THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM A VERY SUNNY MANILVA;

...

A VERY WARM AND STILL ' FRESH' SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY.

TUESDAY 26^th/ MAY 2020.   “ STATE OF ALARM – DAY 73 “

After freshening up this morning we had our regular fresh fruit (sliced Banana) toast & tea, before getting the day on the go, Brenda then ‘masked/gloved’ up and went along the Chemists in ‘ Calle Mar’ for some of our prescription tablets etc, on the way back she called into the small shop at the bottom of our street for today’s fresh fruit & vegetables.

Of course we have been listening to the ‘Lockdown Party’ show on “ Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW” – The ‘ Mystery Voice’ quiz came on; I first went down the wrong track, it was a famous actress who has played ‘ Margaret’ – so I named some who had played ‘ Margaret Thatcher! I was the wrong Margaret, it was actually ‘Princess Margaret’ – so the correct answer was, of course ‘Helana Bonham Carter’!!

Later I will be listening to the ‘ Country Classics’ show with David Sibbald’ as I’m typing/posting today’s Blog.

We yet another beautiful day down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ in a very sunny Manilva, our favourite time of the year, as it’s not yet too hot, to be out & about, the sun was out first thing and the sky is cloudless and bright blue, there is a very pleasant light cooling breeze, so by lunchtime it’s due to reach 23/24 degs+ - overnight down to 17/18 degs+ - about right for the time of the year, staying like this until Sunday, when the breeze is due to drop a little, so it will be up to the high 20s, next week is going to be hotter, as June starts, with very warm sunshine every day, with a few patchy clouds at times, hovering in the high 20s – back up to 28/29 degs+ - watch this space.

“ CORANAVIRUS UPDATE – COVID 19 PANDEMIC “

All quiet today as we enter ‘ Week 11’ of ‘ LOCKDOWN’ here in Spain, still in ‘Phase 1’ down in the Malaga province of Andalucia, for now, hopefully moving up to ‘ Phase 2’ next week, at the start of June, as we still stick to all the most severe rules in Europe, especially the wearing of ‘ Face Masks’ at all times, when you are out & about.

This morning down in Sabinillas along the promenade the ‘ Policia Local’ are fining people ‘ 5 Euros’ for not keeping to the rules!

Of course our local ‘Council’ are still maintaining the routines of washing down, then sanitizing and humidifying all the streets, as well as spraying all the doorsteps and windows of our houses.  ‘ Thanks’

For our supper this evening we are having ‘ Homemade Burgers ‘ ( Beef, Pork & Chicken) from our local Butchers, seared/cooked on a very hot griddle plate, served/stacked on toasted Sesame Seed Buns, layered with Coz Lettuce, sliced Tomato, sliced Gherkins, charred Shallots, crispy Smoked Bacon and Brenda’s with a slice of ‘Gruyere’ cheese ( finished with a lid cover!) and mine topped with a ‘ Campo Fried Egg ‘ – accompanied with Baskets of hand-cut ( Brenda) triple-cooked ‘ Stringfellows ‘- not forgetting the ‘ Heinz Tomato Ketchup’ bottle on the side!

The ‘ Menus’ for the week ahead have been agreed; on Wednesday it’s going to be local ‘ Chicken Empanadas’ – Thursday, our favourite ‘ Grilled Chicken Wings’ with a Baked Potato, as usual on Friday it will be a ‘ Fish Supper’ and on Saturday our ‘ Steak Night’ . Sunday is still TBC, watch this space.

Last night we watched over on ‘ Channel 5’ the documentary about ‘ The World’s Greatest Scenic Railway Journeys’ – this week it was the ‘ Chihuahua-Pacific-Railway ‘ also known as “ El Chepe “ – a major rail line in North West Mexico, linking Chihuahua City to Los Mochis and it’s port Topolobampo! Over 673 kms, traversing the ‘ Copper Canyon’, over 37 bridges and through 86 tunnels, rising as high as 2,400 m, taking 16 hours, the track also crosses over itself to gain elevation!

See below;

                           “ STAY SAFE AND WELL INSIDE AT ALL TIMES “

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

...

A BRIGHT, WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

WEDNESDAY 29^th/ APRIL 2020.  “ STATE OF ALARM –DAY 46 “ 

No rest for the ‘ wicked’ this morning as we had to be up to get this evenings supper on the go, after freshening up we had a quick toast & tea to set us up for the day ahead.

The sky is bright blue and the clouds have been blown away, there is just a slight breeze now, so by lunchtime it’s going to be warm and sunny, up to 21 degs+ - overnight down to 13 degs+ - from tomorrow it’s going warmer each day and over the weekend, hovering on 22/23 degs + - up to 26 degs+ by next Tuesday,  with very light breeze’s, then towards the end of next week there is now the chance of the ‘ Wet-Stuff’ returning, watch this space.

After our breakfast we got this evenings supper on the go, a ‘ Beef & Vegetable Casserole’ – using sliced ‘ Spanish Beef Steak’ – dusted in seasoned flour and browned off, I made the ‘Casserole’ sauce by sweating off Diced Onions, Shallots & Garlic, Carrots, Turnips, Leeks, Green Beans & Mushrooms, with a good glass of ‘Red Wine’ ( thanks Brenda!) – a large dash of ‘ Lea & Perrins & Tabasco’ – along with some Tomato Frito, before adding the rich ‘Beef & Vegetable’ stock, adjusting the seasoning to taste, coating the ‘ Beef’ and cooked in a hot oven this evening. Meanwhile Brenda prepared Glazed Carrot Batons & Braised Cabbage with Acelgas, not forgetting her now famous ‘Mashed Potato’!

“ CORONAVIRUS UPDATE – COVID 19 PANDEMIC “ 

The main news this morning is that last night on TV the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, announced his ‘Coronavirus’ deescalation measures, which will last six to eight weeks, with continuing restriction on travel to other provinces, which has been approved by his ‘ National Coalition Government in ‘ Cabinet!

It’s going to be staged over five phases, a gradual asymmetrical plan, lasting at least two weeks for each phase, according to the 17 autonomous regions of Spain, with no set dates or times, all depending on the latest figures from around the country! The central ‘ Health Ministry’ will be deciding on the speed of each phase, with all the details published in lengthy documents online.

NB; ‘Phase 1’ after ‘Phase 0 ‘ will allow sidewalk ‘Cafe/Bars’ to be open, only on their ‘terraces’ – albeit at 30% of their usual capacity, going up to 50% later!

Schools will not reopen fully until September, the over 65s will be staying under stricter controls for now, watch this space.

On our mainline  ‘ Facebook’ page I have been publishing each day the ten ‘Albums’ that have greatly influenced my taste in music, over the years, as I was nominated by a old friend, in fact my list was hard to choose, so I have a list of nearly 15! See below;

1; ‘ Tony Sheridan & The Beat Brothers ‘ 1961.

2; ‘ Merseybeat’ from 1963.

3;  ‘Please Please’ Me from 1963 ish.

4; ‘Eddie Cochran’ from 1968 ish.

5; ‘ Elvis’ from 1960s.

6; ‘ Van Morrison ‘ from 1970.

7; ‘ The Blues Band with Paul Jones’ from 1980.

8; ‘ Fleetwood Mac’ from 1975.

9; ‘ B B King ‘ from 1960.

10; ‘ Creedence Clearwater Revival’ from 1976.

11; ‘ Status Quo’ from 1970.

12; ‘ The Travelling Wilburys’ from 1990.

14; ‘ George Thorogood & The Destroyers’ from 1980s.

NB;  Over the years our music tastes have also included ‘ Country & Western, Cajun, Rockabilly, Ska, Reggae, Pop, Heavy Metal, Rhythm & Blues, Jazz, Folk, Funk, Disco, Indie Rock, Dance, Classical & all Genres at times!

I first played the LPs on a small one-track ‘HI-Fi’ player with built in sound! I graduated to a individual Record Player with twin speakers, then it was the classic top of the range “ Bang and Olufsen “ ‘ Beomaster ‘ with multi track amplifier, FM Radio, a integrated Cassette player and a ‘Quatro’ Four Speaker surround sound system, with subwoofers!

See below;

                                             “ STAY SAFE & WELL INSIDE AT ALL TIMES “

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

...