THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA;

A STILL VERY HOT AND SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY;

TUESDAY 31^st/ MARCH 2015

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I was up early this morning to welcome back little princess ‘Reina’ for the day, we all had a nice short lie in and then after our usual breakfast we sorted ourselves out ready for tomorrows adventures out and about on the ‘Costa Del Sol’

At lunchtime ‘Scruffy’ is joining us for a sleep over, his first of the week, he’s back on Saturday for another one ‘Reina’ is also here, as usual, on Thursday then she’s back on Friday for a sleep over and then all day on Saturday.

The forecast of the fine, hot and sunny weather is continuing up to Easter Sunday, the last day of ‘Semana Santa’ week here in sunny Manilva with the final two processions taking place at lunchtime. Yesterday it reached 31 degs here in little old, sunny Manilva and we made the evenings main weather news as the hottest place in Spain!!

Sadly on Monday the forecast is for some of the wet stuff coming back, it’s the tail end, again, of the bad weather hitting England over the Bank Holiday weekend !

At the moment Brenda is shampooing her hair, drying it with her new hairdryer, and then sorting out her wardrobe for tomorrow, we are looking forward to our day out with Den & Josie over in Estepona, visiting the new ‘Orchid House & Botanic Park’ then lunch at ‘Cocomo’ and later in San Pedro to walk round the new ‘Boulevard’ and stop for a cool drink!

We went for a nice walk in the very hot sunshine with 'Reina' & Chispa down to the bottom of the village,all the local bars are closed, Rojas,Ocana,Las Vinas & Augustine ?! So we called into Carlos's 'Bar Antiguo'' for a nice cool drinks and took in the sights,sounds and the smell of the fresh cut grass!

When we got back to the house are Swedish friend Lillymor called in,we had a good catch up and gossip,she's here for a couple of months then goes back to Gotenberg before returning later in the year,

                                                                          Everyday !

Back to today and this evenings supper, we are having Grilled ‘Gammon Steak’ with Pineapple and also topped with a fried Campo Egg, Garden Peas and of course some twice-cooked ‘Frits’ Not forgetting the ‘HP’ sauce!

Last night we watched after supper a American miniseries “ The Red Tent” from 2014 about a family and the story of Dinah,the only daughter, its in the time of the Old Testaments Patriarchs of the Book of Genesis; Rebecca Ferguson is ‘Dinah’ and her father is played the Scottish actor Iain Glen who many years ago when he was making one of his first films for BBC TV stayed with us at the Hotel Seventy Degrees along with the now famous actress Joanne Whalley (Kilmer) - the cast also includes Mini Driver,Morena Baccarin.Debra Winger and Vinette Robinson – its one ‘Helluva’ tail with lots of twists and turns – get your hankies ready !

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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THE STREETS OF SUNNY MANILVA WITH WALL POTS;

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA;

A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF ' SEMANA SANTA' WEEK;

MONDAY 30^th/ MARCH 2015.  “ THE ‘ QUEENS ’ BIRTHDAY ” ( JOSIE) !

I was up before the street lights had gone off this morning and shot down to the surgery for my appointment for my blood tests ready for my six month check up with my ‘Prostrate’ consultant next Wednesday at the hospital over in Marbella.

At lunchtime I went back to the surgery to see the doctor for my 3 month check up,I made the appointment this morning, at the same time my prescriptions were updated.

It was shirt sleeve weather as I set off, the sky is blue and the sun is out, by lunchtime its going to reach 29/30 degs, overnight the temperature only dropped to a balmy 18 degs so we are getting out the summer light duvet, the forecast for the week ahead on over the ‘Bank Holiday’ weekend is for more of the same.

During the week and up to Sunday it’s of course the ‘Semana Santa’ processions  with the various ‘Tronos’ carried by the Brotherhoods( Costaloros) along with the Senoritas in their full black attire with the traditional ‘Mantillas' in their hair and the Seniors in their distinctive robbed capes (Capa) with the tall pointed ‘Capirotes’

When I got back to the house I treated myself to crispy Smoked Bacon & a Campo fried Egg with toast and a mug of tea, just what I fancied to set me up for the week ahead!

Today its ‘Josie’s  official birthday, we are going out on Wednesday to celebrate it in style with a visit to Estepona to check out the new ‘Orchid House & Botanic Park’ – then its lunch at ‘Cocomo’on the Golden Mile past Estepona  followed by a tour around the new ‘Boulevard’ in San Pedro as Den has not see it, a very “ Happy Birthday ” Josie, lots of love Malcolm & Brenda xxxx

PS; The ‘State’ Banquet is taking place on Easter Sunday with on the menu assorted Tapas and chilled Cava to start, followed by Roast ‘Crown’ of Turkey with all the trimmings including the ‘Queens’ favorite ‘Bread Sauce’ and of course a large selection of Brenda’s vegetables & potatoes – the dessert is a rather special ‘Trifle’ served in our new ‘Royal’ cut glass Trifle dish! Various fine wines& liqueurs will be served with the meal and after!!

We had our weekly Menu planning meeting this morning; this evening we are having the rest of the ‘Cottage Pie’ then tomorrow evening its Grilled Gammon with Pineapple and a Campo fried Egg with Chips, on Wednesday we are out for lunch then on Thursday it will be something from the fridge before fish on ‘Good Friday’tbc.Saturday is ‘Steak Night’ before Easter Sunday’s banquet!

See below Brenda's famous " Prawn Cocktail " 'Marie Rose' - lunch today!

‘Doggy World Heaven’ is also very busy this week with ‘Reina’ here on Tuesday & Thursday as well as a sleep over on Friday until Saturday evening ‘Scruffy’ is due on Tuesday for a sleep over as well as the same on Saturday, no doubt ‘Chispa’ will be joining them as the week goes on; yesterday afternoon Brian & Jan called in to confirm the dates at the end of May when ‘ Charlie’ is coming to stay with us for eight days when they go on holiday to Liverpool.

Over the weekend their was some surprises at the ‘Grand Prix’ in Malaya as Vettel won in the Ferrari when Hamilton’s team chose the wrong tires and at the ‘Motor GP’ when Rossi won when Marc Marquez made a mistake on the first corner!!

This evening after supper we will catch up with all the news,sport and weather details before settling down to find something to watch.

See below some pictures taken by our friend  Big Bri' at lunchtime today from the terrace of the Manilva Green Aparthotel;

                                            In the bottom picture you can see the road up from Sabinillas!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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" PALM SUNDAY " PROCESSION OF THE 'LA BORRIQUITA' IN SUNNY MANILVA'

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM A VERY SUNNY AND HOT MANILVA;

A VERY HOT AND SUNNY MANILVA ON " PALM SUNDAY"

SUNDAY 29^th/ MARCH 2015          “ PALM SUNDAY ”

Last night was the warmest night on record for this time of the year as the tempretetures reached 14/15 degs and today its forecast to rise during the day to 27/28degs! We were up early despite loosing the hour as we have busy day ahead of us; after a quick breakfast I got the ‘Mince’ on the go for tonight’s ‘Cottage Pie’ that Brenda will top later with her famous Mashed potato!

The mince is made with a good rich Beef & Vegetable stock after sweating off the finely diced Carrots,Onions,Celery,Leeks, Turnips & Mushrooms along with the Beef & Pork Mince, adding my secret ingreadinents,brought to boil and simmered and skimmed before adjusting the taste and consistency.

We then freshened ourselves up and shot down to the church in time for the ‘Palm Sunday’ celebrations; as the weather is so fine all the village was out, normally at this time of the year it’s a little cold and overcast, today is the hottest ‘Palm Sunday’ that anybody can remember!

See all the pictures above of the procession through the streets of sunny Manilva as the ‘Tableau’ of the ‘La Borriquita’ now decorated, was carried by the ‘Brotherhood’ with in charge Salvador who is the foreman on the building site next to our house! Led by the village Brass Band and its leader Fernando along with the Civic dignitaries and the young children it took longer than normal as they had to stop more often for refreshments.

Last night I went down to the official opening ceremony as the guest of the Mayor, Diego, the new Sports ‘City’ Complex, is very impressive as you can see in the pictures below; its going to be run by a company and all the Gyms. Sports Hall etc will be fitted out by them, the main hall is also going to be used for functions seating up to 400 hundred people, and it will be a great asset to the village.

Also last night over in Estepona the new and spectacular ‘Orchid House & Botanic Park’ was also official opened, the pictures below were taken by Gary of ‘The Resident’ newspaper, thanks! The night time pictures with the colored lights is very impressive.

We sat under the ‘Sonbrajo’ outside Bar Rojas for a cool drink with ‘Chispa; who had joined us; this week in ‘Doggy World Heaven’ we are very busy as ‘Reina’ is with us on Tuesday & Thursday as normal and then back on Friday for a sleep over until Saturday evening ‘Scruffy’ is on a sleep over on Tuesday & Saturday and of course ‘Chispa’ will be out and about and calling in for her regular cool drink!

This evening we are going across to the border to pick Den & Josie up from the airport in Gibraltar and will have our supper when we return. They are here for two weeks, so no doubt we will be out and about with them in their busy schedule!

They have arrived !

Thoughts for the Day;See above.

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