Friday, August 09, 2013
SUNNY AND A VERY HOT MANILVA AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND
FRIDAY 9th/
AUGUST 2013.
Well I feel
another rant coming on this morning! This morning started off badly and has
steadily got worse!! First we could not get out of out little square behind the
house as somebody had parked across the entrance making it very difficult to
reverse, he is a local and always parks without any consideration for others so
we had to beep the horn and get him to come and move; lots of shouting and
swearing in Spanish ensued – him not me!
Down in
Sabinillas at this time of the high season it’s impossible to park anywhere; we
use the underground car park at ‘Mercadona’ but then to go to the
bank,newagents and vegetable shop is when the fun start’s, it’s everyman for
himself! We then had to go to a Mobile phone shop as Brenda’s new mobile is
acting up, the one we got it from has closed so we have to go cap in hand to
another one and ask for help, no joy with fixing it so when we got back to the
house I phoned ‘Jazztel’ who we have for our landline, IT connection and my
mobile to ask for information about a pay-as-you-go offer that they are
advertising.
I then hit
a major problem, they don’t offer an English speaking operator, and in fact
they are very sharp with you and say, in Spanish ‘Spanish Only’ or words to
that effect!! This was the point were I started shouting, swearing and
generally ranting about everything and everybody!! I’ am sat with a cool glass
of water in front of the fan in the office cooling down in all senses of the
word!!!
Anna has
just called in to collect her papers and so she then went on about all the
things wrong with the systems here in Spain, not helpful; at lunchtime in the
new ‘Plaza de la Vendimia’ the work is progressing at a pace ,they have started
to erect the Lampost’s,as you can see and also the benches have arrived, they
are working all over the park, in fact they chased me off as I was taking the
pictures – health and safety!
Also above
our some pictures from the official opening of the ‘ Manilva Feria De Agosto’
last night thanks to Gary
This
evening for supper we are having ‘Lubina’ – ‘Sea Bass’ – fillets cooked crisp
in foaming lemon Butter with Garden Peas and some more ‘Patatas Bravas’ again
as we enjoyed them so much last night and they will go with the Sea Bass at the
same time! Then it’s time to find a film to watch later.
Thought or
the Day; See above.
..
.
Thursday, August 08, 2013
SUNNY AND A VERY HOT MANILVA THIS THURSDAY
THURSDAY 8
th/ AUGUST 2013.
This
morning after breakfast of tea, toast and Nectarine Brenda has shot off on the
early bus down to Sabinillas for her morning walk and dip; I walked her to the
bus stop and then took some pictures of the on-going work on ‘La Pedreta’ and
the race to finish ‘Plaza de al Vendimia’ - meanwhile I’ am up in the office as
you can see on the WWW catching up with e-mails and watching and reading the
news on BBC, ITV and the newspapers both English and Spanish as well as
checking out Facebook.
Over in
Australia one of Brenda’s nieces, Lyn’s daughter Deb is having a worrying time
as her husband Dornoch is in hospital for major surgery and radiotherapy and
oral chemo type medication; our thoughts go out to her and all the family at this
difficult time – think positive xx
No rants or
raves today, at the moment anyway so onwards and upwards, Relax and Smile!! Anna called in at lunchtime for a chat and gossip as Mano is in bed after his night shift.
We have just received in the post an Air-Mail envelope/ letter from Nan,Jane's mum; it's so nice to see a letter these days,it reminds you of times past! She is a beautiful letter writer,still,at the age of 93 and you can see her sat in her little cottage, her humour and personality shines through the page!!
We have just received in the post an Air-Mail envelope/ letter from Nan,Jane's mum; it's so nice to see a letter these days,it reminds you of times past! She is a beautiful letter writer,still,at the age of 93 and you can see her sat in her little cottage, her humour and personality shines through the page!!
We have
started our ‘New’ Patterson’s Brenda’s is an early ‘Alex Cross’ story and I’ am
into the latest ‘Lindsay Boxer’ tale! It is getting hotter by the day so we
can’t spend too much time up on the roof terrace so have to wait until the sun
moves around in the early evening; “Happy Hour” of course still takes place no
matter what!
This
evening for supper we are having Pork Cutlets pan-fried on the griddle with
Cabbage and Carrots, Brenda has not been getting her proper rations of
vegetables lately! I’ am making this evening my version of ‘Patatas Bravas’using
local diced boiled Potatoes, chopped Onions and a little Garlic, sweet Paprika
( Pimenton Dulce ) and using my Tomato Salsa and Tomato Frito ( Puree) a pinch
of Sugar and chopped Parsley to garnish! It could be another ‘Mmmmmmmmmmmmm! See the picture above;
Last nights
late film was “ Die Another Day ” from 2002 with Pierce Brosnan playing ‘James
Bond’ for the last time! The famous scene in the picture of Halle Berry Cuba
PS; Brenda
is in a Blue and Yellow Bikini at this moment appearing out of the Mediterranean !! Sorry no pictures allowed !!!
PPS; Football is nearly with us again! Last night in Miami USA Real Madrid beat Chelsea 3-1 in the 'International Champions Cup'?! Ronaldo scored 2!!
PPS; Football is nearly with us again! Last night in Miami USA Real Madrid beat Chelsea 3-1 in the 'International Champions Cup'?! Ronaldo scored 2!!
Thought for
the Day; See above.
..
.
Wednesday, August 07, 2013
SUNNY AND A VERY HOT MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY
WEDNESDAY 7th/AUGUST
2013.
We had a
little lie in this morning, just because we can! Today is going to be the
hottest day so far this year; the forecast for the weekend is getting hotter as
the warm weather comes cross from Africa with the ‘Levante’ breeze.
Before it
got too hot I went and took some pictures of the work progressing on the ‘La
Padreta’and ‘Plaza Vendimia’as you can see above; this week it is the ‘Feria De
Agosto’which after the ‘Vendimia’festival is the biggest thing to happen in
sunny Manilva at this time of the year; I will post some pictures later in the
week from the council web-page and the ‘Resident’ newspaper as we are not going
down this year.
Yesterday
evening after watching a programme on TVE2 that we tend to catch each evening
called “ Espana Entre El Ciero Y La Tierra ” – ‘Spain Madrid
This
reminded of the time nearly eight year ago when our dear friend in Madrid,
Rafael and his late wife Jillian took us there when we stayed with them at
their home just before Christmas – hence the call -after finding him for the
first time in nearly 40 years as we stopped in Madrid with the ‘Winnebago’! To
cut a long story short I first met them in Liverpool at the ‘Stork Hotel’ in Queens Square Royal Court Theatre
When he
left eventually I became the senior assistant manager running the hotel just
like him! We kept in touch for the next 40 years with Christmas cards until we
made contact with him on our way to Madrid; they were very kind and took us
into their home and family, by then of course they had three grown up sons.
Sadly over last Christmas his dear wife Jillian died, he has now got three
grandchildren with another on the way, his youngest son Victor is going to work
in Mexico later in the year for the ‘Banko Santander’ He is 78,nearly ten years
ahead of me in September (Plug!) – keeping very well and sounds just like his
jovial self as usual, we are now able to speak in both Spanish and English, his
English is still very good as we caught up with all his news. It was so nice
talking to him and we have promised one-another to keep in touch more often!
Last night
I watched on BBC1TV on the small PC in full screen the latest episode of “New
Tricks ”which was filmed in Gibraltar earlier this year! The cast is evolving with
Dennis Lawson taking over from James Bolam and in this series later Amanda
Redman is being replaced by Tasmin Outhwaite and Alun Armstrong by Nicholas
Lyndhurst! The comedy-drama that follows the work of the fictional “Unsolved
Crime and Open Case Squad (UCOS)” is still very watch able – the title is taken
from the proverb ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’
Thought for
the Day; See above.
..
.
Tuesday, August 06, 2013
SUNNY AND A VERY HOT MANILVA ON TUESDAY
TUESDAY 6th
/ AUGUST 2013.
We have
just got back from Sabinillas after going down on the early bus, Brenda went
for a long walk along the promenade and a dip in the sea before it got to hot
and busy and I went and exchanged some books in the bookshop and then picked up
a English paper ( Daily Mail ) and then went and had a sausage buttie and a mug
of English tea in the square!
I have just
left a message on Facebook to the ‘Newman’s’ to say ‘Have a safe journey’ back
to the UK tomorrow, they are going via Madrid ( WendySpendy?) and are back in
England on Saturday; we are looking forward to seeing them later in the year,
hopefully!!
Yesterday
afternoon we rang a dear friend that used to work for us back in the days of
the ‘Hotel Seventy Degrees’ – Hilda ‘H’ who lives in Rhos-on-Sea to wish her “
Happy Birthday ” She is still in touch with a lot of the old staff so she is
going to pass on our regards, they meet at ‘Nino’s’ Coffee Bar on the front so
at the same time she is gong to give our good wishes to Nino!!
While I’ am
talking about England I must have a another little ‘Rant’ – this time about the
English Conservative Government that are proposing to stop the ‘Winter Fuel Allowance’
to us pensioners living abroad; we worked all our life’s and paid into the tax
system all the time over the years, we are entitled to it just like any other
benefits that are due to us, over the past few years we have lost nearly 33% of
our Pensions to the state of the pound, at the moment it’s at it’s lowest in
over a year! Over the past 8 years here in Spain
OK back to
life in sunny Manilva which is getting hotter all the time - 34degs and rising,tomorrow it's going to be 39degs and by the weekend 41degs!! Today the council have
started work on the ‘La Pedreta’ road along the bottom of the village, the old
by-pass as you can see in the pictures above, another one show’s the ‘Rush’ to get finished on the new square
in time for the Vendimia !!
This
afternoon we will start on our new ‘Patterson’s’ up on the roof terrace as we
have our regular ‘Happy Hour’
Tonight for
supper we are having ‘Brochettes of Chicken’ made with Red, Green and Yellow
Peppers, Mushrooms and Onions served on a bed of Basmati Rice with my now
famous Tomato Salsa on the side! Watch out for the picture later after I've made them! They were delicious,we really enjoyed them!!
Thought for
the Day; See above.
..
.
Monday, August 05, 2013
SUNNY AND VERY HOT MANILVA AT THE START OF THE WEEK
MONDAY 5
th/ AUGUST 2013.
It’s going
to be a very hot and sunny week,again in sunny Manilva as the forecast is
looking good for the rest of August as well! We have a very quiet week ahead
with nothing planned, as of yet; tomorrow morning Brenda is going down to the
beach on the early bus and I’ am going down with her to go to the English
bookshop to exchange our books.
There is a
little bit of unrest down here in sunny Manilva;the local business community
are not very happy bunnies! The council lead by Antonia have not arranged any
of the normal summer activities that take place up here in Manilva and
particularly in Calle Mar, they all seem to be taking place down in
Sabinillas,Duquesa and Castillo Duquesa this year according to the programme of
events in the local newspaper and on the council blog! So we have not had any
band concerts by the village Brass Band, no Flamenco Fashion show, no cultural
events, no Feria parade, at the moment and no Medieval Markets all of which
happened last year and helped the bars and shops in the very hard times that
the local economy is going through at the moment! It also means that all the
local councilors are not here to be seen and complain to as they are all down
in Sabinillas all the time taking part in all the summer activities including
the regular ones that take place!! Rant over !!
Now for
some good news, not here sadly but over in ‘Rainy’ Cheshire; the “ New Moon Pub
Company ” have announced that they are planning to open later this year their 5th
establishment in their growing empire and it’s going to be in Manchester! Paul
while he was here told us and published on Facebook at the same time the basic
details; now for the really good news the ‘Celebrity’ guest of honors that are
being flown in to open the new business are their ‘Spanish Agents’ down here on
the sunny Costa Del Sol – Malcolm and Brenda !! Watch this space for more
details at a later date.
Now for
some bad news, the Spanish government are playing ‘Hard- Ball’ over the fishing
rights around Gibraltar and are frightening to close the airspace, impose
exorbitant crossing fees to come and go to Gibraltar and instigate tax
investigations and controls on business’s in Gibraltar! All at the same time as
they are imposing strict controls on the border crossing point and causing
mayhem on both side of the border; So this means that we are not now going to
be able go for our cheap sprits and shopping at Morrison’s and are more
importantly not going to be able to book tickets to see Jools Holland in
October !! Watch this space for a news update.
Back to
sunny Manilva now and reality; we are back into our normal routine for the week
and tonight for supper we having Sausage Egg and chips – how the mighty are
brought down to earth!
Thought for
the Day; See above.
,,
.
Sunday, August 04, 2013
SUNNY AND A VERY HOT MANILVA THIS SUNDAY
SUNDAY 4th/
AUGUST 2013.
We had a
little lie in this morning, it’s hot and sunny after a warm night, the forecast
is getting hotter next week; starting on Wednesday it’s the Manilva “Feria De
Agosto ” which takes place over four days down on the ‘Rastro’ ground in the
bottom of the valley below the village. It’s dancing, singing, eating, getting
dressed up and generally going mad, on the fairground and in the bars – all
things ‘Spanish’s - the village is very quiet for a few days as all the locals
are down enjoying themselves!
We have
just spoken to Jane over in Northwich to wish her a ‘Happy Birthday’ – she’s
having a relatively quiet day by her standards, it was windy and raining also!
Meanwhile over in Kuala Lumpur
Mano and Anna have just called in with their grandson Fabio and his cousin Chris,they are babysitting the boys,Fabio always goes up to the chill-out-room to play with our small fountain,there was no water in it so he came downstairs and got some and asked Brenda to start it - they speak a little English as Mano and Anna insist when they are with them that they speak only English!
Mano and Anna have just called in with their grandson Fabio and his cousin Chris,they are babysitting the boys,Fabio always goes up to the chill-out-room to play with our small fountain,there was no water in it so he came downstairs and got some and asked Brenda to start it - they speak a little English as Mano and Anna insist when they are with them that they speak only English!
As we are
out this evening with Paul and Wendy at ‘Restaurante San Rafael’ we have
nothing to do today so it’s going to be a long day keeping Brenda happy and
occupied!
When we arrived this evening at 'San Rafael' there was nowhere to park because of holidaymakers cars! So we shot down the coast past Sotogrande and went to the Argentinean restaurant 'El Estribo' - it's sister restaurant of the same name is on the seafront parade down in Sabinillas,where we all had the most tasty and succulent " Chateaubriand " as you can see above; Paul and Wendy are heading home on Wednesday,it has been very nice meeting them and their family and we are looking forward to seeing them later in the year - possible! ( News update to follow about the future plans of the 'New Moon Pub Company') !!
When we arrived this evening at 'San Rafael' there was nowhere to park because of holidaymakers cars! So we shot down the coast past Sotogrande and went to the Argentinean restaurant 'El Estribo' - it's sister restaurant of the same name is on the seafront parade down in Sabinillas,where we all had the most tasty and succulent " Chateaubriand " as you can see above; Paul and Wendy are heading home on Wednesday,it has been very nice meeting them and their family and we are looking forward to seeing them later in the year - possible! ( News update to follow about the future plans of the 'New Moon Pub Company') !!
Last night
we were watching ‘Pulp Fiction’ for the umpteenth time when I noticed that
there was a documentary just about to start on TVE2 about the life of ‘Hugh
Hefner’ and of course ‘Playboy’ It turned out to be rather good and very
interesting as he talked about ‘Life’ sat in his ‘Bunny Mansion’ either in
Chicago or Los Angeles in his trademark Silk Pajamas and Dressing Gown which he
changes several times a day!
Thought for
the Day; See above.
..
.
Saturday, August 03, 2013
SUNNY AND HOT MANLVA ON SATURDAY
SATURDAY 3rd/
JULY 2013.
Today we
are having a nice at home day taking things easy, Brenda is pottering and I’ am
up in the office on the WWW after our morning tea and toast; on the small PC I
have BBCTV on full screen watching at the moment BBC Breakfast and then
‘Saturday Morning Kitchen’ - the last in the current series, meanwhile on the
large PC as you can see I’ am typing the blog on ‘Microsoft Word’ before
copying and pasting it on my ‘Sexton’s Blogger Managing’ web-site.
Later I’ am
going to make my now famous ‘Ensaladilla Rusa’ and get tonight’s ‘Steak a la
Plancha’set up, blanching the Chips before putting them in the fridge for this
evenings crisp deep-frying! Nothing to do for tomorrow as we are out for dinner
with the ‘Newman’s’!
By the past
few weeks it’s a quiet weekend of sport; the third Test Match it on at Old
Trafford in Manchester with Australia in a commanding postion,for the first
time in the series, over here in Barcelona it is the ‘World Swimming
Championship’ – last night the Spanish Women’s Water Polo team won the Gold
medal beating Australia! The other day for the first time in the Championships
the ‘High Diving’ from 27 meters into the harbor was spectacular with the
Silver medal going to the British red hot favorite! Last night again in Barcelona Barcelona Santos Barcelona Santos England
This
afternoon Brenda as usual will be up her newly painted roof terrace, reading
and I will go up later and start playing the music on the radio loud as we have
our ‘Happy Hour’ drinks! After supper I will have to channel-hop to find a film
to watch.
Thought for
the Day; See above.
..
.
Friday, August 02, 2013
SUNNY AND A VERY HOT MANILVA AT THE START OF A BIG WEEKEND - AGAIN.
FRIDAY 2nd/
AUGUST 2013.
After all
the excitement of yesterday it was back to normal this morning with a bang! We
were up with the ‘Larks’ as I had an appointment at the surgery with our Doctor
to update my pill prescriptions; we then shot down to Sabinillas for our
regular shopping and messages.
We had a
‘Helluva’ Day with the ‘Newman’s’ yesterday afternoon; we met them at the
roundabout as arranged and then went up to the ‘Casares Golf Club’ to start the
day as we meant to go on with a bottle of Rosado Cava - it was then time to
‘Hit’ Venta Garcia, it was a lovely day here on the sunny and hot ‘Costa Del
Sol’with the warm ‘Levante’ breeze which is rising the temperatures all along
the coast and inland in Andalucia! Sat outside we had a rather nice bottle of
the special ‘Cordanuia Cava Rosado’ as we ordered out meal with Jesus; Paul
chose a very nice ‘Albarnio’and a fine ‘Rioja’ to go with our meal, after our
desserts Wendy called for a bottle of Pink Moet & Chandon to round off a
great meal with the ‘Newman’s’ Jesus presented us with a bottle, to take away,
on the house, of a fine Rosado Cava! See the two pictures below; a big thank
you to David and Jane as well as Paul and Wendy for a memorable meal as we
celebrated three birthdays,Wendy’s,Paul’s and Brenda’s( Again) !
On Sunday
evening we are taking them to ‘Restaurant San Rafael’ for the ‘Chateaubriand’
with ‘Béarnaise’ sauce along with the Homemade Bread and the house specialalty
of ‘Hot-Pot’ style potatoes! They are heading back on Wednesday by a slightly
different route via Madrid France
Today we
are settling back into our weekend routine, tonight for supper we are having
‘Merluza – Hake’ cooked in a ‘Cruz Campo’ batter with Mushy Peas and square
crisp Chips and of course homemade Tartar sauce, tomorrow night we are having our usual ‘Steak a la Plancha’
which a bought from our butchers in the village this morning.
The roof
terrace is calling this afternoon for Brenda and I will join her later for our
musical “ Happy Hour” After supper we will find a film to watch as it’s the
best night on all the channels to catch one.
Thought for
the Day; See above.
..
.
Thursday, August 01, 2013
SUNNY AND A VERY HOT MANILVA ON THURSDAY
WEDNESDAY 1st/
AUGUST 2013.
Well
today’s the day when two great families meet for the first time in a ‘Historic’
lunch at ‘Venta Garcia’ The ‘Don and Donna’ of Manilva are dining with the
‘Newman’s’ of Holmes Chapel, for the first time! Thanks to the generosity of
the “ Mooney’s” of Northwich – thank you both!
All the
pictures to follow later;
Last nights
film was “ Life as a House ” from 2001 with Kevin Kline, the beautiful Kirsten
Scott Thomas, Hayden Christenson, Jean Marlow and the ever watch able Mary
Steenbergen in a family drama, keep plenty of tissues at your side! A bit
different to the previous night movie, you could say from the ridiculous to the
sublime!
Thought for
the Day; See above.
..
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