A CRISP AND SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY;

SATURDAY 21^st / FEBRUARY 2015.

I was up early this morning as we went to bed early as there was no good films on the TV last night, the ‘Child Bride’ meanwhile is still fast a sleep and dreaming?! I’ve been on the WWW already and have read the online newspapers,E-Mails,Facebook messages and ‘likes’ and done some research on Google/Wikipedia,you will find out later what it’s about!

To start the day ahead I had two ‘Campo’ Poached Eggs on Toast and Brenda had a ‘Campo’ Boiled Egg with toast fingers & mugs of steaming tea; I’ve also logged on upstairs in the office on the smaller PC to watch later ‘Saturday Kitchen Live’ on ‘BBC TV 1’ – at the moment I’m watching the ‘Breakfast News’ as I’m typing the Blog.

Today the sky is blue and the sun is out, the forecast is for a crisp/warm day ahead with more of the same over the weekend and into the start of next week. It’s now a lot milder but for the time of the year it’s still the coldest spell on record, please note Mr. Ian Duncan Smith!

Later I will with help of the ‘Assistant Chef’ ( Newly Promoted from Commis!) prepare tonight’s supper “ Entrecote Steak” cooked on a very hot griddle plate ‘Med-Rare’ with sautéed Baby Mushrooms & Shallots, whole fine Green Beans and in honor of ‘National Chip Week’ we are having traditional 'Chips' like your mother used to make but twice-cooked! See below the 'Chips'served in this weeks 'Resident Newspaper' Cone'!!

Speaking of the ‘National Chip Week’ – in the Welsh edition of the ‘Daily Post’ on-line they have a competition to find the North Wales ‘Chip Shop of the Year’ and two of the shops names are rather good as you can see below; in Llandudno the “ Chish & Fips” and in Bangor “ O My Cod” !!

Which reminds us that our favorite chip shop was ‘Tribelles’ in Llandudno, who were also customers at the Hotel Seventy Degrees, we used to take family and friends there, on our days off when we were over in North Wales we used to go and eat our ‘Haddock, Chips & Mushy Peas’ in paper, sat on the promenade in the shelters overlooking the ‘Great Orme’ and the sea!

At lunchtime ‘Scruffy’ is due here in ‘Doggy Word Heaven’ for a one day sleep over, he’s being picked up on Sunday evening. no doubt ‘Chispa’ will also be here a little later, so we will go for a nice walk after lunch.Next week 'Reina' is with us on Tuesday & Thursday as normal and 'Scruffy' is back on Tuesday for a one night sleep over before being picked up on Wednesday evening! 

No ‘Six Nations Rugby’ today over in the UK but in the ‘Premiere League’ Manchester City welcome Newcastle and then tomorrow Everton welcome Leicester and Liverpool travel to Southampton, in ‘La Liga’ over here Barcelona welcome Malaga and Real Madrid travel to Elche.

As I said last night we could not find a film to watch so I was channel hopping and ended up on Gibraltar TV ‘GBC’ and found a marvelous programme to follow “ ‘Sky Arts’ Portrait Painter of the Year 2014 ” The compares of the show are Joan Bakewell, who used to be the ‘Thinking Man’s Crumpet’ and rather surprisingly the comedian Frank Skinner, who actually is rather good.

The painters have been chosen after submitting their ‘Self Portrait’ – then three guest celebrity’s pose, in this edition from Edinburgh, before four painters each, at the end of the four hours allowed they then choose their favorite picture to keep! Meanwhile the three judges choose the final three portraits before selecting the winner to go forward to the semi-finals.

Time elapse photography is used to show how the paintings evolve and the various painters, of all ages and backgrounds are interviewed as they paint, one of them last night even put on a ‘Painters Smock’ much to the amusement of the judges, he looked like ‘Vincent Van Gogh’ Another young lady used the ‘Square’ method of portrait painting invented by ‘Leonardo Da Vinci!

The three judges ‘Tai Shan Schierenberg’ ‘Kathleen Soriano’and ‘Kate Bryan’ show the three celebrities’s how they want them to pose, this edition they were Lord Julian Fellows ( Downton Abbey) the QC Helena Kennedy and the impressionist Ronni Ancona, who at one moment nodded off!

Please find and watch, if you can, there are many episodes and this morning I see that ‘BBC TV’ tomorrow evening is starting its own version of the programme!! This year the 'Sky Arts' programme is ‘Landscape Artist of the Year 2015’ No doubt Josie will be commenting later, from up north in Skelton, as in her previous life she was heavily involved in the art world as a lecturer/ ‘mentor’ and one of her favorite forms of painting is old & new ‘Landscapes’!!

The 7th 'New Moon Pub Company' Gastropub is due to open in early May at the premises below in the heart of Liverpool;

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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