MANILVA AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND.

THURSDAY 17^th/ FRIDAY 18^th/ JANUARY 2013.

It was still sunny and clear on Thursday as we went for our walk with the dog; when we got back Andy called in and as you can see fixed the seat covers in the Fiesta. Next on the list to fix/update is the radio and then we are up to date, hopefully, with the car! I managed to get the BBCTVIPlayer working for a short while and so I was able to catch up with ‘Saturday Morning Kitchen. One of the guest Chefs made a golden oldie ‘ Coq Au Vin’ so this Sunday for a change I’ve put it on the menu; he showed how to cut up the whole Chicken into 13 equal pieces, I think I can get more – watch this space! This morning we found in the wholesale greengrocers down in Sabinillas some Shallots for the first time, so my recipe will be very authentic along with the Button Mushrooms and Bacon Lardons cut from a thick slice of our local Bacon; I’am marinating the Chicken pieces in a whole bottle of local Red Wine on Saturday ready for Sunday; we are going to have Brenda’s famous Mashed Potato with it and Baby Carrots and Garden Peas mixed, another old favourite.Andy and Marie are joining us for dinner – I’ am going to also make my famous ‘ Crepes ’cooked to order and served with all sorts of sweet goodies! After supper on Thursday evening, we had ‘Pan Seared Calves Liver’ with a small Lamb Chop from the English butchers over in Guadalmina,which we picked up on the way back from the hospital together with more Lyonnaise Potatoes that I had made – we watched our Spanish Soap and caught up with the ‘ Copa Del Rey’ results, Real Madrid beat Valencia 2-0 in the first leg and Barcelona drew with Malaga 2-2 in Madrid after going two up – the return leg in Malaga next week is going to be a cracker! It means that if Barcelona and Real win they will meet in the semi-finals.

This morning we have been down to Sabinillas for the shopping, we called into the Sports Office on the way and got a refund for our basketball tickets; as you can see below we missed a really exciting game in the main sports hall over in Malaga, two coaches went with 110 people from the village – Real Madrid beat Unicaja Malaga 64-72 – It is on TVE1 on Sunday on the Basketball highlights show so we will watch it then! Over in Pori in Finland I hope Brian and Lilli are wrapped up well as it is – 22degs! Lilli does have a new pair of ‘Uggs’ so she should be OK! – We are thinking of you both over here in sunny Manilva!! This evening for supper we are having Fresh Gambas a la Plancha with salad and we will then catch a film.We caught " Double Jeopardy " from 1999 with Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones, a murder mystery with a twist and then later " Cliffhanger " with Slyvester Stallone and John Lithgow, Stallone doing his thing in the mountains and Lithgow being a nasty Baddie.

PS; This afternoon a letter arrived in our post box from Finland(Correctly) addressed to the Don and Dona Sexton;it was a very nice thank you card for us both and a typical birthday card for me - the problem is that it has taken nearly five months to get to us from Brian and Lilli in Pori !! They must have sent it in September 2012 after their visit for 'Vandimia ' at the start of the month !! Thanks and love to Brian and Lilli - Keep warm !!

PPS; When can we expect the Xmas card to arrive !!!!!!!!!!!  ( It did arrive on time - only joking !)

Thoughts for the Day;

Adversity introduces a man to himself.   Tough times never last, but tough people do.

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