A VERY ' CRISP' & STILL SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 3^rd/ DECEMBER 2017.

We managed another little lie in this morning before having a quick toast & tea, we then got the ‘ Sunday Roast’ on the go, as we were freshening up we thought we would call Jack & Lyn over in Australia, as it was 10-00am here, 8-00pm over in Melbourne, on the ‘Skype’ landline connection, we had just seen some pictures on ‘ Facebook’ taken earlier on Sunday morning when some of Lyn’s family called in for a surprise ‘ Brunch’ and to wish her ‘ Happy Birthday’ – 82 years ‘young’ tomorrow! They are both very well, as you can see!

See the picture below of Lyn & Jack.

For our roast we are having a ‘Roast Chicken’ with a savoury Mixed Herb Stuffing, I take off the leg & thighs, before seasoning the Chicken with Salt &Lemon Juice, it all then goes on a ‘ Trivet’ of vegetables to cook in a hot oven, basting after the first hour with all the juices/oil, I then make my famous finger-licking ‘Pan’ gravy using the same tray. The ‘ Vegetables Chef ‘ has prepared glazed, local Carrot Batons & Turnips, Cauliflower Florets in a three Cheese Sauce, creamed Baby Leeks & Garden Peas, with a small dish of her famous ‘ Mashed Potato’ and of course my famous ‘ Goose-Fat ‘ Roast Potatoes, which she par-boils, drains and shakes!

During the night the temperatures are dropping down to a very low, by our standards, 3/5 degs, unusual for the time of the year, the coldest it’s been since we arrived her all those years ago. This morning the sun was out early and the sky has cleared as there is a little breeze making it still very ‘ crisp’ and cold in the shade. Next week is keeping dry & settled, hovering on the 15/17 degs mark for the rest of the week and over next weekend. Watch this space.

See below a picture of the multi-winning senior ‘ Manilva Basketball ‘ team, the Mayor’s son, Mario Jnr. is the no 9 on the left/front, we helped him earlier this year to pass his ‘English’ speaking  ‘Oxbridge’ exams.

Brenda is now finishing the ‘Xmas’ decorations on the new tree, we put it up yesterday and sorted the lights out along with the ‘Pine Ferns’ etc, across the top of the glass cabinet, we have all our special ‘Poinsettia’s’ arranged in the lounge, ‘Christmas’ has arrived in ‘Calle San Vicente 1’!!



See below;

Last night after supper we settled down to watch over on ‘ BBC Four’ the next two, back to back, episodes of the gripping ‘ French’ Murder/Police drama “ Witnesses: A Frozen Death “ – as more bodies were discovered, found buried under wind turbines, the Lady detective has become friends with the lady who disappeared, they are working together, they have one suspect tied up in a flat, some of the lady detectives past lovers have disappeared as she is now being ‘ tracked’ by the murderer, meanwhile the other police have tracked down a strange woman, who is mixed up in the murders, the atmosphere is very shocking, made all the more so by the excellent filming in Northern France along the coast, in Winter!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON THURSDAY " NOCHE BUENA " " XMAS EVE "

THURSDAY 24^th/ DECEMBER 2015.  “ NOCHE BUENA “  “ XMAS EVE “

We were up in our own time this morning and welcomed back ‘Reina’ for the day, we then took ‘Barny & Charlie’ for their first walk of the day; the sun was out and the skies had cleared and there was no breeze so it was very mild and pleasant as we walked around the village.

A little treat for breakfast was called for so we had Fried ‘Campo’ Eggs & very Crispy Smoked Bacon with lots of buttered toast and mugs of steaming tea! See below.

I then walked around to our butchers and collected the ‘Rib of Beef’ for our Boxing Day ‘Roast’ See below;

I’m roasting the Turkey this afternoon and will then make the pan-gravy, Brenda is also preparing some of the vegetable selection at the same time.See below the Turkey before it went in the oven at lunchtime;

NB; Cold Turkey, Turkey Sandwiches and Turkey 'Fricassee' to follow!

                                                                                                                       And out of the oven!!

 

For our supper this evening we are having a Grilled ‘Rib of Beef Steak’ cooked on a very hot griddle plate ‘Med-Rare’ with sautéed Baby Mushrooms, I then leave the steak to rest before taking it off the bone and slicing it into ‘French’ style strips, on the side we are having some finely sliced Green Beans & twice-cooked ‘Chips’ with a sauceboat of ‘Bearnaise’ !

Last night before our supper we walked down to the ‘Iglesia Santa Ana de Manilva’ church to watch and listen too the ‘Concierto De Navidad – Xmas Concert’ performed by the ‘Banda Municipal de Musica’- the ‘Brass Band of Manilva’ led by Fernando the Principal of the School of Music. The church was packed, by all the village, as the band performed their programme, each year its gets better and more complicated and is greeted with loud clapping and cheering, this year the church was flood lit and decorated outside and inside for the first time there was a traditional Andalucian ‘Nativity’ Toy Grotto, see all the pictures above.

SORRY ! Due to technical difficulties beyond my control, I pressed the 'wrong button' and lost all of last nights pictures!! 

PS; I've found some pictures on the Council Web Site - See above.

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Later after we had our supper the new Xmas ‘Parranda De la Juventud Manilveña’ band came along Calle Mar again, this time led by their ‘Mascot’ – a large live Turkey in a decorated trolley!! See the pictures above.( SORRY! ) They ended up in the wee small hours back in our street outside ‘Bodegon Andaluz’ for their last song of the night still with the Turkey!

PS; I did see a 'live' Turkey!! 

We watched later the second part of the finals of ‘Master Chef - The Professionals’ on BBC2, the last part is this evening before finding the late film over on TVE1.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A CRISP START TO THE WEEK ON MONDAY IN SUNNY MANILVA.

MONDAY 14^th/ DECEMBER 2015.

We had a well deserved lie in this morning despite the workmen on the site, later the foreman is coming to repair the hole in the wall in the office which they knocked through a few months ago! We had our usual breakfast and our weekly planning meeting; ‘Reina’ is back with us on Tuesday & Thursday as normal and ‘Barny’ is arriving on Saturday for his two week Xmas holiday, we are going across to Estepona on Wednesday morning for some essential shopping and also to the jewellers for Brenda’s ear rings, the carriage clock is not ready yet. Then on Friday morning we are down in Sabinillas for our weekly shopping which will be our last major one before Xmas!

PS; This week I'm working on my playlists & scripts for my 'Morning Classic Radio Show' which shall be returning on 'Castle Radio FM 89.2'and the WWW shortly -watch this space for the dates and times!!

The forecast for the week ahead is settled and getting warmer and hopefully will remain so over the weekend,rather pleasant for the time of the year with the temperatures on the 20/21 degs mark!

On the menu front I picked up some ‘Escalope of Chicken Breast’ this morning, for this evenings supper, as I was out, I called into the local bank to pay the electricity bill and for some tablets from the chemists for Brenda; On Tuesday we are having Calves Liver with all the trimmings and then on Wednesday when we come back from Estepona I’m making a Chicken Curry; Thursday its going to be Grilled Chicken Wings and then on Friday a ‘Fish’ supper, Saturday is ‘Steak’ night and on Sunday we are having a Roast Leg of New Zealand Lamb which we bought last Friday in of all places ‘Mercadona’!

Yesterday afternoon we had a very enjoyable lunch out with Lee & Daniela for the ‘Xmas Staff Party’ The Hotel was closed again so we called into the ‘Champagne & Sushi’ Bar on the front in Estepona and had nice glass of ‘Cava Rosado’ sat in the warm afternoon sunshine over looking the sparkling Mediterranean, it was then time to shoot along to ‘Cocomo’ where the owner greeted us to the new restaurant in the ‘Nortical’ Club complex, its very modern and three times the size of the old place, we started with another glass of ‘Cava Rosado’ this time with a fresh Strawberry, Daniela ordered the Chicken Empanades, Brenda had the Asparagus with Avocado and Halloumi Cheese and Lee & I had the Prawn Cocktail with Smoked Salmon.

For our main courses we all had the ’Roast Sirloin of Scottish Beef’ – ‘ Med-Rare’ served with ‘Goose Fat’ Roast Potatoes and a good selection of ‘Aldente’ Vegetables, a sauce boat of proper Gravy on the side, see the pictures on yesterdays Blog! The place was very busy, as usual, and had a great atmosphere, we chose to have glasses of Red & White Wine with our meal, a very fine ‘ Australian Rosemount Shiraz’ and a ‘Chilean Sauvignon Blanc’ We shall return in the New Year!

So when we returned we settled down to a evening in front of the TV and watched the results of the Semi Finals of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ before finding another ‘Cops & Robbers’ film to watch.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A GREY & OVERCAST START TO THE DAY IN SUNNY MANILVA;

SUNDAY 13^th/ DECEMBER 2015.

A nice lie in this morning as the village is very quiet, its also the last weekend that we are free here in ‘Doggy World Heaven’ as next Saturday ‘Barny’ arrives for his two week Xmas holiday followed by ‘Charlie’ a week on Monday for his two week holiday, then ‘Reina’ is here as normal next week on Tuesday & Thursday and back on Xmas week she is with us for three days before she joins us for her six day New Year’s holiday! Are you following? My ‘Doggy Diary’ is colour coded!!

We had ‘Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties’ for breakfast with a mug of steaming tea and are then getting ourselves ready in our own time to go out for our ‘Xmas Lunch/ Staff Party’ We are meeting Lee & Daniela in the ‘Red Ferrari – Fiesta’ and calling into the ‘Estepona Hotel Princess ****’ for a nice glass of chilled Cava before we go onto the new site of the ‘Cocomo’ Restaurant. See the pictures later.

Just a quick update on the football results from yesterday; Everton managed a 1-1 draw, Manchester City won 2-1 in the 95^th minute and Barcelona gave away a two goal lead to draw 2-2.The Horse racing on ‘Channel 4’ was from Cheltenham & Doncaster – excellent coverage.

Last night before supper we watched the Semi-Finals of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and then later we watched an all action/thriller about the ‘SAS’ that was written by Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ “ Killer Elite “ from 2011 with Jason Statham, Clive Owen & Robert De Niro; a bit of a difference between them, one was all glitz and sparkle and the other all guts and bullets! You Choose!!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A CRISP & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY;

WEDNESDAY 2^nd /DECEMBER 2015.

We had a little lie in this morning before the workmen started making a noise; the sun is out and the sky is clear, there is no breeze so its crisp with more of the same to come for the rest of the week and over the weekend.

No dogs today in ‘Doggy World Heaven’ but ‘Chispa’ called in early for her breakfast, she only likes Brown Toast with Butter, ‘Reina’ is back tomorrow for a long day and then on Saturday ‘Barny’ is with us for a long weekend break, ‘Scruffy’ is also with us on Saturday night for a sleep over.

We are having a quiet day at home just doing nothing, because we can! Brenda is pottering around and is going to write the Christmas cards, watch out yours could be in the post soon! Meanwhile I‘m up in the office on the WWW. Yesterday morning we made the necessary arrangements with our bank over in Old Colwyn for the monthly transfers to our new account, we phone our personal banker and then receive in the post the transfer documents and statements later, we are now going to go online with them also and should be able to make the transfers without phoning?! Watch this space.

For our supper this evening we are having the rest of the Pie with a fry up of the leftover vegetables and potatoes; tomorrow we will find something in the fridge and on Friday its a fish supper, possibly a whole ‘Rodaballo – Turbut’ as they are usually on the fish counter at this time of the year, then on Saturday we will be having a steak special for a change!

Our three Poinsettia’s are coming into full bloom as you can see in the pictures below; next on the agenda is putting up the new Xmas decorations and ordering a small ‘Turkey’ from the English butchers when we are out shopping on Friday morning, I ordered the ‘Sirloin of Beef’ on the bone the other day at our local butchers in the village.

This evening after supper I’m going to try and watch on the ‘Film On’ channel the first of “The Hunger Games “ movies, Daniela while she has been over in London on business has been to see the 4^th film in the series as she is fan, Lee told us last night that they also have the DVDs if necessary! Watch this space.

PS; We have just been on the 'Skype' video to Australia speaking to Jack & Lyn over in Melbourne, we spotted that Lyn was on Facebook so called and caught them,we were on for over half an hour and had a good old catch up with all their news;this weekend its Lyn's 80th birthday so they have parties from tomorrow, Lyn's family are joining her and then on Sunday there is a large family party at a local hotel! " Happy Birthday " Lyn - ' Health, Wealth & Happiness' - Lots of Love xxxx

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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CLEAR AND WARM IN SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY

SATURDAY 21^st/ DECEMBER 2013.

Up bright and breezy this morning to another beautiful day down here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’ in sunny Manilva, clear blue skies and the sun is out, it’s like this up to Xmas Eve but we are not sure about Xmas Day at the moment! I managed to log-on to watch ‘Saturday Morning Kitchen’ on the smaller PC at my first attempt so I’ am watching the BBC Breakfast show as I’ am starting to type this blog!

Yesterday afternoon Anna and Sally Anna called in to arrange the Christmas Day ‘Guerrero Clan’ gathering; it’s taking place in Carlos’s house where Tom the pro-golfer is renting as it has the largest table and most equipment for the eleven of us!

We are going to roast the two Turkey Crowns which are being donated by the family, make a special savory stuffing and also of course make the finger licking Gravy, the Goose Fat Roast Potatoes are also down to me, we have also taken on one of the sweets ‘ Peach, Strawberry & Sherry Trifle’ Sally Ann is looking after the starter, large Red Gamba’s and the vegetables, Brussels Sprouts with Smokey Bacon, crushed Carrots & Turnips, Parsnips chips, braised Onions in a White sauce as well as Baby New Potatoes and the Bread sauce along with the ‘Pigs in Blankets’ She is also making another sweet ‘ Brandy Snaps’ The wine is down to Anna as well as the entertainment!

Today on the sports front the early kick-off over in England is Liverpool v Cardiff then later Fulham v Manchester City and on Sunday Swansea v Everton - over here on Sunday it’s Getafe v Barcelona and Valencia v Real Madrid. Early result; Liverpool 3 - Cardiff 1 with Suarez scoring two! Final score; Fulham 2 - Man.City 4

At lunchtime Jan is bringing Charlie round so as we can take him for a long walk and get to know him a bit before next week; watch out for his picture later;see above as we went for a long walk around the football pitch with both dogs,the work on the new small square in Calle Mar is taking shape as well as the passage way,down at the church the clean up has started and the forecast is that it will be open in two weeks! Watch this space.

This evening we are having ‘Steak au Poirvade’ with finely  sliced Green Beans and twice-cooked Chips for our supper.

Last nights film was the re-make of “Shaft” from 2000, the original was back in 1971; it stars Samuel L.Jackson in the role with a guest appreance of the original ‘Shaft’ Richard Roundtree, Christian Bale, Toni Collette and Venessa L.Williams in a fast moving, all action story.

Later we will find another good film to watch after the news and sports updates,

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

CALM AND WARM IN SUNNY MANILVA AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND;

FRIDAY 13th/ DECEMBER 2013.

We were up with the larks this morning as we had our big shop down in Sabinillas; the weather is settled with no breeze and the sun is out; I first called into the bank then we did our large shop at ‘Mercadona’ – the fruit & vegetable market is closed as they have dug up the road and are re-surfacing today so Brenda got most of her vegetables and fruit from the supermarket which is fine as its now all fresh and not pre-packed! We then picked up the papers and some more Xmas cards as well as a wall chart for the office.

After unpacking we went for a good long walk with the dog, first stop was the chemist’s to top up the tablets! We then walked down to the local market by the sports complex for our fresh flowers and two more ‘Poinsettias’ !! Oh and yes a new pair of slipper’s for Brenda. On the way back we came through the centre of the village so as we could check out where Brian and Jan live for when we have ‘Charlie’ over Xmas – its just in case he frets as it’s the first time they have left him!

The next stop was the butchers for our ‘Steak a la Plancha’ for Saturday night and I also got the English cut Pork Chops for next Tuesday’s meal when Andy and Maria are joining us; at the same time I ordered the Beef for Boxing Day – this year we are going to have an two/three Rib of local ‘Entrecote’ for a change, our butcher is hanging it for us and we will pick it up at the start of the Xmas week.

When we got back to the house I then got tonight’s supper ready; I made the Tartar sauce and ‘Cruz Campo Batter’ as we are having the rest of the Fillet of Hake cut into Goujons with Garden Peas and twice-cooked chips which I blanched.

Yesterday in the afternoon we watched a rather nice story about a young boy with “ Morquio Syndrome ” called “ Simon Birch” from 1998 with Ian Michael Smith in the role with his best friend played by Joseph Mazzelio and Oliver Platt, David Strahairn, Jim Carrey as the story teller and the delectable Ashley Judd in the supporting roles ! Get the hankies ready !! The late film after the news and weather was “ Most Wanted ” from 1997 – an all action/spy/CIA/FBI/Covert Operations tale ! It stars and was written by Keenen Ivory Wayans with Jon Voight over acting and has a cast of Jill Hennessy,Robert Culp, Eric Roberts and Paul Sorvino.

Thought for the Day; See above.

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WARM AND SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY

SUNDAY 8^th/ DECEMBER 2013.

We had a good lie in this morning then after our breakfast we walked down to Mano’s house to cut some Fir Tree branches for our Xmas decorations; the sun is out and it’s warm with the forecast looking good into next week with more of the same to come.

When we got back to the house we put up the Xmas tree and I got all the lights working as Brenda got started on decorating the tree and the house; next we will be putting out on the two main front balconies our climbing Father Christmas’s! Last night Brenda wrote all the Xmas cards, watch out to see if you have made the list this year! Xmas has arrived in the Sexton household!!

Before we went out I finally was able to make contact with Tim and Thea over in Old Colwyn, since the gales and storms hit North Wales on Thursday they have had no phones, mobiles.internet etc. It all came back on this morning so I had a long catch up chat with Thea as Tim was out walking the dog; all is OK but down the coast around Rhyl there was severe flooding and damage.See the picture above.

We are going up to Bar Rojas for our regular Paella lunch as our friend Antonio has asked us to join him; we will still be able to sit outside in the sunshine and take in the sights, sounds and cooking smells of sunny Manilva!

Just before we left the front door bell went,it was an English couple that live on the far side of the village up from the church,Brian and Jan,have a house that Big Bri and LillI used to rent from them,Brian is also a life-long Everton supporter and we bumped into them last week as we were sat outside Bar Rojas; they saw  us with the two dogs and asked if we looked after them as they have a Waterdog  'Charlie' - so they called to see if we would be interested in looking after him over Xmas as they are going away on holiday for the first time and don't want to put him in kennels! We are thinking about it as it would mean us having him from Xmas Eve until the 6th January - he is a lovely dog.

Later this afternoon I will watch the Arsenal v Everton match upstairs in the office on the large PC. 1-1 a fair result after a great match - Big Bri's words !

No roast today so this evening we are having one of our favorite meals; Flattened Turkey Breast cooked in foaming Lemon Butter with a savory( assorted Peppers) Basmati Rice, cut Green Beans and a large sauceboat on the side of a rich and creamy Mushroom sauce!

Last nights film that we watched was another James Bond classic; “ Quantum of Solace ” from 2008,it’s the direct sequel to ‘Casino Royale’’ from last week with Daniel Craig as ‘Bond’ – Mathiev Amalric,Giacarlo Glannini.Olga Kuylenko,Gemma Arterton and of course Judy Dench in the very realistic and violent follow up!

We will then watch the news and weather before finding something to watch.

Thought for the Day; See above.

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CASA OLIMPIA - JUST.

Saturday/Sunday/Monday 19th/20th/21st. December 2009.

The weather has changed for the worst; the forecast is for severe rain storms over the next few days and could go on for all of next week but the temperatures are not as cold as was expected; the villa is in a very exposed position and is taking a bashing but with not many leaks, at the moment! Boo does not like the thunder and lightening and stays very close to Brenda at all times, the cats are in the cellar most of the time keeping out of the rain and all the animals have now been sprayed and the dogs are taking their tablets. After our usual Saturday night supper of Steak and frits we watched the final of SCD with our fingers crossed that the storm would not cut off the satellite system, it didn’t and the surprise winner was Chris Hollins! On Sunday we had for a change Lamb chops roasted on Boulangere potatoes with amongst the vegetables some fresh sprouts. Late in the afternoon our Chris phoned from England and spoke to Joan about Christmas and what was going to happen to her going into 2010, she then called one of her grandchildren and it all got a little confusing to say the least! Watch this space! First thing on Monday morning I went out in the Smart car across to Manilva to attempt to pay the water bill, once again, whilst I was out the most severe thunder storm struck and all along the coast everywhere was flooding and I got soaked as I met up with Mano and Anna for a bacon buttie and a mug of steaming tea.The bill is still not paid so we will have to cross our fingers that it is not cut off like last time! When I returned to the villa Brenda had lost a phone call from Chris due to a power cut so I called him back and had a rather strained conversation with him as we are now very unhappy and have lost all our confidence in him, at the same time the payment system has broken down and we now owed a great deal of money!!! We are stuck here because of Joan and feel that we are being taken advantage of, which we are! We have also with Mano’s help have made emergency plans to move out at short notice if it is not resolved over the next day or so to our satisfaction. Once again watch this space in the ongoing saga of the Sextons on their travels!!