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

FRIDAY 18^th/ OCTOBER 2019.

I was up very early this morning and after a quick freshen up I shot off on my travels down to Sabinillas, through the vine-fields, as the full ‘ Red Sun’ came up above the ‘Mediterranean’ horizon, the sky was bright red and clear.

I called into ‘ ItZabar ‘ for my usual toast & tea, before heading off along the coast road to the ‘ New’ Mercadona just before Estepona, it’s very modern, with no charge for the trolleys, they weigh everything at the check-outs ( Fruit & Vegetables) – it was very busy and had lots of check-outs open, the staff were very helpful, as the layout is different, I found 99% of what we wanted! Next week will be easier!!

I then came back along the coast road and dropped down to the far-end of the promenade, to the local market for our fresh flowers and wall plants, next I stopped at the ‘ English Bookshop’ for the local newspapers, before calling into ‘ Super Sol’ for the ‘ English’ essentials, back at the house we unloaded and I put the car away.

Meanwhile back at ‘ Casa Sexton ‘ Brenda had taken ‘ Lolo’ out for his first walk of the day, he slept on his blanket/rug all night, he has a very good appetite and has settled in very well, he’s due to be picked up on Monday evening, little ‘ Miss Bella’ is back with us on Monday/Tuesday as normal, next Thursday ‘ Scruffy’ is with us for a sleep-over, then next Friday ‘ Sunny’ arrives for her two-week holiday, with us in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’!

Next Wednesday we are meeting our very dear friend ‘ Joyce Baby’ ( from Chester ) up in Alhaurin el Grande, behind Malaga, as she’s over staying at her house, for nearly five weeks, we are going up for the day, as last time she came down to sunny Manilva to visit us!

See below;

We have a glorious day down here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’ – after the special ‘ Red Sunrise’ - it’s now clear & sunny, there are no clouds and just a light breeze, so by lunchtime it’s due to reach 26 degs+ - then sadly over the weekend it’s going cooler, dropping down to 21/22 degs, as the breeze pick up, with the chance of the ‘ Wet-Stuff’ hitting us,  next week we are now in for a similar time, all week, with light to heavy rain forecast by Wednesday, when we are out & about! It will be hovering in the low 20s, overnight down to 11/12 degs, cold for the time of the year ( Duvet time?!) Watch this space.

We have just received an ‘E-Mail’ from Sandra over in Everett, Ontario Canada, showing their ‘ Roast Turkey’ from Monday, when they were celebrating ‘ Thanksgiving’ over there, it was ‘ Delicious’ – sadly Sandra got a little flustered and didn’t take pictures of the Vegetables etc!

See below;

For our supper this evening we are having ‘ Goujons of Hake Fillet’ – coated in breadcrumbs from the local Bakery, then shallow-fried in Vegetable Oil, until crisp & golden, served with Garden Peas ( sadly still no Mushy Peas!) and of course triple-cooked ‘ Chips’ – accompanied with lots of Lemon Wedges & Homemade ‘Tartar’ sauce.

On Saturday evening it’s going to be my version of the old classic “ Steak Diane “ made with ‘ French Trimmed’ Entrecote (Sirloin) Steaks, then on Sunday we are now having, hopefully, a ‘Roast Chicken ‘ with all the trimmings, ‘Fingers Crossed’ that the oven is working! Watch this space.

Yesterday evening after supper we settled down to watch the first episode of “ Giri/Haji  - Duty/Shame “ on ‘BBC TV 2 ‘ – a very gripping crime thriller, based in London and Tokyo, as a World –weary Detective from Japan,( Takehiro Hira) searches for his lost brother, after a ‘ Yakuza’ boss is shot, meanwhile in London, an ostracized lady police officer ( the excellent Kelly Macdonald) and a gregarious half-Japanese rent boy ( Will Sharpe ) –  two fellow lost souls, start to help him around the City!  

Later it was the return of  the 54^th series of “ Later ... With Jools Holland ‘ – returning to it’s spiritual home of the ‘Television Centre’ in White City, West London, with a new studio setting, with excellent sound & lighting,  together with the latest cameras! -  starting with five female artists, ‘ P.P. Arnold ‘ stole the show with her classic ‘ The First Cut Is The Deepest ‘ from 1967!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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

FRIDAY 1^st/ JUNE 2018.     “ NATIONAL FISH & CHIPS DAY “

I was up first this morning and after a quick freshen up I shot off on my travels down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping. Brenda had a little lie in as she had a ‘ Lousy’ night’s sleep, in her own words! I did the main shop in ‘ Mercadona’ and collected the local newspapers from the ‘English Bookshop’- I then dropped down into ‘ Puerto de la Duquesa’ to the ‘ English Butchers’ to stock up!

Next I came back to the far end of the promenade in Sabinillas to the local market for the fresh flowers & wall plants, on the way back up the hill I called into ‘ Super-Sol’ for the English essentials, before un-loading back at the house, after putting the car away I had toast & tea, as ‘ itZabar’ was closed this morning.

See below the front of the house in ‘Calle San Vicente’ this morning.

As I was driving down through the vine fields the sun was already above the horizon, the ‘ Mediterranean’ was sparking, the morning had, as usual, started cloudy & overcast, as you can see in the picture below, showing Sabinillas earlier.

It’s now very warm & sunny with a clear blue sky, by lunchtime it’s due to reach 23/24 degs+ -  overnight 14/15 degs, we are in for more of the same over the weekend, on Sunday it will be hovering in the high 20s, overnight up to 17 degs+ - the ‘ light’ duvet will be coming out! Next week is going to be dry, settled, warm & sunny getting hotter as the week goes on, just in time for the visit of Jason & Donna on Thursday, watch this space.

For our supper this evening we are having ‘ Pan-Seared Fillets of Hake’ – dusted in seasoned flour – finished ‘ Meuniere’ style with Brown Butter, Parsley & Lemon, with Garden Peas and ‘Rissole’ Potatoes, Baby New Potatoes boiled in their skins and then tossed in foaming Butter until crisp & Brown! – in celebration of “ National Fish and Chips Day “!!

On Saturday it’s going to be a ‘Grilled Rib of Beef ‘ on the bone, cooked on a very hot griddle-plate  ‘Med- Rare’ – then left to rest, before carving if off the bone into Fingers ‘ French’ style,  then on Sunday we are now going to have ‘Pan-Seared Medallions of Pork Fillet’ with all the trimmings.

Yesterday was ‘ Corpus Christi Day ‘ all over Spain, one of the many religious days during the year, it’s being celebrated here in sunny Manilva on Sunday, as the procession from the church will come along ‘ Calle Mar’ – the first parade along the new street! It’s led by the local Padre and all the children that had their first communion in May. Watch this space.

Last night after supper we went for a short walk and ended up sat outside ‘ Bar Castillo ‘ for a nice cool drink, on a ‘Balmy ‘ evening, taking in the sights, sounds & aromas of sunny Manilva, all the locals are liking the new street and are looking forward to when it’s finished, I spoke to the Mayor, Mario, this morning and he confirmed that the lights will be ‘ White’ – also the proposed ‘ Canopy/Awning’ sounds like it’s going to be rather grand! Watch this space.

This evening we will be as usual channel hopping to find something to watch.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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

FRIDAY 5^th/ JUNE 2015.

This morning our plans have changed as yesterday evening Rose called to say that her appointment at the hospital over in Malaga for today has been moved forward to Monday so no ‘Scruffy’ being dropped off first thing today! Which means that we were able to go down to Sabinillas for our regular weekly shopping instead of tomorrow after grabbing a quick breakfast.

Just as we were leaving the council water truck arrived and washed down on our street, it came back later and finished the job in the street next to the site, the workers were rather impressed as I had told them that it was due – it pays to still have a friend in ‘high places’ – thanks Mario – a RESULT!

I don't believe it - the concrete pumping system is back and they are staring to fill the floor pillars that they put up yesterday!! So by this evening the street will be back to like it was at the start of the day!! See below;

We called into the ‘English Bookshop’ to exchange some book, select some birthday cards and collect the newspapers, we then did our main shop in ‘Mercadona’ before calling into the local Charity Shop were Brenda found two tops and a pair of slip-on shoes; we the stopped at the local market at the far end of the promenade to pick up some fresh flowers & plants before shooting back up the hill to unload.

After unloading back at the house we then carried on down to the surgery in the car for our appointments to have our prescription updated, at the same time we asked the helpful relief Doctor if she could chase up Brenda’s Heart check-up appointment at the hospital over in Marbella as we have been waiting for a the call for a couple of months at least. Watch this space. Fingers crossed!

The sun is out, the sky is blue and there is just a little cooling breeze to make it rather pleasant to say the least, the forecast for the weekend is for more of the same and next week is also looking settled and hot! This means that on Sunday morning the ‘Corpus Christi’ Festival will have nice settled weather for the flower displays along the streets.

This evening for our supper in honor of “National Fish & Chip Day” we are having ‘Fish & Chips’ served in today’s paper! It’s going to be a large ‘Fillet of Hake in Cruzcampo Batter’ with a pot of Mushy Peas and of course my famous twice-cooked ‘Chips’ – sprinkled with Sea Salt and Malt Vinegar! I can smell it now!! See the pictures below later.

We will be going up on the roof terrace later this afternoon, the workmen on the site will soon be up to our level, if not above, at the rate that they are going! I could get rather interesting. Our ‘Happy Hour’ will survive, one way or another – it’s the Dunkirk’ spirit in us!

Last night after our supper we had to watch “The Godfather” – the one when he is shot, as there was nothing else on the ‘TV’ worth watching. Tonight, hopefully, we will find something more up to date.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

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

FRIDAY 29^th/ MAY 2015.

We were both up this morning, not too early, as both the dogs had a good sleep and were no problem, they go to bed when you tell them, both sleeping on the cool marble floor and hardly moving during the night; when we came back we had our usual breakfast and sorted ourselves out for the day ahead, it’s strange not going out on Friday morning for our shopping!

Later this morning ‘Reina’ is due to arrive for her 3 day sleep over as Lee & Daniela are away visiting relatives up in Edinburgh until Monday evening, next week as well as ‘Reina’ on her usual days ‘Scruffy’ is back with us on Monday, Friday & Saturday for the day. Another busy week in ‘Doggy World Heaven’

The forecast for today was that there was a wet front coming off the Mediterranean but at the moment it’s warm & sunny with just a little breeze, rather pleasant, then over the weekend its dry and sunny and getting hotter by the day.

The workmen arrived in force this morning and are now drilling away as they are working on the two main walls of our house that are exposed, the noise is terrible but both ‘Charlie, in particular, and ‘Scruffy’ are handling it pretty well, for now! ‘Reina’ does not like it at all!

At the moment I’m waiting for confirmation about what is happening on the local political party news after the elections; ‘sources’ have suggested to me that the ‘Compromismo’ ( 5 seats) party and the ‘IU’( 4 seats) have come to an unconfirmed arrangement which would mean that the ‘PSOE’ ( 5 seats) party, with the most votes, would not get into power as the local governing government! Watch this space.

For our supper this evening we are having ‘Posh Fish & Chips’ ie; “ Grilled Dover Sole & ‘Frits’ ” I will bake the Sole, dusted in a little seasoned flour, and then fillet it and finish them off under the grill until they are a little crisp, we are having crisp twice-cooked ‘Frits’ & Garden Peas – lots of Lemon wedges but no ‘Tartar’ sauce as we want to taste the fresh fish!

Over at the ‘Giro d’Italia’ today’s stage is over 236 kms with three giant climbs – yesterday Alberto Contador increased his overall lead and is in the leaders ‘Pink’ jersey with two more stages to go after today’s, to finish in Milan on Sunday.

At lunchtime we are going for our walk with 3/4 dogs as we need some cash from the local machine at the bank in Calle Mar; on the way back we will stop for a cool drink in one of the many local ‘hostelries’ no doubt! 

                                                   The 'Gang' waiting for me outside the Bank.

We are planning to get up on the rood terrace over the weekend, that’s if the workmen are not here?! – our ‘Happy Hour’ is part of our daily schedule and we look forward to our reading, listening to the local radio and of course our ‘cocktails’!

Then this evening after watching the news on ‘TVE 1’ we will find a film to watch.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A STILL WARM BUT OVERCSAST SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND;

FRIDAY 21^st/ NOVEMBER 2014.

After our usual breakfast ‘Scruffy’ was picked up and we then shot off on our travels; the local market was open so we picked up some nice fresh flowers and our first ‘Poinsettia’ but not the last! Our first stop down in Sabinillas was at the English Bookshop for the papers and a new Diary for Brenda and another ‘Ken Follett’ to read.

We are also today buying the ‘El Gordo’ lottery ticket; it costs 23 euros but is the biggest ‘National Xmas Lottery’ in the World, the whole village buys the same numbers by tradition – fingers crossed once again – this time next year we all could be Millionaires!!

We then did our main shop in’Mercadona’ before heading off along the coast to ‘Pueblo Guadiaro’ by Sotogrande to go and check out the new ‘Iceland’ store that opened a couple of weeks ago, it has an English Manager and staff, we knew the lady on the till! So we ended up buying lots of ‘Goddies/Treats’ for Christmas including their award winning ‘Mince Pies’ and a fabulous box of Christmas Crackers with some really good presents in them! The prices are very good and a lot cheaper than ‘Super Sol’ See below!

The weather today is a little overcast but still warm but there is a stiff breeze getting up ahead of the ‘Atlantic’ weather front that is due to hit us over the weekend; the coast of the Mediterranean today was spectacular as the waves were crashing in along the beaches as we drove along. It’s still hovering at around 21/23degs!

So I then got tonight’s supper on the go “Seafood Fish Pie” which I haven’t made for a little while’ I first sweat- off the diced Onions, Leeks, Celery and Carrots with a large glass of Brenda’s White Wine, then add a good strong Fish Stock, my secret ingredients and a rich Béchamel sauce before adjusting the consistency and seasoning to taste!

At the same time I cook-off and then refresh the Cod, Hake & Salmon Fillets, Brenda shells the local Prawns and I then mix by hand all the fish including some diced Smoked Salmon and lots of Chopped Parsley (Brenda again!) I coat the fish with sauce and leave it to cool before Brenda tops off the Pie with her famous ‘Mashed Potatoes’!!  It goes in the over this evening and is served with Garden Peas.Stage 1 & Stage 2 below - Stage 3 to follow later!

Stage 3 !

This evening after supper we will find a film to watch.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A OVERCAST AND GREY SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND;

FRIDAY 7^th/NOVEMBER 2014.

We grabbed a quick breakfast and then went down to the local market for some fresh flowers, its grey and overcast today but no rain has arrived as forecast, as we have been out and about the skies are black in parts and then the sunshine brakes through, in fact the temperature is 24degs and warm, we had to de-robe!

Next we shot down to Sabinillas and called at the bank before going to the ‘English Bookshop’ for the papers and for a new book, we are changing our reading and I have gone for a ‘Ken Follett’ as I saw him being interviewed on TVE2 the other night on the ‘Arts’ programme; ‘The Third Twin’ is our first and we have ordered a copy of his novel on John Kennedy.

Brenda spotted that his Xmas card collection had improved and had just arrived in so she was able to get the majority of her main family and friends cards – watch out to see if you are on the list! At the same time I picked up our Christmas Crackers and a new appointments Diary for 2015! Next we did our main shop in ‘Mercadona’ including some Xmas ‘goodies’ for the cupboards. Our last port of call was into ‘Super Sol’ for the English essentials.

So this evening for our ‘Friday Fish Night’ we are having for a change whole ‘Baked Dorada ( Sea Bream )’ resting on a bed of sliced Potatoes & Peppers with Diamond cut Green Beans and Saffron new Potatoes – watch out for the picture later! See below before and after!

This morning we received a press release from the ‘PR’ Department of the ‘Queen of Skelton’- up north- to announce her first state visit in 2015 – she is arriving at the airport in Gibraltar on January 16th for a change so we have started to make the arrangements to welcome her back and collect her from the airport! There is also a possibility that our friend Gillian is coming over at around the same time from Torquay – down south- watch this space!

After we had sorted ourselves out at the house we then shot across to the hospital past Marbella for my second Eye test appointment, I was in and out in no time and next Wednesday I’m going back to see the Consultant for the results – fingers not eyes crossed!!

So this evening after our supper we will find a film to watch hopefully as at any moment now, next week possibly, some of the more obscure film channels are changing, which means that I might have to get out local engineer in to sort things out and re-tune the TV!

Brenda has 'Charlie' barking like 'Chispa' - I'm up in the office and it sounds like she is outside trying to get in!!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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