A STILL VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA AT THE START OF ANOTHER ' HELLUVA' WEEK!

MONDAY 12^th/ AUGUST 2019.

We were up early this morning to welcome back little ‘ Miss Bella’ for the day, she’s back tomorrow also, ‘ Chico & Sunny ‘ both spent the night on the marble floor, ‘ Sunny ‘ is settling in very well, she’s eating and has found her ‘spots’ - when we are out walking. Leah asked this morning, when she was dropping off ‘ Bella’ if we could have her over Xmas for a week, we already have ‘Pucci’ for a couple of weeks and we are checking if ‘ Chico’ will be with us as usual, watch this space.

After freshening up we took ‘ Chico & Sunny’ for their first walks of the day, when we all returned we had our breakfast, the three dogs sit in a line, for their brown toast, (Brenda’s) while I had my ‘ Weetabix’ ( no sugar) as bread is off the menu, with cold/sliced Nectarines, with mugs of tea.

This week it’s all happening, tomorrow evening it’s the launch of the details of the ‘Flamenco Festival ‘ – at the end of the month, over the ‘ Vendemia Festival’ – taking place in the ‘ Casa Del Torres’ Cultural Centre, in the next street to ours, along ‘Calle Mar’ - on Thursday lunchtime we have Vic and his family with friends coming over for lunch with us here in the village, ‘ Sunny’ is due to be collected in the morning,  in the evening, down in Sabinillas, on the beach, it’s the ‘Tourist Day’ organized by the Council, with music & dancing, children’s games, sports activities etc.

Then on Friday lunchtime we are at the ‘Costa Del Sol Hospital’ for Brenda’s appointment at the ‘ Dermatology Department’ – Rose is looking after ‘ Chico’ – then on Sunday, here in ‘Calle Mar’ it’s the ‘Water Party’ – in the early evening,  organized by the ‘Council’- with a 50 meters water slide, down the steepest street, next to ‘ Bar Castillo'

It’s all happening in sunny Manilva!

This morning the sun broke through earlier and the sky is blue with few clouds hanging around, there is a light breeze still blowing down from the mountains behind the village, over the weekend the ‘Poinente’ wind damaged the Canopy along ‘Calle Mar’- this morning the Council’s cherry-picker was out repairing all the damage, it’s still by lunchtime due to reach 32 degs+ - then from tomorrow it will be hovering in the high 20s, then back up to 33 degs+ on Saturday/Sunday, during the night time still hovering on the 20 degs mark, next week is now looking very warm & sunny, in the mid 30s, watch this space.

Over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, Sandra’s hanging baskets are in full-bloom and looking rather good, in the summer sunshine, looked after by mainly Bill, who is the attentive one!

Just a quick update on the sports results yesterday; England beat Wales 33-19 – they play one another, again, this coming Saturday, in another warm- up game, this time down in Cardiff!

Yesterday morning as I was typing/posting the Blog, I was as usual listening to the ' Pete Black Roadshow' on " Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW" as the 'Film Quiz' came on, I got it straight away, it was " Reservoir Dogs " from 1992, we are one of only two who got it correct, so we are in the monthly draw for the Mug!  Watch this space.

For our supper this evening we are having the rest of the ‘Rotisserie Chicken’ – which was very tasty, with the ‘Russian Salad’ and Mixed Salads, the rest of week, as usual, we are taking one day at the time, watch this space.

Last night in “ Poldark’ he arrived in London, as an MP and took up the fight against the lobby backing the  ‘Slavers’ – making lots of enemies on the way, back in Cornwall Demelza ( Eleanor Tomlinson ) had problems paying the ‘local yokels’ and villains, with ‘Pound Notes’ for the first time! By the end Poldark’s best friend was back in jail, in London and he was planning to get him out, with help, by ‘ underhand’ means! Watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A COOLER, BUT STILL SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF A ' HELLUVA' WEEK.

MONDAY 15^th/ OCTOBER 2018.

We had a little lie in this morning after an exciting first day with Sandra & Bill, after freshening up we had ‘Toasted Smoked Bacon Butties’ – open on brown for Brenda – smothered in ‘ HP’ Brown sauce, with mugs of strong tea, to set us up for the first week ahead!

Yesterday we shot down to the local ‘ Repsol ‘ Garage in Sabinillas just after lunchtime and while we waited for the folks to arrive we had a nice cool drink in the busy ‘ Menu Del Dia’ Restaurante.

Their flight was late arriving, over half an hour, after a late take-off, due to a change of tires on the plane, it made up time with the wind behind, which meant that they missed the ‘ Hire Car Bus’ and had to wait for another, then when they set off in their ‘ Skoda Octavia’ they had a flat tire and so they had to go back and change tires!

We met them outside the garage and showed them along to their apartment, one minute away, it was an easy unload as the car went into the private underground car park, where the lift took them up to their ground floor apartment, outside the lift door, they then settled and were very impressed with the complex, pool and apartment!

We then had a very short walk down to the ‘ Nautilus Cafeteria Bar’  on the corner below the complex, which will be their ‘ local’ -  where we had a couple of nice cool drinks as we started to catch up with all their news.

The threatened ‘Hurricane Leslie’ missed us and hit Northern Portugal, with just the stiff tail-end breeze down here, so we were sat outside in the hot sunshine, with a bright, clear, blue sky, today it’s a lot cooler, overnight down to 15/16 degs, only reaching 21/22 degs+ later, the rest of the week is now looking dry & sunny, with some patchy clouds at times, with still the threat of the ‘ wet-stuff in the air, hovering in the low to mid 20s, so we will still be taking it one day at the time on the ‘Agenda’ of visits etc! Watch this space.

It was then time to come back up the village and have a nice bottle of chilled ‘ Cava Rosado’ with some local light ‘ Tapas’ back at our house, to welcome Sandra & Bill back to sunny Manilva and the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ We then went up to ‘ Bar Rojas’ and sat outside, to start, with our jumpers on, as the breezy night air came along, more cool drinks hit us, just as Mano & Carlos joined us, they were both in fine ‘ Form’ after another long-day!

We then moved inside were ‘ Monica’ had prepared, to order, a special ‘Valenciana Paella’ – with Chicken, Pork, Squid, Mussels, Prawns, Clams & White Fish, with all the usual ingredients, and decorated with large ‘Gambas’ in shell, as you can see in the pictures below. It was very tasty, delicious and authentic. More drinks followed, then ‘ Carajillo’ Coffee’s for the girls, and then ‘ shots ‘ of Brandy on the house!

This morning the folks were having a good lie in, then unpacking, we are going down at lunchtime to meet them and take in the sights of Sabinillas, this evening we have our appointments with the ‘Chiropodist’ down at the local surgery, then we are collecting the folks and coming back up to the village for a ‘Tapas’ Supper at ‘Bar Castillo’

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we are going across to show them ‘Puerto Banus’ – then ‘El Corte Ingles’ ( The Harrods of Spain!)  – before lunch at the celebrity Restaurant ”La Sala” – where we have a ‘ Discount ‘ card!

On Wednesday afternoon I will be filming my appearance on “ A Place in The Sun” – weather permitting, before we are going to have some light ‘ Tapas’ at ‘ Bar Ocaña ‘ – in the evening we are going along to ‘ Marlows’ for their excellent Fish & Chips!

NB; The rest of the week is still TBC, watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY COLD & ' CRISP' SUNNY MANILVA AT THE START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY 4th/ DECEMBER 2017.

I was up early this morning to see little princess ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day, she shot upstairs and joined us on the bed for a further lie in before ending up in her duvet, she’s back on Thursday/Friday, on Wednesday morning ‘ Chico’ is back with us in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ for a week’s holiday, no doubt ‘ Chispa’ will call in to see her friends, she’s been in & out all weekend.

Tomorrow afternoon we are going on the ‘Pensioners’ Bus Trip to Malaga to see the Xmas lights, it gives us a few hours in the city so we are going to have our ‘Wedding Anniversary’ celebration supper!

This week here in Spain there are two ‘Bank Holidays’ – on Wednesday it’s “ Constitution Day “ and on Friday “ Immaculate Conception Day “ – this means that I will be out on my travels, going down on the local bus and coming back up in a taxi, on Thursday morning, for the weekly shopping down in Sabinillas, so Brenda has had to move her appointment at the Hairdressers, for the full works, on Thursday, to next week, at the same time!

Finally on Friday/Saturday it’s the first annual ‘ Manilva Gastronomic Food & Drink Festival’ taking place in the ‘ Plaza de la Vendimia ‘ – it all kicks-off on Friday with all the stalls in the large Marquee, free ‘ food’ etc, there is live music & dancing, the turning on the giant ‘Xmas Tree’ lights and all sorts of other happening in the ‘Wine Theatre’ next to the square.

Overnight it was very cold, by our standards, dropping down to 4/5 degs, this morning the sky has cleared and the sun has broken through, there is a light breeze so it’s still very ‘ crisp’ – cold in the shade, hovering on the 16/17 degs mark, the rest of the week and over the coming weekend it’s going to stay the same, getting a little warmer at times, watch this space.

Over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, Bill ( The Lumberjack !) has been out in the local woods cutting down their Xmas Tree, as you can see, meanwhile back at the house Sandra has done a beautiful job decorating the tree, as you can see below! They have not had any snow yet and are enjoying the unusually mild temperatures, by their standards!

For supper this evening we are having the rest of the ‘Roast Chicken’ with a ‘ fry-up’ of the leftover vegetables & potatoes, the menu’s for the rest of the week, from Wednesday, are yet to be agreed, possibly ‘ Calves Liver Casserole’ – then ‘Grilled Chicken Wings’ before our regular ‘Fish’ supper on Friday, ‘Steak Night’ on Saturday and a ‘ Roast’ on Sunday, watch this space.

A quick update on the sports results from the weekend, Liverpool won 1-5 and played brilliantly, Everton won at home 2-0, for the first time in a while, and Manchester City won 2-1, as usual, over here, for the first time in a long while Barcelona could only draw 2-2 & Real Madrid 0-0! At Newbury ‘ Total Recall ‘ won the main race, down in Cardiff Wales beat South Africa 24-22  in the Rugby Union – finally over in Milton, Southern Ontario, Canada, at the ‘Track Cycling World Cup’  the England new young stars won lots of medals including ‘Gold’s’!

After supper last night we channel hopped and watched various programmes before catching back on the Spanish TV the late ‘ classic ‘ movie on the Film Channel “ The Eiger Sanction “ from 1975! – the old ones are the best!! Starring and directed by Clint Eastwood, with George Kennedy, Vonetta McGee, Jack Cassidy, Thayer David and Brenda Venus! ( not mine !) 

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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