A STILL WARM AND SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND;

FRIDAY 26^th/ SEPTEMBER 2014.

We shot down to the local market first for some fresh flowers after a quick breakfast; then I was time to go down to Sabinillas for our weekly shopping, we called into the English bookshop for the papers and a birthday card for Brenda’s nephew and then carried on to ‘Mercadona’ and ‘Super Sol’

We are dodging the showers at the moment; the forecast is changing by the hour, the fronts/depressions are coming in off the Atlantic brining a little colder weather with them as well as the wet stuff! At the moment it’s warm and sunny here in sunny Manilva!

This means that we are down to 25/26 degs –hopefully this evening will stay OK as we are going down to the ‘Castillo de la Duquesa’ to the Council ‘Otono’ - ‘Autumn’ Presentation, the first ‘act’ on the stage is Daniela ( Reina’s mum!) who is also a singer at local bars and restaurants as well as her full-time job as an accountant for the company that her husband works for also, in Gibraltar!

Afterwards we are coming back into the Duquesa Marina to go for a Thai supper at ‘Restaurante Asiatico Kinnarre Thai’ It reminds us that this time last year Kelvin & Gaye were here for my birthday and we went to ‘La Sala’ for lunch, their card arrived in the post this morning, the post is getting a lot better from England, some cards come within two days! I also had a rather special birthday card from Zoë & Graham over in Manchester, it was a personalized card with my name on it and their message also printed, very posh! Thanks!! See the the pictures below of the two cards!

On Facebook there are messages also still coming in especially from new found Spanish friends and old ones from the past in North Wales including Llandudno.

At lunchtime our Swedish friend Lillemor is calling in so we are going down to ‘Bodegon Andaluz’ for a little light Tapas lunch and drink to start the day off as we intend to carry on with later. Our ‘Happy Hour’ cocktails will be a little earlier this evening before we set off! See the picture below.

Last night after watching the news, sport and weather details we channel hopped and found a Mel Gibson film to watch ,we has seen it before but it was still good. Later I watched on TVE 2 a documentary film about ‘Casting Directors’ for movies, it showed the film stars from their first screen tests and how they became famous as they were discovered, they were then shown today talking about the early days; it was fascinating and the list off stars was unbelievable – Clint Eastwood,Al Pacino,Robert De Nerio,Dustin Hoffman,Jon Voight,John Travolta,Gene Hackman, Merly Streep,Jodie Foster,Glen Close,Susan Saradin and a host more to many to mention!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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WARM AND SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY;

SATURDAY 17^th/ MAY 2014.

It’s the start of another ‘Helluva’ weekend in sunny Manilva both on the weather front and social front! Today it’s warm and sunny with more over the weekend and into next week, the sea breeze is dropping but the Mediterranean is still crashing onto the beaches down in Sabinillas as you can see in the pictures above.

Tomorrow we are going out for a late ‘Spanish’ lunch with Claus & Doreen at ‘Victor’s’ restaurant at the ‘Manilva Green Aparthotel’ – our reservation is confirmed and Brenda is at the moment trying to find something to wear ! We are looking forward to lunch out for a change!!

At the moment I’ am watching the ‘BBC TV’ Breakfast Show on the smaller PC before ‘Saturday Morning Kitchen’ – on the larger PC as you can see I’ am typing the Blog; later I will be upstairs in the office to watch the ‘Match of the Day’ over here in Spain as Barcelona welcome Atletico Madrid in the final ‘La Liga’ game of the season which will decide who wins the title, Barcelona if they win will be the champions on goal difference – any other result and Atletico Madrid will win!

I've been watching both games upstairs in the office with the half time drinks brought up to me! On the smaller PC I'am still watching the Cup Final via my 'FilmOn' connection on ITV - extra time being played after a 2-2 draw,meanwhile on the large PC I have just watched via my 'First Row Sports' connection in Portugese the Barcelona v Atletico Madrid game - sadly it was 1-1 so Atletico are the 'Champions' !! - since they last won it in 1996 !!

Meanwhile back in England it’s the ‘FA Cup Final’ with Arsenal playing Hull( first time) at Wembley; over in Germany its their cup final as Bayern Munich play Dortmund; tomorrow it’s the ‘French Motor GP’ at ‘Le Mans'

Bayern Munich won the German Cup Final 0-2 !

Arsenal have just won their first trophy in nine years as they beat Hull 3-2 !

Last night as we were watching the late film on one channel we also were following the tennis on another as it was a classic ‘Clay-Court’ game as Nadel the ‘King of Clay’ played Andy Murray in the quarter final in Rome, it did not start until after 9-00pm and finished after midnight in a cool and damp night – Nadel won after losing the first set and being down in the final set – if it had been on grass Murray would have won!

Tonight’s supper is ‘Steak a la Plancha’ – just cooked medium- rare on the griddle plate with sautéed Mushrooms, finely sliced Green Beans and Baked Potato, Brenda’s with Garlic buds and mine topped with a fried ‘Campo’ Egg!

Later after watching the news, sport and weather updates we will find a film to watch; last nights movie was a classic cow boy story co-written, directed by and starring Ed Harris “ Apaloosa ” from 2005 with Viggo Mortensen,Geremy Irons and Renne Zellweger.

Thought for the Day; See above.

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SUNNY AND WARM MANILVA ON SATURDAY

SATURDAY 5^th/ OCTOBER 2013.

We had a nice lie in this morning, no crickets, the sun is out and it’s getting warmer by the minute; after our tea and toast I was back up in the office trying to get on-line to watch “ Saturday Morning Kitchen” on the smaller PC which has a different server on which I have the ‘Film On’ channel on which I can watch English TV in full –screen; last weekend they launched from Russia the new rocket/satellite that is going to take over from the old one and then you will not be able to watch in Spain any of the English channels from the satellite dish’s and free on-line systems!

Are you following all this? We don’t have these systems by choice but the ‘Film On’ channel is the new way to watch the English TV by connecting your PC to the main TV! I’ am ahead of the game but sadly this morning I could not get the contact so no ‘Saturday Morning Kitchen’!!

Brenda has just got back from a long walk with dog around the village as I was in the kitchen getting things on the go for the weekend; tonight we are having, again, ‘Steak Poivrade’ as we enjoyed it last week, so the first thing is to crack the Black Peppercorn’s with the rolling pin! I’ve trimmed and seasoned the steaks and then blanched the chips, Brenda is getting her finely sliced Green Beans ready meanwhile. The Spanish Lamb Cutlets/Chops are thinner than a English cut but are still ideal for the ‘Lancashire Hot Pot’ which I will get ready in the morning

It looks like we will be able to go up on the roof terrace later for our ‘Happy Hour’ and start our new ‘Patterson’s’ The weather in the rest of Spain is very wet with heavy storms but as usual down here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’ we are missing it all – at the moment !

This afternoon I’ am planning to watch the Manchester' Blues' game as it’s the early kick-off; then I will catch the rest of the football results here and over in England later. At the ‘Korean Grand Prix’ Vettle is on pole for tomorrow’s race,again,boring! The tennis from the ‘China Open’ in Beijing is on TDP so Brenda has been watching that .

Full time score; Manchester City 3 Everton 1  - sorry Big Bri !
Full time score; Liverpool 3 Crystal Palace 1  - sorry Big Bri,again as Liverpool go top of the 'Premier League !!

Tonight after supper we will find a film to watch as I channel-hop.

Thought for the Day; See below for a change !

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