MANILVA THIS WEEKEND.

SATURDAY/SUNDAY 12^th/13^th NOVEMBER 2011.

After breakfast on Saturday we went for a long walk around the village and ended up down at he sports complex; on the football pitch I watched the seven a side football between local cub teams which is always very competitive even though they are friends off the pitch ! In the sports hall it was the junior basketball between local villages, the teams are mixed, boys and girls, and in our team in red one of our friend’s daughter was playing – the pictures are below. On the way back we called into Bar Rojas for a lunchtime snifter as the weather was so good, warm and sunny with blue skies. As we were having a snack lunch back at the house Mano and Anna called in, he had finished work early so we went back up to Bar Rojas for another one! Later we watched the England v Spain friendly match from Wembley,Spain outplayed England and had total possession for most of the game, hitting the post twice, David Villa played out of his skin – England’s only attempt on goal resulted in Lampard scoring – 1 – 0 to England ! In the evening we had Entrecote Steak with crushed black peppercorns quickly grilled a la plancha with whole Baby Mushrooms, thinly sliced Green Beans and chips.

On Sunday morning I tried to watch the Remembrance Day parade past the Cenotaph in London but could not get it to connect on the IPlayer until later; it was a glorious day in London and it is very moving as the bands play music to match the old soldiers marching with their different regiments and association’s. It was another sunny day so we went up to Bar Rojas for a tapas lunch after we had got the Sunday roast on the go, Chicken with all the trimmings as Mano and Anna were joining us in the evening for dinner, Chicken is Anna’s favourite. At Bar Rojas we had diced liver in a rich salsa with Patatas Fritas! When we got back we watched the end of the Grand Prix from Abu Dhabi when a superb Hamilton won; After dinner we watched the late film on RTVE/1 which was “ 300 ” starring Gerard Butler as King Leonidas leading the Spartans at the battle of the Pass at Thermopylae against the invading Persian hordes ! One “ Helena ” battle ! I was reminded back to my school days when we had ‘ Houses ’ – Romans-Red, Greeks-Blue, Trojans-Yellow ( Mine ) and Spartans-Green !!

Over the weekend I have been reading a copy of ‘ The Times ’which Anna brought back from Tenerife; it is the first time in many years that I have seen a copy and especially in the tabloid format, it is printed in Madrid and as always it is a good read with lots of interesting articles on politics,book,films,music and of course the readers letters one of which was headed ‘ Ladle of Scouse ’ It started by saying that it is properly called ‘ Lobscouse ’and is known in other parts of Lancashire as ‘ lobby ’It then went on to describe the origins of the dish as I was told by my mum ! There is a dish in Norway called ‘ Lapskaus ’and was introduced into Liverpool by the sailors on the docks, the nutritious stew then fed generations of poor Liverpudlians ! She also used to tell me the story of a young pupil in a school where a friend was teaching who when asked how his mother coped with the arrival of the ninth new baby in the family replied “ Aw,miss,she just puts another cup of water and an extra carrot in the Scouse” !!

PS; As I’ am typing this the heavens have opened as forecast for today.

Thought for the Day;

“ People will forget what you said; People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made

them feel ”

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