for a vegan magazine and I was consuming my latest drug - Grey's Anatomy. We were joined by the dogs but wouldn't let them near the sofas with their cleanly laundered white covers hahahaha. I caught a shot of Suzy while she was working. Here she is.
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| Suzy working by the pool this week |
Dinner was a light affair - tuna salad and then it was time for bed. I fell asleep over the news and then woke up at 0.50 after which I could not go back to sleep. I had to take two pills in the end and then woke up early at 6 but got up at 7.
Friday would be busy. It always is as it's shopping day. As you know the highlight in between shopping is having a coffee together at one of our preferred cafes. This time it was Manacor. Lunch had to be early that day as Suzy had a 15.30 appointment in the centre of Madrid. I accompanied her and we had good mother and daughter time. From Madrid we drove home but stopped off for an hour or so to visit Elliot and family or should I say Oli and family? We hadn't seen the "little baby" since before our trip to Montrondo and their trip to Castellón. He was delighted to see us and we were to see him. We immediately sat on the floor with him to play with a lego train set his father had just bought him. I wanted to see some of the new features of the new flat which Miguel showed me but was interrupted by Elliot who came to find me, hold my hand and take me back to the lounge where his toys were. He is hardly verbal but can make himself very clear.
While we played Suzy fed him some slices of mango and flat peach. I think he nearly said the word "mango" (haha - that is for you Daddy as you commented you like it when I add "haha" to stories in my blog).
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| Suzy and Elliot at their flat on Friday evening |
Oli watched as we played and rested I think. The poor girl who is almost 7 months pregnant had tripped over a paper basket and fell on the floor in the middle of her TV studio that morning. I should add it happened 1 minute before she had to be live. Thankfully the only damage done was to the knees upon which she landed when she fell. Everyone in the newsroom was scared stiff. Oli and Miguel had been shopping in the sales for clothes for Juliet - my granddaughter to come (due date now 4th September). They were lovely and I felt a little guilty I haven't yet got anything for her. Maybe I am superstitious or something but I always give gifts after the birth of a baby. In any case she has everything she needs from all Elliot's stuff. I love visiting Oli and family at their new flat which is soooo new and modern you can't believe it. Our house seems veritably old fashioned in comparison. But our visit had to be short as Suzy had a dinner date with Elenita and my husband was waiting for me for our dinner. But we would be seeing them again yesterday when we had dinner her last night.
We had our again al fresco and in peace except for the dogs salivating at our side (haha - for you again Daddy). We were in bed early and it seems very early these days as dusk is after 10 pm. We didn't watch anything special - in fact I dozed over the news and woke up again past midnight.
Saturday came and my French guests left early in the morning. They had a long drive to Toulon on the Côte D'Azure (not Toulouse hahaha - again - Remember Too Long and Too Loose which is lost on the Spaniards by the way?) - about 12000 km and more than a 12 hour drive. I wished Patrick and his brother Jack a safe journey and turned to make my breakfast.
It was a beautiful morning and would be a guest free day except for my long standing Russian lodger, Felipe.
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| Saturday morning view from one of the bedroom terraces |
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| Eladio mowing the lawn yesterday |
I had lots to do but decided while Eladio mowed the lawn, I needed to go on a walk as I have hardly moved since our return from Montrondo. I didn't take the dogs as 2 are difficult to manage. Wearing my headphones and listening to Spotify, I remembered that masks in public were no longer obligatory as from that day. Oh what a joy. I didn't wear a mask on our walks before the end of masks but always put one on if I saw anyone coming. I read that day that face masks in the outdoors have been obligatory now for 401 days. Imagine.
Once home, I was out again, on errands. I went to the chemist and had to remember not to put my mask on when I got out of the car. Other people obviously have mixed feelings as there were plenty of people still wearing masks outdoors. From the chemist I went to the upmarket BM supermarket to get some fresh fish for our lunch. Meanwhile Oili had asked me to to go round as little Elliot was out of sorts with a temperature and Miguel was out.
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| Elliot feeling unwell yesterday morning |
Thus I rushed home to unload the fish, etc and prepare it for our lunch. A few minutes later I was at Oli's house. I had taken Pippa with me to cheer Elliot up only to realise that once inside their compound I had left her in my car in the boiling heat. I dashed back for her feeling extremely guilty. It was to be her first visit to Oli's new flat. By the time we were there, little Elliot's temperature had gone and he was feeling fine. We think it was a side effect of the meningitis vaccine he had been given on Friday. Talking of vaccines, Miguel was out precisely because he had gone for his anti Covid vaccine appointment. He was given the one dose Janssen vaccine and proudly showed us his arm and the certificate to prove he has been given the vaccine.
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| Miguel, just after his Covid vaccine yesterday |
It's just 3.8km to our house from their flat which meant we were home in a jiffy. Before our lunch, I made some delicacies for that night's family dinner: tuna fish canapés and small fruit tarts. These are the delicious tartlets. I still have some left over and will be taking them on our journey today - yes we will be off again, this time to sunny parts, to our apartment near the beach.
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| My little fruit and cream tarts |
Lunch was fish and chips with my father and Eladio. Suzy had friends coming for lunch; Juli and Elenita and they would make their own meal. I joined them after my short siesta and soon afterwards Oli and family were here again. They had had lunch at Miguel's parents' place to celebrate his mother's birthday.
Thus we had some lovely family and friend time by the pool until it was time for Juli and Elenita to go. I made a splendid dinner for us last night which we had on the kitchen terrace. The food looks delicious don't you think?
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| Our dinner last night. |
In this family we call meals like this "bits and bobs" and they are generally our favourite. Oli and family left after 9 and we were in bed late. It was then that I read the bombshell headline that the UK health Minister, Matt Hancock had resigned.
That may not matter to many people but in the UK it was huge news. So what happened for him to resign? For those of you not familiar with the facts let me enlighten you a bit. Matt Hancock has been the public face of the government dishing out the lockdown rules; one being about social distancing and not hugging anyone outside your bubble. That rule has now been relaxed but while it was still in force, the UK's head of health was seen on a CCTV camera dated 6th May in Parliament, literally "snogging" and fondling his mistress Gina Coladengelo, a friend he hired as an aide - they are both married but were having an affair (now public of course) The image was leaked to The Sun and since then he has been under extreme pressure to resign. He has also come under scrutiny too for cronyism for hiring Mrs. Coladengelo.
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| The kiss that ended the Health Minister's career |
Of course his main misdemeanor was flouting the very rule he had imposed on the public. His error reminded us all of Dominic Cummings and his flouting of the rules with his trip to Durham during lock down. Boris (Johnson) hoped the new (sex) scandal would go away but it didn't. Instead of Johnson firing Matt Hancock which is what he should have done, finally on Friday night the now ex health minister resigned. The whole affair has affected his and his mistress' families for very obvious reasons. I feel sorry not for the health minister but for his wife Martha who knew nothing about his liaison. Sex scandals in England are the stuff that make up the biggest news; not so in Spain.
That was the news my fellow Brits went to bed with last night but not Spaniards who don't care much about sex scandals or breaking rules as much as the Brits. I'm not sure if I care or not but I do care when those who make the rules break them themselves. For once a rule maker and rule breaker did the decent thing and resigned. So he should have.
And today is Sunday, the second day of no masks outdoors. As I hinted earlier on, we shall be off to our apartment near the beach and near Santa Pola. We haven't been since last October and are keen to go back and it will be lovely to have Suzy with us. I have had to block the calendar from now to Friday just in case I get a booking while we are there. We have guests leaving today and guests coming next Friday which gives us just 5 nights at our pad by the sea and we are going to enjoy every moment of our time there.
You will hear all about our time there in next week's blog post. Meanwhile, friends, keep well.
Cheers till next Sunday,
Masha
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