A VERY ' CLOSE' & SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND.

FRIDAY 6^th/ SEPTEMBER 2019.

I was up very early this morning and after a quick freshen up I shot off, as usual, on my travels, down to Sabinillas, through the very green vine fields, as the ‘Red/Golden Sun’ was rising above the Mediterranean, for our weekly shopping.

I called first into the main ‘ Medical Centre’ to make an appointment with our Doctor, Natalia, for a check-up/review etc, which I managed to get this lunchtime, my next port of call was ‘ ItZabar’ for toast & tea, before ‘ Mercadona’ opened, now back to normal, as the traffic and parking is also, I then picked up the local newspapers from the ‘ English Bookshop’ and finally called into ‘Super Sol’ for the English essentials, before shooting back up the hill to unload back at the house.

‘Scooby’ slept all night on his rug and then this morning Brenda took him out for his first walk of the day, around the bottom of the village, he’s so very good, eats everything and great company, ‘Chispa’ will no doubt call in later to see him and us!

Overnight it was still rather ‘ clammy’ and difficult to get much sleep, this morning there is a stiffer breeze but it’s still cloudy and very ‘ close’ in the sunshine, by lunchtime it’s still due to reach 27 degs+ - overnight hovering on the 20/21 degs mark, tomorrow we could even have some of the ‘ wet-stuff’ (warm) – then on Sunday it’s back to normal, next week is now looking warm & sunny, with a few patchy clouds at times, back up to 31 degs+ by next Tuesday, then cooling down again, as the breeze stiffens, hovering in the mid 20’s, watch this space.

This afternoon we will be watching ‘ Stage 13’ of the “ La Vuelta España 19” as it goes over a very hilly stage, with lots of climbs, with a steep hill top finish, from ‘Bilbao to Los Machucos’- over 167 kms, Slovenia’s ‘Primoz Roglic’ is in the race leaders ‘Red Jersey’ after his win in the individual Time Trial, on Monday, there have been lots of crashes, loosing many very good riders, the race leader has changed seven times in the meantime! Watch this space.

For our supper this evening if it’s not too ‘close’- as it gets rather ‘ hot’ in the small back kitchen, I will be cooking ‘Fillets of Hake in a Cruzcampo Beer Batter’ – shallow fried in Vegetable Oil, until crisp & golden, served with lots of Lemon Wedges and of course homemade ‘ Tartar’ sauce, with ‘ Mushy Green Peas’ and triple-cooked ‘ Chips’ The weekend menus are still TBC, watch this space.

After supper we will be channel hopping to find something to watch.

“ Countdown 24 Days “

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A NOW VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY.

TUESDAY 2^nd/ JULY 2019.

Brenda was up first this morning, to see little ‘ Miss Bella’ back with us for the day, she comes running up our street and dives onto the main settee, she’s now at my feet as I start to typing/post today’s Blog, after freshening up we had a light breakfast of sliced, chilled Nectarines ( delicious!) toast & tea, to set us up for another long, hot day ahead.

Overnight the stiff breeze was rattling all the shutters around the village, it was still a very uncomfortable night, this morning it’s dropped a little and the sky is partly cloudy, the sun has broken through and by lunchtime it will reach 29 degs+ - if we didn’t have the breeze, yesterday evening and this morning, it would be ‘ Scorching’ – in parts of Spain, inland, up to the low 40s! The rest of the week is looking very hot & sunny, going up to 31/32 degs by Saturday, next week is also going to be a ‘ hot-one’ – hovering in the high 20s, higher at times, the breeze is due to pick up later in the week, keeping it just right, watch this space.

In the early evening, last night, we walked around/down to the local Surgery, as we had our regular appointments with the Council ‘ Chiropodist, Carmen, we took little’ Bella’ with us, Brenda had to carry her most of the way, because the tiled pavements in the sun were too hot, we only just made it back as were both ‘ Knackered’ to say the least, if the breeze had not been blowing, in the shade, it would have been just too hot!

Yesterday evening, after ‘ Bella’ had been picked up, we decided to go out for supper, for a breath of fresh air, which is what we got, as the breeze was blowing down from the mountains behind the village (a Poinente ) – we went up to ‘ Cafeteria Nacho’ for a light ‘Tapas’ supper, later today ‘ Bar Castillo’ is due to re-open after their holidays, last night’s  planned ‘ Supper’ is now this evenings supper!  One day at a time!!  

This evening, after supper we will be watching the first ‘Semi-Final’ of the “ Fifa Women’s World Cup “- taking place in the ‘ Groupama Stadium’ in Lyon, as the ‘ Lionesses’ – England, play the USA, the defending champions, three times winners and ranked number one!

Yesterday at ‘ Wimbledon’ – the teenage sensation Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff, just 15 years old, beat Venus Williams, 39 years old, her idol, the five times winner of the title, in the first round, 6-4,6-4 !

We are in our ‘ Lock-Down’ mode, with all the fans on, keeping as cool as possible, the shutters down, staying indoors during the day, drinking lots of cold water, light/minimum clothes etc, simple, light food, with little cooking needed, relaxing and taking long ‘ Siestas’- in the dark!  we will ‘ Survive ‘ !!  Watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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