A ' CRISP' BUT VERY SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY.

TUESDAY 13^th/ FEBRUARY 2018.      “ SHROVE TUESDAY “

We all had a little lie this morning, Chico' sleeps all night in the middle of the bed, he has to be awoken in the morning, he’s settled in very well, he’s eating everything, he’s a great character and very good company,  after a quick freshen up, as the water is possibly going off later, as they are disconnecting the mains supply along the bottom of ‘Calle Mar’ as the Contractors workers start on ‘Phase 2’ of the works, yesterday they took down the rest of the lamp posts and put up temporary flood lights, down to the street junction, they cleared away all the new pipe works etc and then moved the skip/container down to the ‘Plaza de la Vendimia’- we are waiting for the ‘ JCB’ diggers to move in!

We then headed off with ‘ Chico ‘ for his first walk of the day around the bottom of the village, he’s into the routine and is very ‘ regular’! When we returned we had nice mugs of steaming, strong, tea with my now famous ‘ Toasted Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties ‘ smothered in ‘ HP’ Brown sauce, open on Brown for Brenda, I then shot along to the local Bank in ‘Calle Mar’ to pay the electricity bill, ‘Chispa’ has been in this morning to see her friend, we also have a new booking in ‘ Doggy World Heaven ‘ at the end of the month when ‘ Scooby’ is coming back, again, for 5/6 days, he’s been with us last year and gets on with all the other dogs.

This morning the sun broke through earlier and the sky is already bright blue, not a cloud in the sky, there is a slight breeze keeping in a little cool but in the sunshine it’s warm, by lunchtime it’s due to reach 14/15 degs, the rest of the week up to Saturday is staying the same and getting a little warmer, hovering on the 18/19 degs´+ mark, but then on Sunday and into next week we are in for the return of the wet stuff, going a little colder also, watch this space.

See below a ‘ Drone’ picture taken yesterday evening over the  ‘ Orchid House ‘ in Estepona, looking across the roof tops of the town towards the Mediterranean.

This evening for our supper we are having ‘ Grilled Gammon Steaks ‘ topped with seared Pineapple rings and ‘ Campo’ Fried Eggs, with Garden Peas and of course some twice-cooked ‘ Chips’ – to follow for our ‘ Shrove Tuesday ‘ treat we are having ‘ Crepes’ – I made my traditional recipe ‘Batter’ this morning, I cook them to order, turned into the classic triangle shape in sugar, then a squeeze of Lemon Juice, with the choice of Vanilla Ice Cream, fresh local Strawberries and a rather special ‘ Canadian Maple Syrup ‘!

Tomorrow evening for our ‘ Valentines Day ‘ supper we are having at lunchtime a ‘ Avocado,Prawn & Crab Cocktail ‘ with Brenda’s homemade ‘Marie Rose’ sauce, then in the evening for our main course it’s going to be ‘ Pan-Seared Medallions of Pork Fillet ‘ accompanied with a creamy Pepper Corn salsa, together with a selection of fresh local vegetables and my special ‘ Breton Style ‘ Potatoes ( diced boiled potatoes tossed with Red & Green Peppers) – to finish for our dessert we are having, made by Brenda, her favourite ‘ Strawberry Jelly ‘!

As usual we are still watching all the various Quiz Shows in the afternoon/early evening, yesterday afternoon a new series started over on ‘ITV’ “  James Martins’’s American Adventure “ as the Chef crosses the ‘ USA’ – to start with on a classic ‘Harley Davidson’ – his first stop was at the very famous Napa Valley restaurant ‘ The French Kitchen ‘ run by the famous Thomas Keller, spectacular to say the least.

Later in the evening we watched the first episode, on ‘ ITV’ of “ Trauma ‘ the three-part back to back episode, over the next three days, it’s a tortured psychodrama between two characters locked in deep personal conflict, starring the excellent John Simms as the grieving father of a young son who is stabbed and dies on the operating table under the hands of the ‘ Trauma ‘ surgeon played by Adrian Lester, what followed was very moving and dramatic, it’s going to be a exciting two days! 

Meanwhile over on ‘ BBC TV 2’ it was the start, at the same time, of another new series ‘ Collateral “ – a police drama based in London, starring Carey Mulligan as a Detective on a case about the murder/ shooting of young pizza delivery man, we are going to catch up with it later on the ‘ BBC I Player’- watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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