A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON THURSDAY.

THURSDAY 29^th/ AUGUST 2019.

We had a nice, long, lie in this morning after a reasonable night’s sleep, as it’s gone just a little cooler during the night time, after freshening up we had a treat for our breakfast, Brenda requested sliced Baby Mushrooms, flash cooked in the ‘Smoked Bacon’ juices with a little knob of Butter, on Brown toast, while I had my favourite, a ‘Toasted Crispy Smoked Bacon Butty’ – topped with some of the sliced Mushrooms and not forgetting the ‘HP’ Brown sauce, with mugs of strong/hot tea! 

Tomorrow morning I will be up early and out on my travels down to Sabinillas, as usual, for our weekly shopping etc. as well as some fresh flowers/wall plants from the local Market.

The sun was out very early this morning and the light breeze had cleared the clouds away, so the sky was bright blue & clear, by lunchtime it’s due to reach 28 degs+ just about right for the time of the year, still overnight hovering on the 20/21 degs mark, making it very pleasant to be out & about during the day, over the ‘ Vendemia Wine Festival ‘ weekend we are in for more of the same, even going just a little bit warmer, next week is now looking like it’s going to stay the same, as the breeze drops a little, going a little cooler by the end of next week, with just the threat of the well needed ‘wet-stuff’ in the air, at times, watch this space.

Yesterday evening over here in sunny Manilva we had a glorious red sun set over and behind the village, as you can see in the pictures below.

After supper I went along to the local Bank in ‘Calle Mar’ to get some cash out from the Cash machine, as I passed ‘ Cafe Plaza’ I saw our friend Andy talking to someone, it turned out to be our very dear friends  ‘Big Brian & Andrea’ ! We knew that they were coming over for the ‘ Vendemai’ Festival, Andrea’s first, and staying at the ‘Manilva Green Aparthotel’ – but they had arrived earlier than we expected, so we joined them for a nice catch-up and drinks, watch this space.

While we in the Bar our friends Billy, Julie, Saffron, Emmet & Byron came in for a drink and a game of pool, their last, as they are going home later today to Dover, safe journey until you back, later in the year.

In ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ – this evening ‘ Scruffy’ is being dropped off for a sleep-over, he’s going to come with us for our supper along at ‘ Bar Castillo’ later, he’s then back on Monday afternoon for a few hours, little ‘ Miss Bella’ is also with us next Monday/Tuesday, as usual for the day, then on Wednesday ‘ Scoobie’ is back with us for five days, ‘Chispa’ is in & out all the time to see us and any friends that are here!

We are having a relaxing day at home, taking things very easy still in our ‘ Hot-Mode’ – with all the fans on, keeping as cool as possible, drinking lots of cold water, with light clothes, and ‘Positive Thinking’ all the time.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 19^th/ AUGUST 2018.

We had a another nice lie in this morning and waited for the church bells to start ringing, calling the ‘ faithful’ – before we got the day on the go! After a quick freshen up we had our light breakfast of ‘ Weetabix’ fresh fruit, toast & tea. We are having an ‘at home day’- taking things very easy, relaxing, keeping as cool as possible, drinking lots of cold water, with all the fans on!

I then, as usual, came upstairs to the office/studio to check out the ‘ WWW’  read any ‘ E-Mails & reply, check the Facebook messages and read Facebook, catch up with all the news ‘ world-wide’ – before typing/posting today’s Blog

Over in Australia, at the ‘Holey Moley Golf Club’ ?! – Michael & Kelly Dutton were out celebrating the 18^th birthday of their daughter ‘ Liv’ Michael is the son of Lyn’s daughter Deb, we met him when he was very young & noisy boy, when Deb visited us at the ‘ Hotel Seventy Degress’ in Colwyn Bay, all those years ago!

See below Liv out with her sister Beth & friend.

Meanwhile over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, Sandra had both her ‘ babies’ home, together, for her son’s Neil, birthday, Lanner was with her partner, Blake ( the Sauce King!) – as you can see in the picture below, where is Sandra’s ‘ Corn on the Cob’?!

Today they are all looking forward to a fabulous family wedding as Sandra’s niece is tying the knot, with a large family party at Sandra’s sister, Caroline house.

Today the sun has already broken though and the sky is clear & blue, there is a cooling ‘ Levante’ breeze blowing up from the Mediterranean, keeping it cool in the shade, by lunchtime it’s due to reach 29 degs+ - overnight 22 degs, next week is now looking warm & sunny, hovering in the low 30s, but with the chance of it being partly cloudy at times, and still on one of the forecasts the possibility of some of the ‘ wet-stuff’ during the week – the following week is showing moderate to heavy rain showers, what’s happening, very unseasonal for the time of the year and the start of the ‘ Vendemia Wine Festival’ week! Watch this space.

Just a very quick update on the sorts results; Everton won 2-1 & Barcelona won 3-0 with the new captain Messi scoring two!

Yesterday evening, at the last moment, we decided to go out for our supper, as it was a cool & balmy evening, we went along to ‘ Bar Castillo’ and sat outside in the cooing night air, for our drinks and some very nice ‘Tapas’ including Brenda’s ‘ Boquerones Fritos’ – Deep-Fried Anchovies ‘

See below;

So last night’s Menu – our ‘ Steak Night – is going to be tonight;

See below a rather special- aged -  ‘ Rib of Beef on the Bone’!  

This evening after supper we will be channel hopping to find something to watch, all the new series start at the end of the month, watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM A NOW SUNNY MANILVA;

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A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY:

SUNDAY 5^th / JUNE 2016.

We all had a nice long lie in this morning, ‘Reina’ goes up to bed in her duvet at about 10-00 pm and sleeps all night, in the morning she comes and joins us on the bed for the last half hour, we then had a leisurely breakfast of ‘ Campo’ Poached Eggs on Toast with mugs of steaming tea; it was the time to ‘ burn in ‘ the new oven and after a little trouble to start with the timer/clock we had ‘ lift off’! ‘Reina’ has now been collected by Daniela, she’s back with us next week for five days.

We then got this evenings supper on the go ‘ Herb Marinated New Zealand South Island Lamb Cutlets’ seared on the griddle plate and finished on top of the ‘ Boulangere Potatoes’ this evening as we christen the oven. Brenda is preparing glazed Carrot Batons with Garden Peas & Florets of Cauiflower Mornay, lots of Mint Sauce on the side.

Its a ‘at home day’ today taking things very easy as next week is starting to look busy, by our simple standards, then for two week we will be out & about on the ‘Costa Del Sol’ Its another very hot and sunny day down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ and the forecast for next week is looking very good.

Yesterday afternoon/early evening we watched the ‘ Derby’ from Epsom as the ‘ Aga Khan’s ‘ horse “Harzand “ won the biggest prize in UK racing 1.325 million pounds! It reminded us about a friend from North Wales who used to work for ‘H H’ – ‘His Highness ‘ running a chain of hotels in Kenya, the stories about the lifestyle of the supper rich can’t be told here! 

At the same time we found that, unusually, over on ‘ITV’ they were showing the Final of the Ladies Tennis at the ‘French Open’ in Paris; Spain’s Garbine Muguruza beat world number on Serena Williams in straight sets to win her first ‘ Grand Slam’ Today they are showing the Men’s Final between Andy Murray & Novak Djokovic.

After supper last night we found a film to watch “ The Counselor “ from 2013 – a crime thriller directed by Ridley Scott, its the story of the eponymous ‘ Counseelor’ who gets in over his head in a drug deal down in the Mexico/Texas border, played by Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz is his wife, Javier Bardem ( Penelope’s husband in real life!) is a drunken entrepreneur with a crazy pathological/sociopath girlfriend played by Cameron Diaz & Brad Pitt is a womanizing, charismatic middleman! Bardem is shot in the head by a cartel gang member, Penelope is kidnapped and ends up ‘ Headless’ dumped in a landfill after a ‘Snuff’ film is made of her killing and sent to Fassbender driving him crazy, there’s more as Brad Pitts character is killed in London by having a ‘ Bolito’  ( a devise that  gradually strangles and decapitates ) wrapped around his neck! It turns out the Cameron Diaz is behind all the killings as she finally gets her hands on all the money!!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A GREY & OVERCAST CRISP SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY;

SUNDAY 27^th/ DECEMBER 2015.

We had a little lie in this morning before taking ‘Barny & Charlie’ out for their first walk of the day, it was grey and overcast with a stiff breeze blowing in from the Atlantic which is thankfully keeping the rain away from us, for now! We will catch up with the weather forecast later for the week ahead, hopefully keeping dry and fine to see us into the New Year.

After breakfast we had our weekly planning meeting to sort ourselves out into 2016! Tomorrow morning ‘Reina’ is arriving very early for her weeks holiday with us as Lee & Daniela are off to New York for their belated ‘Honeymoon’( 1 year!) On Wednesday ‘Barny’ is due to be picked up when the folks return from their Xmas holiday skiing in Switzerland; ‘Charlie’ is with us until the following Monday when Brian & Jan come back from holiday over in Tenerife. I’m popping down to Sabinillas also on Wednesday to do some essential shopping, the ‘Menu’ planning meeting is tomorrow morning!

                                            " NEWSFLASH " " BREAKING NEWS "  " CASTLE RADIO FM 89.2 "

Sadly the local community radio station is having to 'close down' this evening due to Andrew the Owner/Presenter no longer being able to sustain the losses;our thoughts go out to him and his wife Karen who have provided a service to the people of the Manilva area, it will be sadly missed by all its listeners! On a personal front it means that my 'Blossoming' radio career in 2016 is over even before it started! Thank you Andrew for giving me the chance to broadcast live to the 'Masses' !! Watch this space.

PS, Andrew has just confirmed that there is a change in the game plan, its a short 'Hiatus' for a month or two to re group & restructure;many of the regular shows will continue so watch this space!!

For this evenings supper its ‘Cold Cuts’ time, we have the ‘Roast Norfolk Turkey’ ( think ‘Bernard Mathews!) ‘ Roast Rib of Local Beef’ which is ‘Pink’ and melts in your month and tastes delicious; we will have a ‘fry-up’ of the leftover vegetables & potatoes. I’ve given the ‘staff’ ( Brenda!) the day off so she’s pampering herself at the moment and we are going to take things easy for the rest of the day, at lunchtime I’m going up to ‘Bar Castillo’ for a ‘Take-Out’ Paella!

Yesterday afternoon I watched the excellent coverage on Channel 4 of the horse racing from Kempton Park when ‘Cue Card ‘ won the ‘King George V1 Chase’ in a thrilling race; over in the ‘Premiere League’ Liverpool won 1-0, Manchester City won 4-1 and Everton scored with the final kick of the game to win 0-1! Then in the evening after supper we watched the ‘Top Gear’ special of the high lights from the whole series before channel hopping.

I can't get into the old costume now!! ( 7 years ago ) 

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY;

TUESDAY 10^th/ NOVEMBER 2015.

I was up early this morning as ‘Reina’ was due with us for the day, she’s not being picked up until later this evening, I then went back to bed for a little while despite the drilling coming through our bedroom wall from the site!

Last night I had a rather nasty fall going back into the kitchen, luckily I had just put the ‘Risotto’ pan on the dining table so I had nothing in my hands, I slipped and went ‘ A—e over Tip’ onto my back on the way banging my elbow & shoulder on the deep freeze and knocking the back of my head on the end of the door! I was very lucky not to brake anything or knock my self out – I’m just very stiff and battered – Brenda been rubbing the ‘Voltaren Emulgel’ on the damaged parts!!

The sun is just braking through and the sky is blue, the forecast for today is warm and sunny with the temperature reaching 24 degs, 14 degs during the night, the rest of week is looking settled with more of the same but just a little cooler.

The menus are coming together for the week, we are having ‘Grilled Gammon Steaks’ Pineapple & fried ‘Campo’ Eggs tonight with ‘Chips and Garden Peas; then tomorrow we are going to pick up some ‘Calves Liver’ to have with English Pork Sausages & Back Bacon, Thursday is find something in the deep freeze and then on Friday its ‘Fish Night’ – Saturday will be ‘Steak Night’ and finally on Sunday its ‘Escalope of Turkey Breast’ with Basmati Rice! That should keep us going!!

Tomorrow morning we are collecting some storage bags belonging to our friend Gillian over in Torquay, which are stored at Lillemor’s, and are putting them away in our storage room with the rest of our stuff, until next year when Gillian is trying to get back over here, at the moment she is not very well and is waiting for some results for her treatment, the English Heath system sounds rather slow – get well soon Gillian and lots of love!

Then we are carrying on down to Sabinillas to go to the ‘Banko Popular’ to see the new manager and make some enquires about transferring our accounts and banking with them! Watch this space.

I’m working on my Radio Show/ Programme for this coming Sunday the 15^TH November on ‘Castle Radio FM 89.2’ broadcasting world wide on the web! I’ve only got one hour from 11-00am -12-00 noon so I’m getting my act together, my playlist is ready and my script notes have been updated ,please listen to my ‘Sunday Classic Session’ as it hits the air! I’m hopeful that I will get asked back again in the future so any comments/suggestions/ requests sent in will help!!

So for the rest of the day I’m taking things easy relaxing and watching the TV, this evening we will watch the next episode of ‘Rick Stein – Venice to Istanbul’ before our supper.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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WARM AND SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY;

SUNDAY 6^th/ APRIL 2014.

Well its another glorious day here in sunny Manilva,the sun was crashing through the shutters as we got up and as I came down there was a nice surprise on the breakfast table; fresh Orange juice, Poached Eggs on toast, a mug of steaming tea and HP sauce waiting for me – thanks to the breakfast chef ! See the picture above.

No roasting today as we have transferred it to tomorrow as Josie and Den are joining us for a welcome supper, Roast Lemon Chicken with all the trimmings, at lunchtime we are meeting Gillian and her Swedish friend Lillemor in ‘Bodagon Andaluz’ for a light Tapas lunch after we have been for a walk with the dog around the village,as you can see it's shirt-sleeve weather today with it reaching 27/28degs!Some pictures later above using Den's new camera!

We bumped into Mano & Anna in Calle Mar,we have not seen or heard from them in over two months due to sickness,work etc. The new passage, way is nearly ready to open - they have painted the pillars,This evening I going to do something with some of our favourite Chicken wings with chips!

Over in Manchester this morning David has already been on ‘Radio 5 Live’ and later is on ‘Sky News’ talking about ‘Food Waste’ as he does a cookery demonstration at the Artisan Market outside the ‘Old Sessions House Pub & Kitchen’ in Knutsford! Its one of his pet ‘Rants’- rightly so as the major food waste by people, families, supermarkets and countries is out of control; we fully agree with him, we use everything and waste nothing!

Later this afternoon I will watch the Everton v Arsenal ‘Must Win!’ game for the ‘Blues’and the later the West Ham v Liverpool game and then check out the highlights of the Grand Prix from Bahrain; this evening we will find a film to watch later after the weekend news and weather. Everton won 3-0 !!! I know a fella over in Pori that will be celebrating at the moment !Liverpool have just won 1-2!!- and are now top of the 'Premiere League' by 2 points! Over in Bahrain Hamilton won with his team mate Roseberg second - the same result as last week.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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