Different

My piece of Pork Loin was done in the Wellington style and it's a shame that my French friend, Cecilia, moved away because Mushroom Duxelles form the basis of the pate that's used in the recipe and she could probably have given me a few pointers. I survived though, including in mine some apple to complement the meat.

Ana's was busy last night with a good crowd listening to the Flamenco and I received a few cards over the bar and a couple of drinks as well. Tuesday we have David and Christy ("The Twilights") performing again and then on Thursday another Spanish performance - a Monologue. The WiFi is drawing people as well with four taking advantage of the facility last night and another popping his head through the door in enquiry.

The weather has turned miserable again. The forecast rain arrived yesterday evening and is still falling as I type. And it's cold as well. But there is no real excuse to go out; today is a holiday so all the major shops are shut.

Google one, Pearl one.

It seems that we are in for some more damp, wet weather over the next few days with plenty of clouds about in-between the showers and rain. Am I bovvered? It's quite sunny at the moment so I've done a load of washing which is out on the line already drying nicely, thankyou.

My day off is now, for the foreseeable future, Monday which is a bind. I opted for Wednesdays for a specific reason so, just as soon as I get wind that Wednesdays are available to me again I will revert post-haste (I won't go into details here about why this has happened, life's too short.)

Needless to say, my planned Chinese meal yesterday in Montemar did not happen but not to worry, instead I've been out this morning and bought a posh piece of pork (loin), cut it into 3, put 2 pieces in the freezer and kept the biggest piece (blame my wonky eye) out ready for the Big Day tomorrow. That Roast Pork feast will be followed by work at 8pm and another dose of Flamenco at 10pm. Pure Flamenco is heavy on most foreigners ears and Ana-Mary has come to realize that, telling me last night that she will ask the singer to do some other, lighter, forms as well so that all can enjoy the performance more, including me!

I was pleased to accompany Beryl into Malaga yesterday, giving support while she bought herself a WiFi enabled laptop. Back home within 2 hours she was soon logged into the Bar's Internet Hotspot and getting to grips with her first taste of Windows Vista. Favio had me do a speedtest last night, the result of which was somewhat under the "guaranteed minimum" download speed of 15mbps. I'm now to do it on a daily basis and keep a record so that he can challenge Telefonica over their guarantee at a later date. I haven't the heart to suggest why the speed is lower than he expects but there were 3 computers logged on at the time.

Ana-Mary has mentioned to me on numerous occasions about getting some publicity organised for the bar and I keep on about a website. Favio has numerous Domain Names "parked" but has lost the User and Password details for all of them! I showed him just how easy it is to send a webpage up by FTP the other night and he spent hours trying it for himself; but without passwords etc. it's impossible. Hopefully he'll see fit to contact the Hosts and reclaim the missing information. My site has had, to date, nearly 100,000 hits since its inception so I am very much convinced a web presence is a "good thing". Any publicity is good publicity as they say and I often wonder whether anyone ever Googles for Anas Bar and comes up with the inevitable nothing because judging by the Googles that my site is fed to I suspect that someone, somewhere, may well have done so, or even be doing so. Another establishment, not far from where I am sitting, is still googled for from all over the world and keywords used include the actual names of the Management! You never know just how famous you might be out there in etherland!! But, first, you need that password.

Right! I'm going to google "roast pork loin" and see what inspiration I can get, using stuff in my cupboards (of which there is mucho 'cos I can't go out for a loaf of bread without coming back with half the shop.) I might be a compulsive shopper. Must take a tablet. BTW, I took delivery of a packet of Pearl Barley the other day, a special order to a friend who was going to Fuengirola and the Iceland shop. Next some Lamb chops, which I'll de-bone, for an Irishy Stew later in the week. And the stock that I have on the go at this very mo will be becoming the pearly queen of soups. I haven't had Pearl Barley since I left home I don't think which means, what, 40years? Blimey, don't time fly.

PS. While I was halfway through the above I heard my other machine accept an email. I've just checked. 3!! One of which is from The Crimea. Who's a happy chappy? 13 days to go and already I'm getting butterflies.

There's no place like Home!

And why do I say that? Because, yesterday, I locked myself out! Running between the Bar and here while helping Ana-Mary & Favio prepare for last night's party I eventually did the unthinkable and left the keys on the dining table, only to realize that just as the door latched closed on my way out. To cut a longish story short, Else-Britt and Ole-Erik (my neighbours) were kind enough to give me a bed for the night last night and today, while prepping the bar, I remembered that I know someone who could possibly get me up a ladder to force (or break) one of the balcony doors, problem being that Cristina, who has a passkey, is not here at the moment and the phone number that I have for her is now non-existent. With no damage done entry has been gained at the top of a ladder and here I am, home. Tonight (Mondays are now my night off for the time being) I'm going to comfort myself with a hot bath and an even hotter Chili Con Carne and tomorrow I am going to get spare sets of keys cut and plant them in strategic places around the area so that what has passed cannot happen again. Whilst I wasn't destitute (luckily my wallet was about my person) being homeless is not a nice feeling.

The Birthday Bash in the bar went very well. Ana-Mary's buffet was to die for, my photo does not do it any justice whatsoever and one or two of her recipes will be copied here in my kitchen over the course of time. When the eats were over the floor was quickly cleared (a 7ft x 4ft table was miraculously "disappeared", quite how from my vantage point behind the bar I was unable to work out,) and then the Flamenco Duo took centre-stage for an hour or so. Not something that I find easy to appreciate but they must have been good at what they did because those that do were ecstatic at the end of each number and I noticed Ana-Mary and a friend accompanying the singer with a Flamenco dance on a couple of occasions, again, to rapturous applause. I say noticed because the bar was bursting at the seams with bodies making it difficult for me to see what was going on from where I was. I had my new Netbook running it's inbuilt webcam (trained on me) and it was gratifying to realize, later in the evening, that Ana and Favio had gathered in front of it and were waving to friends and/or family in Colombia whom they had phoned and passed the web address to and over the hullabaloo I could hear squeals of delight coming from the phone as the folk at the other end viewed the images.

To bean or not to bean. In Texas there is a very long-running debate about whether Chilli (as they so simply call it) should have beans in or not. My choice is forced, as always, by what's in my cupboard so... no beans it is because I am not going out to get some in case I leave my keys behind!

Hot Spot

The WiFi Broadband installation at the bar is up and running now (and has been for a few days.) Favio has opted for the top range product from Telefonica which has a nominal speed of 20mb/sec upload with a guaranteed minimum of 15mb/sec which our speedtest results show is being achieved. I've been taking my 'Netbook' in and running the webcam behind the bar, to which end there is now a simple webpage that you can view some video on while I'm working. Unfortunately the IP is dynamic so I can't put a link here right now but later this evening, when I go in, I'll check the current IP address and set a link to the webcam up in the sidebar here under the websites list so keep an eye out for that.

There is going to be a party tomorrow in the bar to celebrate birthdays (Favio's was yesterday and Ana-Mary's is on Tuesday) followed by a performance of Flamenco by a Duo that they have hired for an hour or so. It should be a good night. Looks like Favio treated himself to a new sign for the bar! It went up yesterday afternoon and I snapped this shot last night. Very Las Vegas! OOPS........seems I've deleted it in the camera, I'll have to get another and add it later.

I'll mince no words

I've been out and bought a PICADORA de CARNE, or, in other words, an old-fashioned mincing machine that you clamp to a work surface, only this one is not so old and more of a modern, plastic, fashion. Courtesy of its Archimedean Screw and my well greased elbow I now have 4 Minced Chicken Puffs in the oven and with the rest of my mixture I'm going to try doing some Croquettes later, maybe even a burger or two.

(Later)
Oh boy, the empanadillas were good but the burger idea wins the day for the 2nd dish because I've just found some "Cajun Blackened Seasoning" amongst my spice collection which I brought back from America so, despite Bill's misgivings when I mentioned about maybe doing a Chicken Burger to him earlier today, blackened burgers it's got to be! .......phew! Talk about Smokey Joe's but it dun'alf smell good!.........Well, they may never have fried any chicken quite like it in Kentucky but here with 2 easy over and pickles on the side I've just been to America and back, my way, inside 20mins with no Jet Lag (or Blueberry Pie.)

Hello..are you out there?

I'm back! Telefonica rang this afternoon just as they'd promised to do so, and, with Cristina's help translating, the Broadband connectivity problem has been sorted. A thunderstorm had knocked my router for 6 and, as luck would have it, I'd just got in from going to collect a spare one that David had which, over the phone, the helpdesk has helped me reconfigure for my fixed IP. Can't believe that I've let lightning blow my modem! Me of all people. I should know better.

The social calendar is a little cramped this coming week what with a popular bar up in town celebrating the Guv'nor's birthday, Ann & Bill celebrating their Wedding Anniversary and Favio & Ana-Mary celebrating their birthdays also. They are throwing a party in the bar on Sunday complete with a Flamenco Dancer. Never mind me though, I'll be working through the whole lot but my moment is planned for next Wednesday when I intend to go over to MonteMar and my favourite Chinese for a quiet celebration of my own! I haven't been there in an age and am quite looking forward to seeing the folk there again.

Today I find myself enjoy an unexpected day off having been told last night that the usual cover for me this Wednesday cannot happen this week. Not needing to be told twice I'm going to take the opportunity to finish testing a webpage that I have written which will let you watch me working behind the bar, hopefully in glorious technicolour video (albeit a little jerky over the web.)

The bar is now an Internet Hotspot although we are still waiting for the router to be delivered.

Good News all round

I normally do not harrass organisations like telefonica because I believe that they know what they are doing, but, this morning, after weeks of poor broadband connectivity and these last 2 days or so with none at all I finally called to find out what the heck is going on. A "major fault" was their reply so here I am working off-line and using a Dial-Up connection to swiftly upload this blog and check emails. This is my first login for almost 3 days (just as well, Larisa wrote on Tuesday,) and I will not be doing so too regularly because of the cost! The website and cameras are not being updated either for the same reason - too much time would be required on-line.

The party on Tuesday went without a hitch with me managing to complete the food just in time, with a little help from Beryl at the bar. I have a photo of the spread but I'm not going to upload it now.

I queried the situation with my Bank Account this morning and the nice young lady behind the counter there told me (after checking) that my name was no longer on the list of blocked accounts! Despite the lack of info from any other source it seems that an amnesty may well be in place now so I'm going to start using the account as from tomorrow and if all goes well I'll tell Favio to chance paying me through the bank at the end of the month.

STOP PRESS
Bar Ana is becoming an Internet "HotSpot"! Favio gave me the new landline number last night. All has yet to be installed though which, I hope, might be within the next couple of days.