A BEAUTIFUL ' FRESH' & WARM AND SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 8^th/DECEMBER 2019 “ DIA DE LA INMACULADA CONCEPCION “

We had a little lie in this morning before getting another beautiful day on the go, down here on the ‘Costa Del Sol ‘ After freshening up we took ‘ Sunny’ out for her first walk of the day, she’s great company and very well behaved, she walks at our ‘Pensioner’ pace! ‘Chico’ is now arriving in 30 minutes time, for his short mini-break, until Thursday morning, he’s then back over Xmas, just for a week.

When we returned, as Brenda was on the breakfast rota, I had her famous ‘ Campo’ Poached Eggs on Toast – Scrambled for herself, on brown, with mugs of hot/strong Tea.

See below;

We have another glorious morning here in sunny Manilva, the sun was out first things and the clouds are clearing and the sky is now bright blue, there is a light breeze, so by lunchtime it will be very warm & sunny,  it’s due to reach 19 degs+ - overnight down to 9/10 degs, the perfect time of the year, down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ -  next week is now looking dry & settled, with warm sunshine, with just a few patchy clouds, hovering in the mid/high ‘ teens’ – up to 20 degs+ by Tuesday, it’s going to be dry and ‘ fresh’ for our trip to Malaga, on Thursday, to see the ‘ Xmas Light & Music Extravaganzna  ‘ along ‘ Calle Larios’ in the centre of the city. The following week is also now looking settled and mainly dry, watch this space.

Just a quick update on the football results; Everton won 3-1 ( Big Brian!) Liverpool won 0-3 and Manchester Utd beat Manchester City 1-2, so Liverpool are now 14 points ahead of City in the ‘Premiere League’! Over here Real Madrid won 2-0 and Barcelona beat Mallorca 5-2 with Messi scoring another hat-trick – his 35^th for them!

This evening for our supper we are having ‘ Braised Lamb Shanks in a Minted Gravy’ – served with Glazed Carrot Batons with Ginger, Whole Baby ‘ French’ Green Beans & Baby Leeks in a cream sauce,  Broccoli Florets in a Chess sauce, Garden Peas and Baby Roast Potatoes in ‘ Goose-Fat’

See below;

We are taking things easy for the rest of the day, later we will check out the ‘Festival’ as today it’s the ‘ Xams Parranda Bands’ competitions, they start by parading along ‘ Calle Mar ‘ ( see below )  -passing ' Bar Castillo '  After supper we will settle down and channel hop to find something to watch.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 22nd/ JULY 2018.

Well first I will start with last night; as we went out for our last walk of the day with the dogs, we walk along ‘ Calle Mar’ and sit on one of the new benches at the top of the street taking in the sights & sounds of sunny Manilva as well as the night air, on our way back, just before midnight, we heard music coming from the ’Casa de los Torres’ Cultural Centre, in the next street to ours, the ‘Pena Flamenca Association’ of Manilva had arranged a ‘Gala Dinner & Concert’ – the actual concert, with a well known Lady Flamenco singer, singing very loud, started just after we came home, and carried on until 3-00 am! So as well as having to contend with the heat we had the ‘ noise’ also!! Not a lot of sleep was had by all of us!

We managed a little lie in this morning, but can’t leave it too late as the morning heat builds up, we took ‘Prince Paddy & Comeboy’ down the shady side of the street, they are both very patient as we get ready, ‘Comeboy’ is due to be picked up this evening before supper, we are going to miss him as he’s such a nice gentle boy. ‘Paddy’ is with us until a week on Tuesday, at the end of the month, ‘Reina’ is back tomorrow morning for the day.

We are in for another ‘hot-one’ today, 33 degs+ with just a very light breeze, next week leading up to the 4 days of the ‘Festival/Feria’ over the weekend, from Thursday, is going to be very hot & sunny, reaching the high 30s by the weekend, watch this space.

See below the small ‘ fishing fleet’ in “Puerto de la Duquesa” yesterday.

At this time of the year the Grapes on the old ground vines are starting to show, see below.

Yesterday lunchtime/afternoon we had the first major fire of the season, in the next valley leading up to Casares above Estepona, it was classified at the highest level and destroyed properties as well as threatening the local ‘Rescue Dog Centre’- see the pictures above.

Tim & Thea’s daughter, Jo, after hitting Rio De Janerio, on her South American ‘ Expedition’ has just reached the “ Iguazu Falls “ on the border of Brazil & Argentina, as you can see in the spectacular pictures below.

Today on the sports front; It’s the ‘German Grand Prix’ at Hockenheim, with Lewis Hamilton at the back of the grid after breaking down, it’s the Final Round of the ‘Open Golf Championship’ up at Carnoustie. Today’s ‘Stage 15’ of the “ Tour de France “ is from Millau to Carcassonne over 182 kms, with a rest day tomorrow before they face the ‘ Pryenees ‘

See the route map below;

For our supper this evening we are having a small ‘Roast Chicken’ from the Charcuterie counter in ‘Super Sol’- cold, with a selection of various Salads and ‘Parsley New Potatoes, we will then catch the ‘ Flamenco Fashion Show’ in front of the Town Hall.

See below some pictures from last night’s ‘Fiesta De La Luna Llana’ down on the promenade in Sabinillas.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A OVERCAST & COLD SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 29^th/ APRIL 2018.

We had a little lie in this morning after our evening out at Daniela’s 40^th  Birthday party/bash. We found the grand villa on the top of the ‘La Paloma’ mountain, it’s guarded by three sets of remote barriers, the villa has been finished in spectacular fashion, the Marble floors are to die for, as well as the 4 story staircase,  in the kitchen they have the latest ‘Bosch’ supper equipment including a very clever ceramic induction hob! ( which I’ve never cooked on?!) Watch this space.

As you can see below the views across the Mediterranean, from the many terraces, are to die for.

We were warmly welcomed by our host’s Daniela & Lee along with Daniela’s Mum & Dad, Antonio & Sharon, who live in half of the villa, the full-bar was flowing, by the side of the newly completed/filled pool, as all the guests arrived, there was a Spanish singer/ guitarist to start, then on the top terrace, an English ‘ Crooner’  -followed later on the pool-side terrace a Singer/Entertainer, they are all friends of Dani’s on the local ‘Gig-Circuit’ where she also performs, in fact on Friday evening she was singing in one of the famous Bars in ‘Puerto de la Duquesa’ when her younger sister arrived with her son and surprised her, from the UK! Lee was in charge of the ‘BBQ’ and produced some very nice traditional food, all very nice as he’s not usually in charge of the kitchen! A very nice ‘ Helluva ‘ night, thanks.

This morning we are taking things easy after a light breakfast of toast & tea, we are slowly getting ourselves ready for next adventure out, down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol ‘ as we head off with our friends Kevin & Caroline, stopping off on the way for a ‘Pit-Stop’ of a nice cool glass of Cava,  across to our favourite restaurant ‘ Kokomo’ for their excellent ‘ Sunday Roast Lunch’ – the folks have arrived safely at their apartment down in Sabinillas on Friday, from Brighton. Watch this space, later for the pictures.

Speaking of the ‘Costa Del Sol ‘ – sadly last night at the birthday party the only problem was the very cold wind, that rather disrupted the night, to say the least, the cold & windy ‘ Atlantic’ front has hit us! It’s still blowing this morning and the temperature has dropped down to 17 degs+ with an overcast sky and still very cloudy, at the moment, hopefully the sun will brake through later, next week is still looking mixed, with an occasional ‘shower’- cloudy at times before slowly getting better/warmer towards the weekend, watch this space.

Just a quick update on the sports results; Liverpool could only draw 0-0 against lowly Stoke, they were saving themselves for the second-leg of the ‘ Champions League ‘ at Roma on Wednesday, Everton won 0-2 and are up to 8^th in the ‘Premier League’!  Real Madrid won 2-1 and Lewis Hamilton is second on the grid, again, against Vettel, at the ‘ Azerbaijan Grand Prix’ in Baku.

Finally next week in ‘ Doggy World Heaven ‘ things have changed with the great news that ‘Chico’ ( see below ) is back with us for another extended weeks holiday on Thursday, ‘Charlie’ arrives on Tuesday for his weeks holiday and of course little princess ‘ Reina’- who was in fine form yesterday evening, charging around the villa, is back with us for two days, as usual, and ' Chispa' is back out and has sarted to come crashing in again, watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY WARM & SUNNY MOJACAR PLAYA & MOJACAR PURBLO ON SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 9^th/ APRIL 2017.

                                         

We had a little lie in before our excellent ‘ Continental Breakfast ‘ sat on the front terrace overlooking the sparkling Mediterranean, Tim & Thea then joined us at lunchtime, we went along the very long promenade to the older and posher end, it’s very cosmopolitan & chic, the restaurant, bars and clubs are more up-market, we had or early aperitiv sat in the very hot sunshine,  the drinks came with free ‘Tapas’ of a very tasty Paella, we then walked a short distance to Tim& Thea’s favourite “ Restaurante Bellavista “ for our  memrobable ‘ Sunday Lunch’ – the  ‘Menu del Dia’ is very cheap, for a full-service, clothed restaurant, which is mainly ‘English’ based and used.

Brenda had to start the ‘ Tartare of Salmon & Advocado’ Tim & Thea had the Deep-Fried ‘Anchovy Fillets ( Whitebait!) and I had the House Cod Croquettes’ For our main course Brenda had the Grilled ‘Fillets of Sea Bass’ Thea had the Grilled ‘ Swordfish Steak ‘ Tim had the Grilled Fillet of  ‘John Dory ‘ ( Saint Peters’ fish!)  and I had my favourite Grilled  ‘Sole ‘ – as you can see in the pictures above, the desserts followed to end a perfect Sunday lunch. Thanks Tim & Thea!

We then de-camped back up to the site for our  ‘Sundowners’  a –very nice bottle of a chilled ‘ Cava Rosdao’ before saying our goodbye’s, safe journeys, good health and love, thanks for a ‘ Helluva’ weekend, we shall return. We had another night-cap back down in ‘ Mojacar Playa ’ before going to bed a little early.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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