My five year journey to retirement, Putin's barbaric war continues, "Slava Ukraini", we will fight until the end, and other stories of our week.

Sunday 13th March, 2022.

Oli and I united and once again at the courts. The battle is not over but we shall fight until the end. 

Good morning friends and readers. It is Sunday again and this post will be post number 950 since I first started my blog 17 years ago in the summer of 2005, the year my father came to live with us. He was my number one fan. All time blog views come to over 700.000 which is quite a lot for a semi anonymous person like myself. I often wonder why people read it. I know why I write it though; a passion to record my life as it goes past so fast. I also write in the context of worldwide events which will go down in history, like the war on Ukraine. You all know I am a news junkie so my blog would not be the same without news and not just mine. My blog reflects my journey in life and I only wish I had started it before. The last 5 years have been a challenging journey for me as most of you know. Five years ago I lost my job as the communications director of the then Swedish owned mobile operator, Yoigo.  This week I became officially retired. 

I can hardly believe that five years have gone past and that I am now nearly officially retired  even though it was against my will, owing to a stupid new law in Spain. I can't believe it is 5 years now since I lost my job as the Communications Director of Yoigo, when I was about to turn 60. That was cruel for a woman my age in Spain with few prospects of ever getting employed again. 

On our walk last Sunday, Eladio and I commented on just how fast those 5 years have passed and how successful they have been despite losing my job.  Against all the odds I somehow survived a bit like the bird Phoenix arising from the ashes, I made a way for myself that I never thought would be possible. It all started with renting rooms at our huge house which without my big salary we could not afford the upkeep. I didn't think anyone would come but they did; many many more than I could ever have dreamed of. I also took small steps to become a freelance communications consultant and that worked out too, mostly thanks to my former Swedish boss at Yoigo. I will forever be grateful to Johan for his help.  At the time we thought that the small compensation sum I received would probably have to be used to finance our lives until retirement but we hardly touched it and were even able to buy a modest house in Asturias. Now we rent it out too and it seems I am in the hospitality business but as my own boss. I had no idea 5 years ago what I would be doing today or how lucky I would be. 

When I heard I was to be made redundant I sort of panicked but then decided that come what may, I would survive and survive I did for 5 years until retirement.  If I look back on these 5 years, since I lost my job  I can hardly believe the journey I undertook and my destination. I always say, quoting from The Sound of Music, "When the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window". He did that for me but I didn't know it at the time. 

I well remember posting a photo of me at the job centre going to sign on for the dole (ouch), This is it. Maybe you remember it. I shall never forget it. 

At the job centre 5 years ago 

So I went on a mission to restart my life; no easy feat when you are a woman aged 60 in Spain. But I did it. I often wonder how. I gathered as much positive energy as I could and I think that my success really came because I was able to deal with failure. I put so much energy into starting again and for sure my positive attitude helped a lot. It wasn't only that.  There was lots of support from family and friends without whom I would not be in the position I am today. So thanks all. These 5 years have been some of the happiest in my life but I had no idea they would be that day when I went to the job centre. In a way I have been semi retired for 5 years enjoying full freedom to do what I wanted. So, now when my official retirement is about to begin, I can reflect on a job well done in many many ways. None of it would have been possible without my dear husband Eladio by my side. 

On our walk we also remarked that all we want now is for life to return to normal. We want to see the end of war as well as  peace for Ukraine, the end of Covid and on the home front we want to see Felipe Turover, our squatter, gone for good.  Only then will we be really free to do whatever we want now that we are both retired. 

Like me, Eladio loves to keep up with the news. Everything we read and see these days is about the invasion of Ukraine. In a way we are watching the war live on TV. Isn't that incredible? Here he is last Sunday with his headphones on at his desk which is next to mine in our colourful and homely study where we both spend a lot of time. It's our den. 

Eladio keeping up with the news - he is wearing an M+S jumper he still has which I think I bought him just after we got married, nearly 40 years ago. I wonder if M+S jumpers last this long these days. 

On the subject of renting rooms, that day we had guests who were actually visitors. Shervan and Pilar came to see our house and the rooms for the daughter of a friend in Dubai who will be coming to study dentistry at the local University in September. We have received guests from the four corners of the world but never a Kurd from Syria like Shervan. Like me, he is married to a Spaniard with roots in the city of León where Eladio's family come from. They made an interesting couple. That day too I got yet another reservation for our house in Asturias in the summer. August is  now practically sold out.  Buying that house in El Cuetu was a great investment. 

Hosting Felipe Turover was not a good investment. He is the only rotten apple in 5 years unfortunately. Media interest has of course declined but that's ok as our PR campaign did its job. Even so we have had more cameras here since and last Sunday Antena 3 came again to report on the situation. The situation, if you don't know, is that on Thursday 17th March, next week, the trial will finally take place. If all goes well the judge will sentence our rotten apple and hopefully he will be evicted not long after; that is if all goes well. That's what I thought until we had a meeting with our lawyers on Tuesday. I cannot trust the justice system after all I have seen. Once again I am telling you that Spain is the world's squatter capital. I still can't believe that justice is on the side of the delinquents and not on the side of law abiding citizens like Eladio and I. Next Sunday you will hear about the outcome. Pray if you believe or just send us good vibes. We need both. 

Pray too we should for Ukraine. The only news this week is about the invasion of this European country. But you know that as no doubt you are following events and are feeling aghast at what you are watching and reading. The war is now into day 18. Can you possibly believe that the Ukrainians have resisted for so long in the face of an overwhelmingly superior military force. Last Sunday I reported that 1.3 million people, mostly women and children, had fled the country. That night the figure rose to 1.5 million.  3 days later it rose to 2 million and today it stands at 2.6 million. Where not many Ukrainian refugees are going is to the UK because of entry requirements. From what I have read it is easier for them to flee the Ukraine than to enter my home country. Shame on the UK government. The government supports the Ukraine but does not let its people in fast enough. On Tuesday Zelensky from his hiding place in Kyiv made a speech in the Commons, something unheard of. He echoed Churchill's words to rousing acclaim when he said "We will not give up and we will not lose. We will fight to the end in the sea, in the air. We will fight for our land, whatever the costs. We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets".  Bravo Zelensky but not Bravo Boris. 

The main stories that day and the whole of the week were of the bombing of civilians trying to flee under what was supposed to be a cease fire the Russians did not adhere to. 

Civilians targeted while they try to flee

This is a tactic Putin has used before in Syria and Chechenia. His aim is to crush morale and beat the people into submission. There will be little submission in Ukraine where morale is high, however strong the Russians are. The Ukrainians are fighting for their country and their identity. Even if Russia wins and it probably will soon crush its neighbour, it won't win the after war as it won't be able to rule the people; just as it couldn't in Afghanistan. 

That night we watched an interview with Spain's former PM, Felipe González who celebrated his 80th birthday this week. I remember him as a vibrant young politician. He may have his faults but he has seen a lot and he is wise. That night he said in no uncertain terms that Russia would destroy Ukraine. That put shivers down my spine as I had hoped the end would be glorious for Ukraine. If you have heard the slogan "slava ukraini, the Ukrainian national salute,  you will know it is the new buzz phrase meaning "glory to Ukraine".  In The Times on Monday morning, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Chief of the UK Defence staff,  had higher hopes than Spain's former PM.  When asked the same question, if it was inevitable Russia would take over Ukraine, he told the BBC "No, I think we've seen a Russian invasion that is not going well. I think we're also seeing a remarkable resistance by Ukraine". I sincerely hope the admiral is right and Felipe González is wrong. 

Monday was a rainy and quiet day for us. We didn't leave the house that day as we had no errands or appointments. That day was not quiet in the war zone of Ukraine. That day the Russians offered humanitarian corridors for refugees finally but not to Poland or other friendly border countries; instead to Russia or Belarus. How cynical. Again the Russians bombed civilians while fleeing and continued their rampage destroying even schools, hospitals and people's homes. That goes against the Geneva Convention for behaviour during war. The West want to take Putin to the Hague for a trial for war crimes and genocide but I doubt he will ever appear there. Ironically the Hague is in Holland, just where his family are reported to be living in safety whilst he continues his mad invasion and war. I later read they are in Switzerland. They are safe, unlike the Ukrainians. The Chinese have offered to mediate - not a lot of good can come from that, as well as the Turkish Government. I honestly think that diplomacy will not work. To loosely quote Gold Meir, "you can't negotiate with a man who wants to kill you".  It can't work because Putin's demands from Ukraine in order to halt the war are not acceptable. He wants Zelensky to recognise Crimea as Russian and to take over the pro Russian areas in Ukraine as well as promise never to join either Nato or the EU. If he thinks that's going to happen he has another think coming. That day the 27 agreed to fast track Ukrainian entry into the EU, as well as the other Russian border countries, Georgia and Moldavia. Put that in your pipe and smoke it Putin I say. Even Finland where many Russians are fleeing and Sweden are now thinking about joining Nato. There is too a brain drain going on in Russia as an estimated 200.000 have fled the country; a country which is becoming a pariah state with echoes of life under the Soviet Union. 

Meanwhile the rest of the world is seeing the repercussions of the war; energy prices soaring and worries for a lack of sunflower oil and cereals from Ukraine, considered the granary of the world. A litre of petrol in Spain is now around 2 euros, up from 1.4 not so long ago. Food prices are increasing too. Spain alone imports 80% of sunflower oil from Ukraine which is now unable to export anything with its ports under attack. That means prices for snacks such as crisps and tinned fish and even "churros here in Spain will go up too. The US  and UK blocked the import of Russian oil but not the EU which is much more dependent on Russian oil.  That alone put the price up. But can we survive without Russian oil? I wish we could. The canny US government has been in secret meetings with Venezuela and even sanctioned Iran to explore other sources of oil.  Maduro is one of Putin's allies so we shall see. It's funny isn't it how so many wars have to do with oil supplies?

Tuesday was to be an important day for us.  We had a meeting with our lawyers, Vero and Cris in the centre of Madrid. It was to prepare for this week's trial. Their offices are near the Prado museum but we wouldn't see any paintings that day. Instead we went over everything and got updates. Frankly now I do not know what to expect on Thursday. It seems anything can happen so I need your prayers even more now. What this horrible man has up his sleeves is a pack of lies. That night we got a document from his lawyer arguing his case. I should have laughed because it was all lies but I felt like being sick at what I read. None of what was written could be upheld with evidence and it seems he has even lied to his own lawyer. It beggars belief that this man is included as someone playing an important role in helping Putin to power according to Catherine Belton's book, Putin's people; both of them are compulsive liars.  I really hope the judge has read it. I also hope he has done his homework. 

We didn't finish our meeting that began at 10.30 until past 1 pm. Eladio's brother and wife had invited us all to lunch that day but Oli was too tired and wanted to go home. Thus she dropped us off at what was our old house, a flat in the same building as Eladio's brother, where we lived from 1983 to 1985 until we moved to the outskirts to escape the city. We are country mice, not city mice. 8th March was International Women's Day and so we bought some flowers for my sister-in-law as well as some small cakes for after lunch. Dolores had prepared a wonderful dish of chickpeas and vegetables accompanied by fish balls in batter. It was delicious. We ate far too much that day but it was great to have lunch with family members. We were going to take public transport home but feeling full and tired I ordered a taxi on Cabify, Spain's equivalent of Uber which I think works better than the former.

We were home just before 5.30 and felt exhausted. I cheered myself up by finishing the wonderful series "All creatures great and small", a new adaption of a the story of a vet in Yorkshire, James Herriot. I loved the book and read it years ago. To see the Dales on TV took me back to my roots. I love Yorkshire where I lived as a child and teenager. I later read it was filmed in Grassington, a town I know well. 

That night again we watched the war live on TV. That day, thankfully, the Russian troops kept to a ceasefire and some refugees were able to leave bombed out towns. Many times this week they agreed to a cease fire but then went back on their word. Those unable to leave remain in freezing temperatures, many without running water or electricity or even internet.  The freezing cold weather will complicate this war and hopefully loosen morale in the Russian troops. I sincerely hope their tanks freeze with them in it.  There was talk too of the US giving new jet fighters to Poland in exchange for the Poles giving their old Soviet Migs to the Ukrainians - that's because they know how to fly them. Sadly the US later pulled out. 

Everything I see and read since the invasion began reminds me of WW2. What really started that war was when Germany invaded Poland. That's when at least England declared war on Germany and the rest followed. If only we could declare war on Russia because of its invasion of Poland's neighbour. All the voices say we can't because of nuclear weapons. There were none in 1939. So do we have to wait for Putin to destroy Ukraine and then invade other neighbouring countries? Or should we counter attack now to avoid the destruction of Europe? That is the question in my head that I can't find an answer to. I imagine most people can't and there lies the problem of this war. 

It was that night we got to see the document from the lawyer representing "he who should not be mentioned". As I said it had me feeling literally like I wanted to be sick. Thus my sleep, once again, was interrupted by this diabolical man. I had sort of begun to  get used to him in the room next door but now that the trial is coming up, I just don't know what to expect and that has put me in a state of nerves that have me on edge the whole time. I want him out of my head but even more so I want him out of my house. Spanish law sucks. It really does. 

Wednesday came and Oli and I would be going to the Courts again to see for ourselves what tricks his lawyer had been up to and where we stood vs a vs the upcoming trial. It must have been our 10th visit there and what a horrible and hostile place it is. 

The ghastly courts in ghastly Móstoles

But are united in this and we shall fight until the end. The battle is nowhere near over but one day we will win it, of that I am sure. Olivia never leaves our side, bless her. Miguel went with us and I suggested we took a photo to record the moment. It may come in use if one day I write a book about the "spy next door".  We went to see our court clerk, Luis, who seems to be slightly less hostile to us than other civil servants at that god forsaken place. He confirmed the trial will go ahead despite claims from "his" lawyer there was a "defect in form" - some legal technicality. We sincerely hope so. We then went to an office where we could ask for all the reports we had filed and "he" had filed. We then had to go to 6 different courts. We were happy to see that all of his had been filed away and would not be used in court. We must have been there for 2.5 hours but afterwards were rewarded with coffee in a street cafe in the sun. We tried not to talk about our situation and managed some of the time. If Olivia never leaves my side, Juliet, my 6 month old granddaughter doesn't either. She has accompanied us on every visit. She was with us of course when we were having our coffee and I had a chance for some quality time with her. Unknown to me, Miguel, captured the moment perfectly on camera. Here we are, 65 years separating us - smiling at each other. Darling Juliet, you and Elliot are the lights of our lives and help us get through all this.

Coffee with my darling granddaughter Juliet after our visit to the courts on Wednesday where she always accompanies us.

They drove me home and I had event free afternoon. The highlight was a quick Skype call with my dear friend Amanda who is recovering from an operation. All sounds good. 

The other highlight of the day was our dinner that night. They always are. We meet in the kitchen at 8 pm sharp and there and then decide on the menu. On the menu that night were fried eggs. Nothing special you may think but you are wrong as they were made from the wonderful free range eggs we had brought back from Asturias. Divine is the word I used to describe them. Here is Eladio at dinner that night in our big kitchen which actually has a table which is far too small in comparison.

Dinner on Wednesday night - delicious eggs from Asturias

Again we watched the news and were aghast to learn that the Russians had bombed a maternity hospital in the Russian occupied sport town of Mariupol. The images of heavily pregnant women being carried out of the rubble were just appalling. Thankfully the bomb fell on the courtyard next to the hospital. Even so 3 were reported dead. It was this photo of a heavily pregnant woman in the throes of giving birth and being carried on out on  a stretcher that has become one of the most vivid pictures of this dreadful and stupid war. Poor woman. She will never ever forget that day. Who could? If this isn't a crime of war, tell me what is.

Thursday came. We only left the house for our walk which was pretty chilly although the sun did come out. That day was marred for me by thoughts of our ongoing struggle. I spent the rest of the morning working on our defense. I went through his lawyer's opposition document which was full of lies to refute each and every point with our very clear evidence. Later in the day we heard from his lawyer who had not accepted our pardoning him the debt in exchange for leaving. Well, of course he wouldn't. He doesn't care about the money he owes as he knows he will never pay it anyway. Pathetically he had offered to leave on 1st April if we "gave him his keys back". That's such a stupid ruse as we never took his keys away. He lost them. He wanted to trick us into owing up to stealing which we never did. Damn the man. Thanks to him the rest of the day was ruined for me. I couldn't sleep until the late hours.

Friday dawned and brought some good news. My first pension arrived including February's arrears. In a way it was the culmination of my challenging 5 year journey. It's great to have good news now and again. We need it. I had promised to take the family out to lunch somewhere special and swanky and that is what we will do today. We didn't go on our walk as it rained all day - Spain needs rain - and went shopping instead, our weekly Friday shop. At Alverán that day I had two pastries . my favourite "vigilantes" as my first step to celebrate my retirement.

Friday's Fika at Alverán

To be honest, I remarked to Eladio I wasn't sure whether retirement felt like a celebration as it marks the real start of old age doesn't it? His reply was that I should be "jubliant" as retirement in Spanish is called "jubilación"; a time to jubilate, enjoy life, I think. But I am still in two minds about it. We have been talking about retirement since Eladio was about 50 and I was not yet 40 and finally it has come. So am I pleased? I'm not sure. But, as I don't have any chance - the new law not allowing me to work with half of my pension - I just have to accept it. I decided I shall do so gracefully. Thus the two pastries hahahaha.

When we got home and had unloaded the shopping, Oli and Miguel brought Juliet for us to look after while they went for a swim together to do some exercise and have some alone time. They deserve it. I had bought a new "book" for Juliet. It's made of fabric so it went straight into her mouth hahaha. Soon she was sucking her thumb and later slept till they came back for her just after we finished our lunch. What a good baby she is. 

Juliet with her new book and sucking her thumb. Bless her. 

We slept too after lunch, for quite a while actually. I was able to relax that afternoon but not too much as currently I am watching Season 5 of Outlander and there are some pretty violent scenes, hahahaa.

That night we went out to dinner as Lucy was here to hold the fort. It was another little retirement celebration and felt great as we haven't been out to dinner on a Friday night for a long time. We chose the humble Ginos where I had a delicious pizza; just how I like them, deep and crisp. 

Dinner at Ginos on Friday night. Cheers to life (without Felipe Turover I should add). 

We tried to steer away from talking about our number one issue, the squatter Felipe Turover but that is difficult. Instead we focus on life afterwards, after he has gone. Only then will we be able to live in peace, peace we both deserve as "pensioners" - hate that word (oh dear and I am one now).

I slept better that night. It must have been the wine. Saturday came and after our breakfast and wordling (now a verb by the way) where I was quite successful I settled down to write another document for our lawyers; a list of all the reasons the judge should grant us an injunction and evict FT immediately. The list is long. I shared it with the family and them with our lawyers. As, you see, he is always on my mind.

On my mind too is the war in Ukraine. I can't get enough of it because I am so appalled and this is the worst crisis in our lives in Europe. No doubt Putin is watching closely from a luxurious bunker somewhere.  He will not be happy things are not going his way. It has been reported that this is because of bad intelligence, poor planning, wrong strategy, unmotivated soldiers and above all a misjudgement of Ukrainian resistance. But how will he react? He could employ chemical weapons and if he wanted he could press the nuclear red button and annihilate his neighbour but that wouldn't be winning either would it as he would have no country left to rule. It is said he is furious with the intelligence received. No doubt his sycophants do not dare feed him the real news. For now all I can say is "Slava Ukraini" as I watch in horror. 

Yesterday was a very quiet day for us. We went on our walk and then I made a lovely lunch of roast shoulder of lamb. What was not good were the fumes from the oven in the kitchen. We have two very old ovens which desperately need replacing. 

So my friends, this is it for this week. I wish you all well and thank you for your prayers and good thoughts about our upcoming trial on 17th March. 

Cheers till next Sunday when I will either report good or bad news. 

Masha.