A Good Sign

The beer order came even earlier today; I was woken up by the call from the lads on the lorry at 1030 this morning. Which means that life is very quiet for the brewery also, bearing in mind that Bar Ana is the last delivery on the round and that, in the high season, I usually have to wait until 1700 hrs or so. On leaving the apartment I bumped into someone wielding a paintbrush....Christina is having the communal staircase painted so maybe, just maybe, all the noise, grief and grime within this apartment block is finally coming to an end; a whole year of stressful living conditions may be over. The downside is that the smell of the paint will cause me to develop a cold for sure despite running all the extractor fans that I have (2) in an effort to stop the fumes from getting to my nose. Small price to pay for peace and quiet though, the day that I've been dreaming of for a good long while may have just dawned!

Up in town one of the phone shops is selling a little tiny laptop computer for 49euros. What's exciting about that is that it comes with XP as the OS which means that I could bring my Skypephone back into use (and quickly get the investment back in saved call charges). I will certainly be checking it out after next payday.....there has to be a "catch" and I suspect that it may be a compulsory contract with vodaphone for a mobile internet connection. If there isn't, and it sports a networking plug'ole, I may just treat myself to an early birthday present.

The demise of the Steps Cam - it got wet and died a death in addition to the neighbourly complaints - has enabled me to bring this Linux machine back into use and work from the comfort of my sofa having cabled all around the apartment from the router with the cable I used for the Cam. Unluckily, for the moment, I am out of shot with the 2 existing apartment cams despite being in just about all day long until 7-45pm most days.

More Changes

Last Friday Favio came in just after I'd opened and, with faltering English, told me that all had to change again; I was to work through until close on my own, open for the rest of January at 8pm, on my own, then through February at 9pm, on my own and closing all the while when things go quiet after about 1am. I was then given the unpleasant task of passing that news on.

Assuming that I am to be paid more for the extra hours I am now doing I have put my plan to cancel the telephone line etc. on a back-burner for now. Trouble is that with Favio one never knows. He could come in tonight or tomorrow, whenever, and change everything again because the Global Economic Downturn is affecting even him and the bar and any hope (of mine) of persistent employment is becoming risky. Anyway, nothing ventured, nothing gained, I'll hang on to the phone, this blog, website and email for as long as I dare.

Talking of email, I have had more-or-less constant contact with Larisa through the festive season and now have a very slight inkling that she just might be coming "home" earlier than March. Probably just me dreaming though, we'll see.

¿Londres? Niet!

You were right, or rather Dan was. Three times Larisa and I have tried to talk on the phone and three times the connection has failed after a few minutes or so. Anyway, not to worry, at least I managed to wish her a Happy Birthday yesterday and to hear her say that she has been sending messages to which I haven't replied. I need to receive them first of course. And there is more talk of restaurants.....I have now "picked-up" the fact that Viktor's Son is the proprietor of (at least) one. Where I don't know although I probably have been told but my point is that it is a line of conversation that is not going away. Maybe she has been taken to meet the son on a business footing in order to bring Viktor's dream that I have mentioned before to fruition. Who knows? I don't, yet, but I do know that during my 3 day stay in Calahonda last month, surrounded by the Russian language (including TV) she made a smiling point that I will soon be speaking Russian! And that might be true because I managed to say "привет" (hello) to whoever answered the phone yesterday (probably Viktor's wife) without a second thought. On a slightly different note; you may remember me telling you a few years ago about that night in El Bar Jardin when her friend Victoria was told to stop being silly, well, other events in Calahonda last month lead me to believe that Victoria had actually been primed and I am becoming convinced now that if I do pop the question I am not going to be disappointed and Viktor and his family have become key players in that outcome. If I do?? No. More like just plain when! Exciting days ahead maybe. Favio may have done us both a favour with the changes in the bar.....she is not going to allow me to scuttle back home to the UK; that message has been underlying our conversations since my troubles started at the bank let alone the more recent ones with my employment!

Boiled Egg and Soldiers. I know I'll get indigestion but I just luv'em. I've got time on my hands again......home early, bed early, up early (5am this morning) all adds up to a new lifestyle. To the shops later for some yeast for breadmaking and....wait for it....CRUMPETS. I'm going back to my quest for the perfect homemade crumpet ever. Yep. Back to slaving over a hot stove for fun. And why not? I've now decided that next week I'll be cancelling the phone for a while with the consequent loss of this internet connection which, by the way, has been a pain these last few weeks...the ADSL has been dropping its connection regularly (3 times while I've been writing here) and I forgot to tell you yesterday that the email address you have for me will change when Telefonica are told to cancel the account but I'll give you another soon. There is a public WiFi Hotspot nearby so I'll keep in touch via that as I told you but whether I'll write here again soon is another problem.

Done & Dusted.

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!

A Souper End

All good things come to an end they say. It's true, my holiday finished yesterday and later today I pick up where I left off 2 weeks ago. Aaron's visit was too short of course but despite some dull weather he and Shellie enjoyed their stay on the Costa del Sol. They went home last Monday and then Larisa called me early on Wednesday to say that Viktor had arrived and that I should come to see him etc. I stayed for 3 days and got told off about keep asking if I can do things (such as make a cup of tea) with the words, from her, "esta casa, tu casa". During my stay we went for a walk down to the nearby Calahonda Beach where I took this shot of the sun descending towards setting for the day before going to a local Chinese for a meal but the real highlight for me was a bowl of the soup that she was making when I first arrived. A Ukrainian recipe, she told me, involving Chicken pieces, cabbage, carrot, onion, beetroot and potato which I am having a go at myself this very afternoon. Mine's not as pink as hers was so next time....more beetroot, but I think that I have got it nearly right.

I'm going to have to brush-up on my dancing; Thursday evening the living-room floor was turned into a dance-floor whereupon I found myself required to lead her in a Viennese Waltz to the strains of a suitable Russian tune. There not being enough space for such a dance in the average living-room with the carpet lifted we soon had to give that idea up which was a shame but she keeps taking (or getting me) to dance and I'm rusty. It's well over 35 years since I last danced regularly and it is time to go back to "school" I think.

You did not meet Viktor while you were here simply because he wasn't but he has asked after you and I'm to pass on his regards....in fact this last photo here is a wave to you from both of them which they wanted me to take especially, while I was there, so that they could do just that.

OK, I think my soup is cooked and I have to bash on and get ready for work which means that I cannot serve it like she did with cloves of raw garlic on the side to nibble between spoonfuls. Never mind, maybe for supper later on when I get back home.

In Conjunction

I've just noticed that across the internet there are thousands of photos posted of the conjunction between the Crescent Moon, Jupiter and Venus. As it happens here is one more taken from Larisa's terrace on Sunday after I'd noticed the event for myself in the evening sky. I tried a dozen times to take a decent shot but my hand wasn't steady enough so I have to thank Shellie for coming to my rescue, taking my camera and photographing the phenomenon for me with such clarity that the whole orb of the moon can be seen in the imageCalahonda, MARBELLA, España, 30/11/08, 18:44

¡¿Por que no me dices antes?!

An early start this morning saw Aaron and Shellie arrive on-time for their check-in and later he sent a txt to say that they had safely arrived in Manchester. Although the weather was chilly throughout their stay at least the rain stayed away during the daylight hours allowing them to enjoy themselves in the wintry sun.

Yesterday we went to Calahonda. Paella was on the menu, paella mixta to be precise, full of seafood. And the starters? Amongst all there was Sardinas (Sardines), Pulpo (Octopus) and Gulas (Baby eels). Upon seeing all this being prepared in the kitchen I took a deep breath and quietly kind of mentioned in passing that Aaron was not all that fond of seafood. "Why didn't you tell me before??" to which I unsuccessfully explained that there hadn't been an opportunity before what with Bill's Thanksgiving do and stuff. As it happened Aaron and Shellie coped admirably with all that was offered, including the very worm-like eels!

They had to pack ready for their trip home so the evening came to a close earlier than normal with a walk down to the bus-stop and the dreaded 220. Once back in Torre they decided that they still had enough time to pop into the bar with me to say cheerio to Teresa and anyone else who happened to be there and while we were there Larisa rang to make sure that we had arrived back in one piece (so to speak). Unusual, that; she normally trusts the bus and train to do their job without incident....anyway, the last two photos of their visit to see me are posted here. First, at the bus-stop bidding Larisa goodbye and second, taken by Teresa in the bar minutes before they went back to the hotel to pack.