A 'CRISP' AND SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE 'FESTIVAL' WEEKEND.

FRIDAY 6^th/ DECEMBER 2019.  “ DIA DE LA CONSTITUCION “

We managed a little lie in this morning, as I’m not out on my travels, as it’s a ‘ National Bank Holiday ‘ here in Spain, for  “ Constitution Day “ It’s a long Bank Holiday Weekend as Monday is also a  religious ‘Bank Holiday’! The village is very quiet as the offices in the Town Hall are closed, there are no children going to school and the locals are taking things easy, before the weekend’s celebrations!

After freshening up we took ‘ Sunny’ out for her first walk of the day, she has settled in very well, as usual, she sleeps down stairs on the settees, then this morning she came and let us know that it was time to go out! ‘ Chico’ is due to arrive on Sunday and little ‘ Miss Bella’ is now with us on Tuesday/Wednesday, next week.

I was on the breakfast rota so I had my favourite ‘ Toasted Crispy Smoked Bacon Butty’ – smothered in ‘ HP’ Brown sauce – open on brown for Brenda, with mugs of hot/strong tea to set us up for the weekend ahead.

All the workmen are rushing to finish installing the new ‘Xmas’ lights along ‘ Call Mar’ and down in the ‘Plaza de la Vendemia’ the stall holders are arriving to set up, the stage is ready for the music & singing and dancing, the main bar is set up, so the annual  “ Xmas Gastronomic Food, Wine & Music Festival “ will kick-off at Mid-Day! ( See above ) 

PS; The Council's Entertainment Department are putting up sound/speakers on the Lamp Posts along 'Calle Mar' this lunchtime, so it looks like the new Xmas lights are going to be a ' Light & Music Extravaganza ' - watch this space.



See below; 

The sun it attempting to break through, at the moment the sky is grey & overcast, with patchy clouds, there is a light breeze coming up off the ‘ Mediterranean’  - it's now clear & sunny, so by lunchtime it’s forecast to reach 17 degs+ - overnight down to 11/12 degs – tomorrow and on Sunday it’s staying dry and sunny, reaching 19 degs+ - next week is now looking mainly settled, staying sunny with patchy clouds, as the breeze drops a little, hovering in the mid/high ‘ teens’ – sadly still on Thursday, when we are going to Malaga to see the ‘ Xmas Light & Sound ‘ display in Malaga, we could have some of the ‘ Wet-Stuff’!  Watch this space.

This evening for our supper, after we come back from the official opening of the ‘Festival’  ( 7-00 pm approx) with the turning on of all of the ‘Xmas Lights’ on the large tree and along ‘ Calle Mar ‘ – by the Mayor, Mario, with the local ‘Parranda’ Bands playing their distinctive ‘Xmas’ music, who have been practising over the past weeks, down in the ‘ Casa Des Torres’ Cultural Centre, we are going to have a ‘ Fish N’ Chip Supper’!

It’s “ Goujons of Hake Fillet “ – strips of Hake coated in a ‘ Cruzcampo Beer Batter’ – then shallow-fried in Vegetable Oil, until crisp & golden, served with lots of Lemon Wedges and homemade ‘ Tartar’ sauce, accompanied with ‘ Mushy Green Peas’ ( from the Iceland supermarket!)  and of course triple-cooked ‘ Chips’!

Later, after supper we will be channel hopping to find something to watch, yesterday evening we watched the last episode of “ Giri/Haji “ – watch it to find out the exciting ending.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY.

SATURDAY 25^th/ AUGUST 2018.  “ BANK  HOLIDAY WEEKEND – UK “

We managed a little lie in this morning, ‘ Charlie’ let us know, early, that it was time to go out for his first walk of the day, then jumped on the bed and had a little lie in with us, he’s such a gentle/friendly dog, we love having him with us, even for just one day/night, when we are out he walks at our ‘ Pensioner’ pace, despite being used to running ‘free’ when he’s out with Brian, after a quick freshen up we went down to the bottom of the village, after I had called into the local Bank in ‘Calle Mar’ for some cash, as it’s gas-bottle exchange day.

See ‘ Charlie’ below, waiting to go out for his walk!

PS; ‘Charlie’ is 9 years young/old!!  

When we returned Brenda was on the rota for breakfast so we had her famous ’Campo Poached Eggs on Toast’ with mugs of strong tea, to set us up for another day down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ The village is even quieter than normal, as they were all down at the ‘Feria’ in Sabinillas last night, when we went out for our last walk of the day, to take in the cooling night air, with‘ Charlie’ yesterday evening, the main ‘Bars’ were all very quiet, locals recognize him and make a fuss of him!

This morning the sun has broken through earlier and the sky is clear & bright blue, with no clouds in sight, there is no breeze so by the time we hit the ‘streets’ it was already very hot & sunny, and very close, by lunchtime it’s due to reach 35 degs+! Tomorrow will be a little cooler as the breeze is coming back, next week is now looking warm & sunny, hovering in the low 30s but still with the threat of patchy rain possible, at times, even over the ‘ Vendemia Wine Festival ‘ weekend, going a little cooler, watch this space.

See below the sunrise over the beach down in Sabinillas this morning, before the holiday hordes hit it! 

On the sports front this weekend; over here in ‘La Liga’ Barcelona travel to Real Valladolid & on Sunday Real Madrid are in Girona, in the ‘Premier’ league Manchester City will travel down the M6 to play Wolverhampton Wanderes and Everton have the long journey down to play AFC Bournemouth, Liverpool are at home to Brighton & Hove Albion. It’s the ‘ Belgian Grand Prix’ at Spa-Francorchamps, as Lewis Hamilton fights to retain the lead in the Championship, from Vettel.

Meanwhile down the coast in Malaga the “ La Vuelta 2018 “ starts with a very short 8 kms individual Time Trial, with the British rider Simon Yates the favourite, as Geraint Thomas & Chris Froome are taking part, this year, in the ‘ Tour of Britain’ instead.

This evening for our supper we are having ‘ Grilled Fillet Steaks ‘ – cooked on a very hot griddle-plate ‘Med-Rare’ – Pink, no blood! – then left to rest, garnished with seared Asparagus Spears & Button Mushrooms, with finely sliced ‘ French’ Green Beans and of course twice-cooked ‘ Chips’ – accompanied with the classic ‘ Bearnaise’ sauce & Dijon Mustard.

On Sunday, at the ‘ Second Chef’s request we are having ‘ Marinated Spanish Lamb Cutlets’ with a small selection of local fresh Vegetables and our favourite, at the moment, ‘ Rissoles Potatoes’

This afternoon we will be back on the ‘English TV ‘ using our new ‘IPTV’ system that we were luckily recommended to by Paul, on Monday when he came to see us with his dog ‘Percy’ - who is joining us in September for a three-week holiday. He put us in touch with his friend over in Scotland, who made all the arrangements and then with Lee’s help, who installed it within 5 minutes, via our ‘Amazon Fire Stick’- we are now watching all our favourite programmes again!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY ' CRISP' & SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY.

SATURDAY 2nd/ DECEMBER 2017.

We had a nice lie in this morning as the village is very quiet, no church bells, no children, no deliveries and no traffic! After a quick freshen up we had our breakfast of Brenda’s famous ‘ Campo Poached Eggs on Toast ‘ with mugs of strong tea.

We then wrapped up and went down to the ‘Plaza de la Vendimia’ for our ‘Xmas Pine’ bush decorations, the ‘Council’ have erected a very large Marquee for next weekend’s ‘1^st Annual Manilva Gastronomic Food & Wine festival’ as you can see below.

Yesterday the ‘ Contactors ‘ were levelling off along ‘ Calle Mar ‘ – clearing away the rubble and exposing all the grids, man holes covers, water & electricity supplies etc, up to the top of our street outside the Town Hall, the rest of the street down to the junction is at the moment being left for the delivery traffic etc, see below.

Last night ‘ Bar Rojas ‘ reopened and this morning they are finishing sorting out the Bar, this evening we will pop in to welcome the new people, who are very brave to be opening the Bar at this time of the year and with all the disruption going on for next few months, see below a view of the inside of the Bar.

As you can see in all the pictures above we have another glorious day here in sunny Manilva, the sun was out early and the sky has cleared and is bright blue, there is no breeze so it’s very ‘ crisp’ – still cold for the time of the year, hovering on the 15/16 degs mark, during the night down to 3/5 degs! Tomorrow and all of next week is looking dry & settled with more sunshine and similar temperatures, getting a little warmer at times, watch this space.

See below the beach view down in Sabinillas this morning.

This evening for our supper we are having ‘ Grilled Fillet Steaks ‘ – cooked on a very hot griddle-plate ‘ Med-Rare’ – the left to rest, garnished with seared Asparagus Spears & Shallots with Button Mushrooms, accompanied with whole Green Beans and twice-cooked ‘ Pont Neuf ‘ Chips ( doorsteps) and not forgetting a sauceboat of our favourite ‘ Bearnaise ‘ sauce! On Sunday we are back to roasting ‘ Chicken’ with all the trimmings, watch this space.

This weekend on the sports front; while I’ve been typing/ posting the Blog I’ve been watching the final of the ‘ Rugby League World Cup’ over in Brisbane, as Australia beat England in a very tough game,6-0. Meanwhile over in Canada, this weekend, it’s the ‘Track Cycling World Cup ‘ This afternoon we will be watching the ‘National Hunt Racing’ from Newbury, later it’s the final ‘Rugby Union International’ as Wales welcome South Africa down in Cardiff, over in the ‘Premier League’ Liverpool have the long journey down to play Brighton, Everton welcome Huddersfield, tomorrow it’s Manchester City v West Ham, meanwhile here in ‘ La Liga’ Barcelona are at home to Celta Vigo and Real Madrid travel up to play Athletic Bilbao.

Last night we settled down after supper and watched various programmes, including the old classic from back in 1972 ‘ Get Carter ‘ starring Michael Caine, as the cold-blooded London gangster, with Ian Hendry, John Osborn, Bryan Mosley, George Sewell, Bernard Hepton,  Alun Armstrong and Britt Ekland ! They don’t have casts like this today!  Tonight we will channel hop.

Oops !

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A GREY & OVERCAST COLD SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY;

SUNDAY 22^nd/ NOVEMBER 2015.

We had a nice long lie in this morning as will not have the chance next week as we are very busy here in sunny Manilva and out and about on the ‘Costa Del Sol’ For our breakfast Brenda produced her now famous ‘Campo’ Poached Eggs on Toast with a mug of steaming tea; See the picture below!

We then decided not to roast the Chicken today, we have put it in the deep freeze for another Sunday, we are going to have an easy day and just snack out when we wan’t too! It’s a little grey & overcast at the moment and colder than yesterday so we are having at home day doing nothing for a change before next week.

On Monday we will chase up the bank transfers of our two accounts if they don’t arrive in our new bank tomorrow morning; then we call on the way back to have the new radio fitted in the ‘Ferrari - Red Fiesta’ On Tuesday we have ‘Scruffy & Reina’ with us for the day and then at lunchtime Brenda is going down to Sabinillas to the hairdressers for the ‘full works’ We have then decided to go across to Estepona on Wednesday morning for some Xmas shopping ie. a new tree with baubles & lights and some new decorations for the house before on the way back the Xmas cards from the ‘English Bookshop’ in Sabinillas and some more shopping at Mercadona. On Thursday morning I’m at the surgery for my blood tests in time for my appointment with my ‘Prostrate’ consultant in December,’Reina’ is also back for the day. Friday morning we will be back down in SabinIllas for some more shopping; then on Saturday we will sort ourselves out including the trousseau’s for our 44^th anniversary lunch on Sunday at the ‘La Sala’ celebrity restaurant in Puerto Banus! One ‘Helluva’ week!!

Just a quick round up on the football results from yesterday ( note the 4s!) as Everton annihilated Aston Villa 4-0 then Liverpool out played Manchester City 1 -4, it could have been a lot more as Joe Hart, the City keeper, saved lots of certain goals, finally over here Barcelona murdered Real Madrid 0-4 and went 6 points clear at the top of ‘La Liga’! The real Madrid crowd applauded the Barcelona players off the pitch!! In the afternoon Brenda followed the tennis from the ’02 Arena’ in the ‘ATP World Finals’ as Djokvic beat Nadel and plays Federer in the final later today.

Last night before supper we watched for the first time in many years ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ live from the famous Tower Ballroom in Blackpool on BBC TV. Then after supper we settled down and watched a lovely film with no shooting, car chases, fighting, bombs etc called “ The Help” from 2011 about the Civil Rights movement in Jackson Mississippi back in 1963 with an ensemble cast of Viola Davies, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer ( Oscar) Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastian, Anna O’Reilly, Chris Lowell, Sissy Spacek and my favourite Mary Steenburger! Watch it to find out about the title and the marvellous acting – don’t miss it!!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND;

FRIDAY 11th/ SEPTEMBER 2015.

I was up first this morning and took 'Freddie & Bentley' for their first walk of the day; it was all ready warm and sunny and by the time we set off on our travels is was hot; the sky is blue and there are no clouds,the rain that was threatened for tomorrow has moved up the coast and the weekend is looking settled with the temperature's hovering on the 26/27 degs mark.

After a quick breakfast the two dogs were collected and we then set off on our for our weekly shopping down in Sabinillas; I called into the bank for some cash and Brenda stopped off at her hairdressers to book an appointment for next week, she's having the 'full works'!

We then picked up the English newspapers from the bookshop and a new collar for 'Chispa' from the Chinese Bazzar, our main shop was in 'Mercadona' before we went along the coast to check out a Chiropodist, she was out but we have her number, Finally we called into 'Super Sol' for some English essentials.

This morning both 'sites' are drilling away making as much noise as possible, after unpacking we planned our weekend, no 'Chefs' night off this evening as we are having my special " Seafood Risotto" with everything that I can find to put in! Tomorrow night its 'Entrecote Steak' and on Sunday TBC. after going up to 'Bar Castillo' for our 'Paella' al fresco lunch .See the 'Seafood Risotto' below;

I've just called the hire car people over in Marbella to arrange one for the my ' Birthday' week; then next week after we have confirmed with Tim & Thea about their travel plans to come down here in their new Motor Home we will then book with the restaurants that we are planning to go too!

Well we just caught them in time as they are setting off tomorrow morning on their adventure; they are planning to come down the West coast and be here by the 23rd September for 2/3 days! We will now be able to arrange the weeks celebrations!! Watch this space.

This afternoons 'Stage 19 of the " Vuelta d'Espana15" is from Medina Del Campo to the walled city of Avila over 186 kms with two climbs on the way.

We will try and make it up to the roof box/chimney for our 'Happy Hour' this afternoon, workmen permitting! After supper it will be time to find a film to watch.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.


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A VERY HOT AND SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND;

FRIDAY 17^th/ APRIL 2015.

Up early again this morning for both of us, after a quick breakfast we shot out on our travels/adventures down here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’ Our first port of call was the surgery for Brenda’s appointment with her Doctor to update her prescriptions, here’s were the problem started last time, both our Doctor’s Maria & Emilo were not in so there was two relief doctors!! It means that there in no continuity and also we are with Maria because she speaks English. Finger’s crossed that the prescriptions are correct this time!

We then picked some fresh flowers and another plant from the local market before heading down to Sabinillas on the most glorious morning, the sky is Blue, the sun is out and there is no breeze, as the morning went on it was getting hotter at each of our ports of calls! The forecast is for more of the same over the weekend and next week is starting to shape up also.

We picked the papers up and a card from the ‘English Bookshop’ which is looking better every time you call in, we then did our main shop in ‘Mercadona’ before dropping down into ‘Puerto de la Duquesa’ to call at the ‘English Butchers’ for some Goose Fat and Homemade Pork Sausages.

As we shot along the coast road past Sotogrande the coast of Africa was sparkling in the sunshine as was the ‘Rock of Gibraltar’ In Pueblo De Nuevo Guadiaro we first went into ‘Anglo Wines’ the best wine shop in Southern Andalusia where I ended up choosing a very nice and expensive bottle of “Dom Ruinart Brut Rose” to go into the wine cellar for the 70^th birthday celebrations later in the year! Over the next few months we will be returning for some more fine wines ready for the ‘Celebration Week’!

Just across the road is the new ‘Iceland’ store so we then hit the shelves once again and picked up lots of essential goodies and some not essential treats, using our discount card, the car just about made it back up the hill through the vine fields to the village, it needs a service in the next couple of months.

As we were setting off this morning the Council workmen we putting up some new permanent advertising boards in various parts of the village, they show lots of the old village pictures and people in the past, each board has a theme and they are well produced; they are sponsored by the ‘Manilva en el Recuerdo’ web-page which is giving the presentation this evening in the theater, which we have been asked to before we head off down to Sabinillas to hit the ‘High Life’ See the pictures above,they are everywhere - causing a stir!!

We checked out ‘Tim’s Fish & Chip Shop’ to make sure that its open and we can sit outside and eat our ‘Staff Fish Supper’ before hitting the night life at ‘The Place’!! Watch this space for the pictures later.

Last night we found a rather good film to watch “ Body of Lies” from 2008 – a ‘Ridley Scott’ produced & directed movie with Russell Crowe & Leonardo DiCaprio as ‘CIA’ agents in the Middle East chasing terrorists with the help of Mark Strong, lots of twists & turns with double dealings and very explicit fighting/ shooting as the story unfolds, its very realistic and up to date for the time it was filmed.

PS; Rose has just called to say that Adrian is off sick for a week so 'Scruffy' won't be joining us this weekend, she is then off for a weeks holiday so we won't see him here in 'Doggy World Heaven' until the start of May!! We are going to miss him !!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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