SUNNY AND A VERY,VERY HOT MANILVA ON SATURDAY

SATURDAY 17^th/ AUGUST 2013.

We were awoken early this morning as the ‘Ronnie Barker’ shop at the bottom of our street had a goods delivery on Saturday not Friday as normal, they have to slide the pallets down the street as the van can’t get down and so it gets rather noisy!

After our tea, toast and fresh fruit we have sorted ourselves out for the weekend; you can’t beat ‘ Mis en Place’- Eggs boiled, Potatoes boiled, Chips blanched, Green Beans sliced and part cooked, Mushrooms prepared, Steak seasoned and trimmed, Lettuce washed, Tomato sliced and our menu’s for the weekend are ready; last night we finally were able to get in touch we our friend from last year ,Di she has had IT problems, she is calling in later and we are going to ask her for supper tomorrow evening which is going to be cold Herb roasted Chicken with various salads and new Potatoes.

Later in the morning Di called in and then just soon after Anna so a good chin-wag ensued; we ended up at Bar Rojas for a cool drink and met outside under the ‘Sonbrajo’ a nice couple who have just moved into the area after living in different parts of Spain for many years, Rob and his wife Barbara Marie, who is an artist who specializes in pet portraits – hope to see them again up in sunny Manilva!Check out her web-page; pet-portraitart.com - I feel a commission coming on! Di came back to the house for a light snack lunch and is joining us for supper on Sunday.

Tonight it’s ‘Steak a la Plancha’ with all the usual trimmings before we settle down to find a film to watch.

SPORTS UPDATE;

Well this afternoon the football season kicks of proper here and over in the UK, I will watch this afternoon one of the games on my sports channel on the large PC in the office and later catch all the high -lights here and from England on one of the main news/sports channels; all the scores to follow later.

Liverpool beat Stoke 1-0 scored by Sturridge with the new Belgian goalkeeper Simon Magnolet saving a late penalty! Big Bri won't be a happy 'Evertonian' back in Finland as they could only draw at Norwich 2-2 and the surprise of the day,so far is the 'Arsenal' loosing at home to Aston Villa 1-3!!!

Yesterday and last evening over in Cincinnati USA at the tennis both Andy Murray and Djokovic were knocked out and were not happy bunnies! The game of the night was Nadel v Federer – Nadel won in the end after a fantastic game of tennis. Also yesterday at the ‘Athletics World Championship’ in Moscow Mo Farrah became the only second person in history to do the double-double, winning the 5000mtrs and 10,000 mtrs at both the Olympic and then the World Championship!! Meanwhile over in the USA at the ‘Indianapolis Race- Speedway’ Mar Marques is leading in the practice sessions for Sundays Motor GP. All results later.

Thought for the Day; See above.

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SUNNY MANILVA AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND

FRIDAY 5^th/ JULY 2013.

This morning we awoke with a bang, our bed had collapsed again! It is antique wood and the legs have parted with the frame, help is arriving this afternoon – fingers crossed – otherwise we will have to move up a floor and use the main guest bedroom. Sadly the handyman has not arrived so we have moved up to the top floor for the weekend!

After our tea and toast we went down to Sabinillas for a quick shop and then exchanged two ‘Patterson’s’ and picked up the papers at the English bookshop; after unpacking we went for our regular walk around the village with-out the dog, people stop and ask us were is the dog?

This morning they have delivered a large selection of new plants for ‘Plaza Vendimia’ –its all action as they race to get it finished in time. See the pictures above.

Later I will watch the ‘Tour de France’ stage 7 which is from Montpellier to Albi the capital of the ‘Tarn’ region over 206kms,as you can see it’s a bit of what is called a’ Lumpy’ stage! Standby for tomorrow when the tour reaches the ‘Pyrenees’ and hits two major climbs!Today's stage was won by the Slovakian rider Peter Sagan ( The Tourminator ) with no change in the overall standings.See the picture above.

This afternoon Brenda is going up on the roof terrace to continue her all over tan, at the moment she is working on her back and sides! It is very hot today but there is a slight breeze which makes it very pleasant and the long term forecast is looking very good for the rest of July.

Tonight for supper we are having pan-fried Fillets of Pink Trout with Gambas,chopped Green Beans and crushed New Potatoes in their skins;

After supper Brenda called Jenny as she is having problems with her new phone - texting messages-we will get is sorted on Monday down in Sabinillas; Jack and Lyn are staying at Jenny's along with Norah for a few days,last Sunday we had a little scare when we were talking to Jenny,she had just got a call from Norah to say that Lyn had been rushed to hospital down in Ilfracombe in Devon,to cut a long story short she was seen too by paramedics and stabilised in the ambulance,we spoke to Jack after about half-an-hour later and he updated us,she is now back to her old-self,it was a mild stomach bug!

Then it will be time to watch a good film as Friday is ‘Film Night’ We found a film directed and produced as well as starring Clint Eastwood called " True Crime" from 1999; it is a mystery drama about a journalist recovering from alcoholism who is sent to interview a prisoner on death row with just 12 hours left until the execution! Isaiah Washinton,Denis Leary,James Wood,Lisa Gay Hamilton and the fine English actor Bernard Hill all help to make the story very gripping right up to the end!

Thought for the Day’ See above.

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SUNY MANILVA AT THE START OF THE 'BIG' WEEKEND

FRIDAY 21^st/ JUNE 2013.

The  ‘ BIG ‘ weekend starts today down here in sunny Manilva; it’s another glorious day as we head off at lunchtime up to ‘Venta Garcia’ for the ‘Birthday Girl’s’ celebrations to start in earnest! Watch out for the pictures later,if you are lucky you might get a glance of my ‘Red Tommy Hifiger’ shirt!

Then later this evening after a light supper in’Bodega Augustin’ we are going across the road to the end of term music concert of the ‘School of Music’ - we usually end up dancing to the ‘Combo’!!

PS; No sport reports or film news over the weekend – just to say ‘Spain 10 – Tahiti 0’ with Torres scoring 4 and Villa 3 in the ‘Confederations Cup’over in Brazil!

Thought for Day’ See above

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MANILVA THIS WEEK.

TUESDAY/FRIDAY 22ND/25TH FEBRUARY 2011.

On Tuesday morning we went down to Duquesa Marina and went for a walk along the front towards Sabinillas; we took Cheta out with us, it was her first time in the car and on the beach and she got very excited as we strolled along the parade which the local council has been working on, all the local councils along the coast back to Marbella are extending the sea front promenades and joining them up. We had been woken up in the morning when they started painting and repairing the Town Hall, at long last but sadly not in time for the weekend celebrations and party for Andalucia Day ! We took the pictures of the Cherry Picker at the same time as the plant pictures outside our house. The weather is getting better everyday and the temperatures are going up to 25degs over the weekend. In the evening we had the English Pork Chops for dinner, I baked them in the over with Apple slices in a Lemon Butter sauce and made Lyonnaise Potatoes along with Brenda’s special Cabbage.

Wednesday was another glorious day so we went for our walk on the front in Sabinillas and at the same time called in to the agents to get things going on the Smart Car update and change to Spanish plates; we are now waiting for the quotes from the garage at the same time and will look at things next week after the bank holiday celebrations at the weekend. In the afternoons Brenda is now out on the roof terrace taking in the warm sunshine before we have our evening cocktails and nibbles! For supper we had thin slices of Lambs Liver, cooked pink with Sauté Onions, Smoked Bacon and Chipolata Sausage all from the English butches, for a change, together with Brenda’s Mashed Potatoes and more Cabbage! Later we watched a film on the TV and some sport.

In the morning on Thursday I made a Chicken and Mushroom Pie ( See Pictures below ) A La “ Sexton ” which is my own recipe and contains Diced Carrots,Onions,Celery,Spring Onions and Red Peppers along with a White wine cream sauce and the secret ingredients ! As I finished the pie mix Mano and Anna called in, they were originally coming around for dinner but their plans had changed and so had to take a rain check, also the Halal Lamb for Sunday is going to be on another weekend as Mano has some on going business to attend too; watch this space ! In the evening I watched the football on the PC, first it was the Liverpool match, they won and then to follow they showed the Manchester City game which City won and scored three goals! The pie was delicious, even if I do say so my self ! We have put the rest away in the deep freeze for another day – honest !!

Today as usual on a Friday we went down to Sabinillas to do the shopping, call in the bank, collect the English local papers and progress the Smart Car change as the agents have come in with a very good quote; in the supermarket I picked up Hake again as we enjoyed it so much last week, we are having it fried in Spanish Batter (Flour) with square Chips and Mushy Peas. At lunchtime we went for our walk around the village with Cheta,they have started to build the stages for the weekend as you can see in the picture below; we ended up down by the Mirador at the entrance to Manilva next to Bodega Augustin ( The Office ) Mano and Anna had some Tapas there the other day and said that they were fab! We checked their display out and it was very good,fresh and different as well as cheap so we will give it a try soon. It is all happening this weekend with the big celebrations taking place all day on Sunday; the band and Choir are out as well as other local music,singing and dancing as we celebrate Andalucia Day- watch out for the report and pictures.


Thought for the Day;


Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.



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