MANILVA.

Tuesday 1st.July 2008.


We stayed at home and caught up with all the jobs around the house after the weekend festivities, in the morning the local fisherman called with two lovely fresh caught soles which will do for two meals in the next week.The weather has now set into a routine and by the late afternoon it’s in the mid 30s with clear blue skies all day and the late evenings are balmy,We have used the air-con for the first time and now have fans in my office and in our bedroom going most of the time.

Wednesday 2nd July.

We went down to Estepona to the bank and signed all the papers to change our account to resident and next week after the new cards come in we will have to make some phone calls to England to transfer our details; for the moment we are keeping the Smart car on English plates and have re-insured with the same insurers till we have to make the changes.The garage was very positive about the Winnebago and might have some news for us some time next week,fingers crossed ! We then called at the English butchers and picked up one and a half Legs of Lamb as we have all the Guerrero family coming for dinner on Friday.On the way back we called into see Vidal and Gissy who are now busy with gigs all the time and brought them up to date with all the news but they now read the blog as we don’t see them as much,so they can keep up with us!In the evening after supper we sat and read as we are now able to pick up a book and finish it!

Thursday 3rd. July.

The local shops are now getting to know are needs and we now use them a lot more for all our daily goods.We had our usual salad lunch as in the evening we had been invited to Carlos and Ana Mari’s new house for a family BBQ.They have not moved in yet but have been fitting new lights and painting so they wanted to show all the family the house and have a party.Carlos was on the BBQ and plancha as things got started.As well as Mano,Anna,Sally and her kids all the Spanish side of Ana Mari’s family came including brothers,sisters,aunts,uncles Great grandmother and all their children as well as all their friends and us! The party was typically Spanish,loud and noisy and a great time was had by all including childrens party games led by Sally, Anna and Brenda! We walked home through the village feeling no pain after one “ Helluva” night.

Friday 4th.July.

As Sally was due to go back to Tenerife on Saturday we asked them round for dinner to say goodbye. We had Roast Leg of Lamb with all the trimmings and as Mano was able to join us from work we had ten for dinner with the children sat around two tables and all our chairs in use with the front doors open-Spanish style! Later we walked around to our local bar and sat outside and had a few more drinks in the cool evening breeze.

Saturday 5th.July.

As it is now so hot all the time we had planned to have a quiet weekend at home doing nothing,which is just what we did In the evening after supper we started to watch the Rock in Rio music festival from Madrid! On TV.last night late on after the folks had gone we saw Amy Winhouse,Jamiroquai,Shakira and the Sterophonics.Tonight it was all Spanish groups until the end when The Police did one helluva gig playing all their hits.

Sunday 6th.July.

For breakfast we had the Full-English cooked Spanish style in Chorizo oil before we settled down to watch the sport on the TV.As we put the TV on it was showing live from Pamplona the San Fermin festival which is the largest and most wild in Spain,they go wild in a very nice way! It’s also the time of the Bull Run in Pamplona and many other cities when the bulls get their own back!We first watched the Grand Prix which was very gripping for us but not for them! Hamilton won! Then The Tour de France was on live and a Spanish rider is leading and is also the favourite to win.In the evening the tennis from Wimbledon was on and off all the time due to the rain and Nadel won in the end! Viva Espania ! Later we the watched the festival from Madrid again which should have been Bob Dylan but due to contact problems with Spanish TV.they only showed a couple of minutes but Lenny Kravitz was unbelievable and he really rocked the show as he did a extended gig and played all his hits including “Fly Away and American Woman ” to bring the festival to a close.