Boris Johnson out, Rishi Sunak in, a day in the city, goodbye Phil and Kathy, KIng Charles greets the new PM with Diwali sweets, Elon Musk, now "Chief Twit", best Airbnb review ever, a 60th birthday party, the clocks go back and other stories of the week.

Sunday 30th October, 2022

A wonderful moment with Javier at last night's party to celebrate his 60th birthday

Good morning all after another historical week in UK politics. Last week Liz Truss, the UK's shortest serving Prime Minister, quit and the competition was on for who would replace her. It was to be between the unknown Penny Mordaunt, Rish Sunak and God forbid, Boris Johnson. I think the Lord heard my prayers and many other people's because last Sunday night, he announced he was not in the running. He said he had the support of 102 MP, 2 more than needed, but I doubt he had that number. If he had, he would have run. I hear that at Eton you are told never to give up. Ah, but he hasn't given up yet as in his statement he refers to a come back in the next election. A day later Mordaunt dropped out and that left just Rishi Sunak and he won. I suppose he is the better of the three but he has a very daunting task to face;  the British economy at its lowest in a long time and a very fragmented Tory party.  The news didn't come till Monday morning so more about this  historic  moment later. 

Last Sunday, although we were alert to any news from London, was a family day with our dear friends Kathy and Phil from Yorkshire. We had spent a wonderful week in Asturias together and Sunday was our first day back. The cupboards were bare so we went shopping as it would be full house for lunch. It was to be a full house of guests too;  who is half Japanese and half Malayan - pretty interesting cocktail, a Colombian and an Argentinian. The later got along and I saw them having dinner together. Later in the day we too had the opportunity to get to know Hayley - the young girl from Japan. She is a pastry chef in Antwerp. We do get people from all walks of life here. She is too a fanatic of "matcha" - a sort of green tea from South East Asia. On her Instagram all you see are food creations in green. Maybe I should try matcha one day. 

But back to our day. We went out shopping but first for a coffee at Alverán. Here are Phil and Kathy enjoying the moment.

Coffee with Phil and Kathy last Sunday at Alverán

We did the shopping at Carrefour and were home by about 1 pm. Oli had arrived with Juliet and Elliot whom I hadn't seen for more than a week. It was a lovely reunion. For lunch I made pumpkin and carrot soup followed by baked salmon and leeks with melon with strawberries for dessert.  True to custom, we went and had a siesta and sadly when I got up at about 5.30, my grandchildren had left, their toys strewn all over the lounges. 

We should have gone for a walk but instead sat in the big lounge drinking tea - oh so British. We were then joined by Hayley and I missed most of the conversation while I was making our dinner in the kitchen in the presence of our two Latin American guests. This week Switzerland was added to the big list of countries my guests have come from this year. This weekend I have a group of students from Spain, France and Portugal. I love meeting people from all over the world. It helps to maintain the house but is also very enriching in a cultural sense.

Dinner was a blast with Suzy who seems so bubbly these days. It was Phil and Kath's last but one with us and it was a good one. We do all get on so well. 

We were in bed before 11 and I kept telling my husband that our bed is the most comfortable in the world. There is nothing like sleeping in your own bed is there?

Monday dawned, our friends' last day with us, and we had planned a trip into the city. After all they had come to Madrid but had not been into the centre so Monday was the day. We set off just after 10 am and drove to the nearest metro stop leaving the car there. It takes 10 to 15 minutes to the station and a further 10 minutes by train to Plaza de España. I remarked to Eladio that as it's really quite a short journey why do we not go more often. Laziness, I suppose, is the answer. I couldn't believe the city was so full of tourists on a Monday at the end of October but it was. We decided to wander round the newly refurbished square which now goes as far as the beautiful Royal Palace. Built by Philip V it is a copy of Versailles but unbelievably even bigger. I hadn't walked around the square for years and didn't even recognise the main statue - a homage to Cervantes and his greatest creation, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. It is said that both Cervantes and the English bard Shakespeare died on the same day - 23rd April 1616 but I think it depends on which calendar is referred to. Cervantes is definitely Spain's Shakespeare and Don Quixote is considered the first modern novel. It is also the most published book in the world - apart from the Bible - with 500 million copies printed. I am one of those who bought the book. I had to as a student of Hispanic Studies at University. But I am ashamed to say I bought it in English and not in Spanish and never got past the first two chapters. I suspect that has happened to many. But as a former student of the language of Cervantes I had to have a photo next to his monument in the famous Plaza de España. 

By the statue of Cervantes with Don Quixote and Sancho Panza on Monday in the Plaza de España in Madrid. 

From the square we wandered along the new pedestrian precinct which now partially covers the Calle de Bailén, towards the Royal Palace. I once went on a guided tour many moons ago with my parents and both Eladio and I agreed we must go one day. It is the official residence of the King of Spain who does not actually live there. He lives in the Palacio de la Zarzuela on the outskirts of Madrid  and the Royal Palace is only used for state occasions.

Eladio in front of the Royal Palace which you can now walk to from the Plaza de España

From there we walked back to the beginning of the Plaza de España towards the new luxury Hotel Rui Plaza. It has an amazing roof top terrace where we had been twice before. The singularity of the terrace at the top of the building on the 27th floor is a glass walkway separating the terrace in two which people flock to. I honestly was not able to walk across it but many people do.

The glass walk way on the Rui Plaza hotel roof top terrace 

When we got to the top, our friends were just as awed as we were when we first went. The place is really spectacular and quite luxurious. We were ushered to a table with a view by a beautiful young girl called Bianca who is a student of journalism originally from Romania. I talked to so many people that day from many places in the world - Romania, England (Manchester and Warrington), Senegal (or was it Nigeria?) and even Mexico. We enjoyed a coffee together at the top admiring the views and had to have lots of pictures taken like this one and the one below of my friends and me.

Feeling on top of the world at one of Madrid's best roof top terraces - Hotel Rui Plaza - on Monday. It commands the most amazing views of the city. 

Feeling great with Phil and Kathy at the rooftop bar

On our way out we spied a wonderful view of the Royal Palace and the park called "Casa del Campo"  which our train had come through on our way into the city. 

The Royal Palace and part of the Casa del Campo park as seen from the roof top bar

We could also see the Gran Via - the main thoroughfare in the old part of Madrid which we would be walking up next towards Callao and then onto the Puerta del Sol which was undergoing huge refurbishment works. I wonder what they will do with it?

The Gran Via as seen from the rooftop bar in Plaza de España

Our walk from Plaza de España to Callao was up the beautiful Gran Via. Once at Callao we walked along Calle Preciados said to be Spain's most commercial street. I told my friends to hang on to their belongings for fear of pick pockets and so they did. Preciados leads to the Puerta del Sol which we could hardly see because of the works going on. Thus we rushed by and made our way to the beautiful Plaza Mayor. We rushed a bit as we had a table booked for 1.30 at Casa Lucio in Cava Baja just off the square and we didn't want to be late. It's usually really difficult to get a table but I must have been lucky. This restaurant is one of the most traditional and popular in the city, both with locals and tourists. It was frequented often by Spain's former King Juan Carlos and once when I was having lunch there I saw the Spanish PM, Aznar, on another table. The food is traditional but comes from the finest fresh produce. It's most famous dish is broken eggs with chips which most people go to eat. I was on a diet so went for prawns followed by one of the best pieces of steak I have eaten in a long time. My fellow diners thought the food was excellent and agreed it had been our best meal during their stay. Here they are outside after our wonderful meal. 

Outside Casa Lucio on Monday

From the relatively quiet Cava Baja street, mostly because a lot of restaurants - but not Casa Lucio - close on Mondays, we made our way back to the Plaza Mayor. 

Kathy and Phil in the Plaza Mayor on Monday

Many people there were eating the popular Spanish Madrid sandwich or "bocadillo" with fried squid. I wanted to show our friends the well known San Miguel Market nearby. The place was teeming with tourists and tourist gimmicks and offers of trips on tuc tucs more suitable to Delhi I think. But when I saw a Mexican playing a guitar with his sombrero I really thought Madrid was getting a bit tacky. But you know what? He came up to sing me a song - "Cielito Lindo" and I was actually delighted. 

An encounter with a Mexican Mariachi in Madrid on Monday

I told him how when I was about 18 and on holiday in Acapulco with my mother and brother who was living in Jalapa (Veracruz) as part of his Latin American studies degree, the Mariachis used to sing for me on the beach. It took me right back to that happy holiday in 1978 I think. We later spoke to him again as he kept finding us. He told us his dream was to go to Italy to find the love of his life. I told him I had found mine in Spain and to keep looking. Oh what fun.

The market which is a great gastro centre was too full, as always, to appreciate so we came out and sat outside in a bar to rest. I couldn't believe seeing and hearing an English waiter in his 50's talking Spanish very well but with a strong northern English accent. Kathy asked him if he was from Liverpool. He told us he was from Warrington which is in between Lancashire and Liverpool. He asked where I was from and I said Yorkshire - not strictly true as I was born in Cambridge and only lived in Yorkshire from 1964 to 1976 or so. As I don't have a Yorkshire accent he asked if I was from Harrogate, the poshest town in the county.  If only, I replied. It was another funny encounter of which there were too many that day to recount here. I certainly am my mother's daughter. My mother, and my brother too, would talk to anyone be they be a pauper or a prince.  I think Eladio gets a bit embarrassed when I engage in conversations with strangers and walks away looking on in amusement.

From the Mercado de San Miguel area we had to walk all the way back to the Plaza de España to take the metro and I think we were all tired. My watch told me we had done about 10km that day which is much more than the usual. But soon we were home and later I came downstairs with my cup of decaf tea to have it by the pool. It was not cold but we needed a jumper or a cardigan. Dinner that night was to be our last with Phil and Kathy as they were leaving on Tuesday morning at the crack of dawn. It was to be goodbye to our dear friends after a wonderful time together. But I was only saying farewell as I will be going to stay with them in Yorkshire next month. Roll on November I say.

The news of the day which we heard about while enjoying wandering around Madrid, was that the UK had a new PM in Rushi Sunak, who aged just 42 is the youngest in history after William the Pitt who was  24 when he took on the role in 1783. But actually there is not much between Sunak and Tony Blair who was 43 when he became PM. What is news is that Britain has its first PM of Asian origin - a bit like the Obama moment.  It shouldn't be news in multicultural UK. but it is for its historic significance. If England now how a PM of Indian origin I wonder how long it will take for France or Spain to have an Algerian or Moroccan premiere - certainly not in my lifetime. It says so much about multicultural UK.  but I couldn't help thinking how the world has come round for Britain and its Empire when it more or less owned India and how not so many years later an Indian would be installed at Downing Street.  One Indian paper put it this way which I thought was rather apt; "Indian son rises over the Empire, history comes full circle in Britain! Not even  Mathatma Gandhi could have dreamed of  a PM of Indian origin in England when he visited London to meet Ramsay MacDonald in 1931 to beg for independence. 

Mahatma Gandhi with Ramsay MacDonald at Downing Street in 1931. He would be pleased the UK now has a PM of Indian origin

That is less than 100 years ago! But a lot has happened since then. Whether Sunak is of Indian origin or not doesn't really matter. What matters is if he is up to the job. His background is very privileged and I wonder if the father of India would approve of him being the richest PM in history with an estimated fortune of over 700 million pounds with his wife who is the daughter of an Indian millionaire. He is the MP for Richmond, another posh town in North Yorkshire where he is dubbed "The Maharajah of Yorkshire" with double the King's wealth. Again, I'm not sure Gandhi would approve as he preached austerity.  How on earth can Sumat relate to the estimated 14 million people in the UK who cannot even afford regular meals? The other question is how on earth is he going to manage the financial and political turmoil he now has to deal with. I would have preferred a General Election. But let's give this Westminster College and Oxford educated,  very rich man some time before we judge him. That's what I thought the day he was elected. But when I read that in his cabinet of 24 - a mixture of the old and new -  he has only appointed 7 women, well, I was frankly disappointed. Asian men, and I am not being racist here, are well known for their repression of women. Rishi Sunak probably isn't but the statement he is making when appointing so few women doesn't make for a good start. The bottom line is at least we have got rid of Truss and Boris Johnson is not coming back and it seems we now have a "grown up" at Downing Street. 

On Wednesday morning, while my friends were flying back to Manchester, Liz Truss would make the sad journey to see the King to hand in her resignation formally, shortly after which Rish Sunak would be driven to Buckingham Palace for the "kissing of the hands" ceremony. 

The kissing of the hands ceremony this week

I was interested to read that the new King - we will never call him THE King - received Sunak, offering him Diwali sweets.  Charles (yes, we still call him Charles), the great promoter of interfaith relations in today's multicultural Britain,  met the new PM in the 1844 Room of Buckingham Palace where there was a table with a selection of Diwali treats.  I'm sure you know this is the  five day "Festival of Lights" celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains. It  marks the triumph of good over evil  which I think is very applicable to Sunak beating Johnson ,don't you agree?

While the exciting process of the change of yet another PM - 5 since Brexit - was happening in London, we had a quiet morning. It seemed strange not to have Phil and Kathy here but life goes on. We skipped the walk so as to do the food shopping which would involve me cooking some of the ingredients I bought that morning. Oh roll on the return of Lucy, our Paraguayan home help who had been with us for more than 3 years since one month ago. The great news is that she is coming back soon and I can't wait for the day. We had coffee at Alverán on our own with no sign of our nasty ex squatter Felipe Turover whom we haven't seen for quite a few days. I took a photo of my dear husband who looked so dapper in a bright yellow Zara jumper I had bought for him a while back but which he is rather hesitant to wear. This is him.  Who would believe he is 78? Impossible you will say. Me too.

Eladio in yellow which suits him so well - coffee at Alveran on Tuesday

We came home to unpack and put everything away and I got down to making our lunch. I think I was tired after walking 16000 steps in Madrid the day before so slept for an hour after our meal. The highlight of the day was a long girly Skype call with my dear friend Amanda. I can't wait to see her again when I go to Yorkshire in November. That is something I am really looking forward to I can tell you.

I then started reading a new book. In fact I downloaded two samples of books by the British author Helen Rappaport. It was my father's old pupil, Michael, who recommended her latest book; "After the Romanovs: Russian exiles in Paris between wars. Oh how exciting I thought as so many of my mother's relatives exiled there too after they escaped the revolution. I later read that the author studied Russian at Leeds University where my mother taught Russian and Bulgarian for many years. I wondered if my mother had taught her but sadly no, as she was born in 1947. In any case I would love to reach out to her. I then scrolled through other books she has written and came across one which I had to start reading there and then. Called "The Romanov Sisters: the lost lives of the daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra", it is wonderfully written and I am enjoying every  page. Thanks Michael for the tip. 

Diner time came and I was uninspired so just had gazpacho, ham and kiwis. Shortly afterwards my new guest, Andre, from the German speaking part of Switzerland arrived. He fittingly stayed in "Andy's room" - Andy was our Scottish guest here for 1.5 years and left just as the first Covid lockdown began. Since then that is what we call this room. Andre liked both the room and the house and we wouldn't see much of him as he came for work and didn't even make his appearance in the kitchen where guests often convene.

That night we started watching the rather disturbing new documentary series called The Vatican Girl. Do you remember the story of a girl called Emanuela Orlandi who disappeared one night in 1983 - the year we married - after not returning home from a music class? She was just 15 and her disappearance has been a mystery ever since. I think the series wants to hint that the Vatican was somehow involved. Poor girl, poor family. 

Wednesday came and we had a date that day; coffee with our friends Roberto and Mari Carmen. They are an amicably divorced couple who still spend a lot of time together. Or at least I thought we had and when we set off I texted Mari Carmen to say we were leaving when she reminded us the date was on Thursday. Thus we drove home and went on our walk. I had made lunch in between; meat loaf again. The autumn sun was out that day and the rain has now gone and we are experiencing unusually high temperatures for the end of October.

There is not much more to tell about Wednesday, so let me move on to Thursday. It was a busy day and started with our regular walk. My new Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 later recorded I had done over 10k steps which is my daily objective. I would walk a bit more later when we went to have coffee with our friends Roberto and Mari Carmen whom we hadn't seen since my father's funeral nearly a year ago (8th November 2021 - a date never to be forgotten). We met at Alverán and again our nasty squatter wasn't there. Our friends were keen to show us a new flat that they had bought for letting which involved a short but pleasant walk. We congratulated them on their initiative and we all remarked the safest place for money is in bricks and mortar these days. No way would I ever dare invest money anywhere else given the volatility of markets now and nearly always.

They certainly are volatile in the UK with all the political unrest. This week Sunak began his government not on the best footing. In Spain it was reported that new Foreign Minister had warned about visiting Qatar for the World Cup and to respect their culture; i.e. being gay mean a death sentence. On the other hand there were calls for the newly elected Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, to resign again as she did under Liz Truss for data breaches. This was her main reason for resigning but the breach or breaches haven't gone away. There are concerns too that her immigration policy is far too strict. As this woman herself is an immigrant her views seem so paradoxical.  I was amazed to read in The Times on Friday that there were plans for immigrants crossing the channel to be "housed" in tents in London Parks! For God's Sake. And while the UN is telling us that "time is running out very fast" to save our planet I read that Sunak will not even be attending the next Climate Summit. For God's sake (again), please Richi let the new King go. Whether you like him or not he is a world leader on the subject. Maybe Richi has more immediate troubles at home. One is the NHS and there is no need to go into details about the problems of the British health service. I was appalled to read recently that half of all maternity units in the UK are under standard. I had no idea that it is only midwives who deliver babies. When I had mine in Spain they were delivered by gynecologists. Not only that. Ever since I gave birth the last time in 1985, I have had a check up with a gynecologist year in year out. In the UK, I am told this only happens when you get to 50 and then only on a bi annual basis. That is shameful. My friend defended midwives as being very professional but said the problem is there aren't enough of them. The nurses are going on strike in the UK calling for better pay which they well deserve and it is estimated that more than 30.000 will be leaving their jobs soon. Brexit again is to blame when so many EU medical workers had to leave. 

That was more or less the main news in the UK that day when we watched it after lunch and just before our siesta. The other warning came from Russia from the warmonger Putin. He warned the world was entering its most dangerous decade since WW2. As if we didn't know that already, all I could think was that it was thanks to him. My heart goes out to those brave Ukrainians living through war, many of them without basic services as Putin strikes at essential infrastructure. Damn the man. 

We were out of the house again later as I had my first appointment with a physiotherapist specialising in women's pelvic floor. This is because of my lovely prolapse - both bladder and womb. It was an interesting session and there are signs that with exercise I may be able to avoid an operation. In the times when I gave birth and before, women's pelvic health was never even thought about leading to all sorts of problems in later life. Thankfully, today, this is less so.

I came home to watch the end of a ghastly film I had started on Wednesday. Called The Good Nurse, it is based on the true story of a "bad nurse", Charles Cullen who killed many patients for years owing to a broken healthcare system. He was able to get away with it until another nurse he befriended began to suspect him. Wow what a story! 

Dinner was just Eladio and I which we could have had outside. It was 22c or so at 8pm - amazing. Spain is having a very mild late autumn with temperature in many places 10 degrees higher than normal. That means, thankfully, that, so far, we haven't had to put on the central heating. It will hit our pockets but we will manage, unlike so many people elsewhere, some who have to leave it off and instead wear layers of clothing. 

Friday came. The big financial news was the purchase of  Twitter by the richest men in the world who doesn't have to think about the cost of central heating. Elon Musk bought Twitter after a second attempt.  He bought it for 44bn dollars which it is said will do down as "one of the most overpaid tech acquisitions in history". He walked into the Twitter HQ carrying a kitchen sink and saying "I hope this sinks in"! Of course he  immediately sacked the management team. But don't worry about them as they have received millions in compensation.   Dubbing himself "Chief Twit" (hahaha), I  read he bought it mostly to help Twitter be a better place in social media and to "help humanity". 

Elon Musk of Tesla fame, now the new owner of Twitter

He also said he wanted civilisation to have a "common digital town square". So how will he change it I wonder? I also read he may let Donald Trump come back. That is not good news. For the moment though there will be no changes as he puts in place a council to moderate posts. His first post was "The bird is free" but I do hope Twitter stops being the main place on internet for hate speech. I really do. 

Before I read the news though, I had an important task to do. I had invested in a DNA kit from My Heritage, prompted by a friend. 

My DNA kit arrived on Thursday

It's not the health version, just the one that discovers your ethnic and geographical origins and also apparently finds new relatives. I had long been thinking about it and the other day I signed up. The kit arrived on Thursday afternoon and on Friday morning I did the test. I then activated it by filling in details about my parents and grandparents - names, dates and places of birth - and that day I sent off the two samples I had to fill with swabs from the inside of my cheeks.  I won't get the results for another 3 weeks or so. So what do I expect? Well, obviously some English,  Welsh, Irish, Russian, maybe Polish and Scandinavian or even Baltic blood. It will be interesting to see in what percentages and if there are any other origins that I didn't know of. As to relatives, well, who knows what I may discover. 

That day we had one person leaving and a group of 7 arriving. That meant quite a lot of preparation and by the time I had finished my part it was a bit late for our walk. Thus we opted to go out on our errands - post office to send my DNA kit and to retrieve a registered letter, pick up a watch Eladio had mended, coffee of course at Alverán, a visit to the hole in the wall and finally to the opticians. There we went to order Eladio's new prescription glasses for reading. We only went home after visiting a cobbler to put a leather strap on the folding glasses case for my husband to wear on his belt. All this was done in brilliant sunshine - I am so blessed living in Europe's warmest country; except that when climate change really hits us it may not be such a blessing. If that happens we can always move up north to either Montrondo or to Asturias.

Lunch was an Asturian dish for Eladio - fabada - which I had prepared early in the morning. Being on a diet - now for over a month - I had a bit of leftover meat loaf with fresh asparagus. I have still not gone on the scales but am happy to announce I now fit into my M+S size 12 jeans again. Hurrah!

We went to watch the news and take a siesta. But I couldn't sleep as I was waiting for my 7 guests who were supposed to arrive at around 2pm. They did not arrive until well after 5 but hey no worries as this is my new job. It turned out this group had been here before but in our absence so I didn't remember them but they remembered the house and were pleased to be here again. They are a group of students from Spain, France and Portugal. When they had settled in, I returned greedily to my book - The Four (Romanov) Sisters and my cup of tea.

We had a quiet dinner and then it was time for bed, the news and more of The Vatican Girl. 

Saturday dawned. One guest was leaving and another was arriving. We really have had a full house this weekend but even so it is very quiet. Of course many of them leave me reviews and I review them too.  As an Airbnb host I am a slave to reviews.  But, I am blessed in that I have many many really wonderful reviews. Yesterday I got my best review ever and it made my day. .It came from dear Hayley who not only gave me 5 stars for everything but said the most wonderful things about our home. 

Hayley's review which referred to our home as as "place of love and wonder". 

My Swiss guest also sent a great review writing -  "This is exactly how Airbnb should work". But it was Hayley's text that reached my heart. This is what she wrote: "Words can't describe how much I enjoyed and loved my stay with Masha and her beautiful family - not only is her home truly gorgeous but they even when out of their way to pick me up from the bus station to ensure I didn't get lost in the dark which I usually do. Their hearts and souls truly touched me from the moment I got invited in to their home  - it's a place of love and wonder - and these personal touches made my trip the whole lot more beautiful - thank you so much Masha and truly hope to see you and Suzy again somewhere around the world" Isn't that beautiful? It really filled my heart but also made me think that a lot of our success has to do with how we interact with our guests. Thank you Hayley from the bottom of my heart. 

On our walk that morning we spoke, as we often do, about our extraordinary experience of hosting guests in our main house and in Santa Pola and Asturias. Never in our lives could we have imagined it. Just for the record here is a lovely photo of my husband - again in yellow (M&S Rugby shirt I love) - with Pippa, of course.

Eladio and Pippa on our walk yesterday

We spoke too about our grandchildren and how we hadn't seen them for a week at least. But Oli sent me a photo of Elliot and Juliet playing happily together that morning.

Juliet and Elliot playing yesterday morning

As more than a week cannot go past without seeing these little darlings, I invited Oli and co for lunch today. We will be having the last barbecue of the season - pics next week.

The rest of the day was quiet and we spent it together and alone as our guests were all out, except for one new guest who arrived at 2 pm. He had come for a Halloween Party which is next week. Oh, how I hate Halloween and always have. It is not an Anglo Saxon tradition; it comes from America and has invaded the rest of the world. I was appalled to read this morning of a crush of people at a Halloween party in South Korea with more than 150 people dead, all in their Halloween outfits. Ghastly!

We were going to a party too but nothing to do with Halloween. Our friend Javier and my ex colleague from the sector had invited us to his 60th birthday party. I have known Javier for many years when he was the Press Officer for Telefonica and I had the same job with Motorola, Nokia and then Yoigo. We later got to know his wonderful wife, Ana, and their great family - 3 girls and 1 boy, all now married. They have 4 grandchildren so far and are blessed in many ways. They have moved to El Escorial, that beautiful town in the mountains of Madrid where Philip II built a huge Monastery where he lived and where most of the past Kings and Queens of Spain are buried.  His party was to be held at a very chic place belonging or next to the golf club in El Escorial. We didn't know what the dress code was, so went smart casual. I wore the dress I had bought for a wedding in July and Eladio wore his new jeans with a new M+S shirt together with a bow tie and a very old dark blue blazer. It is so old, it was only when we were at the party that I realised all the men's blazers were far shorter than Eladio's. I felt a bit ashamed. I later remarked we must have it shortened. Before we left I got Suzy to take some photos of the 2 of us as it is not often we are all dressed up to go to a party. 

All ready to go to Javier's 60th birthday party

We set off at around 7.15 while it was still light - tonight it won't be as last night DST began (boohoo). But soon it was dark and I hate driving in the dark. But we made it in under an hour and were soon inside the lovely glass terrace at the golf course. We were made very welcome and got to see people we already knew and to meet new people. Javier had all his friends and family there so the atmosphere couldn't have been warmer. There was great food, and drink - as well as a cake. I was good and had not much wine, very little food and resisted the amazing carrot cake. Here are some pics from last night, a wonderful 60th birthday celebration. Many happy returns Javier and thank you for inviting us.

Some pics from last night's party

Before we left, we actually joined in the dancing and Eladio and I are not ones for dancing. I generally step on my partner's feet unless it is slow dancing which I much enjoyed last night with my husband. A bit like Cinderella, we wanted to be home by midnight so were probably the first to leave. This time we had the roads to ourselves and got home safely. We came home to find our student guests about to go to  bed. They seemed a lovely group of students. Suzy had Pippa with her who I heard had been scared stiff in our absence and hers. She only calmed down when we arrived. Soon though we gave her a bath (and brushed her teeth) and she was curled up on our bed feeling safe again. To fall asleep I read a few more chapters of The Four Sisters. I was awake at the 5ish which of course was 6ish still for me but forced myself to stay in bed until it was the new 7 am. 

The clocks went back last night, to Daylight Saving Time but I would far prefer us to stay on Summer Time all through the year. Why on earth do we have to change the clocks? It means now that we will have one hour  less of light in the evenings and I, like many others, would prefer more light in the evening rather than in the morning. 

Today is Sunday and I have the family coming for lunch so must hurry to finish this and get on with the day. 

Cheers then my friends until next week,

Masha