Montrondo, Sunday 26th July, 2026

Great to have Suzy with us this week in Montrondo. Here with her father and Pippa in Villablino. 

Good morning all from very quiet and cool Montrondo. 

We have come to spend part of the summer and escape from the heat of Madrid. Would you believe we have the central heating on while terrible wild fires are raging in Madrid? Thankfully, they are quite far away from our house; 32km which actually sounds  near. Smoke can be seen from nearly everywhere in the region and the fires, now one great "massive inferno" declared a national emergency this week, are  inextinguishable. The priority is to save lives, then houses and then the countryside. Unless a miracle  happens half of the province is likely to burn. 

It rained heavily here last night and this Sunday will be very quiet compared to last Sunday. That morning we did something different and were lucky to enjoy a traditional handicraft fair not so far from here, in El Puerto de la Magdalena. It is an historic mountain pass with an altitude of over 1400 metres. That is the place we shall be heading to to witness the full eclipse on 12th August. We all went together, all being Eladio's brothers and sisters and their spouses who were here at the time. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed the market, the stalls with local people weaving wool, making knives and leather work. I bought some local butter and  cured beef (cecina). There was an outdoor mass to be held outside a tiny little Pre-Romanesque chapel  which we didn't attend. We missed the music and dancing but I loved seeing the group called Tsaciana in their regional dress and had to have a photo. I promised them I would publish it in my blog so here it is. 

The Tsaciana group who were at the handicraft fair in El Puerto de la Magdalena last Sunday. I loved their regional dress and wish I had seen them sing and dance. 
We had one taken together to remember the moment too and this is it.
At the fair last Sunday. We had a very enjoyable time.
Last Sunday was of course the day Spain was playing Argentina in the World Cup final in New York. The whole country was on tenterhooks and I dare to say most of the world as Argentina were not the favourites in that they were not popular for their bad behaviour in the tournament. They behaved atrociously in their match against England in the Semis and they went on to use the same tricks against Spain. They were the favourites to win too as they have Messi and it seemed that FIFA and Trump wanted the South Americans to win. I imagine Trump did not want to hand the cup to his least favourite country. It seemed to take forever for the match to start at 9pm. Most people gathered in the bar here as they did in bars and squares all over the country but we preferred to stay at home and watch it quietly. I hardly watched it and felt like hiding behind the sofa because I could not bear to see my adopted country lose when they had got so far.  It went to over time at 0-0 and it seemed as if the Argies wanted to force a penalty shootout but they were thwarted when substitute Ferrán Torres scored a goal in the 106th minute. There had been other goals from Spain but they were deemed not valid although I think many people did not agree. Ferrán performed the same magic Andrés Iniesta performed when he scored the only goal in the 2016 World Cup final against Holland in South Africa. I only looked when the whistle was blown. At the time I didn't see how some of the Argentinian players physically attacked Spanish players. They were Paredes and Molina. One of them went for Gavi's throat and the assistant coach was seen striking Dani Olmo. The Captain, Messi, the great Messi, was distraught from not winning but didn't do anything to stop his team members hitting Spanish players in sheer envy, anger and frustration for losing. The Argentinians don't know how to lose. Then during the ceremony they turned their backs on the Spaniards being given the cup. I have to say they rather ruined the joy and the whole world saw it. The whole world also saw how Trump tried to get in the photo of the winning team and had to be cajoled by Spain's captain to move on. He still managed to get in the picture though. Just look.
The winners last Sunday with Trump having just got out of the picture.

I can't judge how well Spain played but from what I read they were the best team. They didn't start out as the favourites but if you think about it they should have. Spain won by team work rather than a team working for a star like Messi or Ronaldo. Yes, we have Lamine but he wasn't on best form. Spain entered this year's World Cup as the winners of both the 2024 UEFA Euro Cup and 2023 Nations League. That alone should have been enough to make them the favourites along with Argentina, the previous reigning champions. It was a great win for Spain and victory for fair football. Spain went mad the next day celebrating in the streets of Madrid with millions there to see the team. The victory was good for the country's brand mark with the news being published on the front pages of most newspapers in the world. I was happy for Spain and disgusted with Argentina.

On Monday while Spain celebrated getting a second World Cup star, something very important was happening in England. Andy Burnham who was last week appointed Leader of the Labour Party, became the country's new Prime Minister after the Party forced out poor Kier Starmer. He is the 7th Prime Minister in a decade after David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Starmer. I really hope he sorts the country out.  He is from Manchester and seems a charismatic, down to earth sort and is also Cambridge educated (like my dear Father) so he must be a clever chap. I am not sure I was too happy to read that he has appointed the most Oxbridge filled Cabinet since 1945 with 61% of his Ministers having studied at either Oxford or Cambridge. Half of his Cabinet are women which is a record but he only has 4 ministers of ethnic minority. The top jobs, otherwise known as The Great Offices of State (PM, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary) have all been given to Oxbridge graduates; noticeably 3 to white men and only one British Pakistani woman). It seems a bit too elitist for a Manchester man and head of the Labour Party. Very obviously he has received much criticism for his choices and we are talking about the Labour Party. In his first speech outside Downing Street he promised he would deliver a "circuit breaker" - I suppose he means a big change of some sort. He went on to promise to end rough sleeping - which I saw a lot of in Manchester a few years ago. I only hope he can. He made more promises, one of which was to set up a  Number 10 in Manchester to give the north of the country more power to deal with its own problems. He made more promises and I hope he can keep them. 

Andy Burnham, Britain's new PM who was sworn in this week


We had a quiet day. I made cocido and we invited Eladio's youngest sister, Pili, for lunch. Afrer FaceTime with Amanda, I joined the family for tea at Toño's house.

 That day, very excitingly, our grandchildren, Elliot and Juliet, were flying for the second time in their lives. They flew with their parents to Mallorca where they are still on holiday. Here are some lovely pictures I got and which I wanted to show you.


Olivia and her family on holiday this week in Mallorca
Tuesday was the day Suzy was coming to join us. She drove the Mini to get here and we were dying to see her. She would have come for two weeks but she got a new job which she will be starting tomorrow so we only had the pleasure of her company for a few days. It was on Tuesday that my energy seemed to come back after my ongoing bout of upper UTI. I was on the last day of my antibiotics, felt better but knew the infection hadn't gone as my kidneys still feel sore. I decided I would see a doctor the next day. 

In the morning I got the sudden urge to clean the house from top to bottom and when I say top to bottom, I mean that. I cleaned all the windows, doors and bathrooms and helped Eladio get rid of all the spiders' webs. He also got rid of two wasp nest on the terrace. Oh what a great job I did.  Eladio helped by hoovering the whole house. It was nearly all done by the time Suzy arrived. She came with a huge smile on her face happy to be back in her childhood village and we had lunch together. I spent time in the afternoon on the sun loungers under the shade of the apple trees in our back garden and later joined Suzy for coffee at Eladio's other sister, Adela's house. She has two houses there and they command the best views of the village. I had to take a photo of the dry field and church in the distance, the landmark of Montrondo.
View from Adela's house
I had a little techy time in the evening. I wanted to get rid of my McAfee anti virus which I was paying for in vain as I my PC comes with the inbuilt Windows Defender. With a little help from AI I got rid of it which was not as easy as you would think. I felt quite pleased with myself. 

We had a light dinner and then Suzy and I went with Pippa, of course, for a wonderful evening walk to Murias and back. She is a fast walker and is hard to keep up with but that was good for me. I felt great when I got back and slept better too.

We were alone on Wednesday.  José Antonio's family had all gone to a hotel by the beach in Galicia and Pili to León. We did a bit  more cleaning and then Suzy and I drove to the nearest big town with a clinic, - La Magdalena. I needed to go there to get an out of region health card as mine is obviously from Madrid. I got one and also an appointment to see the doctor in Murias that very morning. When we left the clinic, there was an outdoor market and Suzy and I made a beeline for it and bought some clothes which I now regret a bit. Here I am trying on a blue dress which everyone seemed to love but I am not sure about.
Trying on clothes at the local market in La Magdalena on Wednesday
After a coffee together, we drove back and Suzy left me outside the Health Clinic in Murias,  a tiny little one. I saw the lady doctor, a very young one, almost immediately and told her the story of my infection. She took a quick urine test and said I was still positive and prescribed me different antibiotics which I got at the local chemist. She told me to take them for 3 days but the 3 days have passed and I am still taking them and today or possibly tomorrow we will go to a proper hospital in León to get a better opinion of how to proceed if the antibiotics are not working. What  a bore.

I spent the afternoon reading in the garden and later went for another evening walk with Suzy and Pips. It was good quality time with my daughter.

Thursday came and it was shopping day. The four of us, Pippa included, drove to Villablino to get food to replenish the fridge and cupboards and have enough for when Oli and family arrive this week. We all rather enjoyed shopping in Gadis and coffee afterwards. We took some photos to remember our time there and I have chosen one of Suzy with her father as she doesn't often feature graphically in this blog. Here is another we took, this time of Eladio, Pippa and I. 
In Villablino on Thursday to do the food shopping
We had a lovely lunch and again I spent the afternoon outside reading. Later I went for my evening walk with Eladio and Pippa as Suzy had a funny tummy. We saw a pony, a donkey and two horses in one of the fields which made my day. I do love animals, especially horses and donkeys. Here are some pics of that splendid evening walk with my husband.


On our evening walk on Thursday evening
That very evening the catastrophic wild fires began in Madrid, sparked accidentally by a farm vehicle. That night the Madrid government asked the central Government to declare a national emergency which is what happened. The next day strong winds caused various fires to merge into what has been described as a "massive inferno" and is the worst fire ever in Madrid. Firefighters declared it inextinguishable and Spain asked the EU for help. 
Brave firefighters doing an impossible job.


Another fire in Avila threatens to merge with the Madrid fire and the wind looks as though it is all heading to the mountains near El Escorial. The numbers of those who have been evacuated seems to rise progressively and it is one big disaster. There is a similar fire in the Bordeaux region for which the French government have also asked for help from the EU. The news is frightening as the flames have burned 35.000 hectares. The Spanish PM was at the main control point yesterday and warned these were complicated times. Meanwhile, I was worried about our own home, just 30 odd kilometres away from the nearest fire but have been assured the fire is not going that way. But the wind could change couldn't it?  Yesterday Suzy got home and I was relieved to hear the sky is quite clear if a bit cloudy. Meanwhile, I feel for the people affected and admire those fighting this massive inferno. I sincerely hope I have better news on this front next week. 

Friday dawned and I had to go back to Villablino as I had bought the wrong tobacco. Suzy came with me and we did other errands too. It was more mother and daughter quality time. Thank you my darling.

Pili was back from León and had brought her family. It was lovely to see Tirso, the latest addition, her new grandson, who turned 5 months old today. We had coffee on our terrace and Adela came too. It got cooler yesterday and we had to go inside.

Friday was the day of the chicken episode. Eladio had been taking care of his brother José Antonio's chickens; a  hen and her three chicks and two other hens. He had to open and close the pen and let them out occasionally. His brother had rung him after dinner to ask after them and Eladio said they were fine which he thought they were until we went to feed them some old bread. I took photos and noticed how Pippa didn't take any notice of them. Previously José Antonio's son's dog, Pippa had killed two and we were worried about Pippa. After that carnage the hens stopped laying eggs until that evening when Eladio found one single egg which would be his breakfast hahaha.



Eladio during the chicken episode triumphantly holding one egg he found.
It was then he realised that the two spinster hens were nowhere to be seen. Eladio, Suzy and I looked after which we both went in as it started raining. That put paid to our evening walk I am afraid. Where were those chickens? If they didn't appear, what was Eladio going to say to his brother? About an hour later he found them in a tiny corner behind the pen and the crisis was over. The next day he found another egg which must mean the chickens are happy with the care he is giving them. He had good practice as a kid when he worked on his parents' small subsistence farm.

On Saturday Suzy was leaving which was a little sad. She packed and then spent time with Pili and her family and went to say her goodbyes to the significant people of the village to her. We went to have a coffee in Senra and came back to make lunch.

Yesterday something special happened. My friend Joanna who is a Brontë boff was in Haworth handing out leaflets advertising the Brontë birthplace. While there she recognised my friends Phil and Kathy from my blog and then they recognised her. What a lovely coincidence. Joanna sent me a photo which of course I have to publish in today's blog don't I? This is it. 
My friends coincided in Haworth yesterday and recognised each other from my blog. Kathy left, Joanna in the centre and Phil on the right. What a lovely coincidence.

We had another quiet day and I only went out in the afternoon to get a dozen eggs from Manolo. It is going shopping the Montrondo way hahaha. I was happy to hear from Suzy that our latest guests, a Dutch family, had arrived, were happy with the house and that she had welcomed them. Our last guests were a German family and they left me a really glowing review. This was it. 
A glowing review from my German guests this week which was music to my ears. 

A big thanks to Tana for her part in the story which is very big while we are away. I am happy to hear that everyone loves her. She is a treasure. 

It was cold last night but we still went for our walk. I couldn't believe it was only 14ºc while it was so back home. I was treated again to the sight of those lovely equine animals and this time they came towards me. If only I had had some bread or something to give them.

My equine friends who I greet on our evening walks to Murias
On our way, villagers told us that there was a fire in another Murias - Murias de Ponjos, about 30km from here and that the whole village had been evacuated. What a nightmare for them. For the moment we are safe and I hope it stays that way.

I slept well last night and woke up at 7.30 am, late for me. Today the weather will be warmer and I shall be able to do the washing which will dry quickly. I shall be doing household stuff which I quite enjoy here. 

Now this is it for this week. I wish you all a great Sunday and I wish with all my might those firefighters are able to control the massive inferno in Madrid and the fires in other parts of Spain and in France and Scotland. 

Cheers for now,
Masha

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