A VERY CRISP & SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE ' NEW YEARS EVE ' WEEKEND:

FRIDAY 30^th/DECEMBER 2016.

I took ‘ Charlie’ out for his first walk of the day and then shot off on my travels down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping, I called into our Bank, (Cash ) first, then into the ‘ Ferraterias ‘ ( Mold Spray )  before stopping at the ‘Wholesale Fruit & Vegetables Market’ – next I collected the local newspapers from the ‘English Bookshop’ – then into the ‘ Chinese Bazaar ‘ ( Candle Lights ) before the main shop in ‘ Mercadona ’ – I then went along to the local market for our fresh flowers & wall plants, sadly I had to wait for the ‘Florists’ to open, for a nice arrangement for ‘Lumy’ – to thank her for her kindness on Christmas Day, and then lastly into ‘ Super Sol ‘ for the ‘English’ essentials before heading back up the hill to unload back at the house.

I then carried on back down to the coast road and shot along to Michelle’s apartment to drop the hire car back with them, they then brought me back up to the village and dropped me off at ‘ Pedro’s’ Garage as he had rung last night to say that the parts had arrived from Germany, by express post, and that our car would be ready this morning! He had worked on it till the wee small hours! Now that’s service!!

Brenda had seen ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day, she’s with us until later this evening, Lee & Daniela are going out for dinner with their family. Matt, Michelle, Hollie & Charlie meanwhile went off to explore the village, we arranged to meet them a little later for a ‘ Tapas’ lunch in ‘Bar Castillo’

As I got back to the house, after dropping the car back into the underground car park, I found Brenda on the floor cuddling ‘ Charlie’ – he had just had one of his  ‘Epileptic Seizures’ – it’s the first time in the many years that he has been with us that he has had one, Jan had told us how to handle him, Lots of cuddles, talk to him, hold him, and he will slowly come around, he’s now back to normal,  he is on tablets twice a day, has ate all his lunch and came with us up to ‘Bar Castillo’ with the folks,’ Chispa’ also joined us!

We have yet another glorious day here in sunny Manilva, the sun is out, there are light clouds with a stiff breeze, it’s very crisp but warm on the ‘sunny side’ of the street! Over the ‘ New Years’ weekend and next week we are in for more of the same, possibly getting a little warmer, watch this space.

We have cancelled our ‘Fish Night ‘ – we are having the ‘Turkey & Mushroom Curry’ - instead, with Chips! On Saturday we are having ‘ Grilled Entrecote Steaks’ cooked on the bone, with all the trimmings, then on Sunday it’s ‘ Roast Leg of New Zealand ( South Island ) Lamb ‘ with ‘ Boulangere Potatoes ‘ – the folks are joining us.

Last night after supper we caught over on ‘ BBC Four’ “ Flying Scotsman - From the Footplate “ as it was on the ‘Severn Valley Railway ‘ from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, it showed the skills involved in taking control of the World’s most famous steam engine. Next there was another excellent documentary on the “ Queen Mary: Greatest Ocean Liner “ including the exploits during ‘WW2’ - which has been classified secret for many years, at one point in time as it was crossing the Atlantic with 15,000 ‘ GI’s’ on board, it sliced through a Destroyer, killing over 300 seaman, as it was travelling at over 30 Knots, in a zig-zag pattern to escape the German U- Boats! Not a lot of people know that – they do now!!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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MANILVA THIS WEEKEND.

Saturday 25th February 2012.

After our breakfast on Saturday morning we went for a long walk with Cheta around the village; the forecast for the weekend is warm and sunny,reaching 22 degs on Sunday.As we came down to the football ground we could see that there was something on,the police had closed the road and all the traffic for the ground was parked in a large field at the bottom of the village;there was a Seven-a-Side Football Tournament on over two days for three different age groups from the junior league.The ground was packed with supporter's and had a great atmosphere as the matches took place on the two pitches at the same time over a shorter playing time.There was an entrance fee with no deductions for pensioner's so watched the matches from the path around the ground !We also took the pictures below at the same spot.
When we got back to the house Brenda shot up to the roof terrace to take in the sun,the longer range forecast for March is rain but we can't complain as we have had none since last May !! In the afternoon I watched the Rugby on the new sports channel that I'am using which is very good - at the moment that I'am typing this I'am watching the Carling Cup Final from Anfield South ( Wembley )! Oh dear Cardiff have just scored against Liverpool ! The first game was cracker with Ireland beating Italy 42-10 and the man of the match was Jonathan Sexton !Then it was the turn of England v Wales; it was a good game and both teams played all right at times,in the last few minutes Wales scored a great try and the match ended 12-19 for them with a disputed touch down for England not allowed in the last minute ! As the England match was starting we went off to the bottom of the village to watch the Carnival procession as it was due to start at 5-30pm,we should have known better,it was one and a half hours late starting and so we shot back to the house and had a drink and I caught the end of the England game !
The Carnival was led by a Samba Drum Band which created a terrific sound and rhythm as it passed the top of our street along Calle Mar.The pictures above show the procession on its way to the Pavilion by the sports complex where all the fancy dress judging took place and the music and dancing later.For supper we had Steak and Chips and then watched some TV.


Thought for the Day;


A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.

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MANILVA SATURDAY EVENING.VENDIMA

MANILVA FLAMENCO FESTIVAL 2010.

MANILVA FLAMENCO FESTIVAL 2010.

On Friday the Vendima weekend started with a Flamenco Festival in the large village pavilion down by the sports complex; we were given complementary tickets by our local councilor so we headed off down to the hall at 10-30pm, the place was packed with locals and was already very noisy and loud when we got there. The atmosphere builds up and as soon as the performers start the audience joins in, clapping, singing and shouting, you soon find yourself joining in!

The show was presented by David Gill and Ruperto Quinones;the whole evening was put on by the cultural department of the council led by Diego Quiros with the help of Luci Fernandez and it started at 11-oopm and finished at 4-ooam ! As each act comes on the family of the performer goes mad as they support them, they are joined on stage by a guitarist and sometimes a “Clapper “ which is an art in its self. They also sing at various times without the aide of the microphone and whole hall goes very quiet, for a change !

During the evening, and night, the pavilion gradually builds up, it gets louder and more raucous as the drink flows. The most entertaining act was a male singer who gave his all and went with the crowd, he dances with real passion and he got the loudest cheer of the night; at the end of the show a Flamenco group of singers,musicians,clappers and dancer ended the show with real style; they are lead by a remarkable man who is 82 years, young. He makes a entrance with his cane and Black Sombrero and dances with real passion and style, the crowd just love him, by this time it was 4-ooam and was nearly time for us to walk home through the deserted streets of the village, The presenter from Manilva TV, David Gil gave us a poster at the end of the evening with all the artists names on it as you can see in the picture above.

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