" NOCHE EMBRUJO " ON SATURDAY EVENING IN SUNNY MANILVA;

                                                                                                      ' Alba '
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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM SUNNY MANILVA;

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A WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY;

SUNDAY 31^st / JULY 2016.

Just a little lie in this morning as ‘Reina’ was being dropped off for a sleep over this evening and on Monday, she’s with us as usual everyday to Friday, Daniela’s sister’s wedding is tomorrow. For our breakfast we had our regular toast & tea with fresh fruit, this morning it was my favourite, at this time of the year, local, juicy ‘Nectarine’s’ Today we are taking things very easy just doing nothing, relaxing, keeping cool, drinking lots of water etc.

Its going to be another hot one today as the sun moves around by lunchtime, there is a little breeze, so its rather pleasant at the moment, next week we are in for a very hot start to July, watch this space.

This evening we are having our supper a little earlier than normal so as we settle down and watch the ‘ Premiere’ on ‘UK TV ‘over on  ‘ITV’ of the latest James Bond movie “ Skyfall “ We are having ‘ Grilled Fillet Steaks ‘ cooked on a very hot griddle plate ‘ Med-Rare’ and then left to ‘rest’ – garnished with Button Mushrooms & Deep-Fried Onions Rings ( Milk & Flour ) along with finely sliced Green Beans and some twice-cooked ‘ Frits’ – ‘ Dijon Grain Mustard on the side.

Last night we went up to Bar Castillo and settled down to follow the ‘ Noche Enbrujo ‘ after a nice Tapas supper, to start we had a plate of ‘ Boquerones Fritos’ – Deep Fried ‘ Whitebait’  ( Large ) – a skewer of Gambas, assorted small tapas including warm Stuffed Mussels and the ‘ House’ Croquettes ‘ made with ‘ Bechamel’ sauce & Ham- finally for Brenda ‘ Berenjenas Con Miel’ – Fried Aubergine slices in local Honey!

As the sun set over sunny Manilva the entertainment began on all of the four stages, the main stage, on the Palza de Vendimia,’ was for the younger generation with a rock concert,  in ‘Calle Mar’ on the three other stages we had a two-girl Pop-Band, some male & female ‘ Copla’ singers, a  female Flamenco Dance Group, a very professional Flamenco Dance & Singing Group, finally our neighbours daughter ‘ Alba’ who we have watched grow up and sing form the age of 5, she is now 15 and sang, for the first time, in English, the ‘Adele’ number “ Hello “  - it went down very well and got a great round of applause from all of the village.

The street was floodlit and covered in Candles, we even had a nice Black Shawl on our bedroom balcony, down in the ‘Cultural Centre’ the  ‘ Pena Flamenca  Association’ had local singers from the village, Emili & Pepe, accompanied by a excellent guitarist, on the way home a friend took a picture of us on the ‘ Sign Stand’ – not very good as I forgot to set the automatic zoom, as you can see in the pictures above, don’t forget to ‘click-on’ the pictures to go full screen! It all went on until 2-00 am, the rock concert until 4-00 am!

As I’m typing and posting the Blog and pictures I’m listening to ‘Pete Black’s Retro Request Show’ on ‘Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW’ - watch this space for the re-launch of the station and the new studios and hopefully my own show coming to you ‘ live’ from studio 4 in heart of sunny Manilva!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM SUNNY MANILVA;

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A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY - " NOCHE EMBRUJO "

SATURDAY 30^th/ JULY 2016.

We had a nice lie in this morning as the village is very quiet at this time of the year, no children playing, no deliveries, no Church Bells etc, we are having an at home day taking things easy as we are out this evening for the ‘ Noche Embrujo ‘ – they are working in  ‘Calle Mar’ at the moment putting up the lighting & sound systems, finishing the various stages, the traditional coloured shawls are on all the balconies, later they will ‘ dress’ the street with scented ferns and lots of Candle Lights.

We have another very hot day ahead here in sunny Manilva, there is no breeze, at the moment, last year it got rather windy and all the candles were blown out!  Last night was very hot and ‘sticky’ with not a breath of fresh air, it get rather uncomfortable to say the least and makes sleeping a little difficult. We are in for a very hot weekend and next week is going to be even warmer for the start of August, only 13 Fridays to Xmas!!

See the picture below of Liverpool taken last night with a floodlit St.George’s Hall, Lime Street, the old Great Western Hotel, the Royal Court Theatre and the city centre all on show.

After our regular breakfast of toast & tea we sorted ourselves out, we are having a ‘ Brunch’ later of ‘ Campo Fried Eggs, Seared Smoked Bacon, Grilled Button Mushrooms & Tomato and Sauteed Potatoes, it will keep us going as this evening we are going up to ‘ Bar Castillo ‘ for a late ‘Tapas’ supper. Tomorrow evening its now going to be our ‘ Steak Night’ with ‘ Grilled Fillet Steak’ with all the trimmings before we settle down to watch the latest James Bond movie ‘ Skyfall ‘ over in ITV.

This afternoon we are going all ‘sporty’ and watching the Horse Racing from ‘ Glorious Goodwood’ – the Ladies ‘Open Golf’ from Woburn, the Men’s ‘US PGA’ - the Qualifying from the ‘German Grand Prix’ at Hockenheim and some Cycling from London.

We are having our  ‘ Happy Hour ‘ a little early this evening before we go up to ‘Calle Mar’ for a night of singing, dancing, music, various acts & excitement, watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM A VERY SUNNY MANILVA;

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A VERY, VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND;

FRIDAY 29^th / JULY 2016.

I was up early this morning and shot out on my travels, my first port of call was down at the surgery, I gave the receptionist two documents to change our Doctor, Mano called in yesterday and helped us fill them in, the Doctor that has been seeing us is very good and extremely conscientious, she’s Romanian and speaks good English, she has sorted out two problems with Brenda so we decided to stay with her, at her suggestion!

‘Reina’ is now not with us today as she’s a little off colour, due to the heat, she’s back with us on Sunday for a two day sleep-over and then for the rest of next week, as normal, this weekend is Daniela’s sister's wedding, over here, so its all go for the family as they settle into the  ‘Wedding Reception Holiday Village Venue ‘ up in the hills behind Manilva.

I then carried on down to Sabinillas for our weekly shopping, I stopped at the ‘ English Bookshop ‘ for the local newspapers and birthday cards, the main shop was in ‘ Mercadona ‘ – I beat the crowds and was in and out very quickly, I then shot along to the local market for the fresh flowers and some more wall plants, they don’t last very long at this time of the year. I then stopped at ‘ Super Sol ‘ for the ‘English’ essentials, I then shot back up the hill through the green vine fields, see the picture below.

Today is already very hot and sunny, by lunchtime it will be even hotter, there is a little breeze but its not making any difference, we are in for a long hot weekend and next week its going to get even warmer, well it’s the 1^st August on Monday! Watch this space. See the picture below of the Bay of Llandudno this morning.

For our supper this evening we are having ‘Grilled Salmon Fillets’ a la ‘Meuniere’ with Garden Peas & Parsley New Potatoes, tomorrow night we are out again ( the 4^th time this week!) - we are going up to ‘Bar Castillo’ for a ‘ Tapas’ supper and will then stay and watch the ‘ Noche Embrujo’ from the comfort of our seats, in the shade, this morning the Council workmen have been putting up all the stages, lighting, sound systems etc. 

On Sunday we are having our ‘ Steak Night’ – Grilled Fillet Steaks’ with all the trimmings and will then settle down to watch the James Bond movie ‘ Skyfall’ later.

Last night after supper at ‘Bar Castillo’ we went down to the Cultural Centre ‘ Casa del Torres’ to listen and watch the ‘ String Quartet’ – it turned out to be a ‘Woodwind Quintet’ with Flute, two Clarinets, an Oboe and a lady French Horn ( Brass ) player, it was not ‘ heavy classical’ and they played Tango’s, Polka Dots, Spanish, Song Tunes etc, the Oboe player was fantastic and did a long solo number, the lady horn player was also ‘ hot’ and the rest of the Quintet were very good with well arranged music, it was very pleasant sat in the courtyard on a balmy evening, very relaxing and therapeutic!

Thoughts for the Day, See above.

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