MANILVA THIS EVENING.

FRIDAY 29TH APRIL 2011. THE STATE VISIT OF TIM AND THEA MOFFATT OF OLD COLWYN.

Well they arrived on time and in fine form;we have just had a " Helluva " first night and the full report will follow with all the details shortly,we have arranged the itnerary until Tuesday morning ! Watch this space for the update,the pictures below show the happy couple with Brenda - Welcome Tim and Thea.


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MANILVA THIS EVENING.

MANILVA THIS EVENING.

MANILVA THIS EVENING.

MANILVA THIS LUNCHTIME.

 WEDNESDAY /THURSDAY 27^TH/28^TH APRIL 2011.

We spent our last day at the villa over in Guadalmina pottering about the house; the sun was out and by the afternoon it was hot; the hairdresser called in to give Joan a perm and we then gave her lunch of Lynda McCartney Sausages with sauté Onions and vegetables! In the evening I picked the folks up from the bus station in Marbella and we were home in time to go up to Bar Rojas and watch the second half of the Real Madrid v Barcelona match; Barcelona won, 2 – nil and Messi scored both ! Real Madrid played dirty and in the second leg Barcelona will murder them! We had Huevos Fritos con Patatas Fritas for supper in the bar as we shouted on our team, at one time I think I got a Yellow Card from Manolo when I started blowing my whistle, he is a Madrid supporter! Over in Australia it was Annette Rose’s birthday, Lyn’s daughter, we left a message on Facebook,Happy Birthday Annette have a “ Helluva ” Day !

This morning after a little lie in Brenda has switched to her cleaning mode; I went round to the chemists to pick up the tablets! It is very warm and sunny so we then went for a walk with Cheta; as you can see in the pictures below she has had the full makeover, hair cut, full trim and even her toe nails painted bright red ! She has a Diamante covered bow also, for special occasions she is a proper little “ Tart ” now, not that she was not one before ! Down by the new Wine Centre they have been busy in the last week, they have demolished the steps and Council Workshops and are clearing the top car park as you can see in the pictures but we have not found out what the final plans are, yet ! Watch this space as Mario, our local councilor is the man responsible so when I catch up with him we will find out what is going to happen. The house is ready, the new pictures look great and Tim and Thea’s bedroom and dressing room are ready; the bookings are made and the flags are going out, in the morning the hire car is being dropped off and we will then stock up from the supermarket’s with Champagne,Cava,Rioja,local White and Rose wine,beers,Gin and Bacardi, as well as food, the party starts here !  The countdown to Friday evening and their arrival at Malaga Airport for the state visit is nearly over.1 day,3 hours and 30 mins ! Watch out for the picture's and report.




Thought for the Day;


Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the Freedom to make mistakes.




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MANILVA THIS LUNCHTIME.

MANILVA THIS LUNCHTIME.

MANILVA THIS LUNCHTIME.

MANILVA THIS LUNCHTIME.

MANILVA THIS LUNCHTIME.

MANILVA THIS LUNCHTIME.

GUADALMINA LA CASA DEL ABUELO.

GUADALMINA LA CASA DEL ABUELO.

GUADALMINA LA CASA DEL ABUELO.

GUADALMINA LA CASA DEL ABUELO.

MONDAY/TUESDAY 25^TH/26^TH/APRIL 2011

We got up to another glorious day over here at the villa in Guadalmina as you can see in the pictures above; after the gardener had arrived and a bit later the home help for Joan we shot out on some messages. We went across to Estepona and picked up Brenda’s watch from the jewellers and then went up into the old town and collected the two pictures that we have had framed, one for in the guest bedroom and one for the bathroom; on the way back we stopped at the “Tickatano ”beach restaurant to check it out as it has new owners, very nice but expensive ! We then called into the Marriott Resort, where we used to do some sales training courses, and arranged a day pass for this Saturday so as we take Tim and Thea out for dinner. This coming Sunday we have booked a table at the Beach House at Elviria,at Tim’s request, for a late Sunday lunch, also now Vidal’s brother Felix is the live music act and he is very good, we took Tim there when he was last staying with us ! We have our fingers crossed for the weather whilst they are here as Tim is a beach and sun worshipper ! I then made a Beef and Vegetable Stew for dinner which we had with Brenda’s famous Mash and Cabbage; at the same time Brenda made a Quorn Cottage Pie for Joan’s’ lunch today.

Today, Tuesday , it is now getting hotter by the hour and the forecast is starting to look good for the next few days but I'm afraid the seven day forecast is not good,sorry Tim and Thea for your stay ! Brenda is catching up with our washing and ironing so as we are ready to go home when Clive and Caroline arrive back sometime on Wednesday evening, we then have Thursday to get ready for the Moffatt’s arrival on Friday evening; the hire car is being dropped off on Friday morning and we will then pick them up at the airport in Malaga, we can’t wait ! This morning I shot down to the supermarket for some essentials and picked up Pork Cutlets for dinner tonight. We have been watching the TV every evening and catching up with various programmes that we have not seen as we only watch Spanish TV at home; Masterchef,Great British Menu, Britain’s Best Dish,NewTricks,Britain’s Got Talent, Live Sport to name just a few !

Thought for the Day;

In many cases, the more you try to complete, the less competitive you are.

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GUADALMINA LA CASA DEL ABUELO.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY/SATURDAY/SUNDAY 21^ST/22^ND/23^RD/24^TH APRIL 2011.

On Thursday morning we were up bright and early to get over to villa in Guadalmina; I dropped Clive off at the bus station in Marbella and he caught the shuttle into Malaga airport.In between showers we settled into the villa with the three dogs, two house cats, three wild outside cats, the fish in the pond and Joan! Joan is fine and we now look after her food when the home help is not here, the gardener just carries on and the other people come along at pre arranged times; we had a severe cloud burst at lunchtime but no signs of any leaks or damage as in the past. The pool looks very inviting but we can’s go in just yet, in the evening we had Pan Fried Flattened Chicken Breasts in Balsamic vinagre for supper with sauté Potatoes and green Beans before we settled down to watch the TV.

Friday was again wet and cool after more torrential rain over night; we stayed inside and had a nice quite relaxing day doing nothing ! For dinner it was Baked Fillets of Panga ( White firm fish ) and homemade Tart ere Sauce before we watched Have I Got News for You,QI and the Jools Holland show. Over in England in Chester David, Jane’s fiancée was as well as working very hard in his new café enterprise was celebrating his birthday in true style – all the very best David, we will have one or two with you when you arrive in three weeks time !

Saturday morning started dry and the weekend is looking a lot better; after tea and toast I shot across to our bank in Estepona,on the way I called into the English butchers and picked up two Rib Eye steaks for dinner.Just after lunch we managed to talk to Brian over in Pori,Finland  and caught up with all their news. Later in the afternoon we went back across to Sabinillas as Brenda has an appointment at the hairdressers; the pictures below show the result ! I went and did some shopping and then called into the house before picking Brenda up. In the evening we had the very fine steaks with Baked Potatoes and salad. Another very old school friend,Alan,was celebrating his 65^th birthday down in Ross on Wye,no doubt with a glass of the sparkling stuff, welcome to the whole new world of retirement and the rest of your life !

Today has gradually gone better, the sun is out and it has got hotter and hotter as the day went on; we went down in the early afternoon for our Sunday Roast to Tricky Ricky’s which as usual was just right, they had even reserved a table for us on the terrace in the sun; Brenda had the Lamb and I had the Beef with Cabbage, Carrot and Swede Puree,Cauilflower, Broccoli, Mashed and Roast Potatoes, Stuffing and Crackling together with a finger licking Gravy ! As we were starting on the Prawn Cocktails a couple arrived on a golf buggy; they looked like characters and we soon got talking with them; it turned out to be a afternoon not to forget, Sam and Joyce Griffin who are in their mid seventies have a very large and spectacular villa by the first tee of the Gaudalmina South Course; they also have a house by the eighth tee of the Montgomery Golf Course in Dubai and just outside Sydney they have another spectacular house on a golf course, we ended up back at the villa here ! But we are now have invites to the two other villas – if they remember ! They are Scottish and Sam left Glasgow as a boy and joined the merchant navy, they have been married for over fifty years and have lived and worked al over the world; he was at one time an engineer in diamond mines in Kenya and Joyce opened and run International British schools ending up in Qatar where they were for many years she had the most successful school of its kind in the Middle East with over five thousand pupils and hundreds of teachers !! So they have lots of tales to tell and as the wine flowed we had a really enjoyable afternoon in their company, Joyce even tried to sell me her white Toyota Celica !!We have an open invite to go over to swim in their pool after a sauna and catch them up as they move about the world !They still play golf and are great friends of Colin Montgomery when he is over in Dubai, they have played on all the great courses wherever they have been and they know their way around Turnberry and St.Andrewes like the back of their hands ! Sadly I did not have my camera with me, that’s for another day. This morning we tried to contact Jack over in Melbourne as it is his 83^rd birthday; “ Young ”Jack all the very best, Happy Birthday, speak to you soon.

PS; Happy Easter to everybody !

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Thought for Day;

In youth we learn, in age we understand.

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GUADALMINA THIS AFTERNOON.

GUADALMINA THIS AFTERNOON.

GUADALMINA THIS AFTERNOON.

MANILVA THIS MORNING.

WEDNESDAY 20^TH APRIL 2011.

Well today started as a typical Semana Santa day, grey and overcast with rain forecast for the next few days! Meanwhile over in the UK it is the hottest spot in Europe and it is going to be the warmest April ever – 26degs!! We always get the tail end of the weather when you have the sunshine; talk about the sun only shining on the righteous, Tim is only three days into his retirement and has not stopped playing golf yet! We have just spoken to Clive over in Guadalmina, we are going in the morning and I am dropping him off at the Bus Station in Marbella to get the shuttle to Malaga airport; we will be there for a week so we will be back in time on Wednesday to get the flags out for the state visit next Friday! We have now got everywhere ready for Tim and Thea, the guestroom is looking very smart together with their dressing room and the rest of the house has had the Brenda treatment, we have just got to pick up from Estepona the two pictures that we are having framed, they are ready. I am now sorted on the PCs, thanks to Andy, I’ve changed all our passwords the new Googlemail is working fine with lots of messages of support – thanks to all! We are now packing for the move over to the villa, Cheta is here running around, we have just been out for a short walk and picked up some Pork Cutlets for dinner tonight; the picture below shows her with Brenda in the chill out room, by next week when we get back she will have had her hair cut ready for the summer, toe nails trimmed and an injection! So she will be a new girl!! Tonight after supper we are going to watch the second of four matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona; it is the “ Cope De Rey ” which is being played in Valencia – come on Barca ! Then they play the two home and away games in the Champions League semi final.


PS; Real Madrid won in extra time 1-nil Barcelona out played them !


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Thought for the Day;

One never knows what each day is going to bring. The important thing is to be open and ready for it.

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MANILVA THIS MORNING.

MANILVA NEWSFLASH.

MONDAY/TUESDAY 18^TH/19^TH APRIL 2011.

Well after the weekend we had a little lie in on Monday morning; we then had an at home day catching up with the chores around the house, meanwhile I caught up with the WWW. ! We had Cheta up in the house as she can’t run around outside as she is attracting all the boy dogs at the moment! In the evening we had Steak and Chips for dinner, we missed them on Saturday as we were out playing! We then settled down to watch a film on TV. The weather forecast for this week is not too good; this is typical of Semana Santa week – it always rains! and I’m sorry to say that it has just started, also whenever it’s nice over in the UK we get the tail end off the nasty stuff.

This morning after a tea and toast we went out with Cheta for walk around the village, there are starting to be some glum faces as they can’t hold the parades if it is raining, yesterday in Savilla the main parade was cancelled at the last moment and they were all in tears ! Late this afternoon I had a call from Clive over in Guadalmina asking us if we could go over and look after the villa for a week as they have an emergency in their family, Caroline is already over in England and he wants to go for a week; so we have had to suddenly get Tim and Thea’s room ready and tidy up around the house as we won’t have much time when we get back next Wednesday, they arrive on the Friday of the Royal Wedding for their “ State Visit ” Tonight we are having a Chicken Fricassee with rice for supper and then we starting to pack.

Thought for the Day;

Show me what a man envies the most in others and I will show you what he has got the most of himself.

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MANILVA ON PALM SUNDAY.

MANILVA ON PALM SUNDAY.

MANILVA ON PALM SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 17^TH APRIL 2011.

PALM SUNDAY PARADE “ PROCESION DE LA BORRIQUITA ( THE DONKEY )

I was up very early ( 7-30 ) by our standards now ! Brenda came along a little later as we got ready for our Sunday Roast dinner so as we could have the rest of the day free; Roast Chicken,Herb Stuffing,Crispy Smoked Bacon,Broccoli and Cauliflower Mornay,Carrot Batons, Sprouts with Bacon sippets,Baby Green Beans, Garden Peas and of course Goose Fat roasted Potatoes together with a rich finger licking Gravy ( Brian and Lilli we missed you ! ) We then got ourselves showered and dressed up to go down to the Church of Santa Ana for the mass and blessing of the vines; On the way down we bumped into the Mayor,Antonia who was walking her Grandson,Valentino, her son is Valentino and her husband is Valentino ! Outside the Church Amelia ,Juan’s wife was having no luck getting her Granddaughter ready! The pictures below show the day as it progressed in the streets of Manilva; The Tableau of “ La Borriqita ” sets off from the church with the band leading and all the children and dignitaries following; as they reach the Town Hall the band led by Fernando lines up and the Mayor and Councilors form a line as the Tableau arrives, The village is packed, outside Bar Rojas we had claimed the best seats with Mano and Anna, Megan and Millie and some other friends,Barbara,Peter and their three lovely children.Manolo and Lumy from Bar Rojas were very proud as their younger son ,Paco was one of the bearers of the Tableau. Later we walked down to Bar Augustine ( The Office ) as they are the hot in place for Tapas; it was very busy and noisy and we were soon severed with a selection of all the Tapas on show, sadly we missed the Sunday Paella! That’s for another day !!

In the evening Mano and Anna, Carlos with Fabio, Megan and Millie joined us for Sunday dinner as we ended the day in true styly up at Bar Rojas for Carajillo's, the pictures are above.

PS; We phoned Tim at his retirement party at the local Golf Club on Saturday evening, he has ( well his Daughter Jo ! ) has just posted the pictures on Facebook with all his family and old friends.

Thought for the Day;

It’s very strange when the life you never had flashes before your eyes.

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MANILVA ON PALM SUNDAY.

MANILVA ON PALM SUNDAY.

MANILVA ON PALM SUNDAY.

MANILVA ON PALM SUNDAY.

MANILVA ON PALM SUNDAY.

MANILVA ON PALM SUNDAY.

MANILVA ON PALM SUNDAY.

MANILVA ON PALM SUNDAY.

MANILVA ON PALM SUNDAY.

MANILVA ON PALM SUNDAY.

MANILVA ON PALM SUNDAY.

MANILVA ON PALM SUNDAY.

SABINILLAS THIS AFTERNOON.

SABINILLAS THIS AFTERNOON.

SABINILLAS THIS AFTERNOON.

SABINILLAS THIS AFTERNOON.

MANILVA NEWS UPDATE.

SATURDAY 16 TH APRIL 2011.

This morning I walked down to the Las Vinas Sports Hall ,Brenda was washing her hair and came along later with “ Chipar ”( This is how it is spelt on the vets form ! ) to watch the 4^th annual Junior Rhythmic Gymnastics Competition that was taking place; schools and clubs from the area as well as from Gibraltar and Ceuta were taking part in all sorts of different categories. It was being filmed for Manilva TV to be shown later, the hall was full with both stands packed to capacity with parents! The atmosphere was terrific with all the shouting, clapping and horns blowing as they came on and when they finished even louder!  The pictures below will give you just a quick taste of the events as they happened.

On the way back we passed the top bar by the old Town Hall, it had just put out all new tables, chairs and an umbrella so it was looking very smart, as you can see in the picture.

Lastly we have just got a copy of the “ Semana Santa ” details for the week ahead starting with the Palm Sunday procession,fingers crossed that the rain that is forecast for later in the week ( It all ways rains on the Parades ! ) will keep away this time.

PS; Mano and Anna have just dropped off the Chickens for the roast on Sunday,they are picking us up later and we are going down to a English bar on the front in Sabinillas to watch the Manchester Utd. v Manchester City match at Wembley in the Semi – Final of the FA Cup


PPS; City have just beat Utd. 1-nil !!!!!!!!!!  At half time I had  a Burger King BBXL with Fries !!!!!!!!! See the pictures above of the Beach Bar and the waves coming in on the front at Sabinillas.


PPS; We are now going out to Bar Rojas to watch the Real Madrid v Barcelona match which kicks off at 10-00 pm  A draw but Barcelona were robbed !!


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MANILVA TODAY.

MANILVA THIS MORNING.

MANILVA THIS MORNING.

MANILVA THIS MORNING.

MANILVA THIS MORNING.

MANILVA THIS MORNING.

MANILVA THIS MORNING.

MANILVA THIS MORNING.

MANILVA THIS MORNING.

MANILVA TODAY AND THE START OF A NEW LIFE OVER IN OLD COLWYN.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY 14^TH/15^TH APRIL 2011.

Well after the excitement of the last two days we settled back into our life in sunny Manilva; In the morning after breakfast we went for a walk with Cheta around the village, it is warm and sunny with a little occasional breeze so it is just right for walking. The village is starting to get ready for the Semana Santa week, the no parking signs have just gone up for when the first parade takes place on Sunday and the council are out and about smartening things up including three new underground rubbish bins ! The Mayor, Antonia, is also out and about checking things and so I reminded her about the new flags on the Town Hall as she was stood on the steps! She promised that they are on their way – watch the space for the pictures!! In the afternoon Anna called in to catch up with any news and arrange the roast for Sunday – Chicken. In the evening after more Curry we settled down and watched the TV.

This morning,Friday,we went down to Sabinillas to do the shopping and pick up the English Costa papers then when we came back we walked around to the Friday market down by the sports ground for some flowers. Yesterday as we were out on our walk we came across workmen just starting to sort a new Mural to go up above the water feature on the way out of Calle Mar; it is very colourfull and we presume that it has been commissioned from a local designer, there is a name on the bottom right hand corner in the pictures below which I took yesterday, this morning and later this afternoon! Tonight we are having Fried Hake, Chips and Mushy Peas for dinner. At lunchtime we got on the phone to Tim over in Old Colwyn, he had just got in from the school – he retired today!! Tomorrow he is having a large retirement party at the local Golf Club for all his family and friends; he has posted on Facebook some music to celebrate, it is from a Jools Holland programme and features Prince Buster,Suggs and Georgie Fame singing “ Madness – Enjoy Yourself  ” We have been singing and dancing along to it in the chill out room as we drank to Tim’s good health and retirement; Tim Moffat Rtd. We wish you all the best and are looking forward to seeing you and Thea two weeks today !!

Thought for the Day;

No one can be right all of the time, but it helps to be right most of the time.

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MANILVA TODAY.

MANILVA TODAY.

MANILVA TODAY.

MANILVA A NEW START.

TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY 12^TH/13^th APRIL 2011.

Tuesday morning started just the same as ever but ended up the day from hell ! The weather is warm and sunny and fingers crossed it will last through next week; I logged on to our Hotmail E – Mail account, or rather I tried ! With no luck as it would not accept our password so I continued to try and checked things out, with still no luck. Just then my mobile phone went, it was Tim from Colwyn Bay ringing to let me know that we had a major problem; he read out the scam e-mail and then it all dropped into place. On Monday morning I had an e-mail from Hotmail asking to confirm and update my details as well as the password! Of course it was a scam and I fell for it; it has turned out that when last year Anna lost her Hotmail it was the same scam letter and we have know found out that other people in the village have had the same problem this week – so it is local ! We have informed the police here and in England. Then all hell let loose ,in a nice way, as family and friends started ringing,e-mailing,Skype calling and leaving messages on Facebook! The first was Annette,Jeffs wife in Kuala Lumpur, then a Skype call from a friend in the USA, Facebook messages from the family in Australia, lots of friends in the UK ringing etc and Brian and Lilli in Finland ( The cheque is in the post ! ) Thanks to all of you ! I then managed to find our local internet café owner from around the corner on Calle Mar,Nikita who is Russian, is very helpful and dropped everything and came around to our house to help ! He managed to get things reasonable back to normal and managed to save all our contact e-mail details ! We then had a stiff drink to settle the nerves !!

On Wednesday morning after breakfast we went for a long walk with Cheta around the village to clear our heads; I called Andy to ask him if he could come around later and help, he is now our Director of IT Resource’s. While we were out I took some pictures as you can see below, we found the Dairy in a side street that we had not noticed before, they collect the milk locally and then chill it and send it off to Malaga. All the party offices are open at the moment as we have the local elections coming up on the 22^nd May. The “ Semana Santa “ week is from the 16^th April to the 23^rd,the parades start on Saturday and on Sunday it is the Palm Sunday celebratons,mass and the main parade. Andy arrived at 5-o clock just as Mano and Anna called in with two young ladies, family, that are staying with them for a week, they arrived on Tuesday at Gibraltar, Megan and Milli are still in the sixth form but leave this year, Megan is off to Cambridge! Megan who speaks Spanish is now learning Russian and Milli is learning Japanese ! Mano is going to supply the Sunday Roast so everybody is coming around later on Palm Sunday for dinner; in the morning I had made a Chicken Curry for supper so Andy stayed for it after his exertions on the PCs ! Andy has updated all the Anti Virus’s on both PCs and I can now look after and manage all the technical stuff a lot better ! He then sorted out our new e-mail address and saved and transferred all our contacts and favorites. At the same time he updated my photo printing to a new system and cleaned up lots of technical faults. He is coming back when he can, he starts full time work this Friday in the family café down in Sabinillas, to check and update both PCs for the future. Many thanks to him for all his help, he earned his stiff drink later !! Mano also got onto the IT/Phone people and has got them on the go again to connect us to the new system, fingers crossed. Watch this space! Our new e-mail is, which in fact we have always had but never used, is on the Google system and we have also gone onto Google Chrome at the same time;

NB; PLEASE CHANGE TO OUR NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS AT;

malcolm.sexton@googlemail.com THANK YOU !!

Thought for the Day;

The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.

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MANILVA TEST MESSAGE.

WEDNESDAY 13^TH APRIL 2011.

This a test blog to make sure that our new systems are working with our Googlemail Crome and the Google E – Mail. More to follow !

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MANILVA TODAY.

MANILVA TODAY.

MANILVA TODAY.

MANILVA TODAY.