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

MONDAY 4^th / JULY 2016.

I was up early to see ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day, she’s here for her regular five days this week, we then went back to bed for a little lie in before the delivery vans arrived down our street and this morning a large ‘ Cherry-Picker’ that is scraping & painting the outside walls of the shop and the surrounding buildings. We then had ‘ Smoked Bacon Butties’ with a mug of English Tea ( PG Tips!) to start the week off in the right direction.

Its another hot start to the day, the sun was out early and there is no breeze, we are in for a hot week unlike the rest of Spain which is expecting thunder storms and rain, very unseasonal for July, the long term forecast is for another very hot July/August, warmer the last year, yesterday in parts of Andalucia it reached 42/44 degs ( Sevilla & Cordoba! ) We hovered on the mid 30s mark during the day and 25  degs during the night.

This evening for our supper, after our appointment with the  ‘ Chiropodist ‘ down at the surgery, we are having the rest of the ‘ Rotisserie’ Chicken from last night, cold, with York Ham & Mixed Salad with Baby Beetroot ( Iceland ) and Parsley new Potatoes, later this morning I’m making my famous ‘ Russian Salad, the new appointed ' Second Chef ' ( Brenda ) is preparing all the ingredients tomorrow evening we are going to have ‘ Steak Pie ‘ ( Iceland again!) with Garden Peas and twice-cooked ‘ Chips’

Over the weekend we watched all the sport, Lewis Hamilton won the ‘Austrian Grand Prix’ after a last corner crash ( again !) with his team mate Nico Rosberg, this weekend it’s the ‘ British Grand Prix ‘ at Silverstone; at the Tennis at Wimbledon there were some good matches but no upsets. Its ‘ Manic Monday’ as Andy Murray, Roger Federer & Serena Williams all play today!

Over in France in the ‘ Tour De France the ‘ World Champion ‘ Peter Sagan ( Slovak ) won the stage and took over the Yellow Jersey at the same time, Alberto Contador  who crashed for the second day in succession and Richie Porter punctured, both loosing overall time on the main contenders, today’s Stage 3 is from Granville to Angers over 223 kms with a sprint finish. Will Terry & Alma be out watching the race go by as its in their part of France?! See the route map below.

The ' Manx Missile ' MARK CAVENDISH has just won today's stage, by a width of his tyre, in a photo finish , his 28th Tour Stage Win - the record to beat is 34 held by the legendary Belgium rider Eddy Mercix. watch this space!

Meanwhile in the ‘UEFA European Football Championships’ France beat Iceland 5-2 and play Germany in the second Semi-Final. Wales v Portugal in the first. Watch this space.

We are into our full ‘ Hot’ Mode with all the fans on, a light sheet on the bed, shorts and loose tops, lots of cold drinks & water, taking things very easy during the day, keeping in the shade when out, etc. We still have our ‘ Happy Hour ‘ cocktails before our supper.

PS; In the lunchtime post today was a Post Card from Kelvin & Gaye who are on holiday at the " Hotel Cannero " ***** on' Lago Maggiore ' in Northern Italy, they have stayed there many times and its their favourite, thanks and keep them coming on your travels!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A OVERCAST START TO TUESDAY IN SUNNY MANILVA;

TUESDAY 28^th / JUNE 2016.

I was up first this morning and after seeing ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day I took ‘ Scruffy’ for his first walk; I then shot off in the car down to the surgery and made two appointments for Friday morning for our six month check up’s. I then dropped the car off at the garage and Pedro has taken it off for the ‘ ITV – MOT ‘ in Estepona, fingers crossed and watch this space.

" RESULT "

It failed on the first test for Hand Brake tension so Pedro brought it back, fixed it, then took it back and it passed! That's what you call service !!

When I came back to the house Brenda was waiting with a ‘ Sausage Butty’ and a mug of steaming tea to start the day off in the right fashion! For our supper this evening we are having  ‘ Grilled Gammon Steaks ’ with Garden Peas & twice-cooked ‘ Frits’ – the Gammon topped with ‘ Campo ‘ Fried Eggs!

This morning has started grey & overcast but still warm, all over the country they are having thunder storms and heavy rain but down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol ‘ we are just about missing it, by lunchtime its due to reach 27 degs as the sun brakes through, like yesterday, tomorrow its getting hotter, 32 degs and rising!

Last night we watched the Spain v Italy match on Spanish TV, sadly it was the end of the era as Italy played very well and deserved the 2-0 win, Lee when he collected ‘ Reina’ showed me how to watch on ‘ First Row Sports’ the live football, by blocking the ‘ Addblock’ system, this meant we were able to watch the England v Iceland game, which was a pity, as they played terribly and lost 2-1, ( see above ! ) - the England manager then resigned after the game and the team walked off the pitch to boos after being humiliated! See the picture below of ' Conwy Castle' in North Wales bathed in ' Red' for a victory in Wales next game against Belgium.

We are just coming up to next round of our monthly ‘ Pension ‘ transfers, after the ‘ Britexit’ result the Euro/Pound has dropped to its lowest level in over 30 years, this means that we will be down nearly 45% on the same time last year, it could get even worse, we will have to just wait and see. The main problem for us, as well as the Pension rates, is our ‘ Spanish Health Care ‘ cover which after the two year leaving process will be no longer valid, the Spanish Government has said they  are standing by their commitments for now, over the weekend the second General Election in six months, took place here in Spain with the same result , no clear winner and another ‘ Hung ‘ Parliament’ with no coalition government possible?!

We are now actively considering applying for ‘ Spanish Citizenship/ Nationality ‘ and have started to ask the questions and seek help in the right quarters, it looks and sounds like a complicated process but after our first enquiry’s we seem to meet most of the conditions, we are now going to take the process to the next level, we need a lawyer, two ‘ Spanish Citizens ‘ to speak for us and proof of our finances and integration into the local community etc. This is to secure our future here in Spain and give us peace of mind going into old age, especially with proper health cover. if needed!  WATCH THIS SPACE.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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CASARES GOLF CLUB

MANILVA ON SATURDAY MORNING.