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Saturday, August 31, 2019
A NOW WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON ' VENDEMIA' ' SATURDAY.
SATURDAY 31st/ AUGUST 2019. “ VENDEMIA WINE FESTIVAL “
We had a nice lie in this morning before getting
ourselves ready for the weekend ahead, after freshening up, as Brenda was on
the breakfast rota I had her famous ‘Campo Poached Eggs on Toast’ – she had her’s
‘Scrambled’ on Brown Toast, with mugs of strong tea, as ‘Chispa’ joined us for
her breakfast also!
I then, with the ‘ Second Chef’s’ help prepared
and made my famous “ Beef & Vegetable Stew - Lob Scouse “ – diced Onions,
Shallots, Garlic, Bay Leaves, Carrots, Leeks, Celery, Turnips, Green Beans
& Potatoes, all sweated off, with a dash of ‘Lea & Perrins and Tabasco’
– then a good/strong ‘Beef & Vegetable’ stock is added, meanwhile I fry-off
the diced Stewing Beef after, dusting it in seasoned flour, before adding it to
the pot, to simmer and cook-off under the very able eye of the ‘Second Chef’ - who
also has boiled some more diced potatoes to go in the stew tomorrow to turn it
into ‘Lob-Scouse’!
This morning has started a little grey
& overcast, there is a light breeze so by lunchtime it will clear and reach
a warm & sunny 28 degs+ tomorrow a little warmer, just right for the ‘ Vendemia
Wine Festival ‘ weekend! Next week is looking dry, warm & settled, with a
few patchy clouds at times, hovering on the 26/27 degs mark, overnight only
down to 19/20 degs+ Watch this space.
Yesterday evening (dusk) over in Liverpool,
the ‘Colombian Navy’s’ three-masted barque sail training ship entered the River
Mersey on an official visit, it has 15,000 sq feet of sail and one ‘ Helluva’
flag!
See below.
When we came last night after a very nice ‘
Tapas Fish’ supper, along at ‘ Bar Castillo’ – ‘ Rosada Frito ‘ with Frits and local
Mayonnaise, the diced ‘ Dogfish’ is coated in a light ‘Tempura’ style batter,
then shallow fried in Vegetable Oil, I had arranged a ‘ Surprise ‘ Skype’ video
call with Sandra & Bill over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, earlier in the
day, for Brenda, who was concerned and worried about Sandra, after the fall off
her bicycle last weekend.
She has a ‘Panda’ black eye on the side of
her face, that hit the gravel ground, on the side of her head, knocking her
out, she was not wearing a crash hat, for the short ride in the camping site,
she has cuts and bruises on the side that hit the ground and two fractured ribs
at the top of her chest! Her Doctor had given her a good check up and told her
to rest & relax, taking things very easy for the next week or two. Watch
this space.
“ Countdown 30 Days “
Today we have a full days sport ahead; down
in Cardiff Wales welcome Ireland in a warm-up ‘ World Cup Rugby’ game, over at
Spa in Belgium it’s the ‘Grand Prix’ – meanwhile in the ‘Premiere League’ in
the UK, Manchester City are at home to Brighton, Liverpool travel up the
M6 to play Burnley & Everton are at
home to Wolverhampton Wanderers tomorrow, over here in ‘ La Liga’ Barcelona travel
to Osasuna & Real Madrid go to play Villarreal tomorrow.
Here in Spain, also, later today it’s Stage
8 of the “ Vuelta d’España 19 ‘ over 167 kms from Valls to Igualada, a flat
stage before it reaches Andorra tomorrow!
This morning before breakfast I popped out
and took some pictures of ‘Calle Mar’
showing all the family ‘ Sonbrajos’ being built as well as the main ‘Bars’
getting ready, see above.
This evening we are going to watch the
Religious parade of the Tableau, led the ‘Manilva Brass Band’ with all the
village ladies in their ‘Wine’ costumes, carrying bunches of the local grapes
to be weighed later! See the picture above posted later.
Then it all – ‘kicks-off’ with two bands on
the stages playing into the wee small hours!!
Thoughts for the Day; See above.
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Friday, August 30, 2019
A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA AT THE START OF THE ' VENDEMIA' WEEKEND.
FRIDAY 30th/ AUGUST 2019.
I was up early this morning and after a
quick freshen up I shot off on my travels, down to Sabinillas, for our weekly
shopping, I called into ‘ ItZabar’ for a quick toast & tea before ‘
Mercadona’ opened, it was not as busy this morning, also all the roads were a
lot quieter as the ‘ Holiday’ crowds depart!
I then picked up the local newspapers from
the ‘ English Bookshop’ before going along to the far end of the promenade to
the local market, for some fresh flowers and wall plants, before shooting back
up the hill to unload back at the house.
We then took ‘ Scruffy’ out for his first
walk of the day, he slept all night on the marble floor under our bed, he’
follows me everywhere and is sitting at my feet as I’m typing/posting today’s
Blog, he’s going to be with us, now, until the early evening as Rose has just
called from the ‘Costa Del Sol Hospital’ to say that Adrian has been put on a ‘six-hour-drip’!
Meanwhile Brenda is washing/shampooing her hair. I then went down to our local
Butchers, in the still unfinished ‘Calle Iglesia‘ ?! - for some of his
excellent ‘Diced Stewing Beef’ for the ‘ Beef & Vegetable Stew/Lob Scouse’
that I’m making tomorrow morning.
See below ' Calle Mar' all ' dressed-up ' ready for the weekend ahead!
Speaking of Hospitals, yesterday we had a
nice long catch-up from Sandra & Bill, which was a bit overdue, because
last weekend Sandra was out on her bike with Bill and she had a nasty accident,
she knocked herself out, scared Bill to death and was rushed to Hospital by the
ambulance, with the lights and sirens going!( Bill enjoyed this a little!) She
is bruised and sore, with cuts and a couple of fractured ribs, as well as a
black eye! She is back at home, in Everett, Ontario, Canada, taking things
easy, after being given the ‘ once-over’ by her own Doctor, later today! “ Take care, relax, and get well soon, Lots of
Love, Brenda & Malcolm “ xxxx
PS; The ‘ countdown ‘ to your arrival with
all the family is 31 days and counting !!
Overnight it was a little cooler so we
managed a little more sleep, this morning the sun broke through, above the Mediterranean,
as I was going down through the green vine fields, there is a light breeze and
the sky is clearing and blue, by lunchtime it’s due to reach 28 degs+ staying
the same over the ‘ Vendemia Wine Festival weekend, on one forecast it’s still
showing some of the ‘wet-stuff’ in the air, next week is starting warmer and
sunny as the breeze drops, then the rest of the week is looking a little
cooler, normal for the time of the year, hovering on the 26/27 degs mark, still
overnight around 20/21 degs+ - with the threat of some of the much needed ‘Rain’ at times, watch this
space.
See below two pictures, bringing back many
happy memories of Liverpool, the old ‘ North Western Hotel ‘ on Lime Street, in
front to the station and opposite the ‘St Georges Hall’- which for many years
has been owned by the ‘John Moore’s University’ for student accommodation, which
is now going to be restored/developed at a ‘Grand Hotel’ again!
The famous “ Empire Theatre “ – located on
Lime Street and the corner of London Road, next to the old ‘North Western Hotel
‘ - the theatre is the largest two-tier
auditorium in the UK, seating 2.348 people! I/we have been there many times to
see, ‘Dusty Springfield, Ben E. King & the Drifters, The New Seekers, Abba’
and many more, as well as my school friends ‘ The Dennisons’ who emerged from
the ‘Mersey Beat’ scene back in the 1960s, and were the opening ‘ act’ on two
occasions at the theatre! “ Happy Days – Happy Memories “
PS; Down at the Pier Head yesterday the
cruise liner the “ Megellan’ was berthed for the day, see below.
We are, as usual’ taking things easy for
the rest of the day, this evening we were going to ask Brian & Andrea to
join us for supper, down at the ‘Kinaree Thai Resturante’ in the ‘Puerto de la
Duquesa Marina’ – which as it happens Brian first introduced us to it back in
2007! Sadly the folks went there last night, so we are on ‘ Hold’ for tonight ,
watch this space.
Thoughts for the Day; See above.
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