Home from Asturias, lots of time with our grandchildren, the kids enjoying the pool in October, taking them to school, off again, this time to Santa Pola, reunion with Suzy and my best friends Adele and Sandra.

 Sunday 16th October

With Suzy and Sandra in our apartment yesterday soon after she and Adele arrived. 

Good morning all.

What a week it has been. Last Sunday we travelled home from Asturias after a wonderful time there in glorious weather. It was sad to leave our house in El Cuetu and I hope we can go back soon. We had an uneventful journey back. It takes about 4.5 hours but we stopped for a coffee, for some petrol and to eat our sandwich. We always used to stop for lunch but these days take sandwiches which makes our journey faster. 

We were home just after 4.30. The temperature was 33ºc, amazing for October. The whole week  has been the same but thankfully the nights are cooler so we don't need air con. It was lovely to be home as it always is. I came home to 3 guests and a 4th the next day but I only saw two of them this week, dear Mileny, our 22 year old Peruvian student and Cole from Canada who is here on a programme as an assistant teacher of English at the very school Eladio taught at the year before he retired in Brunete.  Cole is a nice kid, aged 26 from Vancouver and is very respectful and well behaved. 

Dinner was delicious on our kitchen terrace served by faithful Tana who had looked after the house so well in our absence. It was great to sleep in "our own bed" that night in our gigantic bedroom which is at least 5 times bigger than our bedroom in El Cuetu hahaha.

I was up just after 7 am on Monday morning. The first thing we did was go for a walk which did the three of us good. I made lunch out of what I could find and we ate red lentil soup followed by bacalhau á bras. As we hadn't seen the kids for about 10 days I invited them over in the afternoon to see us and enjoy the pool. Until this year we would close it in October but not anymore. Now it will stay open all year and that's a good thing, at least this month because of the heat wave. Would you believe towns like Bilbao reached 38ºc that day. Unheard of.

They arrived late but they arrived, full of beans as usual. We all made a beeline for the pool. I should have changed into my bathing costume but I was a bit lazy. None of the guests were around so we had the place to ourselves. We had to have hawks eyes to watch the children as our pool is deep in all places. At one stage Elliot gave us a fright by jumping into the deepest end which is 3 metres deep. We got him out immediately and he was in shock and crying. I hope he has learned his lesson. Here are some lovely picture of the kids that afternoon.

The kids enjoying the pool in October

We then helped bathe them which was a bit chaotic as it always was  By the time they left at around 8 pm I was exhausted. We saw a lot of them this week as Miguel was away covering the EU Summit in Granada from 3rd to 6th October and we had to take it in turns to spend the night at their place. Oli leaves at 6 am and the kids go to school at 9 so she needed us there from 5.30 am. It was a challenging few days but we had to do it for her. 

After they left we just had some cold melon on the terrace before retiring to our quarters. For some reason I just couldn't sleep despite taking 2 sleeping tablets. I was up at 7 am on Tuesday morning with lots to do that day and until I left on Thursday for Santa Pola. 

We did the shopping in the morning and of course had coffee at Alverán, the highlight of the day. The rest of the day was crazy. I had a hairdo at 5.30 but had to leave early with wet hair as I had to rush home to meet a man about a job. Eladio meanwhile was babysitting the grandchildren while Oli was at her French lessons. I then made a quick rush to pick up my sleeping tablets prescription without which I cannot sleep. They didn't help that night. Eladio was back for a quick dinner together and I was off again, this time to Oli's house.

 I was to sleep with Elliot and all was fine except that he kept kicking his legs and moving all over the bed. I think I got about 4.5h interrupted sleep. The morning routine with the kids was fine. Elliot told me that all I had to do was to take them to school and then go to work. He didn't understand when I said I don't go to work hahahaha. Eladio arrived to take them with me to school. They were so sweet I had to have a photo.

Taking the kids to school on Wednesday morning

I came home feeling shattered after two consecutive nights of 4 hours sleep and asked Eladio to sleep with Elliot that night which he did. I was so tired I nearly forgot I had an appointment at a nail bar in Boadilla so rushed to it. It was the nicest bit of luxury of the week. The hairdresser, on the other hand, is no luxury for me. I consider it a bind.

That day we heard Spain, Portugal and Morocco will be hosting the 2030 World Cup but that a few matches will also be played in Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina - a bit strange but still good news for Spain. I remember the 1982 World Cup held in Spain and going to see the British fans misbehaving near the Bernabeu stadium. But that's a long way a way in 7 years time.

There was no peace for the wicked when my new guests arrived. Kang, his wife and their two friends arrived around 6pm and soon settled in. They were very nice people if a little invasive. They took another guests' eggs and put their wine in our fridge. These things happen hahahaha. 

So that night Eladio slept at Oli's and luckily for him all went well. I slept alone with Pippa and got 6 hours sleep. I finished packing so that as soon as I was back from taking the kids to school I would be ready to leave for Santa Pola. 

I was at Oli's place by 7.45 on Thursday morning and my husband had the kids ready one hour early. There was nothing for it but for them to play with their toys to make time. I have to say they behaved perfectly. We took them to school half an hour early too and all went well. Here is a video of them waiting outside their school. Oli and Miguel were amazed at Eladio's efficiency hahaha. 

I had a bit of trouble leaving as the car fob wouldn't work. I had to go and get the other and thankfully it worked. Then once again the tyres were flat and we had them inflated at the garage. Thus I didn't leave until 11 am. I said goodbye to Eladio feeling a little guilty that I was leaving him alone for nearly 10 days and just hoped Tana would cook decent meals for him and that he would manage on his own.

I didn't manage the satnav very well and instead of taking the A3 (the Valencia road) I went on some stupid new motorway, the AP36 which cost me 13 euros but didn't get me to my destination any earlier. I don't really like driving long distance on motorways and hate competing with lorries and overtaking but I managed and with just two short stops, I was at our apartment by 4 pm. I arrived to strong sunshine and the temperature was 27ºc which is a lot for Alicante as it is humid and by the sea. It was lovely to see Suzy again and also to find the apartment sparkling clean - thank you Lucy by the way.

Suzy and I just chilled out. She had run out of food but no worries as I had brought provisions for that day. While she had some lunch I had a cup of tea and a cake which is more or less all I ate that day unless you count peanuts I had with a glass of red wine on our lovely terrace.

We both went to bed early and that night I slept decently. I watched part of Season 6 of The Good Doctor until I fell asleep. I was awake at 6 am on Friday morning but went back to sleep till 7.30. I needed that shut eye, I really did. It was funny though sleeping on my own and funny being in the apartment without Eladio for the first time since we bought it in 1999!

We did lots of shopping that morning. Shopping with Suzy was like old times - what my Mother used to call "Moments with Mama". We bought everything needed to stock up the apartment and for meals with Adele and Sandra. They were all to be what we call at home "bits and bobs", i.e. bits of this and that. Suzy doesn't like being photographed but she conceded when I wanted a photo of the new door to our apartment block. Here she is. Isn't she beautiful?

Outside the door of our apartment building 

She also took me for an excellent coffee at some Italian place. To get there we had to drive on the coastal road from Gran Alacant to Santa Pola - a divine drive right by the sea. What a road. I've always loved it.

We shopped at Urdine, a Chinese poundland like place, Mercadona and Lidl and made sure we had plenty of wine for "the girls" (my friends). Outside there was the Polish beggar with his dogs who we had met before. Feeling generous we bought him a loaf of bread, some salami, bananas, apples and some treats for the dogs. He's such a lovely man with beautiful blue eyes and I wonder why he has no one to take him in, bless him.

We had planned to have lunch out but had bought so many provision we had it at home - gnocchi with pesto and a delicious salad of lettuce, pomegranate, spring onion and avocado. 

That afternoon we had a date. We were going out. We were meeting Father Paul, an English vicar serving Anglicans in the Alicante area. He lives in La Nucia very near Callosa where my parents bought a house in the 70's. He is my age and hails from Manchester and we loved him immediately. We met at Kiosko Peret on the beautiful Explanade with its marble design I love so much. I had reached out to Father Paul because of Suzy's spiritual needs and I wanted her to meet "a man of God", someone she could trust.  We both laughed as we approached the Explanade, talking about how surrounded we are by the church. For those of you who don't know; my mother's father, Andre Lieven, was an Orthodox priest and two of her sisters became nuns - Olga and Dara. My father's father, John Collins Lloyd, was an English vicar (Canon) and of course I married an ex Roman catholic Priest. On top of that I told Suzy I went to a Catholic church and even started a degree in Theology at Nottingham University. She is going through what she calls a "spiritual awakening" which scares me stiff as, from my point of view, she is crossing the line somewhat. She had her doubts about meeting Father Paul so I was really happy that we both liked him. We had a wonderful conversation with both of them doing most of the talking for 1.5h which ended with him blessing her. It was beautiful. 

We came home feeling good. We were hardly hungry and all I had was a glass of wine with some pistachios. There would be plenty of time to eat when my dear friends Sandra and Adele arrived the next day.

I didn't sleep badly but naughtily stayed up watching The Good Doctor till nearly 1 in the morning. This is all a bit like "baching it" - behaving like a bachelor and I'm finding it great but weird. I know I will be more than happy to fall into my dear husband's arms when I get back next week but I am loving this for the moment.  He rang us as we were sitting on the terrace - the best part of the apartment and it was good to hear his voice.

Saturday came, the day my dear Uni (Nottingham) friends, Adele and Sandra were coming from Nantes and Brussels respectively. They were arriving at 12.15 and 12.30 so well in sync. Suzy went jogging while I lazed around getting ready. I left for the airport while Suzy was making our lunch - tortilla with "bits and bobs". Sandra's plane from Brussels was on time and here she is making her entrance to the Arrivals lounge.

Sandra arriving yesterday at Alicante airport

We melted into each other's arms. Sandra and Adele are the nearest I have to sisters. We met at Nottingham Uni where they studied French and Spanish. I lived in the same hall as Adele (Nightingale Hall) in the first year then with Sandra at Church Avenue in my second year and in my fourth year I lived with Adele on Cromwell Road in Beeston. We have remained in contact all our lives and try to see each other at least once a year. The last time we were together was in Asturias in May 2022. So it was high time to meet again. 

Suzy has known them all her life and welcomed them warmly. They came bringing gifts; tops, pyjamas, chocolate and nougat (specially for Suzy and I). They loved the flat or at least they said so. Lunch was great - thank you Suzy after which we spent part of the afternoon on our terrace chatting and chatting as is normal when we are together.

Sandra and Adele on our terrace yesterday

We later adjourned to the pool which we walked to from our apartment through the lovely Mediterranean garden. They loved it and we had it more or less to ourselves apart from a small group of Brits from Teeside.

Dinner was more bits and bobs and we spent the rest of the evening on the terrace drinking and chatting. We were in heaven while a full blown war was developing in the Middle East. Hamas had invaded and attacked Israel unexpectedly. Of course Israel retaliated immediately and there has been and will be more blood shed. It doesn't bear thinking about.

Despite wars around the world, our little lives will continue peacefully here in Gran Alacant in Santa Pola. Today will be a good day and I am thankful for that.

So cheers my friends and peace to you all until next Sunday,

Masha. 

c