MANILVA OVER THE WEEKEND.

THURSDAY/SUNDAY 22nd/ 25th/ MARCH 2012.

The forecast over the weekend is a little cloudy and cooler; when it goes nice over in England we always get the tail end of the bad weather down here on the Costa de Sol. On Thursday we had one of our at home days; over last weekend our neighbors husband was taken into hospital, once again, he had a bad stroke over six years ago and has never recovered and sadly this time he died on Wednesday evening so we are going to our first Spanish funeral on Friday evening. We spent the day pottering about after a quick walk the dog in the morning and in the evening for supper we had the Liver and Sausage Casserole with Cabbage and square Chips before we settled down to watch a film; “ Fracture ” from 2007 was a courtroom drama with lots of twists starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling – very good.

We did the shopping on Friday morning and picked up the papers and when we came back we went for a walk with Cheta and picked up some flowers from the local market, In the afternoon we got the black clothes out and walked around to Santa Ana Church for the funeral service; before we left we had learned all the right words and phrase’s to say to the family – after the ceremony his coffin was carried around to the walled cemetery next to the church were it was placed in the family vault. One of the family explained to us about the proceedings and also introduced us to all the extended family. Funerals here take place very quickly, at the most within two days and are in fact very informal. For dinner we had Hake Fillets again as I had made earlier another pot of Tomato sauce which we have found to be very versatile and also we enjoy the local Tomatoes in particular. The late films were golden oldies –“ Spartacus ” with Kirk Douglas and “ Moses ”with Charlton Heston !

On Saturday morning it was as forecast cloudy and cool ( only 18 degs. ) and also we had a little shower so Cheta just stayed in the house and ran amuck ! I watched the Grand Prix qualifying from Malaysia on Spanish TV and later on the PC in the office the English Football , Liverpool played terrible and lost to Wigan, the bottom team, at home 1-2 – the press and public are starting to call for Dalglish’s head already ! Meanwhile Everton had a great win away at Swansea 0-2 ! In the evening both Barcelona and Real Madrid won so there is no change at the top of ‘ La Liga ’ In the evening after our steak and chip dinner we caught a very good film that we had not seen before – “ The Ghost Writer ” It was only made in 2010 by Roman Polanski and starred in the title role Ewan McGregor with Piers Brosnan playing the part of a character based on Tony Blair and Kim Cattrall playing the blond PR lady ! It is a political thriller based on a Robert Harris novel were fact and fiction are mixed – one to catch.

First thing on Sunday morning I called Jane over in Chester to get the low down on her news that she had just posted on Facebook about some new projects that she and David are taking on; they have taken over a long standing family bakery business and shop ( 1825 ) in Northwich where they live and also they have been approached to open a fabulous new café celebrating Cheshire produce at the new J & S motorcycle heaven at the old Harrington’s caravan site at Delamere just up the road from Oulton Park Circuit ! David and Paul meanwhile have two new sites in mind to expand the “ Lord Binning ” empire in Cheshire – watch this space !!
We then got the roast on the go – Chicken with Brenda’s fine selection of vegetables ; Cabbage with local Alselgas from our neighbors Campo, Carrot and Turnip Batons,Cauiflower Mornay and Leeks in a Cheese sauce, Garden Peas and Baby New Potatoes and of course crisp Roast Potatoes along with Sage and Onion Stuffing and finger licking gravy ! Mano and Anna had called in earlier with Fabio and so they joined us later for dinner. In the afternoon we watched the Grand Prix which was delayed by a tropical rain storm – Alonso won after Button made a not typical mistake and McLaren’s slow pit stops for Hamilton also cost both of them the race. After Mano and Anna had gone home we watched another excellent film starring Vin Diesel in which he actually acted for a change; called “ Find me Guilty ” 2006 it was the true story of the longest ever Mafia trial in New York history, he plays the part of ‘ Jackie DiNorsci ’a Mafia mobster back in the 1980s who defends himself and the other gangsters in the dock – the courtroom drama got great reviews and especially for Vin Diesel’s acting – catch it when you can !


Thought for the Day;


He who smiles rather than rages is always stronger.



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