A quiet week in December, Spain's new Big Brother tourist registration rules, my raspberry mille-feuille tart, José Antonio and Dolores for lunch, babysitting Elliot and Juliet, remembering Fátima and not many other stories to tell this week.

 Madrid, Sunday 8th December, 2024.

Eladio with Pippa who turned 10 this week. 

Good morning everyone this quiet Sunday. It is even quieter today in Spain as it is a holiday to mark the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Spain is officially a secular state so you might wonder why all these holidays to mark Catholic feast days. Traditions die hard and for those who celebrate the real meaning of Christmas; the birth of Jesus Christ, today probably means a lot; the day the mother of God conceived of him via the holy spirit. In our case it will be quiet and will be treated as just another Sunday, made a bit more fun as Oli and family are coming and we shall be having a special lunch to celebrate her new status as a full time employee with RTVE, Spain's national broadcaster.  But I am digressing, so let me backtrack to last Sunday which was quiet too as has most of the  week and as you will read I don't have many stories to tell. Sorry, not much excitement this week. Maybe that is a good thing.

That day our walk took us to La Flaca bar and restaurant for our morning coffee. Recently we seem to unite both events, the walk and our or my morning coffee as Eladio, sadly, does partake of my favourite beverage. The best photo of the week was taken there and I've chosen it as my feature photo. Here is another one of my husband with Pippa. 

Two of the greatest loves of my life; my husband Eladio and Pippa, our miniature dachshund last Sunday at La Flaca

On my social media handles I wrote "with two of the greatest loves of my life". You probably know we are three in this marriage with Pippa being the addition, hahaha.

The afternoon saw me watching a film called Joy on Netflix. It's about how the first test-tube baby was conceived successfully. It's one of those good British made biopics based on a true story which are just up my street. It's also a story I remember as a teenager in England when  Louise Brown, the first test-tube baby was born, in 1978. It was nothing short of a miracle even though society was against the innovation. Since then I read some 2 million babies were born to mothers who, without IVF would have been barren. The brain behind the science, British physiologist Robert Edwards, was later awarded the Nobel prize in Medicine in 2010. Thankfully by then, IVF was no longer considered an aberration of science. 

Monday came and very early that morning, Betty, our lovely Mexican guest left after nearly 3 months in our house. She has been like a mother to Mohammad who is missing her badly. She will be back in January but sadly Mo won't. 

We went to Primark of all places that morning where I bought more leggings - the only thing I wear in the winter, as mysteriously one of mine had disappeared in the wash. Don't ask me how. We also did the weekly shop so as to have all the ingredients for a special lunch the next day when Eladio's brother José Antonio and our sister-in-law, Dolores, were coming to spend part of the day with us. 

The furniture for the newly restored wooden cabin arrived that morning and had Eladio easily assembling the sofa pallets and table. They look lovely but the cabin needed lighting. It turns out our neighbour, Julio, is now an electrician so he has been coming and going this week to do the job. 

That day a new nightmare system came into place in Spain for registering guests in hotels and holiday homes. It's had most holiday home owner left baffled with the amount of information the state requires of all guests. It is supposed to be for security but it's borderline communist like collection of data; a sort of Big Brother. In some cases people have to fill out forms with 42 questions, many of them infringing on personal data. I can hardly imagine what it must be like now when checking into a hotel.   I had to somehow register on the new site which later collapsed and I  am now dreading asking my guests for such detailed information, not to mention the extra work. 

I mulled on this while at the hairdresser that afternoon where Conchi died my roots. I came out looking a lot better I think but there is no photo to prove it.

Pippa turned 10 on Tuesday which is quite a milestone. She means the world to us. As I wrote on Facebook and Instagram the next day, "Darling Pippa turned 10 on Tuesday. She is a true member of our family and my favourite dog of all times. She is loyal to the end, our friend and companion, stubborn, fun and brave. She has all the typical traits of a dachshund: devoted to her family, smart, obstinate, vigilant and courageous. Sometimes I think she thinks she is human and would follow us to the end of the world". I added "Life with Pippa is better". I accompanied the text with this photo taken of her on Eladio's lap one afternoon this week. 

Pippa turned 10 on Tuesday

She is such an integral part of our life  I cannot imagine it without her. I dread the day she gets old and passes away. I really do.

I made a cake that morning which Elliot later asked if it was for Pippa's birthday which made me laugh.  Actually it was for the lunch I made for José Antonio and Dolores. I am not a bad cook in general but am not known as the pastry queen. Thank God you can buy it these days. I made my mother' raspberry and cream mille-feuille tart which my parents used to call "the slice" although I'm not sure why. My mother used to make the puff pastry with lots of butter herself but I got mine from the proverbial Mercadona. Basically it is 4 layers of baked pastry  which when risen you slice into 2 making for 8 layers. I filled the layers with fresh raspberries and whipped cream. All went well except for the icing for which I used a small punnet of raspberries to get the pink colour but it ran a bit. This is what it looked like on the outside and on the inside. It tasted better than it looked and I think it was the best part of the lunch. But then I always judge a meal on its dessert having such a sweet tooth that I inherited from my dear father.

My raspberry mille-feuille tart which tasted better than it looked

The starter was chicken waldorf salad which I served in goblets and the second course was another of my mother's recipes - good old boeuf stroganoff. I wish I had taken a photo of the table in all its finery when it was laid but I forgot.

While I was cooking, Eladio drove to the nearest metro station to pick up our guests whom we hadn't seen since his 80th in September. There was lots to catch up on; my trips to London and New York and their recent trip to Egypt. Here is a photo I took of them while we relaxed in the lounge after lunch.

Dolores and José Antonio, Eladio's next brother down, on Tuesday

I first met them in the 1978 during my year in Madrid as part of my University studies and it was through them that I met Eladio in the summer of 1980. It's thanks to them we met, something I shall always be grateful for. 

Our afternoon would have been quiet except that Olivia brought the kids round while she went to her French lesson. They were excited to see their great uncle and aunt who they know so well from their summers in Montrondo. They rushed in and made a beeline for José Antonio. All small children love him. I remember when Suzy was small she used to call him "tu tío" which means "your uncle" as we used to tell her he was her uncle. My grandchildren who can't pronounce his name yet call him "Toto Antonio" which makes us all laugh.

I gave them some of the tart and put some aside for both Oli and Dolores and later forgot to give it to them. That had me eating some of it every day for lunch I'm afraid.

Elliot and Juliet eating some of my tart on Tuesday

 Elado later took his brother and wife back to the station while I looked after my grandchildren. I took them to my neighbour Julio's house to look at some lighting for the cabin and they followed me like sheep. But first Julio had to tie up their ferocious dog Vito who barks all day. Later he let out the other dog, Lisa, a Pyrenees mountain dog as gentle as a baby but huge in size who I think impressed my grandchildren. 

Soon Suzy was back and Eladio too and I left them with the kids while I went to have the first of two vaccines against Herpes Zoster, more commonly known as shingles. I got it once as did Eladio and never want it again which is why I agreed to having the vaccine. Once home, I found an orderly house. Suzy had bathed the kids with Eladio's help and they were all having dinner in the dining room where I joined them.

On Wednesday we woke up to to news from South Korea where the  President declared martial law which after massive protests he had to annul. Meanwhile, in France, there was a vote of no confidence and the Prime Minister had to step down. Macron, the President, however refuses to resign and is finding it difficult to rule with a minority government. It's not much better in Spain. We haven 't had a vote of no confidence but we are inundated with political corruption cases; one after the other. It just makes me think that many Spanish politicians are corrupt at heart. They do say that power leads to corruption and it generally does because of how we are as humans. One great example from literature is the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell. I am sure there are more. 

We had lunch alone that day as Suzy went to Oli's house - I do like how they have rekindled their sisterly spirit. In the afternoon I enjoyed my weekly Skype call with Amanda where we can laugh or cry and have so many memories from when we were children to comment on. 

Thursday was 5th December and the 5th anniversary of the death of my dearest Spanish friend, Fátima. Oh how I miss her still today and will always miss her. I know she lives on in my heart but that is never enough is it? I wrote to her daughter also called Fátima who, if you read this blog, will know we met while in New York. I knew she would be feeling emotional that day and wanted to reach out to her. 

Remembering and missing my dear friend Fátima who passed away 5 years away this week. 

Of note that day we went on our daily walk, including coffee at La Flaca and looked after the kids in the afternoon again while Oli went to her French lessons.

Friday came and it was the beginning of the December Bank Holiday - the 6th celebrating the Spanish Constitution and the 8th the Immaculate Conception.  A lot of people go away for the weekend and I heard that hotels had reached 90% capacity in Madrid which must have been teeming with people. We were at 100% capacity with 9 guests this weekend. That meant a lot of preparation in the morning. But all was ready for their arrival later in evening.  

The Paraguayan workers came to repaint the wooden cabin which, although the right colour, was not looking equal in many parts. And now they have painted it a supposed "teak" colour which looks more like a very dark brown. I am not happy at all as I wanted a much lighter colour - more of a honey come reddish brown. Now I have to live with the consequences. I am not even going to reproduce a photo of the finished cabin as I am so cross with how it looks. Anyway, I suppose there are worse problems in life.

Saturday dawned and once again we had the pleasure of the company of Oli and the kids as she was alone at home with them and needed a helping hand. With Suzy's help we soon had a table full of food and lunch was more or less orderly, or as much as it can be with children aged 3 and 5 hahaha. They left early enough for us to enjoy our afternoon nap which gave me time to write this post. 

Last night was the official opening of the newly restored Notre Dame cathedral in Paris part of which we watched on TV. I was aghast to see that Donald Trump had been invited by Macron. Rather cleverly, he also invited Ukraine's Zelenski in an attempt to muster support from the incumbent President I suspect.  I also spotted Prince William who I read later had a meeting with Trump to discuss or rather reinforce the "special relationship" between the US and the UK. But what on earth was Elon Musk doing there I wondered? Was Macron pandering to him too? The place was full of world leaders but I have to say the Cathedral looked magnificent.

Far away in Syria lat night,  where no one's eyes were on Paris, the Islamist rebels were in the throes of toppling dictator Bashar al-Assad. This morning many news outlets are reporting he has fled the capital or even maybe the country. Is that a good thing? Of course it is as he is a tyrant on the scale of Gaddafi or Saddam Hussein. What does not seem good to me is who will replace him; an Islamic group that once belonged to Al Qaeda. Will that plunge Syria into Islamic fundamentalism with a government similar to the Taliban in Afghanistan? Oh how my heart pours out to the ordinary people in Syria who only want freedom, peace and prosperity; something most people in the world take for granted.

That was this morning's main news. Today is  Sunday and I have come to the end of my tales so will leave you now until next week. I hope you all have a wonderful day, a day of peace and quiet and freedom. We may complain about our governments but they are heaven compared to places like Syria, Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon or Afghanistan, to name a few. Let's remember that.

Cheers now until next Sunday,

All the best, Masha