I am reeling from Saturday morning's news of the attack by the US and Israel on Iran. We all knew it was coming but maybe not so quickly. That is definitely this week's main news and my heart goes out to the suffering population. This week also marks the 4th anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine with no sign of peace. Peace is what we want and what I had this week because I am lucky enough to live in Western Europe.
I was not surprised when she said she was coming home that day as the bombshell news had died down at least for the moment. It is of course an ongoing investigation and part of the Epstein files saga and in the UK it is big news but in Spain for the moment it has died down. So my daughter came home. She was so busy she couldn't do any shopping but got her taxi driver to stop at M&S on the way to the airport to get me some goodies - walnut whips and butter mints. Bless her.
Only then could she enjoy a bit of London - shopping at the airport.
We had a lovely day and enjoyed our walk in the sun. The weather has been marvelous this week and we are so glad to see the end of the rain. Meanwhile in Florida, 21 year old Austin Tucker tried to drive through one of the gates of Trump's residence called Mar a Lago. He was armed and carrying fuel so his intentions were not good. When confronted by Secret Service agents he apparently raised his shot gun so they opened fire and he was killed immediately. Only he knows what was going on in his head. His parents must be devastated. No peace now for them.
Monday came, 23rd February and was the 45th anniversary of the failed coup in Spain in 1981. Known forever after as "23F", I well remember watching it on TV in Bradford to see how it unfolded when Colonel Antonio Tejero and other civil guards stormed the Parliament. It was a frightening time for Spain with its fledgling democracy shortly after the death of Franco. Some of the military were not keen on democracy and had hoped the young King Juan Carlos I would be on their side. Some in fact thought he was in the know and behind the coup. I had met my future husband in 1980 and remember trying to ring him desperately and not getting through. Happily the coup failed and most people attributed its failure to the efforts of the young King who today lives in self imposed exile in Abu Dhabi. He left in 2020 after financial and personal scandals threatened the reputation of his son King Felipe. It seems they are now rather estranged. Only 2 days later the anniversary coincided with the declassification of many of the documents related to the coup. We didn't expect to learn much more but one thing came out very clearly. The king was against the coup and did all he could to thwart it. In a way he was exonerated of any mystery surrounding his involvement. Now there is talk of him possibly coming back to Spain. We will see as and in order to live here he would have to declare all his assets and pay taxes. It is a sad ending for the 88 year old monarch who saved democracy for Spain. It will be sad too if he dies alone outside his country. But it may come to that.
In the UK the big news that day was the arrest of Peter Mandelson, former Labour Minister and UK Ambassador to the UK. It was of course because of his links with Epstein. Like Andrew, he was arrested on suspicion of passing on confidential information from the UK government. This week also saw Hilary and Bill Clinton answering questions about their links to the paedophile. I don't think Hilary had anything to do with him but her husband, the former President of the US appears in many photos with young girls and Epstein. Of course he says he never knew anything. He is lying through his teeth as is Donald Trump.
On the home front we did the weekly shop and it was a happy day for me. On Monday I got the final ok from the local land property office for the rooms I rent here. That was after submitting the dreaded new form filling through a complicated app called N2 which gave me nightmares. They are now over until next year.
It was a happy day too as I sorted our upcoming trip to Yorkshire and I did it all using
Handled, my new virtual assistant who I only have to message on Whatsapp. It managed our flight bookings and taxi from Manchester. I was excited to tell Amanda about it that afternoon in our weekly Facetime call. We are going for just over weeks at the end of May and will be staying all over the place. Our first call of port will be the Midland Hotel in Bradford where funnily enough I have always wanted to stay. Then, courtesy of Phil and Kath we will be staying a few days with them after which we shall be staying with friends. One of the highlights will be 2 nights at
The Fell Hotel in Burnsall for a BGS reunion. We shall be 5 couples having a blast I am sure.
Our peaceful day ended when Oli and family came for dinner. It was great to see her again and lovely to receive my goodies from M&S but oh dear both kids had a meltdown. It didn't come at the right time as it coincided with the arrival of a young French guest. But they are kids so what can I do. It felt like the Mad Hatters' tea party hahaha. I felt sorry for Oli. She looked deadbeat after flying back from London.
On Tuesday morning she had to be looking good and smart as she reported live on a story about a member of the far right party VOX. José Ortega Smith, one of the founding members, who has been axed but he refuses to do. The British Royal family and the Spanish VOX party seem to be two of her specialist topics. Here is a quick still photo I took while watching her live.
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| Olivia live on TV on Tuesday morning |
I am sure she would have preferred to report on the 4th anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine which fell on Tuesday this week. It just about made front page news. We are all tired of this war of attrition but I don't see any peace treaty soon. None of the talks have led anywhere. I am sorry for the Ukrainian people. Slave Ukraini!
It was such a lovely day that we had lunch outside on the kitchen terrace which we did most of this week. What a joy. For the occasion I made a sort of hake menièure which we all loved. This was the
recipe.
Wednesday was the day of the declassification of the 23F coup files. It was also coincidentally the day its main protagonist, Colonel Antonio Tejero, died aged 94. He lived to the day the files were finally published. Here he is in his prime when he stormed the Parliament.
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| The main protagonist of the Spanish coup on 23rd February 1981, Colonel Antonio Tejero died this Wednesday. |
Thursday came. I had an appointment to do a bone density scan. I knew from the one I did two years ago that I had a bit of osteopenia but wasn't sure how much. This time they gave me the results as I walked out. I have a bit in the femur of my left leg but I suppose this is age related. I then drove to Centro Oeste for a bit of retail therapy. I had actually gone to pick up a bracelet but forgot. Instead I had a coffee, bought some clothes and some food at Carrefour. I was delighted with my new tops, a pink jumper and a dark blue one from Zara and a blue and white striped top from Carrefour. I am wearing it in this week's feature photo. Oh I do love my stripes don't I?
Friday came and as if we didn't have enough wars in the world, another one was declared between Pakistan and Afghanistan. I felt very sorry for those living in Kabul as if they don't already have enough problems. These neighbouring countries are fighting over disputed territory among other issues.
Ironically, my granddaughter Juliet was taking part in a Peace Race that day at school. She has no idea what it's like for little girls or girls or women in Afghanistan who cannot even go to school poor things. Here she is, such a happy little soul bless her.
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| Juliet taking part in a peace race at school this week |
While Eladio painted the wall on the drive, I went again to Centro Oeste for more retail shopping, something women in Afghanistan can't do either. I actually went to get the gold bracelet one Eladio bought me years ago and which I treasure but I also enjoyed more retail therapy. This time I got two pairs of jeans from H&M. Not for the Mummy or flared jeans. The only ones that flatter me are the skinny high waist ones.
I came home to make a delicious dish of pasta with prawns for lunch which I shall be repeating. I made it up myself. The ingredients were garlic, spinach, prawns and fresh pasta with a dash of paprika and cream.
It was yesterday, Saturday, that we woke up to the news that Israel had attacked Teheran in coordination with the USA. Honestly we don't want another war. The attack has been imminent because Donald Trump who has the biggest nuclear arsenal in the world doesn't want Iran to have nuclear power. I don't either but I don't like his method. I want to see the end of this ruthless regime run by the Ayatollhas but I want to see a peaceful change. The son of the late Sha of Persia who was no democrat himself, is reaching out to Iranians to take back their country. But how with no boots on the ground? Of course Iran is retaliating and has sent sent missiles to Israel and tried to bomb US bases in the Middle East so there is no peace here in sight either. This will be the major news for the coming weeks and I feel for the poor Iranians who have suffered for decades. I only wish them well.
We had a peaceful day of course and enjoyed the goof weather and again I thank my lucky stars I don't live in Kabul, Kiev or Teheran. It's lovely to live in Spain, although I do miss England at times, especially Yorkshire.
Today is Sunday and I shall leave you now to publish this latest post, hopefully on my new site, thanks to Handled. So cheers, peace and love to you all.
Masha.
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