A VERY ' FRESH' & SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY.

TUESDAY 7^th/ JANUARY 2020.

We just had a short lie in this morning before getting the day on the go, after freshening up we had our regular light breakfast of fresh fruit ( sliced Banana) toast & tea, Brenda then popped along to the local Chemists in ‘ Calle Mar’ for her prescription tablets and to post a card, picking up a stamp from the ‘ Tabac’s’ and then posting the card in the Post Box outside the Town Hall.

As we were getting ourselves sorted we were listening, as usual, to the ‘ Andrew Charles breakfast Show’ on “ Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW “ as the ‘ Music Quiz’ came on for the first time, I sent in a quick guess, which was not correct, then on the second play of the 9 second track Brenda got it straight away, it was ‘Sandie Shaw’ with the classic ‘Puppet on a String’ from 1967! So she is in the draw on Friday morning!!

As she came back down the street ‘ Chispa’ came running up and crashed in, fully back to her normal lively self, ‘ Scruffy’ is back with us on Thursday evening for a sleep-over as Adrian is at the ‘ Costa De Sol Hospital ‘ for a ‘ Heart’ extended drip treatment on Friday.

We are then taking down all the ‘ Christmas Decorations/Lights’ as well as the ‘Father Christmas’s’ outside the house, when I say ‘ We’ I mean Brenda, who shouts for my help when needed!

Meanwhile over in Melbourne, Australia Lyn has been visiting Jack in the 'Respite Home'  - he is looking a lot better, as you can see below, we will call her later this week to see how things are, please stay safe & sound, wishing all the extended ' Family' all the very best for 2020, thanks to ' Deb' for the Xmas card that arrived yesterday! 

We have a glorious morning down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ in sunny Manilva, the sun broke through first thing and the sky is bright blue and clear and cloudless as there is light cooling breeze, so by lunchtime it’s due to only reach 15 degs+ - overnight down to 9 degs+ - the rest of the week is now looking the same, mainly sunny with a few patchy clouds , hovering in the mid ‘ teens’ with now just a small chance of the ‘ Wet-Stuff’ on Saturday as the breeze picks up, then on Sunday when we are out with our dear friend ‘ Joyce Baby’ it’s now looking dry! Next week is going to be very similar, staying cool and sunny with just the chance of the ‘ Wet-Stuff’ returning, hovering on the 14/16 degs mark, still below 10 degs during the night, watch this space.

This evening for our supper we are having ‘Pan-Seared Escalope’s of Chicken ‘ – coated in breadcrumbs from the local Bakery, cooked until crisp & golden, resting on a pool of ‘Tomato’ salsa and served ‘ Holstein’ style – topped with Anchovy Fillets, Capers and ‘ Campo Fried Eggs, garnished with seared Button Mushrooms, with whole Baby ‘ French’ Green Beans and triple-cooked ‘ Frits!

Tomorrow  it’s going to be a ‘ Pork & Mushroom Creamy ‘ Tarragon’ Casserole ‘ – using sliced Pork Loin, with a selection of fresh, local Vegetables, Thursday will be a ‘ Left-Over’s’ day, then on Friday we will have a ‘ Fish Supper’ – Saturday will be our usual ‘ Steak Night’ – as on Sunday we are going to book a table for our ‘Sunday Roast Lunch’ with ‘ Joyce Baby’ ( who is Vegetarian) at “ La Taberna 2 “ down in Castillo de la Duquesa!

After supper we will settle down to watch the first two-part episode ( 2^nd tomorrow night)  of the excellent “ Silent Witness  “ which returns this evening with a new series.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A ' CHILLY' AND A LITTLE OVERCAST SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY 11^th/NOVEMBER 2019.

I was up early this morning to welcome back little ‘ Miss Bella’ back with us for the day, she’s also with us tomorrow, in ‘Doggy World Heaven’  - ‘ Chispa’ will no doubt be calling in to see her & us later! No other of our guests at the moment, but in December and over Xmas/ New Year we are very busy, with ‘ Scruffy, Sunny, Chico, Nacho, Pucci & Bella’ -at different times! Watch this space.

After freshening up as I was on the breakfast rota I had a ‘ Toasted Crispy Smoked Bacon Butty ‘ – smothered in ‘ HP’ Brown sauce – open on brown toast for Brenda, with some of her favourite sliced Button Mushrooms sautéed in a knob of Butter, a few of which made it onto my Butty! Mugs of hot/strong tea helped wash them down, at the start of another week, down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ – watch this space.

This week I have my appointment down at the main ‘ Medical Centre’ on Wednesday morning, first thing, for my Blood Test, in time for my six month review/check up appointment, at the start of December, across at the ‘ Costa Del Sol Hospital’ with the ‘Prostate Consultant’ On Wednesday Evening we are both back down at the ‘Medical Centre’ for our annual ‘ Gripe- Anti-Flu ‘ injections!

As usual on Friday morning we will be out on our travels, down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping.

This morning has started very ‘crisp’ & breezy, the sun has broken through and there are a few patchy clouds hanging around, at the moment it's overcast, it’s forecast to reach 18 degs+ by this lunchtime, tomorrow going a little warmer, overnight hovering on the 11/12 degs mark, the rest of the week and over the weekend is staying cool & windy, as a new ‘ Atlantic’ front come in on Wednesday, bringing with it some of the ‘ Wet-Stuff’- going cooler at the same time, down to 14/15 degs at times, overnight down to only 7 degs! - cold by our standards, next week is at the moment looking like we are in for more of the same, watch this space.

See below a picture taken this morning, from ' Capel Curig' - showing the " Snowdon Horseshoe " at it's finest ' Crib Coch - Snowdon & Garnedd Ugain ' - all Welsh 3000ers ! 

Just the one result from yesterday, Liverpool beat Manchester City 3- 1 and are now 9 points clear of the them in the ‘ Premiere League’ – 8 points in front of Leicester & Chelsea, with City 4^th!

This evening for our supper we are having ‘ Pork Schnitzels ‘ – using the rest of the Pork Fillet, sliced and flattened out, then dusted in seasoned Flour and dipped in a ‘ Campo’ Egg wash and coated with local Breadcrumbs, from the Bakery, they are cooked on a hot griddle-plate, with a little Vegetable Oil, until crisp & golden, served on a pool of Tomato Salsa and accompanied with my special  ‘Spaghetti Milanese’ and whole Baby ‘ French’ Green Beans.

On Tuesday we are having ‘ Chicken & Chips’ – then on Wednesday I’m going to make a ‘ Beef & Vegetable Stew ‘ – topped with ‘ Herb Dumplings’! –  with savoury Cabbage - ‘Comfort’ Food to Die For!!  Thursday will be a left-over’s day, Friday it’s going to be a ‘ Fish Supper ‘ – Saturday our ‘ Steak Night’ -  Sunday is still ‘TBC’ – Watch this space.

We will catch up with all the ‘Quiz Shows’ that we follow, this afternoon/evening – ‘ Countdown, Tipping Point, Pointless, Only Connect & University Challenge’ – after supper channel hopping to find a good film to watch.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM SUNNY MANILVA;

A BEAUTIFUL WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF A ' HELLUVA' WEEKEND!

FRIDAY 27^th/ APRIL 2018.

I was up early this morning and after a quick freshen up I took ‘ Nelly ‘ around the corner for her first ‘ message’ of the day, Brenda took her for her first walk of the day later, she’s being picked up at lunchtime, on Monday ‘ Charlie’ is back with us for another weeks holiday. I then shot down to Sabinillas, through the ever growing vine fields, on my travels, for the weekly shopping, as the sun was coming up above a sparkling ‘ Mediterranean’

I had a quick toast & tea in ‘ Itzabar’ before going into ‘ Mercadona’ for the main shop, I then collected the local newspapers from the ‘ English Bookshop’ as well as a birthday card, watch out it could be you?! On the way back I went along to the far-end of the promenade to the local market for our fresh flowers & wall plants, I then came back up through/around the hairpin bends to the village, to unload back at the house.

Yesterday evening we made contact with Sandra & Bill, on ‘ Facebook ‘ messenger, over in Everett, Ontario, Canada – Sandra is finally feeling much better, the pain is very faint, she is looking forward to a week off next week, as it’s Bill’s birthday, they are having an away day/night next Friday, on his birthday, in ‘Niagara Falls’ We have arranged to call them next Sunday on the ‘ Skype ‘ video for a nice catch up, watch this space.

Yesterday lunchtime when we were in ‘ Bar Castillo ‘ our friend Michala, called in with her two sons, after school, another local Spanish friend, Pedro, was there and he asked if they would like a new puppy, she ended up getting roped in and the result is a beautiful baby boy, as you can see below, she has just confirmed that they will be asking us to look after him at the end of June, for sure, as they are flying back to the UK on holiday! He could be ‘Doggy Worlds Heaven’ youngest guest! Watch this space.

This morning we have a glorious day down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ – the sun was out early and the sky is cloudless & bright blue, there is just a very slight breeze, making it a perfect day to be out & about, by lunchtime it will be 24/25 degs+! – over the weekend it’s still going a little cooler with some clouds in the sky, as the ‘ Atlantic’ front comes in, but on one of the forecasts the ‘ April Showers’ have gone away, next week is also now looking dry, cloudy and sunny at times, hovering on the 19/21 degs+ mark, as the month of May starts, watch this space.

See below the start of the cruise season in Liverpool as the liner the ‘ Black Watch’ berthed at the Pier Head yesterday.

For our supper this evening we are having ‘Pan-Seared Fillets of Rodaballow- Turbot ‘ – lightly dusted in seasoned flour, finishing them ‘ A La Meuniere’ style, with a burnt Lemon/Caper Butter, accompanied with Broccoli Florets, Asparagus Spears & Garden Peas ( A Green extravaganza!) with ‘ Parsley New Potatoes( more Green!) 

The ‘ Head Chef ‘ and his very able assistant ‘ Second/ Vegetables Chef’ have been given the weekend off, for the first time in a long while, no doubt they will be out & about ‘ playing’ – watch this space.

This evening we will be channel hopping after supper to find something to watch.

PS; Just a quick line to wish our friends Kevin & Caroline a safe & comfortable journey/flight today, coming over from Brighton, we are looking forward to our ‘ Sunday Roast Lunch’ at Kokomo’!

      

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY ' CRISP' AND SUNNY DAY IN MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY 15^th/ JANUARY 2018.

I was up early this morning to welcome back little princess ‘Reina’ for the day, she shot into her duvet as her place on the bed was taken by ‘ Chico’ She’s with on Tuesday, Thursday & Friday this week, ‘Chico’ is due to be collected tomorrow morning, we will miss him, he’s back with us in February, then tomorrow evening the new dog ‘ Charlie’ is being dropped off for a week, we then have a surprise guest in ‘Doggy World Heaven’ as on Wednesday morning ‘ Scruffy’ is being dropped off for 2/3 days as Rose has been called into Hospital for a operation, at short notice, he knows Charlie & Reina so things will be OK!  Watch this space.

After taking ‘ Chico’ for his first walk of the day we had our regular breakfast of ‘ Weetabix’ toast & tea, I then shot along to the local Bank in ‘Calle Mar’ to pay the electricity bill, this morning there are lots of workmen in the street, they are putting in all the drains/water mains  etc, at the moment, after the rain of last week it’s still a bit muddy/dusty along the pavements.

The sun was out early this morning and the sky is bright blue, there is just a very slight breeze so it’s very ‘crisp’ but warm on the sunny side of the street, a beautiful day, by lunchtime reaching 13 degs, overnight it’s 7/8 degs, the rest of the week and over the coming weekend we are in for more of the same, getting a little warmer each day, hovering on the 17/18 degs mark, no sign of any of the wet stuff, so far, making it very pleasant for the time of the year, watch this space.

Yesterday evening we had a nice long chat/news catch up with Sandra & Bill over in Everett, Ontario, Canada on the updated ‘ Skype’ video system, the pictures were a lot clearer and the sound quality was excellent with no ‘ delay/feed-back’ – they are both very well and making plans for the year ahead, including a holiday down here in sunny Manilva in October, they are considering renting an apartment, this time down on the beach in Sabinillas, watch this space!

This evening for our supper we are having “ Cold Roast Topside of Beef “ – we love ‘ cold-cuts’ of roast meats, the Beef is ‘ pink’ and juicy and very tasty, with it we will have all the left-over vegetables & potatoes, the ‘ Menu’s’ for the rest of the week are TBC, watch this space.

Last night after supper we watched the next episode of “ McMafia “ on ‘BBC TV 1’ – only two killings this week as the plot thickens, all done via the evil ‘WWW’! It’s all getting rather exciting with double crosses, drug heists, smuggled heroin, global transfers on funds, family intrigue, hackers, etc, watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF A ' HELLUVA' WEEK.

MONDAY 25^th/ SEPTEMBER 2017.

We had a little lie in this morning, the last this the week, and for quite a while, after a quick freshen up Brenda shot down to the local Sub-Post Office to post some cards, watch out it could be you! When she returned I had the breakfast ready, ‘ Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties’ smothered in ‘HP’ Brown Sauce, open on brown for Brenda, with mugs of steaming/strong tea to set us up for the week ahead.

Tomorrow morning little princess ‘ Reina’ is back with us for three days, at lunchtime we are meeting Kelvin & Gaye at the ‘KE’ Bar in Sotogrande marina, on Wednesday morning I have my six month review/check up with my Prostate Consultant at the ‘ Costa Del Sol Hospital’ past Marbella, then in the evening we are meeting Kelvin & Gaye for supper, they have requested ‘ Spanish, so we are going to our old favourite ‘ San Rafael’ outside Sabinillas on the coast road.

On Thursday morning I’m taking the car down to the new ‘Steam/Valet’ cleaning garage, above, Puerto de la Duquesa, for the full-works, then later I’m picking up the keys to the Sandra & Bills apartment at the ‘Manilva Green Aparthotel’ from Carlos, we arranged it yesterday when he looked after us at ‘ La Taberna 2 ‘ Friday morning I will be out on my travels down in Sabinillas for the weekly shopping, later we are going along to the apartment with the folks ‘ Welcome Pack’ etc, ready for their arrival on Saturday lunchtime.

                                        “ COUNTDOWN TO SATURDAY “ 6 DAYS TO GO !

The sun was out early again this morning and sky is already bright blue, we are in for another ‘ hot-one’ later, reaching 29/31 degs, tomorrow it’s the same then on Wednesday its’ going a little cooler, for a couple of days before picking up at the weekend, hovering on the 25/27 degs mark, possibly a little hotter on Sunday, next week, when all the folks are down on the ‘ Costa Del Sol ‘ is now confirmed as warm & sunny, with the threat of the wet stuff, on most of the forecasts going away, watch this space.

See below a set of pictures taken from the top of the tower ( 331 feet) of the ‘Anglican Cathedral’ in Liverpool over the weekend, it’s the longest cathedral in the World and the fifth largest in the World, it took nearly 75 years to build, using the Red Sandstone from a quarry outside Liverpool, the ‘Bell Tower’ houses the World’s highest & heaviest ringing peal of bells, also an unusual picture of the two cathedrals, at either end of Hope Street, the ‘ Metropolitan Cathedral’ was built over a 5 year period in the mid 60s, in concrete with a ‘Portland’ stone cladding and an aluminium covering to the roof.

Just a quick update on the result of the  ‘ Elite Men’s Cycling Road Race’ at the ‘UCI World Championships’ in Bergen, Norway yesterday afternoon, as Peter Sagan ( a Slovak) became the first man to win three successive World titles, he beat, by inches, in a sprint finish, a Norwegian rider, who if he had won the crowd would have gone wild! 

This evening for our supper we are having ‘ Omelettes ‘ – ‘ Cheese’ for Brenda & ‘Mushroom’ for me, using ‘ Campo’ Eggs (3) beaten with just salt & white pepper, I have a dedicated ‘ Omelette ‘pan that is only ‘ dry’ cleaned ,never washed, I cook over gas, getting the lightly oiled( vegetable) pan very hot, a small knob of butter is tossed in and at the same time the beaten eggs, left to set for a second before stirring with a fork, taken to the side and shaped before adding the filling and covering, the ‘Omelette’ is turned out onto a hot plate and shaped, by a paper towel, into the classic ‘ ‘Torpedo’ shape! As trained and showed by an old ‘Liverpool Lyons Corner House’ Head Chef, Paul Bruchet, many years ago ( 56!) We are having them with finely sliced Green Beans and twice-cooked ‘ Stringfellows’

After our supper this evening we are going to watch the next episode of Liar’ on ITV, tomorrow evening it’s the penultimate episode of ‘Doctor Foster’ over on BBC.




Many thanks to all our family & friends all over the World for all the very kind comments and birthday wishes yesterday.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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