After the recent success of my cooking Paella in Al-rruz (over 9,000 people have watched the video to date) I wanted to try cooking one at home so I could make one for my parents when they come for Christmas. Who better to test it out on than Maria and Chris as they had tried the one at Al-rruz. Besides I owed Maria a meal at the very least as she has ended up feeding me a few times lately when I have somehow ended up back at their house when out drinking with Chris!!!

Congrats to our friends Alberto & Olivia on the birth of their first child, a girl. Everyone fine …… but that is all I know!!!

When I spoke to Olivia a week or so ago she said that after the birth they were going to hibernate for a few days and enjoy the time together.

5 years ago when we were traveling a lot between Florida and Almerimar there were a group of 4 couples of around our age that we started to hang out with. Early next week Jackie will be leaving Almerimar (with boyfriend Leo) to set up home just south of Barcelona. She will be the last of the 8 to have left Almerimar, which is sad and sobering at the same time ………

Simon was back in town for 2 nights only picking up Keith (their dog) who has been in kennels since they moved back to the UK in June. Apparently Keith and Simon had a emotional reunion, and Keith has put on a load of weight during his stay in the kennels.

Anyway was good to see Simon again, and he has driven back today with Keith so hopefully their mutual love in will survive the long car and ferry journey!!!

Thought I would point you in the direction of Mac’s Site so you can see his pictures and thoughts on Almerimar. I will post a summary when he has finished.

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Yesterday I was showing my friend Mac from Canada around the marina on his first morning and thought we would call in and have breakfast at La Barbera. To be honest not a natural choice for breakfast but as it turned out an excellent choice. It was around midday so we had a coffee and a tostada with freshly chopped tomatoes and jamon. Unlike the normal ‘french stick’ style tostada this was a regular large slice of fresh white bread and was excellent. The whole thing cost 5€, and combined with a pleasant 30 mins on the terrace overlooking the sea was the perfect start to Mac’s trip.

Just spoken to a friend who participated in the Boatcompany Regata on Sunday. He has had a bad back (old git that he is) but Jack won a prize for youngest crew member!!! The party afterwards was a great success, but apparently the strong wind made for tough sailing!

I am sure that you are all aware of the explosion on the Medgaz platform that tragically killed three workers, but what you my not know is that one of our friends, a resident in Almerimar, was working on the rig at the time. Thankfully he wasn’t hurt at all, but ironically he was due to be flown off by helicopter for some shore leave, but that has been delayed as the helicopters are being used for more urgent things.

I forgot that when we went to the opening of La Barbera I took a photograph of a new supermarket that has opened in the row of bars etc just behind the Espignon.

I forgot to go and find out the details of the superkarket.

This was New Years Eve in the square at lunchtime. Very little was open but we bumped into some friends at La Plaza which was nice and buzzy, AND our intended coffee and tostada turned into beer, tinto and tapas! It also set the scene for the evening as we all agreed that Loch Ness was where we were going to end up to see in the New Year! This is definitely one of the things I like about being here … on most days you will come across someone you know, and particularly at this time of year, as with most of the Spanish bars shut, there are only so many places where people can be!

Probably not the sort of post that you would normally associate with this blog, but I wanted to draw your attention to a new site that has been set up by some friends here in Almerimar, as it is a great example of how the Internet combined with some creative thinking can help you to set up a business in an effective manner. Gone are the days of stock, staff, overheads, cash flow worries! As someone that makes their living through the internet I am always keen to see businesses like this start up and happy to help them succeed.

This is not necessarily where I would have chosen for a chatty girlie lunch, but my friend and I fancied some traditional Spanish raciones and I hadn´t been for a while and so a very relaxing 3 hours ensued!

Yachting golf (situated in the 3rd darsena) has always seemed an interesting mix to me. Inside is very bar like with dark wood and some small tables for eating. However the covered terrace outside overlooking the darsena has a much more formal restaurant feel with larger tables and white cloths. However, like all Spanish restaurants, anything goes and the concept of sharing a number of dishes is part of the culture.

Met a friend for coffee this morning at the cafe called Darsena 1, not surprisingly in the first darsena! It frequently strikes me what creatures of habit we all are, in that we often go to the same place and forget to try others. I tend to spend more time in the square of Almerimar as, on walking or driving down to the marina, it´s the first bit I hit.

I fell down 2 steps last Wednesday after viewing a lovely flat which friends of mine have rented for 1 year. A totally stupid thing to do but I just didn’t see the steps when leaving their apartment block.

You will no doubt remember Pam from her article on Stray Cats & Dogs, well here she is again with news on an addition to her pet family …………..

We were eating a meal in the Noray 3 weeks ago with a friend visiting from the UK when a very sad little dog joined us. Sat down and never took his eyes off us. We finished our meal and walked back to the car - as soon as the door was opened - in jumped the dog and that was that.