A WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF AN ' HELLUVA' WEEKEND.

FRIDAY 12^th/ OCTOBER 2018.     “ DIA DE HISPANIDAD “

Unusually for a Friday we had a nice lie in this morning, as it’s a ‘ National Bank Holiday’ here in Spain, the village is even quieter than normal, no children despite them being off school, all the deliveries  were yesterday, the church bells have not started yet and ' Calle Mar' was closed yesterday afternoon at 2-00 pm, instead of today, so no traffic! 

‘ Chico’ spent his last night with us on the floor under the bed, Brenda took him for his first walk of the day as I was on the breakfast rota, he’s due to be collected this evening, we are going to miss him, he’s back at ‘Xmas’ for two weeks, we had my usual ‘ Toasted Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties’ – smothered in ‘ HP’ Brown sauce, for me, and Brenda had requested, for a change, sautéed Mushrooms on brown toast, using the Bacon Fat! Not forgetting the mugs of steaming ‘ PG’ Tips tea, to set us up for the day ahead.

Yesterday after the mornings short but very heavy ‘ Cloud Burst-Rain Storm’ – that only lasted for 15 minutes, the rest of the day was warm & sunny, getting hotter as the day went on! This morning has started warm & sunny, with a very slight breeze, clearing the clouds away, by lunchtime it’s due to reach 28 degs+ - over the weekend we are in for more of the same, just getting a little cooler, next week has settled down and is now looking to stay dry, with none of the ‘ wet-stuff around, for now, hovering in the mid 20s, a little cooler, as the breeze goes a little stronger, the following week is looking the same, ‘fingers crossed’ - watch this space.

We have just had a nice ‘ Facebook Message ‘ from Sandra & Bill, over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, they are getting very excited, just one more days work and sleep, before they head off to fly to Spain, and onto sunny Manilva, on Sunday. There holiday will start at the airport in Toronto with a nice celebration drink, with lots more to come, down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ !  ‘ Bon Voyage ‘ !!

Last year!

This evening for our supper we are having ‘ Goujons of Hake Fillet ‘ – using breadcrumbs from the local Bakery – shallow-fried in vegetable oil, until crisp, with, on the side  homemade  ‘Tartar’ Sauce, accompanied with lots of Lemon Wedges, with ‘ Mushy Peas’ & twice-cooked ‘ Chips’

On Saturday evening it’s going to be ‘ Steak Diane ‘ – using local flattened/trimmed Sirloin Steaks, with all the trimmings, and then on Sunday morning we are having  ‘Campo Fried Eggs & Crispy Smoked Bacon’ for breakfast, to set us up for the day ahead!

The ‘ Head Chef & Staff ‘ are then on an official two-week’s holiday!! - Watch this space.

At lunchtime we went up to 'Bar Rojas' and sat outside in the hot sunshine for a nice cool drink, including some fresh/local ' Deep-Fried Bocuerones '


See below;

We are taking things very easy today, relaxing and just finishing all the chores around the house ( Brenda ) – tomorrow afternoon we are meeting the agent outside the folks apartment to collect the keys etc, we will then put in some essentials in the fridge, to start the folks off, in the right direction!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY;

WEDNESDAY 1^st JUNE 2016 !

I was up first this morning to see ‘Reina’ back with us for the day, we then all went back to bed for a nice lie in before a late breakfast, I had a ‘ Smoked Bacon Butty’ and Brenda had a nice small ‘Canarian’ Banana on her toast! ‘Chispa’ came calling to see her friend and us, her coat is starting to grow back. 

After making some chase up phone calls, as I gave our old ‘E-Mail’ address yesterday ( malcolm.sexton@gmail.com ) is the correct one! The hire car is now confirmed for the two weeks that the folks are here, a ‘ Seat Alhambra 2.0TDI’ and the new electric oven is being delivered and installed on Friday – RESULT!

After breakfast Brenda went out for the first time to the Chemists in Calle Mar for her prescription tablets, on the way back she called into the Opticians for a new cord for my glasses, everybody was very happy to see her back in action and asked how she was, she’s also been down to our local shop at the bottom of our street, with the same result. While she was out she checked out a new ‘ Ice Cream Parlour’ opposite the Town Hall that is being finished at the moment, is used to be a Hairdressers, we think that its ‘Juan’s family from Bar Castillo, watch this space.

Its already very hot this morning as there is no breeze, the sun was out early and its looking like the rest of the week and over the weekend is going to get hotter, we have all the fans ready for ‘ lift off’! There has been a reported sighting of the ‘Old Relic’ – Tim – checking out the ‘Roman Theatre Relic’s’ in the town of Merida which is the capital of the ‘ Extremadura ‘ Region of Spain, see the picture below of the promenade of Colwyn Bay looking towards Penmaen Head this morning, this is for Tim & Thea to remind them where they live!

For our supper this evening we are having ‘ Minute Steaks’ flattened and smeared with Dijon Mustard before they are ‘ seared’ on a very hot griddle plate, garnished with sautéed Button Mushrooms & ‘ French fried Onion Rings, whole Green Beans and of course some twice-cooked ‘ Frits’

Last night after supper we watched the late film on ‘Antenna 3’ “ In Time “ from 2011, its a dystopian science fiction thriller that takes place in a society where people stop aging at 25 and each has a digital clock implanted in their arm that counts down how long they have to live for the last year of the lives, before the clock reaches zero, and the person ‘ times out’ and dies! It stars Justin Timberlake & Amanda Seyfried with Cillian Murphy as the ‘ Timekeeper’ – watch is to see what happens!!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A OVERCAST BUT STILL VERY WARM SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY;

TUESDAY 24^th / MAY 2016.

I was up first this morning to see ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day, after a quick breakfast I shot along to our local bank for some cash and then stopped at the Chemists for our prescription tablets and then carried on down to the Butchers for stock for the deep freeze before calling into the local shop for the fresh vegetables etc.

Its a little overcast and cloudy this morning, as forecast, but its still very warm and by lunchtime its due to clear and get a lot hotter, the rest of the week and over the weekend is going to be even better with very warm sunshine and clear blue skies.

We have just come off the phone after speaking to Jack & Lyn over in Melbourne to wish them a safe journey as they set off on their travels to the 'UK' and then onto Spain in the middle of June. We can't wait to see them here in sunny Manilva, lots of love xxxx

Tonight we are having for our supper a ‘ soft’ Mixed Grill’ with English Pork Sausages, Spanish Smoked Bacon, Grilled Button Mushrooms & Tomato, ‘ Campo’ Fried Eggs and deep-fried Potato Wedges ( Skin-on!)

Tomorrow Lee is joining us for supper as Daniela is away on business in London, he’s going to help me with setting up the new studio equipment in my office, the small ‘Mixing Deck’ - high fidelity ‘Microphone & Earphones’ etc. I’m making my special ‘ Chicken, Mushroom & Tarragon Casserole’ with Brenda’s famous ‘ Mashed Potato’ and an assortment of local fresh vegetables.

Last night after supper we had our local Councillor & neighbour’s son with us for some English conversation practise; Mario Jnr. has an oral exam coming up at the end of June, his father & mother, Mario & Ana called in earlier to ask us if we could help, he has extra English lessons twice a week and so he’s going to come to us after and practise his conversation skills, his reading is very good so its his pronunciation that need improving, so he will end up with an ‘ Scouse’ accent!! Watch this space.

Yesterday afternoon and evening before supper we had our ‘ Quiz’ session watching ‘ 15 to 1, Countdown, Pointless & Egg Heads ‘ Later we channel hopped and watch nothing in particular; ‘Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WW’ is now back ‘on air’ broadcasting on the FM Band, I’m at the moment listening to a morning show via ‘ castleradiofm.com’ on my second computer screen as I’m typing & posting the Blog on the main screen. Andrew, when he has a moment in his busy schedule, is then going to come and install all the station programmes onto my system so I will be able to produce and broadcast ‘ LIVE’ from the heart of sunny Manilva , watch this space!

PS, Don't forget to keep your requests coming in for my ' live show ' Sir' Malcolm's Saturday Classic Session ' which is on between 11-00 am to 1-00 pm !! 

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY;

WEDNESDAY 27^TH / APRIL 2016.

I was up early again this morning as ‘ Reina’ was being dropped off for the day and I had to take the new car to the garage when they opened, its having a new radio fitted, some small ‘fix-it’ jobs done and Pedro is putting it up on the hoist to check the front of the exhaust and then either repair of change it later, Mano dropped me back at the house and is picking me up this evening to go and see how things are, watch this space.

When I got back to the house we had a nice cooked breakfast before getting the day on the go, Brenda is washing her hair and is going next week down to her hairdresser for the full works, meanwhile I got this evenings supper on the go “ Braised Steak, Mushroom & Onion Casserole “ Brenda is later making her famous ‘ Mashed Potato’ and Cabbage with Alselgas and glazed Carrot Batons.

The sun was out early again this morning and its already warm & sunny, it will get hot later when its due to reach 24/25degs,the rest of the week is showing more of the same but still with the threat of some cold and wet stuff, at some time, as the tail end of the ‘Artic’ storm that is causing havoc in the UK, rolls over us, see the picture below of the fresh snow over ‘ Snowdonia’ in North Wales this morning, the other picture shows the sunrise over Liverpool also this morning!

Last night we watched the ‘Semi Final First Leg of the Champions League’ as Manchester City managed a 0-0 draw at home to Real Madrid, the second leg is next Wednesday in Madrid. This evening Atl.Madrid welcome Bayern Munich in the other first leg match.

We have just had ‘ Facebook’ message/update from Tim & Thea, they are moving down the coast after seeing their daughter Jo in Lleida, they are looking around Javea ( Xabia ) for a few days checking out properties and then moving on to Cartagena at the weekend in the Province's of Alicante/Murcia.

My second show ‘Sir’ Malcolm’s Classic Saturday Session’ is now ready, including some requests, I’m broadcasting ‘ live from the main studio in ‘ Castillo de la Duquesa’ again this week as there are still some technical problems with setting up the studio here, watch this space and get your requests in via my Facebook or E-Mail addresses, at the moment, I will have a dedicated E-Mail for the station soon!

We are now back into our ‘ Happy Hour ‘ but are staying downstairs for now as its a little too far for Brenda up to the roof patio in the sky!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 24^th / APRIL 2016.

We just had a little lie in this morning and after a quick wash & brush we had breakfast, I made a ‘Smoked Bacon Butty’ for Brenda and I had ‘Campo Fried Eggs with Smoked Back Bacon’ & lots of buttered toast along with mugs of steaming tea; after watching the start of the ‘ London Marathon’ I’m up in the office, shortly to become my ‘Radio Studio’ – the “ ON AIR “ Red sign is in the post from China! After catching up with all the news, reading the E-Mails & Facebook messages etc I’m typing and posting the Blog, as you can see!

We had a nice E-Mail from our dear friends, Terry & Alma, who live in France, outside Caan, to say that they had listened to my first radio show yesterday morning, they had enjoyed it and commented on one particular track “ My Bonnie “ –many thanks! There were lots of likes and followers on Facebook, over 600, Andrew had posted a write up & picture on all the local sites before the show, announcing my arrival! Brenda listened to the whole programme and said that it was very good, better in the second half, when I got into my stride and more confident on the mixing deck and microphone! Hopefully over the next couple of weeks I will build up an audience both on the ‘ Castle Radio FM 89.2 & World Wide Online before ‘ Studio 4 ‘ here in the heart of Sunny Manilva starts broadcasting ‘ live’ Watch this space and listen!

Over in Melbourne this weekend all the family are celebrating ‘ Gentleman’ Jack’s 88^th birthday, as they also help Deb to move house, hopefully they managed to listen in, I gave them a good dedication and played a track for them! Back in the UK both Norah & Jenny could also have caught the show, online?!

'Young ' Jack - looking good with his ' old' lady Lyn !

Later this morning our new/ second hand car is being dropped off, the ‘ Silver Mercedes Limousine- Daewo Tacuma ‘ by Rose & Adrian, Mano is arranging the transfer documents and changing the insurance on Monday morning, its then going into our local garage where Pedro will give it the once over and check out the radio and air conditioning. While I was live ‘on air’ yesterday I sold the ‘Red Ferrari – Fiesta’ to Andrew’s daughter in law! I had mentioned to him about the cars as we were talking before the show, he rang her and she came around and took it for a test drive, later he let me know that she wanted it and we are arranging things over the next couple of days!!   “ RESULT “ !!

PS; It’s just arrived and we are going for a little drive later, on Adrian’s insurance,  ‘ Happy Days ‘

We ended up going along the coast road to 'Sotogrande Marina' and then stopped for an executive lunch treat at the " Midas & Co " Restaurante  & Tapas Bar which is in part of the ' Club Maritimo' building; its just changed hands and the new 'Sommelier'' Jose Antonio looked after us very well,  after seeing us into a car parking space right in front of the restaurante! Brenda had a very nice glass of the house 'White Marques Riscal' and I had my usual, Brenda ordered the Turbot, cooked on the new grill and I had a ' Chateaubriand' also cooked on the grill, with 'Frits' & Bearnaise sauce.- both very good and served on very hot plates with seasonal vegetables. See the pictures above including a two person 'Rib of Bee' coming out to the next table! We shall return.

PS; This evenings supper of ' Smoked Chicken & Three Green Bean Risotto' has been put back to tomorrow night! 

We have another very hot & sunny day down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ – there is no breeze and its due to reach 26degs,the start of next week is also looking rather good with more of the same to come!

Just a quick update on the football results from yesterday; Manchester City won 4-0, Liverpool could only draw 2-2 and Everton lost in the 91^st minute 1-2 to Manchester Utd, not a good week for the ‘ Blues’ as in the mid-week ‘Derby’ Game they lost 4-0 to Liverpool, both the two Brian’s will not be happy! Real Madrid won 2-3 & Barcelona won 6-0 with Suerez scoring 4! Its very tight at the top of ‘ La Liga’ with four games to go!

Last night after supper we watched the ‘Michael Mcintyre’s Big Show’ on BBC1 then over on ITV1 ‘ Britain’s Got Talent’ before catching the late film over TVE1 – a strange ‘ drama/thriller’ based in Venice ‘ The Tourist’ from 2010 and starring Jonny Deep & Angelina Jolie with Paul Bettany & Timothy Dalton.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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

FRIDAY 22^nd / APRIL 2016.

I was up early this morning and after seeing ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day I shot off on my travels, I called into our bank in Sabinillas first, then the English Bookshop for the local newspapers, I then did our main shop in ‘ Mercadona’ before going along the promenade to buy some fresh flowers & more wall plants from the local market, on the way back I called into ‘ Super Sol’ for some English essentials.

We have another glorious day down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’- the sky is blue, the sun was out early and there is no breeze, the ‘ Mediterranean’ was sparkling as I drove down through the vine fields, the forecast for the weekend and into the start of next week is for more of the same, sunny Manilva at its best!

As I was out on my travels I called into ‘ Castillo de la Duquesa’ to see Andrew in the studio of ‘ Castle Radio FM 89.2 & World Wide Online ’ to pass on my playlist for tomorrow’s programme when “ Sir Malcolm’s Saturday Session “ goes live for the first time at 11-00am – 1-00pm!! Last night I ordered an ‘ On Air ‘ light sign to go above the door to my studio when I’m broadcasting ‘ live’ from the heart of sunny Manilva!!

We have just had a surprise Skype video call from Jack & Lyn over in Melbourne, after we spoke to them the other day, they have booked to come and see us at the same time as Norah & Jenny are coming, they arrive in England on the 26^th May and will then arrange their plans to fit in with the girls, they will hopefully all fly over together towards the end of June ( Brenda’s birthday is on the 22^nd ?!)  - they have asked us to arrange the large duplex apartment, that they had last time, at the ‘ Manilva Green Aparthotel’ Its made our day and we can’t wait to welcome them all back to sunny Manilva, watch this space.

 “ NEWSFLASH – CAR UPDATE “

The  little ‘ Red Ferrari – Fiesta ‘ is being sold and we have a new ( second hand! ) ‘ Silver Mercedes Limousine – a Daewo ‘ Tacuma’ ( South Korea!) – with right hand drive, its a five seater, five door, hatchback with all the trimmings!! Our friend, Rose ( Scruffy’s Mum! ) is selling it as they don’t need two cars now as they have both retired. See the picture below, we are collecting it on Sunday.

For our supper this evening we are having ‘ Goujon’s of Hake Fillet in Cruzcampo Batter ‘ with Mushy Peas and ‘Frits’ – on Saturday night I have two very nice Fillet Steaks and then on Sunday evening I’m making my famous ‘ Smoked Chicken & Three Bean Risotto ‘ At lunchtime today we are going up to Calle Mar for a light ‘Tapas’ lunch at Bar Rojas. Last night our friend Andy joined us for a drink and then we had supper with him.

Later we all watched the next exciting & gripping episode of ‘ Line of Duty’ on BBC 2 – it was very dramatic as the story unfolded, the vice ring at the children’s home is starting to come back to haunt the ring of Councillor’s & Policemen that took part, the cover up, with a ‘Masonic’ background is starting to crumble, the main character who is being framed by his superior colleague in the ‘Anti Corruption ’ squad has been suspended, but with the help of another police officer, that was framed and sent to prison but is now out after being cleared, is getting to the truth, with her help, at the end there was a very brutal shooting, at close range, in a car, with lots of blood!! Watch this space!!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A OVERCAST & RATHER DAMP SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY;

TUESDAY 19^th / APRIL 2016.

I was up first this morning to see ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day, this evening ‘ Scruffy’ is being dropped off for a sleep over, when I returned from my travels we had a visitor, in between the showers, ‘ Chispa’ came crashing in to see us and her friend ‘Reina’ – she stayed and played and I then took her home before the rains retuned, earlier the storm had hit us and it was raining heavy as she was dropped off, it then stopped and by the time I left on my travels it was clear & mild. We had breakfast, ‘ Smoked Bacon Butties ‘ were called for, with mugs of steaming tea, to set us up for the day ahead.

I then shot down to Sabinillas through the vine fields that are looking greener everyday, the rain helps!  I needed some inks for the printer, the local ‘IT’ shop has closed in the village, I called at the Computer shop but it was closed as the owner was ill?! I then went to the large Stationery shop next to the garage, which was not open, it turns out that it has ceased trading!! Plan ‘ B’ means a trip to the Computer shop in Estepona on another day, watch this space.

I then met Andrew, from ‘ Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online’ in ‘ Castillo de la Duquesa’ and we went for a coffee in one of the local bars, as the sea was crashing over the walls with the smell of salt and fish in the air! I have my first three playlists ready so Andrew is coming up to our house on Thursday lunchtime to install and set up all the programme systems on my new computer system, I need a mixer & special microphone, which he is sorting, the plan is for me to go ‘ live’ this coming Saturday morning with Andrew coming up to sit with me to make sure that I’m pressing all the right buttons!!

Today and tomorrow I’m writing my scripts/crib sheets, all the adverts are in the system along with the radio pro-mo’s etc, the music catalogue is also included, my own ‘ intro’s’ are also saved,  I will have a station E-Mail address for requests, this all means that by Saturday morning my studio will be going ‘ live’ broadcasting from the heart of sunny Manilva, watch this space!

Over the next few weeks Andrew is moving his studio to larger premises up here at the ‘Manilva Green Aparthotel’ at the top of the village, the main broadcasting mast is being re-sighted at the same time, this means that the ‘FM 89.2’ coverage will be stronger and reach further down the ‘ Costa Del Sol’- the Online connection will also improve for the ‘World Wide’ listeners! All very exciting, watch this space.

Today it still grey & overcast with the threat of showers all day, tomorrow its ‘sunny’ showers and then on Thursday its back to warm and sunny, Friday, at the moment, is looking settled with just the possibility of some of the wet stuff. This evening we are going down to the surgery, in the car, for our appointments with the Chiropodist.

This evenings supper is now going to be ‘ Grilled Gammon Steaks ‘ as I called into the English butchers on the way back, I also bought some fresh homemade ‘Cumberland Sausages’ – we are having Garden Peas & ‘ Frits’ with the Gammon- topped with, of course, ‘Campo Fried Eggs’! On Wednesday its ‘Escalope’s of Chicken Breast’

Late yesterday afternoon Mano & Anna called in for a chat and then Anna’ young cousin Tom, with his girlfriend Alisha, joined us, they are staying with Mano & Anna as he looks for work down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ his latest ‘ job’ has been as a cocktail barmen working in Knutsford for David! He’s a ‘ scratch’ golfer and the last time he was here it did not work out, this time he’s more hopeful, he has found an duplex apartment near to Puerto Banus, watch this space. Last night we had a ‘ Quiz Night’ watching all the various shows ending with the final of ‘ University Challenge’

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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