A ' FRESH' AND WARM SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE LAST WEEKEND OF 2019!

FRIDAY 27^th/ DECEMBER 2019.

We had a nice, long, lie in this morning, as I didn’t need to go out on my travels, down to Sabinillas, for the weekly shopping, as we are well stocked up, also we have still not got the car back from the garage, after all the repairs and re-taking the ‘ ITV-MOT’- watch this space.

If only! 

The only problem is where to put the shopping !! 

After freshening up Brenda took ‘ Pucci’ out for his first walk of the day, he spent the night with us on the rug by the side of the bed, as he’s been asking to go out during the middle of the night, he’s settled down and I had to wake him up this morning! He’s with us in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ until ‘New Years Day’ - in the evening.

When they returned, as I was on the breakfast rota, again, I had a little treat of a ‘Toasted ‘ Campo’ Fried Egg (2) Butty’ – smothered in ‘HP’ Brown sauce, with brown toast, for Brenda, with mugs of strong/hot ‘PG’ Tips Tea!

After breakfast we called Jenny, over in Runcorn, Cheshire, were she is staying with Norah over Christmas, as it’s her birthday today, we managed to talk/see her on the ‘Facebook Video ‘ link-up on Darren’s, Norah’s son, mobile phone, for the first time!  Hopefully her & Norah will be online in 2020, on ‘Facebook & Skype’ – watch this space.

Brenda then shot out on her travels, staying local, as she went along to the ‘ Chemists ‘ in Calle Mar, to top up our prescription tablets, then call into the main ‘Supermarket’ – there are now two, next to one another, before dropping down to our local shop, at the bottom of our street, to pick up some essential fresh vegetables etc.

We have another beautiful day, here in sunny Manilva, the sun was out first thing, the sky is slowly clearing with a few patchy clouds hanging around, the breeze has picked up a little, so by lunchtime it’s going to only reach 18 degs+ - over the weekend staying a little cooler as the breeze stiffens, next week is now forecast to be mainly dry & settled, with patchy clouds, hovering in the mid ‘teens’ at around 16/17 degs+ - overnight dropping down to 11/12 degs, with the chance of some of the ‘Wet-Stuff’ with us, over the ‘New Year’ celebrations, by the following first weekend of 2020, back to warm & sunny, watch this space.

Just as we were about to go out for our lunchtime walk our dear friend ' Big Brian' called to see us, so we went along to ' Bar Castillo' for a nice cool drink and a catch up.

Just a quick update on the football results from yesterday; Everton won 1-0 & brilliant Liverpool, playing sublime passing football, beat Leicester City, at home - who are 2^nd in the ‘Premiere League’ – 0-4! So Liverpool are now 13 POINTS’ clear at the top of ‘Premiere League’!!

This afternoon we will be watching the ‘ National Hunt Racing’ again,  from Kempton Park & Chepstow, where it’s the ‘ Welsh Grand National’ – over 3 miles and 5 furlongs, with twenty-two fences!

For our supper this evening we are having ‘Grilled Salmon Steaks’ – finished ‘A La Meuniere’ style, with nut-brown Parsley Butter, served with ‘Al Dente’ - ‘ Mangetout  – Sugar Snap Peas ’ & Parsley New Potatoes. The weekend Menus are still TBC, watch this space.

We are relaxing and taking things very easy this afternoon/evening, settled down on the settee, in front to the TV, as usual, catching up with all the news, later after supper channel hopping to find something to watch that is not ‘ Christmas’ related!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A ' CRISP' & VERY SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY:

SATURDAY 22^nd/ DECEMBER 2018.

No lie in this morning, we were all up early, ‘Chico’ slept all night on the duvet, at the foot of the bed and ‘ Charlie’ spent the night on the settees down in the lounge, after a quick freshen up I shot off on my travels, down to Sabinillas, as the full ‘Red Sun’ was coming up above the Mediterranean, last night and still this morning there was a full ‘ ‘White Moon’ on the shortest day of the Year.

Meanwhile back at the house Brenda took the dogs out for their first walk of the day, around the bottom of the village, they walk at our ‘ Pensioner Pace’ - they have both settled in very well and are eating everything we give them. ‘Chispa’is calling in all the time to see us and her friends!

See below ‘ Chico’ & ‘ Charlie’ relaxing after their walk!

I called into ‘ itZabar’ for a quick toast & tea, before a very busy  ‘ Mercadona’ opened, I then stopped at the ‘ Wholesale/Retail Market’ for their excellent ‘ Parsnips’ – I collected the local newspapers and ‘ Xmas TV Times’ from the ‘ English Bookshop’ before stopping at ‘ Super Sol’ for the ‘ English’ essentials, yesterday Brenda picked up some fresh flowers and more Poinsettias, from the local market down by the sports ground, after up-packing back at the house I put the car away in the underground car park, I’m back out first thing in the morning to go down to the ‘ English Butchers’ in Puerto de la Duquesa Marina  to collect the fresh ‘Turkey & Pigs in Blankets’

The news on the car is OK, but not good, it failed, on Thursday, the ‘ MOT – ITV’ on three points, light bulb not working, a slight gas emission and the rear brake linings, all fixed straight away by the Garage, the main problem was the ‘ITV’ Station, across in Estepona, was very busy , all day yesterday, he tried on four occasions/trips to have the free ‘Re-Check & Pass’ with no luck, so he brought the car back late last night, you have a month to get the repairs done, but you are still covered, so he’s taking it back next Wednesday morning as ‘ Boxing Day’ here is not a Bank Holiday, ‘Fingers Crossed’!!  Watch this space.

This morning the sun was out very early and the sky is already bright blue, the clouds have cleared away and there is a very light but ‘ Crisp’ breeze keeping it ‘ Sharpe’ on the shady side of the street, by lunchtime it will hovering on the 18/19 degs+ mark, overnight down to 10/11 degs, the weekend is staying the same, next week we are in now in for a very settled time, with sunshine and patchy clouds, going warmer, up to 21 degs, very good for the time of the Year,  with just a light breeze keeping the ‘ wet-stuff’ away until next weekend when sadly it’s now forecasting ‘ Rain’ over the ‘ New Years ‘ celebrations, when Tim & Thea are joining us! Watch this space.

On the sports front this weekend; over in the ‘ Premier League’ Liverpool beat Wolverhampton Wanderers last night 0-2, today Manchester City welcome Crystal Palace and Everton are at home to Tottenham Hotspur, here in ‘ La Liga’ Barcelona welcome Celta Vigo and Real Madrid are in Abu Dhabi to play ‘ Al Ain’?! in the “ Club World Cup’!!  The ‘National Hunt Racing’ today is from Ascot.

For our supper this evening we are having ‘ Grilled Fillet Steaks ‘ – cooked on a very hot griddle-plate ‘ Med Rare – Pink no Blood’ – then left to rest, garnished with seared Asparagus Spears,  Baby Button Mushrooms & Shallots, with a classic ‘ Bearnaise’ sauce on the side, served with whole ‘ French’ Green Beans and of course twice-cooked ‘ Chips’  Tomorrow we are going to have a ‘Roast Loin Of Pork’ with all the trimmings, I will then later ‘Roast the Turkey’ for ‘ Christmas Day!

As the ‘ IPTV’ system is back online we will be channel hopping to find something to watch, no ‘ Xmas Films ‘ if possible!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A ' CRISP' & SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY 2^nd/ APRIL 2018.   “ EASTER MONDAY “ 

Brenda was up first this morning, after a little lie in, after a quick freshen up she shot off down the local sub-post office to post some birthday cards, when she returned we had our normal light breakfast of ‘ Weetabix’ toast & tea before getting another week on the go, down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’!

We have a quiet week in ‘ Doggy World Heaven ‘ as ‘ Reina’ is only with us on Wednesday, this week, due to the ‘Bank Holiday’ in Gibraltar and the folks taking lieu days, ‘Chispa’ has already been in this morning to see us and no doubt will be calling in during the week.

Tomorrow morning I have my appointment with our Doctor, Natalia’ down at the main ‘Medical Centre’ in Sabinillas, for my six month review/check up, Brenda is going down on Thursday morning for hers, that she missed last week, when Natalia was called out on an emergency.

On Friday morning we will be out on our travels down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping, we will then carry on to ‘ Iceland’ down the coast, for the ‘ English’ essentials and goodies, on the way back calling into the local market, at the far end of the promenade in Sabinillas for some fresh flowers & wall plants.

I have just posted below a few pictures, taken by a neighbour, from yesterday’s final ‘ Semana Santa’ processions, as the two ‘ Tronos’ come together, normally in Calle Mar, in front of ‘Bar Castillo’ – but this year in ‘ Calle Cruces ‘ as the ‘ Manilva Brass Band’ plays and the whole village sings a ‘ Salutation Song’ – the two ‘ Tronos’ are held ‘shoulder high’ and White Doves are set free, with ‘ Confetti Bombs’ blowing in the air, then the ‘ Tronos’ are returned down to the Church.

This morning the clouds have cleared and the sky is blue, there is just a very slight breeze, the sun is out and by lunchtime it’s due to reach 19 degs+ overnight down to 13 degs, the rest of the week up to Friday is looking the same, the overall temperatures hovering on the 21 degs + mark, but then sadly on Saturday/Sunday we are in for the return of the wet stuff, going a little cooler at the same time, next week is mixed, with rain one day, sun the next and so on, watch this space.

At lunchtime we went for a short walk and ended up at ' Bar Castillo' - the only one open, where Juan was very busy, as his wife is recuperating after an operation, we had nice cool drinks, bought by a neighbour, who has the house opposite ours, they live in Madrid, we also had some very nice, light, Tapas' - perfect, I also confirmed the booking with Fran, at 'Bar Ocana' when our old friends Jason & Donna are coming over in June, just for the day, as they are carrying on to a friends 50th birthday, further down the coast! 

Yesterday evening we had a nice long chat/catch up with Sandra & Bill, over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, our ‘ One Year Anniversary ‘ since we first made contact with the folks!  


One ‘ Helluva’ year followed!  " Cheers " !! 

Sandra is nearly back to full health, she is back in work, Bill was catching up with jobs around the house, they have a busy social life, they are looking forward to meeting up to with the ‘ Australian’ side of the family when Jeff & Annette, arrive in Toronto, later in the year. They have acquired a new ‘ Trailer- Caravan ‘ – their first, which they are due to collect later in the month, they are looking forward in the years to come, getting out & about in Canada and further afield!

See below, the inside looks very much like the set-up in our ‘ Winnebago’ all those years ago!

For our supper this evening we are having our favourite ‘Roast Loin of Pork ‘ – ‘ Cold Carved ‘ – the Crackling’ was delicious, with all the left-over vegetables and ‘ Goose Fat’ Roast Potatoes, on Tuesday it’s ‘ Seared Lambs Liver’ - then on Wednesday ‘ Grilled Gammon Steak’ & Chips, Thursday it’s ‘Chicken Wings’  Friday is ‘ Fish Night’ and Saturday will be ‘ Steak Night’ - Sunday is still TBC, watch this space.

Last night after supper we settled down to watch on the ‘ BBC I Player’ the two back to back episodes that we missed the night before , when the system crashed, of the exciting/gripping Danish crime drama “ Below the Surface “ – with excellent sub-titles, as the plot thickened and another hostage was killed! Watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A CRISP & SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK;

MONDAY 9^th/ JANUARY 2017.

I was up early this morning to welcome little princess ‘ Reina’ back with us in ‘ Doggy World Heaven ‘ for the first day of her five this week, sadly she didn’t arrive, Daniela rang to say that she and Lee had locked themselves out of their house, with the car keys still inside! She was not a happy bunny – Daniela not ‘Reina’!!

They are stuck until this evening to get back into their house so they are spending time with Daniela’s Mum & Dad who have just moved over here to live, ‘Reina’ will be back with us tomorrow.

We freshened ourselves up and had our normal breakfast to start the week in the right direction, Brenda has started to take the down all the Xmas decorations, a little later than normal, I will pack the Xmas Tree away later.

This morning the sun was out early, the sky is bright blue and there is no breeze, a perfect start to the week, hopefully we are in for more of the same, we will see on this afternoons weather forecast on TVE, watch this space.

This evening for supper we are having ‘ Grilled Escalopes of Chicken Fillets’ with whole Green Beans & sautéed sliced Baked Potato, the rest of the week is TBC, watch this space.

Over the weekend we spoke to Jack & Lyn over in Melbourne on the Skype video, it’s very hot, 35/37 degs, in the shade, the hottest spell in over 20 years, they had seen a lot of their families over the ‘New Year’ weekend so they were just starting to take things easy, Jack is looking well, he’s on the Oxygen all the time, Lyn was in fine spirits and looking and feeling very well, we had a good catch up with all their news and wished them a ‘ Healthy, Wealthy & Happy New Year’

Just a quick update on the weekends football results; Everton lost 1-2, Liverpool could only draw 0-0 when ‘ ‘Klopp’ put out a young second team, meanwhile over here Real Madrid won 5-0, their 39^th unbeaten game, sadly Barcelona drew 1-1 with a late Messi goal.

Michelle has just sent a ‘Facebook’ message to say that they arrived home safe & sound, she was just going to collect their dogs from the kennels, ‘Charlie’ on his last night, cut he hand rather badly, so she was taking him to the ‘A&E’ for a check up, we had a ‘ Helluva’ Brunch on Sunday before I took then across to the Airport in Gibraltar later in the evening, we can’t wait to see them all again in the not too distant future, watch this space.

We have plans for the week ahead, also no medical appointments, at the moment, hopefully Brenda’s new ‘Green Health Card’ will arrive in the post, fingers crossed in today’s lunchtime post?!  I will be out on Friday morning on my travels for the weekly shopping, Watch this space.

We are taking things easy this week, catching up with the chores etc, after all the excitement of the ‘Christmas & New Years’ celebrations with the ‘ folks’ 

There are new series starting on the ‘BBC & ITV’ at the moment and over the next few weeks, so Matt is sending me the details about the system that he use’s “ Tonbux “ – a smart android box/download system which gives you all sorts of options, Sport, Films, Sky, all the terrestrial TV stations etc. Watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A VERY CRISP & SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK;

MONDAY 12^th/ DECEMBER 2016.

I was up early this morning to welcome back little princess ‘ Reina’ back with us for her normal five days, she’s also coming for a sleep over on Saturday, she shot upstairs and came onto our bed, ‘ Scruffy’ also joined us and we all had a little longer lie in, we then took ‘ Scruffy’ for his first walk of the day, we went down to our local Sub-Post Office to post the rest of the Xmas Cards, watch out it could be you!

PS, Rose has just called to say that Adrian has been taken off the ventilator and is just on oxygen, he can speak a little and is very thirsty, but still very poorly, all good news.

After our regular breakfast I made a large batch of my now famous ‘ Minestrone Soup’ – I use my Tomato salsa as the base and then build up all the vegetables ( 15 different!) along with Pastas, Pulses, etc, Mano & Anna have just called in for a chat & gossip and have taken home a tub!

This evening we are having the rest of the ‘Marinated Pork Brochettes’ with Basmati Rice & some finely sliced Green Beans, later in the week we are going to have ‘ Pan-Seared Calves Liver’ with English Smoked Back Bacon & Pork Sausages, Chicken Wings, if the butcher has some left, a fish dish on Friday and a Roast on Sunday, watch this space.

Today has started dry & very crisp, the sun has broken through and the sky is clearing, it’s a little cold during the night, 12 degs and then going up to 19 degs during the day, the rest of the week, at the moment, is staying fine & dry, normal for this time of the year.

Tomorrow lunchtime Brenda is going down on the bus to Sabinillas as she has an appointment at her hairdressers, Anne’s, for the full works, she is also going to do a little essential shopping and then catch a taxi back up to the village. On Wednesday she is back at the surgery at lunchtime for her appointment with our Doctor, Natalia, for a check up/review, she has just called this lunchtime to see how Brenda is and catch up with her daily blood pressure readings, next Wednesday morning I’m back at the hospital for to see my ‘Prostrate Consultant’ for my review/call back then on this Friday morning I will be out on my travels for the weekly shopping.

Last night we channel hopped and after supper watched the 5th episode of ‘ My Mother and Other Strangers’ – it turned out to be the final episode ( 5 not 6 ?!) and it ended rather abruptly with lots of questions left unanswered, the main character running into the arms of the American Lieutenant, who is turns out is married to a mentally sick wife, the other main character possibly losing his pub business, their daughter left un-fulfilled, the locals in turmoil, etc?!



PS; He's arrived early !!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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MANILVA AT THE START OF THE NEW YEAR.

WEDNESDAY2nd/THURSDAY 3^rd/ FRIDAY 4^th/ JANUARY 2013.

On Wednesday morning we made contact with Tim over in Old Colwyn on the Skype video as it was his birthday – he was in fine form and he suggested he might try to come over very soon for a bit of sun and golf which he is missing due to the weather over in North Wales ! ASAP Timmy !! Jump on the plane for Gibraltar and the rest is easy!!  The weather forecast at the moment is good for the bank holiday weekend here in Spain and into next week; on Sunday it is “ The Three Kings ” celebrations which is the main Xmas for children, the parade is on Saturday evening along Calle Mar. Brenda actually was able to go up on the roof terrace for a couple of hours in the afternoon to read as by then it had warmed up; I meanwhile was trying to watch on the BBCTVIPlayer some of my favorite programme’s but I’ am having problems as they are playing with the satellite’s, which is starting to effect the reception on English stations! Watch this space. In the evening for supper we had Pork Cutlet’s with vegetables and Baked Potatoes. Sadly there was no ‘ Downton Abbey’ episode on Antena3 so we had to channel hop. We found a lovely film called “ Waking Ned ”  from 1998 – a comedy about an Irish village that connives together to fool the claims inspector into paying the 7 million winning ticket after the winner ‘ Ned  dies! It stars Ian Bannen, David Kelly,Fionula Flanagan and James Nesbitt as a Pig farmer – it was actually filmed on the Isle of Man- don’t miss it!  The football over in England saw Everton beat Newcastle 1-2 and Liverpool won against Sunderland 3-0 but the surprise of the night was OPR,who are at the bottom of the Premier League, they beat Chelsea 0-1 !! This weekend the ‘Liga ’ over here restarts after the Xmas break and see’s Barcelona v Espanyol ( Mano;s team ) as the main game.

Thursday was curry night; I made a large pan of Chicken Curry in the morning, you can smell it at the top of out street ! The sun is out but it is a little cooler as the ‘ Lavente ’ wind has picked up – 16/17degs. So Brenda had been busy with washing as its good drying weather ! After supper we watched the late film “ Firewall ” from 2006 with Harrison Ford as a security specialist forced into robbing the bank that he’s protecting by the ‘ Baddie ’ Paul Bettany !

This morning, Friday, we shot out early down to the surgery to make appointments for next week when our doctor returns from holiday as we need some updates on our prescriptions and check ups; we then went down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping and picked up the papers at the same time. After unloading we went for a walk with the dog down to the local market for some fresh flowers, at the same time we called into the ‘ Sports

 Office ’off the council to buy tickets for a coach trip in two weeks time to the main sports hall over in Malaga to watch the Basketball Game between ‘ Unicaja( Malaga) and Real Madrid, the champions, in the ‘ Euroleague’ – it is very cheap and was advertised on Wednesday – no luck all tickets sold out already – I ‘am not a happy bunny and have sent off E-mails etc. as Mario our local councilor and the Director of Sports as he said to me yesterday that everything was fine!! No Problemente !! Watch this space.

Tonight we are having Fish and Chips with Peas; I’ am making fresh Goujon’s of Hake along with square Chips and Mushy Peas( Tinned but very good !) – then we settle down to watch a good film ,hopefully.

Thought for the New Year;

Everything is OK in the end, if it’s not OK,then it’s not the end.

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