A VERY WARM & ' CLAMMY' SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

WEDNESDAY 7^th/ AUGUST 2019.

We managed a little lie in this morning after another very hot night, making it very difficult to sleep, after freshening up Brenda took ‘ Chico’ out for his first walk of the day, he sleeps like a log on the marble floor under our bed, he so very easy to look after, has a very good appetite and gets on with all the other dogs, on Sunday we have a new dog arriving for 5 days, ‘ Sunny’ – she has been with us for one night sleep-over.

Yesterday evening ‘ Scruffy’ was picked up by Adrian & Rose, Adrian had just ‘ rang the bell’ at the hospital over in Malaga, which signals the end of his active treatment/radiotherapy and the beginning of a life free of cancer! ( Fingers Crossed!)

For our breakfast we had fresh fruit( chilled Nectarine) toast & tea, we then put out our gas bottle to be exchanged later ( he’s just called!) I then came up to the office/studio to go on the ‘ WWW’ and then type/post today’s Blog, Brenda is pottering in one of her ‘ ing’ modes!

While we were getting ourselves together I was listening to the ‘Andrew Charles’ Breakfast Show on ‘ Castle Radio 89.2 & Online on the WWW’ as the ‘Music Quiz’ came on, it was a 13 second, in reverse track, I got it straight away as it sounds the same forwards & backwards! It was “ The Police “ with ‘ De Do Do Do,De Da Da Da ‘ I’m in the weekly draw.

This morning the sun was out early and the sky was blue with just a few patchy clouds, there is a light breeze, making it a little cooler in the shade, it’s still by lunchtime going to reach 34 degs+ - tomorrow 35 degs+ and then over the weekend up 36 degs+! Next week is looking a little cooler as the breeze stiffens, hovering back in the high 20s, partly cloudy at times, but overnight still only down to 20 degs, watch this space.

Today, as there are no cruise liners in Liverpool I’m going back to the early 50s, and the ‘Liverpool Overhead Railway ‘ – “ Dockers’ Umbrella “ – it was the first electric elevated railway, using multiple units, the first with automatic signalling & colour light signals & the first passenger escalators at a railway station! Over 7 miles long it went from Seaforth to the Dingle, past all the docks, I went on it into Liverpool with my Dad & Mum, as a young child, it was closed in 1956, because of major repairs costs and dismantled the following year.  

See Above.

For our supper this evening we are having, again, ‘ Steak Sandwiches ‘ as it’s quick & simple, ‘Slices of Entrecote of Beef’ – seasoned and smeared with Dijon Mustard – then ‘ flash’ cooked on a very hot griddle-plate, left to rest and then placed on lightly buttered toast and cut into triangles, garnished a with a little salad on the side, tomorrow evening as the ‘ Staff’ have been given the night off we are going out ‘ on the town’ – along to ‘ Bar Castillo’ for nice cool drinks, sat outside in the cooler evening air, for a light ‘Tapas’ supper! Watch this space.

After supper we watched the next episode of “ Keeping Faith “ as the lawyer, played by Eve Myles, as she had a ‘ Bad Day’ – her young son was rushed to hospital (0K!) – she then lost the murder trial (oh dear!) – her other two children has school problems(sorted!) – the practise is loosing customers(?) - she is still being blackmailed( nasty lady) – she has a secret admirer ( one kiss) – her best friend and fellow lawyer is up too no good ( money?)  and her husband is being let out of prison early ( how?) – all taking place in a windy & wet South Wales( it’s yellow raincoat time again! )

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY ' CRISP ' & OVERCAST SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY 27^th/ NOVEMBER 2017.

We had a little in this morning before getting another week on the go down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol ‘ in sunny Manilva! After freshening up we had our usual ‘Weetabix’ toast & tea, we then wrapped up and walked down/up to the garage to see about the car, Pedro was not there and I could not get him on the phone, so it’s back to ‘ Plan B ‘ – wait and see! Watch this space.

PS; He's just called in with the estimate of the new engine/work, we are thinking about it after we get over the ' shock'!

When we came back to the house we then carried on along to the Chemists for some prescription tablets and I went to the local cash machine at the bank and then called into the ‘ Tabac ‘ to put some money on Brenda’s mobile phone. The Contractors’ have started this morning, at the top of ‘ Calle Mar ‘- they are digging up the street with a very large ‘JCB’ – making a lot of noise & dust! It looks like they are moving down the street towards our end, all the fences are up keeping us locals to the side on the pavements, the first problem will be later this week when the rain hits us, it’s going to be a mud bath, watch this space.

The forecast for the coming week is not looking good, today it's very 'crisp' and sun is only just breaking through after a cold & overcast start, from tomorrow it’s going to be wet, with heavy rain on Wednesday & Thursday, then for the rest of the week and over the weekend the sun is back although still keeping cool, for the time of the year, hovering on the 15/17 degs mark during the day and 8/9 degs during the night, the heavy duvet is going on, next week is now looking a little warmer & sunny with no sign of any of the wet stuff, so far, watch this space.

In ‘ Doggy World Heaven ‘ little princess ‘Reina’ is back with us on Tuesday & Friday this week, over the weekend ‘ Chispa’ had been in & out all the time, next week ‘ Chico’ is back for a week’s holiday from Wednesday.

It’s our 46^th wedding anniversary on Wednesday but as we don’t have the car we are going to celebrate next week when we go on the pensioners coach trip to Malaga to see the ‘Xmas’ lights, we will have a nice supper, in a restaurant after watching the lights turned on.

For our supper this evening I have re-made/topped up the ‘ Lancashire Hotpot ‘ with the rest of the ‘Lamb Chops’ etc, the menu’s for the rest of week are yet to be agreed/decided, watch this space.

PS; We have just had a meeting as Brenda was ' proof-reading' the Blog! On Tuesday it's going to be ' Medallions of Pork Fillet and on Wednesday a ' Beef Curry ' !!  

Just a quick update on all the sports results; Australia won the first Test Match in Brisbane, but lost against Scotland in the Rugby 53-24, England won, Ireland won but Wales lost to the ‘All Blacks’ – Lewis Hamilton was second, behind his team mate in the Abu Dhabi ‘Grand Prix’ – Liverpool drew with Chelsea 1-1,Manchester City won again 1-2 but Everton where beaten, again 4-1, over here Real Madrid won 3-2 and Barcelona were ‘ robbed’ in a 1-1 drew at Valencia when a Messi goal was not given after clearly crossing the goal line!

This week we are taking things very easy, staying in as much as possible, Brenda was going down to the local bus tomorrow morning for some extra shopping in Sabinillas, weather permitting and I will be out on my travels on Friday for the weekly shopping, it looks like we be watching a lot of TV on our multi-channel system, watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK;

MONDAY 3rd/ AUGUST 2015.

No lie in this morning as 'Reina' was due to be dropped off first thing,she's with us from today and then Tuesday/Thursday; Rose asked us as she was collecting 'Scruffy' yesterday if we could look after two dogs this week for a sleep over on Tuesday & Wednesday for two friends of hers - they are calling later this morning to see us with the dogs!?

Well Valerie & Caroline, who are sisters, arrived just after lunch with 'Freddie & Bentley" who are two small Black dogs who are very friendly and after meeting the folks and the dogs they are coming to stay with us in 'Doggy World Heaven' from tomorrow morning until Thursday morning! They have also booked them in for an important date at the start of September also - no doubt we will see more of them before then!!

Its very warm & sunny this morning and the week ahead looks like it could get hotter, we will check the forecasts this evening at the end of the main news.

After breakfast we had our usual morning meeting,we have no plans for this week, so far, but Brenda is due to make an appointment to have her hair cut ASAP - next week its my turn to go over to Estepona to my Barbers and at the same time I'm making an appointment to see the Computer Shop owner to start the process of finding/buying my new system - watch this space.

Last night we were at the official opening of the " Casa Los Torres" Cultural Centre by the new Mayor,Diego, after cutting the tape the new Art Exhibition in the main gallery was on view and in the central courtyard there was a champion 'Carver' slicing the finest 'Pata Negra' Ham - 'Jamon Iberico' ( see the Black Hoof) - Sherry from the cask being poured in the correct way and the entertainment was a very fine 'Flemenco' singer & guitarist. See the pictures below & above taken by me and my fellow 'Art' photographer - 'Den' in his Black & White Mode!

                                                                 
                                                                            Or my version!

We then retired up to 'Bar Castillo' for a late Tapas supper with Den & Josie after taking in the sights and sounds of the evening - our cultural 'appetite's' satisfied!

We have just been onto our Bank over in North Wales to arrange our normal monthly transfers to our Spanish Bank AC - this month as well as our regular ones we have due some yearly ones at the same time, so fingers crossed that the rate of exchange for the Euro stays up despite the Greeks! The first two have arrived in our account and the rate was very good - a good start to the month!!

For our supper this evening we are having flattened Chicken Breast cooked on the griddle plate - dry with dry sauteed thick cut slices of Baked Potato & fresh local Green Beans.Our 'Happy Hour' will take place somewhere later this afternoon after the site workmen have finished.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.


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LA CASA DEL ABUELO.

TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY/FRIDAY 9TH/10TH/11TH 12TH NOVEMBER 2010.

The weather all this week and over the coming weekend has been warm and sunny during the day, building up in the afternoon and then crisp at night but with no wind; we have just pottered about the villa this week, all the animals are fine and all the people that come to work,cleaner,gardener and home help have been on time, one day we went with the home help down to the other Mums apartment so as we could make contact with her and also so we knew where she was. Joan here is fine and eating well ,she is a vegetarian so Brenda has been passing on some of her famous vegetables to go with the meals that the home help prepares; we have been watching and catching up with our favoutite TV programs at the same time,QI,Grand Design,Jools Holland just to mention a few. For dinner we have had Pork Cutlets, Chicken Curry that I made at home and put in the deep freeze, Cottage Pie which I made on Thursday and yesterday we had the Baby Lemon Soles again; tonight we are having Rib Eye steaks that we picked up from the English butchers along the road and tomorrow we are going out for lunch to Tricky Ricky’s again. This weekend is a big sports agenda with three Rugby Union International's, Racing from Chelteham, Football and of course the last Grand Prix of the season when the winner will be decided.

Thought for the Day;

“ Honesty ” without compassion and understanding is not honest but subtle hostility.



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MANILVA AND GUADALMINA.

MONDAY/SUNDAY 7TH/13TH JUNE 2010.

On Monday we sorted ourselves out and packed as little as possible for our five days over in Guadalmina looking after the villa; we did take some food with us, Curry and Braised Steak, which we had saved and frozen so as we did not need to shop over there.

We had to be up early on Tuesday morning as Clive and Caroline had to be at the airport in Malaga by 9-00am;we dropped them off at the new terminal which is very impressive and on the way back picked up some essentials for Joan, Clive’s mum, and dog food. The villa has now been refurbished and is looking very good; the weather was warm and sunny and we soon hit the pool and then relaxed on the terrace over looking the large garden.In the evening we had Fillet Steak, salad and Baked Potatoes for dinner, courtesy of Clive and Caroline and then settled to watch English TV. We only miss a couple of programmes like QI and are now back into watching all the Spanish TV channels.

Wednesday started OK but later there was a little light rain and drizzle as I picked up the cleaner and then went over to Estepona and picked up Gissy;she came to do Brenda’s hair and have a spot of light lunch as we caught up with all her news; they are very busy and some days do two gigs. We did not go in the pool and had a problem with the Solar Heating system; no hot water in the villa! Curry and Rice for supper out on the terrace as it is still warm and the terrace is very sheltered before we watched the concert from South Africa at the start of the World Cup ended the day.

Thursday morning and the weather was back to normal, warm and sunny as I contacted the water engineer, the old gas boiler is there for emergencies and the water was soon back on, later the Solar system kicked back in, it seems that it is not working as it should and they are looking into it! The gardener was in all day and later Joan’s companion called in to look after her, in the early evening the hairdresser came to do Joan’s hair so it meant that we had all had the works during the last two days. The two dogs, Bruno and Abbie are no problem; they have their own pen in the grounds and the run of the villa and garden all the time, except when the gardener is working! The two house cats, Tiger and Sam come and go as they please, the six wild cats are fed out in the garden and the fish in the pond only need a little food, once a week. In the evening we had our Braised Steak and Onions with Baked Potatoes before we watched the opening ceremony of the World Cup.

Friday morning started with the window cleaners doing a very good job, in fact too good a job as Brenda had walked into one of the large terrace windows the day before; no damage to the window or Brenda ! We then popped out to the shops for the weekend goods and bought some Rump Steak from the English butchers down in Guadalmina. The pool called when we got back and then after dinner we watched the start of the football with the South Africa v Mexico match, shame that South Africa did not win in the last minute when they hit the post, the sound from the horns “ Vuvuzelas ” would have been even louder !


We had a quiet day in the villa on Saturday and picked Clive and Caroline up from the airport in the evening; their plane was over an hour late arriving; the system at the arrivals has changed and Mano had given me a few tips, we ended up waiting in the garage by the new terminal and when they called we picked them up from the departure terminal which is lot easier and beats the system ! This meant that we did not see the England v USA. Match, no great loss as England played terrible and Robert Green, the goalkeeper dropped a clanger! We then charged back to Manilva in the Smart car and ended up in Bar Rojas for supper of Fried Fish, Fried Eggs and Patatas Fritas The picture below give you just a taste of the week over in the villa.

Today we are taking things very easy at home and are going to watch the Grand Prix later from Canada; we are not having our usual Roast today, the chef’s are having the day off !

Thought for the day;

I was born modest; not all over, but in spots !

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