A VERY WARM & SUNNY ESTEPONA & MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY 24^th/ JUNE 2019.

I was up early this morning to welcome back little ‘ Miss Bella’ for the day, she’s back tomorrow also, she’s a real character and great company to have here with us in ‘ Doggy World Heaven ‘She even sent Brenda a picture of herself on Brenda’s birthday!

See below;

After freshening up I shot off across to Estepona, my first call was into my Barbers, Manuel, for the ‘ Full-Works’ – I then did a little retail shopping and found a Red Highlight Pen & Paper Clips, I bought a copy of today’s ‘ Daily Mail and some Hair Bands, for my ‘Steven Seagal’- it was a ‘ Antonio Banderas’ until he cut his off! That’s what the locals in ‘ ItZabar’ call me!!

I then had a tostado & fresh Orange Juice, before going along to the Estepona Hospital for my appointment with the ‘ Physiotherapy Consultant’ for my monthly review/check up, she has given me a final four weeks of treatment on my left-hand. “  RESULT “

It started a little grey, but it then picked up as the sun broke through, the sky cleared and by lunchtime it was hot & sunny, in the high 20s, the rest of the week is looking the same, getting hotter over the coming weekend, by next Monday up to 30 degs+ again, we are in for prolonged ‘ Hot Spell ‘ Watch this space.

Over in Liverpool over the weekend’ berthed at the Pier Head was the off-shore patrol vessel ‘HMS Forth’ and the sail-training ship ‘ Pelican of London’ – as you can see below.

The ‘Festival de San Juan’ on Sunday evening was the best ever attended, with over 5,000 people, as the ‘Juas’ was burned and the fireworks display at Mid-Night took place, we caught it all from the comfort of our settee, live, on ‘Manilva TV’- the music & dancing goes on until 4-00 am!

See a few pictures below;

Meanwhile over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, the folks, Sandra & Bill, went away with their trailer, for the first time this year, up to ‘Parry Sound’ to meet some old friends, see below the ‘Little’ trailer set up next to the Sound!

After I returned, in the afternoon, we caught up with the episodes that we had missed over the weekend, on the ‘BBC I-Player’ of “ Killing Eve & Gentleman Jack “  as we are now watching the new series on ITV – “ Beecham House “ – a period drama about a British family in Delhi, back in 1795!

For supper we are keeping things as simple as possible, this evening it was ‘ Escalope’s of Chicken Breast’ with Green Beans & Chips.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A WARM & SUNNY START TO THE 'SEMANA SANTA ' EASTER WEEK, ON MONDAY, HERE IN SUNNY MANILVA.

MONDAY 26^th/ MARCH 2018.

We had another nice, long, lie in this morning, the last this week, Brenda then had a shower, mine is later, I then treated us to breakfast of ‘ Toasted Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties’ - open on brown for Brenda, with mugs of strong tea, to start the week in the right direction!

I then popped along the local ‘Tabacs’ in Calle Mar’ - to top up Brenda’s Mobile phone, on the pay-as-you-go system, the ‘ Contractors ‘ workmen are starting to level off the street, as they are finishing installing all the new drains/supply pipes, next it will be the concrete base before all the new flagging, watch this space.

Tomorrow morning I have my appointment down at the main ‘Medical Centre’ for my blood tests etc, before my appointment at the ‘ Costa Del Sol Hospital’ with the ‘Prostate’ Consultant in April, later in the morning Brenda has her appointment with our Doctor, Natalia, for her routine review/check up.

I will be out on my travels down to Sabinillas on Thursday this week as it’s the ‘Bank Holiday’ Easter weekend, for our weekly shopping, here in ‘ Doggy World Heaven ‘ little princess ‘ Reina’ is back with us on Tuesday/Wednesday, then on Thursday ‘ Bo’ is returning for a short break until Sunday afternoon, watch this space.

This morning, as forecast, the sun has broken through and the sky is bright blue, there is no breeze, so it’s already warm & sunny, by lunchtime the temperature will be 19/20degs+ - the same tomorrow, rising to 23 degs by Wednesday, it’s now forecasting the wet stuff on ‘ Good Friday’ – which is a shame as it’s one of the main days in the ‘ Semana Santa ‘ calendar, then over the ‘ Easter’ weekend we are in for more settled & dry weather, fingers crossed, watch this space.

The sun has returned to sunny Manilva! 

For our supper tonight we are having ‘ Marinated Spanish Lamb Steaks & Cutlets’ – in Tarragon, Sea Salt, Black Peppercorns & Virgin Olive Oil, then grilled on a very hot griddle-plate, with the rest of the ‘ Boulangere’ Potatoes and a small selection of fresh local vegetables, as last night’s ‘ Leg of Lamb ‘ was rather small!  On Tuesday it’s going to be ‘Pan-Seared Lambs Liver’ – on Wednesday a ‘ Beef Curry’ – Thursday is still TBC, Friday will be a ‘ Fish Night’ depending on the market choice, Saturday is as usual ‘ Steak Night’ and then on ‘Easter Sunday’ for our ‘Roast of the Day’ we are having a lovely ‘ Loin of English Pork with Cracking’! Watch this space.

After supper this evening we will settle down to watch the next gripping episode of ‘ Marcella’ with Anna Friel in the title role, a crime noir detective series, as she tracks down the killer, can she separate her professional and personal life?!  

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY.

TUESDAY 24^th/ OCTOBER 2017.

I was up early this morning to see little princess ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day, she shot into her duvet, last night our new dog ‘ Lolo’ was dropped off, he’s with us for 7/8 days, he’s very obedient and very friendly, we took him for a short walk last night, he slept on his bed, by the side of our bed and I had to wake him up this morning to take him out for his first walk of the day, he’s settled in and has eaten all his meal this morning, we then sorted ourselves out, we had our breakfast of ‘ Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties’ – open on brown for Brenda with mugs of steaming tea, to set us up for the day ahead.

See below two pictures of ‘ Lolo’ after he settled in this morning.

Last night we went down to the local surgery for our appointments with the ‘ Chiropodist ‘ Carmen, we noticed that our Doctor’s name plaque, Natalia, had gone off her door, Carmen confirmed that she has been moved down to the main ‘Medical Centre’ in Sabinillas,we are very upset, to say the least, she’s the best Doctor that we have had, so this morning we took ‘Lolo’ for a good long walk and called into the surgery, the receptionist confirmed the bad news, I have the necessary transfer forms and we are considering moving to her in Sabinillas,it means that we will have to use the car, for all our appointments, instead of walking. While I was there I booked our ‘ Anti-Flu  - Gripe ‘ jabs for next Friday afternoon. Watch this space.

After returning to the house I shot along to the local Bank to pay our electricity bill, the Bars along ‘ Calle Mar ‘ have started to take down their sun awnings, ‘Bar Rojas’s’ has gone, ‘Bar Ocaña ‘ is being taken down this morning , that leaves just  ‘Cafeteria Nacho ‘ to take down his, meanwhile the ‘ Contract workers are still installing the temporary water supplies. Watch this space.

This morning the sun broke through and the sky has cleared, there is a slight breeze, but in the sunshine it’s still hot, by lunchtime into the mid 20s, over the next few days we are in for more of the same, at the weekend it’s getting a little hotter, next week is also looking warm & sunny, watch this space.

See below a picture of the village of Beddgelert in Snowdonia, back in 1972 where we were the General Managers of the famous ‘ Royal Goat Hotel ‘ shown in the picture below also.

For our supper this evening we are having ‘Escalopes of Chicken -  Schnitzel’ style, Brenda picked up the sliced( thinly) Chicken breast, from our Butchers, yesterday when she was out, I use fresh breadcrumbs from the local Bakery, I pan-cook the ‘ Schnitzels ‘ in foaming Lemon Butter and they are served on a bed of ‘ Spaghetti Milanese ‘ with a pool of Tomato salsa on the side, and thinly sliced Green Beans, the ‘Schnitzels’ are finished ‘ Holstein’ style, topped with Anchovy Fillets & Capers with a ‘ Campo Fried Egg on top! ( with lots of Lemon wedges!)

Tomorrow evening we are having a ‘ Beef Curry ‘ with all the trimmings, I picked up the diced Beef from the Butchers this morning when I was out.

We have just come off a ‘facebook’ messenger video call with Jane over in Cheshire,  we had a short chat, as we had a power cut, sadly it’s all change in their ‘ Empire ‘ with the loss of all the Pubs, Jane is concentrating on the Bakery business and David is doing consultancy work etc, watch this space, our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

THURSDAY 18^th/ MAY 2017.

I was up first this morning to see ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day, we then all had a little lie in before getting the day on the go, after freshening up we treated ourselves to ‘ Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties – Open for Brenda ‘ with mugs of steaming ‘PG Tips’  ‘ Chispa’ came crashing in to join us!

We have just been watching a programme on BBC TV showing an ‘ Old English Sheepdog Show ‘ which brought back very many happy memories of ‘ Kinmel Pans Pal Pepper Pot ‘ or ‘ Sam’ as he was known! He was a ‘Champion Pedigree’ award winning dog, that we had from a small pup, it was during our time at the ‘Hotel Seventy Degrees’  He was a ‘ Star’ and loved by us and all our customers, family & friends, I will try and find a picture of him to post on the Blog, watch this space.

In the meantime here’s a picture below of one just like him! 

                                

We then sorted the shopping list out for tomorrow morning when I’m out on my travels down in Sabinillas. I’m going out early to go to our Bank first thing as it’s rather busy, all the time, since they closed a branch in Puerto de la Duquesa, I have to see the Assistant Manager to finalise the transfer of one of our accounts, I will then carry on with the shopping before calling into the ‘ Castle Radio FM 89.2 & online on the WWW’ in Castillo de la Duquesa’ to hand in my playlist for next week’s ‘live’ outside broadcast on Saturday the 27^th!

PS; My studio is ready to broadcast my show ' LIVE ' on the ' WWW '

We have another glorious day down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ – the sun was out early and the sky is bright blue & clear, there is just a very light breeze making it very pleasant, by lunchtime it will be very hot & sunny reaching 27/28 degs, overnight it’s now 17/18degs, it’s time for the duvet to go away, the rest of the week and over the weekend it’s going to be more of the same and then next week is also warm & sunny, our favourite time of the year, before the summer ‘ Hoard’s ‘ descend, watch this space.

See below a picture of our house earlier in the year with the wall plants starting to bloom.

See below a picture taken this morning of the sunrise over the Liverpool waterfront, One Tower, Two Cathedrals & the ‘Three Sisters’

For our supper tonight we are having the rest of the ‘ Smoked Chicken & Three Green Bean Risotto’ – cold with a Mixed Salad, the weekend Menu’s are yet to be finalised, Fish on Friday, on Saturday Steak and then on Sunday we could be going out for lunch, watch this space!

PS; I’ve just booked a  nice table for two, outside, at “ Restaurante Arroyo Hondo “ which is situated on the road going up to Casares, it has excellent reviews and the food looks spectacular, watch this space.!!

At lunchtime we went up to ' Bar Rojas ' for a nice cool drink sat under the ' Sonbajo' taking in the sights, sounds & aromas of sunny Manilva.

Yesterday afternoon we watch a very good movie on the ‘Kodi ‘ film channel via the new ‘ Amazon Fire TV Stick’ –  “ The Revenant “ with Leonardo DiCaprio in the main award winning role, as a ‘ Frontiersman’- very gripping & realistic with unbelievable scenes of a bear attack, an Indian attack and then the survival in the wilderness before the climatic ending!  The meaning of the word ‘ Revenant’ is to talk about someone who returns after a long absence!

This afternoon we are going to watch the latest Quentin Tarantino movie “ The Hateful Eight “ that Daniela recommended  us to watch.


PS; We have just had a ' Skype' video call from Tim back in Old Colwyn, North Wales, after their long ' Winter' break down in sunny Spain, we had a good catch up and are already looking forward to their return later in the year!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF A ' HELLUVA' WEEK;

MONDAY 25^th / JULY 2016.

I was up first this morning to welcome ‘ Reina’ back with us, she’s here for her normal five days and then back on Sunday for a sleep over, she is settled on her duvet up in the office with fan on, she come down when she need too, Daniela is collecting her a little later than normal this evening. There is no sign of ‘ Chispa’ as she’s on her holidays with her family down at the ‘ Campo in the valley below the village.

After a quick breakfast we sorted ourselves out and went down to the surgery for Brenda’s appointment with the Doctor for the results of all her tests last week, everything is all right, her readings are fine and she’s adjusted some of her prescriptions, the only problem that has been high-lighted is with her Kidneys, this first came to light when she had her fall back in January, since then the results have been monitored, she is now sending her to see a ‘ Kidney Consultant ‘ in the ‘ Internal Medicine Department ‘ at the ‘ Costa Del Sol Hospital’ over in Marbella, watch this space.

Today is going to be the hottest day so far this week, the sun was out from early and the skies are clear, the breeze has dropped again and it was already ready hot when we went out earlier, the rest of the week is going be more of the same and getting hotter down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’- all of Andalucia is on ‘Red Alert’

This evening for our supper we are keeping it simple, Cold Smoked York Ham with fried ‘Campo’ Eggs and ‘ Frits’ – later we are going out to watch the Annual  ‘ Manilva Brass Band Concert ’ on the top stage,  before its the ‘ Election of the Reinas & Damas ‘ for the ‘ Feria ‘ in August, see below; then tomorrow evening is the ‘ Verbena de Sta. Ana Festival ‘- we will follow the religious procession in the early evening and then go back out later to listen to the two bands on both stages.

Yesterday in the afternoon we watched the ‘ Hungarian Grand Prix’ as Lewis Hamilton led from the start, after the first corner, and controlled the race, he’s now back in the lead in the Drivers Championship, meanwhile over in Paris Chris Froome duly won the “ Tour De France “ for the third time.

After supper we settled down to watch, again,  “ Quantum of Solace “ 2008 as Daniel Craig makes his next mission personal, next week its “ Skyfall “ 2012 which we have not seen, we are looking forward to watching Daniel Craig as James Bond, for the last time, its sounds like its the best ‘ Bond’ movie ever, ‘ Scene to scene, moment to moment, the movie offers one of the richest and most interesting ‘ Bond’ adventure ever ‘ – we can’t wait!!

Thoughts for the Day, See above.

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