A VERY WET, SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY;

WEDNESDAY 12^th / OCTOBER 2016.   “ FIESTA NACIONAL DE ESPAÑA "

I was up first again this morning to see ‘ Reina’ back with us here in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ for the day, we then had a quick freshen up and shot out with ‘ Pax ‘ for his first walk of the day before the rains arrived, just as we returned the heavens opened in true ‘ Spanish ‘ style – in Spain when it rains, it rains! Well its’ been nearly 8 months since the last wet day!! The electricity went off a couple of times, in fact its just gone off in the middle of me typing & posting the Blog,the water has been off for a couple of hours, normal for us here in sunny & damp Manilva.

Overnight the wind dropped and this morning it was overcast & still, the lull before the storm, it looks like we are in for a prolonged spell of the wet stuff, the overall temperatures have also dropped by 5/7 degs at the same time, October has arrived!

After our regular breakfast I made the evenings supper of “ Beef & Vegetable Stew “ – using the butchers excellent diced stewing steak, I toss it in seasoned flour and brown it off, the stew is made with diced Onions, Carrots, Turnips, Leeks, Celery, Broad & Green Beans, Mushrooms & Garden Peas, all sweated off, the secret ingredients are added along with a good glug of Red Wine and then Tomato Frito, the Beef is then added along with a good strong Beef & Vegetable Stock, the seasoning is adjusted and then the pan is left to cook off, slowly, under the watchful eye of the ‘Second Chef’ She has just made her famous ‘ Mashed Potato’ ready to go in the oven this evening.

Here in Spain today it’s a ‘ Bank Holiday’ – “ Fiesta Nacional España “ – Spain’s National Day when they celebrate Christopher Columbas’s discovery of the Americas back in 1492! It’s also the ‘ Armed Forces Day’ when they all parade through the centre of Madrid in front of the King & Queen and the two Princess’s, it’s an excellent ceremonial march pass with all the different Regiments in their very distinctive & colourful uniforms, at the same time, of course, it’s a ‘ Saints Day ‘ – ‘ Our Lady of Pilar ‘ who is the patron saint of the ‘ Guadia Civil’ -  the fourth branch of the armed services.

Last night we channel hopped and watched the various Quiz shows before catching ‘ The Hairy Bikers Chicken & Egg ‘ followed by ‘ Great Continental Railway Journeys and finally ‘ Later with Jools Holland’ with Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders, she sang ‘ Don’t Get Me Wrong’!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

..