MANILVA THIS WEEKEND.

FRIDAY /SATURDAY/SUNDAY 20th/21st/22nd JANUARY 2012.

The forecast for the weekend and into next week is sun and that is exactly what we have had; as the day goes on and by late morning it is hot as we are out walking the dog. On Friday morning we went down to Sabinillas to do the shopping, Carlos’s wife Ana Mari gave us a lift down so we went to both supermarkets, the bank and the English Bookshop, when we got back we then walked down to the local market for some fresh flowers and also called into the surgery to arrange an appointment for both of us for a check up and update on our hospital visits next week.Mano and Anna called in over lunchtime for a gossip and so we arranged for them to come for Sunday roast dinner as Andy was also joining us after he had completed some work on the PCs over the weekend. He has been clearing up the memory and history on both PCs and sorting out some ongoing problems as well as showing me some short cuts and updating pages; all this has made them both a lot faster after the change to our new more powerful Jazztel system on Thursday. Andy also introduced us to ‘ Hub Pages ’ an online topical blog site which you can write and post articles on and eventually earn some money by the advertising that you show in relation to your blog – so I’ am now a fully signed up ‘ Hubber ’!! Over in North Wales Tim was running in the ‘ Two Piers ’charity race, he finished in 1 hour and 13 minutes and he and his five other ‘ Muskateers ’have made over £ 2,000 ! The picture above shows them in Tim’s front garden before they set off,from the left Wes,Stacey,Tims elder daughter,Tim,Tony Baby,Cameron and finally Patrick.

I forgot to mention the football during the week here in Spain; it was the first leg of the Copa de Rey quarter final between Real Madrid and Barcelona, Barcelona won 2-1 after going a goal down early on in the match and the second leg is next week up at the Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona which is the largest football stadium in Europe – 96,366.I watched the game at home but was running up and down the street to Bar Rojas with my whistle and yellow and red cards as I had a bet with Manolo,2-0 for ‘ Barca ’ A large Bacardi and Coke !
The late film was “ Patriot Games ” 1992 with Harrison Ford and Sean Bean as the ‘ Baddie ’ based on the Tom Clancy book.

On Saturday morning after breakfast we went for a good walk with Cheta; she is getting back to her old self day by day and we ended up back at Bar Rojas where we had a light Tapas lunch sat outside in the warm sunshine, two sorts of ‘ Albondigas ’ and Lumy’s ‘ Carne de Tomate ’! The pictures above show the football down at the ground and also an update on the work on the new retaining wall. When we came back we made a Trifle for Sunday dinner; I used Manzanilla Sherry from Sanlucar de Barrameda where Mano was born, the sponge was ‘ Pandoro Verona ’ which come from an old 1894 recipe, Strawberry Jam,Peaches,Pineapple and Strawberries and Brenda made the Strawberry jelly and custard ! We topped it off with the whipped cream on Sunday evening and shavings of Mars Bar ! Sadly I didn’t’ take a picture as it went very quickly !!

In the afternoon Andy came around after a sleep as he had worked on Friday night at the Manilva Green Aparthotel, as night manager, to do some more work on the PCs and stayed for supper before he went into work again – it was Steak and Chips with all the trimmings. We then watched another classic film from 1990, “ The Griffters ”with John Cusak,Anjelica Huston and Annette Bening in the main parts, one to watch with two surprise s at the end !!

Yesterday,Sunday,was another glorious day in Sunny Manilva; in the morning we got the Roast Chicken on the go with Sage and Onion Stuffing and Pan Gravy, Brenda’s vegetables were, Cauliflower and Broccoli Florets in Cheese sauce, Glazed Carrotts,Cabbage with Alselgas, Sliced Green Beans and Garden Peas and Baby New Potatoes and I did the Roast Potatoes. After lunch I watched the match between Tottenham and Manchester City – City won 3-2 after a last minute of injury time penalty ! Here in Spain both Barcelona and Real Madrid won 4-1 including a Messi hat-trick !

Mano and Anna came around in the evening and joined us along with Andy for a “ Helluva ” Sunday dinner, Andy has been able to spend the time here on the PCs in between work as his new lady Maria is away in Seville with her family for the week. After dinner we all sat down and relaxed to let the food go down and on a Spanish Documentary Channel I programme had just started; it turned out to be a classic BBC show about Ewan McGregor’s and Charley Boorman’s motorcycle journey around the world from London to New York over 22,345 miles “ Long Way Round ”from 2004. It was the complete show not in episodes and was on for a “ Helluva ” time ! Eventually Mano and Anna went home, Brenda went to bed, Andy went to sleep and then went home and I stayed up to the end ! The best bits where in Outer Mongolia and Russia; in Mongolia they had to eat a soup,/broth made from Lambs, Goats and any other testicles that the herdsmen could find !! In Russia, in Siberia, they hit the notorious and very dangerous ‘ Road of Bones ’which was made by the political prisoners in the Gulags back in the1930s when Stalin was in power, as they died or were shot their bodies were buried into the road ! The picture above shows then at work.

Thought for the Day;

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that counts, it’s the life in your years.


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