MANILVA START OR THE WEEK.

MONDAY/TUESDAY 13th/14th FEBRUARY 2012.

First thing on Monday morning we made contact with Lyn over in Melbourne as on Sunday when Brenda was talking to Jenny over in England she told her that Jack had gone onto hospital over the weekend and was due this coming Thursday to have open heart surgery ! Lyn is moving to a hotel nearer the hospital so that she does not have to drive and will be able to walk to the hospital, our thoughts are with her and both their families at this worrying time, Jack is his usual bright self and hopefully this will sort out his problems.

PS; Jack has come through the surgery very well,he is in intensive care,stable and the Doctor's are very pleased with him ! Our thought's and love to Lyn and all the families. xx Jack has had the breathing tube removed and is smiling at Lyn !

The forecast for the week is fine with a little cloud on some days; Brenda popped around to the surgery to make an appointment to get her stitches taken out on Wednesday morning, she also has an appointment at the hospital on Thursday morning to get the results of the scans and then next week another one on Tuesday to find out the results of the bi-opsy. As usual Cheta is in and out in the mornings and goes for her walk with us around the village; after lunch I caught up with the WWW.and then started to look at the new Blackberry – I need Mano to call in to activate the system with Jazztel and I should be then up and running. For dinner we had Pork Cutlets as there was no Beef left with the leftover vegetables and potatoes and then settled down to watch a film; ‘ Absolute Power ’1997 is a political/crime/murder thriller produced and directed by Clint Eastwood with him in the main part ! Gene Hackman and Ed Harris play the other main characters and I won’t revel the plot so as not to spoil it for you – one to watch !

SAINT VALENTINES DAY;

Another sunny day in Manilva; after a little lie in we had our tea and toast went for a walk with dog. We decided to have a day off and take things easy around the house. Brenda as usual still found things to do, she says that she gets bored, I meanwhile was in the office checking out Facebook and the Googlemail and then carried on reading a book that I’ am into, it’s a crime thriller about deceit and death called ‘ Costa Del Sol ’ written by Des Wilson and is based back in the late eighties just as things were taking off down here so the story is based around Marbella,Puerto Banus,Estepona,Casares and Ronda – it even mentions bars and restaurants that are still going,the main characters have just had dinner in ‘ Toni Dalli’s ’which closed only last year and in the book as he did when we went there a couple of hear ago the Italian singer, once an international star came and sang at the table !
In the evening for dinner we had something a little different; an old classic that we used to ‘ Sell ’ back in the good old days of the Seventy Degrees – “ Poulet Sauté Marengo ” – I told the true story about it being Napoleon’s favourite dish that was created for him by his chef,Dunard, after Bonaparte won the Battle of Marengo against the Austrians in the year 1800 ! It was created from the ingredients that the chef found in the farm yard at the time; our version is based on the ‘Escoffier ’recipe. This was a joint venture with Brenda; I poached the Chicken Breast’s in a Chicken and vegetable Court Bouillon, Brenda had cooked the Basmati rice to perfection and at the same time prepared the finely sliced Green Beans and Asparagus to go with the dish, I peeled the local Prawns and they went in the Lobster Cream sauce and at the last moment Brenda poached her famous eggs ! We then placed the poached eggs on top of the Chicken Breasts and coated them with the rich sauce – it was mouth watering good – even if we do say so ourselves ! Meanwhile over in England Brian and Lilli,who were our guest last year on the same night, took their best friends to the ‘ Lord Binning ’ at Kelsall ! The reports just coming in are fantastic food, spot on service and great atmosphere and made to feel very welcome by the team along with David, Jane and Paul ! ‘ Top Notch – Praise The Lord ’

PS; Claire, Brian’s sister has just got back from the hospital with baby Ebony, it turns out that Claire’s mums instinct was right, the baby has got a broken collar bone ! Fracture Clinic tomorrow !! It also turn’s out that Lilli was honored to be in at the birth !!

PPS; Barcelona beat Bayer Leverkusen 1-3 in Germany in the first leg of the Champions League and now have one foot in the quarter- finals.

Thought for the Day; A poem written by Federico Garcia Lorca 1898 -1936. – ‘ The Village ’

Upon a barren mount.
A calvary,
Clear water
And century old olive trees.
In the narrow streets,
Men hidden under cloaks;
And on the towers,
Weather vanes spinning.
Eternally spinning.
Oh,lost village in the Andalusia of tears !

He was shot by the Franco regime at the start of the Civil War in 1936 and even today he is talked about.



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