MANILVA THIS WEEK.

MONDAY/TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY 13th/14th/15th MARCH 2012.

The forecast for this week is clear skies and warm sun; on Monday we had an at home day to catch up with the chores around the house and I disappeared into the office to loose myself on the WWW. The pictures from Melbourne came in early and just show how good Jack looks after his operation. Brenda ended up on the roof terrace taking in the sun and reading and I tried to set up a connection to watch the racing from Cheltenham over the next few days – with no luck – so I will have to follow it on the BBC Sports channel text and chat; at the same time I did have some luck as I was able to sign up and then log-on to Channel 4’s Iplayer 40D at last and I’ am now able to follow ‘Shameless’! In the evening we had Cold Pork for supper and then caught up with the news and weather; the main weather reports are on twice a day on TVE1 and are very comprehensive.

On Tuesday morning we took Cheta for her cut and trim as her coat at this time of the year starts to go, she as usual ends up looking like ‘ ET ’ as you can see in the pictures below ! Later I was in the office following the racing when the new phone went and showed the message that had appeared on ‘ Oscars ’blog; it has brought back all the memories of the Hotel Seventy Degrees back in the late 70s and early 80s. At the time it was the best and led all the others in food, style and service and of course the loyal customers and staff all helped to make it something special to be be proud of. In the evening after dinner of Pork Cutlets with our favourite Lyonnaise Potatoes we settled down and watched TV after I caught the Derby Match Liverpool v Everton – on the PC, Liverpool won 3-0 with a Gerrard hat trick – sorry Big Bri !

In the morning on Wednesday I got the Braised Steak on the go; I sauté lots of sliced Onions and then pan fry the floured steaks to brown them off, I make the sauce with diced Onions, Carrots, Garlic, Celery, Leeks, Turnips, Mushrooms and Green Beans all sautéed in Red Wine and Tomato Sauce and then a Beef and Vegetable Stock to finish – I then put all the ingredients together in a large braising dish ready to go in the oven for a couple of hours in the evening! After our walk with the dog Brenda went up on the roof terrace and I followed the racing from Cheltenham; it was very exciting and at the same time it is very frustrating as I’ am watching the text come up on the screen – I have also now found that I can listen to a commentary on Radio 5 Live at the same time ! but sadly still no pictures. After dinner we watched the football from Madrid on our local regional channel; Real beat CSKA Moscow 4-1 – aggregate 5-2 to go into the Quarter Finals of the UEFA Champions League but the match of the night was in England when Chelsea came back against Napoli after loosing badly in the first leg 3-1 and beat them 4-1 after extra time to go through to the next round as well. The late film was a political thriller a ‘Goodin’ called “ The Interpreter ”with Nicole Kidman in the title role and Sean Penn also starring in the last film directed by Sydney Pollack in 2005.


Thought for the Day;


A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.



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