A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON " VENDEMIA SUNDAY"

SUNDAY 1^st/ SEPTEMBER 2019.  “ VENDEMIA SUNDAY “

After a late night, getting to sleep, as the music went on until 4-30 am, we managed a nice lie in this morning as the village is very quiet and just a little ‘ Hung Over’ to say the least! We then freshened up and prepared ourselves for the day ahead, for our breakfast I had my usual ‘ Weetabix’ with sliced Banana, in cold milk, Brenda had Brown toast with fresh fruit ( the last of the Nectarines)

This morning the sun broke through a little earlier and the clouds are clearing and the sky is blue, their is a light breeze, so by lunchtime it's going to be a 'Hot-One' - reaching 29/30 degs+ Next week is now looking warm & sunny to start, then going a little cooler as the breeze stiffens, hovering on the 26/27 degs mark, still only dropping down to 20/21 degs during the night, watch this space. 

Just a very quick update on the sports results from yesterday; Manchester City won 4-0 & Liverpool won 0-3, sadly Barcelona drew 2-2! Wales lost 17-22 and the two ‘Ferrari’s’ are on the pole and second spot for today’s ‘Belgium Grand Prix’

Today’s ‘ Stage 9’ of the ‘ Vuelta d’España ‘ features five summits climbs, taking the riders through the ‘Engolasters’ mountains/pass – for the first time, in Andorra, over a short, but gruelling 95 kms! ( tomorrow is a rest day!)

Yesterday evening we went along ‘ Calle Mar’ and were lucky to find a nice front-row table, outside ‘ Bar Castillo’- to take in the sights & sounds of the start of the ‘ Vendemia’ – led by the ‘Manilva Brass Band’ led by Fernando, with his son, Alexandro, on the trombone, then the Councillors led by Mario the Mayor, our neighbour, the ‘Tableau’ carried by the local men, led by the ‘Master’ Jose - also our neighbour,  in their wine costumes, followed by the Ladies/Feria Queens, in theirs, carrying bunches of grapes, the two sisters, Marta & Maria, are our neighbours, from the bottom of our street, who we have know since they were little girls!

See all the picture above;

Later as went for a walk we bumped into Brian & Jan, sat outside ‘ Cafe Plaza’ with their new puppy ‘Dixie’ – a Brown ‘Airdale’ Terrier, he was a little nervous,shy and overwhelmed by all the people/noise, so I only managed a quick picture, not very clear, of him, see below!

PS; No sign of ‘ Big Brian & Andrea ‘ – as they have been hitting all the ‘ spots’ in the village, no doubt!

Today we are going to pop in and out as it all kicks-off, with the two bands, on the stages, starting at 1-00pm until midnight, at 5-00 pm it’s the parade of the ‘ Andalusian ‘ horse’s, then the ‘Grape Crushing’ in the ‘Plaza de la Vendemia’ - before the final fire work display, just after midnight! I have asked Mario, the Mayor, for two ‘ Vendemaia Sombrero’s’ – so as we don’t have to scramble in the crowds for them!


The 'Official' opening of today's 'Vendemia Sunday ' - taking place at the top of our street ! 

See below.

See all the picture, above, later,  of all the celebrations this afternoon, after I post them!

“ Countdown 29 Days “

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A NOW WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 16^th/ SEPTEMBER 2018.

We all had another little lie in this morning, ‘Percy’ slept on the bed and as usual ‘ Reina’ was in her duvet, she’s due to be collected later today, we are waiting to hear when she is back next week, it’s the end of ‘Percy’s’ second week, he’s due to be picked up next Saturday, after freshening up we took him out for his first walk of the day, when we returned as the ‘Head Chef’ was on the breakfast rota, we had ‘Toasted Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties’ – smothered in ‘ HP’ Brown sauce, open on brown for Brenda, with mine topped with a ‘ Campo’ Fried Egg, as we picked them up, from a small local shop, down by the bus stop, as we were out!

This morning has started very cloudy & overcast, with a cooling breeze, blowing down from the mountains, it’s forecast to clear up by lunchtime, as the sun breaks through, reaching 28 degs, when it will be back to warm & sunny, just like yesterday, next week is looking dry & settled, partly cloudy at times, hovering on in the high 20s, with a cooling breeze getting a little stronger over next weekend, keeping the temperatures down a little, the threat of the ‘wet-stuff’ could still be in the air at times, watch this space.

Just a quick update on the sports results from yesterday; Liverpool won 1-2, Manchester City won 3-0 & Barcelona won 1-2, over in Singapore at the ‘ Grand Prix’ – Lewis Hamilton produced one of the best laps of his career to take a surprise pole position, described as “ Epic, Magic & Overwhelmed ‘ by him!

Meanwhile Britain’s Simon Yates increased his lead, again, in yesterday’s last mountain stage and goes into today’s  final Stage 21 as the winner, as tradition dictates that he’s not attacked on the final stage, making him the third Briton to win this year’s three Grand Tours, today stage goes from Alcorcon to a street circuit around Madrid over just 100 kms.

See below;

Early this evening we are making contact on the ‘ Skype’ video with Sandra & Bill over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, for chat & catch up with them, they have old friends of Sandra, from Morecambe, arriving and are planning to go away with the trailer for a roadtrip! It’s only 4 weeks today, when the folks arrive down here in sunny Manilva for two weeks, staying at a very nice apartment down in Sabinillas, we are getting rather excited, to say the least, watch this space.

For our supper this evening we are having ‘Pan-Seared Medallions of Pork Fillet’ accompanied with a creamy ‘Green Peppercorn’ sauce, with finely sliced ‘ French’ Green Beans & glazed Carrot Batons, and my now famous  ‘Breton’ style Potatoes ( boiled/diced & tossed with assorted Peppers & Onions)

Last night after supper we settled down to watch the first episode of “ Killing Eve “ – a spy thriller – with a sly sense of humour, with a lady psychopathic assassin running wild, around Europe, killing people, with her hairpin, with a bored lady MI5 security officer, starting to trace her, while having a normal everyday home life, ‘Sandra Oh & Jodie Comer’s’ double act makes it unmissable TV, with six gruesome killings all ready!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON ' FATHER'S DAY' SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 17^th/ JUNE 2018.      “ HAPPY FATHER’S DAY “ 

We had a little lie in this morning after a comfortable night, it was hot, but we are now into our ‘ Hot Mode’ – a light sheet, the fan on, towels if it gets too sticky and positive thinking! ‘Paddy’ is fine and slept all night on the bed with us, this morning we took him out for his first walk of the day, before it gets too hot, when we returned we had our usual ‘ Weetabix’ fresh fruit, toast & tea, to start the day in the right direction.

We have a nice easy day, at home, basically doing nothing, because we can! Brenda is pottering about and I’m up in the office/studio, with ‘ Paddy’ on the ‘WWW’ – catching up with all the Facebook messages, E-Mails etc, reading all the newspapers, watching the news programmes and listening to ‘Castle Radio 89.2 & Online on the Internet ‘ as I start to type and then post today’s Blog! Watch this space.

As I was reading all the ‘ Fathers Day ‘ messages on Facebook, one picture brought back some very happy memories, it showed an old friend & neighbour, Gwyn, with two of his grandchildren, with in the background our house, " Craven Cottage " in ‘ Rhyd-y-Foel ‘ – still looking like the day we left it back in August 2006! ( but with no hanging baskets!) I will ‘dig-out’ some more pictures for another day, watch this space.

See below;

A picture has also just appeared of Jeff & Annette, with their daughter Kate after they arrived in Edmonton, Canada, on their holiday, all the way from Brisbane, Australia, it’s a small World!

See below;

This morning it was already hot & sunny as we set off on our walk, the sky has cleared and is bright blue, there is just a very slight breeze, keeping it just right on the shady side of the street, by lunchtime it will be hovering on the 26 degs+ mark, next week is going to be a ‘ hot one’ with warm sunshine, clear skies, staying in the mid to high 20s, overnight 19/20 degs, just about bearable for the time of the year, watch this space.

This evening for our supper we are collecting at lunchtime a ‘ Roast Chicken’ – that we have ordered, from the ‘ Rotisserie’ in ‘Calle Mar’ which we will have with a Mixed Salad, Baby Beetroot, Hard-Boiled ‘Campo’ Eggs, the last of the ‘ Russian’ Salad and some Parsley New Potatoes, next week we will be keeping the menu’s as simple as possible, watch this space.

See below the ' Rotisserie'

At lunchtime we will no doubt stop and have a nice cool drink at ‘ Bar Castillo’ after picking up the ‘ Roast Chicken’ -  were we had our favourite ' Tortillitas  de Camarones - Crispy Shrimps Pancakes '  We will then catch up with all the news & sport ( 10) on all the channels, as we all relax and take things very easy, for the rest of the day, it’s a ‘ hard-life’ but somebody has to do it!

See below 'Paddy ' out for his lunch at ' Bar Castillo ' 

Catch it ' Live ' online! 

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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