Monday, January 04, 2016
A OVERCAST & DAMP SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK;
MONDAY 4th/ JANUARY 2016.
We are back to normal this morning with all
the workmen back on site making as much noise as possible! We took ‘Charlie’
out for his first walk of the day down to the local Post Office to post a New
Years card; its cool and damp but the threatened rain has not materialised for
today down here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’- for now! Its getting a little warmer
over the next couple of days but we could still have some of the wet stuff, Lee
& Daniela have just landed at Malaga Airport so they will call in to pick
up their little princess ‘Reina’ shortly; also Brian & Jan are due to
collect ‘ Charlie’ sometime today, its going to be very lonely here in ‘Doggy
World Heaven’! PS; Lee & Daniela have just collected her and she’s back on Tuesday &
Thursday as normal.
If its stays dry then the ‘Three Kings’
parade we still take place this evening, ( now on Tuesday ! ) - we are planning to go up to ‘Bar Rojas’
for a light ‘Tapas supper’ and watch the floats and bands as they go along Call
Mar, all the pictures later. We are waiting to hear when ‘Reina’ is back with
us this week before making any arrangements to see out friend Joyce, we have appointments
at the surgery on Friday morning for our check-ups and to renew our
prescriptions for the next six months; we also need to shop one morning.
On Wednesday its the ‘Dia Los Reynes Magos’ when all the children get their main presents and all the families have a special meal, we are collecting the traditional ‘Rosca De Reyes’ cake, made in the local bakery, its a glazed round sponge with whipped cream and shaped like a ‘crown’ & decorated with candied fruit, inside there are little religious symbols that who ever eats/finds them has to pay for the cake and gets good luck, watch this space!
On Wednesday its the ‘Dia Los Reynes Magos’ when all the children get their main presents and all the families have a special meal, we are collecting the traditional ‘Rosca De Reyes’ cake, made in the local bakery, its a glazed round sponge with whipped cream and shaped like a ‘crown’ & decorated with candied fruit, inside there are little religious symbols that who ever eats/finds them has to pay for the cake and gets good luck, watch this space!
A little update on yesterdays football as
Everton held Tottenham to a 1-1 draw and over here Valencia also held Real
Madrid to a 2-2 draw.Talking of Everton, when Brian called in the other day we were taking about Runcorn, where his Dad & Mum live, overlooking the bridges; see below a picture of the old Transporter Bridge and one showing the three current ones, the old Railway Bridge, the small blue 'Sydney Harbour' Bridge and the new one that is just about to open!
We have been on the phone this morning and
arranged one of our transfers from our old account in Colwyn Bay with our
personal banker, our main Pensions have also arrived in our new Spanish Account
so we are back up to date, the only problem is that the exchange rate is at its
lowest, for over six months, so we are considerable down on last months transfers!
We have also received a ‘Secure Key’?! in the post with an activation code and
in the future are going to make the transfers from Colwyn Bay 0nline,saving us
some money, watch this space.
On the menu front I’m making a fresh batch
of my famous ‘Tomato Salsa’ later in the morning and then I will be able to
prepare a new batch of my even more famous ‘Minestrone Soup’ later in the week;
we have no plans for this weeks menu’s, at the moment, until we see what we are
doing and where we are going down here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’
Last night after supper we found a film to
watch on TVE 1, so no adverts, “ SALT” from 2010, its a all action American spy
thriller with the main title part played by Angeline Jolly, it was original
going to be Tom Cruise?! – with Liev Schriber, Daniel Olbrychski & August
Diez in the supporting roles.
PS, We have just received from our post lady a registered scented envelope from our very dear friends in Germany,Claus & Doreen, it was not a very good year for them, last year, so we wish them 'Feliz Año Nuevo' for 2016 and are looking forward to seeing them! " Health, Wealth & Happiness " xxxx
Thoughts for the Day ; See above.
..
Sunday, January 03, 2016
A OVERCAST & CRISP DAY IN SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY WITH THE THREAT OF RAIN;
SUNDAY 3rd/ JANUARY 2016.
Yet another nice lie in this morning as ‘Reina’
slept all night in her duvet by the side of the bed and ‘Charlie’ came up and
joined us a little later than normal; we then went out for our first walk of
the day with the dogs, overnight it had been raining but at the moment its
clear and dry, the forecast is for more rain during the day and sadly it could
also rain on Monday threatening the ‘Three Kings Parade’ in the evening. Watch
this space.
As we were out this morning and walked up
to Calle Mar we spotted that our local ‘ Bar Rojas’ was open and all set up for
business, over the past few days there had been some activity inside, a young
couple, ‘Adriano & Susanna’ have taken over/rented the business and
welcomed us, we will give it a try at lunchtime, weather permitting, for a
drink as I’m having a take-out ‘Paella’ from Bar Castillo for lunch! Watch this
space.
After breakfast of ‘Crispy Smoked Bacon
Butties’ with lots of ‘HP’ Brown sauce and a mug of steaming tea the ‘Pirate
Chef’ with the help of his able assistant got this evenings supper on the go; I
made a dish of my now famous ‘Boulangere Potatoes’ – sliced local Onions
layered with sliced local potatoes, the three layers are hand cut to start and
then for the final layer I use my ‘Mandoline’ slicer ( thanks Josie !) for the
very thin top layer, each layer is seasoned and then I use a good strong
Chicken stock to cover the dish before studding the top with butter, it goes in
the oven this evening until its crisp & brown! We are having ‘Braised Lamb
Shanks’ in a Minted Gravy and just some Baby Brussels Sprouts sprinkled with
chopped Chestnuts, Carrot Batons & Garden Peas. See below;
We are taking things easy today as next
week is promising to look rather busy down here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’ as we
are out and about on our travels; on Monday both the dogs are being collected,
yesterday over in New York the folks went on a spectacular trip to see the ‘Statue
of Liberty’ and then ’Ellis island’ - with more great views back to the new skyline
of the city, see the picture below; we will miss ‘Charlie’ ( See below ) in particular as he
has been with us for two weeks and is such a good dog, great company and a real
character, ‘Reina’ will be back with later in the week as we settle back into
the old routine and then towards the end of January she’s going to be here five
days a week!
We are going over to Marbella for the ‘sales’
on one day and then are planning to get together with Joyce on another day, we
will need some shopping at the end of the week, on Wednesday its the ‘Dia De
Los Reyes Magos’ – ‘Three Kings Day’ – I confirmed our order for a fresh ‘Rosca
De Reyes’ cake with Antonio this morning which are made in the local bakery in
the village; we have our fingers crossed for the street parade tomorrow evening
in the meantime!
Yesterday in the football there were some
surprise results; Liverpool lost 2-0 at West Ham and then Manchester City
scored twice in the last five minutes to win 1-2 at Watford, over here Barcelona
could not score in the ‘Derby’ game at Espanyol - 0-0 - so lost their top spot
in ‘La Liga’ to Atl.Madrid on points. The horse racing from Sandown Park &
Ayr was very good with the excellent coverage on Channel 4.
Last night after supper we watched a film
on TVE 1 “ Arbitage “ from 2012 with Richard Gere, the ever watchable Susan Saradon
and Tim Roth in a thriller about company fraud and a cover up over a road death,
the ending is ambiguous and leaves you wondering!
Will return shortly !
Will return shortly !
PS; ' Charlie' relaxing on his favourite settee watching the TV !
Thoughts for the Day; See above.
..
Saturday, January 02, 2016
A CRISP & WARM SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY;
SATURDAY 2nd/ JANUARY 2016.
Another long lie in for all of us this
morning, ‘Reina & Charlie’ ended up on the bed earlier in this morning and
we had to wake them up to go out for the first walks if the day; overnight it
rained but by this morning we were back to normal with a clear blue sky and the
sun just breaking through, by lunchtime its due to reach 19/20 degs! The
forecast for the next couple of days into next week is for more of the same
with a little bit of the wet stuff hitting us from time to time.
Brenda produced her famous ‘Campo’ Poached
Eggs on Toast for breakfast along with a
mug of hot tea, I then watched on BBC 1 ‘Saturday Kitchen Live’ before coming
up to the office to catch up on the WWW. I have some E-Mails and messages to
catch up on before typing and posting the Blog; we have a quiet weekend taking
things easy and just relaxing at home, next week we are hoping to go ‘Sale’
shopping over in Marbella, we are then trying to meet up with our dear old
friend Joyce up in Alhaurin El Grande before she goes home to Chester the following
week. She rang us on New Years Eve so we exchanged greetings and are looking
forward to catching up with her for a good gossip.
Yesterday afternoon our dear friend Brian
called in so we had a nice chat with him along with a good local gossip, at the
end of January he’s going with some of his mates to watch his beloved Everton
play Manchester City, they have arranged a private box at ‘Goodison Park’ so
will miss seeing David & Jane as they are due to arrive about the same
time! Meanwhile over in New York the folks went to see the latest production of 'Phantom of the Opera' on Broadway, see below.
In ‘Doggy World Heaven’ both the dogs are
due to be picked up on Monday, sometime, then ‘Reina will be back with us on Tuesday
& Thursday depending on when the folks are working; on Monday I will have
to do some chasing up/checking on the phone as one of our Pensions has gone
missing and not arrived in our new Spanish Bank Account when it was due?! I rang
the ‘International Pension Services’ before Xmas to check and they said that it
was on its way but the Xmas Bank Holidays would effect it, Brenda’s did arrive
OK in the new account, early in fact,
before Xmas, so we need to sort it out ASAP – also we have a little problem
with the ‘Jazztel’ account being collected from the new accounts so we will ring
them at the same time!
Over in England today our very dear friend
Tim is down in London with his family and a lot of friends celebrating his 70th
birthday, they all went down on the train yesterday from Colwyn Bay and are
staying at an hotel, this evening he’s arranged a table at an Italian
Restaurant for 20 persons, it reminds us off his 60th birthday when
we all went to Budapest with the same crowd, we would lie to wish him all the
very best for his special birthday and we will raise a glass or two to him this
evening! Cheers!!
For our supper this evening I have treated
us to Fillet Steak, so I’m making a golden oldie of the traditional “ Tournedos
Rossini “ I will season them well before wrapping them in slices of local Smoked
Bacon, I seal them on a very hot griddle plate before placing them in the oven
to bake ‘Med-Rare’ They are served on a toasted ‘Crute’ before topping them
with an ‘Quenelle ‘ of local ‘Iberian Pate’ with a pool of a strong Red Wine
Glaze ( Brenda’s best - thanks!) on the plate; we are having on the side some
finely sliced Green Beans and of course not forgetting the twice-cooked ‘Frits’! See below;
Tomorrow evening we are having ‘Lamb Shanks in Minted Gravy’ with Baby Brussels Sprouts & Chopped Chestnuts and a dish of my famous ‘Boulangere Potatoes on the side!!
See the picture below of me cooking 'Brunch' last New Years Day in my favourite 'Pirate Hat' - we have mis-placed it and can't find it for this year!!
Tomorrow evening we are having ‘Lamb Shanks in Minted Gravy’ with Baby Brussels Sprouts & Chopped Chestnuts and a dish of my famous ‘Boulangere Potatoes on the side!!
See the picture below of me cooking 'Brunch' last New Years Day in my favourite 'Pirate Hat' - we have mis-placed it and can't find it for this year!!
Next week on Monday its the traditional ‘Three
Kings Parade’ here in the village before the ‘Dia Los Reyes Magos’ on the 6th
January when all of Spain goes mad, we have ordered our ‘Rosca De Reyes’ cake
from Antonio in Calle Mar. Watch this space.
Thoughts for the Day; See above.
..
Friday, January 01, 2016
A WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY - " NEW YEARS DAY " - " FELIZ AÑO NUEVO "
FRIDAY 1st/ JANUARY 2016. “ NEW YEARS DAY “
More than just a lie in this morning , we
in fact overslept, all of us! Well its ‘New Years Day’!! That’s our excuse and
were sticking too it! First we went out for a walk along Calle Mar with the
dogs, both ‘Reina’& ‘Charlie’ slept all night as they stayed up with us to
see in the New Year –
twice!
We had the traditional ‘Spanish’ one as we watched on TVE 1 all the festivities from the ‘Plaza Del Sol in the center of Madrid – we ate our 12 grapes on the stroke of midnight and then drank a toast with chilled Cava, we then went over to BBC 2 and watched the ‘ Jools Holland Hootenanny’ an hour later and saw in the new Year again in true ‘English’ style, more drinks! Andy had joined us earlier so we had a good old catch up with all his news.
twice!
We had the traditional ‘Spanish’ one as we watched on TVE 1 all the festivities from the ‘Plaza Del Sol in the center of Madrid – we ate our 12 grapes on the stroke of midnight and then drank a toast with chilled Cava, we then went over to BBC 2 and watched the ‘ Jools Holland Hootenanny’ an hour later and saw in the new Year again in true ‘English’ style, more drinks! Andy had joined us earlier so we had a good old catch up with all his news.
After we came back from our walk we had
some ‘Campo’ Scrambled Eggs on Toast with a mug of steaming tea to get us back
on the straight and narrow! We are taking things easy, later we are going to
watch the ‘New Years Day Vienna Concert’ on BBC 2 before going over to Channel 4
to follow the racing from Cheltenham & Musselburgh; over in the ‘Premiere League’ Liverpool travel down the MI to play West Ham and Manchester City will also be on the MI as they are visiting Watford, both on Saturday, then over here in ‘La Liga’ Barcelona have a short journey to play Espanyol
in a ‘Derby’ match while on Sunday Valencia welcome Real Madrid.
Over in New York Lee & Daniela had ‘VIP’
passes to go up the ‘Empire State Building’ ( 5 hour wait for all the others!)
and then last night they also has special passes to get into the ‘Time Square’
celebration party through all the security checks; see the pictures below of
the views from the top of the Empire State Building’ and then the ‘Ball’
dropping above ‘Time Square’ to welcome in the New Year – New York style!!
For our supper this evening we are having ‘Goujons
of Hake Fillet in Cruzcampo Batter’ with Mushy Peas & small diced ‘Frits’ Well
is Friday!
We would like to wish all our family &
friends all over the World and here in sunny Manilva a very “ Healthy, Wealthy
and Happy New Year “ for 2016.
Thoughts for the Day; See above.
..
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