A very special 1st May, the King Haakon VII Freedom medal, Spanish football the best in Europe, first of the summer roses, a Muslim Mayor for London and other stories.

Sunday 8^th May 2016

My Father, Charles Courtenay Lloyd on his birthday, 1st May, at breakfast

Hi everyone,

Today is Sunday and it’s a very different Sunday from last week which was 1^st May and an exceptional day in many ways.  Today it’s raining “cats and dogs” and is a quiet day whereas last Sunday it was warm and sunny and it seemed we partied all day, my Father included.

It was his 97^th birthday and it started off with a traditional birthday breakfast.  The photo illustrating this week’s post is of my Father at breakfast surrounded by his presents. 

I had thought long and hard about what to buy him and decided on books as he is an avid reader.  His taste is very academic and he has a fascination for the Second World War.  He was in the Royal Navy as a lieutenant and was involved in the Liberation of Norway during the Second World War, spending much time on ships and submarines, after which he lived in that country whilst helping it get back on its feet and meanwhile learned the language to perfection.  He was awarded a very special medal for his efforts, the King Haakon VII Freedom medal “for outstanding services in connection with the liberation of Norway”.  In Norwegian it is called the “Frihetsmedalje”.  I have been looking for it this morning to take a photo but cannot find it. What I do have as proof is a newspaper cutting from the time which I am proud to share with you below.

The clipping in a Bristol newspaper about my Father's medal from King Haakon VII of Norway for his role in the liberation of the country

He went on to study German and Scandinavian languages at Selwyn College Cambridge after the War.  So when I stumbled upon history books on Norway and the War by a Norwegian historian called Geirr Haarr, I knew I was on to the right thing.  I bought him these three; The Battle for Norway April - June 1940 ,

The Gathering Storm: The Naval War in Northern Europe September 1939 - April 1940  and No Room for Mistakes . I asked him during the week whether he was enjoying the first of the three and was amazed to hear that he knew and remembered well a Norwegian Captain mentioned in the book and that they had been on the same ship.  He added that he was perhaps one of the few people still living from both The Royal Navy and Norwegian forces who played a role in the country’s liberation. His words made my hair stand on air.  He is so right.

The only person missing at breakfast that morning was Suzy.  The family is never complete without her.  But she had sent her grandfather a lovely card which you can see him reading below before opening his presents – that was what we  were brought  up to do; open the cards first and then the presents; although we always wanted to do it vice versa. 

Daddy re-reading Suzy's birthday card after opening his presents

As I told you last week, 1^st May was also Russian Easter.  The Orthodox follow the Julian Calendar and the rest of the Christian religions follow the Gregorian Calendar; thus the Russian religious events are always later than “ours”.  I remember as a child my Mother lovingly preparing Russian Easter.  She would make “paskha”, “kulich” and dye eggs and prepare a huge spread to be eaten after the night service at the local Ukranian Church.  There was no Russian Orthodox Church in Bradford, only in London, so we had to make do.  However the service was exactly the same as it was conducted in “church slavonic” a sort of Slav Latin if you want. I loved those services when we would all hold a candle and listen to the choir, at the end of which we all walked around the church in procession chanting “Christof Vaskresi” (Christ has risen).  So when my Russian neighbour, Katia, married to a Spaniard, Julio, invited us all to celebrate at their house last Sunday we were delighted to join them. We took Zena, our Ukranian weekend carer with us too.  She is Orthodox and it was to be her day too, so no way could we leave her behind.

We arrived next door, my Father, Zena, Eladio, Oli and I, to find Katya and her Mother frantically making last minute preparations in their huge kitchen.  I was delighted to see “kulitch” (a sort of panatone covered in icing), “paskha” (a sort of thick sweet cheese) and coloured eggs.

Katya, my Russian neighbour and her Mother with the kulich and coloured eggs

Our neighbours had invited many guests from their family and friends and there was a complete mixture of ages and nationalities which made us feel very much at home.  It was very sunny too as we ate outside enjoying the Russian food and drink I should add.

Russian Easter at our neighbours last Sunday

If the previous week my Father and I had indulged in vodka, last Sunday was the day to indulge in it again.  Our neigbours had bought my Father a bottle of Russian Standard Vodka, apparently the best.  Julio offered me some from another bottle in a charming tiny little Russian glass and here I am saying cheers to everyone for a wonderful party and day.

Drinking vodka on Russian Easter last Sunday

We had to leave at around 5 as there was still more partying to come.  Olga, our ex Paraguayan carer and her fiancé, Alfredo, were coming to see my Father for his birthday.  I think my Father was overwhelmed with all the happenings that day and delighted that Olga had made a special effort to come and see him.  She brought with her a giant basket of goodies (mostly chocolates and biscuits – how well she knows my Father hahaha) flowers and even a balloon as you can see in the photo below, God bless her.

Olga with her boyfriend Alfredo who came to see my Father on his birthday

It was the perfect moment to have the birthday cake I had bought my Father.  So we all sat upstairs in one of the lounges which we only really use for occasions and enjoyed a civilized afternoon tea together.

Afternoon tea on my Father's birthday last Sunday when Olga came to visit him

Meanwhile in London, in Camden, my daughter Suzy was in the throes of another party, her birthday party. Here she is surrounded by her friends. 

Suzy with her friends at her birthday party last Sunday at her house in Camden

All in all Sunday 1^st May was a great day.  That night Eladio and I finished watching Series 1 of Granchester which we loved.  I have since ordered series 2 which is taking far too long to arrive.

Monday 2^nd May was a holiday in Madrid to celebrate the rising of the Madrid citizens against the occupation of French troops which would trigger The Peninsular War.  Perhaps the most famous picture of those times is one by Goya called “The second of May 1808, the Charging of the Marmelukes” he painted in 1814.

Goya's famous 2nd May painting

In many parts of Spain it was also a holiday to compensate 1^st May being a Sunday.  It was also a lovely sunny day and would be warm and sunny until Thursday when the rain came and hasn’t gone away since.

Of note that day, Carolina Marin won the European Badminton Championship for the second time after overcoming Kirsty Gilmour 21-12, 21-18.

Carolina Marin, European badminton champion for the second time.

Her victory was not reported in a way it would be in let’s say China where the sport is big. That’s because it is a minority sport here, a country dominated by football.  Her situation is similar to the world champion figure skater, Javier Fernández who had to emigrate to Canada to further his career.  Just today I read a comment by the Spanish world champion swimmer, Mireia Belmonte who reflected that there was more interest in the hairstyle of Sergio Ramos from Real Madrid than in her world record.  That is sadly true and a very bad reflection on Spanish sports’ journalists.  On many occasions top Spanish sports people are not prophets in their own land.  The biggest example is perhaps that of Severiano Ballesteros.  When he died the British newspapers made a much bigger fuss than the Spanish papers. It was as if one of their own had died and not a Spaniard.  With all that in mind, I, at least, am extremely proud of Carolina for her incredible win last week.

I spent the day quietly; a lot of it binge watching La Señora, my favourite TV series of all times.  Yes, even more than Homeland or Downtown Abbey which come 3^rd and 2^nd respectively.  

Adore this period drama Spanish TV series which I have just binge watched from beginning to end

That night we watched another film on Netflix; Abduction, a spy thriller, which had us on tenterhooks until the very end. If you need to know more; it’s a thriller “centred on a young man who sets out to uncover the truth about his life after finding his baby photo on a missing persons’ website”.  It’s highly recommendable.

A film well worth watching

Tuesday was another beautiful day.  Here I am on my walk enjoying the weather. 

On my walk on Tuesday morning in the sunshine

I was wearing a jumper and it was far too warm. Later that day the temperature reached 26c (proof in the photo below) and we decided it was time to bring out the kitchen patio furniture. 

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday brought lots of sun.

It was possibly the warmest day of the year. When I posted the photo on Facebook I commented that the weather here was one of the main reasons for wanting to live in Spain and I firmly believe that is so in my opinion.  When I lived in England as a child, I took the bad weather for granted and accepted it, enjoying the sun when we were abroad only. Little did I know I would end up living in a sunny country.  Now I know I would find it difficult to live in a country with a cold and dark climate. 

That night we had our dinner outside.  We also watched the match (2^nd leg of the Champions League final) between Bayern Munich and Atlético de Madrid.  We watched it on my iPad Plus. Who needs a television in every room or place you go, if you have one of these wonderful devices?  The “colchoneros” (mattresses – because of their red and white striped colours) made it through to the final thanks to the away goals rule.

Of the 4 teams in the semifinals, 2 were Spanish which says a lot for Spanish football.  It will be Atlético de Madrid’s second attempt at gaining the coveted cup and as we would see later, their opponents would be the same team they faced and lost to in Lisbon two years ago, Real Madrid who are looking to win their “undécimo” cup (11^th cup); their eternal city rivals.   We were happy to see the Spaniards beat the Germans. 

Atlético de Madrid got through to the final of this year's Champion League on an away goal

But there was one Spaniard who didn’t think like me and that was Pep Guardiola, the Catalán coach for Bayern Munich who has had much more success at the helm of Barcelona than he has with the Germans.  The Guardian wrote: “Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich lose their third consecutive Champions League semi-final against Spanish opposition. He’ll leave the club without having won the trophy, which has to be considered a failure”. He must have been fuming inside on Tuesday night.  I have to admit I’m not sorry for him.  You see he’s not very popular with Real Madrid fans like me.

I suppose on Tuesday the British press didn’t give a damn about the match as they were all ecstatic with the prowess of Leicester City who, above all odds, had won the British Premiere League.  Well done Leicester City.  Maybe they will meet Real Madrid or Atlético in next year’s semi-final or final of the Champions League …..

Wednesday was another warm and sunny day.  The fields looked beautiful on my walk. They are at their best at this time of year and a veritable carpet of wild flowers. 

The fields on my walk are at their most beautiful at this time of year

That day I did a lot of cooking.  I made croquettes, curry and artichokes.  Wherever I go, Pippa goes too.  Apparently dachshunds are very territorial and have a fixation with one person and in Pippa’s life that is me.

Wherever I go, Pippa goes. That's the look she gives me!

I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I am like her Mother or perhaps I am practicing my Grandmother skills on her when I wash and bathe her, clean her teeth, take her for her walks, feed, love and cuddle her.  I also look after her when she is sick as you will hear later. She is the light of my life and I adore her. In the photo above, you can see “that look”.  It’s her way of talking to me and when she gives me the look I just can’t resist her.  If you are not a dog lover, you will not understand me.  If you are, you will. 

Wednesday was also the other second leg of the Champions League semi-final, this time between Real Madrid and Manchester City and this time the British press were taking notice.  I used to be a United fan when I lived in England, so there are no guesses as to whose side I was on that night.  Except that we couldn’t watch it, only listen to it on the radio (Eladio) or follow it on twitter (me) as very frustratingly it was only broadcast on pay per view television (very unfair). They started off at 0-0 and thanks to a goal from Gareth Bale which turned out to be an own goal from Manchester City, Real Madrid got through to the final again. 

Gareth Bale, the man of the day in the second leg of the semi-final between Manchester City and Real Madrid

That’s why I say Spanish football is the best in Europe.  It has to be as either Real Madrid or Atlético de Madrid will win at the final on 28^th May in Milan. 

On Thursday the rain came and Pippa was sick.  I hate to see her ill.  She sat on her blanket for most of the morning and I observed her for any more symptoms.  If there were I would take her to the vet. Meanwhile she got lots of cuddles and love from me and the rest of the family.

Pippa, wrapped in a blanket  - she was ill on Thursday morning

As the day developed she got better and by the afternoon was fine, had something to eat and joined us on our walk. It must have been something she ate in the garden or in the street and thankfully she has made a complete recovery.

The sun and rain brought the first of the summer roses. They are the pride and joy of our garden and my favourite flowers.  Here are the very first ones to bloom.

The first of the summer roses in our garden

Friday came, my favourite day of the week. What I didn’t like was the rain which spoiled both my walks that day. That night we went out to dinner as we nearly always do on Fridays.  This time we chose La Txitxarrería in Pozuelo which serves Basque food.  We love the food there. I especially like the steak; the best in town in my opinion.  We often have our meal with cider there, which is typical of both Asturias and The Basque Country. It has to be poured from high up to maintain the sparkle, as you can see Eladio doing in the photo below.

Eladio pouring cider at La Txitxarrería on Friday night

Saturday came and brought more rain with it but that didn’t stop me going on my two walks.  At breakfast I read the news on my iPad as usual and was stunned to see a new Lord Mayor of London had been elected.  I don’t really follow British politics and hadn’t realized there had been local elections this week.  What stunned me was that Boris Johnson lost his job to the Labour Candidate Sadiq Khan who is of Pakistani origin, a Muslim and son of a bus driver.  His rival was a rich man of Jewish origin, the Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith.  How British politics or politicians have changed. I’m sure the new Lord Mayor has good intentions; well I hope he has but what gets me is that in contrast no white Christian would ever be considered as a candidate let alone voted for in Karachi or any other Muslim capital or country.  Has England gone too far in its liberty I wondered? Only time will tell if his win is good for Londoners. I sincerely hope it is.

Sadiq Khan, the new Mayor of London

Life went on as normal at home and Eladio and I went out in the morning to do the weekly shopping.  We came home with a car full of groceries to last the week. The fridge is now stuffed with fruit, veg, fish and meat.  It’s amazing how much we spend on food every week.  With the fresh fish I made fish and chips for lunch but did not have time to batter the fish, doing it with egg and breadcrumbs instead.  Only Oli complained hahaha. 

Whilst it rained in Madrid, it was sunny in London.  Funny eh?  So it was nice to see a picture of Suzy with her “manada” (the girls’ group of friends in Madrid they call that and which means “the herd”) friends in London, Anita, her flat mate and Chati the nurse she went out to London with in search of a better life.  Here they are at People’s Park Tavern having a picnic in Victoria Park.  Lucky them.

Suzy, Anita and Chati at Victoria Park yesterday

And today is Sunday and it is raining again and quite cold.  In fact it rained so much this morning I was robbed of my first walk. We shall have to brave the weather if we venture out later today. Zena is cooking an Ukranian dish made with meat and cabbage whilst I write and Oli and Miguel have gone out for lunch.

There are no great plans for next week; probably more quiet time working from home.  Suzy meanwhile will be in Spain in Pontevedra (Galicia) in the north of the country. She will be visiting the headquarters of the new company she is working for called Hifas da Terra.  It is the  "first biotechnology company to offer the widest selection of organic health and beauty products made from mushrooms".  

 

She will be there  from Monday to Friday but unfortunately cannot pay us a visit at the weekend as she has to be back in London for a fair the company will be taking part in.  She will be so near but oh so far.  I wish her lots of luck on her first trip with the new company.

I will leave you now and get on with publishing this and printing a copy for my Father.

Wishing you all a great week ahead, cheers until next Sunday,

Masha

Back from Alicante, justice for the victims at the Hillsborough stadium, goodbye Bare Biology, hello Hifas da Terra, Suzy’s birthday, a family lunch, my Father turns 97 and other stories.

Sunday 1^st May 2016

On my walk with the dogs on Friday afternoon in a field covered in flowers.

Hi everyone,

Today is 1^st May, Labour Day, a bank holiday on a Sunday, Vappu in Finland (Walpurgis night), Mothers' Day in Spain but more importantly for us it is my Father’s birthday. He was born on 1^st May 1919 and today turns 97, wow!  I told him in his birthday card that soon he will be 100 and I shall try to arrange a telegram from the Queen if she still sends them.  It is also Russian Easter so Christos Vaskresi to any Russian Orthodox people reading this.  We have been invited by our Russian neighbuor Ekatarina to join them in the celebrations at lunch today which is something to look forward to for my Father and I.

Let me start from the beginning, from last Sunday.  This time last week we were in Santa Pola.  I spent the morning reading on our sunny terrace.  

The view of Alicante Bay from our flat 

We decided to leave at midday and have lunch on our way which is just what we did.  This time we stopped at possibly the best motorway “café” on the A3 road between Valencia and Madrid, at Los Rosales.

Los Rosales, spot Pippa!

Here they offer a stupendous set lunch menu for just 15 euros each.  Below is Eladio at our table in the lovely dining rom.  Los Rosales also has an incredible wine cellar and shop which offers all sorts of local culinary delicacies.  I can highly recommend stopping there on the way to or back from Valencia or Alicante.

Eladio at our table in the restaurant dining room at Los Rosales on the way back from Alicante

If it was our last day at our flat in Santa Pola, it was the girls’ last day in London together.  Here is a photo of my two darlings, Suzy and Oli at some tube station.  I wasn’t to see Oli until the next day.

The girls in London

Monday was a quiet fasting day mostly spent on work, reports and such. 

Tuesday saw me in the office.  I don’t go very often so when I do I am always happy to have a coffee in Yoigo’s great cafeteria and catch up with colleagues.

Tuesday was the 30^th anniversary of the Chernoby nuclear plant accident in the Ukraine which in 1986 of course was part of Russia.  At the time the Russians tried to cover up the disaster and consequences but they failed as it was just too big.  It was the worst nuclear power plant accident in history in terms of cost and casualties; not just the immediate ones but those who have died since because of the radiation. Today the city of Pripyat is abandoned, the residents having to move out beyond the 30km exclusion zone after the disaster and no one will ever live there again at least in their lifetimes.

Deserted Chernobyl today

Who doesn’t remember that day?  I certainly do. And who doesn’t remember the day of the Hillsborough football stadium disaster on 15^th April 1989?  That was 3 years later but this Tuesday justice was finally done for the 96 people who died crushed against the crash barriers.  At the time the police and authorities blamed the Liverpool football fans, whose team were playing Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-final at Sheffield Wednesday’s now famous stadium, Hillsborough.

The Hillsborough disaster

The fans were crushed in their stands with no way out and it was the worst disaster in a football match possibly ever.  They were blamed unfairly in newspapers like The Sun, especially, but also The Times, both owned by Rupert Murdoch, who supported this theory.  But on Tuesday the verdict that the victims’ families campaigned for in 3 decades brought justice to the 96 dead as an inquest jury ruled the victims had been unlawfully killed in a tragedy caused by police blunders.

Ironically Tuesday was a big day for football.  It was the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at an English Stadium where Real Madrid was playing Manchester City.  Real Madrid fans were gutted to see Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench because of a hamstring and to see Benzema walk off in the first half for a similar complaint.  The match was boring with a disappointing 0-0 draw at the end.  Let’s hope the gods smile on the Spanish team when they play the second leg next week at the Bernabeu stadium and they win to get through to the final.  The final may well be against their Atlético de Madrid rivals who beat Bayern de Munich the next day 1-0 with a superb goal from 21 year old Saul Niguez.  It would be a repeat of the final 2 years ago in Lisbon where Real Madrid garnered their 10^th cup.  I think it would be only fair for Atlético to garner their first so if there is an all Madrid final I shall be cheering for the underdogs.

21 year old Saul Niguez of Atlético de Madrid happy with his winning goal against Bayern Munich

But there was far more important news in Spain that day; political of course – most news here is about politics.  The news was that there will be new general elections on 26th June after the hung parliament result on 20^th December.  Since then no political party has had enough support to form a government.  Most people are worried that new elections will only bring a similar result and wonder how and when a new government will be formed. 

On Wednesday I woke up to the news that Apples revenues were down for the first time with not enough sales of their iPhone 6 or whatever. I think it is because they don’t have any middle or low end phones to keep their competitive edge against Samsung and Huawei.  When I worked for Nokia and they were the top mobile phone manufacturer I well remember the day when their revenues went down for the first time. From then on they spiralled down more and more until they were finally out of the game.  Perhaps this could be a lesson to the guys at Cupertino.

Apple revenues for their iPhone sales were down for the first time in the history of the company this week

On Wednesday Suzy had an important meeting with the new company she will be working for.  A Spanish mushroom company from Galicia that produces organic mushrooms for medicinal and beauty purposes, called Hifas da Terra which is a huge success in Spain. It is making a break into the UK market where their products are even sold at Harrods!  So it will be goodbye to Bare Biology where honestly I think the owners didn’t tap into Suzy’s great personality and experience enough and hello Hifas da Terra.  Suzy will be a nutritionist there with responsibilities for training, fairs and exhibitions and even social media.  The latter will be totally new to her but she has all my help if she needs it. If you have got as far as here I would ask you a favour and that is to follow Hifas da Terra on their facebook (https://www.facebook.com/hifasdaterraUK/?fref=nf) and their twitter page (@HifasdaTerraUK)

The new company Suzy is working for

Meanwhile at home, my latest DVD purchase from Amazon arrived; Series 5 of Homeland.

Homeland Series 5 arrived this week. I can't wait to watch it.

I can’t wait to watch it. I didn’t start watching it on Wednesday as Eladio and I were immersed in Julian Fellowe’s adaptation of Anthony Trollope’s novel Dr. Thorne.

Watched Julian Fellowe's TV adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Doctor Thorne this week

It’s his first TV series after Downton Abbey and is not a patch on it.  The story is good but the characters a little over the top.

We watch TV from bed where Pippa sleeps with us.  Here she is inside the sheets looking so cute.

Pippa sleeping in our bed. Isn't she cute?

Thursday was Suzy’s birthday and she was not to be with us this year which was rather frustrating.  Wow that day 32 years ago I had given birth to my first daughter, tiny little Suzy.  She has grown up into a beautiful, kind, charismatic woman with all the right values and I hope I have had something to do with that.  She wasn’t to be alone though to celebrate as her flat mates, Vicky, Julieta and Anita, together with Chati, organised a birthday dinner with all the trimmings.  Here they are together.  Today she will be hosting a big party at their new house in Camden. I have certainly brought up both girls to make a very special day of their birthdays.

Suzy celebrating her birthday this week with Vicky, Chati, Julieta and Anita

That morning I went for my walk in the rain.  My new sou’wester which I bought in London at Urban Outfitters recently came in handy as you can see in the picture below.

Wearing my new sou'wester on a wet walk one morning this week

Thankfully the rain has been quite scarce this week with more sun than cloud. It was a quiet day.  I fasted, worked and in the afternoon went for another walk this time with Eladio and the dogs.  It was sunny and it was amazing to see how much the grass had grown and how the wild flowers had suddenly made their appearance on a massive scale.

That night we finished watching Dr. Thorne.  We immediately started on my next TV series called Granchester. 

One of the TV series we have been watching this week 

Set near Cambridge in the 50s it stars the most handsome British actor I have seen for a long time. James Norton is Sydney Chambers, a young clergymen who gets involved with solving crimes, helping a local detective.  It was written by James Runcie who says the role of the young vicar was loosely based on his Father, the late Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie. I am thoroughly enjoying it.

Friday was a great day. I went for my walk then worked most of the morning before going food shopping with Eladio.  We had fish and chips for lunch made by Salu who didn’t make them like I do: the chips were soggy and the fish too.  But we still liked it. Later I went to the hairdresser for a cut and came out with curly hair which Suzy said made me look like the Queen hahaha.  On our afternoon walk the sun was out again and there were even more flowers in the fields.  I just had to have the view on camera with Norah and Pippa on a carpet of wild flowers, mostly giant daisies. I have chosen it as the photo to illustrate this week’s post.

Friday ended with dinner out at La Vaca Argentina with Eladio and Olivia where Oli and I drank half a bottle of wine between us and ended up feeling just slightly tipsy hahaha.  It was a lovely relaxed meal.  As Oli was there I was able to get a photo of Eladio and I out for dinner on Friday something we do most weeks.

At the Vaca Argentina with Eladio for dinner on Friday night

If Friday was a great day, Saturday was too.  José Antonio and Dolores were coming for lunch. I did the cooking yesterday and made oxtail using Simone Ortega’s recipe from her famous Spanish cook book; 1080 recipes.

Oxtail for lunch yesterday when José Antonio and Dolores came

For dessert I tried out Jamie Oliver’s recipe for raspberry syllabub and it was delicious and looked just right. I got the desired “ripple effect”.

Jamie Oliver's raspberry syllabub for lunch yesterday.  I'm proud of how it turned out!

And here we are at lunch yesterday.  Thanks for the photo Oli.

The family lunch yesterday

It was a sunny afternoon  so we sat aside on the terrace after lunch.

Toño, Eladio and Dolores on the terrace yesterday after lunch

At about 5 we had afternoon tea and the dogs joined us as you can see in the photo below.

Eladio feeding the dogs crumbs from our afternoon tea yesterday. You can just spot little Pippa.

Then it was time for our constitutional.  We were keen to show José Antonio and Dolores just how lovely the fields looked with long grass and covered in flowers.

Toño, Dolores, Eladio and Norah on our glorious walk yesterday afternoon

The day ended with dinner at home which was really a combination of tapas.  Once in bed there was time for one more episode of Granchester before we fell asleep.

And today is Sunday, my Father’s 97^th birthday.  For some reason I have been telling everyone he was 97 but he only turned it today.  Whilst I am writing I have been up to lay the dining room table, the croissants are in the oven and soon we will be having the first of his birthday celebrations, a family breakfast.

And here is the "birthday boy" at the grand old age of 97 surrounded by flowers, his presents (Milk tray chocolates and history books on Norway and the Second World War) and cards from Suzy and us.

A special breakfast this morning to celebrate my Father's birthday, his 97th!

I want to enjoy the day, so will get on with publishing this and therefore will tell you all about today's events and how we celebrated Russian Easter with our neighbours in next week’s post.

Meanwhile, cheers to you all and I wish you a great week ahead,

Masha