A STILL RATHER GREY & OVERCAST SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY.

TUESDAY 18^th/ DECEMBER 2018.

We had another nice lie in this morning, our last until the 14^th January 2019 ! This afternoon ‘ Chico’ is arriving for his ‘ Xmas Holiday ‘ – he’s with us until the 3^rd January and then tomorrow evening ‘ Charlie’ is being dropped off, he’s with us until the 13^th January!! Jan called in last night with all his food and his new medication, ‘ Chispa’ is going to love seeing all her friends, when she next calls in.

We have just had a phone call from our dear friend ‘ Joyce Baby’ – from Chester, who has just arrived up in ‘Alhaurin el Grande’ at her house, we had a very nice, long, catch-up with all her and our news, she’s here for over a month, so we are arranging to meet up with her, this time she is coming across to see us down here in sunny Manilva! Watch this space. 

After freshening up we had a quick breakfast of toast & tea, I then popped out to our local Butchers, in the village, for the ‘ Minced Pork/Beef’ for tomorrow’s ‘ Cottage Pie ‘ At the same time I ordered a Three Rib of Beef Entrecote’ for when Tim & Thea are with us over the ‘New Year’ weekend, we were going to have it, as usual, on Boxing Day, but have decided to share it with them instead!

This evening on the Menu we are having ‘ Pan-Seared Marinated Spanish Lamb Cutlets ‘ – coated in Rosemary Herbs, Sea Salt & Black Peppercorns in Virgin Olive Oil, then ‘ flashed-cooked’ on a very hot griddle-plate ‘ Pink, no Blood’ & accompanied with a ‘Mint Sauce & Jelly ‘ salsa, with Cabbage with Acelgas, glazed Carrot Batons and Garden Peas, not forgetting our favourite ‘ Pommes Risolees ‘- par-boiled Baby New Potatoes, in their skins, then tossed in foaming Parsley Butter until crisp & brown all over.

At the moment the sun has not managed to break through, so it’s a little grey & overcast, with dark clouds, by lunchtime it will be only 16 degs+ overnight we are going down to 9 degs at times, for the first time this year, over the next few days it’s staying the same, with a light breeze that could bring in some of the ‘ wet-stuff’ – then over the ‘Pre- Christmas’ weekend, as the sun comes back it’s going a little warmer, at the moment ‘ Christmas Day & Boxing Day’ are showing it as dry & sunny, watch this space.

See below a spectacular view of the ‘ Snowdon Horseshoe’ in North Wales as the first snow has arrived.

So today we are taking things very easy, because we can, this evening we will be out with ‘Chico’ for his walks, and then from tomorrow we will get into the routine of taking him & ‘Charlie’ out, four times a day, they both let us know when it’s time, especially ‘Charlie’ first thing in the morning, when he taps you and then jumps on the bed!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY ' CRISP' & SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY.

SATURDAY 24^th/ MARCH 2018.

We had a nice lie in this morning, the first this week, then after a quick freshen up we made a call on the ‘ Skype’ video to Jack & Lyn over in Melbourne, Australia. The time difference, at the moment, is 10 hours so it was 8-00 pm in the evening over there! They are both very well and are in good health and full of spirit! Lyn has been in Hospital, for an overnight operation, she has had a nasty lesion on her leg removed and is now recovering, the news is good!

They are starting to get excited as in April they have their Wedding Anniversary and Jack’s 90^th Birthday celebrations, as well as other birthday celebrations in their extended family! At the same time we have been in touch with Jeff on ‘Facebook’ messenger, after he sent us a nice news update about his visit, with Annette, to Canada, in June, they are stopping off in Toronto, on their way to see their daughter Kate in Alberta, so Sandra & Bill are looking forward to meeting the ‘ Australian side of the family!  It’s a small World!!

We then had our late breakfast of Brenda’s famous ‘ Campo Poached Eggs on Toast, Scrambled for her, with mugs of steaming tea, before getting our day on the go. Brenda is catching up with the chores around the house and as you can see I’m up in the office/studio on the ‘ WWW’

This morning, after a long night of another heavy rain storm, this morning it’s now dry with a clear, blue sky, there is a stiff breeze making it rather’ Crisp’ to say the least, by lunchtime it’s due to only reach 13/14 degs+ - tomorrow, on ‘Palm Sunday’ it’s sadly going to be grey & overcast with more rain, for the start of the week’s religious celebrations/parades for ‘ Semana Santa’

Next week it’s now forecast to be dry & sunny for the first four days but then on Friday and over the ‘Easter’ weekend, when all the main celebrations take place, the wet stuff is due to return, with a vengeance! Watch this space.

For our supper this evening we are having another large ‘Rib of Beef ‘ -on the bone, grilled on a very hot griddle-plate ‘ Med-Rare’ – then left to rest, before taking it off the bone and slicing it into fingers ‘ French’ style, garnished with Seared Asparagus Spears, Button Mushrooms & Baby Shallots, accompanied with Whole Baby French Green Beans & twice-cooked, old classic, ‘ Pommes Pont Neuf’ – Doorstep Chips!  Not forgetting the ‘Bearnaise’ sauce & Dijon Mustard on the side.

On the sports front this weekend; over in Melbourne, Australia, it’s the first ‘ Grand Prix’ of the season, as Lewis Hamilton has just taken the pole position for tomorrow race! The ‘ National Hunt Jump Racing’ today is from Doncaster, meanwhile there is no football in the ‘Premier League & La Liga’ this weekend as it’s ‘ International Friendlies ‘ – Wales beat Chine, in Peking, 0-6, England beat Holland, in Amsterdam 0-1 and Spain drew with Germany 1-1 , on Tuesday England welcome Italy and Spain are at home to Argentina.

This evening after supper we will settle down to watch the next two, back to back episodes of “ Below the Surface “ – the Danish police/crime drama series, with sub-titles.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY COLD & WINDY SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY 29^th/ JANUARY 2018.

I was up early this morning to welcome back little princess ‘ Reina’ for the day, she shot upstairs and joined us for a nice long lie in, she’s with us in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ for four days this week, no doubt later ‘ Chispa’ will come crashing in to see her friend and us, we then showered and got the day and the week on the go, after our regular breakfast of ‘ Weetabix’ toast & tea Brenda is catching up with the chores and I’m up in the office/ studio on the ‘WWW’ catching up with the ‘E-Mail’s, Facebook’ messages etc – then reading the online newspapers and watching the news  from around the World before typing/posting the Blog.

Tomorrow morning we are going across to the ' Costa Del Sol Hospital ' past Marbellas as Brenda had a appointment with the ' Kidney ' consultant for her six-month check up/review, while we are at the Hospital we are going to the reception/admissions desk to try and re-arrange her two appointments with the ' Heart ' consultant that we missed before Xmas, when the car was off the road, watch this space.

It’s very cold & overcast this morning with strong winds, all our wall plants have been damaged, over in Gibraltar next to the offices where Lee & Daniela work the scaffolding on a large building next to theirs has just been blown down! We are in for a stormy day, It’s forecast to stay dry but then tomorrow the rain is back with us until Thursday, the overall temperatures are hovering on the 15/16 degs mark, then over the coming weekend we are back to normal, for the time of the year, with sunshine and clear skies, reaching 18 degs+ by Sunday, next week is carrying on warm & sunny before more of the cold & wet stuff returns, watch this space.

See below a picture of a stormy sky & the Mediterranean crashing onto the  beach down in Sabinillas yesterday in the early evening.

Sadly we were not able to make contact with Tim & Thea on the ‘ Skype’ video yesterday afternoon as they had problems charging their phones, we have arranged to make a call later today via the ‘ Facebook’ messenger video, so will then catch up with all the news and plans for Thea’s 60^th birthday celebrations tomorrow!

See below a picture taken this morning showing the newly updated promenade in Colwyn Bay looking towards the old classic Pier, awaiting it’s ‘ Fate’ later today!

We have also has a long ‘ Facebook ‘ message from Sandra & Bill over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, at the moment over there it’s mild & warm, a balmy 3c! The snow has cleared for now and there is lots of water in the low lying areas, they are bracing themselves for the return of Winter!! We have arranged to call them on the ‘ Skype’ video on Sunday.

We are also planning to make contact with Jack & Lyn over in Melbourne during the week to catch up with all their news, we will ring them to set up a ‘ Skype’ video chat, watch this space.

See below a spectacular view taken from the top of the ‘Roman Catholic’ Cathedral in Liverpool, looking along ‘ Hope Street’ to the ‘ Anglican ‘ Cathedral!

For our supper this evening we are having the rest of the ‘Roast Leg of New Zealand, South Island, Lamb’ cold, we love ‘ cold-cuts’ of roast meats, we will have a fry-up of the leftover vegetables with ‘ Boulangere’ Potatoes; tomorrow it’s going to ‘Pan-Seared Liver ‘ sliced very thin, dusted in seasoned flour, with Crispy Smoked Bacon etc. The rest of the weeks menu’s are still TBC, watch this space.

Last night after supper we settled down to watch the next episode of “ McMafia “ over on ‘BBC TV 1 ‘ – Betrayals, break-ups, blackmail and flying bullets as the global drama unfolded, ‘ PPO’ ( personal protection officer) for nearly all the family, a Russian hit squad landed at Heathrow, meanwhile in Prague one of the drug overlords betrayed our main character, at the end there was a surprise assassination target, not the mother of the family but the pregnant girlfriend of our ‘ hero’ – she was shot in the stomach, the lady assassin was shot dead by a bodyguard, watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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