MANILVA OVER THE WEEKEND.

FRIDAY/SATURDAY/SUNDAY 9th/10th/11th MARCH 2012.

This weekend the forecast yet again is clear skies, sun and a little breeze; first thing on Friday morning Mano picked us up and we shot across to our bank in Estepona as we needed to collect some cash and also they are now offering very competitive car insurance. David our bank manager was very helpful and also Mano who is an agent for the bank; The bank is now called ‘ Targa Bank ’after a merger and are now offering lots more services. We had one slight hiccup as I had left the Smart car insurance forms in the file when I sold it! We needed it as this was the first time we have had a Spanish Car Insurance and to claim the no-claims bonus we needed proof ! After a bit of a chase round we finally got in touch with our old insurance agents in Colwyn Bay and arranged for the necessary documents to be e-mailed to the bank ! So it was then back to Manilva to meet and collect the keys and documents from the owner who we met in Bodega Augustine ( The Office ) We then set off in the new car down to Sabinillas to do the shopping as you can see in the pictures below. We are parking the car in the underground council car park over the weekend and will reclaim our spot in the small square behind our house next week ! In the evening we treated ourselves to a night out up at Bar Rojas for supper and to give the Chef and his assistant a night off ! Brenda had ‘ Gallo Frito ’with Tomato salad and I had ‘ Huevos Frito with Patatas Fritas ’which is served with fried Garlic Cloves which Brenda loves ! The late classic film was “ Casablanca “ from 1942 – they don’t make films like this now !

On Saturday morning we went out in the car over to Marbella to the car Hypermarket to buy two yellow fluorescent jackets and a breakdown triangle that you are required by law to have along with spare bulbs etc.As we reached the exit the van behind us flashed his lights, I had just felt a small bump, when I looked in the wing mirror I saw that the rear off-side tyre had gone and the sparks were flying ! We limped in the car repair bay which very luckily was not far !! The tires had passed the ITV( MOT ) three months ago but we did realize that we would need to check them before the next one in November – but not so soon ! The law in Spain about tires is that they should match one another front and back – so you have to have two new tires ! We ended up doing a deal and getting a very good rate for four as we thought that we might as well do it now than later !! This also meant that we had a couple of hours to window shop in ‘ La Canadia ’ which is the largest shopping mall on the coast, so we did a little shopping in the food Hypermarket and also called into the new Marks and Spencer’s. On the way back to pick up the car, they are very efficient and tell you when it will be ready, then call and text you at the same time, we stopped for a coffee in a ‘Chringito ’outside the front entrance which is were I took the picture above of the Paella! The car on the way back was a dream with a smoother ride, positive steering and braking- all the result of the new tires! Mano and Anna called in with Fabio after lunch to catch up with the news. Later in the afternoon I watched the Rugby Six Nations from the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff – Wales beat Italy 24-3 and opened up in the second half. Over in England Liverpool lost to Sunderland 1-0 and played terrible. In the evening we had Sirloin Steaks for dinner which we bought earlier at the food Hypermarket with all the trimmings and then settled down to watch the late film – “ The Sum of Fears “ from 2002 with Morgan Freeman and Ben Affleck as a young ‘ Jack Ryan ’ it is a political/action thriller.

Sunday morning after a little lie in we got the roast on the go – Loin of Pork, Brenda prepared all her vegetables and Potatoes and we then had for a change a good old fashioned Prawn Cocktail made with Brenda’s famous Marie Rose sauce! We had bought the Gambas over in Marbella and they were tasty and juicy and large! In the afternoon our friends Peter, Barbara and their children Jake, Megan and Leah called in to help me finalize the installing of the new phone settings as they had last years model of the same phone – so now thanks to Peter I’ am fully operational with Skype Video,Facebook,Googlemail,Sextons Blog,Contacts,Internet and Wi Fi !! Later I watched the Rugby from Paris – England beat the French 22-24 and scored three great tries ! The French missed a penalty kick in the last few second to win the game !! The football over in England was rather exciting as Manchester Utd. beat West Brom 2-0 and Manchester City lost at Swansea 1-0 so Utd, are one point ahead in the Premier League and Brian’s Everton had a good win over Spurs 1-0.Real Madrid and Barcelona both won away so there is no change at the top in ‘ La Liga ’ Another good result was in the Paris – Nice cycle race over the last week when Bradley Wiggins won, only the second Englishman to win the race- the last was Tom Simpson 45 years ago – his hero, my Dads’ hero and mine ! In the evening Mano and Anna joined us the for the Sunday roast and we then watched with them ‘ The Million Euro Drop ’ and with their help we got more answers right and even guessed the questions !! The still give the money in Pesetas so as to make it look more !! Also above is the picture from Mano and Anna’s house, as promised a few weeks ago of the poet ‘ Lorca ’ We then caught a late film, one that we had not seen before, it starred Jodie Foster as a mother who wakes up on a transatlantic flight to find that her young daughter has gone missing – “ Flightplan ” with Sean Bean as the pilot- don’t miss it – it is very gripping !

PS; The pictures below came in this morning from Melbourne and show how well Jack is looking,the two great grandchildren are Michael and Kelly's ,Deb's son who we last saw when he was about five over in North Wales when Deb came over on a visit from Australia and stayed with Brenda's mum and dad !

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Thought for the Day;


Ability without control is worthless.



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