A WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY WITH ONLY ONE DAY TO GO!

SATURDAY 28^th/ SEPTEMBER 2019.

We had a nice lie in this morning, the last one for the next 7/8 days, as when the family from Canada arrive tomorrow lunchtime it’s going to be all go, one ‘ Helluva’ week ahead!

After freshening up, Brenda is washing/shampooing her hair later, we had a nice treat for our breakfast, I had the old classic “ Eggs Benedict “ – our version made with a toasted Brioche Bun(  with Sesame seeds) (classically Muffin)  Spanish ( should be Canadian) Smoked Ham, ‘ Campo’ Poached Eggs ( Brenda!) and then covered in ‘Bearnaise’ ( originally Hollandaise) sauce!

See below;

Brenda had her favourite sliced Mushrooms ( a little knob of Butter)  on brown toast, with of course, mugs of strong ‘ PG’ Tips Tea, to set us up for the day ahead, Brenda is on a full-on ‘ ing’ mode!

I have shot up to the office/studio and went on the ‘ WWW’ to catch up with all the news and then set up later all the ‘Departure & Arrival Flight’ details to follow the family as they fly from Montreal into Malaga, leaving Montreal on ‘ Air Transat 106’ at 8-40 pm their time, this evening and arriving down here at Malaga, at 9-35 am tomorrow morning! Watch this space.




Only joking, the snow was just light!! 

PS; They are on their way on the Express train, to a wet & windy Toronto, meeting the ' Kids' at Union station, before catching another train to Montreal! 

PPS;  Here are the family at Montreal Airport waiting to go check their baggage, then go through to the departure lounge for a drink!

PPPS; Their flight departed on time and is on En Route & On Scheduled!!

This morning started a little cloudy and overcast, as usual, the sun had now broken through and the sky is clearing, by lunchtime it’s due to reach28 degs+ - tomorrow going a little hotter, just in time for the folks arriving, next week is still going to be very hot & sunny, but the breeze is picking up a little, so it will be hovering in the high 20s, up to 30 dges+ by Tuesday/ Thursday, when we are out on our travels ‘trips’! The overnight temperatures have also dropped a little, 17/18 degs at times, making it still bearable, about normal for the time of the year, watch this space.

“ Countdown 1 Day to ‘ Arrival Day’!

On the sports front this weekend; over in the ‘Premier League’ Liverpool travel across the Pennines to play Sheffield Utd, it’s the battle of the ‘ Blues’ as Everton welcome Manchester City, here in ‘La Liga ’Getafe welcome Barcelona and it’s the ‘Match of the Day’  is as Ateltico Madrid welcome Real Madrid!

The Horse Racing is from Newmarket, meanwhile over in Sochi it’s the Qualifying for the ‘ Grand Prix of Russia, this afternoon, while at the ‘Rugby Union World Cup’ over in Japan, the ‘hosts’ have just beaten Ireland ( no Jonny Sexton!) 19-12 – Australia v Wales, Scotland v Samoa & England v Argentina are the next second round matches.

See below a few new pictures of the various cruise liners that have been visiting Liverpool of the past month, including a couple that I missed, as well as ‘HMS Albion’ which is on a long weekend visit from today!

Just arriving !

For our ‘ Last Supper’ this evening, as the ‘ Staff’ are on holiday for a week, 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, with whole Baby ‘ French’ Green Beans and triple-cooked ‘ Frits’

This afternoon and this evening after supper we will be back channel hopping as the ‘IPTV’ system is nearly back to normal, only ‘ Channel 4’ giving problems, the ‘ BBX C I-Player & ITV Hub’ are also back online, as well as the ‘Sports’ channel.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A WARM & NOW SUNNY MANILVA ON THURSDAY.

THURSDAY 4^th/ OCTOBER 2018.

We managed a nice long lie in this morning, as we overslept! The village is as usual very quiet, at this time of the year especially, no church bells, the children go off to school along the new ‘Calle Mar’ and there are no delivery trucks, due to the weight restrictions, our street which is now open one-way, down, from Monday to Friday, from ‘Calle Mar’ is not used that often!

After a quick freshen up Brenda took ‘ Chico’ for his first walk of the day, he’s settled in very well and has leaves his ‘messages’ twice-a-day near the same spots! ( Bagged etc!)  ‘ Chispa’ has been calling in to see all of us and joined us for a walk yesterday evening. Little princess ‘ Reina’ is back with us in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ next week, for four days, from Monday, depending on no shift changes for Lee & Daniela.

See below a picture that Daniela took this morning, on her way into work in Gibraltar, it shows the “ Altocumulus Lenticularis – UFO cloud “ over the ‘Rock’ !

And an older one !

Meanwhile Lee is coming online, this evening, via a remote connection, to help me with some small technical problems with our online Banking details & Spotify, as well as, over the weekend calling in check the new ‘IPTV’ system, which is giving us some more problems also, watch this space.

We then had our regular light breakfast of ‘ Weetabix’ toast & tea, before getting ready tomorrows ‘ Mega- Shopping List’ ready  – when I will be back down in Sabinillas, on my travels, for the weekly shopping, calling into ‘Mercadona, the English Bookshop & Butchers, the local Flower Market & Super Sol’ ! Watch this space.

This morning has started a little grey & overcast, but by lunchtime, like yesterday, it’s due to brighten up, the sun will break through and the patchy clouds are due to clear as there is a light breeze blowing, hovering on the 24/25 desg+ mark, still warm for the time of the year, during the night down to 18/19 degs, just pleasant also, the rest of the week and over the weekend we are in for more of the same, at the start of next week we could have some of the ‘ wet-stuff’ but it will still be warm & sunny, in the mid 20s, the following week when the folks are here, down in sunny Manilva is looking, at the moment, dry, warm & settled, watch this space.

PS; This weekend we are calling Sandra & Bill, over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, on the ‘ Skype’ video, to finalize the details about the apartment down in Sabinillas and their flight details, over next weekend, when they are due to arrive back in sunny Manilva!!

See below some pictures of the ‘Puerto de la Duquesa Marina’ at its best, with the ‘holiday hoards’ gone!

Ar lunchtime we ended up at 'Bar Rojas' sat outside the very hot sunshine, for a nice cool drink, we met an English couple, John & Sharon Grainger, from Ipswich, who are staying at an apartment down on the coast, they have a small property up in old Casares, they have been coming down here for many years, we had a nice long chat with them, nice to meet you and we look forward to seeing you again.



No evening-off for the ‘Head Chef & Staff’ this week, so we are having the rest of the ‘ Chicken & Mushroom Tarragon Casserole’ with Garden Peas & twice-cooked ‘ Frits’ – Friday is going to be an ‘ Fish’n Chips Supper’- Saturday is our usual ‘ Steak Night’ and then Sunday we will be ‘ Roasting’ – watch this space, depending on the ‘ English Butcher’s’ !  

After supper we will be back on the ‘ Spanish TV ‘ Channels, finding something to watch.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY HOT & SULTRY SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY.

TUESDAY 24^th/ JULY 2018.

We were both up this morning after another very hot & sticky night, ‘Prince Paddy’ spent the night on the marble floor before coming on the bed this morning for his cuddles, which we are going to really miss when he goes home in a week’s time!  

We then got both ourselves ready, slowly, before having our regular light breakfast of ‘ Weetabix’ fresh fruit, toast & tea, we then took little ‘ Paddy’ out for his first walk of the day, down the shady side of the street to the ‘ Mirador’ – Brenda then caught the local Bus down to Sabinillas to go to her Hairdresser, Annie, for the ‘full-works’!  I will collect her later and on the way home we are going to call into the Main Store for a new bedroom fan, watch this space.

NB; The new bedroom fan is installed & running !  " Siesta Time " !! 

This morning in the village the ‘ Council’ workmen are working are ‘full-blast’- the new street as has been washed down & cleaned, the two stages have been put up, they are continuing to erect the new ‘ Diamond’  Multi- Coloured Canopies from the top of the street, they have also in front of ‘ Bar Ocaña ‘ now erected a smaller ‘Diamond’ White Awnings, each Bar is going to have one, at their own cost?! There was a lot of ‘grumbling’ last night when we were out for our late walk, watch this space.  


See below;

   If you look very closely & blow the picture up, you can see Brenda & Paddy on the right!

Meanwhile down on the “ Plaza de la Vendima “ the ‘Contractors’ have removed their ‘Portakabin’ and all the rubbish, the ‘Fairground’ people are unloading and constructing all the rides from six large - ‘Pantechnicon’  lorries! The ‘ Food Stalls’ are starting to appear all along the nearby streets, it will all be ready by Thursday, in time for the four days of Parades, Live Music, Singing, Dancing, Drinking & Eating as the Festival/Feria hit the village! Watch this space.


See the pictures later when we go out with 'Paddy ' for his early evening walk! ( See above !) 

The sun is back in sunny Manilva after yesterday’s cloudy, but still very hot day, it’s going to be very hot and sultry later, hovering on the 34 degs+ mark by lunchtime, the rest of the week and over the ‘ Feria’ weekend we are in for more  of the very ‘ hot-stuff’ – in the high 30s+ at times, with just an occasional light breeze, next week it’s more of the same, watch this space.

At lunchtime on our short walk with 'Paddy' we ended up at ' Bar Ocaña ' for a nice cool drink and some of their excellent 'Tapas' - sat under the new Awning - see above.


PS; It happened to be the only Bar open, as all the other Bars ( 5) were closed and getting ready for the weekend's festivities - this evening none were open!! 

This afternoon we will be watching ‘ Stage 16’ of the “ Tour de France “ as it reaches the foothills of the Pyrenees, going from Carcassonne to Bagnerees De Luchon over a very long 218 kms, over the next three days the winner could be decided, from the two team-mates, either Chris Froome or Geraint Thomas, who is leading at the moment, watch this space.

See the route map below;  

For our supper this evening we are having ‘Pan-Seared Pork Fillet Medallions ‘ garnished with Button Mushrooms, with a small selection of local fresh Vegetables & ‘ Rissole Potatoes’ – accompanied with a creamy Green Peppercorn salsa.

After supper we will be channel hopping to find something to watch!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON THURSDAY.

THURSDAY 31^st/AUGUST 2017.

I was up early this morning to welcome back little princess ‘ Reina’ for the day, she’s back tomorrow, she as usual joined us on the bed for a little lie in before going onto here duvet, Brenda grabbed a quick shower, I’m having mine later, so I shot along to the local Bank in ‘Calle Mar’ to pay the water & electricity bills, on the way back I spotted the ‘ ‘Movistar/Telefonica’ engineers working down the next street to ours, installing the Fiber Optic cables, I enquired when they were coming to ‘ Calle San Vicente’ and they said possibly tomorrow - ‘Hasta Manana ‘! Watch this space.

PS; The ' Movistar/Telefonica ' engineers have just appeared outside our house, see below!

When I returned we had our breakfast of ‘ Crispy Smoked Bacon toasted Butties’ – open on Brown for Brenda – with mugs of steaming tea, we then put the shopping list together as I’m out on my travels tomorrow morning, down to Sabinillas, for the weekly shopping.

Yesterday evening the handyman, Juan, came and started on the work in the downstairs toilet, he’s removed the window frame & door frame, taken the tiles off and re-plastered the walls, this evening he’s putting the new tiles up, re-fixing the frames, cleaning the floor, painting the ceiling etc, fingers crossed that he gets it all finished, watch this space.

The sun was out early this morning and the sky is bright blue, it’s already warm & sunny, by lunchtime it will be in the high 20s, tomorrow and over the ‘Vendimia’ weekend it’s getting hotter by the day, next week is going to be settled, hot and sunny , again in the high 20s, watch this space.

At lunchtime we went along to ' Bar Castillo ' for a cool drink & Tapas, Mano came and joined us, he's calling in later to help me apply for our ' European Health Cards ' online- it gives us a second option in the future and cover us for travels outside Spain.

Last night when Lee collected ‘ Reina’ – Daniela is away on business in London, he stopped to check the ‘ Amazon Fire TV Stick’ system, the BBC has gone off again, he had no luck so it’s back to ‘Plan B’ – try again later! I had made a bowl of the ‘Cottage Pie’ for him, his ‘takeaway supper’

For our supper this evening we are having the rest of the ‘ Cottage Pie ‘ – on Friday its ‘ Fish Night’ – over the ‘ Vendimia Wine Festival Weekend’ I’m now making a ‘Casserole of Sliced Beef Steak’ in a rich Red Wine, Mushroom & Onion sauce, which we can come back to as the weekend goes on!

See below a picture taken back in 2013 when the new 'Plaza De La Vendimia' was opened, it shows on the left, our neighbour, Mario,  who is the Mayor, on the right is Diego, the ex-Mayor and in the middle is me! This picture was used to design the Ceramic Tile Mural  which is now on the wall behind the grape crushing pit!! 

Yesterday Chris Froome increased his overall lead in the ‘ Vuelta a Espana 17’ as he climbed away from the rest of the field on the final climb to the summit, today’s Stage 12 is from Motril to Antequera over a hilly 162 kms, is in the area of the ‘Sierra Navada ‘ above Malaga, it’s the nearest the race, this year, comes to us.

See the route map below;

This evening after supper we will be back to channel hopping to find something to watch, as usual we will have our ‘Happy Hour ‘ cocktails earlier in the evening.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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