A VERY CRISP & DRY SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY. " DIA DE LOS REYES MAGOS "

WEDNESDAY 6^th/ JANUARY 2016.   “ DIA DE LOS REYES MAGOS “

We started with a nice long lie in this morning until the sound of the children in the street playing with their toys woke us up! The village is very quiet with only one shop open, the bars are also opening a little later than normal; the sun has just broken through and the sky is clearing, by lunchtime its due to reach 19 degs but overnight its dropping to 6 degs, the coldest so far! The forecast over the next few days and into the weekend is staying calm and dry & getting a little warmer, normal for this time of the year.

For our breakfast this morning I grilled some English Pork Sausages ( see below! ) and we had toasted ‘Butties’ with lots of ‘HP’ Sauce along with a mug of steaming English Tea; for this evenings supper we are having Flattened ‘Fillets of Chicken’ pan-fried in foaming Lime Butter with finely sliced Green Beans & dry-sauteed thick slices of Baked Potato.

Last night we went up to Calle Mar to watch the ‘Three Kings Parade’ ( late as usual ) – it stayed dry but was very cold, we ended up in Bar Castillo with Adrian, Rose & ‘Scruffy’ before the floats and bands came along; there were two ‘Parranda’ bands, the village ‘Brass’ Band, the ‘Three Kings’ floats and all the cartoon characters for the children, see the pictures above. At the same time we collected our " Rosca De Reyes " from Antonio's shop which was made at the village bakery, we have started to eat it already! 

At the moment Brenda is taking down the Xmas decorations & cards, lights etc. The end of another Xmas down here in sunny Manilva, dosn’t time fly when you are enjoying yourself! In no time it will be Easter and the time for all the Religious parades after the celebration at the end of February for ‘Andalucia Day’ Not forgetting the visit of the ‘Mooneys’ – David & Jane, at the end of January!

Tomorrow ‘Reina’ is back with us for the day and when she is picked up later Daniela is going to help me activate my new secure key card for the on-line banking with our old account over in Colwyn Bay.On Friday after our early appointment at the surgery for our check ups, we will be getting ourselves ready to go out to meet our friend Joyce in Puerto Banus to go out for some lunch at ‘Cocomo’ We are doing our weekly shopping on Saturday morning before a leisurely weekend down here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’


PS; At lunchtime Mano & Anna called in, we have not seen Mano since before Xmas and Anna not for a few months, so we had a good long catch up and gossip, Anna also got Brenda's Mobile phone working and sorted mine out at the same time!! Thanks !!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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SUNNY MANILVA OVER THE WEEKEND

SATURDAY 6^th/ SUNDAY 7^th/ APRIL 2013.

On Saturday morning we awoke to clear blue skies and the sun, it was a little crisp but the weather forecast is the same through to next weekend and getting hotter as the wind drops; after breakfast we had a call from Jack and Lyn over in Melbourne on the Skype video, they are in the middle of arranging their flights to Spain from Manchester hopefully with Norah and Jenny – but the sad news is that Annette is not going to be able to make it over as planned this time, so we are looking forward to seeing her in the future – don’t leave it to long - love to you Annette!  We then went for a walk around the village with the dog and took the pictures below after I had watched ‘Saturday Morning Kitchen’ live on the PC.

In the afternoon I settled down in the office to watch the racing from Aintree; I got The ‘RacingUK’ coverage this time, the weather over in Liverpool was the same as here! Aintree was packed and all the days racing was very exciting – Brenda joined me for the ‘Grand National’ – we had no luck with our picks, in fact 4 out of the 6 fell as “ Auroras Encore won at 66-1 as you can see in the picture below; later over here both Real Madrid and Barcelona won at home,5-1 and 5-0 respectively with Fabregas scoring a hat-trick in Messi’s absence ! I then caught the qualifying from the MotorGP on the large screen TV downstairs from Qatar.

For supper Brenda had some thinly sliced Chicken breast cooked on the griddle as I had Steak a la Plancha, both of us has Sautéed  Mushroom and Onions and finely sliced Green Beans, this time well cooked not ‘Aldante’ so as Brenda could manage them ! It was then film time, we had the choice of six and went for the science fiction disaster film called “ The Day after Tomorrow ” from 2004 with Dennis Quaid,a young Jake Gyllenhaal, Ian Holm and Seta Ward – the special effects are very good as New York freezes over!

This morning, Sunday after a little lie in we got our Sunday roast on the go; Roast Chicken, sliced for Brenda with Cauliflower and Broccoli Florets in a three cheese sauce, Cabbage with Alselgas, Puree of Carrots and Turnips, Garden Peas, Baby New Potatoes and crisp Roast Potatoes – all well cooked ! The Gravy is to die for, even if I do say so my self! At lunch time we have been up to Bar Rojas for the first time in a while, due to the weather and sat outside under the Sonbrajo in the warm sunshine for our drinks and Paella ! Brenda is now up on the roof terrace taking in the sun and reading.

As I am typing this Liverpool are playing West Ham and Everton are at Tottenham,scores shortly. Later I am moving downstairs to watch the three MotorGP races from Qatar – watch this space ! Later tonight we will catch a film as Sunday evening is the best film night on lots of the channels.We ended up watching " The Mechanic " from 2011 with Jason Statham in the title role as a professional assassin with Donald Sutherland ( Briefly - he's shot!) and Ben Foster - Statham actually gets to act and even at one point smiles! 

PS; Liverpool could only draw 0-0 - terrible! Everton were leading 1-2 up to last few mins but it ended up 2-2 - sorry Big Bri!

Meanwhile over in Qater Lorenzo won the MotorGP and Rossi,his new teammate at Yamaha came a thrilling second in the ride of the day,in the Motor2 race the Englishman Scott Redding came second.

Thoughts for the Day;

Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.  A habit is something you can do without thinking – which is why most of us have so many of them. Quality is not an act, it is a habit.

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MANILVA OVER THE WEEKEND.

FRIDAY/SATURDAY/SUNDAY 28^th/30^th SEPTEMBER 2012.

On Friday morning I shot down to Sabinillas in the hire car before it was picked up to go to the bank, pick up the papers and some essentials from Super Sol and on the way back get some flowers from the market; the ‘ Red Alert ’storm warning from Wednesday/Thursday had been down graded to ‘ Orange ’- it had moved on up the coast to Malaga and then onto Almeria and Murcia, on the way two people lost their lives in villages outside Malaga and a further ten further up the coast ! It is now back to hot and sunny but it is cooler, the overall temperature has gone down by 10 degs from 33 to 23 ! And it is cooler at night !!When I got back Andy called in and has now fixed my problems with the small PC and also made some upgrades that where needed and at the same time installed a new Hard Drive so as I can store unwanted data ( Pictures for instance ) Jack and Lyn made contact later in the morning on the Skype Video as they had returned from their caravan trip up to Mildura – we caught up with all the news – they both looked very well and were sorry that they had missed Norah and Jenny, next time we will arrange it in advance ! In the evening we are still able to go up on the roof terrace for our cocktails and we are back to reading, I’ve just started to read ‘ 50 Shades of Grey ’and it is allready getting ‘ Hot ’ ( Grey is the man in the story ! ) For supper we had grilled Fillets of Hake with baby New Potatoes and Garden Peas before settling down to watching films again on the TV – report to follow.

After a little lie in on Saturday morning we went for a walk after breakfast with Cheta, we are also back into the routine with her, as you can see in the pictures below the new car park under ‘ Plaza Pozo Del Rey ’is continuing to shoot up. In the afternoon I watched the football from England as Liverpool beat Norwich 5-2 and Manchester City won 3-2, Brian’s beloved Everton beat Southampton 3-1 and Alex Ferguson had the smirk knocked off his face when Tottenham beat Utd, 2-3 ! Over here Barcelona won and Real Madrid won with a Ronaldo hatrick so they are now only eight points behind ‘ Barca ’For supper we had ‘ Steak a la Plancha ’with sauté Mushrooms, sliced fine Green Beans and crisp chips before settling down to watch the TV.

As we woke on Sunday morning the sky was blue with cumulous clouds and the sun was out, it turned into a lovely day as after freshening ourselves up we went for a long walk with the dog; we bumped into Mano and Anna in ‘ Bodega Augustin ’ – it was his day off -  so we caught up with all the news,Mano is getting better and is running everyday to get fit and is only drinking shandy – no ‘ Cruz Campo ! ’ We then walked back up to Bar Rojas and sat under the Sonbajo as we had our Paella lunch with our Spanish friend Antonio. In the afternoon I watched the Moto GP from the newish circuit in Aragon when three Spanish riders won all the three classes ! Brenda meanwhile has had the washing machine on morning and night as she catches up with washing and drying and then the ironing ( Not her Favorite ) For dinner we had ‘ Lamb Cutlets Boulangere ’ – I made the potatoes in the morning before we went out, along with Brenda’s selection of vegetables. Later on as I was going to bed the result came in from America – Europe had retained the ‘ Ryder Cup ’ with a spectacular comeback against the United States at Medinah; they were down 10-6 but won with a victory 14/13 and an half as they took eight-and-a-half points out of the twelve available in Sundays singles matches ! It was very exciting right up to the end and was a magnificent performance from the whole team as they stunned and silenced the American noisy crowd !!

FILM REVIEWS;

The “ Shawshank Redemption ” from 1994 is one of the best films ever made and is always worth watching to follow the performances of Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman alone; in the Harrison Ford season we watched “ Airforce One ” and then “ Clear and Present Danger ” from the Tom Clancy series about Jack Ryan – with William Defoe and James Earl Jones also starring. “ Knockaround Guys ”from 2001 is a mobster thriller starring John Malkovich,Dennis Hopper and Vin Diesel. We caught one that we had not seen before; “ Consenting Adults ” from 1992 which is a American thriller starring Kevin Kline, Kevin Spacey and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio – with lots of twists right up to the end ! Last night we watched the “ Shooter ”made in 2007 with Mark Wahlberg in the main role and unusually  Danny Glover as the ‘ Baddie ’in another American conspiracy thriller – as the title indicates there is lots of shooting ! Finally a really gripping story “ The Life of David Grey ” from 2003, produced and directed by Alan Parker and starring, again, Kevin Spacey in the title role and Kate Winslet, it is one not to be missed right up to very end!!

Thought for the Day;

The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.

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MANILVA OVER THE WEEKEND.

SATURDAY/SUNDAY 11th/12th / AUGUST 2012.

Saturday was the hottest day so far this year; it was 41 degs during the day and overnight to Sunday it did not go below 31 degs!! We kept to our summer routine and kept a low profile during the day, Brenda pottered about as usual and I was in the office and up and down the stair’s to watch the Olympics. In the evening late on we had the Entrecote steaks for supper and then watched the highlights,

After a little lie in on Sunday we freshened ourselves up and went up to Bar Rojas for lunch; it was so hot that we could not even sit outside under the Sonbrajo – we ended up inside watching the men’s marathon in the cool of the bar, we had glass’s of Lumys ‘Gazpacho ’ – it is so much nicer as a drink, as it should be served, not as a ‘ Soup ’ – very refreshing and a lot more tasty at the same time ! The Paella is ready by 2-30pm and Brenda has a ‘Tapas’ and I have a ‘Ration’ portion to go with our drinks. In the afternoon I caught the last of the Olympics and then it was ‘ Siesta ’time. For dinner we had flattened Breast of Turkey, pan fried and served with Basmati Rice ( Brenda’s special ) with fried Green peppers ( From one of our neighbours ) and a creamy Mushroom sauce, yummy ! We then settled down to watch the closing ceremony of the Olympics especially the fireworks as I used to be the “ Pyrotechnics ” King for many years ! Also the lighting effects were excellent and the flame going out was very spectacular – well done ‘ Great Britain ’

The pictures above are a little mixed catch up after me going a little ‘ Gold ’mad over the last two weeks ! The Pollards Inn in Willaston keeps making our mouths water, Lilli is ‘ Posing ’over in Pori, the Plant Pots are in Tim’s garden in Old Colwyn,we gave then to Tim and Thea before we left ! This morning there is a little breeze so we went for a walk with the dog – it is full steam ahead on the underground car park, there was six cement lorries delivering at two points and the Dentists ‘ Bodega Y Vivedos ’is well on the way, the large BBQ pit is taking shape as you can see !Finally some more pictures of the firework display have just come in !!


Thought for the Day;



I would rather be able to appreciate things I can not have than to have things I am not able to appreciate.



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MANILVA THIS WEEK.

TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY 4^th/5^th 6^th OCTOBER 2011.

We were up bright and early on Tuesday morning to take Norah and Jenny back to the airport in Gibraltar for their flight back to Liverpool; they have arrived safely home and the reports coming over are suggesting that they enjoyed themselves! As we got back to the house Brenda had the washing machine on in record time and it has not been off since! We are now settling back into our life in sunny Manilva, the house seems very quiet with no guests around, in two weeks time we are away for eight days looking after the villa in Guadalmina as Clive and Carolyn are away; next Monday I have an appointment with our Doctor for the results of all my check ups after my yearly once over and later in the week we are going for our flu jabs. I caught up with the blog and e-mails in the afternoon; one thing that we noticed last week was that the post from England, especially Wales is still very erratic, one card took only two days and another was over one week arriving ! We have our posting down to two days with a special Royal Mail through the English bookshop. In the evening after supper I caught up on the IPlayer with the latest episode of ‘Spooks ’and’ Jools Holland ’

On Wednesday morning after breakfast we went for a walk around the village with Cheta, the weather is beautiful at this time of the year as it is warm and sunny but cool in the evenings and the forecast for over this weekend is more of the same but a little cooler as an icy blast from the Artic Circle hits us at the same time as it is effecting the rest of Europe and the UK! Brenda is in her cleaning regime with a vengeance at the moment so I am keeping my head down in the office; for supper we had Pan Fried Flattened Chicken Breast with a creamy Mushroom sauce and my special Savory Rice, I made a rich Tomato, Pepper, Herb and Garlic sauce with Paprika and Tabasco in the morning and in the evening I tossed the cooked Basmati Rice into the large wok after heating the special sauce, the rice ends up more like a Risotto and is delicious, we also had fine Green Beans as we sat and talked about the last week with the sisters, who Brenda is missing !

Today,Thursday, we are getting ourselves recharged and cleaned up ! We have a problem in the main kichen; the double sink unit is giving away as the wooden supports under the main part have rottened away so we have called in the joiners and plumbers to come and fix it ‘ Pronto ’ Tonight we are having Pork Cutlets for dinner and then will watch a film on our multi-channel large screen TV !

Thought for the Day;

Get your facts first, and then distort them as much as you please.

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MANILVA START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY/TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY 5^th/6^th/7^th/8^th/ SEPTEMBER 2011.

We were up bright and early on Monday morning to drop David and Jane off at the border to catch their flight back home from Gibraltar; it was delayed so they jumped into a taxi and took in the sights of Gibraltar as they had not been there before. We are missing you and are already looking forward to your next visit! When we got back we got ourselves sorted for the visit of the Marshall gang in the evening; Brian, Lilli, Pena, Harry and Andy joined us for supper, a Tapas Buffet to start, followed by Chicken Curry and Rice and desserts as we caught up with all their news from Pori.They are moving from Pena’s house into an apartment in the centre of Pori when they get back. Rock and Roll music along with Creadance Clearwater Revival helped the night go with bang! The pictures are below.

On Tuesday afternoon I picked the folks up from Andy’s and shot across to the airport in Malaga for the five hour flight to Helsinki; the picture of them at the airport is above. On the way back the hire car conked out in the San Pedro toll booth, they pushed me to the side of the motorway and I called the breakdown people – the problem was me ! I had stopped and put petrol in the tank, not diesel !! They came very quickly and dropped me at a service station above Estepona where a large white limousine was waiting to bring me back to Manilva!

All part of the service and no charge from the hire people in Marbella as I’ am a regular customer. The pictures above show the hire car with the Red Triangle out and I had the Yellow jacket on – it’s the law when you breakdown !

Wednesday and Thursday we have taken things easy at home.

Thought for the Day;

When you make a mistake, admit it, if you don’t, you will only make matters worse.

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MANILVA SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 15^th MAY 2011.

Well as you can see below David and Jane headed for the airport in Gibraltar and are now back into the swing of things in Chester; they have posted some very nice comments on Facebook and pictures of their short stay here in Sunny Manilva,thanks to you both for everything, we had a “ Helluva “ time ! Tim and Thea have also over the weekend sent us an e-mail and pictures of their stay with us which include the photos from the Beach House lunch when my assistant photographer forgot to bring the camera, I’m going to post a separate blog of the day later! After a sort on Sunday morning the washing machine has taken another bashing and is still on today; we are getting back to normal until our next visitors?! Any Requests will be reviewed quickly! We then freshened ourselves up and walked up to Bar Rojas on another warm and sunny day; we sat outside and took in the tranquility, apart from the local election cars every so often coming along the street pumping out the broadcasts ! We ordered some tapas,Albondigas in Orange sauce and Potato and Garlic Herb Cakes being the stars along with a plate of Patatas Fritas just as Mano and Anna came along and joined us. We then came back to the house and Brenda shot up to the roof terrace  to catch the sun as I finished updating the blog. In the evening we had a light Brunch, Fried Eggs and crispy Smoked Bacon, Sauté Potatoes and English Homemade Sausages along with Tea and Toast ! We then watched a film after catching up with all the sport from the weekend, Tennis, Cycling,MotoGP,Football and the local Basketball.

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