A VERY COLD & ' FRESH' AND NOW SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

WEDNESDAY 23rd/ JANUARY 2019.

We were up after just a little lie in this morning, during the night the wind got up and this morning it’s still blowing, after freshening up we had our regular light breakfast of fresh fruit, toast & tea, Brenda is pottering about and I’m up in the office/studio on the ‘WWW’ before typing/posting today’s Blog.

Today has started very cold & ‘ fresh’ – with a stiff breeze blowing up from the Mediterranean, this means that the ‘ Wet-Stuff’ has been blown away for the rest of the week and now next week also, it’s still cloudy at the moment and will only reach 14/15 degs+ later, over the next few days and into the weekend it steadily getting a little warmer, with the sky clearing, by Saturday reaching 20 degs+ but still overnight down to 8/9 degs, next week leading into February, we are in for a settled dry spell, with patchy clouds and then sunshine, hovering in the mid/high ‘ teens’ - the following weekend is looking on the long range forecasts a bit cooler and damp, watch this space.

See below pictures of the new ‘ Athletics/Sports Stadium ‘ in Estepona, next to the Football Ground, and the 'Feria' complex on the left and below the new Theatre, which is starting to take shape.

For our supper this evening we are having ‘ Pan-Seared Lambs Liver ‘ – dusted in seasoned flour and flash-cooked ‘Pink’ in foaming Lemon Butter  – with Grilled ‘ Pigs in Blanket’ ( from Xmas!) – accompanied with a rich ‘Onion & Shallot Red Wine Gravy’  - served with Cabbage, Glazed Carrot Batons and a dish of ‘Boulangere’ Potatoes, tomorrow night it’s our favourite ‘ Pan-Seared Chicken Wings ‘ – with a Baked Potato.

The re-set ‘IPTV’ system has settled down again, in February Lee is going to look for another more reliable system, for us & him, for watching ‘English TV, Films & Sport ’ etc, as his current one, that we used to be on, before it crashed, it’s due to finish also, yesterday afternoon and evening we caught up with all the ‘Quiz Shows’ that we follow, then after supper we settled down to watch the second part of  the excellent ‘ Silent Witness’ – more tattooed body parts were found as well as the killer!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY ' SHARP & CRISP' OVERCAST AND WINDY SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY.

TUESDAY 22^nd / JANUARY 2019.

We were up this morning a little earlier than normal, after a very cold night, after freshening up as I was on the breakfast rota we had my famous ‘ Toasted Crispy Smoked Butties’ – smothered in ‘ HP’ Brown sauce – open on brown for Brenda – with mugs of hot/strong tea. Brenda then shot out down to the local ‘Sub-Post Office’ to post a birthday card ( watch out it could be you?!) – on the way back she was calling into the Chemists in ‘Calle Mar’ for our prescription tablets.

While we were getting ready we were listening to, as usual, to the ‘Andrew Charles Breakfast Show’ on “ Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW “ as the 3 second music quiz came on, I got it straight away, it was ‘ Val Doonican’ singing ‘ O’Rafferty’s Motor ‘ ! ‘Sir’ Malcolm & ‘Lady’ Brenda are in the draw on Friday, watch this space.

As I said it’s very cold this morning with a stiff breeze blowing, it’s also still a little grey & overcast, by lunchtime it’s only going to be 13/14 degs+ - down to 7/8 degs overnight, tomorrow is the same, then on Thursday, as the breeze drops, it’s picking up a bit, by Friday the sun is due back in sunny Manilva, over the weekend it’s then going cooler, next week is starting to settle down, with patchy clouds, a chance of the ‘ wet-stuff’ and then some sunshine, by the following weekend it’s going to be down to 10/11 degs during the day, the coldest we have ever had at this time of the year, watch this space.

See below the spectacular sun rise yesterday morning after the ‘Super Blood Wolf Moon’!

This evening for our supper we are having ‘ Chicken Schnitzels’ – flattened Breast of Chicken, coated in breadcrumbs from the local Bakery, then shallow fried until crisp & golden, all over, finished ‘ Holstein’ style, topped with a ‘ Campo’ Fried Egg with Anchovy Fillets & Capers, served with finely sliced ‘French’ Green Beans and twice-cooked’ Chips.

Yesterday evening Lee called in and re-set the ‘IPTV’ system, thanks ! It meant that we were able to catch ‘ Great Canadian Railway Journeys’ with Michael Portillo, as he reached Vancouver, in British Columbia,  and then after supper we watched the first two-part episode of ‘ Silent Witness’ with two assorted tattooed body parts appearing !

Today is a stay at home day, it’s very cold out, grey & overcast with a very stiff breeze blowing, very unseasonal for the time of the year, we are wrapping up and keeping as warm as possible, the Oil Heaters only warm the lounge a little, it’s ‘Darby & Joan ‘ time, again!

Thoughts for the Day.  See above.

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A VERY ' COLD & CRISP' SUNNY MANILVA ON THURSDAY.

THURSDAY 10^th/ JANUARY 2019.

We managed a little lie in this morning, ‘ Charlie’ spent the night on ‘ Reina’s duvet and then had a lie in as he was late going to bed last night, as he had an attack, we had just gone to bed, as he had decided to stay downstairs on the main settee, where he was very settled, when we heard him moaning, he was starting one of his epileptic seizures, we shot back downstairs and gave him lots of ‘ hugs’ and comfort as the condition takes hold, he comes around slowly and is then back to his normal ‘ happy’ self, full of joy, energy & love!

I was on the ‘ WWW’ and had just had a ‘ Facebook Message ‘ from Sandra & Bill over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, to say the ‘ Christmas Cards’ had finally arrived in the post! “ GREAT NEWS “ 

Sandra had just arrived home after work ( 10 – 6 )) – it was 7-00 pm over in Canada, 1-00 am here, very wintery, snowing & blowing over in Canada, we then arranged a ‘ Skype’ video call this Sunday for our first catch-up of 2019!  Meanwhile over here yesterday afternoon it was the hottest spot in Spain, 22 degs+ at one time! ( Sorry!)

The ‘ Council’ have just announced that they are going to re-pave, improve access, improve the lighting and underground services etc, of ‘ Calle Iglesia- Church Street’ to the same standards as ‘ Calle Mar – Sea Street’ – this is very good news as the street is starting to break-up after temporary repairs, the bad news is that it will affect all the main parades/processions over the ‘ Semana Santa ‘ Easter period, coming up from the ‘ Iglesia Santa Ana Church’! Watch this space.

After freshening up Brenda took ‘ Charlie’ out for his first walk of the day, he’s back to his normal ‘ happy ‘ self, this afternoon he will have some company as ‘ Scruffy’ is joining us for the evening, as Adrian has an appointment at the ‘ Hospital, I was on the breakfast rota so we then had ‘ Toasted Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties’ – smothered in ‘HP’ Brown sauce – open on brown for Brenda, with mugs of hot tea, before getting the shopping list ready for tomorrow morning when I’m out on my travels down to Sabinillas.

As I said above, yesterday lunchtime we were the hottest spot in Spain, all over the rest of the county the ‘ cold-snap’ has brought very cold weather and snow, all over Europe, they have very cold weather with heavy snowfalls, the worst in living memory in some countries, our friend Andy was flying off on his months holiday to Thailand yesterday via Moscow! The sun broke through first thing this morning and the clouds have cleared as there is a light breeze, by lunchtime it will be only 17 degs+ - down to 9 degs during the night, over the next couple of days and the weekend it’s going a little colder as the breeze strengthens, next week is now looking a bit more settled, hovering in the mid ‘ teens’ but with the threat of the ‘ wet-stuff’ back in the air, watch this space.

For our supper this evening we are having the rest of the ‘ Chicken & Mushroom Curry ‘ with Basmati Rice and twice-cooked ‘ Chips’- Friday is going to a ‘ Fish n’ Chip Supper ‘ – on Saturday it’s a large ‘Grilled Rib of Beef’ with all the trimmings, then on Sunday, no roast, as we are having a ‘Fillet of Pork’- cut into ‘ Medallions’ – the rest used for ‘ Pork Schnitzels’ on Monday!

Last night after supper we watched the second part of ‘ Silent Witness’ – it was a surprise killer! Today we are taking things easy, later we will be out for our walks with ‘ Charlie & Scruffy’ – the village & all the Bars, along ‘ Calle Mar ‘ at the moment, are either very quiet or closed, then this evening we will channel-hop to find something to watch.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY CRISP AND BREEZY SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY;

WEDNESDAY 4^th/ FEBRUARY 2015.

This morning there was no lie in, we had our usual breakfast and then shot down to Sabinillas as Brenda had an appointment at her hairdressers for a cut & blow dry, we also picked up some light bulbs from the ‘Ferraterias’ then a birthday card, for Lumy at Bar Rojas, and a newspaper (Daily Mail – sorry Josie!) before calling into the bank where it all started to go wrong!

It turned out that the whole Spanish banking system online has crashed! This meant that the transfer between our accounts could not be processed and the cash machine outside which they told me was working took my two attempts for cash out of our account but did not produce any cash!!  

I retired to the café in the square opposite the hairdressers for a sausage butty and mug of steaming tea; this morning its very cold with a stiff breeze, that had came overnight, this means that the overall max temperatures has dropped to 10degs, 6degs down from yesterday! The sky is blue and the sun is out so we can’t complain, it’s the coldest day since we arrived here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’ all those years ago! It’s like this for the next few days up to the weekend.

As we got back to the house ‘Chispa’ came charging up the street to welcome us home, she is now playing around the house after we took her for a short walk. ‘Reina’ is back tomorrow and then ‘Scruffy’ is with us on Saturday & Sunday.

Meanwhile over in Skelton ‘ Up North’! - the ‘Queen’ has settled back into her official residence with her ‘Consort’ and is busy at the moment with lots of research on her family history using the ‘Ancestry’ page, outside the snow has fallen as you can see in the picture below taken this morning.

This evening for our supper we are having the rest of last nights Chicken Curry before we settle down to find something to watch after the news, sport and weather updates, last night we just channel hopped so hopefully we will have more luck this evening.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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