A STILL DRY & SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY 14^th/ OCTOBER 2019.

I was up early this morning to welcome back little ‘ Miss Bella’ for the day, she’s also with us tomorrow, ‘Winnie’ slept all night as usual, this morning Brenda took her out for her first walk of the day, she’s being picked up later this morning, we are going to miss her terribly, as it’s the last time that we will see her, as she flies off into the sunset, in Dubai! 

See below;

On Wednesday evening ‘ Lola’ is due to arrive for her week’s holiday, no doubt ‘ Chispa’ will be calling in, all the time, to see all her friends in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’

After freshening up we had our regular light breakfast of ‘ Weetabix’ with cold milk for me and brown toast for Brenda, with mugs of tea, to start the week in the right direction!

Over in Cheshire at ‘Jane’s’ “ Williamsons Bakery “ she is selling her famous mouth-watering  ‘ Vanilla Slices ‘  - they go out the door like ' Hot Cakes '  as you can see below!

Tomorrow lunchtime we are going along to ‘ Bar Castillo’ for the ‘Wake’ for our friend, Josie’s late husband Dennis, who died a year ago to the date, she has also arranged a video link-up with some friends and colleagues back in the UK.

On Friday morning I will be out on my travels, as usual, this time going along, first, to the new ‘ Mercadona’ along the coast road, before Estepona, which I will then find my way around, before then coming back to Sabinillas to the ‘ English Bookshop’ etc!

This morning, as forecast, it’s started very grey & overcast with black rain clouds overhead, with light showers forecast for later, the breeze has stiffened, so by lunchtime it’s only going to reach 23 degs+ - the rest of the week is now looking dry, cooler & settled, with a few patchy clouds on the horizon, hovering in the low 20s, then by Friday & Saturday, as the breeze drops down again, it’s back up to 26 degs+  during the day, down overnight to 14/15 degs, next week is looking dry & sunny, with patchy clouds and a light breeze, going a cooler, hovering on the 20/21 degs mark, about right for the time of the year, watch this space.

We have just been watching the ‘State Opening of Parliament’ and the ‘ Queen’s’ speech, with all the traditional Pomp & Ceremony, for the first time the Queen did not wear the ‘ Imperial Crown of State ‘ – it weighs two and a half pounds and contains 2,868 diamonds,17 sapphires and 17 emeralds! 

See below;

This evening for our supper we are having ‘ Grilled Escalope’s of Chicken Breast ‘ – finished in a Balsamic Vinegar & Lime Butter Salsa, with finely sliced ‘ French’ Green Beans & Baby New Potatoes in their Skins, tomorrow evening it’s going to be the rest of the ‘ Chicken & Mushroom Curry ‘ with triple-cooked ‘ Chips’ – on Wednesday, for a change, ‘Pan-Seared Lambs Liver with Grilled Pork Sausages and crispy Smoked Bacon’ – Thursday is TBC, Friday will be a ‘ Fish n’ Chip ‘ supper and on Saturday it’s ‘ Steak Night’ – we have a technical problem on Sunday, for a ‘ Roast of the Day ‘ -  as the Oven is blowing all the fuses when it’s turned on?! Watch this space.

Meanwhile over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, Sandra & Bill are celebrating “ Thanksgiving Day “ this evening, by roasting a Turkey, will all the trimmings! 

Over the weekend Bill served ‘Pork Brochettes’ – as you can see below.

This evening we have arranged a ‘ Skype’ video link-up with the folks to wish them ‘ Happy Thanksgiving  ‘ and catch-up with their news after returning from the ‘ Costa Del Sol & sunny Manilva’ !

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A CLEAR & CRISP SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY 22^nd/ FEBRUARY 2016.

I was up early this morning to welcome ‘Reina’ back for the first time this week, she’s here everyday up to Friday, she shot upstairs and into her duvet across the foot of the bed were she keeps Brenda company, on Saturday ‘ Charlie’ is due with us for his weeks holiday.

The sun is just braking through and the sky is clearing, the wind has dropped and by lunchtime it will reach 18/19 degs, over the next few days its staying the same and even getting a little warmer – 20 degs! On Thursday there is the possibility of some of the wet stuff.

Our next round of Pensions started arriving in our Spanish Bank Account this morning just as the’Euro’ was dropping to its lowest point in over three years, the ‘Pound’ has also reacted to the ‘Euro Exit’ rebels including Mr. Ian Duncan Smith, the Pensions Minister, this means that over the next two weeks we will be over 100 Euros down!!

After getting Brenda settled I took her breakfast, this morning it was just Toast ( Brown) with fresh fruit ( Manderine ) and a mug of steaming tea; it was then time to get the ‘White’ wash on the go, I will hang it out today, later up on the roof patio! I then shot down to our local shop at the bottom of our street for some more Green Beans, Bananas, Black Grapes, Brenda favourite, and some Jelly sweets.

At lunchtime Man & Anna called in to see Brenda, they are bringing back a tray with legs for her meals! 

PS; The Hospital called to arrange the appointment for a X-Ray and then to see the 'Trauma Consultant' - its a week on Wednesday at 6-00 pm - the problem now is how to get her into the hospital - we need a wheel chair ASAP !!

For lunch today we are having my ‘ Minestrone Soup’ with fresh Bread and then this evening its ‘Cold Roast Chicken’ with the Whole Baby Green Beans and just a few slices of ‘Souffle’ fried Potatoes for a change. Tomorrow its a small ‘ Minute Steak’ smeared with Dijon Mustard with some Saute Onions.

Last night after supper I watched the first episode of “ The Night Manager “ on BBC 1 – its based on the John le Carre novel of the same name from 1993, which I read at that time, its a ‘Cold War’ Spy Drama with the main character ‘ The Night Manager’ is a manger in Five Star Hotels around the World, he’s played by Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie is the ‘Baddie’ Olivia Colman is the MI5 agent & Elizabeth Debrick is the ‘love interest’ Watch it!

Sunrise over North Wales this morning;

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A CLEAR AND DRY SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK;

MONDAY 24^th/ NOVEMBER 2014.

Overnight the rains came but by this morning the sky is blue, the sun it out and there is no breeze in sunny Manilva; the forecast for the week ahead is more of the same but a little cooler, it might dip below 20degs for the first time in over eight months but today its 22degs!

We have just had our usual breakfast and are having an at home day taking things easy.

We have a busy week ahead, after today, in ‘Doggy World Heaven’ as ‘Reina’ is with us on Tuesday and Thursday as ‘Charlie’ arrives tomorrow lunchtime for his short break until Saturday – ‘Scruffy’ is only here on Friday afternoon! ‘Chispa’ will no doubt be calling in to see them all as the week progresses. ‘Reina & Scruffy’ don’t need long walks but ‘Charlie’ does – he’s very particular about where and when he goes, he gets you up early in the morning by tapping you with his paw to let you know that he wants to out for his first walk of the day!!

At early lunchtime we went for a nice walk with 'Chispa' in by now hot sunshine, we sat on our 'Derby & Joan' bench on the 'Mirador' at the bottom of the village and took in the hot rays of the sun! On the way back we picked up some fresh 'Campo' Eggs from 'Toto's' and a warm stick of Bread from the local fruit & vegetable shop before stopping at the local bank for some cash.

On the menu front this week we are taking each day as it comes; this evening we are having the rest of the ‘Braised Steak’ with the leftover Vegetables & Potatoes, then tomorrow night its ‘Chicken Wings’ and Mixed Salad, on Wednesday its ‘Burger Night’ before a ‘Tortillia’ on Thursday – Friday will be ‘Fish Night’ and on Saturday we are out for dinner at one of our old favorite restaurants over in Guadalmina ‘Restaurante Victor’ for our 43^rd wedding anniversary!  - Sunday’s ‘Roast’ is TBC!

Last night after supper we started to watch the award winning “ Saving Private Ryan” from 1998 with its graphic and realistic opening sequence of 27 minutes depicting the assault on “ Omaha Beach ” on June 6^th 1944 – then a little later we found a rather different film to follow “ Random Hearts” from 1999 a romantic drama starring Harrison Ford and the very watch able and delectable Kirsten Scott Thomas!!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A STILL SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY;

SATURDAY 1^st/NOVEMBER 2014.

Well the 1^st November has arrived and the weather over the weekend is going a little colder, over night the temperatures dropped by 3/4degs! – next week it’s getting a little damp and very overcast at the same time, winter is arriving later than normal, we can’t complain as we have had a record breaking summer, the last eight months have been the finest and warmest on record! So we are putting a light duvet on the bed and have got our thicker bathrobes out. At the moment the sun is out and the sky is blue if not a little cooler.

After breakfast we did a bank transfer from our old bank in Colwyn Bay which we do once a month, the rate of exchange is up again so it’s a good time for our pension transfers to arrive over the next two weeks, fingers crossed!

I’m up in the office righting/posting the Blog as you can see and on the smaller PC I’m watching ‘BBC TV 1 Breakfast News’ on-line before ‘Saturday Kitchen Live’ starts; Brenda is pottering about catching up with the chores,washing,ironing,cleaning,polishing,hanging curtains etc. It’s one of her ‘ing’ days!

Later I will get tonight’s supper ready ‘Entrecote Steak’ cooked on a very hot griddle plate – ‘Med-Rare’ with sautéed Baby Mushrooms & Onions, finely sliced Green Beans, twice-cooked Frits, Deep-Fried Garlic Buds for Brenda and mine topped with a Campo Fried Egg.

On the sports front over in Austin, Texas at the ‘Circuit of the Americas’ it’s the USA Grand Prix; meanwhile over here in ‘La Liga’ Barcelona welcome Celta De Vigo and Real Madrid travel to Granada. In the ‘Premiere League’ over in the UK Liverpool travel to Newcastle,Everton welcome Swansea and then tomorrow it’s the ‘Match of the Day’ as Manchester City welcome Manchester United!

We are having a lazy/quiet weekend as next week we have a very busy time here in ‘Doggy World Heaven’ & ‘Bird Sanctuary Paradise’ as well as airport runs and surgery/hospital visits; Andy is joining us for supper on Tuesday as he drops ‘Charlie’ the African Grey Parrot off so I’m going to make my version of the classic “ Cottage Pie ” for a nice pre-winter warmer!

No films to mention as last night there was nothing much on.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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