A VERY PLEASANT, WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

WEDNESDAY 29^th/ MAY 2019.

We had a little lie in this morning, after a very hot night, the hottest so far this year, ‘Sunny’ joined us on the marble floor and on ‘Reina’s duvet, she’s settled in very well, after missing her Mum, Simone, at first, we took her for a walk around the bottom of the village yesterday evening and bumped into Rose with ‘ Scruffy’ – one of our old regulars, we ended up sat outside ‘ Bar Castillo’ with Adrian & Rose for a nice cool drink and chat, both dogs stayed under the tables in the shade.

After freshening up Brenda took ‘Sunny’ for her first walk of the day, she’s found her ‘ spots’ – they then came back, for breakfast, I was left behind in case the gas bottle delivery man came calling, as we need a new one today,  we then had fresh fruit, toast & tea to start the day.

NB; The price of the gas bottle has dropped, ( 1 Euro!)  it’s controlled by the ‘National Government’

‘Sunny’ is a real character and very loving, she loves to lick you, she’ is being collected after lunch today and then is due back in August for her summer holidays, watch this space.

See ‘ Sunny’ below;

On Thursday & Friday mornings I will be up very early as little princess ‘Reina’ is back with us, in ' Doggy World Heaven' - she just shoots onto/into her duvet, I will of course on Friday morning shoot off on my travels down to Sabinillas for our weekly shopping.

Talking of ‘Sunny’ – after yesterdays mini ‘ Heatwave’ of 31 degs’ – thankfully this morning there is a light breeze, as forecast, it’s a little cooler, the sky is clearing slowly and by lunchtime it’s due to reach 25 degs+ overnight back down to 16/17 degs, which is a blessing as our bedroom ‘ Stack Fan’ has given up the ghost! I tried to pick up a new one yesterday afternoon, when I was out, with no luck, I will try and pick up one when I’m out on my travels on Friday morning.

Over the next couple of days and then the weekend it’s going to be warm & sunny, with clear blue skies, hovering in the mid 20s, at the start of next week, as the breeze drops again, we are in for a ‘ hot one’ – back up to 30 degs+ for a few days, before the breeze brings back some more cool air towards the end of the week, watch this space.

As we were getting ready this morning, as usual, we were listening to the ‘ Breakfast Show’ with Andrew Charles, on ‘ Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW’ – the ‘Music Quiz’ came on, it was a very short 3 second intro, we got it straight away – ‘Val Doonican’ with “ O’Rafferty ’s Motor Car “  - we are in the draw on Friday morning, no ‘ mug’ – just to win!

This evening we will be watching the football, as it’s the Final of the ‘ UEFA Europa League Cup ‘ – over in distant Baku, Azerbaijan, as Chelsea play Arsenal, after catching the last episode of “ The Blitz: Britain on Fire “

For our supper this evening we are having ‘ Grilled Gammon Steaks’ – garnished with seared Button Mushrooms and topped with seared Pineapple Rings and ‘ Campo’ Fried Eggs! – with Garden Peas and of course ‘ triple’ cooked ‘ Chips’ – not forgetting the ‘HP’ Brown sauce.

We will be taking things easy, later, as we settled into our ‘ Hot Mode’ – with all the fans on, Office/Studio, Bedroom (new one ) Lounge & Kitchen, keeping cool and drinking lots of cold bottled water, relaxing, loose minimal clothing etc! Watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

WEDNESDAY 8^th/ AUGUST 2018.

We all managed a little lie in this morning until ‘Maisie’ tells us it’s time for to go out, for her first walk of the day, by nudging Brenda! She waits as we freshen up, she has settled in very well and is into our routine, she is sleeping on the bath towel at the foot of our bed, we then set off, keeping to the shady side of the street, down to the ‘Mirador’ – when we returned we had our normal light breakfast of ‘ Weetabix’ fresh fruit ( Nectarines) toast & tea.

In the ‘ Plaza de la Vendemia’ the ‘ Council’ workmen have started to place the new ‘ Mosaic Mural Tiles ‘ on the wall.

See below, this evening.

Meanwhile in ‘ Calle Mar’ the ‘Design’ people are putting up the new White awnings over ‘ Bar Castillo’ as it’s closed today. We will be sat under it tomorrow evening, when we are out for our ‘ Tapas’ supper! ( pre-ordered)!

NB; A change of plans, they are carrying on with the main Canopy along the street in front of the Bar!  See below.

Last night we took ‘ Maisie’ with us down to the surgery, for our appointment with the ‘ Chiropodist’ – she lay down and waited as we had our feet seen too, she is very good when we are walking with her, she loves to be out and resists when it time to go home! Our next appointment is in eight weeks time, on the first Monday when Sandra & Bill are here, from Everett, Ontario, Canada, for two weeks, the ‘ Countdown’ begins!

Overnight, again, we had a very hot. sticky & clammy night, this morning when we were out there was very light breeze keeping it just about pleasant in the shade, by lunchtime it’s due to reach 33 degs+ -  the rest of week and over the weekend is staying the same, even at times getting hotter, especially during the night ( 25 degs+) ! Next week we are in for more of the same but with patchy clouds at times, watch this space.

See below this morning’s sunrise over the Mediterranean.

This morning I’m taking you back to Liverpool on the mid/late 60s, when I was the Manager of the ‘ Stork Hotel’ in Queens Square, opposite the ‘ Royal Court Theatre’ – every morning, from the steps down from the front of the Hotel, I watched the ‘ St John’s Beacon’ being built, it went up slowly each day using a slip-formed concrete construction, it was opened by the Queen in 1969, it’s 138 metres high, it’s over the years had a chequered history, it’s now the “ Radio City Tower “

I did the ‘topping out’ ceremony, going up in the light/open workers lift, serving ‘ Watneys Red Barrel’ Beer & Sausage Rolls to the workers and ‘Red Wine’ ( Beaujolais) & Canapes’ to the local dignitaries, with yellow steel hats on and a gale blowing, you had to hold the pint glasses horizontally to pour the beer!

See above some pictures of the Tower over the years.





See below some pictures of ' Maisie' & 'Chispa' - who joined us this evening on our walk! 

                                                                                  And a neighbour walking his ' Bird' !

For our supper this evening we are having ‘Grilled Chicken Fillets’ with the ‘Russian Salad’ & Mixed Salad. On Friday it will still be a ‘ Fish Night’ despite having ‘ Spanish Fish & Chips’ tomorrow evening, when we are out ( Rosada Frito & Patatas Fritas!) at ‘ Bar Castillo’- as it’s the ‘ Head Chef & Staff’ night-off! The weekend’s menus are still TBC. Watch this space.

Today we are keeping a low profile, with all the fans on, drinking lots of cold water, siestas in the afternoon and thinking positive thoughts, to keep as cool as possible.

We will take ‘Maisie’ out for a short walk at lunchtime, keeping to the shady side of the street, this evening we will walk down to the ‘ Plaza de la Vendimia’ and sit in the shade and take in the cooler fresh air, ( see above ) - finally last thing, we go and sit in ‘Calle Mar’ with her, taking in the sights & sounds of sunny Manilva, at this time the main Bars are packed with locals doing the same, having late ‘Tapas’ suppers, as they pass us by we exchange greetings.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A CLOUDY & CLAMMY SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY 23^rd/ JULY 2018.

Last night was very hot & clammy, we all didn’t get much sleep as we suffered, ‘Prince Paddy’ kept on the move, as I did, in fact I ended up upstairs in the main guest bedroom, which has a large ceiling fan, we are changing the fan in the bedroom to a larger rotating one,( which we have just tried and is not working!)- in the morning you have to peel yourself off the sheets/pillows!

I was up first to welcome back little princess ‘Reina’ for the day, she stays on top of her duvet outside the office/studio as I’m typing/posting the Blog.

‘ Plan B ‘ – in the morning Brenda is going down on the local Bus to Sabinillas, as she has her appointment at her hairdressers for the ‘ full-works, so I will collect her later and then call in and pick up a new one ( hopefully) as last Friday they didn’t have the one we needed!

After freshening ourselves up, we set-off with ‘Paddy’ for his first walk of the day, no problem this morning, keeping to the shady side of the street as it was still overcast & cloudy, with the end of a sea mist, as there is just a very slight breeze, also keeping it very close & sticky! By lunchtime it will still be 28 degs+ - the rest of the week and over the ‘Feria’ weekend it’s getting steadily warmer, going up into the high 30s+ Watch this space.

See below a picture taken this morning of the “ MS Queen Elizabeth “ berthed at the Pier Head in Liverpool.

After returning from the walk we had our usual light breakfast of ‘ Weetabix’ fresh fruit, toast & tea, we have no other appointments this week so far, I will be out on Friday morning, as usual, on my travels down to Sabinillas, for the weekly shopping.

Over the next few days we are keeping a low-profile, taking things easy and keeping as cool as possible, drinking lots of cold water, then from Thursday it’s four days of ‘ Part Time’ with the ‘Santa Ana ‘ celebrations, with the procession of the ‘Tableau’ led by the Manilva Brass Band, then later music & dancing, from Friday we have the three days of the annual ‘Feria’ – this morning the first of the fairground rides were being unloaded in the ‘Plaza De Las Vendima’ and the ‘Council’ workmen are starting to set up the stages in ‘Calle Mar’ Watch this space.

Last night after supper we went up to ‘Calle Mar’ and found a good spot outside the Town Hall to watch the ‘Flamenco Fashion Show’ – it’s a very special ‘ village’ night with all the families out to see their ‘Senoritas’- of all ages, parading in the ‘Flamenco’ costumes, one of our local friends daughter, Laura, who we have known since she was a young girl and is now a very pretty young lady, was one of them! See the pictures above showing the show with a very good ‘Flamenco’ group, singer & dancer.

For our supper this evening we are having the rest of the ‘Roast Chicken’ which was not as small as we thought, cold, with some finely sliced ‘French’ Green Beans and twice-cooked ‘ Chips’ & a little Mixed Salad, the Chicken was very moist & tasty. The rest of the week we are taking one day at the time, on the menu front, as the ‘Head Chef & Staff’ don’t have a ‘ night-off’ this week, due to all the excitement of the ‘ Festivals/Feria!

We will be catching up with last night’s episode of ‘Poldark’ later on the ‘ BBC I-Player’ before this evening channel hopping to find something to watch.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY.

TUESDAY 26^th/ JUNE 2018.

We all had a long lie in this morning, in fact we over-slept! ‘Paddy’ spent the night on the marble floor and on his rug/comfort blanket, he then joined us just before we got up, for his morning ‘ cuddles’ He has settled into our routine and waits as we get ourselves sorted for the day ahead, we then take him for his first walk of the day around the bottom of the village, when we return we have our breakfast, this morning just ‘ Weetabix’ fresh fruit ( Nectarines) toast & tea. ’Chispa’ is as usual, calling in all the time to us & ‘Paddy’

It was already very hot & sunny as we set off, there was a very slight breeze on the shady side of the street making it bearable, in the sunshine it was very hot, by lunchtime it’s due to reach 31/32 degs+ - tomorrow it’s going to be even hotter, then it’s going a little cooler up to and over the weekend, hovering in the high 20s by Saturday, next week is going to be a ‘ hot-one’ - starting in the low 30s and going into the mid 30s at times, watch this space.

Over in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, last night they had a spectacular sunset as you can see below, meanwhile over in Liverpool this morning they had a beautiful sunrise!

 


And Liverpool !

Yesterday on the sports front we watched  ladies ‘Tennis’ from Eastbourne, the men’s was not being shown, Andy Murray won anyway! In the ‘World Cup Football’ from Russia, both Spain & Portugal progressed to the last 16, Ronaldo missed a penalty and Spain were behind, twice, to lowly Morocco, but neither teams played well, both having lucky draws, thanks to the ‘ Var’ system, ‘Bar Rojas’ has installed a large screen TV outside so were doing great business last night.

This evening for our supper we are having a ‘ Soft Mixed Grill ‘ – with grilled ‘English’ Pork Sausages & Smoked Back Bacon, with ‘Spanish’ Tomatoes, Chorizo & Mushrooms, served with ‘HP’ Brown sauce! Accompanied with ‘ Heinz Baked Beans ‘ and sautéed Potatoes. On Wednesday evening it’s going to be ‘ Grilled Gammon Steaks’ with ‘ Campo’ Fried Eggs & twice-cooked ‘ Chips’

This afternoon we will be watching, no doubt, more ‘World Cup Football’ as well as the ‘Tennis’ – while catching at times the Quiz Shows that we are following, ‘Countdown, Pointless & The 100K Drop’ – then later we will channel hop, at the moment we are keeping a low-profile, staying at home, with all the fans on and drinking lots of cold bottle water. 

‘Paddy' is finding the coolest spots under chairs/ tables, we shake his lead and he appears! He still spends lots of times on our knees watching the TV, his appetite is very good and he’s also drinking lots of water!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

WEDNESDAY 21 st/ JUNE 2017.   THE ‘ SUMMER SOLSTICE ‘

I was up early, again, this morning and saw ‘Reina’ back with us for the day, she shot onto her duvet and we had a little lie in before getting the day on the go, for breakfast we had our regular fresh fruit ( Nectarines) toast & tea, ‘ Chispa’ came crashing to see us & ‘Reina’ 

We are taking things very easy today, our last chance, as we are out & about, over the next few days, celebrating Brenda’s birthday etc.

The sun was out early this morning and sky is bright blue, there is a rather pleasant breeze, making it just bearable, over the next few days and into the weekend we are in for more of the same, next week is also looking very hot & sunny, 31degs+ and 21degs+ overnight, watch this space.


See below the sunrise over Liverpool this morning.

For our supper this evening we are now having ‘ Chicken Schnitzels’ made with ‘Escalopes of Chicken Breast’ from our local butcher and breadcrumbs from the local Bakery, pan-seared in foaming Lemon Butter, served on a pool of my famous Tomato Salsa with ‘ Spaghetti Milanese’ ( Chopped Smoked Ham)  and finely sliced Green Beans.

Tomorrow night, for Brenda’s first ‘ Birthday Supper’ we are going up to Bar Rojas, Brenda is going to have the seared ‘ Chuletas de Cordero – Lamb Cutlets ‘ and I will have sliced BBQ ‘Rib of Iberico Beef – both with Susanna’s excellent fresh, once –cooked in Olive Oil ‘ Frits’!

This afternoon we will be watching the Tennis from the Queen’s Club in London, yesterday in another big surprise Andy Murray was knocked out in the first round, in two straight sets, by the Australian ‘ Wild Card’ Jordan Thompson?!

Tonight after supper we will find a good film to watch on the ‘Kodi’ film channel after catching up with our regular Quiz Shows.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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