A COOLER BUT STILL SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 20^th/ OCTOBER 2019.

We managed just a little lie in this morning as it was all happening in the village from early this morning, as they were setting up, along in ‘ Calle Mar’ for the  6th annual ‘Mountain Bike Race ‘ later, after freshening up we grabbed a quick breakfast, then Brenda took ‘Lolo’ out for his first walk of the day, along the terrace overlooking ‘ Calle Mar ‘- so as she could watch the start of the Race, meanwhile I was out & about taking the pictures, as you can see above, a great turnout ( over 500 riders) as they set off around the valleys and mountains behind the village, over 47 kms, they end up coming back up the steepest street in the village along to the finish outside the Town Hall, at the top of our street.

Last night, later on, we had a very severe rain storm, that only lasted 10/15 minutes, but it did wash-out part of the route, which had to be altered, as well as after the fire damage from the night before, so they have had ‘Fire, Water & now Sun’!

Meanwhile back at the house it was time to get the ‘ Sunday Roast Chicken’ on the go; I take off the Leg, Thigh & Wings, then season the local Chicken with Sea Salt and Lemon Juice, before placing the ‘Crown of Chicken & the separate pieces, in the roasting tray, on a bed of mixed ‘trivets’ ( chopped ends etc of vegetables ) to roast in the very hot oven ( it worked!) – the ‘ Second/Vegetable Chef ‘ then prepared the Potatoes for roasting, sliced in half and par-boiled, then tossed in the hot ‘ Goose Fat’ ready to go in the oven this evening.

I then made the ‘ Chestnut & Mixed Herb Stuffing’ - using the Chestnuts from the ‘ Castañas’ man (peeled & chopped) - then baked in the oven at the same time, when the ‘ Roast Chicken’ came out of the oven, see below, it was time to make my now famous ‘Finger-Licking’ Deep Pan Gravy! We are having ‘Broccoli & Cauliflower Florets’ in a three Cheese sauce, Crushed Carrots & Turnips, Roast Onion & Garden Peas.

This morning , as forecast, it’s a lot cooler, down to 21 degs+ with a stiff breeze blowing off the Mediterranean, the clouds are still around and the ‘Wet-Stuff’ is still in the air, the sun has broken through, so it’s still pleasant to be out & about, Next week is now looking like it’s staying the same, hovering in the low 20s, with a cooling breeze, patchy clouds & sunshine, and the rain occasionally hitting us, overnight down to only 13/14 degs,  hopefully on Wednesday staying dry, as we going up to ‘ Alhaurin el Grande’ to meet-up with our dear friend ‘Joyce Baby’ ! Watch this space.

Over in a rather cool & overcast Liverpool, this weekend, you can see below the ‘ Isle of Man Steam Packed Company’ “HSC Manannan ‘ – a 96 –metre, wave-piercing high-speed catamaran/sea-cat,  top speed 50+ knots, that operates between Douglas & Liverpool & Dublin and Belfast.

Just a quick update on the sports results;  Everton finally won a match 2-0 – Manchester City won 0-2, Barcelona won 0-3 and went top of ‘La Liga’ as Real Madrid lost in Mallorca 1-0 ! Over in Japan, New Zealand beat Ireland 46-14 and this morning Wales have just beaten France 20- 19 ! – Japan have just lost 3-26 to South Africa. So the ' Semi-Finals ' next weekend are 'England v New Zealand & Wales v South Africa !! 

Yesterday evening after supper we settled down to watch the next exciting episode of  the French crime drama, based in Paris, “ Spiral Season 7 “ over on BBC TV Four, with sub-titles, which is a ‘carry-on’ from the last series, catch it if you can!

While I have been typing/posting today.s Blog, I have been listening , as usual, to the 'Pete Black Retro Roadshow' on " Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW " as the ' Film Quiz' came on, my first guess was not correct, but my second attempt was, it was ' Al Pacino' - I sent the E'Mail but it didn't reach him in time! 

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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