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

FRIDAY 5^th/ JULY 2019.

We hand another nice long lie in this morning as I didn’t need to go out on my travels, down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping, thankfully, as we are stocked up and not using our usual food & drink etc, at the moment, due to ‘ health’ reasons!

After freshening up we had a light breakfast of fresh fruit ( sliced chilled Nectarines) with toast & tea, ‘Chispa’ called in to see us, as usual, she’s in & out all the time, this afternoon ‘ Scruffy’ is back with us for a few hours again, in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ as Adrian has his second, of twenty daily appointments at the main Hospital in Malaga, for his ‘Prostate Radiotherapy’ – ‘Scruffy’ is back with us on Sunday evening for a sleep over as Adrian also has a ‘ Heart’ check up on Monday before his next appointment in the evening in Malaga ( Monday to Fridays)

The sun was out early this morning after another very hot night, the sky is bright blue and there is not a breath of air, by lunchtime it will reach 29 degs+ - tomorrow up to 32 degs, on Sunday there is a light breeze coming back, next week is looking very warm & sunny, hovering in the low 30s all week, down to only 21 degs  overnight – it’s going to be a ‘ Hot-One’!  Watch this space.

See below a picture showing Sabinillas and the coast, taken from the terrace of the ‘ Manilva Green Aparthotel’ - across the vine fields.

Over in Liverpool, berthed at the Pier Head, yesterday was the new offshore patrol vessel ‘ HMS Medway ‘ – launched in 2017.

See below;

For our supper this evening we are having small ‘Goujons of Haddock’ in a ‘Cruzecamp Beer Batter’ – fried in shallow Vegetable Oil, until crisp & golden, served with ‘ Mushy Green Peas’ and homemade ‘ Tartar’ sauce and lots of Lemon Wedges, accompanied with a few triple-cooked ‘ Chip’s’ – our appetites are slowly returning!

On Saturday we are having ‘ Grilled Fillet Steaks’ with ‘ Frits’ – then on Sunday, at Brenda’s request, we are going to have  ‘Poached Chicken Breasts ‘ – then sliced when cold and served with a nice Mixed Salad and Brenda’s famous ‘ Potato Salad’

At the moment we are watching a lot of the Tennis from Wimbledon, then catching other programmes later, tomorrow it’s the start of this year’s ‘ Tour de France’ in Brussels, over the weekend we will catch the final episode of ‘ Gentleman Jack’ as well as the next episode of ‘ Killing Eve’ in between watching the Final of the “ Women’s World Cup “as the USA play Holland.

Just a thought for the weekend, to bring back many happy memories of the good old days, back in the late 70s, early 80s, of our ‘ Champagne Days’ – to help with our recuperations to get back to full-health and ‘ taste’ the good times again, at the moment we only manage one or two bottles of the ‘good-stuff’ each year, on special occasions, with family & friends! “ Cheers “ to the next time!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY.

SATURDAY 1^st / DECEMBER 2018.

We managed a little lie in this morning before we had to get up, to put out the gas-bottle to be exchanged later, after freshening up, as usual, on a Saturday, Brenda was on the breakfast rota, so we had her famous ‘ Campo’ Poached Eggs on Toast ‘ – boiled for her, with toast fingers, with mugs of strong ‘ PG’ Tips Tea!

Lee than called in and re-set the new ‘URL’ on the ‘IPTV’ system and at the same time he updated the ‘ BBC I Player & ITV Hub’ – we then had a good catch up with all their news, as we don’t see him & Daniela, with little princess ‘Reina’ as much now.

This is all very good news, as next week, on Wednesday 5^th December on ‘ Channel Four’  in the afternoon, it’s the episode of “ A Place in the Sun’ in which I’m starring! It was recorded/filmed back in the middle of October, when Sandra & Bill had just arrived, our friends & neighbours, Jo & Mike, who’s house was on the programme, for sale, just around the corner at the bottom of our street, texted us last night to let us know that it’s going to be on! Catch it if you can!!

They have also asked us if it was possible that we could ‘ House-Sit’ their Villa over in Elvira, past Marbella, in the New Year, for a couple of weeks, along with their two dogs, which we have said that we would consider it, watch this space.

This morning we have yet another beautiful day down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ – the sun broke through earlier and the sky is bright blue, the clouds have cleared and the light breeze has dropped, by this lunchtime, it’s due to reach 18/19degs+ - tomorrow we are in for more of the same, next week is now looking very settled, dry & sunny, all week, even going a little warmer, hovering in the low 20s+ - the longer range forecast, for the following week is also looking good, watch this space.

See below a picture of the ‘ Puerto de la Duquesa Marina’ this morning, at it’s best!

On the sports front this weekend; over in the ‘ Premier League’ Manchester City welcome AFC Bournemouth and then tomorrow it’s the ‘ Match of the Day ‘ as Liverpool welcome Everton in the ‘ Derby’ game! Over here in ‘ La Liga’ Real Madrid are at home to Valencia & tomorrow Barcelona welcome Villarreal. This afternoon the ‘ National Hunt Racing, on ITV, is from Newbury & Newcastle.

At lunchtime we went up to ' Bar Rojas' for a cool drink, sat outside in the warm sunshine, Monica gave us a 'on the house' ration of her Paella as it's her 1st anniversary of taking over the business, we then popped along to ' Bar Castillo' for another late afternoon drink!!

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, Shallots & Button Mushrooms, with Whole ‘ French’ Green Beans and the classic ‘ Pommes Pont Neuf’ - thick-cut, twice-cooked ‘ Chips’ accompanied with ‘Bearnaise’ sauce & Dijon Mustard.

This afternoon/evening we will be back on the ‘IPTV’ system catching up with all the programmes that we have missed over the past week!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY.

SATURDAY 14th/ JULY 2018.

We all had a nice lie in this morning after a very busy week, by our standards, ‘Prince Paddy & Chico’ spent all night moving around on the marble floor, as usual, this morning ‘Paddy ‘ joined us on the bed for his first cuddles of the day, ‘ Chico’ was also made a big fuss of, they then wait while we get ourselves sorted out for the day ahead, as we were leaving ‘ Chispa’ came running up the street and so joined us for our first walk of the day, keeping to the shady side of the street on our way down to the ‘Mirador’

When we returned, as it was Saturday, Brenda was on duty in the kitchens to produce her famous ‘ Campo Poached Eggs on Toast’  with mugs of strong/sweet tea! I then retired up to the office/studio, with both of the dogs, to go online on the ‘ WWW’ and the type/post today’s Blog, meanwhile Brenda is washing/shampooing her hair.

Today we are in for another ‘ hot-one’ – the sun was out early and the breeze has dropped, the sky has cleared and is bright blue, so by lunchtime it will be reaching 30/31 degs+  - even in the shade its already very warm, tomorrow is going to be the same and then next week it’s forecast to be very hot & sunny, with a very light breeze, hovering in the mid to high 30s,  a little warmer inland, as usual, it’s still not as hot as we expect for this time of year, watch this space.

See below a picture taken by Annette, Jeff’s wife, a semi-professional photographer, of Jeff & Sandra, taken when they visited the folks over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, and went out for the day around Ontario.

On the sports front this weekend; over at Wimbledon it’s the ‘Ladies Final’ of the Tennis, later over in Russia, at the ‘World Cup England, sadly, have to play Belgium’ in the 3^rd/4^th ‘Pay-Offs Final.

Today’s Stage 8 of the  Tour De France’ goes from Dreux to Amiens over 181 kms and is the last ‘ sprinters day’ for a while, tomorrow it’s a classic ‘Stage’ over fifteen cobbled sections around Arras/Roubaix, before a ‘ Rest Day’ on Monday, watch this space.

See below today’s route map;

This evening for our supper we are having a large ‘Rib of Beef ‘ – on the bone – seasoned and cooked on a very hot griddle-plate ‘ Med-Rare’ – then left to rest before taking it off the bone and carving it into slices ‘ French’ style, garnished with seared Asparagus Spears, Button Mushrooms & Shallots, served with Whole ‘ French’ Green Beans, and of course ‘ twice-cooked’ Chips! Accompanied with Dijon Mustard & ‘Bearnaise’ sauce.

On Sunday evening we have a small joint of a  ‘Roasted Loin of Pork’ – which we are trying for the first time, from ‘  Mercadona’  - which I will carve, cold and have with a selection of various salads. Watch this space.

See below some pictures of the old ' Calle Mar' from back in time! 

This evening after supper we will channel hop and find something to watch.






Just a reminder !

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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