THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM A VERY SUNNY MANILVA;

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A COLD BUT DRY SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

TUESDAY 30^th/ JANUARY 2018.

We were both up early this morning, ‘Reina’ has not been dropped off as Daniela’ is not feeling very well, we then freshened ourselves up and grabbed a quick toast & tea before setting off to the ‘ Costa Del Sol Hospital’ past Marbella, along the coast road with a stormy & grey Mediterranean crashing onto the beaches, for Brenda’s appointment with the ‘ Kidney’ consultant, at the hospital both the lift into the hospital and the one up to the department were not working, which meant a lot of stairs!

The regular lady consultant, who has been in charge of Brenda’s health for a few years, is very thorough, she checks Brenda’s weight, her blood pressure and heart beat before reading all the test results, she checks all Brenda’s prescription tablets and adjusts them, if required, she confirmed our Doctor, Natalia’s response, that everything is looking settled and better than last times check up, six months ago, so she has another check up/review in six months time!

We then set back off to a not so sunny Manilva, this morning the wind has dropped a little but it was grey & overcast as we set off, a least for now the rain has kept away, in fact by late lunchtime the sun has broken through, hovering on the 15 degs mark, over in Marbella is was not so cold & windy, as usual, it’s more of the same tomorrow before it picks up into the weekend, back up to 16 degs+ - on Sunday we could have more of the wet stuff and then next week is now looking dry one day, rain on another and so on, watch this space.

See below the beach down in Sabinillas this morning.

Meanwhile up in sunny Mojacar Thea is celebrating her 60^th birthday, we had a nice catch up/chat with them yesterday evening and caught up with all their news, Thea has just received all her cards in the afternoon post, our arrived early, as we now take no chances! They have all their friends off the site, joining them for a grand party, later, we wish Thea a very “ Happy Birthday – Feliz Cumpleaños “ – Have a ‘ Helluva’ Day  and thanks for your friendship over all the years, with your family, Lots of Love Malcolm & Brenda in sunny Manilva, just down the coast ( 400 kms!) !!  “ CHEERS “

This evening for our supper we are having ‘ Pan-Seared Lambs Liver’ – thinly sliced & lightly dusted in seasoned flour, garnished with Crispy Smoked ‘Back’ Bacon ( English) & Button Mushrooms, with Cabbage with Acelgas & Glazed Carrot Batons, the rest of the ‘ Boulangere Potatoes’ and a sauceboat of finger-licking Pan Gravy! Tomorrow I’m making a large pan of my famous ‘ Chicken Curry ‘ along with Brenda’s equally famous ‘ Basmati Rice ‘

Yesterday afternoon/evening we watched all the ‘Quiz’ shows, ‘ Countdown, Pointless, Eggheads, Only Connect  & University Challenge ‘ before watching the next two-part episodes of the excellent ‘ Silent Witness ‘

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A WARM & SUNNY MARBELLA, ESTEPONA & MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

WEDNESDAY 26^th/ APRIL 2017.

NEWSFLASH ;

I’ve had the ‘ALL CLEAR ‘ from the ‘Prostrate Consultant’- everything was clear, no problems, all the reading are fine, my 3^rd  biopsy passed with flying colours, no other signs detected, he has given me a six month review, we were in and out in 2 minutes, on time, a fine result and great relief all round, we were a little concerned to say the least, ‘ Positive ‘ thinking works, along with crossed fingers and a little silent prayer!

We set off across to the ‘Costa Del Sol Hospital ‘ after a quick cup of tea & toast, the coast road was very busy, the ‘Mediterranean’ was sparking as we shot along past Estepona & Marbella, the hospital at that time of the day ( 11-00am) is very busy, the underground car park was nearly full, after we came out we set off back to Estepona.

We parked in the promenade underground car park, Manuel, my Barber, took me straight in and Brenda shot off along to her favourite cosmetics shop to stock up, meanwhile I has the full works, a dry shave & trim, shampoo, condition and blow dry, cut & style followed by a scalp & neck massage, I then found Brenda and we checked out all the shoe shops, I finally found a new pair of ‘ Jesus’ sandals, that I have been looking for quite a while.

We then called into our favourite hotel  the “ H10 Estepona Palace “ – we found our way down to the ‘Pool-Side Bar’ and sat in the warm sunshine for a nice al-fresco lunch, two chilled glasses of their excellent ‘ House Cava’ helped us celebrate, two more ‘ free’ ones went down very well, Brenda has a ‘ Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap’ and I had the ‘ Escalope of Veal Viennoise’ with ‘ Frits’

The sun was out early this morning, the sky cleared up and there was a little breeze, making it rather pleasant, by lunchtime it reached 25/26 degs, sadly for the next two/three days we are in for some of the wet stuff, then on Sunday it’s starting to pick up again and next week is now looking warm & sunny, watch this space.

This evening ‘ Scruffy ‘ is coming for a sleep over as Adrian is at the hospital first thing in the morning for a routine check up, Rose will collect him at lunchtime, ‘Reina’ is back with also tomorrow morning for the day, as usual ‘ Chispa’ will no doubt call at some time to see all her friends, watch this space.

We are taking things easy for the rest of the day after all the excitement of this morning, catching up with the reading and later finding something to watch on the TV!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A OVERCAST & CLOUDY SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY;

WEDNESDAY 14^th/ DECEMBER 2016.

I was up this morning to see ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day, she shot into her duvet, we then freshened up and had our usual breakfast of Weetabix, fresh fruit, toast & tea, before getting the day on the go. Brenda is going to walk, slowly, down to the surgery for her appointment with our Doctor, Natalia, for her main weekly check up, ‘Scruffy’ is due to be dropped off by Rose on her way to the hospital later in the morning.

The day has started grey & overcast, it now looks like the ‘ Atlantic ‘ front will hit us later, a day earlier than forecast, the rest of the week is not looking good, heavy rain & winds, especially on Friday, when I'm out for our weekly shopping, hopefully the weekend will pick up, Sunday is now looking dry, at the moment, we will then find out what is in store for the Xmas week?!

‘ The Moffatt’s ‘ - Tim & Thea, have been spotted again, they are still in Spain in the small coastal town of ‘ Torre de la Horadada ‘ in the province of Murcia above Cartagena, they have been out & about with friends. We have sent their Xmas & Tim’s birthday card to their home in Old Colwyn!

We have just had a ‘RESULT’- Tim has been on the Skype video and we have had a good long catch up with all their news, as we suspected they have rented a house in the town and are staying for Xmas, Jo is coming down from Madrid, where she teaches in a school, and Ben is flying in from Old Colwyn, he’s bringing all their cards! They are staying around until May, with a possible route back via Portugal, past sunny Manilva, on their way to Santander to catch the ferry. Watch this space.



                                                                                           " TORRE DE LA HORADADA " 

This evening for our supper we are having ‘ Pan-Seared Calves Liver ‘ with grilled English Smoked Back Bacon & Pork Sausages, a rich Red Wine Onion Gravy & Cabbage with Acelgas and Brenda famous ‘ Mashed Potato.

Last night we watched the final episode of the three part ‘BBC TVs’ re-make of ‘ 10 Rillington Place’ – the true story of the serial killer John Christie in the early 1950s – he strangled eight women( possibly more!) and then buried/concealed them in the garden, walls and under the floor boards, including his wife! He was caught and hanged!!  Tim Roth played him & his wife was played by Samantha Morton, very gripping with as usual excellent period effects.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A WARM AND SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY;

WEDNESDAY 29^th/ OCTOBER 2014.

This morning after a quick breakfast we shot around to the surgery for my appointment with our Doctor to check the X-Rays from yesterday; there is nothing showing that needs attention or further investigation at the moment, next Monday the results of all my blood tests will be in and she will then check out everything and see how I am, no pain killers as she does not want to upset my on going tablets at the moment, this means that I will have to wait and see how things progress with the problem which is chest pains through to my lungs at different times of the day!

So today we are taking things easy - ‘Scruffy’ is due at lunchtime for the rest of the day, he’s back tomorrow with ‘Reina’ who is here for the day also; tomorrow evening I have my eye test/consultation over at the hospital in Marbella so after I return its going to be ‘Chefs’ night off and we will go up to Bar Rojas for some supper!

The weather forecast is still looking good and getting a little warmer by the weekend, today it’s a little overcast at the moment but no doubt will pick up later; one thing that our Doctor did say was that we should both be walking more now that Brenda is back to her old self so we will increase our doggy walking!

We have just come back from a walk down to the entrance to the village with 'Chispa' so I took a picture of the new 'Welcome' sign by the roundabout as you can see below,they have used the 'Pro-Mo' sign from above in today's thoughts!! 

We then went for another short walk with 'Scruffy'after he arrived and 'Chispa' joined us as well!

We have just had a well deserved 'Foot Spa; after all the walking today!!

The latest report from the state visit to Newcastle of the 'Queen' of Skelton is that she has retired to the privacy of her bedroom with her 'Consort' for some well deserved 'Private Time' after a busy schedule - she is human after all!!

Tonight for supper we are having Grilled ‘Gammon Steaks’ topped with Fresh Pineapple and 'Campo' Fried Eggs! – twice-cooked ‘Frits’- Garden Peas & Sauteed Mushrooms- with a bottle of HP Sauce on the table!!

Last night after supper we watched a good spy film called “ The Double ” from 2011 with Richard Gere,Topher Grace?! and Martin Sheen – you need to pay attention as there are lots of twists in the plot!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY IN SUNNY MANILVA;

MANILVA START OF THE WEEKEND.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY 16th/17th/ AUGUST 2012.


Yesterday, Thursday we took things easy at home; it’s still getting hotter and there is more to come next week. At lunchtime we made contact with Tim over in North Wales on the Skype Video to find out how Ben got on with his A-Level results – well he got great results and he is on his way in September to ‘Edge Hill University ’ which is situated in Ormskirk in Lancashire on the far side of Liverpool – we know the town very well as I had family there when I was very young ! Well done Ben – the card is in the post !! Meanwhile his sister ‘ Jo ’has just come back from Cyprus where she was working, as you can see in the picture below ! This weekend Jo is working at the ‘ V ’Festival down in Stafford and Ben is there as well – celebrating ! She then goes back to Liverpool University in September also. Later in the evening we spoke to the family again as they were celebrating with some friends.
After supper we caught up with the two TV series that we are following; “ Blue Bloods ” about a family in New York – they are all cops, the grandfather is the ex-Police Commissioner, the father played by Tom Selleck is the current Police Commissioner, his eldest son is a Senior Detective, his youngest son is a rookie cop just out of Harvard Law school and his daughter is the Assistant DA ! He also had a son that was a cop and was killed by corrupt cops – the crime story is complete each week with some ongoing story lines at the same time – every Sunday the whole family with wives,girlfiends and children sit down to the Sunday Roast and talk about nothing but the Police work !
The other series is “ The Kennedy’s ” starting just after the war and going to the end after the two brothers are killed – the head of the dynasty ‘ Jo Kennedy is played by the excellent Tom Wilkinson and ‘ Jackie ’is played by ‘ Kate Holmes ! Everybody from the time is in it from Frank Sinatra to the gangsters – light drama but watch able !

This morning Brenda had an early appointment with our Doctor down at the surgery for the results of all her tests ; great news – everything is fine ,Heart and all the vital organs fine, Blood pressure down, all parts working correctly and eat more fresh fruit ! We then went down to Sabinillas for the main shopping, picked up the papers and flowers and on the way back called at the butchers. The pictures below show the ongoing work on the underground car parks and the new Bodega nearly ready to open; Jane over in Northwich has just posted the picture of the new celebration cakes in the Bakery. Tonight it is Fillet of Hake for supper and then a good film ,if we can find one !



Thought for the Day;



The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.



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MANILVA THIS WEEK.

MONDAY/FRIDAY 17^th/21^ST OCTOBER 2011.

On Monday morning after breakfast we went for a long walk with Cheta; she is going in to the vets in the evening for a trim and wash, the weather forecast for the week is good, sun and more sun with the temperatures in the high 20s.We are having a quite week at home, taking it easy, reading, watching the TV, walking and spending time on the terrace for Brenda. In the office I’ am catching up with the e-mails, the blog and Facebook as well as occasionally Twittering! During the day I also watch on the BBC IPlayer the latest Jools Holland shows,SCD,QI,Saturday Morning Kitchen, Something for the Weekend and Spooks which is getting very exciting and is nearly up to the final episode ever ! In the evening after supper we followed one of the series on the TV about Spain which is very interesting, it shows the places, tells you about the history, the people and the food !

In the morning on Tuesday I made some Boulangere Potatoes ready for dinner; we are having them with Lamb Cutlets, Baby New Carrots and Cabbage with Alselgas for dinner later. I then logged onto the ‘ Tour de France 2012 ’web site which I’ am registered on and watched live from Paris the ceremony to launch the route for the 2012 tour; it was very interesting and gave you lots of details, they are going to new climbs as well as some of the classic’s, there are more time trials and it is starting in Belgium, they have stages to Boulogne-sur-Mer,Rouen,Epernay and Macon all places that we know well so it looks like it is going to be a great Tour, the year after 2013 will be very special as it is the centenary of the Tour.

Mano and Anna called in on Wednesday afternoon to ask us to look after Derrick for a week as Anna is going over to Tenerife to see SallyAnn and the grandchildren, she has found a very cheap flight and will be away from today,Friday,they have just dropped him off on the way to the airport at Malaga; In the morning I made a Beef and vegetable stew with Potatoes . Scouse ’for dinner.

This Thursday as Mano was off we went down to Sabinillas to do the shopping as he was going to meet us at the garage to check the tire pressure on the Smart Car because the details are in German and the Air pressure pump is in Spanish and kilo’s ! We had a drink up at Bar Rojas later with them outside under the Sonbajo as the weather is sill very warm and sunny, it is our favorite time of the year. In the evening we had Pork Chops for supper and then watched the Spanish soap that we follow ‘Cuantame ’ which is about a Spanish family in Madrid in the 70s.

Today, Friday, Mano and Anna dropped Derrick off and took Brenda down to Sabinillas on their way to the airport so that she could pick up the English papers, some birthday and anniversary cards; it is our Ruby Wedding this year on the 29^th November. It only seems like yesterday that we where at Port Sunlight church in the autumn sunshine and brown leaves! I have just gone off-line as I’ am typing this to watch the second half of the Rugby World Cup from New Zealand, Wales lost 21 – 18 in the third place play off final to Australia but played well and scored a very good try in extra time, if they had converted their penalty kicks they could have won ! Tonight we are having Fish, Chips and Mushy Peas for supper before we settle down to watch a film on the TV.

PS; We have just had a long and newsy message on Facebook from Brian over in Finland, winter is just around the corner for them! Thanks Big Brian and Lilly it is lovely to hear from you !! HYVIN HYVA. JAKTKU. LAJI LAJIPITAA. as they say in Finnish !!

PSS; On the council web page today there is a suggestion that the Roman Kiln might be saved !

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Thought for the Day;

The only people you need in life are the ones that find the time for you; do not make someone a priority if they only consider you as an option.

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"BABY FLASH"

Fri 20th April.
Early on Saturday morning we recieved some great news from Switzerland; Dave
sent us an E-Mail to announce the Birth of a healthy baby girl-"Jasmine Isabella"
mother Yolande and baby both very well !! It also had a picture attached of baby
Jasmine at one hour old !! We would like to send our Congratulations and Love
to Dave and Yola and also to all the families and especially Carol,our very dear
friend who is a first time Grandmother!