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

FRIDAY 10^th/ AUGUST 2018.

I was up early this morning to see little princess ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day, she shot upstairs onto her duvet, as usual, I then had a quick freshen up and set off on my travels down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping, braving the holiday hordes.

I had a quick toast & tea in ‘ ItZabar’ before ‘Mercadona’ opened at 9-00 am, it was very busy with long queues at all the tills, I then went along to the ‘ Ferraterias’ for a water tap filter, as one of ours blew off when the water came back on yesterday! I picked up the local newspapers from the ‘English Bookshop’ – on the way back up the hill I stopped at ‘ Super Sol’ for our fresh sliced White & Brown Bread, which had sold out last week, I then got stuck at a junction, for 20 minutes, waiting to get out, to come back up the hill to the village! 

Brenda took ‘ Maisie’ out for her first walk of the day, while I was out, down to the ‘Mirador’ keeping in the shade, the breeze, overnight, has changed direction and is now coming down from the mountains behind the village, a ‘Poinenente’!

The sun was out early and the sky is bright blue, with not a cloud in sight, by lunchtime it will reach 32 degs+ overnight the temperatures are hovering on the 23/24 degs’ mark, very close & clammy, to say the least! Over the weekend we are in for more of the same, next week is starting hotter, in the mid 30s, then going a little cooler coming up to next weekend, watch this space.

See below some pictures of the ‘Puerto de la Duquesa’ Marina’ over the past few days.

For our supper this evening we keeping it simple, ‘ Pan-Seared Fillets of Hake’ – dusted in seasoned flour and finished ‘ A La Meuniere ‘ style, with Garden Peas & Parsley New Potatoes, on Saturday it’s going to be ‘ Grilled Fillet Steaks’ with all the trimmings, and then on Sunday evening, at the request of the ‘ Second Chef’ we are having ‘Marinated Spanish Lamb Chops & Cutlets’ with a selection of fresh local Vegetables!

See below pictures of the “ Royal Princess “ berthed at the cruise liner terminal at the Pier Head in Liverpool this morning, her second visit this year!

We are taking things very easy today, relaxing, with all the fans on, keeping as cool as possible, drinking lots of cold water and thinking ‘ Positive’ thoughts, having a small Siesta in the afternoon, walking ‘ Maisie’ in the shade at lunchtime and down to the ‘ Plaza de la Vendemia’ in the early evening, before her last walk of the day along ‘ Calle Mar’ taking in the cooling night air!

At lunchtime on our walk we ended up back at 'Bar Castillo' for a nice cool drink and some of their excellent 'Tapas' - ' Pincho de Gambas & Tortillitas  de Camarones' ( Crispy Shrimp Fritters )


See below;

We have just received some very sad news, our dear friend, Jose De Olivera has passed away suddenly, a true ' Gentleman' in all senses of the word, a 'Great Restaurateur'- of the old School, a loyal colleague during our time at " The Riverside Hotel " in Branston, Burton-upon-Trent - our deep condolences go to his daughter Tania and all the family.  " RIP "

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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

FRIDAY 31^st / MARCH 2017.

As I was getting ready to go out on my travels for our weekly shopping our Doctor, Natalia, rang to ask it was possible if Brenda could go down to the surgery, earlier, for her check up appointment, so Brenda shot out of bed and got herself ready and I dropped here down to the surgery, I then carried on down to Sabinillas through the vine fields, the Mediterranean was sparking, I went into ‘ Mercadona’ for the main shop. While I was there Brenda rang to say that all was well, her knee is fine, her little infection has cleared up and all her readings are fine, Natalia has adjusted her prescriptions tablets at the same time, RESULT!

I picked up the local newspapers from the ‘English Bookshop’ before going along the promenade to the local market for fresh flowers and wall plants, I then called into the garage for petrol and to wash the car, back at the house we unloaded and I put the car away in the Council underground car park.

At lunchtime little princess ‘ Reina’ is being dropped off for her weekend sleep over, she’s with us all next week, as well, if Daniela is back in work. ‘ Scruffy ‘ is back for a sleep over on Tuesday evening.

The sun was out first this morning and the sky was bright blue as I set off, there is no breeze so it’s going to be another glorious day down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ – by lunchtime it’s due to reach 23 degs, making it very pleasant, the weekend is looking as good and next week we are in for more of same, it’s one of our favourite times of the year as it’s so peaceful, no holiday hoards, not too hot and cool in the evening, watch this space.


See below the view from the top of St.John's Beacon, Liverpool this morning.

And last night!

This evening for our supper we are having ‘Grilled Dab Soles’ again, they had just arrived in the fish counter in ‘ Mercadona’ – I also picked up more of the large, fresh, local, Gambas to cook ‘ A La Plancha ‘ on Sea Salt, with them we are having Broccoli Florets, Asparagus Spears, Garden Peas & Parsley New Baby Potatoes.


See below;

Tomorrow evening it’s going to be ‘ Grilled Fillet Steaks ‘ with all the trimmings including deep-fried Onion Rings, on Sunday we are roasting TBC!

We are back into reading, I’ve finished my book and I’m starting on another, Brenda is also reading, when she finishers hers, we will swop, we still have our ‘ Happy Hour ‘ cocktails to start the evening, but sadly not up on the roof patio/terrace, anymore. This evening it’s our ‘Quiz Night’ before finding a film to watch later.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A CLEAR & CRISP SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY;

SATURDAY 8th/ JANUARY 2016.

We managed a little lie in this morning, which we needed, we then freshened ourselves up and had our regular breakfast of ‘ Weetabix, fresh fruit, toast & tea, Brenda then went along to the Chemists for her new spray/medication, as her chest is dry and she has a night time cough, she had to pay the full cost, which will be refunded when the new ‘ Green Health Card’ arrives, as ' Pensioners ' we get a 80% discount on all our prescriptions!

Our new guest in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ arrived; ‘TJ’ who is a 9 year old Jack Russell, he’s with us for a couple of hours to get to see if he settles down, he’s very well behaved and came with his own bed, in March his mum & dad are getting married in Gibraltar so we are going to look after him for 3/4 days, we are going to see how he gets on with the other dogs ‘ ( Chispa!) Watch this space.

Today it’s clear & very crisp, the ‘ Levante’ breeze has made the overall temperature a little lower, the sun is breaking through and it will warm up later, the rest of the weekend is staying the same and next week it looks like we are in for more of the same, watch this space.

This weekend on the sports front the ‘La Liga ‘ returns; Real Madrid welcome Granada and on Sunday Barcelona travel to Villarreal, over in England it’s the 3^rd Round of the ‘ FA Cup’ – Manchester City beat west Ham 0-5 last night and today Everton welcome Leicester, tomorrow Liverpool are at home to Plymouth Argyle, over on ‘ ITV4?!’ the ‘ National Hunt Racing’ is from Sandown Park and Wincanton.

For our supper this evening we are having ‘ Grilled Fillet Steaks ‘ cooked on a very hot griddle plate ‘ Med-Rare ‘ & then left to rest, garnished with seared Asparagus Spears, Button Mushrooms & French Fried Onion Rings ( Milk & Flour) with Finely sliced Green Beans and of course some twice-cooked ‘ Chips’

Tomorrow the folks are joining us for ‘ Brunch’ - their last ‘ supper’ before they fly back from Gibraltar in the evening, ‘ English Pork Sausages & Smoked Back Bacon, Fried Eggs, Mushrooms, Tomato, Chorizo, Baked Beans and Sauteed sliced Baked Potatoes! We had arranged earlier for them to have the hire car for an extra day, they are leaving it, to be collected on Monday, at the apartment complex, I’m taking them across to the airport.

Last night we joined them for supper down in Puerto de la Duquesa at ‘The Mexican Grill & Bar ‘ – the area manager of the group, they have three more restaurants in the port and more along the coast, looked after us, the drinks arrived and we ordered, the children had Homemade 100% Beef Burgers (very good), Matt & Michelle had the  ‘House Specials ‘ Brenda chose the Escalope of Chicken Breast topped with ‘ American Montery Jack Cheese ‘ and I had the very hot sizzling platter of ‘Strips of Beef & Chicken’ with Red Peppers & Onions accompanied with ‘Fajitas’ and three dipping sauces! All served piping hot with quick efficient service.

We then went up to the ‘Mirror -Mirror ‘ Music Bar were Daniela was singing, we joined in, to end a very nice evening with Matt, Michelle, Hollie & Charlie, many thanks for the night out!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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

FRIDAY 11^th/ NOVEMBER 2016.

I was up first to see ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day, her last this week, we then freshened ourselves up and shot out on our travels, I called into our Bank to finalize the details of our new Savings Account, I then dropped Brenda off at the ‘ English Bookshop’ so as she could choose the ‘Christmas Cards’ in peace! I carried onto ‘ Mercadona’ for our main weekly shopping, we then met up and we shot along the promenade to the local market for the fresh flowers and wall plants.

We then came back up the hill through the sad looking vine fields and unpacked back at the house, I popped along to the local bank in ‘Calle Mar’ to pay our ‘Electricity Bill’ – we have the electricity & water bills dropped off at the house and Brenda then checks them, against her readings & estimates, before we pay them!

It was then time to go down to the Council Chambers to watch the election of our New Mayor, Mario, our neighbour, just as  I opened the door to leave our ‘Maintenance’ man called in to fix the four front shutters! I carried on and Brenda stayed, they have fixed/repaired three of them and installed a new one in our bedroom, this is a “ RESULT’ after my complaint call to the solicitors yesterday!! Now all we need is for the ‘Painters’ to arrive to seal/paint all the damp ceilings, watch this space!

The Council Chamber was packed with supporters of all the parties,  various local TV crews etc, as the ‘ Motion of No Confidence ‘ was debated, in a moving meeting, the vote was then asked for by a show of hands of the ‘Council Members’ and then a simple Yes or No! Mario is now our new Mayor, see the pictures below of him with his ‘Rod of Office’ and with his Party Councillors.

Today we have yet another glorious day down on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ – the sun was out early and the sky is bright blue, there is no breeze and by lunchtime it was hot & sunny, 23/25 degs and rising! The weekend is looking like more of the same before the next weather front comes in on Monday from the Atlantic, watch this space.

For our supper this evening we are having ‘ Goujons of Hake Fillet in a ‘ Cruzcampo’ Beer Batter’ with Mushy Peas, twice-cooked diced ‘ Frits’ and Homemade ‘Tartar’ sauce and lots of Lemon wedges on the side; tomorrow night its ‘ Grilled Entrecote Steak ‘ with all the trimmings and then on Sunday we are ‘ Roasting’ –  ‘ Roast Leg of New Zealand ‘ South Island’ Lamb’ on a bed of ‘ Boulangere’ Potatoes!

See below some pictures of the ‘ Overhead Railway’ along the Dock Road  in Liverpool back in another time! The old saddle tank railway engines were the ‘ Mersey Docks and Harbour Boards’ work horses in all the docks. I remember going on the railway as I small child!

This evening we will be watching the ‘ World Cup Qualifying ‘ match between England & Scotland at Wembley Stadium, meanwhile Lewis Hamilton is fastest in the ‘Brazilian Grand Prix’ practise, last night after supper we watched the final episode of ‘ Paranoid’ – lots of twists & turns, a suicide by hanging, the killer getting away again, the kidnapping & torture of the main suspect, who was then shot by the killer before he was killed by a Detective pushing a large steel box on top of him, the Drug company conspiracy was uncovered and the main man arrested, finally the two young Detectives found love and the old one also walked off into the sunset with his new lady!!



PS; The ' Moffatts' - well Tim - have been spotted on a new site - somewhere?! See below.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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