THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM A 'CRISP' &SUNNY MANILVA;

...

A VERY ' COLD/CRISP' SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND.

FRIDAY 2^nd/ FEBRUARY 2018.

I was up early this morning to welcome back little princess ‘ Reina’ for the day, it’s an extra day as Daniela’s shifts have changed after she’s been off ill, ‘Reina’ shot upstairs and joined Brenda for a little lie before going into her duvet for the rest of the morning, she back next week for five days from Monday to Friday. ‘Chispa’ has been in & out all morning to see us and her friend.

See below a picture of Sabinillas in the sunshine taken this morning.

I had a quick freshen up and then shot out on my travels down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping, I did the main shop in ‘ Mercadona’ before calling into the ‘ English Bookshop’ for the local English newspapers, I then went along to the far end of the promenade to the local market for some fresh wall plants to replace the ones damaged in the storm the other night, finally I called into ‘ Super Sol’ for the English essentials, it was then time to shoot back up the hill to unload back at the house, were Brenda had a hot mug of tea with toast waiting for me!

The tea was very welcome, as this morning it’s bitterly cold, the sun was out early and the sky is bright blue, with a light breeze, but the overall temperature has dropped as the ‘ Arctic’ front takes effect, 5 degs overnight and rising to 13/14 degs by lunchtime, it’s more of the same tomorrow and then on Sunday and into next week it’s going a little colder, by Thursday we could be in for some of the wet stuff also, watch this space.

See below some pictures taken yesterday of the far-end of the promenade in Colwyn Bay as the storm hit it!

For our supper this evening we are having ‘ Grilled  Fillets of Salmon ( Tail-end!) finished ‘ A La Meuniere ‘ style in foaming Lemon/Parsley Butter, with Garden Peas, Broccoli Florets & Baby New Potatoes, tomorrow night it’s going to be a large ‘ Grilled Entrecote Steak ‘ – sliced into fingers ‘French’ style with our favourite ‘ Pont-Neuf’ – ‘ Doorstep’ Chips, I have a nice ‘Chicken’ for our ‘ Sunday Roast’ with all the trimmings!

See below a picture of ‘ Williamson Square ‘ in Liverpool taken yesterday evening with the now ‘ Radio City Tower ‘ in the background.

Back in the mid 60s when I was the Manager of the ‘Stork Hotel’ in ‘ Queens Square’ the new extension to the ‘Playhouse Theatre ‘ on the left in the picture, was opened, in 1968, I was a guest on the opening night, at the same time the then ‘ St Johns Beacon’ was being built, it was opened in 1969, by the Queen, a couple of years before I was asked to arranged the ‘ Topping Out’ ceremony for the ‘Civic’ dignitaries and builders, serving Canape’s & Champagne and draught  ‘ Watneys Red Barrel ‘ & Sausage rolls on the top of the tower, in a ‘Gale’ force wind!

Last night after supper we settled down to catch the second part of ‘ Silent  Witness’ that we missed the night before, when the system crashed, it was very gripping as ‘ Clarissa’ played by the disabled actress Liz Carr, in her electric wheelchair, went undercover to investigate a care home, with suspicious deaths of a number of people living and working at the home, in a very harrowing scene, when she was subject to abuse from a care worker,  she ended up being thrown from her wheelchair! Watch it to find out what happens!!

The final picture below shows the ‘ Great Orme’ in Llandudno  and the road going around the side.

Many years ago, back in the mid 70s we were having a day out in Llandudno and went for a drive around the ‘Orme’ – we came to the far right-hand corner and were stopped by the  ‘Police & Mountain Rescue’ – they were practising a rescue from the bottom of the cliffs, 300 feet below, and wanted a ‘Volunteer’ to be strapped into the rescue stretcher, I don’t know how, but ‘yours truly’ ended up be lowered over the side, at first ‘ feet first’ – I was more concerned about loosing my very expensive ‘ White Moccasins ‘ as I looked down through my feet, my main concern was that I was securely strapped in!! “ Happy Days “

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

...

A DRY ' CRISP' & SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND.

FRIDAY 12^th/ JANUARY 2018.

I was up first this morning and after seeing little princess ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day I shot out on my travels down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping, back at the house ‘ Reina’ shot into her duvet and Brenda took ‘ Chico’ out for his first walk of the day, she also called into our local sub-post office to post a birthday card, Sadly ‘ Itzabar’ was closed, for his annual holidays, so I went into a local bar for a tostada & tea before ‘ Mercadona’ opened.

I then called into the ‘English Bookshop’ for the local English TV Times & newspapers, before dropping down into ‘ Puerto de la Duquesa’ to go to the ‘ English Butchers’ to top up, Gammon Steaks, Sausages & Bacon, Goose Fat, ‘HP’ Brown sauce, sliced bread and as a treat a joint of ‘ Topside of English Beef’ that was on offer!

Next week in ‘ Doggy World Heaven ‘ little princess ‘ Reina’ is with us for four days, from Monday, not on Wednesday, ‘Chico’ is due to be collected on Tuesday morning, he’s back in February, and then on Tuesday evening we have a new dog joining us for a week, another ‘ Charlie’ – it’s a friend of Rose’s ( Scruffy) who lives in the same complex, who is going away for a week, for the first time, he’s a very gentle rescue dog, well trained and behaved, he gets on with ‘ Reina’ after calling in the other day to see us, ‘Chispa’ has not been calling in for the past week as Isobel, who is not too well, is staying at her daughters for the moment, on the far side of the village.

As I shot down through the vine fields this morning the sun was coming up above the Mediterranean, as you can see in the picture below, the sky is clear & bright blue, there is a slight breeze making it very ‘ crisp’ but still pleasant on the sunny side of the street, it’s still cold, by our standards, reaching only 16 degs by lunchtime, on Saturday & Sunday we are now in for some of the wet stuff, getting a little colder, then next week is looking warm & sunny, no clouds and just a very light breeze, rather pleasant for the time of the year, hovering on the 18/19 degs mark, watch this space.

For our supper this evening we are having  “  Deep Fried Fillets of Hake in a ‘Cruzcampo’ Beer Batter “ with Garden Peas and twice-cooked ‘ Chips’ accompanied with homemade Tartar sauce. 


See below;

On Saturday it’s ‘ Grilled Fillet Steaks’ with all the trimmings and then on Sunday our  ‘  Roast of the Day ‘ is, you’ve guessed, ‘ Topside of English Beef ‘ with Yorkshire Pudding! We are saving the ‘ Loin of Pork ‘ with Crackling for a special occasion, watch this space.

Last night after supper we channel hopped, we still watch all the Quiz shows earlier, we watched the very interesting programme over on ‘ BBC TV 2’ – “ A House in Time “ which tells the story of Liverpool through the people who have lived in a house in the city’s Georgian Quarter’s, it focuses on  ‘ 62 Falkner Street ‘ since it was built in 1841, going back in time, with very good research, it tells the story of the people who have owned it, up to the present time, last weekend when we met up with our dear friend Joyce( Baby) we were talking about the programme, I have been friends with Joyce, since we grew up in the same street in Liverpool ( Trevor Road in Orrell Park )  back in the 50s, she told us that she was born in a house in ‘ Falkner Street’ just along from no 62!  It’s a small World !!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

...

THE VILLAGE OF PARKGATE ON THE WIRRAL.

The ' Lobster Grill '

'Nicholls Ice Cream Parlour'

Nearly our!

' Mostyn House School'

..

MEMORIES FROM THE START OF OUR TRAVELS BACK IN 2006.

..

A GREY, COLD & OVERCAST SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY.

SATURDAY 22^nd/ APRIL 2017.

We had a nice lie in this morning before the gas bottle delivery man came calling, we left the old bottle out last night and he calls and delivers the new one, we then had our regular breakfast of  ‘Weetabix’- toast & tea, before getting the day on the go.

We have a dog-free weekend here in ‘ Doggy World Heaven ‘ – no doubt ‘ Chispa’ will come crashing in at sometime over the weekend, next week ‘Reina’ is with us for just three days, as we are out at the hospital on Wednesday morning for my ‘ Prostrate’ results ( fingers crossed) and it’s a works holiday, for Lee & Daniela, on Friday, the following week she will be with us for four days from Tuesday as it’s the ‘May Day’ Bank Holiday in Gibraltar on the Monday.

Yesterday turned out rather nasty, it rained later, with heavy thunder, not forecast, and the wind kept blowing, we had a power cut in the afternoon just as the climax of the ‘ Grand Final ‘ of ‘15 to 1’ was happening! Today it’s still cold, grey & overcast with a stiff breeze, tomorrow it’s the same, on Monday it’s picking up, for a few days, getting warm & sunny, then next weekend is not looking so good at the moment, watch this space.

This evening for our supper we are having ‘ Surf & Turf ‘ – Grilled Fillet Steaks served with ‘Gambas a la Plancha’ & garnished with seared Asparagus Spears & Button Mushrooms, whole Green Beans & twice-cooked ‘ Pont Neuf’ doorstep Chips!

                                                                                    " MEDIUM RARE FOR US " !!

On the sports front this weekend; over in the ‘Premiere League’ Everton travels down the M1 to play West Ham and Crystal Palace come up the M1 to play Liverpool, it’s the two semi-finals of the ‘FA Cup’ at Wembley, today its Chelsea v Spurs, live on BBC 1, and tomorrow Arsenal v Manchester City! Over here in ‘ La Liga ‘ on Sunday its ‘El Clasico ‘ as Real Madrid welcome Barcelona!! This afternoon we will be watching the National Hunt Racing from Ayr – it’s the ‘Scottish Grand National’

Last night after supper we watched the new series of ‘ Have I Got News for You’ then we caught the ‘ Graham Norton Show’ and finally ‘ Later – with Jools Holland’ with his usual mix of electric music.

See the picture Blog above of some old pictures from 9/10 years ago as we first arrived down here in sunny Manilva, the ‘Winnebago ‘ with the ‘Smart’ Car on the trailer, waiting at Portsmouth Harbour to cross back over on the Bibao ferry, in our dear friends, Zoe & Grahams, garden in Manchester before we left, the first picture of Brenda in France and us out & about,over here with our very dear friend Jane, one of our very first visitors, I worked for her father at the ‘ Bridge Inn ‘ in Port Sunlight,( see below ) I used to take her to a private school in Colwyn Bay when she was just 13! It’s where Brenda came to work, part-time, in the ‘Cocktail Bar’ – we met, got engaged and were married in Port Sunlight Church, next to the hotel, back in 1971 – the rest is history!!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

..