A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY.

TUESDAY 18^th/ JULY 2017.

We were all up early this morning, it’s ‘Chico’s’ last day with us, he’s being collected later this evening, after a quick freshen up Brenda took ‘ Chico’ out for his first walk of the day and then dropped him off with Rose, for the morning, I collected the car from the side of Calle Mar outside ‘ Bar Castillo ‘ and picked Brenda up, we then carried onto the ‘ Costa Del Sol Hospital’ past Marbella, for her appointment with the ‘ Kidney Consultant’

We went in on time for the check up/review; all is fine, her urine infection has cleared up, all the blood tests are fine, her Kidneys are stable and everything is looking good, her blood pressure is a little low so the Consultant adjusted the medications prescriptions, she has been our Consultant for the past few years and is very thorough and explains everything “ RESULT “

We then came back along a very busy coast road past a sparkling Mediterranean to Sabinillas, we stopped at the ‘English Bookshop’ and posted a birthday card and bought one, at the same time, it could be you?! We then came back up through the ever growing Vine fields, see below, with fingers crossed, that I would be able to get the car back into the small square behind our house, our neighbour Diego ( Thanks!) had kept my spot for me so after a little tight manouvering  the car is back in its place “ RESULT “


                                                                                   The 'Moscatel' grapes this morning.

This evening Rose is dropping ‘ Scruffy’ off for a sleep over, as she’s on the same Hospital run, early tomorrow morning, with Andrian ,for his check up/reviews! ‘Reina’ is also back with us in ‘ Doggy World Heaven ‘ for Wednesday & Thursday. Next week she’s with us for three days and on the ‘ Feria Weekend’ ‘ Chico’ is joining us, again, for a three day sleep over.

The sun was out early and the sky was bright blue by the time we where on our travels, it's always hotter over in Marbella, by lunchtime it's due to reach 28/29 degs+ - the rest of the week and over the weekend is staying the same, next week when all the Festivals & Feria's are taking place in the village it's going to be even hotter, watch this space.

Today on the ‘Old Liverpool’ Facebook page its has a picture of ‘ Exchange Station in ‘Tithebarn Street’- it was the station I used all the time to go into Liverpool on the Electric train ( the electric rail was in between the main tracks) from Orrell Park and up to my Aunties in Ormskirk.

See the trains and station below.

For our supper this evening we are having a ‘ soft’  ‘ Mixed Grill’ with Gammon, Smoked Bacon, Chorizo, Mushrooms & Tomato, with whole Green Beans and of course twice-cooked ‘ Chips’

Today’s Stage 16 of the ‘Tour De France’ goes from ‘Le Puy-en-Velay to Romans-sur-Isere’ over a very hilly 165 kms, with a long downhill finish.

See the maps and route below;

Last night after supper we watched the new series on BBC TV One ‘ In the Dark’ – we had caught earlier, last week’s first episode on the BBC I Player, it’s a Police drama series based in Derbyshire with a pregnant lady detective in the main role, two young girls have been abducted, one found dead, it’s very gripping and realistic, catch it if you can!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A CRISP & SUNNY MANILVA ON THURSDAY;

THURSDAY 3rd/ MARCH 2016.

NEWSFLASH ; UPDATE ON BRENDA !

Well we had another ‘ Adventure’ yesterday afternoon, the ‘SSG – Social Services’ ambulance arrived on time at 3-30 pm and after collecting two other patients in the village we shot along the coast road at high speed in the outside lane and arrived at the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ Hospital early! I then shot Brenda up to the first floor, large, ‘X-Ray Department and she was seen one hour ahead of our appointment, we then came back down to the ground floor to the ‘Trauma’ Department which is next to the main ‘Out Patients’ entrance.

Once again the Consultant saw us one hour ahead of our time slot, after viewing the X-Ray he decided to have the plaster cast taken off to have a better look and feel, after checking both feet he said that they were both a lot better, the broken foot had healed very well and so only needed a bandage on for the next two weeks, the left foot was also flexible, Brenda has not to walk for another two weeks and use the crutches when needed, she is staying downstairs over the weekend and practising using the crutches! Watch this space.

While all this was happening the ‘SSG’ medic called to see how we were going on, he then arranged for the ‘Staff Nurse’ to call them when we were ready, we ‘parked up’ in the reception and waited, our ambulance arrived a little late and had to go back to headquarters around the corner as the patients that it had dropped off had been sick, so it needed cleaning and sterilising!! We eventually set off with two walking wounded and one other person on a stretches with Brenda strapped in her wheel chair.

The first drop off was in the top of Marbella next to the ‘ Plaza De Torres’ – we then turned left off the coast road into ‘ Nuevo Andalusia’ which we have never seen before, its a small town with lots of restaurants and two large flood light sports grounds, we came back onto the coast by San Pedro and the next drop off was in the old part of the Esteopna, it was then time to head back up to sunny Manilva! We then ‘hit’ a problem as ‘ Calle Mar’ was closed for the  ‘Council Bin Wagon’ collecting the rubbish from the underground storage bins! It happens every evening for about 15/20 minutes! The ‘ SSG’ medic decided to find his way to our house through the side streets with me shouting ‘ left or right’ – we ended up in the next street so he pushed Brenda in the wheel chair up our street to our house – it was by then 9-30 pm!!

We had a light supper of a ‘Cheese Omelette’ as requested for Brenda and ‘Heinz’ Baked Beans on toast for me, Mano had called in and taken ‘ Charlie’ for a long walk while we were out. Later we had a ‘Skype’ video call from Jack & Lyn over in Melbourne, that we had arranged, so we had a good catch up and chat, Brenda has sent text messages to her two sisters over in the UK while we were coming back from the hospital.

After a good night sleep I welcomed ‘ Reina’ back for the day, I then took ‘Charlie’ out, after breakfast I was on kitchen duties for tonight’s supper “ Braised ‘Minute’ Entrecote Steak in a Red Wine Onion Gravy “ with Cabbage with Alselgas, crushed Carrots & Turnips and ‘ Malcolm’s’ not ‘ Brenda’s’ famous Mashed Potato – which passed the ‘ taste test’!!  The rest of the day we are taking things easy after yesterdays ‘ Adventure’ out and about on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ – it reached 23 degs in the afternoon over in Marbella and today we have more of the same weather but with a little breeze so its only reaching 22 degs today!

Thoughts for the Day; see above.

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A VERY HOT & SULTRY SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY;

WEDNESDAY 15th/ JULY 2015.

The workmen started early again this morning so we choose to ignore them and turned over for a little lie in,it's hot and sultry already and by lunchtime it will be in the high 30 s - meanwhile up in Cordoba the folks are ' roasting' in the high 40 s!

For the rest of the week and over the weekend its more of the same as the 'heatwave' continues; 'Chispa' has just come calling, we have left a small gap at the bottom of the front door shutters so she can come and go as she pleases! At the moment she's is upstairs with Brenda in the drying room watching her doing the ironing, the roof terrace is out of bounds as the workmen are building the next floor above our heads,before the roof goes on!

We had our usual breakfast and are now sorting ourselves out for the day ahead; we have decided to go down this evening to the Duquesa Marina for a light supper and then go and watch the ' Manilva School of Music' " Profesores - Teachers" Concert later. At this time of the year Duquesa is mad busy and its very difficult to find somewhere to park - watch this space - that's if we find a space!!

Last night on the 'TDP' Sports Channel I was watching a sport that you don't see every day " Lucha" - 'Canarian Folk Wrestling' ! Its a cross between 'Sumo & Greek/Roman' It takes place in a large indoor arena in a sand circle 'Terrero' between two teams of large men(12) wearing shorts rolled up high on their legs ( for grip!) They use 'Manas -Throws' - two falls for a win - the match is over when all 12 men of one team have been defeated!! It goes on for quiet a while and the crowd gets very excited, to say the least! See the picture below;

Meanwhile up in the 'Pyrenees' its Stage 11 of the 'Tour de France' from Pau to Vallee De Saint-Savin over 188 kms, they go over the 'Col D'Aspin before the classic Col de Tourmalet' at 2115 meters before another climb to the finish!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.


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A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY;

SATURDAY 9^th/ MAY 2015.

We had a well earned lie in this morning until the gas bottle delivery men arrived; the sun is out and the sky is blue, it’s going to be a hot one today with more to come tomorrow, the forecast for next week is for more of the same and getting better!

A little treat for breakfast ‘Campo Poached Eggs on Toast’ with mug of steaming tea, we are having a nice relaxing day at home as we are not going down to Sabinillas to the two election rallies of the ‘PP’ & ‘ASM’but tomorrow in the early evening we are going to the ‘IU’ ‘Bash’ in the Plaza Pozo Del Rey as Daniela has asked us to hold onto ‘Reina’ as she is the official  photographer, as one of her friends is on the candidates list.

Yesterday afternoon at tea time the cement lorries and pump returned with a vegenance,they commenced to pump vast amounts of concrete using 6/8 lorries ,they were still there as we went out! They have left the street in a mess again, I will chase up the clearing later with our local councilor Mario. See the pictures below of us cut off by cement!

We then headed down to the ‘Duquesa Golf Club’ for the election rally/presentation of the candidates for the ‘Manilva Compromiso’ The turnout was exceptional, there was well over 800 hundred people attending and the presentation was very ‘Slick’ including more mugs & pens as well as a cloth bag, as they introduced the candidates and then the Mayor, Diego gave his speech before every candidate then spoke!  The Spanish system is a bit like proportional representation as the more votes you have, the more candidates you are allowed!  This is when we slipped away for our supper out!! See the picture above of the Mayor, Diego, giving his opening speech;

We dropped down to the Duquesa Marina and we were very lucky as we find somewhere to park straight away; we then went and fond the hidden gem in amongst the usual Friday night ‘crowds’ of singing/drinking ex-pats!

The “ Restaurant Marcues” that we have been meaning to go to for a while, it’s a very old & established fish restaurant of the old school situated on the first floor with the entrance down a back ally!

We were not disappointed, in fact it was rather special, it overlooks the marina, we were welcomed by the old owner and he directed us to a window table, with the windows open on a  ‘Balmy’ night – perfect. Our drinks arrived poured at the table from the bottle ‘Spanish style’ The house ‘Amabouche’ were a very smooth Pate &  Pear with Berries along with crisp bread and then a warm roll.

Brenda choose the recommended ‘Grilled Turbot’ and I selected from the large menu a golden oldie ‘Grilled Sole’- they were cooked and seasoned to perfection and the Sole was filleted at the table by our waiter. Brenda had mixed vegetables and I had ,of course, some ‘Frits’ A half-bottle of ‘Torres Vina Sol’ was just the right wine to complement the fish.

The live music was provided by a very professional harpist playing some rather well know tunes in his own style, it created just the right atmosphere for the evening; an overall very special night out, we will return next time with friends! See the pictures below before we went out and also the meal at the “ Restaurante Marcues ”

Back to reality and tonight’s supper here in ‘ Restaurante a la Sexton’ – “ Entrecote Steak” cooked on a very hot griddle plate ‘ Med-Rare’ with sautéed Baby Mushrooms & Shallots, finely cut Green Beans and of course more twice-cooked ‘Chips’!

We will then settle down to watch the round up of all the sports news on ‘Cuatro’ Over in England in the ‘Premiere League’ Everton are at home to Sunderland, on Sunday its Manchester City at home to OPR & Liverpool away at Chelsea; over here in ‘La Liga’ today its Barcelona at home to Real Sociedad & Real Madrid welcome Valencia, then the ‘La Liga’ is going on strike before the end of the season! 

Meanwhile up in Barcelona it’s the Spanish Grand Prix.Also today the 'Giro d'Italia' cycle race starts in San Remo with the traditional Team Time Trial - Alberto Contador is the red hot favourite to win!

Last night when we got home there was an excellent documenrty on ‘TVE 2’ ( BBC 2) about the last days of Saigon back in 1975 after the USA had left, fascinating archive footage as it happened.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A DRY AND WARM SUNNY MANILVA ON THURSDAY MORNING;

THURSDAY 16^th/APRIL 2015.

I was up early again this morning as ‘Reina’ was due first thing, I then shot back upstairs with her and she got under her duvet I got under mine! The ‘Child Bride’ was tucked up as snug as a bug in a rug!   It’s grey and overcast but the sun is due to brake through by lunchtime and we will be back to normal in sunny Manilva,over the weekend its staying warm and sunny and the forecast for next week is more of the same and getting hotter.

After our regular breakfast I shot back up to the office to type & post the Blog and Brenda is having a lazy morning pampering her self, she’s shampooing her hair etc. It’s an official at home day taking things easy and relaxing, later we will go for a walk with ‘Reina’ and Chispa’

For our supper this evening after last night’s ‘Calves Liver Extravaganza’ we are having 'Campo Eggs' ‘Omelet’s’ Brenda is having Cheese and I’m having Mushroom with a Baked Potato and Tomato Salad on the side. See the picture below;

Tomorrow morning we are out once again early as Brenda has her appointment at the surgery to renew her prescriptions, Emilo, the village Doctor & Deputy Mayor, rang Sally Ann on Monday afternoon after she had put in the complaint about Brenda’s treatment by the receptionist, we are still waiting to hear from the proper authority or him with an apology at least?! Watch this space.

We are then carrying on down for a shopping adventure as we calling into the retail Fruit & Vegetable market first, then the ‘English Bookshop’ for the papers and some cards before our main shop at ‘Mercadona’ then dropping down into Puerto Duquesa to call into the ‘English Butchers’ for some more Goose Fat and other essentials.

Next we are going along the coast to ‘Pueblo Nuevo Guadiaro’ for some retail shopping at Iceland, at the same time we are going into ‘Anglo Wines’ to buy a nice bottle of Pink Champagne to go into the wine cellar for my 70^th birthday celebrations in September!

Friday is the Chef’s night off so he has given the staff the night off also and is taking then out for an ‘Executive Fish Supper’ and then a ‘Night Club’ – well actually we are going to pick up some Fish Chips & Peas ( Tim’s Fish & Chip Shop) and eat them from the paper before going to ‘The Place’ upstairs in Duquesa Marina were Daniela is singing, that is if she makes it back from London in time as she has been over in the UK working! No expenses spared with the hard working staff!!

Before this all takes place we have been invited by our friend, Araceli to go to a video/picture presentation of the ‘ Manilva en el Recuerdo’ web page taking place in the ‘Centro de Interpretacion Vinas de Manilva’ theater; it’s a Council sponsored page on Facebook showing old pictures of the village and people, I used one of the pictures fairly recently on the Blog to show ‘Calle San Vicente’ many years ago when it was just a dirt track and our house was not built! Drinks & Nibbles are being served also.

So we have an exciting, by our standards, start to the weekend down here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’ in sunny Manilva.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A CALM AND DRY SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY;

WEDNESDAY 15^th/ APRIL 2015.

We were up at the crack of dawn this morning and after a quick cup of tea & a ‘Weetabix’ we shot out along the coast road past a fairly calm Mediterranean to the ‘Costa Del Sol’ hospital on the far side of Marbella for Brenda’s appointment with the Eye Consultant for a checkup; after the tests he confirmed that everything is OK and there is no need for another checkup until January of next year!  Result!!

At midnight last night the Atlantic storm that was forecast came rolling in with very loud thunder and bright lightening, but no rain or wind, it carried on past us here in sunny Manilva and hit ‘Mijas Pueblo’ 70kms down the coast, with the full works! This morning it’s calm & dry and by mid morning the sunshine had broken through and it was warm and sunny as we came out of the hospital. The forecast for the next few days into the weekend is for more sunshine, getting warmer and no breeze.

On the way back we called into ‘Leroy Merlin’ in Marbella for a new shower curtain and bath mats, what we need now is for our maintenance man to come and fix the taps in the bathroom as we have no hot water (Cal) and the toilet is not working correctly, its also due for its annual ceiling re-paint (Damp) - we have been waiting now for 4 weeks since we renewed the contact and I rang and complained on Monday! Our hot water gas boiler also needs a service at the same time (Cal again)! Watch this space.

The water in sunny Manilva has a very high ‘Cal’ content and keeps the local plumbers in business all year round. We have not seen the workmen on the demolition site next to our house for over four weeks, we think that they are also working on the Councils ‘Casa de Torres’ development in the next street at the same time?!

We called into the garage in Sabinillas for a top up with petrol and gave the car a good jet wash , back at the house I checked the oil & water and Brenda gave the inside a good brush and touch up! The ‘Red Limousine’ is ready for business!! All we need now is for our family & friends to come on over, we are taking bookings, all you need is to fly into Gibraltar, the rest is in our hands and is easy!

‘Chispa’ came running up the street as we returned to the house and is now playing under my feet up in the office; we had a very nice, well earned,’ Bacon Butty’ using English Smoked Back Bacon, with a mug of steaming tea to set us up for the day ahead, for supper this evening its pan-seared ‘Calves Liver (local Spanish) English Pork Sausages, more of the English Bacon, sautéed Spanish Onions (of course) with Brenda’s famous Mashed Potato ( local spuds)! and Cabbage with Alselgas from our neighbors Campo!

                                                   
                                                                  Now that's what you call a sausage!

So this evening after supper we catch up with the news, sport and weather updates before finding something to watch.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A STILL OVERCAST SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY; " SPRING EQUINOX!

SATURDAY 21^st/ MARCH 2015.

We had a well earned lie in this morning after all the excitement of yesterday and week; overnight we have had a lot of light rain but yesterday afternoon and evening when we were out and about it was dry and mild, the forecast for today has also changed as the cold & wet front in from the Atlantic has moved away, just for today, tomorrow its back with a vengeance and we are due for a very wet day and also more of the same on Monday and Tuesday.

Before breakfast Brenda shot down to our local post office to post the Easter cards to her three sisters, when she came back I was treated to her famous ‘Campo’ Poached Eggs on toast with a mug of steaming tea. I then moved up to the office to start typing the Blog and at the same time watching the 400th edition ( over 9 years) of ‘Saturday Kitchen Live’ on the smaller PC.

Last nights launch of the ‘ Compromiso Manilva’ party took place in the ‘Flamenco’ cellar bar/restaurant down in Sabinillas at ‘El Restaurante Meson El Molino’ It was packed to the rafters with as usual non-stop talking, getting louder all the time, with all the locals, thankfully not smoking or drinking as the bar was closed until after the presentation! The speeches were not long, very unusual, and the crowd was brought to a frenzy by the time Diego, the Mayor spoke! The atmosphere was electric as he gave his all in the opening speech of the party and the elections to come in May.

We then slipped away down to a very quiet Puerto de la Duquesa to the ‘KinnareeThai’ restaurant which was also very quiet where we had a very nice meal and ended up having a nice chat with the host Lisa along with a complementary glass of Brandy for Brenda!

At lunchtime ‘Scruffy’ is due back with us here in ‘Doggy World Heaven’ – he’s not been with us for a couple of weeks so we have missed him terrible, he’s here for a two day sleep over and is being picked up on Monday morning. No doubt later his play mate ‘Chispa’ will be calling in so we will go for a good walk around the village if she’s still here

We have just come back from a walk with the dogs and bumped into Mano,Anna and Big Bri in Cafe Plaza so we had a good catch up,I took a picture of the top half of Calle Iglasia after they have finished the work on the street!

For our supper this evening we are having ‘Entrecote Steak’ cooked on a very hot griddle plate ‘Med-Rare’ with sautéed Mushrooms & Shallots, finely sliced Green Beans and of course ‘Proper’ twice-cooked ‘Chips’ Tomorrow we are staying in and roasting as its going to be a wet and windy day here in sunny Manilva will brave the elements with ‘Scruffy’- both of us all wrapped up in our raincoats!

It’s a big weekend on the sports front as in the ‘Six Nations Rugby’ the final matches will decide who will lift the trophy as England play France, Scotland welcome Ireland and Wales travel to Italy. Meanwhile in the football over here in ‘La Liga’it’s the ‘Classico’ game when Barcelona welcome Real Madrid on Sunday; over in the ‘Premiere League’ in England Manchester City welcome West Brom today and then tomorrow Everton travel down to QPR and the ‘Match of the Day’ is when Liverpool welcome Manchester Utd.

In a sensational game of Rugby Union Wales beat Italy 20-61 and are now 20 points ahead of Ireland and 16 points ahead of England ! Oh and yes City won 3-0.A record win for Ireland 10-40 leaves England having to beat France by 26 points  to win the 'Six Nations' trophy!! England won 55-35 so IRELAND ARE THE CHAMPIONS !!

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

'Bodnant Gardens' North Wales - Spring has arrived this morning!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A DRY AND SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY;

WEDNESDAY 18^th/ MARCH 2015.

Overnight the rains came with a vengeance; they were severe and lasted for a few hours, by this morning they had stopped and we are now ‘rain free’- for now! This means that the workmen duly arrived, early this morning, and started knocking down the adjoining walls again!!

We think that the forecast has changed a little for today and the threatened bad weather has moved around the coast for now, but the forecast for the next few days and over the weekend into next week up to Tuesday, at least, is still wet and windy and cold! We have just caught an update on today’s weather and its remaining dry for today at least! " NASA" can't be wrong - see below!

Now for the really bad news, overnight up in Alhaurin el Grande they had it even worse and Joyce has had some flooding in her house so is not able to come down today at lunchtime to meet us for lunch, this means that we don’t know at this moment when we will be able to get together due to both our commitments before she goes back to Chester over the coming weekend! Watch this space.We are still on 'Yellow Alert' - see below.

We have just had our breakfast and are now sorting ourselves out for the day ahead, as the outfits are ready and the table is booked we are going to have leisurely showers and a freshen up and then set off across to the ‘ Golden Mile’ for an explority lunch at ‘Cocomo’ - for research purposes! Well you have too!!

We have just got back to sunny Manilva after a very pleasant lunch out on a surprise 'Balmy' day on the 'Costa Del Sol' On the way to 'Cocomo' we called into the 'H10 Estepona' for a couple of glasses of chilled Cava to start the day in style.

We had a nice window table and Brenda had a glass of Chilean Sauvigon Blanc and I had my usual; from the 5 euro Lunch Menu Brenda had the Smoked Salmon Fishcakes with a Chilli Dressing and a Tomato & Red Onion salad,I had the Thai Green Chicken Curry with Steamed Rice & Frits, for dessert I had the Sticky Toffee Pudding and Brenda had a nice coffee (1 euro)! All spectacular and the prices are such good value. See above,;

As we came out of the restaurant we walked in the "Senator Banus Spa Hotel" ***** ( Adults Only) next door to check it out,its spectacular as you can see in the pictures above.

Last night after our ‘Beef Stew & Dumplings” which I have to say was rather delicious, to say the least, my Dumplings ‘swelled’ up and were very scrummy,just right for a wet and windy evening stuck in the house – ‘Comfort Food’ for the Gods!

We then watched the football as Atletico Madrid beat the German team on a penalty shoot out; some of the penalty kicks on both sides were atrocious!

So off we go on our travels once again down here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’ for another little adventure, by our normal standards anyway, leaving behind sunny Manilva and venturing into the outside world! See the pictures later.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A CRISP & BREEZY SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY;

WEDNESDAY 28^th/ JANUARY 2015.

I was up early again this morning as we had a surprise visitor at ‘Doggy World Heaven’ – ‘Reina’ was back with us for the day, its not a problem as ‘Scruffy’ is here later for the day also; she is back with us on Friday and then here for a sleep over on Sunday.

The sun was our early this morning and it’s going to reach 18degs by lunchtime but there is a little breeze which is turning into a windy weekend ahead but fingers crossed there is none of the wet stuff and the temperatures are keeping up.

At lunchtime we took 'Reina' & 'Chispa' out for a short walk 'Chispa' had come crashing in full of joy and had a mad half hour chasing around the house,sliding on the Marble floors 'Reina' was not interested. Later we will take 'Reina' & 'Scruffy' out for a walk,he's just arrived! 

After our regular breakfast we are showering etc, as we have an early start on Thursday morning to get across to the ‘Costa Del Sol’ Hospital past Marbella for Brenda’s important appointment with the Heart consultant; on the way back we are going to do our messages and shopping in Sabinillas as on Friday morning I’m taking Josie to the bus station in Marbella to catch her plane home from Malaga.

Yesterday the ‘Queen’ made one of her many ‘State’ visits to Malaga on an ‘Art & Cultural’ tour/update of the sights of the city. She even had time to spot a sign that had misused an ‘Apostrophe’ – one of her pet hates in the English language, not normally here in Spain, as they don’t have them! I take great care when using them!!    Then tomorrow, after our ‘travels’ we are taking her out for her farewell lunch to the ‘Sabores Restaurant & Tapas Bar’ on the promenade in Sabinillas opposite the Mediterranean, I have booked a table with a view.

This evening for our supper we are having ‘Albondigas – Meatballs’ in my rich Tomato salsa which I add some diced cooked Baby Mushrooms too and serve it on a bed of fine Spaghetti. We will then relax and catch up with the news before channel hopping to find something to watch.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A CRISP AND SUNNY MANILVA & SAN PEDRO ON WEDNESDAY;

WEDNESDAY 21^st/ JANUARY 2015.

Well this morning it was a combination of the gas bottle delivery man and the street cleaning machine that got us up to another beautiful sunny Manilva, the sun is out, the sky is blue and there is a little breeze, ideal drying weather so I’m told by Brenda!

We had our usual breakfast and then showered and freshened ourselves up ready to collect Josie for our lunchtime ‘adventure/travels’ over to see the new ‘Boulevard’ in San Pedro de Alcantara and then have a light ‘Tapas’ lunch possible ‘a la fresco’ – again! Watch this space. See the picture below.

We have just got back from a lovely lunch out, it turned into a special day, weather wise, lunch wise and especially ‘company’ wise! We ended up at the same Tapas Bar where Brenda had the ‘Seafood Soup’ with croutons,Josie had the ‘Tortillas Camarones’ and I had the ‘Curried Chicken & Garlic Chicken’ See the pictures below;

On the way back by the ‘Sexton Scenic Sights & Sounds’ route we went up to Benahavis through the pass and could see in the distance the snow capped Sierras Nevada’s then back into Estepona to see the new ‘Orchid House’ under construction and due to open in March. See the pictures above.

The ‘Queen’ was very impressed with the new ‘Boulevard’- our lunch stop, the beautiful sunny day and broke into superlatives beginning with ‘sym’ that I can’t spell or find!  Any way she was very happy and content!! We also found in San Pedro a very small and old bookshop staked from floor to ceiling with books!

Our plans have changed as tomorrow we are going down for our shopping because ‘Reina’ is not coming until Friday, otherwise everything is as planned.'Chispa' came calling when we came back to our house and had a mad half hour playing on the settee as you can see!

The weather forecast has now firmed up and we are in a for a crisp and sunny weekend into next week with the temperatures on the 14/15degs mark but still cold at night.

So this evening we taking things easy and will settle down later to watch some TV,last night we found a very compelling serial killer movie to watch “ Untraceable” from 2008 with Diane Lane as the FBI agent with all the problems – watch it up to the end!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A CRISP AND SUNNY MANILVA & SOTOGRANDE ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK;

MONDAY 19^th/ JANUARY 2015.

So just a little lie in this morning before we sorted ourselves out for the day ahead, we had our usual breakfast and I then got myself ready to walk around to the surgery to see our Doctor for my prescription update, Brenda came for the walk with Chispa; sadly our Doctor had just been called out on an emergency so I have re-booked for first thing on Friday morning.

Last night as we were talking with Josie we found out that she had never been to Sotogrande so at lunchtime today we picked her up and shot around the coast road to the marina, the weather was very crisp but still with the sun out, the forecast for tomorrow is for a little of the wet stuff hitting us but its then going dry and crisp for the rest of the week, so far.

We have a busy week in ‘Doggy World Heaven’ with ‘Reina’ with us on Tuesday & Thursday and then ‘Scruffy’ is here on Friday & Saturday for a sleep over, no doubt ‘Chispa’ will be calling in every day as usual.

We were able to sit outside at the ‘KE’ bar and take in the sights and sound of the marina, we once again had an ‘Al Fresco’ Tapas lunch; see the picture below taken by Josie after lunch;

Josie has a Greek salad, Brenda had a Crab salad and I had the Russian salad to start, all very tasty and nicely presented. To follow the girls had the warm Hake & Baby Clams and I had the Chicken in a creamy Peppercorn salsa with the Diced Pork in a rich Tomato salsa – see the picture above.

The owner came along and spoke to us so I asked him if it was possible to see the overhead railway running as it has never been running when we have been there in the past – result as you can see above also! Brenda before we sat down managed to find a nice shop next door and ended up with a new Black Poncho which is also shown in the pictures!!

This afternoon Big Brian called in so we had a good old catch up and gossip after his visit home, he’s back in work now and into his long shifts, he looks very well and is in a fine frame of mind with his life as he settles back down in sunny Manilva and looks forward to the sun and warmth! Great to see him happy and relaxed!!

This evening for supper we are having ‘Chicken Schnitzels’ a la ‘Milanese’ with Spaghetti in my rich Tomato salsa, I’m going to top mine with a fried ‘Campo Egg’ with Anchovy fillets & Capers – a la ‘Holstein’! See below;

Over the weekend on the football scene Liverpool won 0-2 Manchester City lost 0-2 Real Madrid won 0-3 with Ronaldo scoring 2 and Barcelona won 0-4 as Messi scored his 30^th hat trick! Sadly Everton could only draw 0-0 after missing a penalty!

After supper we will catch up with all the news, sport and weather details before finding something to watch, last night after seeing Josie home we watched a very good murder/thriller with lots of twist to the tale “ Fracture” from 2007 with Anthony Hopkins,Ryan Gosling & Rosamund Pike – don’t miss the very end!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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