SUNNY AND HOT MANILVA ON "REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY"

SUNDAY 10^th/ NOVEMBER 2013.

We awoke this morning to yet another stunning day in sunny Manilva; after our tea and toast I made with Brenda help another batch of ‘Ensaladilla Rusa’and then the ‘Charcutiere’ sauce for this evening’s supper, sweated diced Onions, Red Wine, Beef stock, two sorts of Mustard Paste and a Julienne of Gherkins with some secret ingredients to make a sharp piquant sauce to go with the pan-fried ‘Medallions’ of Pork Fillet that we are having tonight with glazed batons of Carrots with Ginger and chopped Green Beans - later I made my new Potato dish with diced Smoked Bacon and slices of Potato cooked lightly in Virgin Olive Oil then layered and seasoned and baked in a hot oven with a little Vegetable stock added.

We then went up to the office to watch on one of the PCs the “ Remembrance Sunday” from the Cenotaph; the BBCTV coverage as usual was excellent with the voice of David Dimbleby; the traditional music always brings a lump to our throats and I of course end up with a tear in my eyes, this time it was a mother talking about her young son, a junior officer in the ‘Rifle Regiment’- she had given him on his 21^st birthday before he left a photographic history of his life so far and had left blank spaces in it for the future, Marriage ,children,etc. !!

It was then time to shower and freshen ourselves up before we went out for a walk with the dog; it’s another blue sky day with warm sunshine and a little breeze; we bumped into Mano & Anna by the Mirador, Sally Ann and our friend Barbara where in Bodega Augustin having a coffee and gossip, when the three of then get together it s like the ‘Witches of Eastwick/Manilva’!!!

We came back up to Bar Rojas to meet our friend Antonio for a drink, sat next to us was an English family who live in a town house just before Manilva Green;Neil,from Liverpool, his wife Liz and their two daughters Sarah & Rosie, we have not met them before so we had a good catch up, Rosie is in the same class as Dylan, Sally Ann’s son and Sarah goes to the senior school with Barbara’s son Jake, they have lived here for a couple of years and have been over in Spain for quite a while. Nice to meet them and we are looking forward to seeing the family again.

When we got back to the house we watched the end of the MotorGP from Valencia; Marc Marquez became the youngest ‘Rookie’ winner of the ‘MotoGP World’ title and the Spanish rider Maverick Viales won the ‘Moto3’ title with a thrilling passing move on the final corner and the ‘Moto 2’ title went to another Spanish rider Pol Espargaro!!

Brenda is watching the Tennis,Nadel has just beaten Federer in the first semi-final, later its Djokovic v Wawrinka. Sadly Manchester City have just lost at Sunderland to the next to bottom team in the Premier League 1-0 ! Oh dear – sorry Mano & Carlos.!!

Tonight after supper we will catch up with news and weather together with all the sports results.

Thought for the Day; See above.

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MANILVA TODAY

WEDNESDAY 15^th/ MAY 2013.

This morning as we got up the wind from the Atlantic has started to blow in up the hill to Manilva; it is still warm, at the moment but when you get caught in a blast it is cool, over the next couple of days it is going to be down to 19/20degs.

We have just come back from our walk after getting back from the surgery earlier; Brenda had an appointment to re-new a prescription and I went along to update our doctor on my latest reports – but it was a relief doctor so I will catch up on another day.

I then made the Braised Steak and Onions for dinner tonight; the picture above shows the ‘Mis En Place’ before I head into the small back kitchen were I ‘Perform’ – chopped and cooked Onions,Carrots,Celery,Leeks,Green and White Beans,Lentills,Turnip and Mushrooms. I brown off the steak in seasoned flour and then make the sauce with a ‘Glug’ of Red Wine, Beef and Vegetable stock and the secret ingredients – tonight it goes in the oven and we are having Baby New Potatoes and Cabbage with Alselgas.

This afternoon I will watch stage 11 of the ‘Giro d’Italia’ from Cave Del Predil to Vajont over 182kms – it has only one major climb today with a slight uphill finish.The winner was,wait for it - it's a bit of a mouthful - 'Ramunas Navardauska' from 'Lithuanian' ! No change in the overall standings.

We are both back into our reading and are just about to exchange books, yesterday afternoon we were up on the roof terrace in the warm sunshine for our evening ‘Cocktail Hour’

Tonight it is the Final of the ‘Europa League’ between Benfica and Chelsea taking place in the ‘Amsterdam Arena’ – It’s on 'Cuatro' so we will watch it in comfort in our lounge – the new settee beckons! Last night sadly Wigan were relegated when the lost to Arsenel 4-1 in the Premier League after their great effort on Saturday.

CHELSEA WON ! They beat Benfica in the 93rd minute when Branisav Ivanovic scored a towering header !! 

Thoughts for the Day;

Each success only buys an admission ticket to a more difficult problem. Adversity causes some men to break, others break records.  Anytime you suffer a setback or disappointment, put your head down and plow ahead.

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