A VERY ' COLD & CRISP' BUT STILL SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY.

SATURDAY 2^nd/ FEBRUARY 2019.

I was up early this morning and after a quick freshen up I shot off on my travels down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping, the sun was blinding as it came up above the Mediterranean, I did the main shop in ‘ Mercadona’ - then picked up the local newspapers from the ‘ English Bookshop’ before calling in to the ‘ Ferreteria’ for some ‘sticky’ wall hooks for a new calendar that the Mayor, Mario gave us, showing sunny Manilva at it’s best. I then stopped at ‘ Super Sol’ on the way back up the hill for our ‘English’ essentials, after unloading back at the house I put the car away in the underground car park.

Brenda was on the breakfast rota, so when I returned I had her very famous ‘ Campo Poached Eggs on Toast ‘ – a Boiled one for her, with mugs of piping hot tea, Brenda is pottering about and I’m up in the office/studio on the ‘WWW’ and then typing/posting today’s Blog.

See below the perfect ‘ Campo Poached Eggs’!!

‘ Chispa’ came calling as we were having our breakfast, she calls in everyday to see us, in ‘ Doggy World Heaven ‘ we have a new one coming to see us on Tuesday morning, a little ‘ Pug’ called ‘Winnie’ – who has just arrived from the ‘UK’ ( The Wirral!)  – with her family, watch this space.

Yesterday it slowly went nicer after the last of the ‘ wet-stuff’ had blown away, by the afternoon it had cleared and was sunny, this morning the sun broke through earlier and the sky is bright blue, with a few patchy clouds in the distance, the stiff breeze is blowing down from the high mountains behind the village – a true ‘ Poiente’ – a ‘Land Breeze’ making is very ‘ Cold & Crisp’  today, only reaching 12/13 degs later, down to only 6 degs during the night, the ‘ Coldest’ weather we have ever had since we arrived down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ in 2006! From tomorrow it’s going a little warmer each day as the new ‘Atlantic’ front settles in, next week is looking dry, sunny and getting warmer, hovering in the mid/high ‘ teens’ – reaching 20 degs by Thursday! Watch this space.

On the sports front today; in the “ Guinness Six Nations “ Rugby Union Scotland welcome Italy and in the ‘Game of the Day’ later, over in Dublin, the ‘ Champions’ Ireland welcome England, last night Wales beat France 19-24 after being down 16-0 at half time!

In the ‘ Premier League’ Everton are at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester City welcome Arsenal on Sunday and on Monday Liverpool are going down the ‘M1’ to play West Ham, here in ‘ La Liga’ Barcelona are at home to Valencia and Real Madrid welcome Alaves, this afternoon the ‘ National Hunt Racing ‘ is from Sandown Park.

For our supper this evening we are having a large grilled ‘ Rib of Beef – on the Bone – Chuelton de Buey ‘ – cooked on a very hot griddle-plate ‘ Med-Rare’- then left to rest – and taken off the bone and sliced into fingers ‘ French’ style, garnished with seared Asparagus Spears & Button Mushrooms, with whole baby ‘ French’ Green Beans and twice-cooked ‘ Frits’ – served with Dijon Mustard and a classic ‘ Bearnaise ‘ sauce.

Our ‘ Roast’ on Sunday is going to be a ‘Loin of Pork’ with a ‘Herb Stuffing Crust’ with a selection of fresh local Vegetables and an old classic ‘ Fondant Potatoes ‘ – shaped into cylinders, browning the ends, and slowly roasting them in a butter & stock!

This afternoon we will be watching all the sport, as it happens, ‘ Channel ‘ hopping, later we will after supper find a good film to watch.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY ' FRESH & BRACING ' SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY 21^st/ JANUARY 2019.

We started the week with another nice lie in as we are still ‘ Doggy-Free’ in “ Doggy World Heaven “ – ‘ Chispa’ is still in & out all the time, we are just waiting to hear from some new contacts, over the weekend we had a nice message from some old friends, Carolyn & Clive, from the ‘ Casa Del Abuelo ‘ – now a ‘ Montessori School ‘ – over in San Pedro, many years ago when we were ‘ House Sitting’ we looked after their villa with dogs, cats & ‘Koi’ carp!- before they moved back to the UK. They have returned to Spain and are living in Mijas, they have asked if we still do ‘ Dog/House Sitting ‘ – watch this space.

After freshening up we had our usual light breakfast of toast & tea, at the start of a very quiet week here in sunny Manilva, no appointments, no dogs etc, it’s just ‘ Darby & Joan’ – taking it easy, relaxing and basically doing nothing, because we can! We have agreed the Menu’s for the week ahead( see below) I will be out on Friday morning on my travels down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping, we are putting together the ‘ Repairs List’ for the house and will then make contact with the family lawyers to arrange an appointment to renegotiate the contract for the coming year, due on the 14^th February, watch this space.

This morning the sun was out early and the sky is clear & blue, there is a light breeze coming up/off the Mediterranean, which is making it very ‘ Fresh’ and Bracing, to say the least, by lunchtime it’s now due to reach 16 degs+ - down to 6 degs during the night, the rest of the week is looking dry & sunny, going a little cooler as the wind gets up, then over the weekend warmer again – 18 degs+ - next week on all the longer range forecasts it’s showing the return of the ‘ wet-stuff’ – for a pro-longed spell, hovering in the mid/low ‘ teens’!  Watch this space.

See below some ‘ Arty’ pictures taken around sunny Manilva, in ‘ Black & White’ with striking ‘ Colour’!

We have just heard from our friend Andy who is over in Thailand for four weeks, he flew via Moscow, having to cross a frozen runway on foot ! ( only minus 10 degs)  He’s enjoying the ‘ Sights’ sounds & aromas, despite having a sore throat! He’s currently at the ‘ buzzing’  Jomtien night market, see the picture below of the beach front. ( not very good ) 

Speaking of the cold, last night as we were going to bed a ‘Facebook Message’ came in from Sandra & Bill over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, so we tried and got through on the ‘Facebook Video’ for a change, for a quick chat/catch up, Sandra was a bit off-colour and not feeling very well, it was minus 20 degs with a ‘Blizzard’ blowing, Bill is out very early each morning busy working on clearing all the snow drifts, get well soon Sandra, she has a day-off today!

For our supper this evening we are having ‘ Cold Roast Leg of Lamb’ with all the leftover vegetables & potatoes, tomorrow night it’s ‘ Chicken Schnitzels’ – on Wednesday our ‘ Dish of the Day’ is going to be a ‘ Casserole of Liver, Bacon & Sausages ‘ – Thursday will be our favourite ‘ Grilled Chicken Wings’ – Friday is ‘Fish Night’ and Saturday ‘Steak Night’ – then Sunday is still TBC, watch this space.

Sadly at the moment our ‘ IPTV’ system has gone off again, Lee & Daniela are going to call in to re-set it ASAP! So we are back on the ‘Spanish’ terrestrial channels for now, watch this space.

See below last nights/this mornings " Super Blood Wolf Moon "  - sadly we didn't get up to see it! 

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A COOLER BUT STILL SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY.

TUESDAY 21^st/ MARCH 2017.

I was up first this morning to see ‘Reina’ back with us for the day but she didn’t arrive as Daniela had hurt her foot yesterday evening and so has taken the day off work, hopefully she will be back with us tomorrow morning, ‘ Scruffy’ did arrive and he is with us for the day as Adrian has an appointment at the hospital for a check up, he’s got the wind in his tail and is charging around the house looking for ‘Reina’- that’s ‘ Scruffy’ not Adrian!

After freshening up we had our regular breakfast of cereal, fresh fruit toast & tea, Brenda shot up to the Town Hall to have a three page Medical document checked, a consent form for tomorrow mornings local Anesthetic to drain the liquid retention from her knee, which she has to sign, they pointed her in the right direction and were arranging for an interpreter when a friend, Pepe, the ‘Council Solicitor’ came along, he read the document and confirmed that it was OK to sign it! Result!!

Meanwhile back in the kitchen I was preparing all the ingredients for this evenings ‘ Salteado – a Spanish Fry Up ‘ – Risotto Rice, Green Beans, Mushrooms, assorted Peppers, Chorizo, diced cooked Potatoes etc – along with the sliced Grilled Pork Sausages, all fried-up and topped with a fried Egg!

Overnight a stiff breeze got up, Brenda had left the washing out so she shot up this morning to check that it was still there, it was! The sun has broken through and the clouds have been blown away, it’s a little cooler than yesterday but still dry & sunny, the rest of the week is now looking the same with the threat of the wet stuff still around at some time, watch this space.

See the picture below of the ‘ Haulfre Gardens ‘ above Llandudno taken this morning.

Last night after supper we watched the next episode of ‘ Broadchurch’ on ITV, who attacked & raped ‘ Trish’ at the 50^th birthday party, her husband, her lover, her boss or a new character, a convicted rapist, the taxi driver, a young business man etc, at the same time both the main Detectives have problems of their own, the daughter of one has been up to no good with the local lads and the son of the other one has been watching porn, his father, the paedophile, who in the first series had murdered the son of the Social worker who is now looking after ‘ Trish?!  Are you still following?!

Finally at the end an unknown woman walked into the police station and delivered some devastating news, two years ago she had been attacked, tied up & gagged, then raped!!

Today we will be watching all the various Quiz shows, I managed to get one question right on ‘ University Challenge ‘ correct! We have more luck with ‘ Pointless, Eggheads, Countdown, 15 to 1’ etc but have still not guessed an answer on ‘ Only Connect’! Watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A VERY COLD BUT WARM LATER SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY.

SATURDAY 21^st/ JANUARY 2017.

We had a nice lie in this morning as we had no dogs in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ for the first time this year, ‘Chispa’ came calling in a little later to see us, we had a breakfast treat of crispy ‘Smoked Bacon with Fried Eggs’ – Scrambled for Brenda ( still not Campo!) – with buttered toast and mugs of steaming PG Tips.

This morning it’s still very cold with a cloudy sky, there is no breeze and the sun is trying to break through, by lunchtime it should, as forecast, warm up a little, tomorrow it’s going to be similar, next week is still looking dry & settled and getting a little warmer as the week goes on, watch this space.

For our supper this evening I’m cooking, to order, ‘ A La Carte ‘ style the classic ‘ Steak Diane ‘ that I was first shown how to cook & present by the Head Waiter, Mr Oliver, at the ‘ Stork Hotel’ in Liverpool back in 1965!

 

I will trim the Sirloin Steaks ‘ French’ style before seasoning them with Sea Salt & crushed Black Peppercorns, then smearing them with Dijon Mustard, I then pan-sear them and take them out to rest, in the same ‘Flambe’ pan I sweat off the finely diced Onions & sliced Button Mushrooms, add a dash of Lea & Perrins and Tabasco and then de-glaze the pan with a slug of Red Wine, a large spoon of Dijon/English Mustard is then added before the rich Beef & Vegetable stock, the seasoning is checked and the sauce is left to thicken before placing the ‘Steaks’ back in the pan to cook until ‘ Med-Rare’ – finally I ‘flame’ the sauce with a good slug of Brandy and then a good dash of Double Cream, a sprinkle of chopped Parsley as they are presented! Whole Baby Green Beans and twice-cooked ‘ Frits’ on the side.

This weekend on the sports front; over in the ‘Premiere League’ Liverpool welcome Swansea City, Everton go down the M6/1 to play Crystal Palace and Manchester City are at home to Tottenham Hotspur at they come up the MI/6! In the ‘ La Liga’ Real Madrid welcome Malaga and Barcelona are at Eibar; the National Hunt Racing today on ITV4 is from Ascot & Haydock.

This evening we will channel hop between BBC, ITV & TVE etc to find something to watch, later we will watch the next episode on ‘ Taboo’ on BBC1.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A VERY COLD START TO THE DAY HERE IN SUNNY MANILVA;

THURSDAY 7^th/ JANUARY 2016.

I was up early this morning as ‘Reina’ arrived ahead of time, she shot upstairs into her duvet and is still there now, this morning its very cold and a little overcast, in fact its the coldest morning ( 6 degs! ) since we arrived down here over ten year ago! The sun is trying to break through and by lunchtime it will be 21 degs! The rest of the week and over the weekend is staying dry, a little crisp and sunny at times.

After breakfast I shot down to the butchers for some Beef Mince, he grinds it to order using his finest stewing steak, Brenda has suggested that we have a ‘Cottage Pie’ for our supper this evening; my ‘Mince’ is in fact a savoury version using and old family recipe, I first sweat off small diced Onions/ Shallots, Carrots & Celery, one crushed clove of Garlic, a good dash of ‘Lea & Perrins’- a spot of ‘Tabasco’ along with a good slug of Tomato Frito then add the seasoned Mince, a rich Beef & Vegetable stock, bring it to the boil and skim; it then left to cook out under the able supervision of the new appointed ‘Second Chef’ – after finishing her five year  ‘Apprenticeship’ under our resident ‘Chef De Cuisine’!! I then check the seasoning and adjust the consistency before placing it into a buttered glass baking dish for the ‘Second Chefs’ famous ‘Mashed Potato’ topping, it will go in the oven this evening when we are having Garden Pea & Baby Carrots on the side! See below;

Brenda is now pottering about the house finding things to do, the washing is on and then later we are trying on/ choosing our outfits for our lunch out tomorrow with our friend Joyce at our favourite restaurant ‘ Cocomo’ Tomorrow morning, first thing, we are at the surgery for our check ups and will pick up some fresh flowers from the local market at the same time, I will then check the oil & water in the car before heading over to Puerto Banus to collect Joyce.

Today the ‘Euro’has fallen to its lowest level in over a year as the ‘Chinese’ markets are suspended for the second day on the trot?! So its fingers crossed that it will pick up by the end of the month when are next ‘Pension’ transfer cycle starts!!

Over the next couple of weeks it will be time to re-negotiate the contract on the house with the family solicitors; we have  a lot of problems on the list this year, there is extensive damp, a ‘Health Hazard’ - in the bathroom, office, our main bedroom and the lounge after being exposed to the elements, the four window shutters on the front of the house all need attention, the one in the main bedroom has been broken now for over nine months, when I first reported it!  We also need a new ‘Electric Oven’ in the main kitchen ( Urgent ! ) as the seal is beyond repair, the timer clock is broken, the door handle has broken off and the oven has intermittent heating !! ASAP. There are also some small maintenances needed around the house, watch this space

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Last night after supper we found a good film to watch “ Brooklyn’s Finest “ from 2009. Its the story of three cops in the New York precinct, one is about to retire after 22 years of unremarkable service, his life is a shambles and he drinks and his only friend is the local prostitute, one is an under cover cop working the drug beat who is desperate to get a promotion and desk job and finally one who is a accomplished narcotics detective, a family man with money and house problems; the story is in three parts and comes together at the end in dramatic fashion, the three cops are played by Ethan Hawke, Richard Gere & Don Cheadle with Wesley Snipes as a baddie with a heart – who plays which cop is for you to decide and fine out?!

Thoughts for the Day; see above.