A ' FRESH' WARM AND SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 9^th/ FEBRUARY 2020.

We had a nice lie in this morning as the village was very quiet until the church bells, calling the ‘ faithful’ to mass, started ringing out, after freshening up we called Lyn, over in Melbourne, Australia, on the ‘ Skype’ voice link up, for a chat and catch-up on all her news, from the funeral of her dear Jack,  he had a ‘ Helluva’ turn out ( over 200 ) as both the families, all his ‘Masonic’ family and all the associations that he was involved with showed their respects, including a ‘guard of honour’ from the Police force, his happy, always smiling personality and jokes will be sadly missed “ R.I.P. Gentleman Jack “

After a quick toast & tea we sorted ourselves out for the day ahead, we are having an at home day, taking things very easy, relaxing and going for a little walk later, I’m now feeling a lot better after the ‘ Bug’ -  next week in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ we have  little ‘ Miss Bella’ with us for three days, from Monday, on Thursday evening ‘ Scruffy’ is back with us for a sleep-over and on Friday, then on Saturday ‘ Chico’ is coming for his extended 3/ 4 week holiday!

We are going to shoot across to Estepona on Thursday morning, as I need the ‘ full-works’ with my Barber, Manuel, and Brenda is calling into ‘Primark’ for all her essential cosmetics, then popping along to ‘La Casa’ for some night lights etc.

This morning the sun was out first things and the sky is already bright blue and cloudless, there is just a slight breeze so by lunchtime it’s going to be warm & sunny, reaching 19 degs+ - overnight only down to 11/12 degs – next week is now going to be dry, settled and warm, with lots of sunshine and light breezes, with just a few patchy clouds hanging around at times, hovering in the high ‘ teens’ – by next weekend going up to 20/21 degs+ - the following week, at the moment, is looking even warmer, as the week goes on, watch this space.

Over in Liverpool this weekend there is a visit, down at the Pier Head, from the fifth and current  “ HMS Mersey “ – the ‘River’ class offshore patrol vessel of the Royal Navy. The ship is the first to be named ‘ Mersey’ in over 84 years, see below.

Just a quick update on the sports results from yesterday; Everton WON  3-1! Ireland won 24-14 and England beat Scotland 3-13 in a gale force wind and rain storm.

We went for a short walk at lunchtime and ended up back at ' Bar Rojas Sol Vida ' sat outside in the very hot sunshine, having a nice cool drink, as the World passed us by, Leah came along on the way to the local Police station to report her neighbours noisy dogs, Michala passed with one of her sons, her husband, James, is back in Malta working,  Russel & Jackie went past on their way to meet friends at Cafe Plaza, then ' Abuelo & Abuela Rojas ' came up the street, they owned ' Bar Rojas' for many years, before we arrived, also lots of local passed at the same time, all saying ' Hola' !

At lunchtime we are having a ‘ Sunday Brunch’ – this evening I’m making my famous ‘ Smoked Chicken & Three Green Bean Risotto ‘ – cooked to order ‘A La Carte’ style, the small/diced Shallots & Garlic are sweated off, with a small dash of ‘Lea & Perrins & Tabasco’- along with a good glug of White Wine, then the ‘Arborio’ rice is added, stirring all the time, as the rich ‘ Chicken & Vegetable ‘ stock is slowly added, I de-bone the whole pre-cooked ‘Smoked Chicken’ ( Mercadona) and then dice all the meat into cubes, the three pre-cooked ‘Green Beans’ ( Second Chef) –  ‘ Broad, Runner & French’ are then stirred in, with a handful of chopped Parsley, before adding the diced ‘Smoked Chicken’ to finish cooking off – after adjusting the seasoning to taste, finally a small sprinkling of Parmesan and topped with Asparagus Spears to finish!

 See below;               "  Smoked Chicken & Three Green Bean Risotto " 

As the ‘ IPTV’ system is now back online and working we are now able to watch all the programmes that we follow, as well as catching up with all the ‘ Quiz Shows’ that we have missed, at the same time channel – hopping to find good films to watch as well as all the sports!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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AT THE MOMENT DRY & SUNNY MANILVA ON ' EASTER SUNDAY'

SUNDAY 21^st/ APRIL 2019. “ EASTER SUNDAY “

We had another nice long lie in this morning, as usual, on a Sunday, the village is very quiet until the ‘ Santa Ana Church’ bells start ringing, calling the faithful to the mid-day Mass, after freshening up we had our ‘ Easter Morning’ breakfast of freshly squeezed local Orange Juice, ‘Campo’ Scrambled Eggs on Toast, topped with diced Smoked Salmon, with mugs of hot/strong Tea!

At the moment we are quiet in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ – ‘Chispa’ is calling in all the time to see us, looking for her friends, we have bookings  coming up in May/June.

On Monday lunchtime I have my appointment at the ‘ Estepona Hospital’ with the ‘Consultant Physiotherapist’ for a review/check up on my left hand, on Tuesday morning we are going across to Malaga, to meet Jane & David, who are staying at the ‘ Atanazanas Boutique Hotel’ for three days from tomorrow, we have booked a room at the Hotel on Tuesday evening, we will then ‘ Hit’ the Bars & Restaurants of Malaga! Watch this space.

Yesterday stayed dry & sunny, with just a light breeze, overnight none of the ‘wet-stuff’ has appeared, this morning it’s a little overcast and cloudy, at the moment, with the sun trying to break through, the breeze is still slight, so by lunchtime it’s due to reach 19 degs+ - hopefully with no ‘RAIN’ as all the forecasts suggest.

The final two parades are due to come along ‘Calle Mar’ and meet, ‘  Procesion Del Santisimo  Christo  Resucitado Y La STMA. Virgen Del Rosario A.M.D.G. ‘ The Manilva Brass Band plays, White Doves are sent into the sky and ‘Firecrackers’ are left off, as the whole village celebrates the ‘ Resurrection Day’ – singing traditional songs.


See all the pictures later above! 

Next week it looks like we are in for a wet & windy start, when we are over in Malaga, sadly, with light to moderate rain, patchy clouds and hovering in the high ‘ teens’ – by next Friday the sun is forecast to return, going warmer over the weekend, back into the low 20s, watch this space.  

For our supper this evening I’m making my now famous ‘ Smoked Chicken & Three Green Bean Risotto’ – I use a whole ‘Roast Smoked Chicken’ – cold, then cubed with all the juices, the ‘Valencia Risotto Rice’ is sweated off with small diced Shallots, a little Garlic and White Wine, then I add, slowly, the rich ‘ Chicken & Vegetable Stock’ – stirring all the time, the pre-cooked Broad Beans ’French Beans & local Runner Beans are added, then the Smoked Chicken & juices, the seasoning is adjusted, some chopped Parsley and a little Parmesan to finish! 

Yesterday evening after supper we watched the Danish drama, with sub-titles, ‘ Follow the Money’ – about drug runners, as the Police struggle to catch them, it’s two back to back episodes, we then channel hopped and watched nothing in particular, at the moment, as usual , I’m listening to ‘ Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW’ – the Pete Black Retro Roadshow’ is due on at Mid-Day, we will be trying to win this month’s ‘Film Quiz’- for the ‘ Mug’ for Brenda! Watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A STILL DRY & SUNNY MANILVA, AT THE MOMENT, ON SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 4^th/ MARCH 2018.

We had a little lie in this morning before taking ‘ Charlie & Scooby’ for their first walk of the day, yesterday evening ‘ ‘Scruffy’ was collected by Rose, he’s back with us on Monday for the day, when little princess ‘ Reina’ is joining us, we had a surprise guest in ‘Doggy World Heaven’ last night, for a sleep-over, ‘Reina’ was back with us, so we ended up with three dogs spending the night, ‘ Charlie’ grabbed the prime spot, ‘Reina’ went into her duvet and little ‘ Scooby’ was on his comfort blanket, they all slept very well, ‘Reina’ is being collected later this morning and ‘ Scooby at lunchtime, tomorrow lunchtime it’s ‘ Charlie’s’ turn to be picked up! On Monday morning I’m taking ‘ Chispa’ down to Sabinillas for the full-works at ‘ Groomers ‘ – oh and ‘ Chico’ is then back with us for another holiday the following week! Are you paying attention, I will ask questions later!!

For our breakfast, after we returned from walking the dogs, we had Brenda's famous ' Campo' Poached Eggs on Toast with mugs of steaming Tea, Brenda is now washing/shampooing her hair and as you can see I'm up in the office/ studio on the ' WWW' before typing/ posting today's Blog.

Sadly there is no change in the weather forecast, over night we had another severe rain storm, this morning, as we went for the first walk with the dogs it was dry, the sky is grey & overcast with more black clouds on the horizon, there is just a slight breeze, so it’s still hovering on the 16/17 degs mark during the day, overnight down to 12/14 degs, our normal temperatures for the time of the year, but without the wet stuff, where’s the sunshine?! Next week is staying the same with at the moment no sign of it changing for the better, watch this space.

See below ‘ Snowy’ Liverpool yesterday.

At lunchtime after our walk with the two dogs we ended up sat outside ' Bar Rojas ' in the warm sunshine, for a nice drink and some Tapas, 'Pincho de Gambas - Prawns on a skewer and 'Empanada's - made with Mince & Boiled Egg - Pastry slices ' -  both our favourites! 

This evening for our supper, for a change, I’m cooking to order my famous ‘ Smoked Chicken & Three Green Bean Risotto ‘ – using Spanish’ Arborio’ Rice – finally diced Onions & Shallots with Garlic, sweated-off with glass of White Wine, with a dash of Lea & Perrins & Tabasco, then slowly adding the hot Chicken & Vegetable Stock, stirring all the time, then the cooked Broad Beans, French Beans & Runner Beans are added, before the diced Smoked Chicken & juices, the seasoning adjusted and finally a touch of double Cream, chopped Parsley and grated Parmesan, with the top decorated with Asparagus Spears!


See below;

Just a quick update on the football results; Everton lost 2-1 & Liverpool won 2-0, with two superb goals and Real Madrid won 3-1. In the afternoon we watched the ‘ Track Cycling World Championships’ from Holland, my sport, that I was brought up with by my Dad, Tommy Sexton, a life-long member of the ‘Mersey Road Club’!

Later after supper we caught the last two, back to back, episodes of “ Modus “ over on ‘BBC Four’ – the Swedish crime drama series with sub-titles, about the hunt for the missing  ‘ US’ lady President, only to say that a Russian assassin was shot dead, the plotters were un-masked, a knife to a throat was stopped and a prosecution for rape was reported! Catch it to find out what happened and too who?!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY ' CRISP' & SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 19^th/ NOVEMBER 2017.

We had a nice lie in this morning and then slowly sorted ourselves out for the day ahead, that was easy, as we have nothing planned, we are having an ‘ at home day’ taking things very easy, after breakfast of Brenda’s famous ‘ Campo Poached Eggs on Toast, Boiled, for her, with Brown Bread ‘ Soldiers‘ - with mugs of strong tea!

I shot up to the office/studio to catch up with the ‘WWW’ before typing & posting today’s Blog, Brenda ( Vegetable Chef ) meanwhile only had to prepare the ‘ Three Green Beans’ for tonight’s ‘ Smoked Chicken Risotto’ – Baby Broad Beans, Whole Fine French Green Beans & ‘Diamond Cut’ Haricot Beans, with the addition of ‘Mange Tout’ – all blanched ‘ Al Dente’!

Of course the ‘ Risotto’ is made this evening, taking 30 minute’s approx, to cook, to order, using the ‘ Paella ‘ Pan. I finely chop Onions & Shallots with a small Clove of Garlic, before slowly cooking, without colour, until soft, the Spanish ‘Arborio’ Rice in then added and the pan is de-glazed with a glass of White Wine, before adding in small quantities, stirring all the time, the rich ‘Chicken & Vegetables Stock’ When the ‘ Risotto’ is nearly cooked I add the all the Beans etc, before finally the diced/cooked ‘Smoked Chicken Breast & Legs’ with Juices, stirring all the time, lastly I add Chopped Parsley and a small amount of Parmesan, and adjust the seasoning, the top garnished with Blanched Asparagus Spears!


See below.

We have another very pleasant day here in sunny Manilva, the sun broke through earlier and the sky has cleared, there is a slight breeze, still keeping it ‘ Crisp’ and sunny, at the same time, by lunchtime it’s due to reach 19/20 degs+ Next week is looking like more of the same, hovering in the low 20s, overnight 13/14 degs, just right for the time of the year, watch this space.

See below the beach down in Sabinillas this morning.

Just a quick update on all the sports results; Everton drew 2-2 – a result for them, Manchester City won again, 0-2 & Liverpool played a lot better and won 4-0, over here Real Madrid could only manage a draw 0-0 but Barcelona won 0-3 keeping them top of the ‘La Liga’ by 7/10 points over the rest!

In the Rugby Union Wales won 13-6, Scotland lost 17-22, Ireland won 23-20 but the result of the day was England beating Australia ( sorry to all the folks over there!) 30 – 6 in the heavy rain! Roger Federer, the six-time champion, was beaten in the ‘ ATP’ semi-finals by David Goffin for the first time, and at the Horse Racing, from Cheltenham the outsider ‘Splash of Ginger’ won the ‘ BetVictor Gold Cup’

A memory about  ‘Christmas’ past; back in the late 90s I was asked to turn on the “ Christmas Lights “ in Ormskirk, a market town in West Lancashire, 13 miles north of Liverpool, my family had a flower shop in the centre of the town for a long time ( my  mother’s brother) and I had spent my childhood in the town, when I lived with my Dad & Mum in Aintree, a few miles away.  We were the ‘ General Managers ‘ at the time of the ‘Lancashire Manor Hotel ‘ in Skelmersdale, which was half way between Wigan & Southport, outside Ormskirk,  the Mayor, was an old family friend, I was also involved with the local ‘Council’ is promoting the area, so I was ‘ classed’ as a local ‘ Celebrity’! One of my many moments of ‘ Fame ‘ !!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 9^th/ JULY 2017.

We had another nice lie in this morning before the church bells started ringing, calling the ‘faithful’ of sunny Manilva to mass; after freshening ourselves up we had breakfast, a treat, of ‘ Campo’ Fried Eggs with Crispy Smoked Bacon, lots of buttered toast and mugs of steaming strong tea, that should set us up for the day ahead!

We have a doggy-free weekend, for a change, next week in ‘ Doggy World Heaven ‘ little princess ‘ Reina’ is back with us for four days from Monday to Thursday, then on Thursday evening ‘ Chico’ is joining us for an extended weekend sleep-over, he’s with us until Tuesday evening of the following week, no doubt ‘ Chispa’ will be in & out all the time to see all her friends and us! Watch this space.

The sun was out early this morning and the sky has cleared, there is no breeze so we are in for a hot one, 33+ degs by lunchtime, next week is also going to be hot, over next weekend it could be a little cloudy, overall the temperatures are hovering on the 30 degs mark, 20 degs during the night, watch this space.

On the sports front this weekend; it’s a ‘day off’ for the players, at the Tennis at Wimbledon, over in Austria at Spielberg its’ the ‘ Austrian Grand Prix’ and in the Tour De France, Stage 9 is in the mountains as it goes from Nantua to Chambery over 181 kms with three of the top category climbs on the way, Monday is a ‘ rest ’ day!

See the map below!

At lunchtime we went along to ' Bar Castillo' for a nice cool drink, Dean & Donna came along and joined us, they are coming tonight for supper , then Carlos & Tom joined us so the conversation turned to all matters ' Golf ' 

This evening for our supper I’m making my famous ‘ Smoked Chicken & Three Green Bean Risotto ‘ – I sweat-off finely diced Onions & Shallots, with little crushed Garlic, with a good slug of Brenda’s White Wine, I then add the Spanish ‘Arborio’ Rice from Valencia, it’s then time to slowly add the strong Chicken & Vegetable Stock, stirring all the time, over the next 20/25 minutes, until it’s nearly cooked, I then add the pre-cooked, three Green Beans, Broad, Runner & French before adding the diced, cooked, Smoked Chicken & Juices, adjust the seasoning to taste, finely I add some Parmesan Cheese and a little cream and not forgetting the chopped Parsley, very important!

Later we will watch a film, for a change, on the ‘ Kodi’ film channel.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

WEDNESDAY 17^th/ MAY 2017.

I was up early this morning to see ‘ Reina’ back with us for day here in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ – her mum, Daniela, is joining us for supper this evening. We then all had a little lie, Brenda shot off down to the local sub-post office to post some postcards, just a reminder to all our family & friends, all over the World, to keep sending them when you are out & about, we then send you one back from sunny Manilva and/or the ‘ Costa Del Sol’! 

We then had our regular breakfast of toast & tea, the gas bottle delivery man then called, we had left the empty one outside the front door, earlier.

This morning has started a little overcast but the sun is just breaking through, the clouds are clearing as there is a little light breeze, by lunchtime it’s due to reach 22/23 degs, over the next few days it’s going warmer by the day and over the weekend, next week it’s going to be more of same, getting even hotter, watch this space.

See below a aerial picture of the ' Puerto Duquesa Marina ' with Sabinillas beach in the background.

At lunchtime we went for short walk along ' Calle Mar ' and ended up in 'Bar/ Hostal Ocana' for a nice cool drink & some Tapas

This evening for our supper I’m making my now famous ‘ Smoked Chicken & Three Green Risotto’ – all the ingredients are ready, the ‘ Vegetable Chef’ has prepared the Baby Whole Green Beans, the Diamond-Cut Runner Beans & shelled the Broad Beans, as well as chopping the Parsley and donating a large glass of her White Wine, meanwhile I have finally diced the Onions & Shallots with a little Garlic, finally diced Baby Mushrooms ( extra) - measured the Spanish ‘Arborio’ Rice from Valencia, prepared the rich Chicken & Vegetable stock, I will ‘ cube’ the Smoked Chicken, later, using both breast & thigh meat along with the rich jelly that the Chicken comes in.

This evening I will make the ‘ Risotto’ a la carte style to order, it takes 30 min’s aprox, I add a little dash of ‘Lea & Perrins’ with ‘Tabasco’ in at the start, re-adjust the seasoning near the finish after adding all the ingredients, before adding a little Cream & Parmesan along with the chopped Parsley at the end, the top garnished with seared Asparagus Spears and turned Baby Mushrooms, on the side Broccoli Florets; to start we are having light Tapas, of finally sliced local Chorizo and ‘Manchego’ Cheese and for dessert it’s a small selection of prepared Fresh Fruit.

The live broadcast that I’m taking part in with ‘Castle Radio FM 89.2 & online on the WWW’ on Saturday 27^th is coming to you from the main park in Castillo de la Duquesa, it’s the “ X1 International Meeting and Family Day “ – tune in and listen!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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