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

FRIDAY 20^th/FEBRUARY 2015.

No lie in this morning as we are going down to Sabinillas for our weekly shopping after having our breakfast, this morning the sun was out first thing and the sky is blue, the breeze has dropped and it’s the most beautiful day here in sunny Manilva, the weekend is looking even better and at the start of next week its getting warmer.

On the way down through the vine fields they are burning off the old branches which creates a lovely ‘Smokey’ aroma, you can’t believe that the very old and knar’ led vine bushes which hug the ground will be in a couple of months all green with their leaves.

We called into the bank for some cash and then Brenda said that we needed petrol as the gauge was down to zero, I glanced and so stopped at the garage for petrol, we now have a full tank as she had read the wrong gauge and was reading the temperature gauge!! The co-driver/navigator has been spoken too!

Our first stop was at ‘Mercadona’ and then next at ‘Super Sol’ before shooting back up the hills to unload; we were greeted by ‘Chispa’ as usual she always wants to get in the car! I shot along to the chemist for my tablets while Brenda was packing away the goods.

We then went for a nice long walk around the village with the dog, as you can see in the pictures above, no coats or scarves needed, they have started to clear the old masonry away from the Casa de Torres, in the Plaza de la Vendimia the council workmen are re-placing the tiles of the large mural that have come down in the last couple of months, the village is looking in pristine condition, all the plant pots are looked after and watered regularly.

This evening, for a change, I’m making a ‘Seafood Risotto’ using Prawns, Gambas, Langustinos, Mussels, Cockles, Octopus & Cod; I’m using ‘Saffron Rice’ for a change along with finely diced Red & Green Peppers,Garden Peas & Baby Broad Beans and a good Fish stock! See below;

After supper we will as usual catch up with all the news, sport and weather details before settling down to find a film to watch.

PS; We have just found out that earlier this morning Lumy's mother has died in hospital suddenly, we were told by Isobel when Brenda took 'Chispa' home but we could not work out which 'Ana;' she was talking about; after making enquiries around our neighbors we realized it was Lumy's ( Bar Rojas) dear mother.Our thoughts go out to all the family at this very sad time.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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STILL SUNNY AND WARM MANILVA AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND

FRIDAY 25^th/ OCTOBER 2013.

This morning we have just come back from the shopping down in Sabinillas, I went to the bank while Brenda called into the fruit & vegetable market, we then did our regular shopping at ‘Mercadona’ and then some English goods from ‘Super Sol’ before calling into the English Bookshop, the owner recommended we read “Michael Connelly” as he is similar to ‘James Patterson’ instead of ‘Jack Higgins’s I’ve exchanged some books and picked two to try!

We then went for a good walk with dog as the weather is fine, in fact it’s warm with a little sun, the bad stuff is tomorrow but then on Sunday we are back to normal! We picked up some fresh flowers from our local market and stopped at the butchers for some Braising steak as we are going to have for a change on Sunday ‘Braised Steak with Mushrooms and Onions’ and on Saturday evening ‘Escalope of Breast of Turkey’ with savory rice and a creamy Mushroom sauce; tonight we are using the rest of the ‘Panga’ as Goujons as we picked up some fresh breadcrumbs from the bakery, I’ve just made the Tartar sauce and blanched the chips ready for tonight’s supper.

This weekend on the sports front it’s the “Indian Grand Prix” at the ‘Budda International Circuit’ and over at the ‘Twin Ring Motegi Circuit’ in Japan the Motor GP – the first two practice sessions have been cancelled due to the fog! The big football game over the weekend is the first ‘El Clasico’ of the season “ Barcelona v Real Madrid” while over in England Liverpool are at home to West Brom,Everton are at Aston Villa and on Sunday its another big game as Chelsea play Manchester City!

Tonight is a good film night on all the Spanish channels so we will find a film to watch later. " Ramsom" from 1996 starring Mel Gibson,over acting, Rene Russo,Gary Sinise,Delroy Lindo and the young actor Brawley Nolte?! in a kidnapped story with a few twists !

Thought for the Day; See above.

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MANILVA OVER THE WEEKEND.

FRIDAY 13th JULY 2012.


Well it is certainly getting hotter as the days go on and at night we are still in the mid 20s! This morning, Friday we went down to Sabinillas for the shopping and pick up the papers and books as well as some flowers; in the afternoon I watched the Tour, David Millar won stage 12 as Wiggins retained the Yellow jersey, Millar was in a five-man breakaway on the 226km. race and becomes the fourth Britain on this yeas Tour to win a stage! Later we went up on the roof terrace for our drinks and started reading our new books; the English bookshop owner had secured a copy of “ The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest ”especially for me on their book-exchange scheme – it is the third book in ‘ Stig Larsson’s ’ “ Millennium Trilogy ” after “ The Girl who Played with Fire ” ( Brenda has just started it ) and the first one “ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ” Sadly Stig Larsson died before the books became world wide reading sensations; the first one has just be made into a film with Daniel Craig in the main part and Rooney Mars as the ‘ Girl ’

At this time of the year down here on the Costa Del Sol it the time for the open air concerts ; this year the list is rather special, Stig,Brian Ferry, The Four Tops, The Gipsy Kings, Gloria Gaynor,Boney M,Chaka Khan,Sister Sledge, Le Chic with Niles Rodgers just to name a few ! They all perform, mainly in small venue’s at the posh hotels and the tickets are rather expensive to say the least!

Last night as we were just starting our supper who should come crashing in trough the shutters but ‘ Cheta ’- she had returned from her holiday down at the ‘ Campo ’ It was great to see her and we think she missed us as much as we missed her !! Our supper was rather nice; Pan fried small tail fillets of Salmon in a Lemon Butter sauce with some very nice ‘Langoustine’s in Breadcrumbs’ – shallow fried crisp (They were on the new Specials Fish Counter) You can eat all of them including the tails and they were delicious with lots of Lemon juice – on the side we had crisp square Chips and Garden Peas – to finish the platter there was a ‘Chef’y ’ spoon of my famous Tomato Salsa that I made in the morning!

Later we watched on one of the local Andalusia channels a recorded live concert from last year starring somebody that we did not know; “ Jose Manuel Sato ” It took place in the bullring ( as lots of concerts do ) in Seville – he is a local man born and he was joined by all his friends who sang all their songs with him and accompanied by his excellent big-band ! The music is a mix of Samba/Fandango/Ballads with haunting rhythms – rather nice to listen to and watch “


Thought for the Day;


A smile is a curve that sets everything straight,



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MANILVA THIS WEEK.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY 29th/30th DECEMBER 2011.

Well the weather at the moment is just gorgeous and the forecast for the New Year weekend is more of the same; after a long walk with Cheta, on Thursday morning, we came back to the house and gave her feet a little ‘Dobby’ to smarten her up; Brenda was up on the roof terrace all afternoon and caught the sun on her front this time! Meanwhile I started watching on the BBCIPlayer “Great Expectations” and caught the first two episodes; as usual it is the BBC at its best; the cast is just right, with Ray Winston and Gillian Anderson in the main roles and the lavish adaptation is mesmerizing- more to come. As it is the holiday period it is also film time on all the channels and so we are watching more, especially with our language changer working! “ Gandhi ” was very good with Ben Kingsley in the main role and directed by Richard Attenborough-in another life we did not have the time to watch films from start to finish so we are making up now! We are also into ‘Poldark ’as it is on at a time in the early evening when we can watch it, episode after episode! Last night we watched a terrific film “Zodiac”which is about two San Francisco journalists’s played by Jake Gillenhall and Robert Downey Jnr, who are obsessed with trying to track down a serial killer, the story starts in 1969 and comes to an end in 2002! I won’t spoil it for you anymore but the surprise at the end is that it is a true story!!
For supper we had something a little different, Brenda had ‘Confit of Duck Leg ’ I am not a great lover of Duck and I had ‘Albondegas,Meatballs, in Tomato Sauce’ which I had made earlier in the day.

Today, Friday, we went down to Sabinillas to top up the store cupboard; we got a lift down and a lift back so it did not take us long, we then walked down to the market in the village for fresh flowers and vegetables and fruit and on the way back stopped at the butchers for our Saturday night steak ! We have treated ourselves to another whole ‘Rodalballo’ Turbot for tonight’s dinner; Brenda is having it with Fresh Asparagus and I’m having Garden Peas, we have also got some lovely small New Potatoes which we have found in a wholesale vegetable supplier down in Sabinillas. The latest picture below at the top is Amelia’s, Juan wife and Mano’s best friend, window display in her shop in the village, the council is running a competition for the best one – Watch this space.

PS; The Turbot was in Brenda's words ' Amazing '


Thought for the Day;


I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet. ‘Gandhi ’



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