MANILVA THIS WEEKEND.

SATURDAY/SUNDAY/MONDAY 3^rd/4^th/5^th DECEMBER 2011.

The forecast for the weekend was good but it turned out to be gorgeous as the sun was out all day, the blue skies and no breeze added to the overall December days down here on the ‘Costa del Sol ’ After breakfast on Saturday morning we freshened ourselves up, the new super shower is brilliant, we can’t stop using it ! Barbara posted on Facebook that her sons,Jake,team was playing at home so we shot down to the football ground but the match had started early and when we got there as you can see in the picture below it had finished ! We then went and watched the Girls Basketball, which is always very competitive, sadly Manilva in the red tops lost mainly because they did nor convert their penalty shots. We had Cheta with us and she was in Brenda’s arm watching the game; we then walked back around the village and found more of the new tourist signs had gone up and the work on the new square next to the Wine Centre is picking up again, the council must have found some money in the coffers! As we got back to Bar Rojas we met Andy and his new lady Maria so we sat and talked as we took in the lunchtime sun outside under the ‘Sonbrajo ’ Later we spoke to Lilli on the Skype Video over in Pori when she called us, we caught up with all her news and Brenda had a good chat.

In the afternoon I watched the Wales v Australia Rugby from the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales lost but it was a good game and Shane Williams scored a try right at the end of the game on his final appearance for Wales! For dinner we had Steak a la Plancha smothered in crushed Black Peppercorns with Chips for dinner and then settled down to watch the TV. The film that I found was called ‘ Blow ’and starred Johnny Depp, it followed his life from a child in the mid-west to a world wide international drug baron; the title is slang for Cocaine, in the 1970s in the USA he was the person that started the drug business in Miami. He was in and out of prison all the time, had a family and lost billons of pounds over the years as various drug cartels took over ,he always bounced back but finally ended up in jail at the end of the film, the twist was that it was a true story and the real person ‘ George Yung ’is not due out of prison until 2015 ! Later on TVE2 there was a documentary on the life of ‘ Rock Hudson ’ It was in English with a Spanish overdub so you could follow it quite well; it of course was mainly about his Homosexual history and his death from Aids, it showed how the powerful studio bosses hid the facts and also interviewed all his old boyfriends over the years !

On Sunday after a little lie in we went for a long walk with Cheta and finished back up at Bar Rojas for a Tapas Lunch, Lumy had just made our favourite diced Liver with Potatoes, then Mano and Anna came along and joined is for a drink. In the evening we had roasted Lamb Cutlets on Boulangere Potatoes, that I had made in the morning, for supper before we watched another good documentary, this time it was about ‘ Lemmy ‘ from ‘ Motorhead ’ A bit different to the previous nights ! It showed him on tour, ending up in Russia and interviewed all the old ageing rockers, who still dress and talk the same although time, drink and drugs have taken their toll !

Speaking to Anna on Monday morning it turned out the she knew him as he was growing up in Llandudno,he came from Anglesey originally, she even went to Manchester to see him play in his first band ! It’s a small world !!

We were up bright and early on Monday morning and walked around to make an appointment for Brenda to get the results of her scan on her legs; on the way back we called into the butchers to pick up some meat for the next couple of days at we have two bank holidays here in Spain, on Tuesday it is ‘ Constitution Day ’when they celebrate the start of democracy 36 years ago after Franco died and on Thursday it is ‘ Immaculate Conception Day ’ a catholic holiday. We picked up some Pork Cutlets and diced Beef for a Beef and Mushroom Pie on Wednesday. We then spotted some Liver in the other butchers in the village that we don’t use often; she cut it thin as I asked her to do but I could not make out what sort it was. On the way back we bumped into Anna who was out for a walk and went back to our house for a cup of tea and biscuits; we then walked down with Anna back to her house,Mano was out in Estepona signing on the dole, so we could get some Pine Tree cuttings for our Xmas decorations; as we got to her urbanization where she is the President her next door neighbour,Tony, who we know had just arrived back from England with his pride and joy, his ‘ Lotus 7 ’as you can see in the pictures below. It had had some work done on it over in England so as he can drive it over here, it is also rather unusual in that it is left-hand drive. When he has finished getting it ready Anna as been promised a ride ! As we got back to the house in the afternoon we put the Xmas Decorations up and dressed the tree, the pictures are above. In the evening we had the Liver for supper, I dusted it in flour and just seared it in foaming butter, I sautéed some sliced Onions and cooked the Smoked Bacon crisp,Brenda had sliced some fine Green Beans and also some local Carrots diced to go with it and we also had a dish of Boulangere Potatoes from the night before; to say that it was good is an understatement, it was delicious, melted in the mouth and tasted divine we could not stop drooling over it !! A memorable meal !!

Thought for the Day;

Any idiot can face a crisis – it’s the day to day living that wears you out.

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