Sunday, February 25, 2018

A COLD, GREY & OVERCAST,DAMP, SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY.


SUNDAY 25th/ FEBRUARY 2018.






























We had a nice long lie in this morning as the village is ‘ dead’ – no traffic, no children, no deliveries and no bells! After freshening up we had a quick breakfast of fresh fruit, toast & tea, Brenda is washing/shampooing her hair later, I then got this evenings supper ready, with the help of the ‘ Second Chef’ before going up to the office/studio on the ‘ WWW’ to catch up with the ‘E-Mails, Facebook Messages etc’ and then type/post today’s Blog!

Later in the morning little princess ‘ Reina’ was dropped off for the day, she’s back next week on Monday/Tuesday & Thursday, on Wednesday ‘ Scooby’ is back with us for a short break ( 5 days) – as usual ‘ Chispa’ will be calling in to see her friends.

It’s grey & overcast this morning with the threat of the wet stuff in the air, there is a slight breeze, keeping it rather cold, only reaching, later, 13/15 degs, then from tomorrow and for the rest of next week we are in for, as forecasted, rain & wind every day, grey & overcast, with no sunshine, the only good spot on the horizon is that the overnight temperatures are hovering on the 12/14 degs mark overnight and during the day it will be 16/17 degs, so we will be having ‘ warm rain’?! Watch this space.








For our supper this evening we are having my own classic version of “ Lancashire Hotpot “ – using, for a change, ‘ Spanish Lamb Steaks & Cutlets’ – seasoned/ marinated in Olive Oil & Tarragon, then ‘ browned-off’ I then build up the layers (3) with sliced Onions & Shallots with Garlic, hand-cut sliced Potatoes ( 3 decreasing thickness’s) – seasoning each layer, adding diced/sliced Carrots, Leeks, Turnips, Celery, Green Beans & Mushrooms. Finally I top up the pot with a strong Meat & Vegetable Stock, ready to go in the oven this evening, served with Cabbage with Acelgas and Pickled Red Cabbage!

See below;







Just a quick update on yesterday’s sports results; Liverpool won 4-1 and played terrific passing football, sadly Everton lost 1-0 and played terrible! Real Madrid won 4-0, with Ronaldo getting two goals and Barcelona beat Girona, on their first visit to their neighbours ‘ Camp Nou’ stadium 6-1, with Suarez getting a hat trick and Messi hitting two!





Meanwhile over in the UK in the ‘ Six Nations Rugby Union’ Ireland, with ‘Jonny Sexton’s’ help, beat Wales 37-27 in a very exciting game in Dublin, sadly up in Edinburgh at the ‘Murrayfield’ stadium, Scotland won 25-13, against England, scoring three tries and played with passion, desire and fierce national pride!


Later this evening, we are six hours behind them, here in Spain, we are calling Sandra & Bill, over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, to a nice catch-up/chat, sadly after 13 years of fields and forests behind their property ... it has bugun... the trees are being removed, there will be 3 new lots/homes backing on to theirs, in the next 2/3 years, the planning has been in the air for as long as they have lived there!

See below;
















After supper we watched the next exciting, back to back, episodes of “ Modus “ – the Swedish crime drama series – it’s all getting rather gripping, as the main character has found the missing lady President (USA) but is surprised to discover the president doesn’t trust anyone in her own ranks?! Watch this space.
























Thoughts for the Day;  See above.








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Saturday, February 24, 2018

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM A OVERCAST SUNNY MANILVA;























A GREY & OVERCAST SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY.


SATURDAY 24th/ FEBRUARY 2018.































We managed a nice lie in this morning after a busy week, after freshening up Brenda produced her now famous’ Campo Poached Eggs on Toast ‘ with mugs of steaming, strong, tea.

We have a quiet weekend ahead, so we are relaxing, taking things very easy, tomorrow Lee is dropping ‘ Reina’ off for the day as Daniela is flying to London on business, he’s working in their new villa as well as their old apartment, which they have already let, next Tuesday evening Lee is joining us for supper along with Antonio, Daniela’s dad, his wife, Sharon, is in America, looking after her sister after an operation, Antonio & Sharon live in the same spectacular new villa, which they have split in half!


Sadly the weather is changing on Sunday, at the moment it’s a little overcast and grey, with a breeze, only reaching 14 degs by lunchtime, then tomorrow, arriving earlier than forecast, it’s going to be cold and then wet for all of next week, very unseasonable for the time of the year, see below, watch this space.












This evening for our supper we are having a large ‘ Entrecote Steak’ cooked on a very hot griddle-plate ‘ Med-Rare’ and then left to rest, before slicing it into fingers, French’ style, garnished with Seared Asparagus Spears & Button Mushrooms, with a sauceboat of ‘ Bearnaise’  sauce on the side, served with Whole, Baby, French green Beans and of course, twice-cooked ‘ Frits’!















On the sports front this weekend; over in the ‘Premier League’ Liverpool welcome West Ham & Everton go down the M1 to play Watford, over here in ' La Liga' Real Madrid are at home to Alaves and Barcelone welcome their near neighbours Girona, tomorrow at Wembley is the final of the ‘ Carabao Cup Final- the old League Cup Final’ as Manchester City play Arsenal!!

This afternoon we will be watching the ‘ Six Nations Rugby Union ‘ as Ireland welcome to Dublin, Wales and then England travel up to Edinburgh to play Scotland in the ‘ Calcutta Cup ‘ game, at the same time I will be following the ‘ National Hunt Racing’ from Kempton Park.


Last night after supper we settled down and watched over on ‘BBC Four’  “ The Old Grey Whistle Test – live- For One Night Only “  with the original presenter ‘ Whispering’ Bob Harris hosting the show from the BBC Studios, over 3 hours, with live acts, interviews and of course, lots of the old clips from back in the 70/80s!

Peter Frampton & Albert Collins played live and Gary Numan stole the show, as he performed with his young daughter, in his own style, the new artists were ‘Wildwood Kin & Robert Vincent ‘ Catch it if you can!!
















Thoughts for the Day;  See above.






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