Home again, Summer in El Bosque – 3rd to 7th August

My Victoria sponge cake. Maybe when I retire I could open a restaurant!
Hello again

Settling in again meant putting on numerous amounts of washing machine loads, including the towels we had bought in Portugal. It also meant putting the house into running order with lots of tidying up to do.

We had come back to a heat wave with an increase of more than 10º compared to León. So, thank God for the air conditioning we installed in January. Even so, we seem to be forever dressed in bathing costumes, or in my case a simple beach wrap.

Still on holiday, we have stayed in Madrid rather than heading for the beach basically to be near León because of Eladio’s Mother. Also we wanted to be here for José Antonio’s operation. We also wanted to create the right working atmosphere for Susi who is having trouble studying in August while all her friends are having a good time. Truth to tell we are enjoying being on holiday
at home

We have been out to dinner with José Antonio and Dolores on Saturday night at Filo in Madrid. We had dinner on the terrace and I think it was the hottest night of the year. We have also had dinner out with our friends Roberto and Mari Carmen who seem to be having a great summer too.

I have also been doing quite a lot of cooking and playing with my new toy. On the cooking scene I made an onion and ham quiche the other day which turned out great after I had thrown away the home made disastrous pastry and replaced it with some shop bought pastry! Then yesterday I made a Victoria sandwich cake from a recipe I used to use as a child. The picture proves how well the cake turned out. It is, by the way, my Father’s favourite English cake. What he likes most I think is the English icing.

My new toy is my N95 phone. I have discovered the MP3 and have now loaded it with over 40 of my favourite songs. The sound quality with the headphones is spectacular so I often find myself behaving like a teenager and lying on my bed listening to tracks like “Bridge over Troubled Water” at full volume. It is an incredible experience.

José Antonio was operated on yesterday and we went to see him in the afternoon at the hospital. He had a room to himself and a sofa bed for Dolores; all very comfortable. Eladio and I had sent him a basket of fruit rather than flowers but I wasn’t very impressed with what I saw when I got there. The operation was a success but the recovering from it is probably the worst part for the patient. He will be discharged tomorrow but I think what will really speed up his recovery will be the arrival of this beloved daughter Sarita tomorrow night from China. He had plans to go with her to Montrondo next Monday but that just maybe a little too soon. I wish him a great recovery from these pages. Love you Toño!

And this is goodbye from me now, until my next post with more news of our daily life on holiday in Madrid.

Cheers till then,

Masha.