A NEARLY SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND;

FRIDAY 21^st / OCTOBER 2016.

I was up early this morning to welcome back ‘ Reina’ for the day, she’s with us until later this evening, I then took ‘Pax’ out for his first walk of the day, when I returned I shot off on my travels down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping, it was still dark with black clouds, the sun has now broken through, I did our main shop in ‘ Mercadona’ before calling into the Wholesale/Retail Fruit & Vegetable market, I collected the local newspapers from the ‘English Bookshop’ before going along to the local market at the far end of the promenade for the fresh flowers & plants, on the way back up the hill I stopped at ‘ Super Sol’ for the English essentials. ‘Chispa’ is also here playing with both of the dogs.

Today the forecast is for a clear & sunny day with no breeze, over the weekend it looks like we are escaping the wet stuff, for now, it’s going a little cooler, 13/14 degs at night and 23/24 degs during the day, next week is starting to look a little un-settled as a cold front comes in from the Atlantic, watch this space.

In the lunchtime post we received a ' Post Card' from Eastbourne - Jenny & Norah were there last week on a short break, thanks and keep them coming when you are out and about, where ever you are in the World! 

See the picture below of the view across to Gibraltar and Africa in the distance, the ‘ Rif’ & ‘Atlas’ mountains in the background.

For our supper this evening I’m making my now famous ‘ Seafood Risotto’ using ‘ Arborio’ Rice from Valencia; ‘ Hake, Cod & Salmon, Mussels, large Gambas & Prawns’ go in the ‘Risotto’ after its cooked off, finely chopped Onions & Garlic with the secret ingredients, a good slug of White Wine and a rich Fish & Vegetables stock, chopped Parsley & Garden Peas, Parmesan Cheese and a dash of Cream to finish after checking the seasoning. See below.

Tomorrow evening we are having ‘ Grilled Entrecote Steak ‘ cooked on a very hot griddle plate ‘ Med-Rare’ – then left to rest before slicing it ‘ French’ style, whole Green Beans & twice-cooked  ‘Pont Neuf’ chips on the side; on Sunday I’m going to make my own recipe/version of ‘ Lancashire Hotpot’ using a ‘ New Zealand, South Island, Rack of Lamb’ with layers of sliced Potatoes, Onions, Carrots, Leeks, Celery & Baby Mushrooms!

This weekend we have no plans, we are taking things easy, relaxing and doing nothing, because we can! The village is back to normal, quiet & sleepy, the local bars, six along ‘ Calle Mar’ are not as busy, the only bit of news/gossip is that the two coalition Parties, ‘ PSOE (5) & IU’ (4) have at last fallen out, the Deputy Mayor wants to be the Mayor! The Mayor has sacked the four left-wing Councillors from their jobs, meanwhile in the background the ‘ Compromiso’ (5) party that ran the ‘Council’ for many years, are waiting to see what happens?!  Watch this space.

Last night after supper we watched ‘ Paranoid’ on ITV; the three Detectives in Cheshire are still out of their depth, one survived a fire bomb and is pregnant, one is on dodgy tablets and one ‘Paranoid’ to say the least, another assisted suicide, a nasty crash which has nearly killed the ‘ Hooded Man’ – deadly assassins trying to kill him and a Multi Nation Drug Company up to no good in Germany, it’s all in happening, in leafy Cheshire, after the first two other murders?!



PS; Currently only streaming music and not live shows whilst we are overcoming some technical difficulties at the transmitter site!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A STILL WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON THURSDAY;

THURSDAY 13^th / OCTOBER 2016.

I was up very early this morning to welcome back ‘ Reina’ for the day; I then went back to bed and left all the folks asleep! ‘Reina’ went in her duvet and ‘ Pax’ stayed on his bed, we stayed under the covers, Brenda then had a quick shower, mine later, we took ‘Pax’ out for his first walk of the day, when we returned we had ‘ Smoked Bacon Butties’ for our breakfast, both the dogs had theirs, ‘ Reina’ is still on her Carrot diet and ‘ Pax ‘ ate all his own special meal and then his treat!

Yesterday evening the rains stopped so we able to get out in between the showers with ‘Pax’- over night a severe rain storm with thunder & lightening passed over the village, this morning it’s still a little overcast but keeping dry, as forecast, the sun is braking through and the overall temperatures have settled at 17 during the night & 22/23 degs during the day, we can’t complain for the time of the year, tomorrow there could be a little of the wet stuff around but then over the weekend it’s going to be warm & sunny, even getting a little hotter! Watch this space.

See below this mornings sky;

Yesterday lunchtime on their ‘ Facebook’ page the Council announced that there would be a ‘ Consultation Meeting ‘ at 5-00 pm in the ‘ Wine Theatre ‘ to discuss the new development of ‘ Calle Mar’ – they had informed all the business’s but not the local residents, so the meeting was not very well attended, all the bar & shop owners where there but just a few of us locals?! The Mayor, Diego, presented their proposals together with the Architects graphic  plans/display’s, and answered all the questions .See below.

They were concerned mainly about the delivery’s, their outside licensed spaces, the disruption period etc, their main concern was  ‘Parking’ in general, the village is already full to capacity in the two underground car parks and street parking?! The Mayor did not have many answers and there was a lot of shoulder shuddering!! See above the plans for ‘ Calle Mar ‘ Watch this space.

This evening for our supper we are having ‘ Scouse’ – last night’s ‘ Beef & Vegetable Stew’ with diced, cooked, Potato added and the stew thickened! This morning when we were out walking we bought, from the Mayor’s Fruit & Vegetable Shop at the start of ‘Calle Mar’! -  a very nice local Green ‘Savoy’ Cabbage to go with the ‘ Scouse’ this evening, also on the side with Pickled Red Cabbage!!

Last night after supper we settled down and watched on BBC 1 the first episode of the drama series ‘ The Missing ‘ – the first series was in 2014 with James Nesbitt, which we have not seen, this series stars David Morrissey, Keeley Hawes & Tcheky Karyo, its very gripping right from the start, the story unfolds with flashbacks, lots of twists & turns, very good  acting and writing, unanswered questions, all in the first episode, we can’t wait for next week!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY " VERBANA SANTA ANA "

TUESDAY 26^th / JULY 2016.  “ VERBANA SANTA ANA “

I saw ‘ Reina’ back for the day, we then had our usual breakfast of toast & tea, I then shot along to the local bank in ‘Calle Mar’ to pay the electricity bill and get some cash from the machine, I then popped into the Chemists for some of my prescription tablets before going down to our local Butchers for this evenings supper, ‘ Escalope’s of Chicken Breast’- I also bought some Chicken Wings for another day.

The  ‘Bomba Band ‘ awoke the village this morning, its traditional on ‘ Verbana Santa Ana’ I caught up with them inside the Town Hall as they got the staff in the right mood, they then came down our street as you can see in the pictures above.( see Malcolm & Brenda in the bottom picture !)

We are in for another glorious day here in sunny Manilva, the sun was out early and its getting hotter by the hour, there is just a little breeze making it very pleasant at the same time, see the picture below of the ‘ Albert Dock’ in Liverpool yesterday afternoon.

I’ve just spoken to Jane over in Knutsford, she was delivering the bread, its her 5^th Wedding Anniversary today, David is a Judge at the “ International Cheese Awards “ taking place in Nantwich later today, also its Jane’s Mum, Nan, 96th birthday today! “ Happy Birthday & Happy Anniversary “ – lots of love xxxx

Last night after supper we walked up to ‘ Bar Castillo ‘ for a cool drink, the village was very busy with all the bars doing a roaring business; we sat with some people that we met the other day, Steve & family, later two more local friends came along and joined us, we watched the Election’s of the various ‘Feria Queens’ on the top stage ( see the picture below ) and then later the  Annual ‘ Manilva Brass Band Concert’ led by Fernando, as you can see in the picture above, they did a version of ‘ Mambo No5 ‘ by Lou Bega, it went down very well to a packed audience of all the village.

This evening we are going up to ‘ Bar Castillo ‘ to watch the religious procession go past, led by the village band, we are then coming back for our supper ‘Escalope’s of Chicken Breast’ pan-fired in Lemon Butter with Balsamic Vinegar, with finely sliced Green Beans and dry-sauteed thick slices of Baked Potato; we will the go back up to ‘Calle Mar’ to watch and listen to the two bands on the stages, one on front of the Town Hall and the other at the top of the street, the Council workmen have just finished erecting them and are putting the lights up under the Green canopies. Watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND:

FRIDAY 22^nd / JULY 2016.

After ‘ Reina’ was dropped off first thing this morning I shot off on my travels down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping; I called into the English Bookshop’ for the local newspapers and then hit a very busy ‘ Mercadona’, every man & women for their own self! I then went along the promenade to the local market for the fresh flowers and wall plants before stopping at ‘ Super Sol ‘ for some English essentials, I then came back up to the village through the ever growing vine fields and unloaded back at the house. See below the new sign on the Roundabout.

The sun was out first thing this morning, the sky is bright blue and there is just a little pleasant breeze, making it still bearable, by lunchtime it we be very hot and its due to reach the high 30s later, over the weekend its getting hotter and next week is looking like its going to be a  ‘Scorching’  in the mid 40s, watch this space. See the picture below of Calle Iglesia’ looking down to ‘ Santa Ana Church’ and the sun over the beach down in Sabinillas this morning. Our neighbours  'Bourgainvillea's' have just come into flower, see below.

Last night we had a very nice Tapas supper at Bar Castillo before going down to watch the ‘ Tango Concert ‘ in the Cultural Centre ‘ Casa de Torres’ As we were sat outside we met an English family on holiday and had a nice chat with Steve, they are looking to move out here so I gave them a bit of our local knowledge.The concert was very good, it started with a slide presentation, in English, about the history of Tango in Argentina, the lady singer/ guitarist was very good and of course the accordion player was just right to create the atmosphere, the two dancers were excellent and the lady also sang, it was an excellent concert on a balmy evening in sunny Manilva. See the picture above.

It brought back some happy memories from back in 1978 when we went down to London with some friends to see the Musical ‘ Evita’ at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End, Elaine Page was Evita, David Essex played Che and Joss Ackland was Juan Peron.

For our supper this evening we are having my now famous ‘ Seafood Risotto ‘ – on Saturday its going to be a ‘ Grilled Entrecote Steak ‘ – cut French Style ’ and then on Sunday we have yet to decide what we are having, watch this space.

Today’s ‘ Stage 19’of the “ Tour De France “ in the Alps starts in Albertville and goes over four major climbs to finish in Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc after 146 kms; Chris Froome timed his race to perfection on yesterdays ‘Mountain Time Trial’ as he beat Tom Dumoulin and won his second stage in this years Tour, he extended his lead over the field at the same time, over the previous months he had planned his tactics for this stage, he trained over the course on different bikes with different gear selections, in changing weather conditions, at the same time he makes notes and plans the best lines, like a co-driver on a Rally, it then goes onto his small route computer, on the handle bars, which he watch’s as he’s racing, all planned to make the most perfect and fastest time on the day! It worked!!

We are having a nice relaxing weekend before next weeks festivities in the village, keeping cool, lots of cold drinks, all the fans on, watching the sport and then channel hopping.

Thoughts for the Day; see above.

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A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND;

FRIDAY 20^th MAY 2016.

I was up early this morning and shot off on my travels down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping; Brenda took ‘Reina’ for a short walk and then had a quick shower before I came back, I picked up the local newspapers from the ‘English Bookshop’ before the main shop in ‘ Mercadona’ which was already busy, I then called into the local market at the end of the promenade for some fresh flowers before shooting back up the hill through the green & growing vine fields back to our house to unload.

We have another beautiful day here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’ with once again clear blue skies and the sun out early, there is a very pleasant breeze which is helping to keep it comfortable, yesterday afternoon it reached 31 degs with more to come over the weekend and into next week! Watch this space.

NEWSFLASH; “ CASTLE RADIO FM “ OFF AIR!

Sadly tomorrow show ‘ Sir Malcolm’s Saturday Classic Show’ on ‘ Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW’ is not able to be broadcast ‘live’ from  ‘Studio 1’ down in ‘ Castillo de la Duquesa’ as the work on the installation & re-sighting of the mast on the ‘ Manilva Green Aparthotel’ here in the village has hit some minor technical problems so the station is off air for the moment, watch this space for more news; my show will return next Saturday, same time, same place!! See the pictures below of the mast and the view from the top of the hotel this morning!

PS; This morning the electricity people are installing new 'Online' metres in the house along ‘Calle Mar’ -  we are due ours sometime in the next few weeks.

On the menu front for the weekend we are having this evening ‘Grilled Dover Soles’ which I bought from the new fish market in ‘ Mercadona’ this morning, they take off the ‘Black’ skin and of course clean and gut them, they will be garnished with some fresh, local & large ‘Gambas’  and served with Garden Peas, Broccoli Flortes, Asparagus Spears and ‘ Pommes Vapeur’ – steamed and then skinned New Potatoes tossed in Parsley Butter.  See below the before & after!

Tomorrow night its ‘ Grilled Entrecote Steak ‘ cut ‘ French’ style and then on Sunday we are having my ‘ Smoked Chicken & Three Green Bean Risotto’

This afternoon I’m taking the car into the garage to have a new battery fitted, this then means that the new car has everything fixed on it ready for the next ‘ ITV- MOT’ in June. ‘ Pedro Senior’ gave the car a good check this morning, oil, water, transmission & brake fluids, fan belt & plugs etc and  ‘Fingers’ crossed it will pass first time, watch this space.

On the ‘ Plaza de la Vendimia’ this morning they have erected marquees as there is a ‘Wine  Convention’ in the theatre and then a wine tasting of local wines produced here in the village and the region, the ‘Tio Pepe’ lady & gent are pouring the Manilva Wine ( Sherry?!) as you can see in the picture above.

We are having a nice quiet weekend relaxing here in sunny Manilva, a little reading, watching TV, ‘ Gourmet ‘ eating and no doubt a cool drink and a glass or two of wine to help things along!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A VERY HOT AND SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY;

WEDNESDAY 18^th/JUNE 2014.

We were up bright and early this morning and after a quick breakfast I went and brought the car up to pick Brenda up and go around to the surgery for our appointments; our Doctor, Maria was back so we had a good catch-up, check over and prescription update.

Now this is where things have started to go all wrong! I sent a confirmation E-Mail to Josie to say that we are picking her up at 11-15am on Thursday morning – the quick reply from Josie said its 11-15pm!! On checking her original E-Mail I’ve totally miss read it – it clearly says 11-15pm – I must be getting old/senile – it’s the same for Den a week on Saturday –same time, same place!

What this means is that we will have to cancel our ‘Surprise’ supper tomorrow night when Gillian was also joining us to welcome the “ Queen of Skelton” to her palace/residence for her annual summer vacation! We will make up for it on Sunday when I’ve booked a table for ‘Brenda’s Birthday’ lunch to go to ‘Venta Garcia’ with Josie & Gillian!

It also means that we have changed the menu’s over the next couple of days, tonight we are having cold ‘York Ham’ with fried ‘Campo’ Eggs and twice-cooked ‘Frits’- then on Thursday before we go to pick Josie up from the bus station over in Marbella ( At 11-15pm!) we are having ‘Omelets’

We had planned to go to ‘Leroy Merlin’ before picking Josie tomorrow morning so instead we went this morning after calling into the bank in Sabinillas – we had a very helpful assistant who pointed us in the right direction and we have selected and ordered the new shutters/blinds for the front door, at no great expense, they will be ready in two weeks time – they are going up on the inside of door entrance. See the pictures above.

This week in the village the cultural department have arranged two music concerts; last night in the Theater it was the turn of the children and then on Friday evening it’s the live groups and singing on the open-air terrace by the Music School. See some pictures above from last night’s concert.

On Saturday lunchtime the ‘ Manilva IV Classic Car Rally’ is starting in ‘ Castillo Duquesa’ then coming up to the village and parking/displaying the cars on the ‘Plaza de la Vandemia’ before going back down to Sabinillas; then next Monday its “ Notche de San Juan” – the ‘Fire Festival’ – the second biggest festival of the year down on the beach in Sabinillas - after the ‘Vendimia’

NB; Some of the Mosiac Tiles have come down on the main wall in the park - see the picture above.

This week the Council have announced that there are plans for a new Cultural Centre in Calle Botica in the derelict ‘Casa de los Torres’ building – it will provide a museum and exhibition gallery as well as areas for social use – its one of the oldest buildings in the village and is just around the corner at the bottom of our street!

Scruffy is back with us for the afternoon. he was dropped off by Rose just after Mano and Anna called in for a chat and gossip, Mano is still under treatment with Victor the dentist so we have not been able to go down to Sabinillas yet to sort out the new mobiles.

“  A ball of fluff appeared one day.Where it came from – who can say? It rolled around the kitchen floor. And stopped by the cupboard door. Two ears appeared,a nose and eyes, four paws – and then to our surprise, The little ball of fluff and stuff said ‘I’ve arrived with Lots of Woof!” Scruffy has arrived !!

This evening over in Brazil at the ‘World Cup’ the match of the day is when Spain play Chile – it’s a ‘Must Win’ Game for Spain !! Then tomorrow night its England v Uruguay in another ‘Must Win’ game for England!! 

Sadly Spain are out of the 'World Cup' as they were beaten by Chile 2-0 !!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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MANILVA AT THE START OF A SURPRISING WEEK

MONDAY 22^nd/ TUESDAY 23^rd/APRIL 2013.

First thing on Monday morning after our tea and toast I shot down to the surgery as I had an appointment with our doctor for a review and update; my next hospital visits with the three consultants are all in May so we went over all the current details and brought up to date my blood and weight readings – at the same time he adjusted my prescriptions. It was not till I was on my way back that my lower back started to give me some jip! By the time we got home I was in agony and realized that I had problem; Brenda applied the ointment that we have for aches and pains, which is very good and gives you quick relief and I retired to bed for the rest of the day. In the good old days back in North Wales our dear friend Tim used to lay on the hands – where are you now Timmy!!

In the evening for supper, I never loose my appetite; we had griddled Chicken Fillets with thick cut Baked Potatoes sautéed dry and Green Beans, one of our simple meals that we always enjoy. I had a very uncomfortable nights sleep as I hate sleeping on my back!

Tuesday morning I was still no better so Brenda shot around to our chemist and asked him for some tablets to help the patient; I then freshened up and with Brenda’s help got my self dressed ready to go out to the council reception that we had been asked too. It was not until we arrived at the top of our street and was greeted by all the councilors and the Mayor Antonia that we realized that it was something a bit special! The pictures have been in all the local newspapers and all the web-pages and Facebook.Gary from the ‘Resident’ paper sent us some of his pictures as you can see they are a lot better than mine, more colour and definination as of course he has a proper professional camera!

This week it is ‘Cultural and Book Week’ over here so the council has arranged all sorts of reading, films, recital's etc.which started on Tuesday with the presentations! Also on Tuesday afternoon and into the evening they had arranged a ‘St,Georges Day’ party down in Duquesa – all over Spain and especially in Catalonia and Barcelona it is also celebrated and in Alicante they have street parades!

For supper we had ‘Albondigas con Salsa Tomate’ – Meatballs in my savory Tomato sauce with Spaghetti before we watched the Bayern Munich v Barcelona 1^st leg semi-final match in the ‘UEFA Champions League’ at the ‘Allianz Arena’ in Munich; Bayern were utterly dominant in front of their own fans, cruising to a deserved 4-0 win; they must go through to the final barring a huge miracle at Barcelona next week and will be the favorites to lift the trophy at Wembley Tonight it is the turn of Real Madrid to take on Bor.Dortmund in Germany in the other semi-final!

Meanwhile I have been taking things very easy; Brenda has been applying the ointment and the tablets are starting to take effect – lots of time in bed and then sitting in an upright chair – our settees are not good for bad backs! Later on TVE1 it was’Masterchef’ – once again we don’t know how the judges can choose who to eliminate as last night in the final six three of them were terrible!

Thoughts for the Day;

Books open your mind, broaden your mind, and strengthen you as nothing else can. Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own. The test of a good novel is dreading to read the last chapter.

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MANILVA/SABINILLAS THIS MORNING

FRIDAY 19th/ APRIL 2013.

More work updates above as the council have suddenly found more 'Cash' from somewhere! The 'Bank Street' new road and pavements is progressing slowly with the three workmen down in Sabinillas, the scaffolding is going up,down at the church with the majority of the money coming from the Diocese of Malaga,the new park next to the Wine Centre has workmen on it every day,some money from the regional government is helping and finally today the council has started on a street improvement leading to the church next to a unused/not sold apartment block just below us.The council has just announced that they are also going to re-surface the lower 'Pedreta' ring road  - more to follow! See the pictures above;


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SUNNY MANILVA TODAY

TUESDAY 2^nd/ APRIL 2013.

Well we awoke to another beautiful day down here in sunny Manilva; the sun is out, the skies are blue and the breeze has dropped, its 21degs. but tomorrow the rain is due for the next couple of days up to the weekend; after our tea and toast I walked down to the Police station as I had printed a Gloss Photo paper copy of the Chief of Police and the Guardia Civil boss in his ‘ Tricomio’ hat taken from the blog – they had just retuned from their morning coffee and were delighted with the result, I have printed another copy as they both wanted one! That’s my ‘Creeping’ for today !! We then went for a nice walk around the village with the dog and on the way back called into the butchers for some Pork Cutlets for tonight to go with the last of the Boulangere Potatoes and the Cabbage with Alselgas that Brenda has just cooked.

The work on repairs and re-furbishment of the inside and outside of the church is finely going to start after a delay due to a regional government bureaucratic ‘C- - k Up!’ The necessary cranes and scaffolding are going up in the next few days so watch out for the pictures as it starts.

Brenda is up to her eyes with the Ironing after yesterdays washing and drying, upstairs by the roof terrace this afternoon; we are now back into our reading and are both on ‘Patterson’s at the moment. This evening after supper we are going to watch the first leg of the Quarter Finals of the ‘UEFA Champions League’ between Paris SG and Barcelona on TVE1,tomorrow it’s the turn of Malaga and Real Madrid. Watch this space for the results!The late film was a classic western called "The Bravados" from 1958 with Gregory Peck,a young Joan Collins,Stephen Boyd,Henry Silva and Lee Van Cleef - they don't make them like this anymore.

PS; Paris SG 2 Barcelona 2 - Oh dear,Paris SG equalised in the 95th min ! Messi injured - not good but the away goals will help !!

Thoughts for the Day;

Wisdom is to the mind what health is to the body.   No man can be wise on an empty stomach. Much wisdom often goes with few words.

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MANILVA START OF THE WEEKEND.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY/SATURDAY 28th/29th/30th JUNE 2012.

Well after Wednesday’s little bit of excitement we took things easy on Thursday; I had a day in the office catching up on the WWW. – it turned out to be a “ Helluva ” good experience. On Facebook David and Paul gave the first details of their next venture for the ‘ New Moon Pub Company ’ they have acquired a new site in the heart of Knutsford – David’s home town where the family business was/is “ The Belle Époque Brasserie ”They have the keys and the surveyors,architects,builders,designers and decorators have moved in ! The old ‘ Red Cow ’ is set to become “ The Old Sessions House Pub and Kitchen ” Watch this space for further updates.
As I was on Facebook also the ‘ Taste Cheshire ’page published some pictures about the food at the ‘ Pollards Inn ’ in Willaston on the Wirral – one of our old business’s which brought back very many happy memories from back in the 80s/90s ! The food is good old fashioned ‘Proper ’ food brought up to date; I left a comment on their page and sent them our good whishes – to our surprise we had a very quick replay from the page and in their comments it referred to me as ‘ Mr S ’ which intrigued me as I have been known by this since back in Liverpool in the late 60s ! It turned out that ‘ Izzy ’ who wrote to us had worked for us at the ‘Pollards ’ when we gave her her first job at the tender age of sixteen ! She has remained in the business and now has her own consultancy business – so we then went into all the details about the new regime at the ‘ Pollards ’and their plans for the future. I then sent her a copy of a newspaper article when we won an award at the ‘ Pollards ’and it shows us on the steps with all the old staff ! She has since published it on Facebook – thanks Izzy ! See Above – click on to enlarge. In the evening we had Pan Fried flattened Chicken Breast that I coated in savory breadcrumbs from the butchers – it was very tasty and we had new potatoes and sliced Green Beans along with a sauce boat of my now ‘ Famous ’ Tomato Salsa ’ !

On Friday morning we caught up with the shopping down in Sabinillas and at the same time sent a birthday card off ( Watch Out ! ) and swapped some books, then we bought a new clock for the kitchen ( Very Important for Timing ) and a new lead for Cheta. In the evening for supper we had Pan Fried fillets of Hake with crispy skin along with Square cut crispy chips, Garden Peas and more of the ‘ Goes with anything ’ Tomato Salsa ! We then caught the late film – “ Rob Roy ” from 1995 and starring Liam Neeson in the main role along with Jessica Lange, John Hurt and Tim Roth playing a really good ‘ Baddi ! ’ Last night as I was checking out Facebook late on I saw on the Manilva page that the Inauguration of the new “ Plaza De La Amistad ” had taken place earlier in the day; I had not seen any announcement on the council web page and so we did not know that it was happening so the pictures above I have taken from their page !

Today, Saturday, we have been for a good walk around the village as there is a little ‘ Lavente ’ breeze blowing in from Africa ; the pictures below show that today there is a 24 hr sports meeting taking place with all sorts of sports taking place ; Indoor Tennis , Padel Tennis, Five/Seven a side football on the grass and hard-court pitches and tonight there is even a Horse Show somewhere in the village – watch this space. The new seating in front of the children’s play area has been finished in Mosaic as well as the final wall on the main wall of the new plaza. On the way back we stopped at the pool complex as it is all hands to the pumps to finish in time for the re-opening – the Marble surrounds have gone down and they are laying the new tiles as I type this – watch this space – finally they have now fenced off the new Plaza Pozo Del Rey as they are now laying down the concrete on the lower ground floor as you can se in the picture taken through the hole in the fence ! This afternoon I’ am hopefully going to watch the start of the ‘ Tour de France ’ on TVE1 or the PC as I have set up the web pages as well as following it on the Facebook page ! This year is the 99th running of the race and 22 teams are taking part with 198 riders from today to the finish in Paris on the 22nd July ! Tonight we are having Steak a la Plancha with chips for supper.

PS; The Tour has started as I have been typing this Sadly Bradley Wiggins was thwarted in the 6.4km prologue around Liege in Belgium by Fabian Cancellara who now has the Yellow Jersey for first full stage on Sunday.


PPS; We found the Horse show and the pictures are above ( For Deb in Australia ! )




Thought for the Day;


There’s some good in the world, and it’s worth fighting for.


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MANILVA THIS WEEK.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY/SATURDAY 12th/13th/14th JANUARY 2012.

Well the forecast for the next few days is cloudy and overcast with some rain on Sunday and Monday, the first in three months! We have had the mildest and warmest October/November/December on record so we can’t complain. Thursday was an at home day after a brisk walk with the dog, Brenda caught up with her washing and cleaning and I was in the office catching up with e-mails,Facebook and the Blog ! I also watched on the BBCIPlayer a new episode of ‘ New Tricks ’with Alun Arnstrong,James Bolam.Dennis Waterman and Amanda Redman,allways a good watch as the eccentric bunch of ex-policemen investigate old unsolved crimes.
For supper we had Chicken Curry from the freezer which I added some cooked fillets to in the morning and we treated ourselves by having rice and chips ! Thursday is our Spanish soap night with another moving episode as the wife of the main character has gone into hospital for a Breast Cancer operation, at one point he also ended up in the same hospital after having a small heart attack !! Well it is soap.

Friday morning was our shopping day as we went down on the bus and caught up with all the little things that we needed and could not get in the village; Spot Lights for the office, a new Whisk and a large glass Trifle Bowl, both the English goods from one supermarket and our regular stuff from the main Hypermarket, posted a birthday card by Royal Mail and picked up the papers ! When we got back the sun had come out and it was warm so Brenda went down to the village market with the dog for fresh flowers and ordered a bag of Potatoes ( 15 Kilos ) to be delivered by scooter. I stayed in as our friend Andy was bringing a Battery charger to charge the battery on the Smart car, as usual on the Smart car nothing is simple, it is located under the floor on the passenger side and takes some getting out,thanks Andy and Mano !
In the evening we had Fish( Battered Haddock ) with Chips and mushy Peas for supper before we settled down to watch a film; “ Sudden Impact ” from 1983 with Clint Eastwood and Sandra Locke in one of his classic ‘ Dirty Harry ’roles. Later we caught up with an episode of ‘ Downton Abbey ’which we have now found on one of the new channels.

Today it is cloudy but with some sunshine so we went up to Bar Rojas and sat outside for a drink and a small Tapas at lunchtime after going for a short walk with Cheta,she is a little off colour at the moment so it’s the vets on Monday if she is no better. Every day I have taken a picture of the on-going work which has started up again on the new square next to the Wine Centre as you can see, any moment now they are starting a new project in the heart of the village which has been mainly funded by the regional government to the tune of 2-7 million euros ! Watch this space for the full story and pictures ! This afternoon I will watch the football from England on the PC in the office and tonight the Spanish football on the TV.
Tonight it is our Saturday night special of Steak and Chips for supper and then a film, at the moment we are going film mad so our Spanish programme watching has dropped off but we still are watching all the news and the weather forecasts on TVE1.


Thought for the Day;


Only two things can reveal life’s great secrets; suffering and love.


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