Sunday, September 12, 2021

Grandparents again, looking after Elliot, trip to Faunia, Elliot meets his sister, his first day at school, Juliet goes home, 20th anniversary of 9/11, my father meets his great granddaughter, Emma Raducanu, the new queen of tennis and other stories.

 Sunday, 12th September, 2021

One of our first photos with little Juliet. We are besotted

Good morning everyone. 

How have you all been since my last blog post on Saturday 4th September, the day of Juliet's birth? Juliet is lucky because she was born in the west. The fate of new born babies in other parts of the world, like Afghanistan, so much in the news these days, is the total opposite of the life that lies ahead of our darling new born baby. She will have all the comforts of life that all babies should have. It is a sad fact that where you are born determines the life you will lead. Think of women in Afghanistan or in Yemen or Saudi Arabia and if you are a woman and reading this no doubt you will agree. My heart goes out to them, deprived of the freedom we take for granted here in Spain or in other rich countries. Women are still not equal though. I found that out this week when I went to the bank for a routine visit. It appears that in our joint bank account I figure as Eladio's beneficiary and not his equal.  I mean, how archaic is that? Not long before I came to live in Spain in 1981, women needed their husband's or father's approval to open a bank account, buy a house or  even  get a passport. But if Spain was able to progress to the free country it is today in 40 years, why, oh why, are most of the  Middle Eastern countries still living in the equivalent of the middle ages when it comes to women's rights? I don't get it. Juliet has no idea now just how lucky she is. I do hope that by the time she becomes 20, life for women all over the world will be better and easier. 

Juliet's was born in Covid times and Covid continues to be an issue and we shall probably be living with it forever now. In Spain the progress of vaccination is one of the highest in the world which is a good thing. Another good thing is that finally the numbers are going down. There are now around 130 cases per 100.000 inhabitants. Worldwide, the number of infected and fatalities continue to increase. If last Saturday they stood at 220.651.402 and 4.567.493 respectively, today they are at 225.119.796 and 4.638.780. We are, though,  seeing countries with good vaccination programmes such as Israel, the UK and the US reporting higher figures than ever.  In the UK the average number of those infected has been around 30.000 daily this week. The number of those who have died is also high. So what we need is more people to be vaccinated. I was glad to hear from a cousin in New Zealand this week that Spain just sent them a quarter of a million pfizer doses to help that small country at the end of the world ramp up its vaccination programme. That's great for New Zealand who is lagging behind in vaccinating its population but what I want to see is the rich countries helping the poor countries in their vaccination efforts. Until the whole world is vaccinated the numbers will continue to rise. Juliet is a lucky girl in another aspect. She was born with Covid anti bodies thanks to  her mother Olivia being vaccinated. 

If you are not into babies, then you won't be too interested in today's post as it's all about her. It's also about Elliot, our time looking after him and him meeting his sister for the first time as well as his first day at school (play school). It's been quite a week for him and for us all with lots of firsts. It has been exhausting but very exciting and emotional. We are over the moon as you can imagine.

Saturday 4th September came and Oli was to be admitted into the Quirón Hospital for birth to be induced. We went to pick up Ellio and all his things. Baby paraphernalia is non ending; clothes, sun cream, sun hat, toys, nappies, car seat, push chair, sippy cup, baby wipes; the lot. Of all his things he most treasures his horses and his cars. Elliot had no idea what was coming but we did. As we couldn't join Oli and Miguel at the hospital we decided to give Elliot a very special day. We took him to Faunia, a big animal theme park. I'm not into zoos and don't like to see animals in cages but Faunia is more respectful of animals than zoos as I have known them. So off we went.

Our little grandson is very small and only turns 2 this month on 17th September but he loves animals so we knew he was going to love the trip. We had never been to Faunia so it was also a first for us. It was full of young couples and their small children. We seemed to be the only grandparents. We had to deal with fastening him into his car seat and opening and closing his push chair - no easy feat for us. These days you seem to need a degree in engineering to figure it out. We had to ask a woman who wanted our car spot when we left to help us close the push chair. It was an embarrassing moment haha.

As to the theme park, Elliot did like it and was able to touch the farm animals. As we went in, we had our photo taken and of course we paid for it. There are so many ways Faunia makes extra money which is difficult to resist. But now we have a proper souvenir of that lovely visit. 

Our official Faunia photo
More money is easily spent at the shop at the exit. There we showed Elliot lots of animal figures for him to choose from. I offered him lions, tigers, cows, goats, etc and he went for horses, bless him. I got him two horses which are now his favourites.

We came home to have lunch and Suzy had arrived. Bless my older daughter for helping us with Elliot especially at our all important siesta time. It was just after our siesta that Oli sent us photos of her with little Juliet. They came with no text. They were of Juliet just after she had been born at 5 pm on Saturday. We knew nothing else except that our granddaughter had been born. Oh what a happy moment. I screamed to the world "Juliet is born". 
First photos of Juliet
Juliet obviously came out screaming and didn't look pretty. I knew though that she would change and all the wrinkles would go soon hahahaha.

An hour or so later we heard from Oli who told us that as soon as they were in their room we could visit -  all of us, despite Covid. Oh what joy. We arrived at around 8 pm as did Miguel's mother, a recent widow and his brother Alberto. We let little Elliot in first. I don't know what was going on in his head but he largely ignored both his mother and the baby. I had taken along a present - supposedly from Juliet - a bus with Peppa Pig and Mummy Pig. He was excited about that bless him. 

As soon as I held my little granddaughter, the same feeling of love came all over me just as it did when I first held Elliot. Oh what joy. In fact I cried with joy. So Eladio's first photos of me with Juliet had to be deleted as my face looked pathetic. I got better pictures later such as this one holding the tiny tot. 
First moments holding Juliet
From the moment go, apart from just after birth, little Juliet has been very quiet, sleeping peacefully all the time and feeding well. She latched on to breast feeding straight away. We just hope it continues this way. Elliot was not an easy baby but it seems Juliet is. 

As to the birth it was far easier than with Elliot who weighed 4 kilos and had a big head. I was so happy all went smoothly this time. 

It was just before we arrived that the nurses weighed and measured our new baby. Juliet weighed 3.52kg (7.76lbs) a bit less than expected and is quite long measuring 52cm. Apparently the average weight and height of a new born baby girl is 3.3kg and 49 cm, so she is just above average. She has very long legs, just like her mother. When Oli was born she weighed just a bit less at 3.42kg. No doubt both Juliet and Elliot will be tall kids.
Baby Juliet being weighed
We didn't stay too long as we didn't want to tire out the mother  - not the baby who was fast asleep - and left at around 9.30. Suzy and I were to take Elliot to his own house to sleep which was much more practical than at our house - besides we had guests; a French couple have been here this week. 

Oli's new flat is lovely, all modern, clean and very state of the art. I was to sleep with Elliot in his bed which pulls out to become one double bed. The first night was easy as he fell asleep in the car and all we had to do was to put on his pyjamas and into bed. He woke up about 2 hours later and cried his eyes out. I held him and rocked him and didn't really know what to do. It was probably all too much for him, waking up to find me and not his parents. So I took him to the kitchen and offered him a bottle of milk. He drank it and was soon asleep again. He woke up crying again during the middle of the night but this time I had the bottle of milk with him. After a couple of sips he calmed down and then slept until about 8.30. Not being a good sleeper, Oli told me that was a good night for him. I was exhausted though. But this wasn't about me. It was about looking after Elliot and making a smooth transition for his becoming an older brother and no longer the sole of attention of his parents. 

So we made it through to Sunday. When we were all ready, Eladio came for us and off we went again to the hospital where once again we coincided with Miguel's mother and brother. That was far too many of us. This time Elliot seemed more interested in baby Juliet. We sat him next to me and her for him to see her close up. After a bit of prompting he touched her and kissed her - oh so sweet. We had to insist that he did so "gently" a word he understands as when he gets rough with Pippa he is told to stroke her gently. 
Elliot kissing Juliet
We were all smitten with his reaction. This first proper encounter couldn't have gone better. 

Equally smitten with Juliet was her Aunty, Suzy - or "Aunty Bonny" as she is known in the family.  Here she is bonding with her new niece. 
Suzy smitten with Juliet

Our second night with Elliot went much better. This time I had to put him to sleep and I did so by taking him to bed with me and a bottle of milk. While he drank it I sang to him and gave him a light and long massage. After about half an hour he was dead to the world and I was able to relax. He did wake up a couple of times but was soon calmed down and all in all we both had a much better night's sleep. He needed his rest as the next day, Monday, would be his first day at school. 

Meanwhile Oli and Miguel had had a relatively good last night at the hospital as little Juliet is somewhat a saint, sleeping and eating peacefully. Oli sent us a photo of her in the hospital crib. She is tiny with darker hair than Elliot when he was born and it is difficult to see who she looks like. 
Little Juliet two days after her birth
The photo reminded me of a similar one taken of Elliot when he was born nearly 2 years ago. They do not look very different but then again they are baby photos and babies change their looks very soon.
Elliot compared
I did not show the photos to Elliot. Besides, I was busy getting him ready for his big day. On Monday he was starting a new school near his and our home. It was to be a big challenge for him. Eladio came to pick us up and we put him in the car and drove to his new school.  Memories flooded back of when we took our girls to school for the first time. They took to it like ducks to water and never cried. Every year on the first day of school we took photos of the girls in their St. Michael's School Uniform. Thus I decided to take one of Elliot wearing his satchel. He didn't like it as you can see from the photo below, but at least, now, I have a photo of him on his first day at school this year.
Elliot trying on his school satchel - he didn't like it. 

When we got to his new school we had another photo taken of me with him outside. He didn't know what was awaiting him poor mite. 
Elliot's first day at school
We took him in and found his class, a class of children aged 2 to 3. His teacher, Iciar, came out and seemed lovely. But Elliot refused to go in. Clutching a little toy car I had to forcefully hand him over to his teacher while he wailed in resistance. The door to the class is made of glass and I saw him grabbing it and crying to return to my arms. I felt such a criminal. We stayed for a while and after about 5 minutes I took a peak inside and saw that he had calmed down and was with a group of children around the teacher. Oh thank goodness. That day he would only be there for an hour and as the days progressed he would stay longer. Thus we went to have a coffee while waiting for him. At 11.30 we were at the school and could spy him looking a little lonely in the playground. I caught his teacher's eye who called out to him. As soon as he saw me he started to cry again and came running into my arms. His first day at school had not gone very well. The next day when his parents took him would be similar but no doubt soon he will enjoy it. It's all been too much for him; the disappearance of his parents, the appearance of a baby to usurp his place and now a new school. Poor little boy. He may seem big compared to Juliet but he is still a baby.

We took him shopping and he loves sitting in the supermarket trolleys. We were soon home and fed him his lunch, always accompanied by a Peppa Pig video or sometimes Spirit, a lovely cartoon series about horses - horses he is mad about.

Meanwhile his parents and new sister were still at the hospital and weren't out until about 5 pm. Miguel took Oli and the baby back home and then came for Elliot. I was sad to see him go as I had bonded so well with him and so had Eladio, his beloved "abubu" or "bubu" as he now calls him. He also calls me Masha rather than grandma which I find very funny. 

So Juliet went home two days after her birth. I wondered how she would adapt. Well, splendidly I have to say. She just sleeps through everything. Good little girl.
Juliet at home 

I wondered too how Elliot would take seeing his mother at home again with baby Juliet. Apparently it went fine and I got photos from Oli of Elliot kissing his sister again. He keeps calling her "bebe", correctly. However, we have to be super careful about letting him near her as he can be rough and no doubt, although he cannot express it, he is jealous.

Elliot kissing Juliet the day she went home
When Elliot left, I missed him. I also wanted to be with Oli and Juliet but at the same time wanted to give her and her little family some space and time to rest. They needed that.

I was thus left to my own devices and I spent the time resting and watching Grey's Anatomy. I was actually pretty exhausted after looking after Elliot and the news of little Juliet's birth. But I have nothing to complain about compared to my daughter after all she went through. Thankfully they had a pretty good night with the baby sleeping peacefully.

Tuesday came and we were missing them so after our walk and with lunch underway, Eladio and I drove the short drive to their house. By then Elliot was back from his second day at school and about to have his lunch. I took along a present for him as well as one for Juliet. He got, you guessed, Peppa Pig toys. Juliet got a baby basket with her name on some of the items. I had also sent a bunch of beautiful flowers from a florist called Colvin, recommended to me by my friend Juana (ex Nokia) who always has great contacts. Oli was delighted and took a photo. This is it. 
Our gifts to Juliet

Oli immediately placed one of the items in the baby's crib while she continued to sleep.
Simply Juliet

A day later my dear friend Juana sent a plant to my daughter from the same florists. That was so kind of her. Thanks Juana. 

While I was there I gave Elliot his lunch and tried to pay him all the attention although I was dying to pick up Juliet. When he went into his bedroom I quickly swooped her up into my arms and gave her a cuddle. She was just waking up and it was time for her feed which I was privileged to watch. Oh what beautiful moments. We left the family to go home for our lunch but would be back the next day.

Lunch was quiet, just my father, Eladio and I and the afternoon was mine for the taking. I needed it to rest again as I was still exhausted after all the excitement.

These days have been all about Juliet and Elliot and their parents and our routine has been totally turned upside down. Thus we have hardly seen the news although of course I do read the headlines. That night we slept well with me shutting my eyes at about 11 pm which is amazing for me.

I was up at 6.45 on Wednesday morning and at about 7 am, in came another early riser, Florence, my French guest who needs her coffee first thing just like me. My French guests are the best type. They are out most of the day doing cultural things like visiting the Prado or the Reina Sofia museum and coming back late. So we have hardly seen them. 

That morning we went on our walk again as we have done since every day since Tuesday this week. Poor Norah  is finding it difficult and comes back exhausted. She is going to turn 13 this autumn so we think we will have to shorten her walks or take her on alternate days. That was the morning we went to the bank, the morning I found out that in the bank's eyes I am not equal to my husband. That made me cross as you can imagine but there's nothing I can do about it. But actually there was and I tweeted the issue but am still waiting for an answer from Caixa Bank the bank that took over our old bank, Bankia, formerly Caja Madrid where we first opened our account in 1981. 

I had a pleasant afternoon when I met an old friend for coffee. Elena H. was a journalist with the big Spanish newspaper El Mundo when I met her and I was the Director of Communications for Nokia. I remember taking her on one of my press trips to Finland. Today she is a successful freelance journalist and lives near me. We bumped into each other before the summer and agreed to meet in September. And we did, this week. It was great to have coffee with a woman friend. I don't have many women friends in Spain - my best friend Fátima died in 2019 and I still miss her. Elena and I have  a common professional work background so there was lots to talk about. At about 7 we parted company agreeing to meet again soon. She went off to take her teenage daughter somewhere and I went home to pick up Eladio and go and see our daughter Olivia. 

That night we went to dinner at Oli's house; another excuse to see little Juliet and Elliot of course. For the occasion I made my flagship potato salad. Little Juliet was a little under the weather with the runs which I found a bit worrying in a 4 day old baby. I had no idea how to advise my daughter except to say to take her to the doctor if she wasn't better the next morning.

We made our visit for dinner short as we don't want to invade Oli and her family after the birth of Juliet. They are so busy and we think they need their space. So we were home by just after 9.30 pm. Eladio watched the second half of a World Cup qualifier match between Spain and Kosovo, of all countries. Thankfully Spain won 2-0. They are still not out of the woods even if they are top of their table. We shall see as this team is not a patch on "La Roja" that won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Thursday began with our walk as most of our days do. My only worry that morning was Juliet's runs. While Elliot was at school, Oli and Miguel took our  new born baby to the hospital as they were worried. The doctor was not. He or she said it was normal and weighed Juliet who is at a healthy weight. Thank goodness for that. Oli sent us a photo of the baby and we were happy to see her once again sleeping peacefully.
Little Juliet back from the hospital on Thursday

I did some shopping that morning but online. Next week it will be Elliot's 2nd birthday so I got him a set of animals I know he will love. They are farm animal figures made by the US manufacturer Schleich which I know to be of good quality. From memory I think I got him a pig, a cat, a rabbit, a goat, a sheep, a donkey, a hen and a cow. He needs a cow as he keeps calling his Schleich shire horse a cow hahahahaha. Inspired I also looked online for birthday things for 2 year old's and found him a lovely card  and a T shirt, both in English on the Amazon Spain site. I have given up buying from the UK site because of the cost after Brexit. 
I can't wait to see Elliot wearing this t-shirt I bought him for his birthday next week

The rest of the day was quiet. It was brightened up by a video of our two grandchildren Miguel sent from the little park in the gated community they live in where their new flat is located. It is the new way of living in Spain or at least in the cities. The apartments are built on grounds with a pool, sports facilities, play grounds etc and they are literally gated with a security guy at the entrance. It's a very safe environment for children and perfect for making friends. In any case, here is the video of them that afternoon at the playground with Elliot starring in it as he names his 4 grandparents, Paco (RIP), Merche, "Bubu" (Eladio) and me "Mazha" which is what he calls us (hahahaha).
Elliot performing

Oh how I love the little mite and sweet Juliet too. We always love to get their news. That's doting grandparents for you; what we have turned into now, just as our parents did and our grandparents. The cycle continues.

Our day ended with dinner for two on the terrace. We had leftover potato salad with wine, in my case. It was definitely cooler that night. As the days get shorter, autumn is round the corner. I can't complain though as the summer has been great.

That night we  watched a documentary about 9/11 and the aftermath on Netflix called "Turning Point 9/11 and the War on Terror". It was released this week on the 20th anniversary of the attacks on the USA. It was and is good but documentaries always make me fall asleep,

Friday 11th September dawned and it was the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Gosh, 20 years. It seems like yesterday. It was in 2011 that the US invaded Afghanistan in pursuit of Bin Laden and in retaliation of the attacks in the USA. And now 20 years later, the US has pulled out and there is a big mess in the country overtaken by the Taliban. They never went away. In my mind the new form of war - isolated terrorist attacks all over the world - started then. This week we are witnessing one of the biggest trials ever in France, the trial against those who carried out the 2015 Paris attacks including the Bataclan theatre.  It will take months but will bring little relief to the victims' families. The worry today is that Afghanistan, under the Taliban, will again become the place that fosters terrorists who carry out attacks like 9/11 or those in Paris.


I think all of us who witnessed 9/11 remember what we were doing when the attacks happened. They shook the world. It is something we can simply never forget and neither should we. 2996 people lost their lives in the most lethal terrorist attack in history. I remember how things unfolded. I was at the Nokia offices where I worked in Madrid and it was a quiet afternoon but a bit awkward for me as I had just fired my PR agency, or rather the woman who ran it. In the  middle of our meeting I heard shouts from other staff and we looked up, opened my office door and followed other people into a room where someone had set up a TV. Everyone was sitting on the floor and we joined them. The first attack had happened and we sat aghast watching the second plane, a hijacked flight - crash deliberately into the second tower. Oh my God what a sight. It is something I shall never forget. Nor can I forget the images of people running away from the epicentre or escaping from the towers -those who could - amid a huge cloud of toxic dust provoked by the two blasts. At the time we had no idea that there were innocent passengers on those suicide flights. That was 20 years ago. I was just 44  which seems very young today. In a way this is our generation's  World War II I suppose that is not over yet and nor will it be while groups such as the Taliban run impoverished Afghanistan and harbour terrorists. They are not the only ones to do so and this is a difficult battle to fight, because you often don't know who the enemy is as these attacks are isolated and can come at any time. It's the fanatical lone wolf attackers who are the danger and those behind them but while the former's heads are brainwashed by the latter, terrorism as we know it today will never end. Thus I ask myself, is it right for foreign forces to invade and try to right a country like Afghanistan? I don't have the answer. 

Our lives changed after 9/11. We all turned into suspected terrorist as security was ramped up everywhere, especially when flying but also our privacy. Mass spying  took place and still does. I blame Bin Laden who orchestrated the attacks from his hide out in Afghanistan. He took away a lot of our freedom and privacy. And for what I ask myself if after 20 years retaliation from US forces, they lost the war and withdrew their troops, just as the British and the Russians did before them. 

The whole day news outlets would be reminding us of the attacks as if we could ever forget. But life continued normally here in our house outside Madrid. 

We went about our business normally too and that morning was shopping day. We went a bit later, after our steamy walk and decided on coffee before hitting Mercadona, Spain's ubiquitous low cost food store chain. We chose one of my favourite cafés, "Alverán"  where they make the most delicious cakes and pastries and where we often get our cakes for birthdays. Alveran is quite active on Instagram so I posted a photo of me having coffee there as well as a photo of my coffee and favourite pastry called a "vigilante" - it's a sort of straight mini croissant topped with sugar. I am told it comes from Argentina. I never knew that. Eladio took the photo below.
Friday morning coffee at Alverán  
I rather liked the photo until I enlarged it while at the queue at the cash desk in Mercadona. Oh my God I looked 84, not 64. I could see so many wrinkles and ageing skin, I was alarmed. I asked Eladio if I really looked like that. He assured me I didn't but no doubt young people with good eye sight will see me for what I am; an elderly woman. Me elderly? Really? Well that's what the photo tells doesn't it?

I felt depressed for a second but life continued and we had to rush home to unpack the food and for me to put the final touches to the meal I prepared. We had "cocido madrileño" for lunch that day which is usually a bit heavy but I did not fill my plate as that night we had a table booked at a new restaurant in Boadilla. I had been recommended an Italian place there called "Proverbium" and it didn't disappoint. Eladio loved it. Me too. We do so love our Friday night dinners out and it was good to find a new restaurant we know we shall be returning to. 

Saturday came. It was to be a very full house as that morning, on top of my two French and one Russian guest I was expecting a family from Brazil, father mother and daughter. They have come to look for accommodation for their daughter who will be studying at the nearby University. When I first set out on my Airbnb journey, my target guests were precisely like my Brazilian family; the parents of international students coming to study here. There was a niche for this type of guest as there are no hotels in the vicinity. They were my initial target public and I would say perhaps 30-40% of our guests are related to the University but the rest come for many other reasons. This weekend our household would be truly international with people from France, Russia, Brazil, Paraguay, Ukraine, Spain and England. My mother would be truly proud of me. She and my father used to have lodgers from all sorts of countries and it seems I am following in her footsteps. 

It was going to be full in another way. Suzy had returned from living with her friend Marta and Oli and Miguel would be bringing our grandchildren for lunch. Finally Juliet would be presented to my father who has just become a great grandparent for the second time. 

In the morning Eladio did the huge task of mowing the lawn. I say huge because the land on which this house is built measures abour 2.400m2. Here he is half way through the task.
Eladio mowing the lawn yesterday

While Eladio mowed the lawn I went on my walk with Pippa. I took along my headphones and was disappointed to find out my new Samsung Galaxy S20FE does not have  a hole for the plug. Just as I arrived back home, our Brazilian family had arrived and it was Eladio who had the honour of showing them around. We immediately warmed to them; Fernando, his wife Mirian and their daughter Laura who has come to study marketing at the UEM University here. Fernando works for the Mexican beer brand Corona and the family moved to Mexico City 5 years ago. They have come to find accommodation for their daughter and to help her settle in. They had flown via Miami and must have had a huge bout of jet lag as they went straight to bed and we didn't see them again that day.

Our other guests were out so when Oli and family arrived, it was just us. It was the perfect moment to introduce my father to Juliet, his one week old great granddaughter. It was to be a very emotional moment too. My 102 year old father, Charles Courtenay Lloyd, was delighted to meet Juliet who I put in his arms where she lay quietly, oblivious to what was happening. 
My father meeting his great granddaughter Juliet yesterday

We had to have a selfie too to get the 4 generations present in one photo. It's not a great photo but captures the historic moment. How lucky I am to still have my father with me and how lucky he is to live to see his great granddaughter. 
4 generations in one photo

We all had lunch together while Juliet slept peacefully. Oli remarked she is so quiet, she often forget she even has a new born baby (hahaha). I didn't have to cook that day as there were so many leftovers. We had a choice of chicken noodle soup, chick pea stew, meat balls in tomato and wine sauce and even chicken curry. 

After lunch we spent a short time together before I went to have my siesta and everyone left. Oli with Juliet in her arms was sitting on the bench with Miguel and Elliot and it was another perfect moment, a moment to take a photo of the 4 of them; the first I think since Juliet was born. It was a funny moment too as Elliot was learning the word "happy" which he pronounces without the "h". When he says it he lifts his arms and at one moment lifted up one of Juliet's arms (hahaha). Here they are, the four of them together at a very "happy" moment.
Oli and family - with Elliot raising his arms while he says the word "happy"

When they left the house felt empty. It remained empty until our dinner time. From 6.40 pm yesterday I had to start to diet in preparation for a not looked forward to colonoscopy I am having at 6.40 pm this Tuesday coming. From then on and for 3 days I can only eat certain things. Nearly everything is not allowed. Thus my dinner was scrambled eggs with no oil on a piece of white bread with no butter or oil and a glass of strained orange juice. I also had some strained broth I had made from the chickpea stew. Eladio remarked I would probably lose some weight from now till Tuesday. That is not a bad idea.

I had no idea until this morning that while we were enjoying family time yesterday, that the new tennis queen, Emma Raducanu aged just 18  had won her first Grand Slam - the US Open. She is the first UK national to win one since Virginia Wade in 1977 (I think). Wow. Emma was born in Canada to a Chinese mother and Romanian father but possesses UK nationality. It's rather nice to see an "immigrant" of this origin  become a tennis star. What is rather ironic though and annoys me immensely is the fact that the British, many of whom have problems with "immigrants" are happy to accept her because she is a sport success. Everything I have read about this teenager who first hit the headlines when she got through to the fourth round of Wimbledon, is a story of humble success. 
Emma Raducanu, the new tennis queen
Emma was born in Canada and moved to the UK when she was very young. She goes to school somewhere in Surrey and has just got her A levels, on top of her tennis career. No doubt she will go on to do great things and this is only the beginning of her amazing journey to become Queen of tennis at, yes, "Queens", the name of the tennis club in Flushing Meadows in the US in the Queens area of New York. What a victory for this wild card girl who no ne had heard of until this summer. No doubt we shall be hearing her name many more times and I wish her more success and a happy life.

Today is Sunday and while Emma is savouring her win and success - what a feeling that must be - our quiet lives continue here on the outskirts of Madrid. 

Now is the time to finish this post and publish it for you to read and to print a copy for my dear father who has just become a great grandfather for the second time; bless him.

Bless you all too until next Sunday,
Cheers Masha 













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