A WARM & NEARLY SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND.

FRIDAY  23/ rd OCTOBER 2015.

We were up early this morning and I took ‘Barny’ for his first walk of the day and Brenda walked little ‘Maisie’ locally; after a quick breakfast I shot off down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping, my first stop was at the bank before calling into the ‘English Bookshop’ for the local newspapers,pens etc.

Steve asked if we were still house sitting as he has some very good friends that are looking for somebody to look after their grand villa and animals at the start of December?! Watch this space.

I then did our main shop in Mercadona,Brenda’s shopping list was spot on! On the way back I called into Super Sol for some English essentials. After un-packing back at the house I put the car away in the multi story underground car park,It’s nearly time for the yearly ‘ITV’ ( MOT) in November so fingers crossed for another year so as we can perhaps find another car in the new year!

We then took both the dogs for a longer walk around the bottom of the village after their one meal of the day, they are both very good ‘Barny’ is a gentle giant and little ‘Maisie’ or ‘Tinkerbell’ as we call her as she has a small bell on her collar which rings when ever she moves! She is also a character and they are both good company and very well behaved.

The sun is just braking through and the sky is clearing so by lunchtime it will reach 26 degs, for the time of the year this is very good,over the weekend there is a little rain threatening but its still very mild

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This evening for our supper I’m making my now famous ‘ Seafood Risotto’ with assorted Prawns,Gambas,Cod,Crab,Mussels, Octapus etc; a good slug of white wine ( Brenda’s) with a strong fish stock along with Saffron for colour and flavour, Garden Peas & Red Pimento for texture and garnished with fresh Asparagus spears! See below;

This evening we are going ‘English’ for our TV later as we enjoyed last weeks Friday’s programmes; Last night we found yet another Bond film to watch on ‘La Sexta’ this time.

Thoughts for the Day; see above.

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A WARM AND SUNNY MANILVA - DUQUESA & SOTOGRANDE ON SUNDAY;

SUNDAY 16^th/ NOVEMBER 2014.

So this morning after I had taken ‘Scruffy’ for his early morning walk I had a quick shave & shower before breakfast as ‘Scruffy’ was being picked up early, he’s back next week on a two day sleep over on Wednesday and ‘Reina’ is with us on Tuesday & Thursday.

Today is a glorious day here in sunny Manilva and the Costa Del Sol, the skies are blue and the sun is out, there is no breeze and by lunchtime it was hot. The forecast for next week is looking very good with more of the same to come and getting warmer. See below the promenade down on Sabinillas this morning.

We got ourselves ready and shot out down to Duquesa Marina to check out the small ‘Classic Car’ display on the front of the port as you can see in the pictures above; we then went along the coast road to Sotogrande Marina and settled in - sat outside the famous ‘KE’ Bar in the hot sunshine where we had some very nice cool drinks and a rather nice ‘Tapas’ lunch at a very reasonable price!

Brenda had some Smoked Salmon parcels filled with a savory Scallop Mouse and some Gambas a la ‘Sal’ and I had the House ‘Rabbit Paella’ and some rather special Mini- ‘Albondigas – Meatballs’ with Frits as you can see in the pictures above. We have decided that we are going to go out on a Sunday once a month and try some different places, at the same time giving the ‘Chef’ with his very able assistant a break from his kitchen duties of roasting on a Sunday!

This evening for our supper I’m making my now famous ‘Smoked Chicken & Broad Bean Risotto’ Its of course cooked to order using chopped Shallots, a slug of Brenda’s White Wine, a rich Chicken & Vegetable stock, shredded Smoked Chicken and the peeled and shelled Broad Beans (Brenda!)  - some secret ingredients before seasoning to taste and adding some Parmesan Cheese and a touch of cream with lots of chopped Parsley (Brenda!) See the picture below.

We will the settle down and catch up with all the news, sport and weather details before finding something to watch.

PS; Last night England won 3-1 and Spain won 3-0

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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