SHARP AND CRISP IN SUNNY MANILVA AT THE START OF THE WEEK;

MONDAY 3^rd/ MARCH 2014.

Well today is OK but there is a stiff breeze blowing in from the Atlantic so you need a coat on! See the picture above of the ‘Plaza Vendimia’ this lunchtime.

After breakfast I made a fresh batch of my famous ‘Tomato Salsa’using local Plum Tomatoes, chopped Garlic, Onions &Red Peppers, Red wine, Malt vinegar,Sugar,Tomato Frito and Heinz Tomato Ketchup! A good vegetable stock and lots of seasonings to taste,Salt,White & Black Pepper, Mixed Herbs, a dash of Tabasco and a drop of Worcestershire sauce. All cooked off and then blended!

Tonight we are having ‘Fillet of Pork Schnitzels’ pan-fried in foaming Lemon Butter with ‘Spaghetti Milanaise’ on the side, the Spaghetti is tossed in a rich,youv’e guessed, Tomato Salsa!! Diamond cut Green Beans are arriving from the vegetables department.

No appointments or plans this week, so far but next week we have two visits to the hospital for Eye check ups for Brenda and of course I’ am hopefully picking up my Spanish Driving License! Over in Australia the ‘Gang of Four’ have left Alice Springs and flying east across the country to Cairns in Queensland on the coast of the ‘Coral Sea’ and the ‘Great Barrier Reef’ marine park! No pictures at the moment so I’ve taken a picture of the large map of Australia on the wall behind me for info! Also you can see the new pin-board with postcards that we have put up,we love receiving them – old fashioned but still a nice surprise!

NEWS FLASH; 

The intrepid 'Gang of For' have arrived in Cairns after being diverted north to Darwin and then taking another flight across to Cairns through a thunderstorm - arrived safely and have had their first drink or two!!

TV UPDATE;

Over the weekend we have had a good chance to watch some films and programmes on the various main channels; on Sunday afternoon Brenda watched the classic “ Ronin” from 1998 with Robert De Niro,Jean Reno,Sean Bean,Jonathan Pryce and Natasher McElhone – the two classic car chases through Nice and Paris are not to be missed!

We also caught “Edge of Darkness” from 2010 with Mel Gibson,Danwy Heston,Boyana Novakovic and our own Ray Winston doing what he does best- playing a threatening mysterious character! It’s a murder,mystery,spy drama based in Boston where Mel Gibson is a detective – watch it and enjoy!

The highlight, for me especially was finding on TVE 2 ( Spain’s BBC2!) the start of a very good and interesting documentary “ Great Continental Train Journeys” from 2012 which is hosted by Michael Portillo as he travels around Europe on some of the great train routes holding in his hand the classic ‘George Bradshaw’s’ – ‘ Continental Railway Guide’ In his own style he follows the information in the book and visits all the places, towns etc. This edition was from London to Monte Carlo, the train ride along the coast through Antibes, Nice and into Monte Carlo was spectacular! 12 more episodes to look forward to including the classic line built by British engineers from Algeciras to Ronda which we have been on, I have a video of the entire route through the mountains!

Thought for the Day; See above.

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