A VERY ' FRESH' AND NOW CLEARING SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND.

FRIDAY 21^st/ FEBRUARY 2020.

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, as the sun was just coming up above a choppy Mediterranean, through the bare vine fields, after they have burnt-off all the old branches/leaves.

I was first into ‘ Mercadona’ - which at this time of the year is still very quiet,  ( half-term next week) I 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 & wall plants, after shooting back up the hill to unload back at the house I then put the car away in the underground garage.

Meanwhile Brenda, after a little lie in, had taken ‘ Chico’ out for his first walk of the day, we go out at lunchtime, then in the early evening and finally last thing at night, he’s such a gentle and friendly boy, has a very good appetite and goes to his regular ‘ spots’- yesterday evening Leah and her son Deemy called in after that had been out for a ‘Curry’ – little ‘ Miss Bella’ has been trimmed and is looking at her best, they stayed for a drink & chat, next week ‘Miss Bella’ is not with us as it’s the school holidays, she will be back the following Monday/Tuesday. A week today 28^th February it’s the ‘ Dia de Andalucia’ – when Lolo is due to arrive for his two-week holiday.

This morning the wind has changed direction, yesterday it was a ‘Levante’ coming up/off the Mediterranean, today it’s a ‘Poniente’ – blowing down from the mountains behind the village, it’s still a little grey & overcast, with a cloudy sky, the breeze has picked up, so by lunchtime it’s only due to reach 16/17 degs+ - overnight down to 11/12 degs,  over the weekend staying the same, as the rain has been blown away, next week is now looking dry & settled, with a few patchy clouds, but mainly warm & sunny, going back up to 20/21 degs+ by next Tuesday as the wind drops, the rest of the week and over next weekend is going to be dry and settled, with sunshine, hovering in the high ‘ teens’ – watch this space.

For our supper this evening we are having “ Goujons of Hake Fillet in a Tempura ‘Cruzcampo’ Beer Batter “ – strips of the Hake Fillet – coated in the batter and shallow-fried in Vegetable Oil, until crisp & golden, served with lots of Lemon Wedges and a homemade ‘ Tartar sauce ( Brenda) The ‘ Batter’ is made with a bottle of chilled ‘Cruzcampo,’ flour, Baking Powder, a pinch of salt & a drop of Olive Oil, with a small sprinkling of ‘ Saffron ‘ powder to give it a ‘ Chip-Shop’ colour! Served with Mushy Peas – back on the menu ( Iceland!) and triple-cooked ‘ Chips’!   We are ‘ Frying Tonight ‘ !!

This afternoon we will be relaxing and taking things very easy, catching up with all the ‘Quiz Shows’ that we follow, later watching the regular Friday night programmes and channel hopping later.

At the moment ‘ Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW ‘ is back on air, but with no Andrew Charles – but ‘Pete Blacks Retro Roadshow’ is still ‘ live’ on air on a Sunday lunchtime – from South Wales! Still the best music station with the best music library/tracks and presenters!  

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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