A CLOUDY BUT DRY START TO THE WEEKEND IN SUNNY MANILVA. ON FRIDAY.

FRIDAY 7^th/ FEBRUARY 2020.

We had another, well needed, long lie in this morning before the delivery men, dragging the pallets of goods, down to the local shop below us, woke us up!

We then freshened up and called Norah, over in Runcorn, as it’s her birthday today, she has received all her cards, including one from Australia, from ‘Jack & Lyn’ – it  was of course the funeral taking place this morning over in Melbourne ( 10 hours ahead !) – we had a ‘ quiet’ moment as we were going to bed last night, thinking about Lyn, as she set off, to what was going to be a very moving service, with a very large turnout, as Jack was so very well loved by all, “ R.I.P. Jack “

It was then time for our breakfast of toast & tea as we sorted ourselves out for the day and weekend ahead, we will be out on our travels, down to Sabinillas, tomorrow morning for our weekly shopping, at the moment  Brenda is washing/shampooing  her hair and I’m still taking things very easy, getting over the ‘ Bug’ that I picked up, I’m feeling a lot better, the pain has stopped and it’s just the runny nose now, to contend with! I popped along to the local Bank, in ‘ Calle Mar’ for some cash, we are taking things easy for the rest of the day, before showering and getting ready to go our this evening, for supper, with our friends, from Brighton, Kevin ( Birthday-boy) & Caroline, they are picking us up and we are going for a drink and chat before shooting along to ‘La Finca Thai Fusion’ – along the coast past Sotogrande. Watch this space.

Sadly over the past couple of days Andrew Charles has announced that ‘” Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW” is no longer broadcasting from sunny Manilva, he’s closed the station and it’s up for sale, after 8 years, as he moves on to pastures new. It will be sadly missed as he played the best music on the coast and had the selection of shows and presenters to match, of course the ‘Music Quiz & Film Quiz’ were unique, as well as especially the David Sibbald ‘Country Classics ‘ and the ‘Pete Black Retro Roadshow’ – not forgetting, in the past, the “ Sir Malcolm’s Classic Saturday Session “ – that will be missed by all the listeners along the ‘Costa Del Sol’!

This morning has started cloudy and a little overcast, the breeze has dropped and at the moment it’s mild, but with still the threat of the ‘ Wet-Stuff’ hanging in the air, yesterday it stayed dry and by the afternoon the sun broke through, hopefully the same today, as it’s due to reach, later, 18 degs+ - staying the same tomorrow, from Sunday and now all of next week, we are in for a more settled dry and sunny patch, going a little warmer at the start ( 20 degs+)  and then hovering in the high ‘ teens’ – but still with a stiffer breeze by next weekend, watch this space.

Over the weekend our friend Lee is calling in to help with hopefully resetting the ‘IPTV’ system etc, which at the moment only working occasionally, I called ‘ OliveNet’ this morning and they confirmed that they will call next week, after sorting out the technical problems, along ‘ Calle Mar’ with their Fiber-Optic cables, to install the new router etc, ‘ Fingers Crossed’ Watch this space.

At the moment I’m listening to “ Mix 106 fm “ the closest competitor to ‘ Castle Radio FM’ – who at one time, a few years ago were  partners/colleagues, as the station moved to new studios, down in ‘Puerto de la Duquesa Marina’ – it didn’t work out and Andrew moved up here to the village, where he broadcast from his home studio, I have to say it’s not as good as ‘ Castle Radio FM’ – the music library/play list and presenters/programmes are not as good, even if I’m a little prejudice!  

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY, VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE ' FERIA ' WEEKEND.

FRIDAY 28^th/ JULY 2017.   “ FERIA DE SANTA ANA “

I was up early this morning as the rockets were set off to announce the opening of the “ Feria De Santa Ana “ followed by the ‘ Charanga Chichipom ‘ Band coming up our street, see the pictures below.

                                                                With Brenda leaning out of the bedroom balcony !

First to arrive with us in ‘ Doggy World Heaven ‘ was ‘ Chico’ who is with us until Sunday evening, his folks gave me a lift down to Sabinillas, while I was out on my travels ‘ Reina’ was dropped off for the last time this week. ‘Chispa’ is in & out all the time to see us and all her friends.

I called in the ‘ English Bookshop’ for the local English newspapers, I then walked around the corner to the ‘Electrical Goods’ Shop to claim the small remote control along with a side door key to the underground car park, where we now have a reserved spot ( No 100!) Next week I will check out the new system, watch this space.

I then went down to the ‘ Movistar’ shop to check on the installation of the Fiber Optic cables to our house/street? Still no joy, it should have been finished, according to the records on the 6^th April 2017 – he commented 1 week, 1 month, 1 year – ‘ Hasta Manana ‘!! Watch this space.

I then caught a Taxi back up to the village, on the way he stopped at the local market, at the far end of the promenade, so as I could get the fresh flowers and wall plants, the village is jam packed, it’s all happening as they finish off setting up all the attractions/food stalls etc in the ‘ Plaza de la Vendimia’ and around the village, the main large fairground is down by the sports complex.

By the time I was out & about the sun was already out, the sky is bright blue and there is no breeze, we are in for a very hot & sunny weekend, the forecast is for it to reach 38degs+ - at the moment its 34 degs, the overnight temperatures have risen also to 23/24 degs, next week is also looking very hot and sunny, watch this space.

See the picture below of the beach down in Sabinillas this morning.

At lunchtime we went for a nice walk with ' Chico' in the hottest part of the day, see above some pictures of the ' Children's Fairground' on the " Plaza de la Vendimia " and the six main Bars along 'Calle' Mar ready for business this evening, we stopped at ' Bar Castillo' for a nice cool drink before the madness begins, served in glasses, not plastic, at our locals price's! 

This evening we are having our supper before we go out to check out the  ‘Feria’ in Calla Mar and around the local streets, at the same time will be walking ‘ Chico ‘ For our supper we are having ‘ Goujons of Hake Fillet in a ‘ Cruzecampo’ Beer Batter’ with Mushy Peas and twice-cooked diced ‘ Frits ‘ – lots of Lemon wedges on the side and of course my famous Homemade ‘Tartar’ sauce. 

On Saturday evening we are going to go up to ‘Bar Rojas’ for a cools drink and then watch the ‘ Feria Queens ‘ procession go past, we will then come back down to the house for our ‘ Steak ‘ supper before going out again to watch the bands and concert later, ‘ Chico’ will be with us all the time as he likes being out.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A VERY HOT & STICKY SUNNY MANILVA ON ' VENDIMIA ' SATURDAY.

SATURDAY 3^rd / SEPTEMBER 2016.

We had a nice long lie in this morning, which was needed, ‘Reina’ ended up with us for a sleep over as Lee was back home in bed not feeling very well, in work at lunchtime, I got a message yesterday afternoon to let us know, he’s still not well this morning and Daniela has a job at lunchtime so she will collect her early this evening, ‘ Charlie’ is due later this morning ( he’s just arrived ) for a two day sleep over as Brian & Jan are going away to Malaga for the weekend, both the dogs get on very well together and ‘ Chispa’ who has been here all morning is also joining in, here in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’!

Yesterday turned out to be a ‘ Helluva’ Day, for Brenda ‘ Hell’ and for Malcolm a ‘ Special ‘ Day.

‘ Brenda’s Brown Day’

In the morning Brenda was shampooing her hair down in the small bathroom and I was upstairs in the shower, I put the plug in the bath, just in case I lose my ‘Antique’ & very expensive Ear Ring, as I let out the water there was a scream from below, it was Brenda shouting that the toilet was overflowing around her feet with lots of the Brown ‘ Stuff’! To say that she was not happy is an understatement to say the least!! We were making plans to move out to Mano & Anna’s or the local Hotel!!

I rang the maintenance people and they sent around two men, they confirmed that the main drain was blocked, the one that we were waiting to be repaired, they then called for the man with the ‘Rods’ and also the local Water Board, they also all confirmed the same and the man with the ‘ Rods’ said that we needed the Drain Blockage Van ‘ASAP’ ( Vendimia Friday afternoon!) – all this happened as I was out at the ‘ Castle Radio’ launch party( more later!) The result was that arrived very quickly and cleared the main drains that were blocked, thankfully not collapsed, as I arrived home full of the joys of spring they were packing up, Brenda was not very happy with  the world and sunny Manilva!!

‘ Malcolm’s Yellow Day ‘

Meanwhile as this was happening, we didn’t think that anybody would arrive to fix things at the that time of the day, I shot off down to Puerto Duquesa’ for the ‘ Cava & Buffet’ launch party of the new ‘Castle Radio’ studio complex and station, Andrew met me and gave me the ‘Yellow Station’ tee shirt to put on, showing that I was one of the team and that my show will be back on ‘Air’ soon, broadcasting ‘live’ from my studio here in sunny Manilva, I was introduced to the new Station Manager & Presenter, Sid Olivera, all the new full time presenters, the regular presenters including Pete Black & Roger Michael with their wives, the new Owners etc – the place was bouncing, there was a live music act, the ‘Cava’ was flowing!

The new Studio is spectacular as you can see in the picture above, watch this space & listen ‘ Sir’ Malcolm’s Classic Show ‘ will return!!

All this took place on a very hot & clammy day, it’s the same today, very hot & sticky, the weekend ahead is going to be a ‘hot one’ to say the least! See below Puerto Duquesa yesterday afternoon.

On the menu front it’s all change, last night’s ‘ Seafood Risotto’ was cancelled, Lee had already cancelled as he was not well and we didn’t feel like going to all the trouble, I popped out to the local ‘Chippy’  - ‘ Marlow’s’ just past Sabinillas, on the coast road, for their ‘Special Haddock, Chips & Mushy Peas’ We are having the ‘Seafood Risotto’ later this evening, this morning I’ve just made a large pan of my very famous ‘ Beef, Vegetable& Potato Stew’ – ‘ SCOUSE’ !

This weekend there is no football in the ‘Premiere League & La Liga’ etc as its either International ‘Friendlies’ or ‘Qualifers’ for the World Cup, over in Italy its the ‘Grand Prix’ ( Hamilton looking fast in practice )- he's just taken the Pole position - and here in Spain the ‘ Vuelta d’Esapana’ is in the Pyrenees for two days, see the route maps below for today’s Stage 14,’  Chris Froome or Quintara’ to fight out for the race leaders Red Jersey, watch this space.

At the moment we are taking things easy, Brenda has just had a shower ( all clear!) – later I will take Charlie out for his first walk and check out how the ‘Festival’ preparations are  coming along in Calle Mar, we are in for another ‘ Helluva’ Weekend here in sunny Manilva.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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