The world against Putin, the Ukrainians fight back, RIP Magda, reasons to smile and the stories of our week.

Sunday 6th March, 2022.

Despite everything that is going on, there are always reasons to smile in life. Coffee out with Eladio is one of them.  

Good morning all.

We are now into the second week of Putin's war against Ukraine. I am so shocked at events. I can't believe what is happening and am glued to the news every day. So why I am more shocked at the invasion of Ukraine and not at Putin's aggression in Afghanistan, Georgia, Chechenia or Syria? Because, my friends, Ukraine belongs to Europe and this aggression is knocking on our doors. Just as our ancestors were shocked to the core upon the eves of the First and Second World Wars, we are in a similar position today. If we let Putin continue his diabolical plan, the rest of Europe is in danger too as is peace and unity in the world. 

I have deliberately written Putin's war and not Russia's war as I  believe  many people in Russia are silently against it. Outwardly demonstration against it is dangerous and many have been arrested. In these past 10 days Russians have taken to the streets, including the elderly  activist Yelena Osipova who reportedly survived the Siege of Leningrad. They have arrested more than 7000 people, including children!

Yelena Osipova arrested for demonstrating against war in Ukarine. 

Foreign press has been suppressed and any Russian media reporting unfavourably on the invasion, a word they are not allowed to use, can now be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison! Just in case, the BBC pulled out its news staff there and can only now report on Russia from outside Russia. The West has also suppressed Russian fake news or disinformation news sites such as Russia Today or Sputnik. Other foreign news outlet have followed suit, such as Spain's state TV who Oli and Miguel work for; RTVE. Soon we will have no independent reporting from Moscow. That also means the Russians are only fed government controlled news outlets. That then means many Russians believe their government and think that the invasion (a forbidden word) is justified and that their troops only target military objectives. Many Ukrainians have family in Russia and I have read accounts of the latter not believing the images sent to them of Russian civil bombardments. That is because the Russian people have been brainwashed by Putin and Putin alone. 

The rest of the world is mostly against the war which is getting more and more violent, as I am and fervently so.  The Ukrainians are valiantly fighting back and creating resistance to the stunned no longer called "Red Army". I believe Russian troops lack morale and motivation.   They also lack strategy and it seems are having problems with food and fuel supplies on Ukrainian terrain. I read that they were given rations for 3 days as Putin thought he win over Ukraine in that time. They have been forced there and I truly believe those Russian soldiers on Ukrainian soil are not happy with their lot.  Most of them were not told the truth of the mission. I think many must feel hesitant  attacking their "brothers" as after all these two countries are intrinsically linked in many ways. They will not have the motivation they had in Afghanistan - if they had any at all - or Syria. This is Ukraine, a country close to their hearts. If history were to repeat itself, the Russian people and only the Russian people could be the downfall of Vladmir Putin, a dictator not unlike Hitler in his quest for expanding his empire. He wants a return to the USSR but the world won't let that happen or at least I hope it won't.  We can impose as many sanctions as we want but Putin will remain in his bunker in his mad bubble and continue his madness.  They say a picture tells a thousand words. Well this one does. It shows how Putin is alone in the world - sitting at his famously large table and a photo of Zelensky eating with his team. I don't need to say more. The picture says it all.

Putin alone, Zelensky with his team. 

It is the ordinary Russians who will suffer and only they can topple him down just as their grandparents and  great grandparents toppled Tsar Nicholas II. Could history repeat itself?  Meanwhile, Putin has sent hit men to Kyiv to kill the courageous President, Zelensky but wouldn't it be great if Putin himself was killed by henchmen from his own country?  There have been 3 assassination attempts on his life which, according to The Times, were foiled because "disaffected FSB (secret service) officers leaked the details. No doubt, the CIA are looking for him like they did with Sadam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden but that could take years. Without Putin the world would be a better place. Right now we are witnessing the worst war in Europe since WW2 and we don't know when it will be over. With valiant Ukrainian resistance and military help from the Western world this could be a long drawn out war. But it could also end fast if Putin ramps up the bombing.  Putin should look at his history books though and remember how the small country of Finland beat the Russians in the last century or how they left Kabul with their tails between their legs. In 1939 Stalin attacked Finland expecting it to fall within days but the Finns fought back and it was almost  a year before the Winter War was over. The Finns  did this fighting in a similar way to Ukraine. I think Putin thought the invasion would be a push over and that he would get rid of Zelensky and replace him soon with a puppet leader. But he was wrong. Volodymyr Zelensky has emerged as a national hero. He was once an actor and clown. Now he is not acting and there is no fun in his motivational speeches and videos. The world is taking him seriously and he has the backing of the whole country. He is the force behind their resistance. 

Volodymyr Zelensky has emerged as a national hero

He is in fact Jewish which would not matter at all but Putin is saying his invasion is to "denazify" the country. I would say that it is Putin who is emulating the Nazis as I mentioned above. Photos of a fake Time magazine cover insinuate that.  Let me share it with you.

Fake Time magazine cover that captures the spirit of our times

Putin is now threatening the world with nuclear power. But would he press the button? We don't know. I sincerely hope he won't but he is mad enough to do so. He has been mad enough to bomb the Ukrainain nuclear power station in  Zaporizhzhia which it now controls. It is Europe's largest and imagine if it had been blown up completely. There is a photo circulating of a dove over Putin's head which I don't need to describe as you can see it below. 

The photo that brought me trouble on Facebook

I innocently posted it on social media and as a headline wrote "f*ck Putin". I was shocked when I got sudden replies from an enraged pro Putin Russian. She was none other than a former colleague at Nokia who used to be the head of communications for Nokia Russia and when we worked together we became good friends. She told me in no uncertain terms how wrong I was and that the Ukrainian government was fascist and that her country followed Putin 100% and that he had no other option than to invade the country. I was stunned. It was evidence of how many Russian people are brainwashed by Vladimir Putin. I looked at her Facebook feed and it was full of venom against the west. Instead of getting into a verbal brawl I chose to delete her comments. What would you have done?

With the most draconian sanctions ever, Putin and the Russian people are being cornered financially and technologically. Ukrainians are calling for the west to close its air space - a "no fly zone". If Nato did so it would have to fight Russian aircraft and that would mean entering in military conflict with Russia and the start of World War 3. For the moment that is completely off the cards. Sanctions are the answer for the moment. Before the invasion Biden and other leaders repeatedly said NATO would not intervene, possibly giving Putin more motivation to invade. I am not sure if it is off the cards forever. Nothing ever is. We only have to remember when the US said it would not enter the two last World Wars and that they did eventually. Maybe "eventually" is the wrong tactic as meanwhile many people's lives will be destroyed, not to mention a whole country. But then when I read that Biden told the Finnish PM he would intervene if Russia attacked Finland which is not a NATO member, I wondered why Finland and not Ukraine. 

Commercial airspace is being shut to Russia, Turkey has blocked the Black Sea for Russian ships, Apple has stopped sales of its products in Russia and even Boeing refuses now to maintain Russian owned Boeing planes.  Many other companies have followed suit including Visa and Mastercard (ouch).  The west has blocked half of Russia's reserves, many Russian banks have been blocked from the Swift international payment system and there are restrictions on Russian assets in many parts of the world. The super rich oligarchs have been targeted too and it goes on even to include sport and culture sanctions which means Russian athletes will not be able to compete in any international sporting competition.  And even though no country is sending the military to fight on the ground, many are sending military equipment. The fact that Germany is one of  those countries is considered historical.

 But  there is also a cyber war playing out that is hurting Russia. Those fighting, including the group Anonymous, are playing the Russians at their own game and they are winning. Hundreds of Russian sites have been hacked as has Russian TV. Hackers were able this week to air the Ukrainian national anthem on Russian TV as well as non doctored news on the invasion in Ukraine. 

Anonymous cyber warfare against Russia

It all feels good and I can only imagine these tactics are providing ammunition as morale for the Ukrainian people. The world is against Putin that is obvious. The only "if" is China but even China would not want to be seen as a pariah country like Russia and be subject to sanctions  as, after all, the world is their market. So they are being very cautious. Putin's only friend is the Belarus dictator, Lukashenko from where he lets the Russians attack Ukraine. His country will soon be subjected to similar sanctions and so it should. 

Meanwhile an estimated 1.3 million Ukrainians have fled the country and up to 7 million could do so if the war carries on for long. Where will they go? Many to border and EU countries. Luckily the EU has stepped up and is waiving visas and such to allow them entry. But how awful to have to leave your country, your home and your life and see your country slowly being turned into rubble.  Since the war began my thoughts have often turned to a Ukrainian woman I know very well; Zena who lives and works in Spain and was my father's weekend carer. If you know a Ukrainian I think the emotional impact of what is happening gets even stronger. I am relieved though that her family hails from Ternopol near Lviv in the western part of the country, near both the Polish and Belarus border. It seems the only safe haven right now and many Ukrainians are flocking there or passing through on their way to Poland. But even so Zena and her family are afraid. Right now Lviv is safe but for how long? 

Our stories of the week pale in comparison. We are lucky that Ukraine is over 4.500km away and that Spain is not one of Putin's targets. But in the end we shall all be affected one way or another. Life is a lottery and despite our nasty ex KGB operative invading our home - he once worked alongside Putin - I have nothing to complain about.

We left green and leafy Asturias last Sunday at around midday vowing we would be back as soon as events let us. The highlight of the day was lunch at the La Cueva restaurant in the small village of Alar del Rey in the province of Palencia. The food is smashing to use an old fashioned term. Here is Eladio about to eat his bowl of bean and hare stew. Hare as meat is pretty rare these days and not something I would ever choose but my husband loves it.

Lunch at Alar del Rey last Sunday

We were home just before 6. As soon as we had settled in we drove to Oli's flat to see the grandchildren and take them presents - toys I had bought in Llanes. We also took a basket heaving with wonderful Asturian products for their parents. We only went on a quick visit and were home for dinner and then to bed. It was wonderful to be in our own ginormous and comfortable bed - no bed in the world beats it for me - but I found it hard to sleep. That's maybe because I was back to reality - FT in the room next door.

I was up at 6 am on Monday morning. I had an appointment with the Social Security people about my retirement pension application which I had made on 10th February, 2 days after I turned 65. The appointment was in Aranjuez - a pretty town - but so far from home; 60km o so. That's because I couldn't get one anywhere near home on an earlier date.  I'm glad I went as some information was missing from my application which I had done online. That was rectified and I was told I had to wait up to one and a half months for the application to be processed. Meanwhile, I wouldn't get paid of course. What a pathetic system. It should be automatic for God's sake. But I got good news on Thursday morning. It seems my pension application has been resolved and approved and I shall be one of the few fortunate pensioners in this country to receive the maximum pension. I read that out of over 9 million pensioners in Spain only  a few thousand receive maximum payment. I obviously deserve this as I have been paying taxes and contributing to my pension for 40 years. But I was worried something would go south. For once I got some really good news. When I get my first pension payment we shall go out and celebrate. We need reasons to celebrate these days. 

That early morning excursion plus having slept probably not more than 4 hours the night before, had me shattered all day.  In the afternoon I had a quick skype call with Amanda to catch up. Then we were out again to join Oli and the kids as Miguel was working late this week not arriving home till 11 pm. Thus we had dinner together and we helped Oli bathe Elliot and Juliet. The most challenging part was getting Elliot into his pyjamas. I remarked to Oli that I had managed to do so and she laughed and said "yes, but you are sweating". I was hahahaha.

We were home on time to see an interview on TVE1 with the Spanish President Pedro Sánchez which mostly focused on the invasion of Ukraine. Coincidentally Miguel was one of the cameramen at the Moncloa palace, the seat of the Spanish government. RTVE which is state owned has to tow the party line in a way and I would have liked to see the interviewer, Carlos Franganillo, corner him more. He tried to but in far too subtle a way. He tried to pressure the President into answering why Spain was not sending arms  to Ukraine like other EU countries. Most of us watching reckoned that's because it is a coalition government and Podemos, the communist party, in coalition would not agree. They still think diplomacy is the way and it is not as we have seen.  Shame on Spain I thought. But maybe Franganillo's question nudged the President to change his mind as two days later, Sánchez, made a volte face when he announced that Spain would be sending offensive military equipment. This is on top of what the EU as a whole will be sending. 

I slept better than night. But I imagine my dear friend Sandra who lives in Brussels didn't. Sadly, her mother Magda aged 96 died on Monday morning. She had been ill and in hospital and even had Covid and was not able to recover. So sad. I last saw Magda in March 2019, just before the Covid lock downs. Here is a lovely photo with her; one I treasure.

With Magda in Brussels in March 2019

I was glad  that Sandra's brother and daughter, Paul and Ambra who live in Italy were able to be with Sandra and Magda. RIP Magda. Magda's life was not easy. As Sandra her loving daughter said in her tribute at the funeral on Thursday, Magda made three great journeys in life. The first was from Hungary in 1947 all the way to India and then in the 70's to London  - she had dreamed of a house with a garden in England as a child. Her final journey was to live with her daughter in Brussels a few years ago. Magda married an Italian and her journeys helped her learn English and Italian and no doubt some French. She was never the wife of a husband who kept her. Instead she set up her own business as a textile agent in London when they moved from Bombay. Magda. I loved knowing you. You were fun to be with. Not many ladies in their mid 90's can manage a Facebook account and current technology but you could.  You were a strong and wonderful woman. Magda survived the war in Hungary and would be appalled by the invasion of Ukraine, just as my mother would have been.

Tuesday dawned and as there is no peace for the wicked, my morning was to be interrupted by a journalist, Jessica, from the TV station Cuatro (Programme called "Todo es mentira"). She wanted to interview Felipe. I hoped she wanted to interview us too but she didn't which had me a bit wary. She came at around 10 am and knocked on his door repeatedly but he wouldn't open although he did talk and agreed to be interviewed later. And he kept his word. At 3.30 or so Jessica met him outside our house and interviewed him. As usual he said he wasn't a KGB spy and didn't belong to the mafia. He also told her, as usual, that he wasn't leaving until a judge ordered him to do so. Well, there is nothing new there. He did however threateningly remark that the judge might be on his side. If he is I think we have proof that someone somewhere is protecting him. Is he an informant here in Spain? I sincerely hope not.  

None of this made me happy and made me long for a carefree world. I want normal life back; no Covid, no invasion of Ukraine and no invasion of my house. Only then  will our normal world return.

However, we try to lead the most normal life we can. We went on our walk and again that afternoon joined Oli and the kids to give her a helping hand until Miguel was home. That day was Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras, Martes de Carnaval) and it is a tradition in the UK to eat pancakes. It isn't here but it is for me. Shrove Tuesday marks the beginning of Lent after which Christians are supposed to fast for 40 days. We won't fast for 40 days but we ate the pancakes which are made of flour, milk and eggs, all not to be eaten during Lent. I wonder if anyone does this anymore. I suppose Lent is a bit like Ramadan. The fasting is in imitation of Jesus Christ's fasting in the wilderness before his crucifixion.  I made the pancake mix in the morning and on our way to Oli's house bought strawberries, raspberries and cream as one of the fillings. I started making them at 7.15 and I only finished at 8 pm. Making pancakes at Oli's house reminded me of my mother making the Russian version of pancakes - blini - the difference being the latter contain yeast - for a blini dinner with colleagues and friends. She was in the middle of making them when she cut her finger - she actually cut it right off - and was taken to hospital. The dinner went ahead though and she came back with her finger whole again thank goodness. It went ahead because I took over making the blini. I must have been only 15 or so and it was quite a challenge. I had my Aunty Masha - my mother's younger sister - to help but it was only verbal help as she was on crutches after a hip operation. I do remember that the blini dinner went off well in the end. These were my thoughts as I made pancakes on Tuesday night. 

The pancakes I made for Shrove Tuesday at Oli's house

Soon it was time to help bathe the babies again and we only left at around 10 pm feeling, I have to confess, exhausted. But, it had been fun.

We came home to watch the tail end of the news. That day the Russians had blasted the telecommunications tower in Kyiv and a 60km long convoy of Russian military was heading there too - it is still held up, mostly stuck in mud.  Notice the spelling of the Ukraine capital. I was brought up to write Kiev but that my friends is the Russian spelling, not the Ukrainian. In the same way I now no longer refer to "The Ukraine" but to "Ukraine". I always used the former but learned recently that after independence in 1991 when the USSR fell, the latter is the official name of the country. I do know though that neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian languages include the use of the article "the". So maybe this makes sense. If you have ever listened to Russians speaking English you may have noticed some of them not using the article "the". That is the telltale sign they are Russian (or Ukrainian). 

Soon it was Wednesday and that day I had no urgent appointments or journalists coming - I can't take anymore of the latter.  So that day we did the food shopping as after our trip to Asturias and return our cupboards were getting bare. We love our food shopping outings as we don't do much else exciting these days. They are always accompanied with coffee out together and Wednesday was no different. On my desk at home there is a picture of the two of us shortly after we met and fell in love in the summer of 1980. I noticed I had a cup of coffee in my hand. So it seems our coffees together are something of a tradition; a tradition I started when I first met my husband who was not then a coffee drinker. In that picture I was just 23 and Eladio 35 and we have been in love ever since. That is another reason to smile. Oli pointed out my hair looked good. It was curly because I must had a perm which were so fashionable in the late 70's and early 80's. I wouldn't want one now though. It used to make my hair very frizzy. 

Coffee time with Eladio in 1980, the summer we met and fell in love. I wonder who took the photo because I am not looking at the camera. I remember Eladio's top and my cheap white necklace. Who would have known then what the future held in store for us? 

That day we went again to Alverán where we usually go and where Abel, the waiter, serves us our coffee just as we like it. The sun was shining and I captured a smiling Eladio having his coffee in a carefree moment. He later took a photo of me with my coffee.  That's the one I have chosen for this week's feature photo. A photo of peace and calm in the middle of turmoil. 

Eladio smiling over his coffee at Alverán on a sunny day this week.

 

I posted these photos on social media with the comment "there are always reasons to smile" and there are. Happiness, I have learned and always say, comes from the small moments of joy in life such as coffee together in harmony. I'm sure you agree. So what are our reasons to smile? Our marriage which is like a rock, our family, Pippa (of course), our financial stability, the country we live in with all its faults is still marvelous, our relatively good health (that should come first perhaps) and above all the peaceful life we live. If I think about the poor Ukrainians suffering, I have absolutely nothing to complain about. Our worries are just minor, including the horrible Russian squatter. He has invaded our house but we know that at some time he will go. It is our grandchildren who give us perhaps the biggest joy. And here they are aged nearly 2 and a half years and 6 months. 

Our grandchildren, Elliot and Juliet, the loves of our lives; another reason to smile. 

Once again in the early evening we drove to Oli's house to give her a hand with the kids. We caught Elliot trying to eat spaghetti and I have to share this funny photo.

Elliot having dinner (hahaha)

For some reason he hadn't eaten at school that day so Oli made his favourite meal: "spag bol". It's most children's favourite dish and with my girls it was no different. When they were small I would take off all their clothes while they ate it hahahaha, so as not to stain their clothes.

Soon it was bath time and I helped bathe both babies. It was exhausting but fun too. I love the moment when I pick up baby Juliet from the water and also when I wrap a towel around Elliot and take him to his bed to dry. His trusting little eyes look up to me and we gaze at each other with love. 

We were home earlier that night just as the news had begun. It was dire, Russia was stepping up its military attack and cities in Ukraine were being bombed right left and centre. The war will go on and it's hard to watch.

Thursday came and the weather was to take a step for the worse. After weeks of glorious sunshine, it was supposed to rain and it did robbing us of our walk.  But Spain needs the rain so our walk didn't matter. They talk about mad dogs and English men in the rain but I have lived too long in Spain to want to go for a walk and get wet. We did go out though on two small errands, always an excuse for a coffee out. Our first destination was the local health centre where I had to request a new card after the change from residency to Spanish nationality. Finally I am in the system with my new DNI (documento nacional de identidad). From there we went to Alverán where we had a coffee. I had a "vigilante" (sort of straight sugary croissant) with my foamy coffee. It was to celebrate that my retirement pension application had been approved, word of which I got that morning.  

Celebration coffee (just as I like it) with a "vigilante" on Thursday

Once again in the early evening we went to Oli's house to help with the kids and once again we had dinner together. I brought ingredients for a chicken salad and Oli made a Catalan dish called "calçots". These are a type of green onion or rather onion or leek sprout. They are grilled or baked and served with romesco sauce which Oli made from scratch. We loved the combination. 

Calçots with romesco sauce

Bathing Elliot was a challenge again but worth it for that wonderful moment when I carry him in my arms wrapped in a towel and our eyes meet. God bless Elliot and little Juliet.

We were home on time for the news. That day the team from TVE1 were broadcasting from the Polish Ukrainian border. Oli, as a journalist, told me that that is where she would want to be right now; me too. So many people have gone there to help the refugees. I wish we could drive there and pick up a family to bring them here. If I were younger I wouldn't hesitate. Others were crossing the border into Ukraine to join the fight; some of them were non Ukrainians who would enlist in the international brigade. Good for them. By Thursday the news was dire. Macron spoke for 90 minutes on the phone to Putin and later an aide said the worst was to come. He intends not to stop until he has taken the whole of the country. After the assassination attempts on Zelensky's life  he no longer appears on videos by known landmarks so as not to be targeted. Targeted were Ukraine's main cities, including those with access to the sea. The final target will be Odessa, the prize as well as Kyiv of course. The Russian troops don't seem to be discriminating between military or civilian targets and there are thousands of casualties. In some areas people are without water or electricity and of course finding food must be hard and dangerous, not to mention it is freezing cold everywhere. 

We watched the news and then two programmes covering the war until very late. I woke up on Friday morning with a cold. Worried it was Covid I took a lateral flow test. Phew it was negative. The last thing I need right now is Covid. 

That morning Oli and I drove, with Juliet in the back, to the courts in Móstoles again - yes, that God forsaken and ugly suburban town outside Madrid. Apologies to anyone from Móstoles but I hate it so much because of the court which is so hostile to us. Even they though should admit it is an ugly town. What are its saving graces I wonder? I haven't found any. Well, maybe, yes, the saving grace is a court official called Luis who is the clerk in charge of the court where our hearing on 17th March will take place. He is always kind enough to let Oli, the baby in her pram and I into his office. He remains neutral but is not hostile and that day explained the legal situation. What we learned that day was a relief; the court case will  focus exclusively on the economic dispute; nothing else. Good. As to the date of eviction, set for 4th April, we learned it would probably be later. Oh well. 

Oli dropped me off at BM a quality supermarket where I buy our fish. The only drawback is the fishmonger counter queue. I was there for half an hour but had brought back fresh hake for dinner. Oli and the kids came for dinner that night instead of us going to her her place. That was because Lucy had left for the weekend and we didn't want to leave FT alone in the house. No, we can never do that I'm afraid. Dinner was simple and healthy except for the "I keem" (Elliot's pronunciation of ice cream)  and we had it in relative peace. 

We were in bed late, by about 10.30 and again watched news about Ukraine. I cannot get enough of it I'm afraid as I watch in trepidation, worried about how Putin will then expand beyond the country it is now destroying. 

Saturday dawned and as usual my first thoughts were about the war. Yesterday the situation in Ukraine can be best summed up by a map I stole from yesterday's edition of The Times. Well, I am a subscriber so I suppose the paper won't mind.

The situation in Ukraine yesterday, according to a map published in The Times. 

It is obvious from the map and the Russian tactics that the the objective is Odessa, Ukraine's port on the Black Sea. Capturing Odessa would cut the country off from the sea creating a land bridge with Crimea. It would also basically destroy Ukraine's economy, blocking exports of cereals, animal and vegetable oils.   Yesterday a cease fire that had been agreed to create a humanitarian route out of the town Mariupol on the sea but the Russians did not keep their word and continued bombing it. Today there will be a fresh attempt. 

After reading the news I did the daily Wordle game in both English and in Spanish and got better results than usual.  Today, I did the English version in just 2 attempts (fluke probably). Maybe that has to do with my asking friends on Facebook what words they use at the beginning. I had been using mostly "adieu" to get in as many vowels as possible but had also tried others. That day my first word was "arise". I was in luck as the r, the i and the s were in the mystery word and all in the right place. I got it in 3 tries. I was even luckier with the Spanish version; my first word being "aireo" and got it right on the second guess. If you are interested, these are the words some of my friends suggested for the first guess: story, opera, stair, stare, spate, resin, fault, satin, grout, and aside. What are yours?

Yesterday was the quietest day of the week and we were given time off vs a vs looking after the grandchildren. We went for our walk in the sun and returned to make a delicious lunch of stuffed shoulder of lamb. I spent the afternoon in between reading news of the war and watching the final episodes (again) of Line of Duty. I am now watching the much calmer and peaceful period drama, The Gilded Age by the maker of Downton Abbey. It is set in 19th Century New York .

Today is Sunday. We are alone except for FT (fed up of his presence) and we have no special plans for today. The day is ours for the taking but we can't leave the house so I suppose our day will pan out much like yesterday. I am not complaining. There is nothing to complain about when people are suffering the invasion of their country. God bless Ukraine. 

With that said, cheers till next week.

All the best Masha