Fit as a fiddle, a 90th birthday party in León and other stories

Ernestina with her birthday presents and cake flanked by Olivia, her grand daughter, Pitulines (Diana) her great grand daughter and Eladio on the right, her son.  They represent the 4 generations present in the family at the birthday lunch in León this Saturday to celebrate Ernestina's 90th birthday

Good morning my friends this sunny Sunday morning in Madrid.  I hope you are all well.  I am extremely well as you will find out later.  But let me start from the beginning of the week.

On Monday I had a meeting with Pedro G who used to work for my press clipping agency, PressTracking, the people who monitor my press coverage.  Pedro left to work for JP Media and meanwhile PressTracking did not even bother to tell me.  I found JP Media to offer better services and will be signing with them very soon and one of the reasons I will do so apart from a better price and service is because of the person I know.  For me the most important thing is the people who work in the agencies, not the agencies themselves.  Some time, soon, I am expecting a call from someone I don’t know at Press Tracking but by then it will be too late. So long Press Tracking, hello JP Media.

On Monday too I had lunch with two journalists from La Razón whom I have known for many years, Emiliano C and Jesús.  They chose to go to Castellana DF, the place we last did a press conference in Madrid.  They thought it was the restaurant which offers the best hamburgers in Madrid.  That made me feel good because another journalist, Ignacio C had complained at the time telling me he thought the place was awful.  When I mentioned that to Emiliano and Jesús, they comforted me by saying that Ignacio always complains about everything.  Well I too think Castellana DF offers the best hamburgers in Madrid, on a par with New York even, and we had a great lunch in its comfy surroundings.  They even had gin tonics after lunch on the terrace but I’ve never been a one for gin tonics or for any kind of drink apart from wine with a meal.  We talked about my Motorola and Nokia days and of course how Yoigo is doing.  We had shared a lot of adventures together, mostly in my former companies and know the telecoms sector very well, so our conversation was interesting and dynamic.  It’s funny how companies come and go but people remain.  That is actually what I like best about the corporate world.

One Tuesday I went with Suzy to MediaMarkt to buy electrical appliances for their new flat.  MediaMarkt had two promotional days last week when you could buy without paying VAT, so she and Gaby took the opportunity to purchase a fridge, a washing machine and a dishwasher.  My contribution to their newly found independence was for appliances for their new domesticity.  They will now have to clean and wash for themselves so I thought I might as well help them a bit.  Thus, for just over 200 euros, we chose an iron, a chopping machine, a microwave, a juice maker, a toaster and a “minipimer” which I think is called a blender in English.

On Wednesday, the abuela (grandmother in Spanish) Ernestina, my mother-in-law turned 90.  I just hope I reach her age in the same state of physical and mental health and surrounded by a loving family.  To celebrate, the whole family was to gather on Saturday for a special birthday lunch in León.  Meanwhile Eladio rang her to wish her a great day which I’m sure she had.

On Wednesday I had my company medical.  To tell the truth in all the 5 years with the company I have never once done one.  There are two reasons, one being to have to go in at the crack of dawn on an empty stomach for a blood test.  The second is that I always dreaded the scales.  But this year I had no excuse as I already had some recent blood test results and of course I no longer dread the scales.  The test turned out to be pretty exhaustive including an electro cardiogram.  When the doctor saw the blood pressure results (12.6 and 62 bpm) she asked whether I was an athlete!  Actually I have always had a low blood count, the type athletes need to perform, so I wasn’t actually surprised when she asked the question although I was tickled pink to have results like that not long after my 55^th birthday.  Thus she pronounced me fit as a fiddle. Hopefully this is so because of having similar genes to my long living Father but it may also be because I am in good shape as I go for an hour long brisk walk nearly every day in the year and have been doing so for quite a few years now.  It’s nice to know I am as fit as a fiddle and I shall do my best to remain so too.

Thursday was International Women’s Day and brought with it the first Yoigo get together of the year, named by me Yoigo Mornings.  It was full house as usual.

There was a good turn out at the Yoigo morning on Thursday this week

People round the world were congratulating women and others were questioning that the very existence of the day denoted inequality.  Well of course it does, because inequality between mena and women has always existed and always will.  At the Chinese bank my niece works for, Sara, all the women at work were given a 200 euro tip to celebrate the day.  How nice!  I didn’t get anything.  However that day I did a good deed in that I helped a homeless woman who had just lost the flat she was living in, her boyfriend and her job to find another one.  I should say that my friend Fernando, equally touched by the story, helped Mónica to find the job. She will become what today’s El País call “ni mil eurista” (i.e. those who don’t even earn 1000 euros a month) but she will have a job and will be able to pay for some sort of shelter over her head. I felt good that day, having helped an anonymous woman from the comfort of my life at least a little bit.

In the afternoon, after my walk, I joined Olivia on a short shopping escapade to our local “mall”, Centro Oeste.  Here Oli stocked up on heaps of things, whilst, I just bought this beautiful flowery blazer from Zara.  I have so many clothes now, that I ask myself just when I’m going to wear it.

The flowery blazer I bought at Zara with Oli this week

On Friday I acquired yet another item I don’t need. At my local seamstress, García y Limón, in the high street of Villaviciosa, they have taken to selling custom made bags by the apparent ex workers of the Spanish luxury designer brand Loewe.  They sell, supposedly, just the same models but at 10 times less the price and without the logo.  So here I was happy to have ordered the very classical Amazonas model, which I have always wanted but could never afford at 1.400 euros which is what it costs in the original boutique in Madrid’s most expensive street, Calle Serrano.  And here it is. I’m no expert, but it looks great.

My new "Amazonas" bag, a copy of the famous Loewe handbag

Being Friday it was our night out.  Eladio wasn’t feeling very well and there was no particular film I wanted to watch so we just went out to dinner.  We chose the nearby De Brasa y Puchero and shared a plate of “patatas revolconas” (sort of mushy potatoes cooked in paprika with peppers) and a “sobrasada” delicious sausage.  Later we heard that the English restaurant, La Pérfida Albión, we frequent has shut down.  That’s now two of our favourite restaurants no longer available. We shall have to widen our choice by looking for new places. 

De Brasa y Puchero, the restaurant Eladio and I went to on Friday night

The next day, Saturday, was the highlight of the week.  Eladio, the girls and Gaby and I were off to León for my mother-in-law’s 90^th birthday.  We were to spend the night too.  It was very special to be going this time as for the first time in years the girls were coming too.  Needless to say we stopped off on route, as habit dictates, for a plate of ham and other cold cuts with delicious white wine at Palacio de Bornos in the Rueda wine growing town in the province of Valladolid.  I must say I love this place.  We also bought two boxes of wine for our wine cellar and some biscuits for my Father.

Eladio with "the girls" in Rueda on our way to León on Saturday

We got to León just before two and drove to Pili and Andrés’ house.  Soon the whole family was together at a new bar come restaurant in town called El Establo de Omaña (the stable of Omaña – the part of León where Montrondo is located).  It is owned by Roberto, the grandson of our neighbours in Montrondo and it is a delightful little place, decorated with a horse theme as befits its name.  Rosi, Roberto’s mother turned out to be a great cook.  She made a sort of thick fish and potato soup followed by the proverbial roast lamb which we always have at all our family celebration meals.

We were 24 gathered around a huge table, with Eladio’s Mother in the middle.

The young generation at the lunch on Saturday in León

A lovely photo Oli took of Suzy and I at the birthday lunch in León on Saturday

I had brought a box of party poppers, great little items to make any party festive and they were of course a success, although the table looked like a litter tip at the end!  The 24 of us represent quite four generations, from Diana (or Pitulines), Roberto and Ana’s two year old daughter, right up to my 90 year old mother-in-law. 

The older generation at El Establo de Omaña where the lunch took place on Saturday in León

Just after the second course Ernestina was given three bunches of flowers, one from Rosi, one from the grandchildren and three roses from her great grandchildren.  From us, adults, or the older generation, she was given a beautiful watch to replace the one she has probably worn forever. 

Happy Ernestina at her birthday lunch on Saturday

It was a wonderful meal and gathering and I, at least, liked the place so much I spoke to Rossi and her son Roberto about holding the family dinner there on New Year’s Eve.  Let’s hope we do.

Eladio wasn’t feeling very well.  So when he heard that José Antonio and Dolores were returning that very day, he decided we should leave with them.  The girls stayed behind and came back in our car today.  I was a bit upset as we were all having a great time, but understood of course.  So at just after 19h we set off home, José Antonio driving in the front with Eladio  and Dolores and I in the back with little Nuba, their delightful mongrel dog.

We caught Olga at home painting her nails in the lounge watching the television, but I decided to leave any conversation about that until later, as I was in no mood for telling her off.  She is so good with my Father but not very good with the cleaning I’m afraid.

Today has been quiet.  I think I have caught the beginnings of a cold from Eladio and just hope that we will be well by next Thursday when we will be going to Yorkshire for a long weekend, including my school reunion dinner. I can’t wait!

For me today is a quiet day but for the victims and families of the victims of the Madrid 2004 train bombs, today is the 8^th anniversary of that terrible event, the worst terrorist attack in the history of Spain.  Like all big events that touch your life, I always remember what I was doing at the time.  I was in Segovia with my fellow members of the marketing and communications team at Nokia, holding a goodbye dinner for my dear Finnish friend Anne. No doubt Anne will be remembering too that fatal next morning when we woke up and heard about the attack. 

And on that sad but unforgettable note, I wish you all a great week ahead.

Until next time

Masha

PS You can see the rest of the photos of this weekend's trip to León here

Semana Santa, women in government, off to Montrondo with Anne and all good things come to an end.

Semana Santa in Spain - a very typical sight, probably in Seville.
Hi again,

Well today is Easter Monday, officially a working day and the end of Semana Santa as Easter is called here. Holy Week in Spain is all about tradition with their world famous processions, such as the ones in Seville. This is what De Brasa y Puchero which has great home made country food on its menu and where they make you feel very welcome.

Last week was a short working week and the pace was very slow. Perhaps that’s why Zapatero, Spain’s premiere, chose that time to announce the reshuffle in his cabinet. Unfortunately for him some of the changes had filtered to the press the week before during his highly awaited for meeting with Obama in Prague which overshadowed the news of the meeting itself. In any case, whatever the timing, the changes are quite significant as is the fact that over half of the cabinet are now women and in some of the most important posts such as Finance a big issue in Spain due to the financial crisis.

I, for one, am all for more women in top government positions and in politics in general as well as in other walks of life. No one ever made a commen when the governments were all male. Will there ever be a day when cabinets are all female? I understand some people’s thinking that it should be the best person for the job irrespective of their sex. However if example is not made, change will probably never happen. Things like this take time in a highly male dominated society like Spain.
PICTURE HAD TO BE REMOVED
Zapatero and his new cabinet, more than 50% are women.
Where they are second nature is in Finland, the opposite end of Spain in Europe, where my dear friend Anne is from. Anne who came to stay with us for Easter and is a great fan of Spain would be happy to know that there are now more women in the Spanish government.

Anne came on Wednesday night for her half yearly jab of Spain (sun, friends, jamón, wine, shopping,…)and we took her with us to Montrondo, my husband’s family village and to see the one part of my life she was not familiar with.

On our way we made the usual stop at the Palacio de Bornos wine cellar in Rueda and here we enjoyed a glass of great wine wine (Colagón) and plate of ham and chorizo. In case I haven’t told you before, Rueda is where the best white wine comes from in the world. Anne was duly impressed as we expected her to be. We stopped too on the way back to load 2 crates of the lovely liquid in the car.

Anne in Rueda
As we left Madrid and drove north the weather got worse but then that was to be expected as the weather is always bad in Spain in Semana Santa, although no one ever learns that.

We were the first to arrive in Montrondo as the rest of the family was arriving on Friday. We arrived on Thursday afternoon and settled in to the very cold and unkempt house which we never really got warm until the next day. As I had told Anne in my Facebook message: “there is no central heating but there are great views”!

Eladio stoking the fire in the aga cooking range in the kitchen in Montrondo
Despite these obstacles we enjoyed our time and went for a very long walk up the mountains and through snow to reach an area called “la solapaña”. Every stone, hill, path, fountain, rock or valley has a name in Montrondo and if you were not born there they are not easy to learn.

Anne and on the walk to La solapeña. We got drenched
We slept in extremely cold beds with hot water bottles and a building brick heated in the kitchen fire which was covered in newspaper. They certainly helped to keep the cold away. Breakfast was a quiet affair in the big family kitchen.

Anne and I enjoying breakfast before everyone arrived
After that I started on the cooking as I had offered to make “cocido madrileño” for lunch on Friday. This is a very typical winter Spanish dish consisting of chickpeas, potatoes, cabbage and many different sorts of meats and bones, the first course being the broth it’s all cooked in. We were to be 26 people so calculating quantities was quite difficult.

Me making the cocido in the kitchen in Montrondo.
Very soon the family arrived as they had travelled together. It was amazing how the peace and quiet turned into total mayhem, but happy mayhem. The member of the family I was most pleased to see was Lian, the latest addition and the very youngest member. He is the first great grandson in the family and was the centre of attention. In fact there were queues to hold him and I never got a chance. Here is a video I took after lunch where you can see him close up, as well as his proud Mother, Bea, and grand father, Alejandro who is Eladio's brother.

Ernestina, the great grandmother of Lian.
To work off the cocido a lot of us made our way up the mountains again and stopped many times for impromptu snow ball fights or group photos.

The group walk to La Solapeña to work off the cocido and enjoy the mountains of Montrondo. There was also time to catch up with each other's news.
On Saturday morning I showed Anne the village and we walked to Murias de Paredes the next village to get bread at the local bakery. It was also an excuse for another walk and more photography. Montrondo is really off the beaten track and a very authentic rural and remote village in the north west of Spain, in the province of León. It has just 15 or so permanent inhabitants but many more in the holidays as ex residents return.

On the walk to Murias. I love the sign of Montrondo.
If you have been born in Montrondo it is in your blood as I have learned over the years. There is a saying there which they all firmly believe and which goes like this: “Londres, Paris, Granada, como Montrondo, no hay nada”. I can’t equate with this as I was born in Cambridge and not Montrondo. But I have really grown to love the place.

We drove back to Madrid on Saturday, in part to escape the holiday traffic but also the cold. We also wanted to get back to check on my Father and, of course, our animals, our cats Phoebe and Joe and darling Norah. Thankfully all were safe and sound and had survived our absence uneventfully.

The girls came back yesterday, just in time for a family lunch to celebrate Easter day. And as an end to the holiday, Anne, Eladio and I went to see the Clint Eastwood film everyone was recommending me, The Gran Torino. Anne and I loved it but Eladio had his doubts.

Anne relaxing with Norah by the pool on Easter day. There were a few rays of sunshine my Finnish friend could not resist.
And now it’s all over. You spend so much time planning and looking forward to events and all you are left with so soon after are the memories. As they say in England “all good things come to an end”. So thank God for the photos (here is the full album of our trip to Montrondo on Facebook) and for the new events coming up. But then that’s life, one event or activity rolls into another as one ends and another one starts.

So yes, all good things come to an end, but a good time was had by all.

Until next week
Masha

“Todo va bien”, everything is fine and the wrong places at the wrong times.

Blossom in our garden, the first sure sign of Spring.
Hi again

Another week has passed and it’s a sunny Sunday in March. I am sitting at my pc wondering what to write. I just commented that to Eladio and he suggests I tell you “todo va bien” (everything is fine) so I decided that would be the title of this week’s post.

He is actually right that everything is fine. I cannot complain. We are the lucky ones. Not so lucky is my Ukranian cleaning lady, Zena, who has cancer. She is my only worry and I have been wracking my brains how to help her. It’s amazing to see how she still comes to clean even when she is having chemotherapy and it makes me feel terrible. I so understand the fate of immigrants from the story of my Mother’s family. Luck in life very much depends on where and when you were born. I was obviously born in the right place at the right time and Zena was not.

Talking about places, Paula and Miguel, my niece and nephew are in Cuba this week, although they won’t see each other. They will however both see Rosi, Eladio’s distant cousin who visited us recently and who was also born in a challenging place, like Zena. Paula is there with student friends to celebrate their mid way degree studies (a very Spanish habit called crossing the Ecuador) and Miguel went yesterday for a short holiday with some friends who found a cheap ticket.

Funnily enough now 4 members of Eladio’s family have crossed the Atlantic to Cuba in America as Spaniards call Latin America. It’s interesting to observe how the Anglo speaking world means North America when they say America whereas the Spanish speaking world mean Latin America. I suppose the origin of this Spanish habit comes from when they discovered America.
Paula, Rosi and her daughter Maria Carla on the right this week in Havana.
Meanwhile, Juan, Miguel’s brother is trying to make his fortune in London. Juan is a very enterprising chap and his first job was doing a video for his sister’s flatmate who is the marketing manager for a publishing group. The video shows how older people are catching on to internet. I think it’s great. He’s now got to do one on an ex Russian republic whose name doesn’t even ring a bell. I’m sure he’ll make a great job of it. Meanwhile enjoy the video which was probably shot in Hyde Park.

This week in Spain has been marked by the good weather but it was also the 5th anniversary of the 11th March train bombings which cast a shadow on the week in general. It was also a week when the peace in Ulster was threatened by new attacks by splinter groups of the IRA. The victims of these attacks were also in the wrong places at the wrong times.

On the home front and as the title suggests, life went on as normal and we enjoyed the good weather with walks with Norah whenever we could.
Norah and Suzy ready for the walk, look at the lovely blossom on our drive
Suzy has been sunbathing most afternoons and would text me to join her and Norah by the pool. Often I would find Norah lying on the sun bed and Suzy sitting on the floor. Norah is definitely living in the right place and is a very spoiled puppy.
Suzy and Norah sunbathing this week. Look who's on the sun bed!
Oli has been busier than any of us this week and on Friday proudly attended her first press conference. It was the presentation of Pedro Almodovar’s new film “Abrazos rotos” which was preceded by the press premiere. I later read that it was the most numerous cinema press conference ever held with 300 journalists attending. There was great interest in the new film, of course, but equal interest in seeing Penelope Cruz for the first time in public after winning the Oscar. Here is Oli’s chronicle (in Spanish) which at one stage was on the front page of RTVE. I am looking forward to seeing the film when it is launched to the public next weekend.
Penelope Cruz, Pedro Almodóvar and Blanca Portillo at the press conference for his new film "Abrazos Rotos" this week.
This week I further corresponded with my distant Lieven cousin, Tanya, in New Zealand. She sent me photos of herself and family and it is uncanny to see the similarity in looks, the blonde hair and wide faces, wow!

The weekend has been quiet and marked by the good weather too. Thus we got out some of the garden furniture and had our first barbecue of the season on a lovingly laid table in the garden in front of the kitchen which is really our summer dining room.
Eladio grilling the chorizos etc for the first barbecue of the season with Norah placidly enjoying the sun nearby.
Tonight we are going out with our friends Roberto and Mari Carmen who, no doubt, will have lots to tell us about their trip to Turkey.

And that’s about it for this week. As you can see everything was fine, “todo bien”. Let’s hope this week coming up will be just as good.

Cheers for the moment,

Masha

The Hollywood connection, a very social week, in love with Norah, Primo won a car and a course on DTV for the elderly.

Norah in her bed and surrounded by her toys, all bitten to pieces of course.
Hi again

I left off last Sunday when we were going out to dinner with Roberto and Mari Carmen. Funnily enough we went to a restaurant called “Hollywood” which is where I got the title for this week’s post. The day afterwards they were going on holiday to Turkey with Roberto’s brother and wife. Luckily for them, they were not flying via Amsterdam as this week a Turkish Airlines plane crashed at Schipol airport upon landing and 9 people were killed.
The Turkish Airlines crash
The “Hollywood connection” also refers to this year’s Oscar Academy Awards which took place last Sunday just as we were having dinner with Roberto and Mari Carmen at a restaurant of the same name.

I would have loved to have been in the real Hollywood to see Penelope Cruz take the first ever Oscar for a Spanish actress, albeit the “supporting actress” category and for a film and role I am not enamoured with, Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona.

She was great in her speech when she mentioned her humble origins, the town of Alcobendas, which coincidentally is where the Yoigo offices are. She was also great when she spoke in Spanish and offered to share her Oscar with those who were watching her and felt a part of it. She was quintessentially Latin and emotional and I love her for that.
Penelope and her Oscar for best supporting actress. Well done!
Equally great or emotional, and don't forget she's British, was Kate Winslet who could hardly believe she had won the best actress award for her role in The Reader. I loved her speech about rehearsing in the bathroom from the age of 8 with a bottle of shampoo and when she asked her Father to whistle in the audience so she knew where he was!
Kate Winslet giving her speech after being awarded this year's Oscar for best actress
The biggest winner of the night however was Slumdog Millionaire which got 8 Oscars including best film and best director. Funnily enough I had managed to see it the Friday before and agree it was a great film but am not sure it deserved so many awards.
The cast and crew from Slumdog Millionaire receiving the Oscar for the best motion picture.
And on Monday I returned to Hollywood, not in California I am afraid, but in Majadahonda. It was for a girly lunch with Ana, Jill, Fátima and Zenaida. Some of us were late, Zenaida and Jill because they went to the “wrong Hollywood”. Ana had to leave early and Jill was in a conference call for part of the lunch so all in all it was not really relaxed. It was not relaxed but it was happy as we were partly celebrating Ana’s new pregnancy. She is into her 6th month and is expecting a baby boy who will be called Tomy after his Father. Incidentally it was Tomy’s birthday this week, so double congratulations go to him from these pages.

I was out and about a lot this week and had lunch too with Pieter at the luxurious golf club in La Moraleja and also with three journalist friends, Miguel Angel, Chema and Aitor. I took them to Sua in Madrid which was not as good as last time. I also had coffee with Elena, my friend and ex colleague who is also my neighbour. And on my way to coffee with Elena I bumped into Edu and Graciela and was pleased to hear that they were also expecting. This must be the time of year I thought to my self.

I am not expecting as such but have my own baby and am totally in love. With whom you will ask? Well with Norah our beagle puppy which turned 3 months this week. She has added so much to our lives since she came, not lest having to clear and clean the kitchen every morning, afternoon and night. But she’s worth it.

We took her for her first walk on Monday and she took to it like a dog to a lead, excuse the pun and she loves her “walkies”. We are lucky in that she walks well and doesn’t pull at her lead or get too waylaid smelling nasty looking objects on the way.

What she likes best is to be on a lap or in our arms, as you can see from this typical breakfast scene I snapped when no one was aware this week.
The breakfast scene with Norah on Suzy's lap which is where she likes to be.
This weekend brought with it more film watching and dinners. On Friday Eladio and I went to see the Curious case of Benjamin Button. We were a bit put off by the trailer but the film turned out to be magnificent if a bit long. It’s based on a story by Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards. Brad Pitt does a great performance. The terrible thing is that when he is 80 he meets a girl, Lucy, who is probably 5 or 6. Eventually they fall in love but time is against them. It is she who nurses him to death when she is nearly 80 and he is a baby. I was quite amazed that the American film academy only gave this film minor awards.
A scene from The curious case of Benjamin Button
Afterwards it was so late that we could only go down the escalator from the cinema to our all time restaurant, La Alpargateria who were reserving table number 7 for us even though we were over an hour late.

The rest of the weekend was taken up with walks with Norah, family lunches and dinner at Mood on Saturday night. When we came back from Mood last night there was an email from Adela, Eladio’s oldest sister, to tell us Primo had won a car in a draw with his local paper, El Diario de León. As he says in the article he has been buying the newspaper for the last 20 years, so this is sweet compensation. He was given the car, a Citroën C1, yesterday in León. You can read about that here too. We look forward to celebrating his lucky win when we next go to León.
Primo and the new red Citroën car he won in a newspaper draw.
This weekend I have also been planning a trip to Yorkshire in the summer. We plan, my two men and I, to stay in Haworth, the home of the Brontë sisters and Robin Hood’s bay, that picturesque smugglers’ village, at the end of July. Hopefully we will meet up with Amanda and Andy and Jill and Simon and all walk down memory lane together. After all this is where we all spent our formative years and my Father being the boys’ teacher must have had something to do with their upbringing too.
Robin Hood's Bay, a picturesque fishing village famous for smuggling on the Yorkshire coast.
And that’s it for this week, except for one last thing. I saw this video posted by a friend on Facebook and wanted to share it with you as it’s so funny. It’s supposed to be a guide for elderly people in the United States on how to switch from analogue to DTV. So, as the Americans would say, Enjoy.

Cheers till next week,

Masha

Miguel back from London, family gathering

Hello again

One of the highlights of the week was taking my favourite nephew out for lunch. Miguel works in London for City Bank and was here for a week’s holiday. We went to a place called Fast Good, a brilliant place for eating. It is owned by Spain’s top chef, Ferran Adria and it serves simple good quality, gourmet food in the same way fast food chains do. As don’t know anyone well enough at work to go out with yet, it’s where I eat alone the days when I don’t have a lunch engagement.

This weekend we had a lunch for Miguel and his parents, José Antonio (Eladio’s next brother down) and Dolores. Miguel hadn’t seen our new house, so this was the occasion. Just to be simple I made “cocido madrileño” again, my speciality and perfect for a wet Autumn day.

Today will be quiet: reading the newspapers, writing a post for my blog, making the lunch. Then I have to update Oli’s anti-virus programme and buy a ticket for Susi to visit Oli in November. Susi plans to go out on the 8th Nov to the 12th which is a bank holiday. We will be seeing her on the weekend of the 17th November where we will all meet up at Amanda and Andy’s place near London. CANNOT WAIT!

I have a very busy week coming up. Let you know all about it next time.

Cheers/Masha

Elena’s celebration – 50 years of religious life

Hiya

On Saturday, Eladio and I, as well as José Antonio and Dolores were invited by their cousin Elena to her “Bodas de Oro” which roughly translated, is the celebration of her 50 years devoted to Christ. We don’t see her much but when Eladio was younger, she and her family had quite a lot of influence on his life.

The celebration started off with a mass where Elena renewed her vows as a nun. It was funny to see how none of the nuns present were below the age of 60!! After the mass there was a lunch held in the convent which was actually quite raucous for a nun type event. We even heard shouts of “Viva la Novia” (Long live the Bride)!

The group picture is quite interesting. I hardly know any of the other people but Eladio does. In the middle you can see Elena to the right of Eladio.

I couldn’t resist taking this other picture of Eladio opposite the table to me at lunch. I think you will agree, he looks great in a suit and tie.

Cheers/Masha

The Freijo brothers and sisters with their Mother

Hi again

I thought you'd like to see this picture of Eladio, his brothers and sisters outside their original family home in Montrondo. It's not often the 6 are together so we "snapped" at the opportunity.



From left to right: Alejandro, José Antonio, Adela, Pili, Isidro and finally Eladio in the yellow and white shirt.

Cheers Masha

Montrondo – The Annual Family Gathering

Hello

So once again we all gathered together in Montrondo on the last Saturday in July as we have been doing since the “abuelos” celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary nearly 15 years ago. Montrondo is Eladio’s family’s beloved home village where all 6 of the brothers and sisters were born. It is located high in the mountains in a remote part of the northern province of León. The countryside is spectacular, so green, the temperature at least 15 below Madrid and it is the most unspoiled village I know. In the winter there are only about 8 houses with people in but come the Summer months, the people who were born there return with their families and Montrondo comes to life again.

The only people missing this year were Alejandro’s sons and Miguel. This was to be the second year without Antonio, the “abuelo” whose absence is very much felt on such an occasion.

The annual lunch takes place in the old stable which has been transformed into a make-shift dining room. This year we were 15 “grown-ups” and 14 “children”, the oldest child being Roberto who is now 35 years old!! The news this year is that Roberto and Ana will be marrying in June.

Lots of things took place during the lunch this year, the most important being the presentation of the picture I had spent the last 6 months preparing for her – a framed poster with a picture of all the members of the family with a small message from each of us. My mother-in-law is not an emotional person but this did actually draw a few tears of joy from her.



See the picture of Ernestina receiving the picture and José Antonio explaining it to her. Very sweet indeed.

All in all we spent a great 4 days together. The brothers were busy cutting the tall birch trees in one of the fields surrounding the house, the younger generation spent most of their time turning night into day and day into night. As it was the fiesta time (Santa Marta) there were 2 nights of dancing with an orchestra playing and a make-shift bar set up for some heavy drinking.

We went on many walks, the best of which was to pick raspberries on the hills above Montrondo. It turned out to be very picturesque in a lovely rural sense as we went past a sweet grey donkey on the way up, as well as a large herd of beautiful brown cows and a gorgeous litter of new born kittens.


Here is the raspberry picking group on the hill overlooking Montrondo.

And now we are back home and getting ready for the next part of the Summer as we will be going to the beach on Friday coming, all of us except Susi who went to El Puerto de Santa María in Cadiz yesterday to be with her Prince Charming.

So my next post will come after our time in Santa Pola as there is no Internet there.

Cheers till then.

Job Hunting, Going to the Cinema, Too much chocolate, Iberia Plus dinner, Ruby's latest adventures, Sara (Salita Guapa) came to visit.

Hello again

So, since we came back from Montrondo, we haven’t stopped. I’ve been busy with my job hunting: more interviews but for very funny companies, one of them makes bingo equipment, plus a massive direct mailing to over 100 PR agencies in Madrid (thanks Susi and Eladio for your help printing, writing envelopes, etc). We’ve had time to go to the cinema and went with Fátima last week to see the latest Roberto Benigni film, The Tiger and the Snow. I had loved “Life is Beautiful” but this wasn’t half as good. Eladio hated every minute of the guy’s theatrical acting. He goes a bit too far I must admit. What I can’t understand is why he likes to be seen constantly in his underclothes. He looks so unsexy.

Bit of a down this week on the weight front. I haven’t said much about that for a long time but had actually lost 15 kgs when wows of wows last week I put on half a kilo. I know it is the fault of all the chocolate I have been eating or rather it is my fault for eating too much chocolate. So, yes, once more, I shall have to be stricter. Bloody Hell. Excuse the French!

We also went out to another Iberia Plus freebie dinner. They still don’t realize that I no longer have a gold card but I am NOT telling them! – so much for data bases. It was at the Mesón Cinco Jotas in Pozuelo and of course, we ate and drank too much. When we left at midnight, it was 30ºC. So for all of you UK readers, that is real heat, not what the UK papers are complaining about.

Oh, yes and I must tell you about Ruby’s latest adventures. She has been found twice in a row in the middle of the night floundering in the swimming pool. José, the Rabbit Hero, heard her and got her out. We are not sure whether to blame Henry or not but there is probably nothing else to blame. So from now on she sleeps in her cage at night. Better safe than sorry.

The nicest thing that happened this week was Sara (Salita Guapa) coming to visit with her parents, José Antonio (Eladio’s beloved brother) and Dolores. As you must have read by now Sara is currently living and studying in China and only comes home twice a year. We had a lovely family day together with good food, siesta, swimming pool and plenty of time to catch up with eachother’s news.


The 3 cousins together, Susi on the left, Sara in the middle and Oli on the right.


The group photo, the 2 families around the lunch table.


A great picture of José Antonio and Dolores.


Oli has gone to Galicia (a village near Santiago de Compostela) this week with her Universitiy pals, Laura and Ana, so we will be small numbers this week, just Eladio, Susi, Grandpa and I.

Cheers till next time
Masha

Eladio and his Mother enjoying her stay at our new house.

Hi again.

Now that blogger uploads photos again, here are some pics of Eladio and his Mother together during her stay. They spend most of their time talking about old times in Montrondo.

It has been lovely to have Ernestina, despite the intense heat. The hightlight of her stay was probably the outing to the Zarzuela operetta called "Doña Francisquita" held in the open air as part of the Madrid summer theatre festival. It started at 10 at night and finished at 1 in the morning. Even the kids were asleep when we got back.


It has been really nice to have her and we hope she will repeat the experience soon.

Cheers/Masha
Strolling round the house
Mother and Son
Chatting by the pool

Busy times: Pensión “El Bosque” , To London and back, looking after the old folk, housewarming party and back to normal. But oh so hot !

The buffet table
The party setting
Me, Ana and Anne
The group. Front Left to Right: André, Mónica, Charo, Marta, Fran. Back Left to Right: Anne, Masha, David.


Hello again

So, yeah I’ve been so busy I’ve hardly had time to write. Also I’m a bit put off writing because I can no longer upload pictures. So now you have a boring blog with no photos. But as you can see this post now has pictures. It seems Blogger prefers the Mozilla Firefox navigator to Internet Explorer and the Norton Anti Virus has to be switched off. So you can now look out for more photos.

Since I last wrote so much has happened: lunch with Julio and Fátima on 29th June, went to the surprise early retirement party for one of Eladio’s ex colleagues, Elena on the 30th. On the 1st July, Pili (Eladio’s youngest sister) and her husband Andrés (my favourite brother-in-law) came to bring us Eladio’s Mother to stay with us for a couple of weeks. They stayed the weekend and José Antonio (Eladio’s second brother down after him) and his wife Dolores came to spend the day on Sunday. Pili and I got some shopping in. We have very similar taste and ended up buying the same skirt in Zara (white with black spots). There is a great picture to prove it.

Then last week Susi who had been in León with her cousins came back to Madrid with her cousin Laura as they were both off to London on 7th July to stay with Miguel, another cousin, who now lives in London and works at Citibank. He actually lives in Hyde Park.

So last week was like running a small hotel with full meals for all guests, including the boyfriends. Most days we were between 7 and 10 for lunch. Just imagine shopping at the supermarket; 2 full trolleys a go. And on the 7th we had another guest, my dear friend Anne (see her blog in the left hand column). I had planned our housewarming party to coincide with her being here so’s she could kill two birds with one stone and get to see most of her Madrid friends who are also mine, in one go.


Susi and Laura went off to London the same day Anne came from London – thus explaining the title of this post. It was Laura’s first trip on an airplane and her first trip abroad, so very exciting for her. Unfortunately their plane left late and they got to Gatwick at about 2 and had to wait for the first train at 5.30 am. From what I can gather on the phone they are having a great time. On Thursday they will be going out to dinner with my great friends, Amanda, Andy, Jake and family who live near London too.

So yeah, then came the Housewarming party. While Anne was at the hairdressers I started the cooking and preparing for the party (meat loaf, chicken salad, prawn salad, tortilla, trifle, apple crumble, etc.). Suffice it to say, many of our friends came (Marta + Fran, Miguel Angel Muñoz, David and Charo, Fátima and Julio, Mónica and André, Anita Valdivieso, Manuel to name a few). Anne helped us to set the scene on the swimming pool porch and it looked lovely: tables of 6 with table cloths, flowers and candles, the main table groaning with food (all labeled of course) and the house lights all on. The result can only have been good as all the food was eaten and people stayed till 4 in the morning.

The next day after another quick shopping spree, Anne left for London and things quietened down. Oli and José Luis also left for Mazarrón, Murcia. They wanted to get away from the heat. It has been soooo hot these last few weeks, in the 40ºs which for my poor Father is a little too much. He keeps saying his favourite month in Spain is January!!

So the house is no longer full, just Eladio, his Mother, my Father and me. Yesterday we went to José Antonio’s house for lunch and an old friend of their family and distant cousin, Elenita (a 78 year old nun) joined us. Quite a cry away from last week’s times here in El Bosque but very relaxing. So here we are looking after the old folk and enjoying the house to ourselves. At least there is no more non-stop cooking for 8 or 9 every day and a bit less sheet washing and changing and we can relax a bit too.

So that’s our news for a while. On Saturday we will be off to Montrondo (Eladio’s family village) to take his Mother there to be with his sisters who are there on holiday.

So will write again after that.

Cheers to you all.

Love Masha
Pili and me in our identical Zara skirts.