A WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 2^nd/ DECEMBER 2018.

We started with a nice lie in this morning as the village is very quiet, with no children running around, yet, no traffic down our street and the ‘Church’ bells, calling the faithful to Mass, don’t start until later. After freshening up we had our usual light breakfast of fresh fruit, toast & tea, before getting the day on the go.

At lunchtime ‘Scoobie’ is joining us in ‘Doggy World Heaven’ for his pre-Xmas holiday ( 7/8 days) – tomorrow ‘Scruffy’ is back with us for the day, then on Friday little prince ‘ Paddy’ is also back with us for his long weekend holiday ( 5 days) – no doubt ‘ Chispa’ will be in & out as usual to see all her friends and us!

Next week we are out & about on the ‘ Costa Del Sol ‘ as on Tuesday lunchtime I have my 9 monthly re-view/check up with the ‘Prostate Consultant, across at the ‘ Costa Del Sol Hospital’ past Marbella, then on Wednesday morning Brenda is down at the main ‘ Medical Centre’ in Sabinillas for her re-view/check up with our Doctor, Natalia, meanwhile here in Spain we have two ‘Bank Holidays’  - on Thursday it’s “ Constitution Day “ and then next Sunday the religious “ Immaculate Conception Day “ – in between I will be out on Friday morning on my travels , back down to Sabinillas for our weekly shopping.

This morning has started very calm, the clouds are clearing and the sky is turning blue, by lunchtime it’s due to reach 21 degs+ - very good for the time of the year, overnight down to 13 degs, next week is now looking dry, warm & sunny, for all of the week, hovering in the low 20s, going just a little cooler towards next weekend, watch this space.

See below the new skyline of the Liverpool waterfront on a beautiful red sky evening.

At lunchtime we went out for our walk with 'Scoobie' and ended up at ' Bar Castillo' for a nice drink, sat outside in the warm sunshine, we had a Tapas, each, of their House Paella.

This evening for our supper we are having, for a change, ‘Braised Lamb Shanks’ in a Minted Gravy, the ‘ Vegetable Chef’ has gone a little mad, with Broccoli & Cauliflower Florets, finely sliced ‘ French’ Green Beans & Baby Carrots mixed with Garden Peas, with her famous Mashed Potato( yesterday trimmings from the Pont Neuf!) and ‘Pommes Risolees ‘ – made with boiled New Potatoes in their skins!

The ‘ IPTV’ system is back on, for now, so we are catching up with all the regular programmes that we follow, I will be watching the ‘ Derby’ game this afternoon as Liverpool welcome Everton, yesterday Manchester City won 3-1 & Real Madrid won 2-0.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY;

SATURDAY 9^th / APRIL 2016.

We had a nice lie in this morning before I got up to the sound of the gas bottle delivery man, after exchanging our bottle we had our breakfast treat ‘ Crispy Smoked Bacon Butty’ for Brenda and ‘ Campo Fried Eggs with Crispy Smoked Bacon’ for me, lots of toast and mugs of steaming tea. We then watched ‘ Saturday Kitchen Live’ with the host this morning ‘Lorraine Pascal’ I then shot along to the Chemists in Calle Mar for some tablets and on the way back called into our local shop. ’Reina’ is due to be collected and no doubt we will see ‘ Chispa’ next week.

We have another glorious day here in sunny Manilva, the sun was out early and the sky is clear, there is no breeze and by lunchtime it was hot, more to follow and next week is starting to look good also; see the picture of the Island at the entrance to the village this morning.

And a view across the valley to the mountains with Casares in the far background on the left!

Back to normal in the ‘ Premiere League’ today as Everton travel down the M1 to Watford, Manchester City are at home to West Brom and then tomorrow Liverpool welcome Stoke; over here in‘ La Liga’ today Real Madrid are at home to Eiber and Barcelona travel to Real Sociedad, later this afternoon on Channel 4 we will watch the ‘ Grand National’ from Aintree.

For our supper this evening we are having an old classic from the past “ Beef Stroganoff “ with a ‘Timbale’ of Basmati Rice &  ‘Matchstick’ Frits with Asparagus Spears & whole Green Beans. I will make the ‘ Stroganoff’ this evening using strips of the best ‘Fillet Steak’ tossed in seasoned Flour, they are seared off in a very hot frying pan & then flamed with a good glass of Brandy, they go in the sauce as its made, I will sauté the sliced Onions & Mushrooms with a good spoon of Dijon Mustard, a dash of Tabasco & Lea & Perrins, then I use a‘Sweet Pimento’ Powder before adding a good strong Beef Stock,finally I add a good amount of Soured Double Cream before tossing the strips of Beef in the sauce and adjusting the seasoning!  Tomorrow we are roasting – ‘ Loin of Pork ‘ with a selection of vegetables and Roast Potatoes. See this evenings supper below;

This evening we will watch the final of the ‘ Voice’ and also the start of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ which we have not seen before?! Our ‘ Happy Hour’ is back on our agenda before supper as we slowly settle back into our routine, next we are planning to go for a short walk with Brenda along ‘Calle Mar’ sometime next week, watch this space. See below, she's nearly ready!

Thoughts for the Day: See above.

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A OVERCAST START TO THE DAY IN SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY;

SATURDAY 19th/ SEPTEMBER 2015.

Just a little lie in this morning as the gas bottle delivery man was due,he's not been able to call during the week as 'Calle Mar' was closed. Brenda then made her Saturday morning special of 'Camp' Poached Eggs on Toast with a mug of steaming tea to start the day. See below. The 'Campo' Eggs were dropped off last night by our neighbour Anna.

Its a little overcast at the moment but no doubt by lunchtime it will pick up as forecast, the weekend is looking good and the temperature's are due to rise, next week is also starting to look good - fingers crossed! 20 degs at night & 30 degs during the day!

After breakfast I shot along to the chemists for some tablets.'keep taking them 'as the Doctor says; I also topped up my' Pay as you Go' Mobile phone at the local 'Tebac' ready for next week to keep up with the 'Moffatt's'- Tim & Thea - when they are down here on the 'Costa Del Sol'!

During the week another building redevelopment started in one of our side streets round the corner and is already causing some disruption; its because the streets are so narrow that the building materials have to be dropped off in the main street and then moved down by hand,wheelbarrow or a small JCB!

Meanwhile the workmen on the site next to us are making a lot of noise as the do the internal work and also finish off the roof which as far as we can understand is one sided?! Watch this space.

A busy weekend on the sports front; In 'La Liga' Real Madrid welcome Granada and Barcelona are at home to Levante, over in the 'Premiere League' today Everton travel down to Swansea and Manchester City welcome West Ham, on Sunday Liverpool are at home to Norwich. It's the spectacular 'Singapore Grand Prix' under flood lights on Sunday.

Over here on the Spanish sports front the 'Davies Cup' Tennis is on all the time as Spain play Denmark and the other night the Spanish Basket Ball team beat France in the Semi-Finals of the 'European Basket Ball Championship' as Pau Gasol, who is already a hero in Spain, scored 40 points in what is being described as the game of the year, the Spanish commentators went mad, It's very exciting to watch.

This evening for a treat we are having " Tournedos Rossini" for supper; I wrap the Fillet Steaks in Smoked Bacon rashers secured with toothpicks then sear them on a very hot griddle plate before finishing them in the hot over 'Med-Rare' They are then placed on a round toasted Crute and topped with Iberican Pate; I will make the 'Madeira' Sauce this morning using a reduction of Red Wine & Dulce Manilva Wine. Brenda is producing local Whole Fine Green Beans and we are having some more of my twice-cooked 'Frits'!

The picture below taken from the " Panormic34 Restaurant" in Liverpool shows the River Mersey at sunset yesterday evening; it shows the river going out to the Irish Sea with the Wirral Peninsula in the background and in the far distance the mountains of North Wales! The restaurant is on the 34th floor of the " West Tower" overlooking the Pier Head - hence the title!

So this evening after out supper we will catch up with all the news and sports round ups before finding a film to watch.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.


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