A VERY COLD START TO THE DAY HERE IN SUNNY MANILVA;

THURSDAY 7^th/ JANUARY 2016.

I was up early this morning as ‘Reina’ arrived ahead of time, she shot upstairs into her duvet and is still there now, this morning its very cold and a little overcast, in fact its the coldest morning ( 6 degs! ) since we arrived down here over ten year ago! The sun is trying to break through and by lunchtime it will be 21 degs! The rest of the week and over the weekend is staying dry, a little crisp and sunny at times.

After breakfast I shot down to the butchers for some Beef Mince, he grinds it to order using his finest stewing steak, Brenda has suggested that we have a ‘Cottage Pie’ for our supper this evening; my ‘Mince’ is in fact a savoury version using and old family recipe, I first sweat off small diced Onions/ Shallots, Carrots & Celery, one crushed clove of Garlic, a good dash of ‘Lea & Perrins’- a spot of ‘Tabasco’ along with a good slug of Tomato Frito then add the seasoned Mince, a rich Beef & Vegetable stock, bring it to the boil and skim; it then left to cook out under the able supervision of the new appointed ‘Second Chef’ – after finishing her five year  ‘Apprenticeship’ under our resident ‘Chef De Cuisine’!! I then check the seasoning and adjust the consistency before placing it into a buttered glass baking dish for the ‘Second Chefs’ famous ‘Mashed Potato’ topping, it will go in the oven this evening when we are having Garden Pea & Baby Carrots on the side! See below;

Brenda is now pottering about the house finding things to do, the washing is on and then later we are trying on/ choosing our outfits for our lunch out tomorrow with our friend Joyce at our favourite restaurant ‘ Cocomo’ Tomorrow morning, first thing, we are at the surgery for our check ups and will pick up some fresh flowers from the local market at the same time, I will then check the oil & water in the car before heading over to Puerto Banus to collect Joyce.

Today the ‘Euro’has fallen to its lowest level in over a year as the ‘Chinese’ markets are suspended for the second day on the trot?! So its fingers crossed that it will pick up by the end of the month when are next ‘Pension’ transfer cycle starts!!

Over the next couple of weeks it will be time to re-negotiate the contract on the house with the family solicitors; we have  a lot of problems on the list this year, there is extensive damp, a ‘Health Hazard’ - in the bathroom, office, our main bedroom and the lounge after being exposed to the elements, the four window shutters on the front of the house all need attention, the one in the main bedroom has been broken now for over nine months, when I first reported it!  We also need a new ‘Electric Oven’ in the main kitchen ( Urgent ! ) as the seal is beyond repair, the timer clock is broken, the door handle has broken off and the oven has intermittent heating !! ASAP. There are also some small maintenances needed around the house, watch this space

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Last night after supper we found a good film to watch “ Brooklyn’s Finest “ from 2009. Its the story of three cops in the New York precinct, one is about to retire after 22 years of unremarkable service, his life is a shambles and he drinks and his only friend is the local prostitute, one is an under cover cop working the drug beat who is desperate to get a promotion and desk job and finally one who is a accomplished narcotics detective, a family man with money and house problems; the story is in three parts and comes together at the end in dramatic fashion, the three cops are played by Ethan Hawke, Richard Gere & Don Cheadle with Wesley Snipes as a baddie with a heart – who plays which cop is for you to decide and fine out?!

Thoughts for the Day; see above.