A ' CRISP' & SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY.

SATURDAY 7^th/ DECEMBER 2019.

I was up very early this morning and after a quick freshen up I shot off on my travels, through the vine fields, as the sun was just rising above the Mediterranean, down to Sabinillas, for our weekly shopping, I called into ‘ItsZabar’ for my toast & tea, before the newly refurbished ‘ Mercadona’  opened.  

It took a little longer as the supermarket has been totally redesigned, I then popped along to the ‘ English Bookshop’ for the local newspapers, before calling into ‘ Super Sol’ for the ‘English’ essentials.

Meanwhile back at the house Brenda took ‘ Sunny’ out for her first walk of the day, she slept all night downstairs on the settees, she’s eating well and has found her ‘spots’ around the village, she is sat at my feet as I’m typing/posting today’s Blog, tomorrow ‘ Chico’ is due to arrive, he’s with us until Thursday morning, Sunny is being collected on Monday lunchtime, little ‘ Miss Bella’ is back with us on Tuesday/Wednesday.

Yesterday evening we went down to the ‘Plaza de la Vendemia’ to check out the food stalls in the annual ‘ Xmas Gastronomic Food, Wine & Music Festival ‘ – as you can see below. The new ‘ Xmas Lights with Music ’ along ‘ Calle Mar’ were turned on by the Mayor, Mario, as you can also see below in yesterdays Blog, later in the evening they turned back on the street lamp posts, it then looked a lot brighter, so this evening I will take some more pictures ( see below) - the music playing is traditional ‘Xmas Parranda Band ‘ -  there are over 13,000 bulbs!  The ‘Festival’ is carrying on today with more Music, Singing & Dancing, including the local ‘Wine’ competition, see below.

As usual we will be out & about today walking ‘ Sunny’ and checking out the ‘ Festival’ – yesterday lunchtime ‘ Bar Rojas’ re-opened as a ‘ Pizzeria’ – sadly when we called in they had no ‘Bacardi’ – so we ended up back at ‘ Bar Castillo’ sat outside in the warm sunshine!

This morning as the sun broke through, the sky cleared, leaving just a few patchy clouds, the very light breeze was still cooling, so by lunchtime it’s only going to reach 17 degs+  with sunshine,  tomorrow a little warmer, next week has now settled down, it’s going to be dry & sunny, with patchy clouds at times, hovering in the high ‘ teens’ – 19/20degs+ overnight down to 11/12 degs – on Thursday when we are going across to see the Malaga ‘ Xmas Light’ spectacular, as the next ‘ Atlantic’ front has moved on, it’s now going to be crisps & dry! Watch this space.

At lunchtime, today, we ended up sat outside ' Bar Castillo' in the warm sunshine, with nice cool drinks, taking in the sights & sounds of a very sunny Manilva.

On the sports front this weekend; over in the ‘ Premiere League’  Everton are at home to Chelsea, Liverpool have the long trip down to play AFC Bournemouth and over in Manchester it’s the ‘ Derby Game’ as ‘City’ welcome ‘ Utd’! Here in ‘La Liga’ Real Madrid are at home to Espanyol & Barcelona welcome Mallorca. The ‘ National Hunt Racing’ this afternoon is from Aintree and  Sandown Park.

For our supper this evening we are having a large ‘ Grilled Rib of Beef’ – on the bone, cooked on a very hot griddle-plate ‘ Med-Rare’ – then left to rest before taking it off the bone and slicing it into fingers ‘ French ‘ style, garnished with seared Asparagus Spears & Button Mushrooms, with a classic ‘Bearnaise’ sauce. Served with Baby Whole ‘ French’ Green Beans and triple-cooked ‘ Frits’

Tomorrow for our supper we are having ‘ Braised Lamb Shanks’ in a ‘ Mint Gravy’ served with a selection of fresh, local, Vegetables and ‘ Goose Fat’ Baby Roast Potatoes!

This evening after supper we will channel hop and later watch the next gripping episode of ‘ The Sinner ‘

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A ' CRISP & FRESH' SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY.

SATURDAY 23^rd/ NOVEMBER 2019.

After a little lie in this morning and a quick freshen up I shot off on my travels ( short this week) down to Sabinillas, I called into ‘ Super Sol’ and did our main shop (smaller than usual) before stopping at the ‘ English Bookshop’ for the local newspapers etc, I then found a place to park, by the ‘Movistar’ office, and they printed out the ‘Bill/Document’ that I need – ‘ RESULT’

Hopefully ‘ Big Brian’ is going to call in ( tomorrow) and help me finish the ‘Online Documents’ to set the process on the way, with ‘OliveNet’ for our new ‘Router/Fiber Optic¡ system,  they have confirmed that we are able to be connected to their lines along ‘Calle Mar’ – Brian will then stop for his ‘ Sunday Roast Supper’ again!

I then came back up the hill, through the now bare vine fields, and after unpacking back at the house I went back down to the underground car park, sadly, there was a car/van parked in my reserved spot ( No 100!) – I’m going to call into the ‘ Town Hall’ first thing on Monday morning, to the responsible department to sort things out, watch this space.

All of yesterday and into the late evening we had moderate/heavy rain storms, with strong gusts of wind, overnight it stayed dry with a stiff breeze, rattling the shutters, this morning the sky has cleared and is blue, the sun it attempting to break through, the stiff breeze is keeping it ‘ Fresh & Crisp’ in the shade,  by lunchtime it’s going to reach 16/17 degs+ - overnight down to 11/12 degs – tomorrow is going to be the same, as the breeze drops a little, next week is now looking more settled, as the next ‘ Atlantic’ front comes in, bringing with it sunshine with patchy clouds, as the breeze drops down, going a little warmer each day, by Thursday back up to 20/21 degs+ and staying like that over next weekend, about normal for the time of the year, watch this space.

On the sports front this weekend; over in the ‘Premiere League’ Everton welcome Norwich City, Liverpool travel down the M6/M1 to play Crystal Palace & Manchester City are at home to Chelsea, over here in ‘La Liga’ Real Madrid welcome Real Sociedad & Barcelona travel to Leganes. The ‘ National Hunt Racing’ this afternoon is from Haydock Park & Ascot.

For our supper this evening we are having ‘ Grilled Entrecote Steaks’ – ‘French’ trimmed and smeared with Dijon Mustard, then ‘ Flash’ grilled on a very hot griddle-plate ‘ Med-Rare’ – then left to rest, garnished with seared Asparagus Spears, Button Mushrooms & Baby Shallots, served with whole Baby ‘French’ Green Beans and triple-cooked ‘ Frits’

We are having a nice relaxing weekend as Brenda is still not feeling 100% and back to normal, tomorrow evening we have arranged a ‘ Skype’ video call with Sandra & Bill, over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, for a catch up with all their news, as usual Brenda will call Jenny, during the day, on a ‘ Skype’ audio call, this evening we will watch ‘ Strictly Come Dancing’ – last night we watched ‘ “ The World’s Most Scenic Train Journeys “ -  this week in Norway, from Oslo to Bodo inside the Artic Circle, over 850 kms, narrated by ‘Bill Nighy’ -   we then caught the ‘ Graham Norton Show’ with Lewis Hamilton, who was very interesting and Kylie Minogue singing ‘ Live’ – after supper we will channel hop to film a good film to watch.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY ' CRISP & COLD' SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND.

FRIDAY 15^th/ NOVEMBER 2019.

I was up early this morning and after a quick freshen up I shot off on my travels, down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ for our weekly shopping etc! My first port of call was going along the coast road to ‘Mercadona’ for our main shop, I then came back to Sabinillas and dropped down to the far-end of the promenade to the local market, for our fresh flowers & wall plants, next I collected the local newspapers from the ‘English Bookshop’

It was then time to go along to the ‘ English Butchers’ down in the ‘Puerto de la Duquesa Marina’ to order our ‘ Xmas Turkey’ and stock up with various essentials, as well as a nice joint of ‘Top-Side of Beef’ – boned & rolled, for our ‘ Sunday Roast’!

Finally I came back into Sabinillas and called into the ‘Council Offices’ to book our tickets, at the ‘ Foreign Residents Departments’ – for the coach trip to see the new ‘ Xmas Lights’ in Malaga,s - ‘Calle Larios’ in December,  the ‘ old-ones’ have been sold to the ‘Liverpool Council’!  

After unloading back at the house I found a spot to park the car, I was lucky and found the same spot outside the ‘Wine Museum’ by the side, on the main road! On the way back to the house I went into the ‘Town Hall’ and chased up the documents/bureaucracy, to arrange the payment for our parking spot in the refurbished underground car park, which is due to open next week, hopefully, watch this space.

This morning the sun was out early and sky was clear and blue, with patchy clouds, as there was a very cold/stiff breeze blowing up from the Mediterranean, making it very ‘ Crisp & Fresh’ to be out & about, by lunchtime it’s forecast to only reach 14 degs+ - overnight dropping down to 9 degs and on Saturday 6 degs!  It’s going to be the same tomorrow, before the new cold & wet ‘ Atlantic’ front comes in on Sunday, bringing with it stiffer winds, with lots of moderate to heavy ‘ RAIN’ for most of next week, with just a little sunshine and patchy clouds, the overall temperatures hovering in the mid ‘ teens’ ( 14/15 degs)  – by our standards ‘ Cold’ for the time of the year! Watch this space.

This weekend Tim & Thea are on their way down to Portsmouth today, they are then catching the ferry to Santander on Saturday morning, on Sunday evening stopping at a Hotel past Madrid, before ending up back down in ‘Mojacar Playa’ on Monday afternoon, where they have rented an apartment! ‘

It’s the start of a ‘ New Life ‘ as they have sold their house in Old Colwyn,  Colwyn Bay, North Wales, we wish them a ‘ Helluva’ time down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ and sunny Spain!!

For a change see below some pictures of classic ‘ Steam Trains’ – two  “ LMS Stanier ‘Black Fives’ “ 4-6-0 locomotives, on the Settle to Carlisle line, approaching and crossing the World famous ‘Ribbleshead Viaduct’( 24 spans!) – opened in 1876, it’s 440 yards long and 104 feet high,  it took nearly five year to build/construct, with a large workforce of over 2.300 men, which over 100 hundred lost their lives during the construction!

See below;       

For our supper this evening we are having a treat, as I bought two fresh ‘ Linguado - Soles ‘ – from the fish market in ‘Mercadona’ -  they took off the black skins and gutted and trimmed them, I also bought some fresh/local ‘Gambas’ to garnish them with, I will ‘ Pan-Fry/Grill’ them, in Butter & Vegetable Oil, after dusting them with a little seasoned flour, then before serving them I will fillet them, and finish them ‘ A La Meuniere’ style, served with Broccoli Florets & Garden Peas, with Baby New Potatoes in their skins, tossed in Parsley Butter.

We have cancelled our ‘ Steak Night’ on Saturday evening, as we are going to have a ‘light supper’ in front of the TV, as we watch ‘ Strictly Come Dancing’ live from the Blackpool Tower Ballroom! On Sunday it’s going to be the ‘Roast Top-Side of Beef ‘ with Yorkshire Puddings, finger-licking Pan Gravy and of course ‘ Goose-Fat Roasted Potatoes’ as well as a large selection of Brenda’s famous Vegetables!  

Last night after supper we settled down to watch the next very exciting episode of ‘Giri/Haji’ with just two ‘surprise’ shootings this week.

Then it was time for ‘ Later with Jools Holland’ –  with Lewis Capaldi and then Ronnie Wood, with his band ‘ Wild Five’ with ‘Jools’ on the piano, featuring the excellent Imelda May on vocals, along with Ronnie, as he played tracks from his new album  “ Mad Lad “ a live tribute to Chuck Berry, released today, as they played ‘ Johnny B Goode’!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A NOW WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY.

SATURDAY 7^th/ SEPTEMBER 2019.

We all had a nice, long, lie in this morning, before getting the day on the go, ‘Scooby’ slept all night on his rug, he’s due to be picked up sometime tomorrow, we will miss him as he’s such great company, has a ‘ Helluva’ appetite and is a very ‘Happy Chappy’!

We then freshened up before Brenda took him out for his first walk of the day, when she returned she shot along to the chemists in ‘Calle Mar’ for some new prescription tablets/Insulin injections etc, yesterday our Doctor, Natalia, gave me a good check up/review and changed one of my prescriptions, at the same time she is arranging an appointment at the ‘ Dermatology’ Department at the ‘ Costa Del Sol Hospital’ to review my ‘Cellulitis & Herpes ‘ etc ! Watch this space.

As Brenda was on the breakfast rota, as usual, on a Saturday morning, I had her famous ‘ Campo’ Poached Eggs’ on toast, Scrambled on brown toast for herself, with mugs of hot/strong Tea.

When we were out last night for ‘ Scooby’s last walk, we stopped at ‘ Bar Castillo’ for a little chat with Juan, they are going on holiday, next week, on Tuesday and will be closed for over two weeks+! 

This means that he might not be open for when the ‘ Clan’ arrives on the 29^th September?!

Also, at the moment, ‘Cafe Plaza, Cafeteria Nacho & Bar Luque’ along in ‘ Calle Mar’ are all on holiday, after all the ‘ Vendemia’ celebrations! ‘ Bar Rojas & Bar Ocaña’ have been closed for a while and don’t look like they are going to reopen, so where are we going to go on the ‘ Staffs’ night off?!  Watch this space.

This morning has started a little grey & overcast, the breeze has stiffened and there are still patchy clouds, with the sun only just breaking through, with the threat of the ‘ Wet-Stuff’ in the air, for the first time in nearly 10 months! ( Needed) By lunchtime it’s forecast to reach 25 degs+ - the same for tomorrow and into next week, then as the breeze drops, on Tuesday, it’s then going warmer and sunny, with a few patchy clouds, hovering in the mid 20s+ still overnight only dropping to the 19/20 degs mark, watch this space.

On the sports front this weekend; over at Monza it’s the ‘Grand Prix of Italy’ – over in the UK at the ‘World Cup Rugby Union’ warm up game, England welcome Italy! The Horse Racing is coming from Haydock Park, Kempton Park & Ascot, meanwhile in Manchester at ‘ Old Trafford’ ( Cricket!) England are fighting/loosing to Australia in the 4^th Test match.

There is no ‘Premier League & La Liga ‘ football, as it’s a weekend of ‘European Championship’ qualifying games, England v Bulgaria/Kosovo and Spain v Romania/Faroe Islands!!

Finally here in Spain it’s ‘ Stage’ 14 of the ‘ Vuelta d’España 19 ‘ from ‘ San Vicente de la Barquera to Oviedo, along the Northern coastline, over a flat 188 kms, with a sprint finish. Yesterday Primoz Roglic extended his advantage, in the Race Leaders ‘Red Jersey’ on the gruelling/sheer summit finish, as his fellow Slovenian, the new young ( 20 yrs) ‘ Wonder’ Tadej Pogacar won his second stage of this year’s ‘Vuelta’ 

The Stage started in Bilbao in the spectacular football stadium of ' Atheltic Bilbao'!  - see below: 

For our supper this evening I’m back in the kitchen, as we are having, for the first time in a long time, due to the very hot extended weather, ‘Grilled Fillet Steaks’ garnished with seared Button Mushrooms, cooked on a very hot griddle-plate ‘ Med Rare’ – then left to rest, served with finally sliced ‘ French’ Green Beans & triple-cooked ‘ Frits’ – with the classic ‘ Bearnaise’ sauce on the side!

Tomorrow morning the ‘ Second Chef’ is preparing all the ingredients for me to make my now famous ‘Ensaladilla Rusa – Russian Salad’ – which we will have tomorrow evening for our supper, along with something, still TBC, watch this space.

This evening it’s the return of “ Strictly Come Dancing “ on ‘BBC TV’ – then later we will channel hop to find a good film to watch.

Late last night on the ‘ Facebook’ messenger we had a nice news update from Sandra & Bill, over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, she is feeling almost normal and will be returning to work on Monday ( Part-Time) Sadly Bills ‘ Mom’ is back in hospital, so we have rescheduled our ‘ Skype’ video link up to next Sunday, as they are visiting Bills’ Mom’ tomorrow.

“ Countdown 24 Days “

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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