Summer has started (17 April 2022)

 After a very long cold winter suddenly it's summer. 

Overflow (23 March 2022)

Engineer Jansen’s Triumphs: this water used to flood our land, up to, and into the garage. No more!

And this is only a medium rainfall, if it really downpours it floods.. So the concrete channel will be doubled.

This is when it rains hard and or long, and the land behind us gets waterlogged, and builds up behind the water tunnel. Before that water just drained into the tunnel, flowing towards our house. Even though the tunnel is blocked up some water seeped through into the garage.

So, engineer Jansen built another wall in the tunnel, invisible in the photo, but it's on the right of the overflow channel inside the tunnel. Secondly, the water now overflows via these channels, so most of it does not enter the tunnel any more, and is directed towards a newly dug canal in our land, flowing onto the land of the neighbour.

Calima or ARMAGEDDON

Once in a while lots of sand from the Sahara blows over to Andalucía. Usually it does no more than dirty a few cars. This time everything is covered in a lot of brown powder when it rains. And rain it did. Sticks to the walls too, our house is no longer white.

 

AutumnLeaves for Windows 2022 (24 February 2022)

Oldie nr.3 rescued from the Depths of Time: AutumnLeaves for Windows 10!

First released in 1999, it's 21 years since the last update, when Windows2000 and NT ruled. (They didn't.)

And still Windows 10 does not know about anti-aliasing or PNG files. Only those not-so-good old BMP bitmap files without transparency. Engineer Jansen is only half amused, and not even that.

More info: https://janswaal.home.xs4all.nl/AutumnLeaves/

AutumnLeaves for Windows is available for €0,99 via the Microsoft Store: click to buy AutumnLeaves for Windows

Hanami for Windows 2022 (4 February 2022)

Another golden.. ehh, pink oldie, 21 years since the last Hanami update for Windows! This is for Windows 10.

More info: https://janswaal.home.xs4all.nl/Hanami/

Hanami for Windows is available for €0,99 via the Microsoft Store: click to buy Hanami for Windows 

Snow for Windows 2021 (21 December 2021)

After 20 years: new Snow for Windows! It was ready before Xmas, but Microsoft makes a bloody mess of its developer registration and submission processes. So, no Snow for Windows this Christmas.

More info: https://janswaal.home.xs4all.nl

Buy: available for €0,99 via the Microsoft Store: click to buy Snow for Windows

 

Gevulde speculaas (5 December 2021)

 Also in Spain it is 5 december. Homemade speculaas following a recipe of an Israeli-British chef (Ottolenghi) using all the original Eastern spices. You cannot get more fusion than that!

From: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/11/easter-recipes-yotam-ottolenghi

Gevulde speculaas

You'll have more spice mixture than you need for these biscuits, but it will keep well in a sealed jar. Not until 5 December, perhaps, but certainly long enough to use in other biscuits over the coming weeks; it's also lovely with stewed cherries or plums. I thank Hennie Franssen, who translates my books into Dutch, for this marvellous recipe. Serves eight.

For the spice mix

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground aniseed

¾ tsp ground white pepper

¾ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cardamom

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp ground cloves

For the dough

120g unsalted butter, softened 

100g soft golden sugar

1-2 tbsp full-fat milk

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 

180g plain flour, plus extra to dust

Salt

For the almond paste

200g blanched and peeled almonds

150g caster sugar

1 egg

2 tsp lemon juice

Finely grated zest of 1 small lemon

60g mixed candied peel

To decorate

50g blanched almonds

1 egg, lightly beaten

Mix together all the ingredients for the spice mix and set aside.

For the dough, put 100g of the butter in a large bowl with the sugar and a tablespoon of milk. Beat until smooth, then add the bicarbonate, four teaspoons of the spice mix, the flour and one-third of a teaspoon of salt. Mix to a firm, elastic dough, adding more milk only if needed. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate.

For the almond paste, put the nuts in a food processor and blitz for a minute: you don't want them completely smooth. Add the sugar, egg and lemon juice, and blitz again, until slightly smoother but still grainy. Add the lemon zest and candied peel and blitz once or twice, just to mix through. The paste should be sticky and softer than the dough, but still hold its shape. Transfer to a small bowl.

Heat the oven to 170C/335F/gas mark 3. Roll out the dough on a floured work surface to a 20cm x 40cm rectangle that's 0.5cm thick. You will need to keep dusting with flour to prevent it from sticking. Transfer it to a 40cm x 30cm parchment-lined baking tray. Melt the remaining 20g of butter and brush two-thirds of it over the dough. Spoon a 6cm-wide sausage of almond paste lengthways down the centre of the dough from top to bottom, and brush this with the remaining butter. Lift the lefthand side of the dough over the paste, then bring in the righthand side on top so that the two sides slightly overlap. Press gently to secure, then carefully turn the whole thing over so the seal is at the bottom, a bit like a giant sausage roll. Brush evenly and lightly with beaten egg, arrange the whole almonds on top and brush again with egg.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the dough begins to colour and the almonds are golden. Don't be alarmed when the roll flattens out: that's meant to happen. Leave to cool for 15 minutes, then slice and serve warm or at room temperature.

Happiness (5 December 2021)

 

Wheels For The Mind / AUC (4 December 2021)

Look what I found. A 35 year old umbrella! #WheelsForTheMind #Apple #AUC

Solar heaters (4 November 2021)

That time of the year. Installed the solar heaters again.

Mango or not? (3 November 2021)

 Mango, or not?

Our one and only almost ripe mango, blown off the tree this morning. It looks like it is hurt, or someone may be living inside..

It was very good, the dent is only superficial.

Jostle stone / guardacantón (8 november 2021)

Stumbled upon an article about "jostle stones" - stones placed at the corners of (old) buildings in the days horse-drawn vehicles and wood-iron wheels were all the rage, to protect the walls.

Then it dawned on me that the curious stone at the corner of our house actually *is* a jostle stone! Our house *is* from those days, and the corner used to be at a bend in the road..

"In cities the older guard stones as a concept have been replaced by objects meant for automobile traffic, such as curbs and guard rails. As a city maintenance object they slowly became obsolete and were discarded or reused for other city purposes. When they were incorporated as part of a building's structure however, they were difficult to remove and many remain as silent witnesses to early traffic on historic roads. Today such objects are treasured for historic reasons and are often protected as part of a city's cultural heritage." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guard_stone

In Spanish they are called "guardacantón" - "corner protectors" - https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardacantón

African death head hawk moth caterpillar (1 November 2021)

Found this in our garden fence, 12 cm long and 2 cm wide. Apparently it's an African death head hawk moth caterpillar.

 

Estrella welcome

Meet Estrella, Lucero’s older sister.

After seeing her in her cage 4 years, never let out, apart from the 2 times she escaped and ended up at our gate, she finally is with us. She is lovely, but quite attention seeking. We hope that betters soon. Now chipped and sterilised and vaccinated.

That means we’re at 7 dogs, which is way over our limit, but we’ll see how we fare.

Frangipani (Plumeria) 2 September 2021

Frangipani/Plumeria. Bought two new ones, big, but quite cheap. One is standard white yellow, but the other is pink and yellow! It has just one flower now, I can still hope it’s a multicolor one, like we lost a few years ago. The best thing is their smell. Luvvly!

lost...