“Call me Dave”, the Yoigo family in El Rocío, Eladio’s birthday, the end of the summer and a hoodie for Pippa, the weekend in Montrondo, the new kitchen and other stories.

Sunday 27^th September 2015

Happy in Montrondo to see a donkey and a pony on a walk to Murias

Hi again,

It’s blog day and I am writing from José Antonio and Dolores’s kitchen in Montrondo whilst the lentil stew I am making for lunch is bubbling on the hob.

Last Sunday was a quiet day. I was on my own until the evening when I went to pick up Olivia and Miguel from the airport when they came back from their week’s holiday in Ibiza and Formentera.  Later that night the Undercover Boss episode I was in was broadcast again on TV and once again my twitter began to go up in smoke with all the comments; this time much more positive than before.  Eladio didn’t come home until very late that night.  He had spent the weekend with José Antonio in Montrondo and I was asleep when he arrived. 

It was on Sunday that the Spanish national basketball team won the European Championship, beating Lithuania in the final to go on to win for the fourth time in recent years.  I did not find any news about the victory in the British papers who never write about this sport.  But then again I suppose the Spanish newspapers never write about cricket or rugby.  There was of course news and much praise for Spain’s captain Pau Gasol who is a star in the NBA in the US media.

Spain Eurobasket champions again 

On Monday I fasted and worked from home, catching up on a lot of work after the El Rocío summer party the week before; the same week I “starred” in the Spanish edition of Undercover Boss.  That morning Miguel’s friends and colleagues from Valencia were coming to pick him up in a big caravan which they would take to Galicia for a week’s holiday.  They would be going surfing amongst other things and it would be Miguel’s first attempt. Not surprisingly he took to it like a duck to water.

With Miguel (orange t-shirt) and the friends he went with to Galicia this week for a caravan holiday

On Tuesday a scandal involving the British conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron, erupted after an extract of a non-authorized biography was published in The Daily Mail. It was written by his ex-friend and crony Lord Ashcroft and Isabel Oakeshott and entitled “Call me Dave”.  It was a vendetta by Michael Ashcroft who had funded Cameron’s party and campaigns but never got what he wanted in exchange, probably a ministerial post.  The allegations in the book about Cameron’s behavior as a student at Oxford could not have been more damaging and the story went on to become known as “Piggate”.  According to the book, David Cameron “put a private part of his anatomy into a dead pig’s mouth as part of the antics of the very exclusive Oxford Piers Gaveston Society of which he was a member.   There were many other allegations, but this particular story was by far the most newsworthy.  The Prime Minister has not made any statement and is trying to ignore the news but it could well be his downfall.  The society in question is a sort of exclusive old boy’s network where all the members know the secrets of the other members which gives them all a power whereby they go on in life to be part of the ruling establishment and help each other up the ladder whilst the antics are supposed to be kept secret.  But this week Lord Ashcroft’s vendetta broke the rules and all hell was let loose in British politics.  I have pre ordered the kindle edition which I shall read with gusto when it is released in November.

The book that gave rise to the "piggate scandal"

Tuesday was a busy day.  I had to all sorts of errands to do; mostly organizing Eladio’s birthday which was the next day.  I also had an important lunch with a journalist and my CFO and CEO and I didn’t get home till after 5.  Everything is late in Spain; especially meal times but that’s something I cannot change.

On Wednesday too I finally got to see the photos of the Yoigo party in El Rocío.  And here is this year’s picture of the Yoigo family outside the “Eermita” (church) in that magical village just before we went inside to listen to the wonderful “Salve” the Rociero choir would sing especially for us.

The Yoigo family in El Rocío

You can see all the photos here by the way. One I especially liked was of me with the participants from the Undercover Boss programme (El Jefe Infiltrado);  Miguel Angel, Sergio, Javier, Patricia and Ana. 

With the Undercover participants in El Rocío last week

Little did I know that that evening in one of Spain’s most popular after news evening programmes, El Intermedio, I would be featured again on TV.  It was in a manipulated video where I am seen telling off a very famous Spanish politician; Pablo Casado.  You can see it here.  I must say even I found it very funny watching myself telling the guy off and asking him if he was happy whilst he just nodded his head hahaha.

Wednesday was the highlight of the week.  It was Eladio’s birthday.  I can hardly believe he turned 71 whilst he looks 20 years younger and that’s not just me being subjective.  I had lovingly prepared a wonderful day for him which started off with a family breakfast for which I went out to buy “chocolate con churros”.  This is what the table looked like.

Olivia at Eladio's birthday breakfast table on Wednesday morning

And here is Olivia with her Father that morning when he was about to read his birthday card and open his presents.  My Father and I bought him a tablet and Oli got him the case.  Later in the day Suzy’s card and presents arrived and he was delighted with them – she got him special vitamins from Planet Organic which he is now taking religiously.

Olivia with her Father on his birthday

I didn’t go all out to make a special lunch as Salud was away and I was busy working but I did get Eladio a lovely cake.  I think it’s one of our favourites.  This is the cake which my Father especially enjoyed owing to the raspberries and cream in it.

Eladio's birthday cake

In the evening we had dinner at home with Olivia and I made Swedish open prawn sandwiches.  All in all it was a very special day for Eladio.

Wednesday 23^rd was also the beginning of autumn.  So of course it marked the end of the summer but it didn’t feel like it as the weather has been great.  It’s always so in the last week of September.  It is Spain’s Indian summer.  However the forecast for Montrondo was rain so that morning on my way to the meeting I stopped off at El Corte Inglés (Spain’s most famous department store) in search of a coat with a hood for Pippa in case of rain and cold in the village.  I bought what I thought was a small one but actually it turned out to be too big.  As it can’t be returned we shall have to find a way of making it smaller around her middle.  This is what she looked like.  Suzy exclaimed “you got her a hoodie”.  Well yes I did so as to protect her little head.  You probably think that a coat for Pippa is just spoiling her but actually as she is so thin and has such short fur she trembles from cold when the temperature goes down.  This is what she looked like.

Pippa in her new hoodie coat

Thursday morning was taken up by a meeting with one of the finalist PR agencies in a pitch I am doing.  It started at 11 and went on till past 1.30.  That meant I got home rather late for lunch; thankfully made by Salud.  I then had to rush to get everything ready for our trip to Montrondo.  In fact that morning I got up at about 6.30 to start on the packing and preparations.  José Antonio was coming with us and the car was full to the brim with bedding, kitchen stuff, lamps and heaven knows what else for the house.  I sat in the back with Pippa whilst Eladio drove rather too fast to get to the village and sometimes I had to hold my arm up to stop packages falling on top of Pippa and I.  We were going to Montrondo because the next day the Ikea kitchen fitter was coming to finally install the kitchen in our refurbished house.  All that is needed now for us to be able to move in is for the inside doors to be put in.  There is one more very necessary thing too and that is the task of cleaning as there is dust and dirt everywhere.  Eladio thinks we can tackle it ourselves but I feel very daunted at the thought of it, not really knowing where to start. I have suggested we find a professional cleaning firm to do the job but first we have to find one.

Photo taken on our arrival in Montrondo on Thursday evening

We arrived just before 8.30 and guess what it was warm.  The forecast was wrong and we have had wonderful weather throughout the weekend.  Pippa only had to wear her hoodie one evening and not because of the rain, just the evening chill.

As soon as we had unloaded and taken a look at the house, it was time for dinner.  I made everyone’s favourite here; egg and chips.  Very yummy.

On Friday the man from Ikea came.  A guy called Nico who had driven all the way from Madrid.  We were astonished that only one person had come as the job required would really have needed three people at least.  At the same time he was also supposed to assemble a sofa, the washing machine and a bathroom cupboard which he was very reluctant to do.  He was in a bad mood all day and we tried to butter him up by offering him lunch but he refused.  I was a bit hurt that he didn’t want to try my “cocido madrileño”.  We also had to be on hand the whole time as there were many minor details he would have preferred to forget and which I kept pointing out to him. Thankfully I had support on the phone from Paula, the Ikea outsourced decorating company, and in the end he installed everything apart from the kitchen lights.  There were some incidents, such as broken kitchen drawers which will have to be replaced.  Also he couldn’t install the extractor which will now have to be done by an electrician or a plumber.  However we were very happy with how the kitchen looked like after all his efforts. As my friend Lorraine commented it looked very “Scandi”.  Yes the idea was to have a Nordic inspired country style for our house whilst respecting the local architecture; such as the stone walls.  Here is a photo of the kitchen when Nico had finished.

The kitchen front after it was just installed

Below is a view of the kitchen area taken from the end of the big room which is the centre of the house and encompasses not only the kitchen but also the dining area and lounge.

The new kitchen

That same morning the central heating expert came and got it to work.  It was a pleasure to see the smoke coming out of one of the chimneys as you can see in the photo below.

Smoke coming out of the chimney!

Meanwhile in London, Suzy had news about a possible new job as a dietitian in a hospital.  I was amazed to hear that it would be working for the children’s wing of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.  I mean it could have been in any other town in England but it had to be Norwich; a town that means so much to my family in England from so many stays there when my parents taught Russian at the summer courses organized by the East Anglia University when I was a teenager.  My Aunty Masha went on to be a lecturer there and lived in Norwhich for many years.  Even the girls know the town; not from when they were babies and we used to spend summers there, but from an English summer course they went on when they were in their late teens and which was organized by my sister-in-law Dolores.  I do hope she gets the job.  Cross your fingers please.

On Saturday I was up early as usual.  After breakfast Toño and Eladio made a fire to burn all the cardboard waste from fitting the kitchen.  Meanwhile I went for a walk to Murias de Paredes and back with Pippa.  It was a glorious morning and I took photos all the way and back which you can see if you click here on the album of photos I have uploaded on Facebook. 

Pippa on our walk yesterday

Beautiful Montrondo as seen on our walk yesterday

 In the afternoon whilst the men installed lamps all around the house, Pippa and I went on another walk, this time nearly all the way to Senra (the village further on from Murias) and back.  We accompanied some of our neighbours who go on a walk every day together: Salo, Pili, Luis and another lady whose name I cannot remember. On our way we came across flocks of sheep and herds of cows; very usual scenes in Montrondo.  But this time I saw a lovely grey donkey and a small brown pony in one of the fields on the way to Murias.  I just had to stop and stroke them.  They were friendly and came right up to the wall and I only wished I had some sugar cubes to give them.  The photo illustrating this week’s post is of me with the donkey and pony.  The one below is of the herd of young oxen.  They look so lovely I felt sad that one day they will be slaughtered for what I am sure will be amazing meat because of their quiet lives happily grazing in the fields of Montrondo and Murias. 

Oxen in the fields yesterday

And today is Sunday and our last day here.  But we plan to make it is long as possible and enjoy the sunshine and great country air.  After I finish this post, I shall go on my last walk to Murias and back with little Pippa.  The men meanwhile are waiting for their order of firewood which should be arriving shortly.  Eladio can’t wait to use it in our fireplace in our new home in Montrondo.  I can’t either but we shall have to wait still until the doors are fitted and the whole place is properly cleaned until we can move in.  The time never seems to come but now it is much nearer.  We will love our new home when it is finished and look forward to bringing many of our friends here.

So I shall leave you now.  The lentils are ready and all I have to do now is upload the photos and publish this post before I can enjoy the rest of the day.

This evening there is supposed to be yet another super moon; or a lunar eclipse which with a bit of luck I shall be able to witness tonight at home in Madrid, clouds permitting.

Wishing you all a great week ahead,

Cheers till next time

Masha

Tales from the Tour of France, what is “Uber”, a family announcement, a bad start for Spain in the World Cup, a family lunch, work in progresson our house in Montrondo, and other stories.

Lunch at home with José Antonio and Dolores on Saturday

Good morning my friends,

It’s Sunday again and time to write this week’s post.  It has been very hot but a quiet week, at least on the home front. 

On Monday I fasted as usual, enjoying a meagre bowl of porridge mostly made with water for breakfast with Olivia who, once again was going to be very busy with her new programme “Aquí en Madrid”. That day she was to report on the visit of the President of Mexico to Spain which seemed to be the main news in Spain that day.  She was home earlier than last week, at 9.30p.m rather than 10.30p.m which meant we were able to have dinner together.

On Tuesday I had a date I couldn’t miss.  My friend Sergi López-Egea, a sports journalist for the Catalán daily paper El Periodico de Cataluña, had just published his memoirs of the Tour of France called “Cuentos del Tour de Francia” (Tales of the Tour of France) and our mutual friend, the Spanish cycling legend Pedro Delgado, was to be presenting it at a bookshop in the centre of town called “La Central”. My friendship with both men goes back a long way, to the days when Motorola had a cycling team and we have been friends since, even though I have become much more distanced to the sport.  I saw lots of familiar faces and thoroughly enjoyed the event.  Well done Sergi; a great book you have just written.

Sergi and Pedro at the former's presentation of his book about his memoirs of the Tour of France

In the evening we watched Olivia again on TV, this time reporting on a criminal called “Rafita” who had killed a young girl, Sandra Palo, some time ago.  Not a nice story I can tell you.  Once again Oli was back “early” and I made pancakes for dinner, something we haven’t had for years. 

Wednesday last week will be remembered for massive taxi strikes in Madrid and other cities in Europe.  They were protesting against “Uber” an American company that has designed an application which connects passengers with private drivers of vehicles for hire and ridesharing services.  If people didn’t know what Uber was that day, they certainly do now.  It’s ironic but the taxi protest only served to create free publicity for the car sharing app. 

It was the main news that day and Olivia was sent to Madrid airport to report on the story. 

Olivia reporting on the taxi strike on Wednesday

That afternoon a huge thunderstorm gathered in the skies of Madrid serving to cool the atmosphere.  It was amazing how within less than an hour the temperature plummeted from about 30ºc to 18ºc.

The thunderstorm on Wednesday

While it rained we sheltered under the awning by the terrace in the swimming pool.  The dogs joined us and I just had to take this photo of Elsa showing her love to Eladio.  Isn’t it a great photo?

True love Elsa and Eladio

Whilst it rained I hoped the water would do some good to our plum tree.  This year’s harvest looks like being a record, that is, if the birds don’t manage to eat all the kilos and kilos of greengages on its branches. 

Our plum tree with kilos and kilos of greengages on its branches

Thursday was my second and last fasting day of the week. That day Olivia reported on the most important Spanish sommelier contest called the “Golden Nose competition” (Nariz de Oro 2014).  For someone who knows practically nothing about wine, I think she did quite well, hahaha.

Thursday was also the start of the World Cup which is taking place in Brazil amongst much scandal about infrastructure not being ready and protests about the expense it has caused. The host country team played Croatia in the inaugural match that night and won which wasn’t surprising.  However it really did seem that the referee was on Brazil’s side who were awarded a controversial penalty just towards the end of the game.  Reading the stories in the press later it really made me think that sometimes the outcome of teams is political and depends more on the referee than on actual play. 

Friday was Friday 13^th, a supposedly unlucky day at least in England.  The equivalent in Spain is actually Tuesday 13^th.  It was a very hot day again but I still managed to get in my two walks during the day, thanking the lord for our swimming pool at home to be able to cool off afterwards.  It was on our early morning walk that we learned the good family news announced to us by Juan our nephew, Eladio’s godson and youngest son to José Antonio (Eladio’s next brother down) and his wife Dolores.  And here it is:  Juan and his partner Cristina will be parents at Christmas bringing a new member into the Freijo family.  Yeah, José Antonio and Dolores are going to be grandparents. I am so pleased for them all.  Congratulations all round dear family.  I know what it is like to be a parent of course, but have no idea about being a grandparent and can only imagine it is nearly as exciting.  I wonder when or if I will ever be a grandmother. I sincerely hope so although there are no signs indicating it will be anytime soon. Both girls are busy with their careers at the moment.

That afternoon Olivia’s main job was to describe to the spectators the route the new King and Queen of Spain will take in their open top vintage car after their proclamation here next week in Parliament.  You may be interested to know that Spanish Kings and Queens are not crowned.  Olivia did her job on the top of an open double decker city tour bus through the streets of Madrid with her hair blowing in the wind.  Oli, who is not very familiar with the streets of the centre, had to learn their names and the route off by heart!  Here she is on top of the bus with her microphone and reporting live on the royal route.

Olivia reporting live on Friday from the top of a city tour bus on the royal route after the new King and Queen's proclamation to the Spanish throne.

That night Eladio, my Father and I gathered in the lounge where we had dinner watching Spain’s first world cup match against Holland.  I can only imagine nearly all Spaniards doing the same all over the country, happy to support “La Roja” as the team is called here.  It was ironic that their first opponent should be the team they beat in the final in South Africa 4 years ago.  The whole country was more or less certain the Spanish squad would win again, but oh my God that didn’t happen.  The Dutch thrashed us 5-1 in the most crushing way possible.  It was sweet revenge for them but absolute humiliation for Spain.  When the score was 2-1 to Holland I just decided to go to bed. I could hardly believe on Saturday morning that the final score was 5 goals to 1 against Spain. 

Saturday was another scorcher. I went on my first walk relatively early but even so came home sweating and longing for the pool.  The water from the thunderstorm combined with the hot sun probably caused our hydrangeas to grow much higher than usual.  I love these flowers which we have at the entrance to the kitchen and can see when we are having our meals outdoors.

Our beautiful hydrangeas

José Antonio and Dolores were coming for lunch and would be spending the rest of the day with us.  So we were able to congratulate them on their up and coming grand- parent status.  They are delighted of course and surprised too, just as we were.  We had a family lunch together and Olivia joined us too.  Fátima took this photo of us all around the table enjoying her Moroccan chicken together.  Olivia left us before we had finished lunch as she was off to Madrid to meet the BBC correspondent here and then she was going to her first “baby shower” for her ex colleague Natalia who will be giving birth to Enrique at the end of next month.  Baby showers (parties where women friends take presents for the Mother and baby) are not common here and have been imported from the US I think but it sounds like a lovely idea.  I wish there had been baby showers in my day.

When she left we commented that the rest of our children were far away.  Their eldest son Miguel was travelling from Cuba to Lima from where he would be going to Bolivia and their daughter Sara had just arrived in Vancouver for a two week holiday in Canada.  Suzy of course is in London as you know.  She doesn’t post many photos of herself but I grabbed this one of her from Facebook with her Italian flat mate Stefania having lunch somewhere in the city yesterday.  It’s a happy photo and I’m glad I have at least one of Suzy for this week’s post.

Suzy (right with sunglasses) and Stefania in London on Saturday

The four of us spent the afternoon in the coolest place in the garden, under the leafy chestnut trees by the pool.  Whilst there we kept receiving photos from Eladio and José Antonio’s sister Pili.  They were of the building of our house in Montrondo.  It’s amazing, the builders only started on 20^th May and in under one month they have taken down nearly all the walls from the inside, made the ground floor waterproof (a huge task), laid cement on the ground floor, uncovered the original stone wall on the front of the house and finally yesterday removed the roof where they will be adding a third floor to the house. This is what it looks like now.

Work in progress on our house in Montrondo

We all had a swim, except for Dolores and even Elsa tried to join in when she saw Eladio in the pool.  She’s a Labrador and normally they take to water like ducks, but Elsa is slightly afraid of the water.  Thus she will only go in if practically forced or if you throw her play rope in which I’m afraid I couldn’t find yesterday.  In any case here is a lovely photo of her and Eladio in the pool.

Eladio coaxing Elsa into the pool yesterday

At about 7pm we went for our walk.  It was still very hot but thankfully there was a bit of a breeze which made it quite enjoyable.  We came home to dinner made by Fátima; Moroccan meat and vegetable pies which we thought were delicious.

This morning is Sunday and I was up early as usual.  I was eager to find out how England had done against Italy in their inaugural match.  We weren’t able to watch it as it didn’t start until midnight our time last night.  It was a bad start for the Brits too who lost 1-2 to Italy.  So now I have no team to bet on for the rest of the World Cup.  I can only hope that Spain will win the rest of the matches and be beaten only in the first match which is what happened in 2010 when they were surprisingly beaten by Switzerland.  Cross your fingers, although I think any success will need much more than that.

It will be another scorcher today and I look forward to swimming this afternoon and sitting by the pool with Eladio and the dogs and enjoying my new book Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd.

This next week will be busy with preparations for our summer party.  There are only 3 weeks to go or less and I now have the obstacle of a change of location.  I always feel this event will catch up on me but in the end it always works out.  So let’s hope it will be the same this year.

Meanwhile I wish you all a great week. See you next Sunday,

Cheers Masha

Roses from the garden, a killing in León, grounded, remembering George, to Montrondo again, Suzy’s first anniversary in London, KO for a day and other stories

Tuesday 20th May 2014

On one of my unprescribed walks in Montrondo

Hi everyone,

Here I am writing my blog this Tuesday early in the morning.  I couldn’t write it on Sunday as I was in Montrondo and yesterday apart from having to catch up with my work I had a migraine most of the day which left me pretty much KO.

So let me start where I left off on Monday 12^th May.  It was the day after our friends from France and Belgium had left and I needed to refresh the roses I had put in vases for their stay.  So, I did the only job I ever do in the garden and that is to head them.  Now they are gracing every room in the house as you can see in this collage I made.  I adore roses, they are my favourite flowers and always will be.  My Father gets a special bunch including a rose of every colour available in the garden!

Roses from our garden that grace our home

On Monday I went for my two walks on my own in brilliant sunshine.  I missed our friends who had been on the same walk with us during their stay. I sent this selfie to Sandra and Adele to remind them.  There was no sight of any sheep that day.  Sandra told me she found their presence almost biblical and that the scenery on our walk reminded her of Israel and I think there is certainly some resemblance.

A selfie on my walk last Monday

That afternoon an assassination took place in León, the city where Eladio’s family live and which is very well known to me.  It is a quiet provincial capital town not known for violence.  Isabel Carrasco, the President of Leon’s local government (La Diputación) (aged 59), was shot dead in broad daylight that afternoon on one of the bridges over the river Bernesga.  The killer was found very soon after and turned out to be a woman with a huge grudge.   The story behind the assassination seems so far-fetched and is a true crime of passion which would probably be any novelist’s dream. Later it transpired that the victim who held 13 official roles in León was possibly the most hated person in the city.  There are many jokes now circulating around her death.  In a nutshell her killer, Montserrat González, aided by her daughter Triana, bore the victim a huge grudge for dismissing her daughter Triana from the Diputación and for impeding her from receiving a large severance pay.  Montserrat later confessed “I killed her because she deserved it”. The revenge is tinged also by the fact that Isabel Carrasco had a sentimental relationship with the killer’s husband, which is when she found a job for their daughter Triana.  Even more bizarre is the supposed sentimental relationship of the daughters of both women who for a period were lovers.  The story has shocked the city of León, not used to violent crimes and this weekend in Montrondo, our family told us lots of succulent bits and pieces of information about the people involved in the killing that for now have not come to light in the national newspapers.  The story continues and no doubt one day will make a great TV series.

Last Tuesday was a quiet day.  I had a very agreeable meeting with the social media editorial team or rather with the customer care team who take care of customers’ issues on our social media pages.

On Wednesday I was off to the office again, this time quite early in the morning.  If you read my last post you will remember I fell and hurt my knee in Toledo.  It had hurt a bit since then but mostly when I bent my knee.  That morning I was sitting in quite heavy traffic and of course my knee was bent to keep my foot on the brake when it began to hurt so much I knew I would have to stop and would not make it to the office.  Thankfully I was driving past our local hospital in Montepríncipe and decided to visit the Emergency services there.  I was quickly seen by a traumatologist.  An x-ray was taken that confirmed nothing was broken, thank goodness.  However I had internal bruising and the doctor’s prescription was to rest my leg, i.e. he grounded me with no walks for 10 days.  I was to wear a special knee support and take anti-inflammatory tablets three times a day.  How awful to be grounded for someone like me who walks between 11 and 15km per day!  At the end of the day on Wednesday my fitbit gave me miserly statistics.  Due to the lack of walking I had only burnt 1700 calories and of course had taken in more than that.

On Wednesday I would have liked to be at a press conference organized by the NGO Protégeles to announce an anti-cyber bullying application for young people. The “app” was supported by the four big mobile operators, including Yoigo.  The initiative got a lot of media attention which was to be expected as the issue is quite big these days.

The logo of the anti cyber bullying app announced last week and supported by Yoigo

Thursday 15^th May was a sweet and sour day as it has been since my brother George passed away in 2001.  I think about him nearly every day but on the anniversary of his death I usually shed more tears than usual.  My golden brother George lives on in my heart.  He was an unlucky boy that always makes me feel that when luck was handed out I got too much and he was short changed. 

My beautiful brother George in his 20s.  I always remember him but specially so on 15th May, the date he passed away

On the bright side it was Eladio’s brother Isidro’s birthday, so there was something to celebrate in the family.  It was also a holiday in Madrid to honour the patron saint of the city, San Isidro, after whom my brother-in-law was named.  I think it is a lovely name. As Thursday was a holiday I decided to take a “Puente” (bridge in Spanish which refers to a day off in between a holiday and the weekend) and we were going to Montrondo with Eladio’s brother José Antonio and his wife Dolores to spend the weekend there.  We needed to go to see the builders we had finally chosen to rebuild the old house, to go over the final details of the budget and sign the contract.  Then the building could start and was scheduled to start this week. 

We left at 10.30 and by midday were enjoying a platter of ham and glass of delicious white wine at the Palacio de Bornos Bodega in Rueda.  Stopping at Rueda on the way to León or Montrondo is always a great treat.

A stop in Rueda on our way to Montrondo last Thursday

We got to Senra (two villages away from Montrondo, some 4km) at just after 2.30 where we were going to have lunch at the only restaurant in the area: Cumbres de Omaña.  There in the dining room we saw my brother-in-law Andrés having lunch with his cousin and the workers who are building his house (right next door to the one we will be rebuilding).  It was great to see him!  Lunch was rather disappointing; just not as good as it used to be, but good enough to quash any hunger we had left after the marvelous ham and wine in Rueda.

Once in Montrondo we soon settled in the house and then, despite the doctor’s orders, off I went with Dolores on a walk to Murias.  The weather was glorious as it would be throughout our stay and Montrondo was looking at its best, so lush and green.  We were joined as always by Nuba, Dolores and Toño’s delightful mongrel and Rusky the neighbour’s dog. 

The views on our walks near and around Montrondo were breathtaking

I was the cook that night as I was throughout.  There is nothing more relaxing for me than cooking in Montrondo and doing so in Dolores’ wonderfully equipped kitchen is a delight.  She has everything any chef could dream of. 

On Friday morning, Dolores and I went on our early morning walk with Nuba to Murias and back, as we would do every morning. Our prize was breakfast, usually my favourite meal of the day. 

Wearing Adele and Bernard's t-shirt from Brittany on the old path from Montrondo to Murias early one morning

Then the most important item on the agenda took place, the meeting with the builders Benito and Recaredo to go over the final details of the estimate of the rebuilding of our house.  Amazingly some 3 or 4 hours later we signed the contract; something to celebrate.  I took a photo but did not get permission from the builders to publish it unfortunately. 

To celebrate I made authentic British fish and chips with mushy peas for lunch, much appreciated by all.  In the afternoon whilst the men rested, I lay on the sunbed reading my chicklet book which actually had me riveted.  I lay with my head in the shade and my legs and arms in the sun and right now I can tell you I’m quite tanned.  Later Dolores and I set foot again on our longer walk, to Senra, via Murias and back, some 8km.  On our return we bumped into Adela, Eladio’s oldest sister and husband Primo which was quite a surprise as we didn’t know they were coming.  It was lovely to greet them.  We got back to Montrondo just as the sun was disappearing behind the mountains at around 20h and there was darling Pili (Eladio’s youngest sister) waiting for us.  So the numbers slowly increased.  For dinner that night we were 6.

The numbers increased on our early morning walk too as Adela also joined us.  More of the family was coming for lunch (Marta, Adela’s daughter and Isidro and his wife Yolig).  My contribution to lunch that day was chicken curry and rice as well as popadoms and mango chutney.  Here is a photo of all of us about to have lunch.  Only Andrés is missing. He was always late for every meal as he is so busy supervising the building of their house.  He seems like the foreman and is very much involved in the actual building.  It’s great to see him so happy with the project.

Everyone at lunch on Saturday in Montrondo (except Andrés)

In fact he is so involved he broke the nail of his left thumb earlier that morning which was a bit of a damper. Eladio took him to the hospital in nearby Villabino where they patched him up and gave him a tetanus jab.  Thankfully nothing was broken and bandage and all he continued with his “foremanship”. 

It was on Saturday afternoon on our walk to Senra and back that I found out at the bar in Murias (La Palloza) that the Atlético de Madrid had won the Spanish Liga.  They were playing Barcelona at the Camp Nou and they only needed a draw to win.  And they got it 1-1.  This is their first Liga win in 18 years and the first time in 10 years that a team other than Real Madrid or Barcelona has won.  Well done “colchoneros” as they are called.  On Saturday 24^th of this month the “colchoneros” will be playing Real Madrid in the final of the Champions League in Lisbon and there I have my fingers crossed for Real.  You too I hope.

"Colchoneros" celebrating Atlético de Madrid's win of this year's Spanish La Liga on Saturday

My daughter Susana, commonly known as Suzy, would not have been aware of who won the Liga as she was having her own private celebration.  Saturday 17^th May was the first anniversary of her life in London and she and her friend Chati were celebrating it in very English style, by having a pint of bitter each. It’s amazing to think that a year has already passed.  Their beginnings were difficult but now they seem quite settled and happy with their lives.  Congratulations girls.

Suzy and Chati celebrating their first anniversary in London this weekend

On Saturday evening Adela, Primo, Marta, Isidro and Yoli left and once again we were just 6.  We decided to stay until after lunch on Sunday to enjoy the weather and put the finishing touches to clearing out the old house for it to be ready for rebuilding. 

We left at about 16.30 and once data coverage was restored to my phone on the motorway I was able to keep up with emails etc and was delighted to read one from Socialbakers (the people who measure companies’ performance on social media).  Yoigo had been awarded the Socially Devoted certificate for Q1 of this year meaning we respond really well to our customers on the Yoigo Facebook page.  Our performance had gone down a few months ago due to lack of coordination but thanks to heroic efforts between communication and the customer service department we are up there again.  I was so proud and happy to see our efforts rewarded with the certificate.

I was proud to get this certificate

After a long drive we were home by 8.30pm. Fátima was there to greet us but would be leaving soon for her time off.  Olivia was playing Trivial (the Genius edition I should add) with friends from the “manada”: Copi, Carolina and Elena, my Father was reading in bed and the dogs were the most eager of all to greet us.  Both of them have conjunctivitis and thankfully I came to the rescue with antibiotic drops we had at home and which Dolores’ brother-in-law, Patxi, who is an eye specialist had recommended.

So a good time was had by all in Montrondo.  You can see the rest of the photos here.

Yesterday was Monday, a fasting day and I’m afraid it turned out to be pretty KO.  I had a headache during the night and woke up with a migraine which got worse through the morning.  In the end I went to bed and sent Eladio to the chemist to buy a vial of a pain killer called “nolotil” to give me as an injection.  I also took a sleeping tablet and at about 5pm woke up feeling groggy but with just a bit less pain.  I knew a walk would help so off I went.  It happened to rain but I dogged on without an umbrella.  Then the sun came out and I dried me off for the rest of the walk.  It was a very strange walk but thankfully calmed my head.  Later I went for another walk with Eladio and the dogs.  The final cure was a powerful hot shower and this morning, thankfully, I woke up with only a minor headache.  As I write now it has nearly gone.  I have a history of headaches but thankfully the bad ones, like yesterday, are few and far between.

Today is Tuesday and to quote Eladio, like the mythological bird Phoenix I have resurrected from my own ashes.  He always says that happens to me and I suppose it does.  I had to be in the office and this is what I looked like when I left.  I’m sure you prefer that photo than one of me with a migraine the day before hahaha.

Tuesday, this morning, the day after the migraine, resurrected from my ashes hahaha

I commented on FB when I posted the photo that I could be a mature model for Zara but actually I was wearing a combination of clothes from Zara, Marks and Spencer, Lindex and Clarks.  If they are reading this they can make me an offer haha.

So off I went to the office for another very productive meeting and did lots of administrative errands.  I also worked there until midday as I had a lunch appointment with Marta an old Nokia colleague, now the Communications Director of a big international insurance company.  It was great to see her. 

The news of the day came this morning via whatsapp.  Andrés, who is in Montrondo supervising the building of his new house, witnessed the starting of the rebuilding of ours this very morning.  He sent us photos of the beginning of the rebuilding and I have made a photo collage including the house as it looks now plus the three photos of the men working.  Let’s just hope they do a good job and don’t take too long.  I would be happy if it was ready in 6 months but it will probably take quite a bit longer.

Rebuilding on the house at Montrondo started today.

And that’s all for now my friends. This week brings with it my younger daughter Olivia’s 29^th birthday so we have a birthday week to look forward to. 

Hope yours is a good week, cheers my friends and readers,

Masha