My first dream of 2019

To my astonishment, I found my house was not only set in a small well kept wood, but had an ancient chapel on the grounds. Its arched doorway was surmounted by a huge carving, which I assumed was 18th/19th century but couldn't be sure. The brickwork was very old. I didn't go in because I was on my way to buy shade-loving flowers for the little woodland; I had no desire to remove the weeds and nettles, just wanted to add a few random forest flowers for colour. A lush dream.

Christmas confusion and Dad's gold

My Christmas plan to go to Granada on 24th December and avoid Mum until 25th/26th didn't go as planned. It was a long day's travel, and when I got there, the roads were empty barring legions of crammed taxis. I got to the city, checked into my hotel and wandered out into the streets to find food. Mum had warned me that everything would be shut, but she was quite wrong; up at the Calle Elvira, the cafes were full and buzzing. So then, there was my plan; a long easy meal followed by wandering along Santa Ana up to San Pedro's to attend a midnight mass famed for its beauty and flamenco carols. I was on my way into the restaurant when my phone rang. It was the termagent.

'Where are you?' She barked. I explained I had just got into town, and Mum hadn't wanted me to come up to her place.
'Your mother is your mother,' she said, as though that would clarify everything, 'get over here and join us for food.' Two minutes later she rang back.
'Where are you exactly?' She said. I told her that since her last call, I had made my way from the Plaza Nueva to the Plaza del Carmen. 'But there are no taxis to be had,' was my warning, 'they're all stuffed full of passengers. So it'll be a walk.'
'A walk from the Plaza del Carmen?' she said 'No distance really. OK walk here.'
I started walking. She rang back.
'Wait. Are you wandering the streets alone?' I said yes, puzzled. What did she think I was doing? 'That's no good. Get a taxi.'
It took me longer to extricate myself from the circular conversation than to work out my route. I was at the house quickly, they stuffed me full of jamon,langoustines, sweets, cheese and a huge chunk of lamb (I didn't have the nerve to protest attempted vegetarianism in the face of so much hospitality) and told me they had all been expecting me because my mother swept in to see them that afternoon saying that she and I would be visiting from about 9.30 in the evening. After this announcement she left them, presumably rolling backwards on castors like the Penguin in Blues Brothers. I was confused that Mum had informed the family I was coming when she had quite specifically told me not to visit at all. The next day I made my way to see her.
'I waited all night for you!' She said, 'I even got some food in!'
'You told me not to come !' Trying not to be exasperated, 'How did you know I would be here?'
'I sent you two letters and you didn't respond to either. When my daughter does that, it means she is going to pay no attention to what I say.'
'I didn't write back to you because there was no way the letter would have reached you before the Xmas post.'
She raised an eyebrow. 'And yet here you are.'

There was no answering that. In any case, she told me, it had never been that she didn't want to see me, no. It was the logistics of food and getting around. How was she to know that taxis still worked, that restaurants were open in the Forbidden Land beyond Calle Navas, and that I had booked myself a hotel? It was inconceivable that I should achieve anything so practical. She was much more sensible than I, and couldn't work out the bus ticket machines. All this room reservation stuff was clearly a remarkable advance in my abilities.

In any case, all went well throughout the holiday. The difficulties of the summer were completely forgotten. She wasn't interested in going to Seville or Cordoba or even the Alhambra, no, goddammit, it was her 80th birthday and we were going shopping. That is all we did, shop and eat. For her birthday I got her one of her favourite all time perfumes, Must de Cartier. She loved it, but she loved going out shopping even more. Before the end of the holiday, she presented me with a few pieces of jewellery that Dad gave me years ago. I didn't remember this stuff or thought it was basically Mum's but there they were, the 70s/80s gold Snoopy and Nefertiti pendants, chains, rings, including a three chevron gold ring which I remembered. I left most of the stuff with her, she wants to untangle the chains, I want her to wear it if she likes it. But I took the old chevron ring. I'm not sure it's worth very much, and the back's a bit shonky, but it does remind me of him.