Christmas Cheer?

It's cold here at the moment. Overnight lows down to 4ºC and daytime highs not much more than 15ºC so we are all wearing woolly jumpers and stuff to keep the chills away. But at least the rains have gone away at last, we've had a good few heavy downpours in the last 2 weeks keeping my babies out on the balcony well satisfied but now, because of the sunshine, I'm having to keep a wary eye on their welfare.

My photo of one of the Xmas decoration pieces set out in the town centre does nothing to uplift my spirit this Christmas time because the annual disaster occurred last Friday while I was visiting Ann & Bill for a chat.......Larisa sent a message to say that she was leaving for Russia on Saturday night. I knew that she had been waiting for a visa to go to The Crimea with Viktor to meet his family etc. but I hadn't been expecting it to arrive before Christmas. My reply some 3 hours later (after I'd left Ann & Bill) let her know that the Saturday was my day off and that I had been hoping to see her as normal and was disappointed that that could not now happen. "I'm busy until 6pm" she replied, "come then and go to the airport with us, we have to be there at 10pm". I did one better; I dared to ask Ann if I could borrow the car so that I could take her to the airport. And that is what happened on a "filthy" night weatherwise. I've not seen so much rain in a long time but, after a meal together indoors at Calahonda, we made it safe-and-sound to the airport with time to spare. Whilst she hadn't interfered with, or tried to influence, my holiday arrangements (for Aaron & Shellies' sake as well as the fact that she hadn't known when her papers would arrive) she let me know that she had been hoping that I would have been able to go with her for a couple of weeks. "But you've got my email address?". I quoted it off the top of my head right there-and-then in the middle of the airport departure hall and judging by her face on hearing it, that pleased her very much. She's back on March 11th.

Folk are beginning to arrive for their Xmas break here in Torre, including a lady from Germany, who visits every year at this time, who told me last night on her first sortie into the bar that she had printed my paella recipe off the website and made it for herself back home in Kiel. Fame at last!! Ann & Bill have invited me to Christmas Dinner and I've managed to persuade Favio to allow me to open a little later than normal so that I don't have to rush the Brandies! Teresa is away for the Christmas week so I'll be running the place on my own, no doubt without a day off (again), and then she returns in time for New Year's Eve when we are planning to throw a little bash with some grub 'n stuff on the bar, having opened at 11pm or so. It'll be a busy day for me prepping food etc., and without Larisa here to give me a hand it won't be the same, previous years we've always been together at this time. ¡Esa es la vida!