A WARM AND SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY;

SUNDAY 19^th/ OCTOBER 2014.

First job this morning was to take ‘Scruffy’ out for his early morning walk; he’s back to normal and ate everything we gave him yesterday and is full of the joys of ‘Autumn’ today; the sun is out and its warm all ready, the forecast for the next few days at the start of the week is for more of the same, all over Spain records are being broken for October, in Northern Spain yesterday in Bilbao it was 30/31degs! Down here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’ it’s the best year from before records were started!!

The Atlantic Hurricane ‘Gonzalo’ is due to hit the UK on Tuesday so be prepared, up in Pori in Finland they are into the low temperatures, it was -3 yesterday, Lilli will be looking forward to coming back to sunny Manilva this coming Friday!

We have just had our normal breakfast and as we are not roasting today we have an easy day doing nothing – he, he! Brenda is washing her long hair and showering and I will do the same later with my long hair!!

After we went for a nice slow walk with the dog around our part of the village,we bumped into 'Abuela Antonia Rojas' Carlos's wife mother who was 'Bar Rojas' for many years,we had a nice chat,then as we walked down Calle Duquesa we bumped into Diego,the Mayor 'Elect', sat outside his family home; we had a very good chat with him and wished him all the best for the future,he wrote a very nice message on Facebook about Antonia this morning, it was just right and put things into perspective. 

Just a quick catch up on the football results from yesterday; Manchester City beat Spurs 4-1 with Aguerro scoring all four goals including two penalties and missing one,Jo Hart saved a penalty for City also! Everton made ‘Bi Bri’ a very happy bunny as they beat Aston Villa 3-0 – how are you Brian, we have not see or heard from you for a while?! Liverpool play this afternoon v QPR. Over here Real Madrid won 0-5 at Levante and Barcelona beat Eiber 3-1.Liverpool won 2-3 !

Meanwhile over at the ‘Australian Motor GP’ at Philips Island  it was all rather exciting as Marques slid off and the great Valentino Rossi won, his sixth win in Australia, his 108^th victory of his career and his 82^nd in Motor GP!! The young British rider Bradley Smith was 3rd.

So this evening we are having one of our favorite lighter suppers! Griddled ‘Turkey Escalope’ finished in foaming Lemon Butter, served with savory Basmati Rice, local Green Beans and a rich and creamy Mushroom sauce on the side. See below.

The pictures above show the latest 'Bird' they serve at the newly opened " Mockingbird Taproom "in Chester, the sixth Gastropub in the 'New Moon Pub Company' empire!  Devised by David,Jane's husband, as you can see its a whole Chicken roasted/ steamed on a open 'Beer Can'( Freedom IPA!) after being rubbed with the 'Marinade' of your choice !! The flavor of the beer keeps the Chicken moist inside and its crisp on the outside !!

PS; This could appear on the Menu in the not too distant future !!

During our early evening walk with 'Scruffy' along Calle Mar we bumped into Brian,Carlos,Andy & Maria sat outside 'Bar Plaza' - so we had a good catch up and gossip - Brian is off on Friday so I've been made redundant, he's going to pick Lilli up! Andy asked if we could look after his African Grey Parrot ' Charlie' the first week in  November - he is no problem and is not bothered by the dogs! 

Last night after watching the news and sports updates we channel hopped as it’s not a good film night and ended up watching the American TV series “ Blue Blood ” with Tom Selleck. Tonight there are some good films to choose from.

Thought for the Day; See above.

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GREY AND OVERCAST IN SUNNY MANILVA TODAY

SUNDAY 15^th/ DECEMBER 2013.

This morning I awoke to not feeling at my best, in fact lousy so after a mug of tea and some toast I took a tablet and went back to bed! This means that we are now going to roast the Chicken on Tuesday when Andy and Maria are joining us for supper, the Pork Chops will go away for another day! Brenda them pottered about the house, got something out for supper this evening and then took the dog for a walk; I got up at lunchtime and had a nice bowl of the Minestrone soup with some Melba toast that Brenda made especially. I then had a nice leisurely shave and shower and got myself sorted out.

As I settled into the office there was a message on Facebook from Jane with some rather sad news, a very dear friend and our wine merchant for many years Rodney Densem has died suddenly, no details yet but our deep condolences and thoughts go out to his family at the particular time.

This afternoon after typing the blog I’ am going to watch the Tottenham v Liverpool match on the large PC before settling down and getting myself sorted for the week ahead; tomorrow morning we are going down on the early bus as we have some more messages and shopping to do, a new set of small white Xmas lights from the Chinese bazaar for the tree as one set has blown, cards from the bookshop, the bank, vegetables from the market if its open and then our English shopping from ‘Super Sol’

Spurs 0 LIVERPOOL 5 !!!!! - Outplayed by a brilliant LIVERPOOL !

I’ am going to cancel my tests at the surgery until the start of the New Year as my appointments at the hospital are not until early February and also I will be feeling a lot better! Andy and Maria are coming for our pre-Xmas supper with them on Tuesday and it’s the Xmas Carol Concert on Thursday evening, then our last shop before Xmas on Friday morning!

The weather forecast has just been on and there is still no sign of any rain next week with sunshine and the temperatures hovering around the 17/19 degs mark! Today it’s a little overcast and grey so it’s definitely an at home day. Tonight for supper we are now going to have one of our favorite comfort meals; flattened Breast of Chicken pan-fried in foaming Lemon Butter with thick-cut sautéed Baked Potatoes and Green Beans. Hopefully I will be feeling a lot better for the week ahead as I'am still not quiet right now!

Thought for the Day; See above.

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SUNNY AND STILL WARM MANILVA ON SUNDAY;

SUNDAY 17^TH/ NOVEMBER 2013.

We had a nice lie in this morning after being out late last night as we were picking Andy up from the airport on Malaga; the drive over and back along the ‘Infamous’ N340 along the coast is even more dangerous at night as most of the lights are out due to the various councils still be in dispute with ‘Junta De La Andalusia’ about who should pay for them, only two accidents as we passed and one dangerous move when one boy racer tried to cut us up coming in from the right!

Maria is working today at a local Bar down in Sabinillas so they are picking Charlie up later after she has finished; we will miss him as he is a bit of a character and good company at the same time! This morning we have nothing to get ready as we are not having a Sunday roast so we had a long shower and Brenda washed her hair, Tim called on the Skype video to confirm the details for tomorrow morning, we are going across a little earlier just in case the Spanish Guardia Civil are ‘Acting’ up at the border! Andy is lending us his car which is a little bigger and faster so we will shoot down with no problems, Brenda is going to walk across to meet Tim off the plane and at the same time she will be able to call into the shop for some essential makeup that she needs!

We are then taking Tim into La Linea to go to our favourite Tapas Bar ‘ La  Bodeguiya’ to start his short holiday as we mean to go on! Watch out for the pictures tomorrow.

At lunchtime we went for a nice walk with the dog around the village is the warm sunshine, yes its still here and out! The sky is clear and blue and the views across to the valley to mountains and down to the Mediterranean were spectacular as we came back to Bar Rojas for a nice cool drink sat under the Sonbrajo with our friend Antonio taking in sights and sounds of sunny and tranquil Manilva.

Later the ‘Grand Prix of America’ from Austin in Texas is on with Vettel once again on pole, last night over in Equatorial Guinea Spain won 1-2. This evening for supper we are having flattened Turkey Breast cooked in foaming Lemon Butter served on a bed of Basmati rice with chopped Green Beans and a sauceboat of my rich and creamy Mushroom sauce. We will then catch up with weather forecast and then the late film.

Thought for the Day; See above.

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