" NEW YEARS EVE CHARITY FUN RUN/WALK " IN SUNNY MANILVA;

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM SUNNY MANILVA ON' NEW YEARS EVE'

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A GREY & OVERCAST START TO NEW YEARS EVE SATURDAY IN SUNNY MANILVA.

SATURDAY 31^st / DECEMBER 2016.  “ NEW YEARS EVE “ “ NOCHEVIEJA “

We all managed a little lie in this morning, ‘ Charlie’ slept upstairs with us, on the floor, ‘ Reina’s’ duvet and then the bed, he’s back to normal, we watched him very carefully last night, he’s back to his old self, he’s eating & drinking well and enjoying his walks, he came with us to ‘Bar Castillo’ for our ‘Tapas’ lunch with Michelle and the gang and was made a big fuss off, ‘Reina’ was also making a big fuss with him giving him lots of kisses, he has his half-tablet twice a day as usual, today we are keeping him inside and very settled. ‘Reina’ is back next week for four days from Tuesday as it’s a ‘Bank Holiday’ on Monday in Gibraltar and here.

We are staying at home today and have no plans for this evening, after supper we will watch the ‘ Spanish TV ‘ New Years Eve programmes and at midnight eat our traditional ‘12’ grapes on the chimes, I’ve taken down our post box so as not attract any large ‘ Bangers’ ( local youths) – over the past few years we have had two blown up! Then one hour later we will have our second ‘New Years Eve’ celebrations as we watch ‘ Jool’s Holland’s ‘ Hootenanny ‘!

I took him for his first walk of the day along ‘ Calle Mar ‘ – the council workmen have erected a inflatable finishing line outside the Town Hall as the 2.5km ‘ Charity Fun Run/Walk ‘ around the village is due to finish later. See below & above.

It’s a little overcast & grey this morning, no doubt the sun will break  through later, there is a little light breeze making it rather crisp, tomorrow is the same and then next week it’s due to pick up a little, no rain is forecast, for now, watch this space.

I treated us to the full ‘English’ breakfast this morning, well crispy ‘Smoked Bacon & Fried Eggs’ with toast & tea, this evening we are having ‘ Grilled Entrecote Steaks – on the Bone ‘ cooked on a very hot griddle plate ‘ Med-Rare’ then taken off the bone and left to rest before slicing them ‘ French’ style, garnished with Button Mushrooms & Asparagus Spears, finely sliced Green Beans & the classic  twice-cooked ‘ Pont-Neuf’ – Doorstep Chips! Tomorrow’s Leg of New Zealand / South Island ) Lamb is coming up to room temperature, I will stud it with ‘Garlic Cloves & Rosemary’ later before leaving it a ‘Virgin Olive Oil’ marinade over night.

On the sports front this weekend; over here there is no football as the ‘ La Liga ‘ closes down for the holiday period, today in the ‘ Premiere League’ the ‘ Match of the Day ‘ is when Liverpool welcome Manchester City’ – sadly there is no ‘National Hunt Racing’ on the TV today, for the first time in nearly 40 years, as ‘Channel 4 ‘ contract has been taken over by ‘ITV’ and they don’t start broadcasting until tomorrow?! ‘ Cheltenham & Mussleburgh ‘!

Finally we would like to wish all our family & friends all over the World a very “ Peaceful, Healthy, Wealthy & Happy New Year “ – Love Malcolm & Brenda in sunny Manilva. xxxx

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM A VERY CRISP SUNNY MANILVA;

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A VERY CRISP & SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE ' NEW YEARS EVE ' WEEKEND:

FRIDAY 30^th/DECEMBER 2016.

I took ‘ Charlie’ out for his first walk of the day and then shot off on my travels down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping, I called into our Bank, (Cash ) first, then into the ‘ Ferraterias ‘ ( Mold Spray )  before stopping at the ‘Wholesale Fruit & Vegetables Market’ – next I collected the local newspapers from the ‘English Bookshop’ – then into the ‘ Chinese Bazaar ‘ ( Candle Lights ) before the main shop in ‘ Mercadona ’ – I then went along to the local market for our fresh flowers & wall plants, sadly I had to wait for the ‘Florists’ to open, for a nice arrangement for ‘Lumy’ – to thank her for her kindness on Christmas Day, and then lastly into ‘ Super Sol ‘ for the ‘English’ essentials before heading back up the hill to unload back at the house.

I then carried on back down to the coast road and shot along to Michelle’s apartment to drop the hire car back with them, they then brought me back up to the village and dropped me off at ‘ Pedro’s’ Garage as he had rung last night to say that the parts had arrived from Germany, by express post, and that our car would be ready this morning! He had worked on it till the wee small hours! Now that’s service!!

Brenda had seen ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day, she’s with us until later this evening, Lee & Daniela are going out for dinner with their family. Matt, Michelle, Hollie & Charlie meanwhile went off to explore the village, we arranged to meet them a little later for a ‘ Tapas’ lunch in ‘Bar Castillo’

As I got back to the house, after dropping the car back into the underground car park, I found Brenda on the floor cuddling ‘ Charlie’ – he had just had one of his  ‘Epileptic Seizures’ – it’s the first time in the many years that he has been with us that he has had one, Jan had told us how to handle him, Lots of cuddles, talk to him, hold him, and he will slowly come around, he’s now back to normal,  he is on tablets twice a day, has ate all his lunch and came with us up to ‘Bar Castillo’ with the folks,’ Chispa’ also joined us!

We have yet another glorious day here in sunny Manilva, the sun is out, there are light clouds with a stiff breeze, it’s very crisp but warm on the ‘sunny side’ of the street! Over the ‘ New Years’ weekend and next week we are in for more of the same, possibly getting a little warmer, watch this space.

We have cancelled our ‘Fish Night ‘ – we are having the ‘Turkey & Mushroom Curry’ - instead, with Chips! On Saturday we are having ‘ Grilled Entrecote Steaks’ cooked on the bone, with all the trimmings, then on Sunday it’s ‘ Roast Leg of New Zealand ( South Island ) Lamb ‘ with ‘ Boulangere Potatoes ‘ – the folks are joining us.

Last night after supper we caught over on ‘ BBC Four’ “ Flying Scotsman - From the Footplate “ as it was on the ‘Severn Valley Railway ‘ from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, it showed the skills involved in taking control of the World’s most famous steam engine. Next there was another excellent documentary on the “ Queen Mary: Greatest Ocean Liner “ including the exploits during ‘WW2’ - which has been classified secret for many years, at one point in time as it was crossing the Atlantic with 15,000 ‘ GI’s’ on board, it sliced through a Destroyer, killing over 300 seaman, as it was travelling at over 30 Knots, in a zig-zag pattern to escape the German U- Boats! Not a lot of people know that – they do now!!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM A VERY CRISP & CLEAR SUNNY MANILVA;

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A CLEAR & VERY CRISP SUNNY MANILVA ON THURSDAY;

THURSDAY 29^th/DECEMBER 2016.

I was up first and saw ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day; ‘ Charlie ‘ slept upstairs, again, last night, we put one of ‘ Reina’s’ duvets on the floor and he sniffed it and went to bed on it! This morning they both joined us for a little lie in, we then took ‘ Charlie’ for his first walk of the day, on the way back Brenda popped into our local ‘ Ronnie Barkers ‘ in our street for the fresh fruit & vegetables as well as some goodies.

After our normal breakfast I made a ‘ Turkey & Mushroom Curry ‘ to go away for another day; this evening we are having the rest of the ‘ Cold Roast Beef ‘ with a Mixed Salad & Baked Potato.

Today it’s clear & sunny, there is a little breeze making it very crisp but it’s still due to reach this afternoon 18 degs, overnight the temperature drops by 10 degs, the rest of the week and over the ‘ New Year’ weekend into next week it’s more of the same, crisp, dry & sunny, watch this space.

See below a view across ' Puerto de la Duquesa ' this morning.

This morning another one of our Pensions arrived in our ‘Spanish’ Bank Account, early, last week the same happened before Xmas, the first one was up and the second one was down on last month’s!

We are taking things easy today, I’m up in the office/studio on the ‘WWW’ after typing & posting the Blog, & Brenda is pottering about doing her chores, the washing is out, it’s a good drying day, we will watch the TV later, there are still some of the regular ‘Quiz’ shows on but over the Xmas period bother here on ‘TVE’ etc and on the ’BBC’ and the other channels it’s not been good watching with nothing exciting/ memorable to catch and the films have not been good also!

Tomorrow morning I’m out on my travels down in Sabinillas for the weekly shopping, I’m borrowing Michelle’s hire car later today.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM A VERY CRISP SUNNY MANILVA;

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