Asturias in December, painting the hall, 45th anniversary of the Spanish Constitution, "Rizz", word of the year, mornings in Llanes, remembering Fátima, home again, Olivia and family in Montrondo, Christmas came and other stories of the week.

 Home again, Sunday, 10th December, 2023

In Llanes on Monday all wrapped up because of the wind. Notice little Pippa's ears flapping hahaha. 

Good morning everyone.

Well we've been and gone to Asturias now and have been home since Wednesday. We would have stayed longer except that we had guests arriving on Thursday for the long bank holiday weekend.  The 6th December is Constitution Day and the 8th is the Immaculate Conception. Some people take the whole or part of the week off. 

It is 45 years since the new Spanish Constitution was approved in a national referendum in 1978. I was 21 then and spending a year in Madrid as part of my degree in Hispanic Studies at Nottingham University. I remember the fervour surrounding the election which was one of the biggest steps to democracy after the death of Franco in 1975. The most extraordinary thing about the 1978 Constitution is that it was put together by seven deputies from different political parties. They are known as the fathers of the constitution. Only two of them, Miguel Herrero y Rodríguez de Miñón and Miguel Roca are still alive. They did a great job which would most probably be impossible in this day and age, given the state of the political division of the country. The fathers of the Constitution would be very alarmed to know that members of the far right Catalan separatist party, Junts, led by fugitive Puigdemont, and members of the ruling socialist party, PSOE, met this week in Geneva for "talks". These talks are part of the conditions imposed by Puigdemont in exchange for his parties' votes allowing Pedro Sánchez to be invested Prime Minister again. The most controversial condition was an amnesty for all people prosecuted for their involvement in the illegal Catalan separatist movement since 2012. Puigdemont, is Sánchez' political "king maker" but he is also his hangman or could be as he will be watching the government's every move, a government that relies on his support. Apart from the amnesty, Puigdemont wants to hold a referendum for Catalan independence, something the Spanish constitution of 1978 does not contemplate. To add insult to injury, these talks which will be ongoing, are to be supervised by a supposed independent third party and in a country outside Spain. The person chosen is a diplomat from El Salvador of all places. I doubt Francisco Galindo Vélez, can save Spain! This has further divided the country and there have been mass demonstrations again this week.  

We left for Asturias last Sunday on a crisp and sunny day. We were and still are recovering from our various cold and flu like viruses but had to go. We didn't go for pleasure but to paint part of the entrance and lounge before our guests arrived.  The insurance company people had broken the wall, unnecessarily, last September because of a small leak and we were left to clear up the mess. 

The wall the insurance people broke and shouldn't have

We found a man to do it but we gave him the wrong colour paint. The original colour is light cream and the paint we gave him was yellow which we didn't realise at the time. He later sent me a photo of the "job done". 

Wrong colour paint

For God's sake, why didn't he tell us the colour was wrong before he painted I ask myself? The only reason we went this week was to repair the damage. The problem would be finding the right colour paint.

The journey was smooth and we only stopped to eat our sandwiches somewhere on the way. We arrived around 4.30 pm and the first thing we saw upon entering the house was the botched paint job. I didn't let it get me down and got on with unpacking and settling in. Loli, the neighbour who looks after the house,  had put the heating on for us so the house was warmish. The system is electric which is very expensive but never really heats up the house properly. Thankfully the climate in that part of the country is quite mild. Eladio also put on the range cooker  with some of the logs from the dwindling pile of wood in the garage and at least the kitchen was cozy. When I was done, I lay down on the sofa in the lounge to watch more of "Cuéntame" with Pippa at my side. I could hear a noise from the hall so got up to see what is was. I was amazed to see Eladio painting the yellow part  of the wall. He had found the right paint colour which was hidden somewhere in the cupboard under the stairs. We had bought it last year to paint the entrance when a huge piece of furniture fell. That was the paint Eladio thought he had given to the builder Ramón! Thankfully though we now had the right paint and the job we had come to do was over as soon as we arrived.

Thus on Monday we had no tasks, just time for ourselves. I was up at around 8.30 after interrupted sleep owing to my damn cough. As usual I read the news. Top of the list are the renewed attacks on Gaza by Israel. The IDF is back with a vengeance. Palestinians had been warned to go south while Israel bombed the north but now they seem to be bombing everywhere and Palestinians have no place to find refuge. The situation is dire. The UN wants an humanitarian ceasefire which, unsurpisingly, was vetoed by the US. 

I was happier reading about this year's Oxford University Press' word of the year. It is "rizz",  a word I had never heard of. Have you? It is slang for romantic appeal and charm and is used a lot by young people, mostly on internet. The word most likely derives from charisma. So do you have "rizz"? The shortlisted words were pretty new to me as I have lived outside the UK for over 40 years and my vocab has remained in the 80's hahaha. The shortlisted words are: "beige flag" (someone or something boring), "situationship" (non formal romantic relationship), "parasocial" (a one sided relationship between a person and someone  they do not know), "heat dome" (hot air; weather related), "swiftie" ( a fan of singer Taylor Swift who I have heard of but know nothing about), "prompt" (an instruction using AI - I suppose an instruction given to Chat GPT or similar). Last and least is "de-influencing" which refers to the opposite of influencing on social media. This list of words would have been most unfamiliar to people of my generation and older. You learn something new everyday don't you?

But we weren't thinking about the war against Hamas on Monday morning or any other news really.  I was happy to be back at our house in Asturias. Here is Eladio getting into our old Volvo. I got it from Nokia when I left the company in 2006 and it must be about 22 years old but it is still going strong hahahaha. 

Getting into our old Volvo to drive to Llanes on Monday

We drove to Llanes to have a coffee in town and wander around the town which we love so much. That's where Eladio took the photo of me and Pippa by the town beach, Playa del Sablón. If you look closely you can see her ears flapping in the wind. It was windy but not cold. It was funny to think that about 2 months ago we were swimming in the sea there. Not this week. 

On our way back we did some shopping in Posada, mostly for house provisions - you know "beige flag" stuff, like washing detergent, loo roll, etc. I made a simple lunch of pork sirloin with vegetables cooked in olive oil and garlic - so Spanish. 

Tuesday was to be our last full day in Asturias and again we were free to do what we felt like. Tuesday too was the 4th anniversary of the death of my dearest Spanish friend Fátima. We met at Motorola in about 1991  and became close friends. 

With my dearest friend Fátima at the Paris Roubaix cycling race in 1993, a photo I love of the two of us having fun together. 

We then went on to work together for Nokia and were even neighbours. So close were we that we were known by some people as "Pin and Pon". Oh dear Fátima, how I miss you in my life. I don't have another "best friend" in Spain so her loss for me was very big. We were like sisters and I think of her very often wishing I could share something with her. Whatever news I had, be it good or bad, I always shared it with my friend and that's one of the things I miss most about her loss. 

Fátima would have loved coming with us to Asturias and she would have loved the pretty town of Llanes. That's where we went again on Tuesday, mostly because it was market day. I love parking by the Sablón beach and walking through the old walls of the city and its old streets, like this one where I got Eladio to pose.

Walking the streets of Llanes

I also love having a coffee in the square called Sobrino Parres Sobrino where scenes from so many Spanish period series have been filmed. Eladio didn't have a coffee but he took a photo of mine with extra foam. 

Coffee in Llanes on Tuesday morning

As we walked to the square he admitted to me what I have always suspected. He doesn't really like coffee but drank it on our mornings out to accompany me. Oh well, at least now it will be a bit cheaper if it's just me having a coffee when we go out!

He was much happier buying tickets for the Spanish Christmas lottery called "El Gordo" (the fat one). Here he is outside the lottery shop with some of the tickets for this year's draw which is on 22nd December next. I have no high hopes of winning but he always does, hahahaha. 

Eladio buying tickets in Llanes for this year's El Gordo Christmas lottery draw

I think he spends too much on the lottery but it is a very Spanish tradition and an argument I am not going to win. I preferred visiting the open market and found a very nice jumper which will make do as one of the Christmas presents from him this year. Eladio doesn't do presents, hahahah. 

After visiting the market we made our way to the other side of the town where the the second main beach, Playa de Toró, is located. It's a lovely walk and the views are great. 

Playa de Toró just outside Llanes - as seen on Tuesday morning this week in Asturias

By then it was past 1 o'clock so we decided to have lunch in Llanes and made our way back to the port where there are a group of restaurants all offering a typical Asturian menu of the day. We both fancied "fabada" (local bean stew with chorizo, etc.) and walked into the second one we saw. This was my fabada which was offered as one of the first courses. No way could I have a second course after that my friends.

Fabada for lunch in Llanes on Tuesday

I commented it was the first time we had been to a restaurant in more than a month. We enjoyed our meal but were happy to be back in the quiet of our home in the village of El Cuetu where a siesta was the next item on the agenda that day.

Our last evening was peaceful. We were pleased to know that Olivia and family had arrived safely in Montrondo where they have gone for this holiday week. It's very cold up there; much more so than in Asturias as the village is 1000m high and surrounded by mountains. This is a picture Oli sent of the kids on Wednesday morning, the day of our return home. 

Juliet and Elliot in Montrondo on Wednesday

Wednesday was Constitution Day as I mentioned earlier but also Independence Day in Finland. Why would I tell you that you may wonder? I feel very close to that Nordic  country having worked for its flagship company, Nokia, for 6 years. I travelled there  many times and came to love Finland. I know what Independence Day means to Finns, getting rid of the yoke of Russia. Today Finland belongs to NATO (finally) but has the longest border with Russia in Europe. It has closed it off recently owing to the increased number of migrants crossing it; mostly from the Middle East and blatantly encouraged by Russia. 

We were up quite early on Constitution Day and ready to leave by 10.30 or so. I made sandwiches for our lunch instead of stopping somewhere to eat. We have come to the conclusion that having a meal at a restaurant on our journeys delays the arrival time by more than an hour and often are just not worth it. The drive was smooth with not much traffic on the roads and we were home by just after 3.30 pm. The house was quiet with only two guests, Mileny whom we didn't see and Mohammad who we did. I had an interesting conversation with him later that night about Ramadan and fasting. He is quite a believer but I was a little shocked to hear him tell me that women with periods don't do Ramadan as they are unclean. He tried to find another word but he couldn't. 

I slept fitfully as usual and got just under 6 hours sleep. If only I could get more shut eye. I was up just after 7 on Thursday morning. We had a morning of errands including food shopping, a visit to the DIY store LM and coffee at Starbucks for a change. New guests arrived that afternoon, a Spanish and Russian couple and their two teenage kids from previous marriages. They had come from Murcia to visit Madrid during the Bank Holiday which I gather was already overcrowded. We will be going into the city one of these days but on a weekday to avoid the masses. The husband who is Spanish asked where my Russian family came from which is not easy to answer as their story is very complicated and difficult to understand.  I told him they were "white Russians" and got a blank look. His wife, Gala, though, understood immediately. They had houses in Moscow, outside Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi where they fled during the Revolution but their main home was in a town outside Moscow called Voskresensk. From my Aunty Valya,  I learned in recent years that they had also owned the whole of Pushkin Square in Moscow if that still exists. Below is the family home, the Lieven estate in Voskresensk. 

The Lieven family estate in Voskresensk near Moscow

. 

The highlight of Thursday was a Facetime call with my dear friends Kathy and Phil who live in West Yorkshire. They have already put up their tree and done all their Christmas Shopping. I have a long way to catch up except for finally putting up the decorations and receiving my order of crackers from the British Corner Shop Online which arrived that day. They are all from M&S. I love crackers but wish those making them would be a bit more creative when it comes to the gifts inside which are usually sheer rubbish. 

My Christmas crackers ordered from the British Corner Shop online which arrived this week. 

I coughed a lot that night too and am sick and tired of my flu, gastroenteritis and common cold which have lasted more than a month so far. I was up at just after 7 on Friday morning, the Day of the Immaculate Conception. Spain is now a lay country so it is surprising that nearly all of the holidays are of religious origin. Talking to Mohammad about Christmas which he doesn't celebrate, I remarked that probably the majority of people celebrating Christmas don't believe in Jesus Christ but just enjoy the celebrations. I'm right aren't I? 

Although I didn't feel like it, I decided that on Friday we just had to put up the Christmas decorations. It's a task we used to do with the girls when they were small and we always did it to the sound of English Christmas carols. Gone are those days and now it is just Eladio and I who do it together. After our walk, something else I insisted on as I just had to get off my back****, my husband brought up the huge cardboard box with all the decorations as well as our rather old and forlorn imitation tree. Here he is about to start the task.

Starting on the Christmas decorations

His main job was putting the tree up as well as the lights. I did the rest in between making chicken curry for lunch. By 2 pm the job was done. I took photos later in the afternoon with the lights on. Here they are.

Some of our Christmas decorations

Finally Christmas had come to our house. But we still have to buy all the presents which I have been told must not be put under the tree so that Elliot won't get confused about their provenance; i.e. not to give the game away that Father Christmas brings them. I am more than happy to go along with that.

The children meanwhile were having a good time in Montrondo. One of Eladio's sisters sent a video of Elliot singing a song with great gusto with his sister Juliet and  a cousin photo bombing it, hahahaha. I loved it and uploaded it to my YouTube channel. You can see it here. I sent it to Suzy who loved it too. She told me it reminded her of when she and Oli were very small singing and dancing together. Those were the days.

Friday was a sunny day and so was yesterday, Saturday. We had things to do that morning. Oh, how I love our morning errands together. We went out to buy lots of batteries for some of my Christmas decorations and toys - I am such a child at heart. We also got more lottery tickets and sent one to Loli in Asturias. We shall also be giving one each to Suzy and Oli. It's a big custom here to give or share lottery tickets with family and friends. Here is Eladio posting Loli's.

Eladio posting a card with a lottery ticket for Loli yesterday in Boadilla. 

By then it was coffee time (for me only boohoo) and I took Eladio to Manolo Bakes as Alverán looked rather crowded. I enjoyed my huge cappuccino and two mini chocolate covered croissants. We spent the time discussing where to go for my birthday in February. Last year we spent two nights in Segovia which we most enjoyed. Eladio wants to go to a Parador so we shall be looking for one not too far away. Watch this space. We also spoke about our next road trip. We are still not sure about the destination or route so watch this space too.

The last stop was the bank and then home where Tana was just about ready to leave until tomorrow morning. The Anglo Spanish family were out so the house was very quiet which is just how we like it. In Montrondo, meanwhile, more of the family had arrived - Eladio has 6 brothers and sisters, 4 of whom live in León, about 1h away. Oli sent me some lovely pictures of the kids with two of their cousins. Elliot adores one of them who is 12 and is great with kids. He told me recently he wants to marry her bless him and bless her because she is a darling child. Here they are. I was so happy to see my grandchildren enjoying the village just as their mother and aunt had when they were children.

Elliot and Juliet with their cousins in Montrondo this week

Had we felt better we would have driven from Asturias to León to spend the bank holiday with them but we just weren't up to it I'm afraid. Hopefully we shall be better next week.

Today is Sunday and when I have published this blog post, we shall go for our walk. The rest of the day will be quiet and calm. Let's see how next week pans out.

Meanwhile, my friends, all the very best until next Sunday,

Masha.