A NOW WARM, CLOSE AND VERY SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE 'WINE FESTIVAL' WEEKEND.

MONDAY 27^th/ AUGUST 2018.   

We had another nice lie in this morning as the village is still quieter than normal after all the celebrations down at the ‘Feria’ in Sabinillas over the weekend, we are bracing ourselves for this coming weekends ‘ Vendemia Wine Festival ‘!

After freshening up Brenda shot down to the local sub-post office to post a birthday card, she had tried last Friday morning and was told that the weighing machine was not working, ‘come back’ on Monday, it was the same result this morning,  so she went to the local ‘ Tabac’ in ‘Calle Mar’ for a stamp, as the post office would not sell her one! She then posted the card in the new post box on the wall of the Town Hall!!  

As I was on the breakfast rota I treated us to my now famous ‘Toasted Crispy Smoked Bacon    
Butties’ – open on brown for Brenda, when she returned, with mugs of strong, sweet, tea, to set us up for the week & weekend ahead( that’s my excuse!)

We have no appointments, so far, this week so on Wednesday we are going across to the ‘La Cañada’ shopping mall, above Marbella, in ‘Doggy World Heaven’ we have little princess ‘ Reina’ with us on Thursday, for the only day this week, it’s, as normal, the ‘ Head Chef’s & Staff’ night-off so we will be going out for our supper, then on Friday morning I will be out on my travels, down to Sabinillas, to brave the holiday hordes & traffic, for our weekly shopping. 

We are also starting to plan our weekend celebrations, for the ‘ Vendemia Wine Festival’ - we are going along on Friday evening to ‘ Bar Castillo’ again, to follow the religious parade, led by the local Brotherhood carrying the ‘ Tableau’ – and the ‘Manilva Brass Band’ followed by the weighing of the grapes, for the largest bunch, before all the music, singing, drinking & dancing kicks off! Watch this space.

At the moment it’s a little grey & overcast, as the sun is struggling to break through, despite there being a slight breeze, by lunchtime it’s forecast to reach only 29 degs, with even the possibility of ‘Rain’ on one of the forecasts?! The rest of the week and over the Festival weekend it’s going to be warm & sunny hovering in the high 20s/low 30s, overnight on the 20 degs mark, with at times patchy clouds and even more of the ‘ wet-stuff’  Watch this space.

Just a quick update on the sports results; Real Madrid won 1-4, Lewis Hamilton was second in the ‘Belgian Grand Prix’ as the ‘Ferrari’ of Vettel was faster! Today the ‘ La Vuelta 2018’ is still local, as it goes from Mijas to Alhaurin de la Torre’ over 178 kms, with a climb just after the start and through the mountains to a ‘flat’finish.

Overnight we had a nice’ news’ update from Sandra & Bill over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, they are relaxing after a busy couple of weeks, next weekend they are going away , again with their trailer, up to ‘Hope Bay’ The weather is still warm but with a beautiful breeze, with lots of ‘ Morning Butterflies’ ( good things to come!) Which must be a sign as it’s only 7 weeks until the folks arrive here down on the Costa Del Sol’ in Sunny Manilva!

See below a picture taken over the family wedding weekend with Bill’s son Dylan and his fiancé Kartiaya, at the back, top left, in front Neil (Pink) and his girlfriend Nicole and on the left ‘Lanner’ with her partner Blake( the Sauce King!) – thank’s for the nice family picture!

For our supper this evening we are keeping things still very simple, ‘ Escalope’s of Chicken Fillet’ – seared on the griddle-plate, and finished in a Lime Butter/Balsamic Vinegar Salsa & garnished with seared Button Mushrooms, served with finely-sliced ‘French’ Green Beans and a Baked Potato. The rest of the weeks Menu’s are be taken one day at the time, watch this space.

Last night after supper we settled down to watch the new BBC TV series “ Bodyguard “ starring the excellent Keely Hawes, as she plays a ruthlessly ambitious ‘Home Secretary’ aiming for the top job -  the opening 20 minute action sequence saw a former special ops soldier confront and disarm a female suicide bomber on a packed commuter train! He then becomes her bodyguard, he has family problems and is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, with hidden suicidal thoughts, played by Richard Madden,  it’s psychological storytelling at it’s best, watch this space, as the second part is this evening, then every Sunday/ Monday for the next two weeks.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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