Round the clock care for Pippa and on the 7th day she walked, time with Elliot and Juliet, Trump loses Midterm elections, remembering my father and many other stories of the week.

 Madrid, Sunday 8th November, 2026

Taking a break from looking after Pippa this week - coffee at Alverán

Good morning everyone. Well, we are in a much better place than we were last Sunday. That's for sure. Sunday was All Saints' Day, quite a big thing in Spain when many people go to their loved ones' graves to place flowers. Pippa was still in hospital and we were waiting for a call to confirm if she would be discharged that day. I had one more dose of Mounjaro left and took the decision not to take it as I am at a great weight for me - everything fits my friends. I shall keep that one dose to take around Christmas time, hahaha. 

We had give Tana 4 days off after all our time in Morocco and which she much deserved. There were only 4 guests but we hardly saw them and had lunch alone in the kitchen. Finally the vet rang to say that Pippa could come home if she ate when we went to see her. Thankfully when we got to the hospital (UAX) she had eaten a bit of unsalted turkey so they discharged her with lots of instructions. She was going to need round the clock care as she was still paralysed. The good thing was that she was already responding to the medication. It is Levothyroxine for the Hypothyroid condition she was diagnosed with the Friday before plus the dreadful complication of paralysis called Polyneuropathy. Apart from her meds, she needed eye drops as she couldn't blink or even close her eyes and she had developed ulcers on her corneas which is very dangerous indeed. We were also given puppy pads and told to do passive physiotherapy to strengthen her muscles. Later we learned she had gone down from 6 kilos to 5.5  due to muscle loss. We were also told she would need intensive rehab. When we asked if they thought she would ever walk again they didn't know and said we had to wait to see how she responded to the medication. Well, you know what, she showed signs of progress every day after that, even when we got back home. Once home, we saw her move one front paw and scratch her face with it. We put her in a sphynx position and she licked her paws. She even tried to bark to tell us she was hungry and I gave her some freshly grilled chicken. And so our round the clock care for her began until the turning point this week and now we know she will recover. Whether that will be completely or not, I am not sure. But, as I said, we are in a much better place today than last week.

She slept between Eladio and me on her puppy pad and I kept having to change her position.  

Pippa home from the hospital last Sunday still paralysed and unable to close her eyes poor thing

Somehow, we made it through the night.

Monday came and was a Bank Holiday in Spain. We had no official guests until Friday which meant we could enjoy the house to ourselves. November is one of the quietest months for travel I suppose. I was up early and as always took my little dog down with me to the kitchen. That day we didn't see much progress I am afraid. The kids didn't have school so Miguel dropped them off at our place at around 10.30 am. They were delighted to see Pippa at home as they knew how ill she was.

Juliet and Elliot with Pippa when they spent the morning with us on Monday which was a Bank holiday in Spain. 

The weather was still good and we were outside a lot. We took Pippa outside too to see if she would do her business but there was nothing doing. Suzy was with us too which made it a happy family moment which I captured on camera that morning.

Time with Elliot and Juliet this week

Oli was back from work for lunch which we all enjoyed together. I made vegetable soup followed by "bitki" (Russian hamburgers) with cauliflower and rice. We had mango and pineapple for dessert. I do so love fresh fruit. Worried that Pippa hadn't done a wee since she came back from the hospital, we took her there once again and Oli and the kids followed. They examined her and said her bladder wasn't full but gave us some tablets to relax it. In the end we never gave them to her as it came spontaneously. Now we only had to worry about her starting to move again and to eat. It has been very difficult to tempt her with food and I have tried everything.

I had time off later that afternoon while Pippa slept on our bed, to enjoy my weekly FaceTime call with Amanda. I love our weekly calls and that we are still so close after all these years. I must get round to agreeing on a date to go and see my friend before Christmas, like last year.

We were just finishing our dinner when Suzy appeared in the kitchen. She had brought her new beau, César (yes Ceasar hahaha) to meet us. We were delighted to make his acquaintance and our first impressions were good. That night both Pippa and I slept better. 

We were up at 5.45 on Tuesday morning which is really too early but once I am awake I just cannot go back to sleep. That day the iconic Puerta del Sol square in the centre of Madrid was dismantled after 38 days of protesters setting up camp there. The initial protest was about housing but in the end, the police only really found homeless people there. They also found weapons and lots of drugs. I honestly don't know why this was allowed to go on for so long. Maybe Pedro Sánchez thought the image wasn't good for the upcoming elections. He is not doing well I can tell you, with one crisis after another he is unable to manage, like Ceuta and the train crash as well as all his top people and family embroiled in corruption. I can't wait to see the man go. He is rotten to the core. 

We had to go to the vet at 12 for the vet, Sarah, to see Pippa so I was able to spend some time before that with Suzy and César on the terrace in the  sun over a cup of coffee. I think I like him and he seems a decent sort. He has been in the military, is an occasional stunt actor and also a musician. 

The vets saw progress in Pippa - her front paws were in the right position and she could now move all 4. Unfortunately they found a murmur in her heart and we were witness to a very sophisticated electrocardiogram plus body scan. They gave us medication for that which she has to take for life, along with the medication for her hypothyroidism. If only they could give her liquid meds instead of having to turn whole tablets into 4 quarters which is not easy. It's not easy to give them to her either. 

With Pippa on the grass outside the hospital when we went on Tuesday

Tana was back so I didn't have to bother about lunch. That afternoon we had to pick the kids up from school so Oli could go to her French lessons which are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They wanted to go to the park but we had to go back to Pippa. We stopped at Carrefour and I got them some sweets which placated them. 

Just as we got home, Suzy arrived with her two English friends, partners, Stella and Dave from Newcastle whom she had invited here for a couple of nights. Suzy had met Stella when she lived in Gran Alacant and although she is nearly my age, they are great friends. Stella and Dave were delighted to be offered a proper  cup of English tea. 

That night we saw on the news how the Spanish minister of transport, Oscar Puente, finally resigned from his post after 2 dreadful high speed train accidents since January. He was holding onto the post until it became untenable. He too, it seems, may also be embroiled in corruption having used EU funds destined to upgrade the Spanish railway system, for other things. The EU fiscal people are now on the probe and so they should be. I am disgusted. 

Wednesday came and I woke up to the US Midterm election results won by a landslide by the Democrats much to Trump's fury. The Democrats now outnumber the Republicans in both the Senate and the House but we have two more years of the madman and clown and he will do his utmost to veto them. He can do that by special decrees but will need their ok for spending. That's where he might have a tough time. I want him to have a tough time. 

As I was up so early I took the time to make the filling for perushki (little Russian meat pies) and with the puff pastry I bought, dear Tana made 52 pies. Wow. We have now had them for three meals much to my grandchildren's delight. 

The shower hose had broken so I had to have my shower in the jacuzzi in our bathroom which was wonderful. It's funny though that we hardly ever use it. I ordered a new hose on Amazon for under 10 euros which was delivered the same day and am now back to using the walk in shower.

We went for a walk in the morning which was a little sad without Pippa. With Tana there to monitor her, we went out after that on errands and also for a coffee.It was cooler that day and I wore a coat for the first time. Eladio took a photo of me enjoying my coffee and a little croissant that morning at Alverán which I have chosen as this week's feature photo. It was a happy and relaxing moment and time off from constantly monitoring little Pips.

Lunch was roast chicken legs with roast potatoes, onion and carrot. I was happy to hear from Tana that Pippa who was turning her nose up at most food, enjoyed a whole carrot, cut up into fine pieces of course.

While we had our afternoon siesta, would you believe our English guests bathed in the pool? It was sunny but I don't think the temperature was above 16º.c. That reminded me of the phrase "mad dogs and Englishmen" hahaha. 

Thursday 5th November came and I commented to Stella that it was Bonfire Night in England. Dogs there hate it and I understand that. Suzy had told me Stella was an animal healer and asked me if she could have time to communicate with Pippa. I wondered how she would do that. She later told me Pippa felt cherished but was exhausted by her illness. She predicted she would be better by Christmas having seen a vision of her playing with festive wrapping paper. She also told me to try her on oily fish which I know she doesn't like. I took the whole thing with a pinch of salt. Some people believe in these things. Let me leave it there. That morning though before any communication, I noticed Pippa had been able to turn herself over in her bed; more progress. We noticed something new every day. Could she be on the mend? I hoped so

At 12.05 I had a follow up appointment with the urologist at the Montepríncipe private hospital in Pozuelo. He seems to be taking my recurrent UTI seriously as he will be doing a cystocopy (a camera up my bladder) next week as well as a urine cytology test a week after. Meanwhile, I am more or less permanently on antibiotics as I have been since July which is a complete pain. A complete pain too is that even when I am on them the symptoms only improve a bit, not completely. This is such a bore as I was a new woman after last year's cystocele and rectocele. This week though, as I have been so focused on curing and helping Pippa I have hardly thought about my condition. 

We came home to have lunch consisting of lentils and perushki and asked Stella and Dave to join us. They were leaving in the afternoon so we said our goodbyes then. It was great to have English guests this week. I know Suzy would have liked to spend more time with them but she had to go to work. She managed some time with them of course. It is so good to see her rekindling friendships. Go Suzy go.

We were picking the kids up again that afternoon and again we couldn't take them to the park but we stopped at Manolo Bakes to buy them two little croissants each to have when we got home. 

We decided it was time to give Pippa a bath after her stay at the hospital. I had expected to have to help Eladio as she couldn't stand up. But the bath was the turning moment. She stood up on all 4 paws to enjoy her bath. We couldn't believe it.

Pippa stood up in the bath

I was so overjoyed I cried with emotion and Juliet hugged me. At that moment, Olivia walked into our bathroom and she couldn't believe it either. And then when Eladio took her out to dry on the bath mat, she actually took 2 steps. Not only that, she began to blink again. It was on and off but she could blink again. Suddenly we knew she would make it. What a fighting spirit she has. Bravo Pippa!

We had a joyful dinner with Pippa at our side and the kids enjoyed the perushki.

That night we watched the news as we nearly always do. Apart from the political crises in Spain we heard about the hoax bomb threats to planes all over Europe. What is the world coming to?

Friday dawned and Pippa finally ate some food but we were worried as she hadn't pooed since Sunday. We kept taking her out to the grass but nothing was happening, although she loved sitting there in the sun. We left her there under the careful eye of Tana and went and did the weekly shopping. We had coffee at Manacor that morning and I couldn't resist buying a strawberry and cream tartlet, my favourite. I had half of it for pudding after lunch.

It was around lunchtime that unknowingly to me, Eladio and Tana witnessed Pippa walking. He had taken her outside and was encouraging her to walk and she finally did. She was wobbly but could manage all 4 paws. Wow, Pippa could walk again. I wondered what the vets would say as they were not sure she would ever walk again. But she did and I saw it with my own eyes when I came down for lunch. The day before she had stood up and on the 7th day after her diagnosis, she was walking again. What a miracle. I had to take a video of her first steps. This is it.

After those first few hesitant steps she gained confidence and walked more and more which is so good for her muscles. Eladio thinks she doesn't need any rehab. I am not so sure. 

Three new guests were coming that night; Ismael from Mérida, a sports professional, Cristina, a student who lives in Benidorm and María Eugenia a teacher of English who lives in Lorca. All three arrived late, after 9pm and we greeted them in the dark. I think they were all happy with the house. 

On the news that night we heard that Meghan's father had been arrested for possession of child porn images in which he himself featured. He is now 82 and is a disgusting man. I am no fan of Meghan but this must be hell for her. Imagine. 

Saturday came and Pippa was on the mend, except that she hadn't done her business for nearly a week. So we took her to the vet. But we didnt' stay long as while  there, we took her outside and the miracle happened. All we need now is for her to eat better and for her eyes to improve. They are better but not healed completely. We are over the worst and in a much better place than last week. 

Oli and the kids came for lunch and they were all surprised but delighted to see Pippa walking again. We had soups Oli had brought and wiener schnitzel with rice and runner beans. There was ice cream for everyone afterwards to celebrate.

We spent a quiet afternoon and had a light dinner together with Pippa. She did not turn up her nose at turkey and prawns. Thank the Lord, she finally ate.

That night the  news was dire. A lone extremist gunman shot at people in a popular square in Krakow, Poland. He killed 6 people, among them one Briton.

Both Pippa and I slept quite well. Today is Sunday and my watch told me I had slept 6.5 hours - good oh. We went down to the kitchen which we had to ourselves. Like always, before she was ill, Pippa went to her bowl, drank some water and went out to do her business. I then hand fed her some new tinned dog food and she ate it. 

I realised that today is Remembrance Sunday for those who died in the wars. It is also called Poppy day and I shall  be wearing mine today with pride.  The poppy is a symbol of remembrance inspired by the red poppies that grew in the battlefields of the WWI and John McCrae's famous poem "In Flanders Fields" It is worn as a symbol of remembrance and hope, inspired by the red poppies that grew  across the battlefields of World War I.  In his poem, the red poppy also signifies the blood shed by those who died. 

I of course remembered too my own father who fought with the Royal Navy in WW2 because he died 5 years ago today, one of the last surviving veterans of WW2.

My father, Lt. Charles Courtenay Lloyd, in Scotland in 1942 next to his ship HMS Wells.

I miss him every day. He fought in the war, was a wonderful teacher and linguist but for me, above all, he was a fantastic father in many many ways. One of the happiest moments in my life was when he walked me up the aisle on my wedding day. On that day, 21st August, 1983,  we were a complete family unit.

Mummy, Eladio, me, Daddy and George on our wedding day in Madrid on 21st August 1983 when we were still a complete family. 

Now only I am left so today on Remembrance Sunday I remember them all, my father, my mother, George, Aunty Masha, Aunty Gloria, Uncle Derek, Jacqueline, Michael and Anthony. I miss you all and always will. I shall try to remember the good times and not be sad.

There are no plans for today but hopefully we shall go on our walk and I also look forward to a Sunday roast from the rack of lamb I bought when we did the weekly shop.

That's it from me for this week. For those of you not into other people's dogs and children, sorry if this post has been mostly about Pippa but then she is such an important part of our life, this is the way it has to be. 

Cheers till next time,

Masha.