A STILL OVERCAST SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY 28^th/ MAY 2018.

We managed another nice lie in this morning, the village is very quiet as the ‘ Contractors’ workmen are at the bottom of ‘Calle Mar’ finishing the laying of the flag stones, as it’s not a  ‘Bank Holiday’ over here in Spain, part of the ‘ Contract’ is that a local design company is planning the last touches, with the type of awnings, artistic ornaments, plant displays etc, watch this space.

After freshening up we had our normal light breakfast of ‘ Weetabix’ fresh fruit, toast & tea, we then planned our week ahead; this afternoon, later on, ‘Paddy’ is calling in with some of his stuff, now Tuesday, to be ready for his two-month holiday with us starting next Monday, tomorrow morning little princess ‘ Reina’ is back with us in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ as well as on Wednesday, as Daniela, is over in the ‘UK’ on business, ’Chispa’ has been calling in over the weekend looking for all her friends!

Tomorrow morning I’m taking Brenda down to the main ‘ Medical Centre’ for her appointment with our Doctor, Natalia, for her review/check up etc, Then on Wednesday afternoon I’m going across to the local Hospital in Estepona for my appointment with a ‘ Trauma’ Consultant for a review/diagnosis on my ‘ Dodgy’ left hand, as usual on Friday morning I will be out & about on my travels, down to Sabinillas, for the weekly shopping, the rest of the week is ‘ Free’- at the moment! Watch this space.

This morning, as forecast, has started a little grey & overcast, with lots of clouds, there is a light breeze so by lunchtime the sun could break through, the next couple of days are the same, hovering on the 22/23 degs+ mark, overnight down to 13/14 degs, the threat of very unseasonable ‘patchy rain’ is still possible, as all over Spain is being effected, then we are in for better weather, with warm sunshine, taking over, in time for the weekend, reaching 25/26 degs+ Watch this space.

Over in Liverpool this ‘Bank Holiday Weekend’ it’s the “ Three Festivals Tall Ships Regatta “ – linking a trio of vibrant port cities, Liverpool, Dublin & Bordeaux, with nail-biting racing across the Irish Sea and the Bay of Biscay! With three cultural festivals taking place, ‘Liverpool’ in the city centre, ‘Irish’ at the Albert Dock and ‘French’ on the Pier Head!!! The racing-fleet then sets off later this morning.

See above a small selection of the ships in port.

On the menu front this weeks have also been agreed this morning; this evening we are having a ‘ Mixed Grill’ of Steak, Lamb,( both left-over’s) with Mushroom & Tomato, and the rest of the ‘ Boulangere’ Potatoes with a small section of fresh local vegetables, on Tuesday it’s going to be ‘ Grilled Gammon Steaks ‘ – topped with seared Pineapple Rings and ‘ Campo’ Fried Eggs, with twice-cooked ‘ Frits’ – then on Wednesday I’m making my now famous ‘ Braised Beef, Mushroom & Onion Casserole’ with of course Brenda’s famous ‘ Mashed Potato’! – we are asking Lee to join us as Daniela is away, Thursday will be a ‘ find something in the fridge day’ – then over the weekend it’s the usual ‘Fish on Friday’ and ‘ Steak on Saturday’ – Sunday is TBC, watch this space.

Yesterday evening we called Sandra & Bill over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, on the ‘ Skype’ video, as we had arranged, 6-00 pm our time, noon over in Everett! They are both very well especially after Sandra being given the all-clear by her specialist. They have hot/humid weather at the moment, hovering in the low 30s, they had just had a local power-cut so the air-conditioning had only just come back on! ‘Farmer Bill’ was out on his ‘toy’ – a sit-on lawnmower cutting the grass.

On Saturday evening they had been out to a local ‘Italian’ restaurant with Bill’s son Dylan and his girlfriend Kritika, as they have become engaged. Sandra’s son Neil has just moved into a new apartment in Toronto, nearer to where he works, meanwhile over in Ottawa, ‘ Lanner ‘ Sandra’s daughter, has moved jobs, for better hours, she starts her ‘ Masters’ Degree in September, she already has two Degrees! ( She will then be “ The Three Degeees “ !!!)

They were just going out to see Sandra’s sister Caroline, as her oldest daughter, Carine, has just had a baby boy ‘Colton’- then they were taking Bill’s mother shopping.

Next weekend Sandra & Bill are going away to try out their new trailer, they are heading up to the ‘South Bruce Peninsula’ which sticks out into ‘Lake Huron’ one of the ‘Great Lakes’ – they are staying in I think in ‘ Allenford’ and will go up to ‘Tobermory’ at the tip of the peninsula!

See below the ‘ Trailer’ hooked up and ready to go, in Canada everything is bigger!

Just a quick update on the sports results; Lewis Hamilton was 3^rd  in a very boring race around the street circuit, in the ‘ Grand Prix of Monaco ‘ and Chris Froome duly won the ‘ Giro d’Italia’ in Rome.

See below.

This afternoon/evening we will catch up with all the ‘Quiz Shows’ that we follow, over the weekend we have been watching the “ BBC Live - The Biggest Weekend “ music festivals from around the ‘UK’ – England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with various international artists, we caught ‘ Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ on Saturday and then on Sunday, from the sublime to the ridiculous, ‘ Florence and the Machine ‘ and ‘Liam Gallagher ‘ with his Rock N Roll Band!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.