A DRY & FRESH SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

WEDNESDAY 27^th / NOVEMBER 2019.

We had just a little lie in this morning, we then freshened up and had a quick toast & tea before setting off on our travels, as we walked down to pick the car up from the underground car park, on the ‘Plaza de la Vendimia’ - the ‘ Channel Four’ programme “ A Place in the Sun “ was filming another show, it was the same presenter as when I appeared on the show, she remembered me! – from back in October 1918!! The producer and cameraman called us over and we had a chat with the new couple, sadly no reappearance this time, watch this space.

We then shot down to the main ‘ Medical Centre’ in Sabinillas and spoke to the very nice lady interpreter, on the side desk, she confirmed that we can’t move to our Doctor, Natalia in San Pedro, so ‘ Plan B’ is that she recommended that we stay with the new/older Natalia, as she is very good and well respected, we can arrange our appointments for mid-morning, when the duty interpreter can join us if necessary “ RESULT “

It was time to along the coast road to ‘ Pueblo Nuevo de Guadiaro ’- past Sotogrande, to the ‘Iceland ‘ supermarket for all our ‘Xmas/English’ essentials, as usual we came out with more than was on the shopping list!

I then decided to go and check out the way to the ‘ Finca Thai Fusion ‘ as its on/off the main coast road, further along, a friend had given us a route map to follow, so we now know where it is, for our celebration ‘Sunday Roast Lunch’ this Sunday.

On the way back we dropped down into Torreguadiaro, next to the Sotogrande Marina, to check out all the Restaurants/Tapas Bars, including a new Gastrobar  “ Summum “- that specialises in grilled( over wood) the highest quality meats, matured in a special dry-aged fridge, for a 100 days, including ‘ Highland Angus  & Rubia Gallega ‘ Watch this space.

See below;

This morning the forecasted rain has not appeared, for now, it started a little cloudy, grey & over cast with a light breeze, but by the time we got back to sunny Manilva, the sky was blue and the sun was out, so by lunchtime it’s due to reach 17 degs+ - the rest of the week and over the weekend it’s staying dry & sunny, with a few patchy clouds hanging around, hovering in the high ‘teens’ – 18/19 degs+ - down overnight to 12/13 degs, next week it’s going to a lot cooler as the new cold ‘ Atlantic’ front blows in, down to 14/15 degs at times, during the night as low as 7/8 degs, watch this space.

For our supper this evening we are having a “ Beef & Vegetable Casserole” – using sliced ‘ Entrecote of Beef’ – dusted in seasoned flour and browned off, the salsa/sauce in made with Diced Onions & Shallots with Garlic, Diced Carrots, Leeks Celery & Turnips, with Baby Mushrooms and Green Beans, all sweated off with a good glass of Brenda’s Red Wine, and finished with a rich/strong ‘Beef & Vegetable’ stock/salsa, the casserole dish will go in the over this evening, to finish cooking, served with ‘ Savoy Cabbage ( Iceland’s best!) and Brenda’s famous ‘ Mashed Potato’!

Last night we caught the ‘ MasterChef: The Professionals’ – the ‘ Chicken Schnitzels Holstein’ were nearly the same as my recipe, except he tossed the chopped Anchovy Fillets/Capers in ‘ Beurre Noisette – Nut Brown Butter’ and used a ‘Duck Egg’!

This afternoon/evening we are taking things easy and relaxing, watching the regular programmes that we follow.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A ' FRESH' & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY. " MAY DAY "

WEDNESDAY 1^st/ May 2019.  “ MAY DAY “

We had a nice lie in this morning, the village is even quieter than normal as it’s the ‘ May Day Bank Holiday’ for the ‘ Workers’! After freshening up, as I was on the breakfast rota we had my famous ‘ Toasted Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties’ – open on brown for Brenda – smothered in ‘HP’ Brown sauce, with mugs of hot/strong/sweet tea, to set us up for the day ahead.



As we were getting ready we were listening to the ' Andrew Charles Breakfast Show' on " Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW " as the ' Music Quiz' came on, it was a ten second, in reverse, track, ' Lady ' Brenda got it straight away, it was 'The Beatles' with ' I Wanna be Your Man ' !! She's in the draw on Friday morning, again! Watch this space.

This afternoon ‘ Chico’ is being dropped off with us in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ for his week’s holiday, he settles in very well, no doubt later ‘ Chispa’ will call in to see him, on Friday afternoon ‘ Scruffy’ is back with us for a few hours, then on Saturday morning ‘ Winnie’ – the little Black Pug, is joining us again for a two-day sleep-over. Watch this space.

At the moment in Spain it’s ‘ Election’ time, last Sunday it was the ‘ General Election’ – the result was another ‘ Hung Parliament’ – meaning we will have a ‘ Coalition Government’ again! Then on Sunday 26^th May we have the local elections, when we are able to vote, the four main parties are having their ‘ Election Rallies’ over the next two weeks, watch this space.

This morning the sun is braking through slowly, the clouds are clearing and the blue sky is appearing, there is a stiff breeze blowing so by lunchtime it’s due to only reach 21 degs, tomorrow a little cooler, then over the weekend it’s going warmer, reaching 24/25 degs’ by Sunday, next week is looking dry & settled, with a few patchy clouds, with lots of sunshine, hovering in the mid 20s, watch this space.

See below a view of the lower vine fields this morning

After breakfast I made this evenings supper; ‘ Chicken & Mushroom Tarragon Pie’ – the diced Breast, Leg & Thighs are dusted in seasoned flour and lightly browned off, I make the sauce by sweating-off in White Wine, the small diced Onions & Shallots with Garlic, Carrots, Leeks Celery, assorted Red, Yellow & Orange Peppers, Smoked Bacon Sippets, Button Mushrooms, a dash of ‘Lea & Perrins with Tabasco’ – with lots of Tarragon, before adding the Chicken along with a rich ‘Chicken & Vegetables stock, then left to cook-off under the eagle eye of the ‘ Second Chef, who adjusts the consistency & taste, it’s then poured into the buttered casserole dish, this evening it will be topped with ‘ A Buttered Short Crust Pastry’ – glazed with egg-wash and popped into the over! It will be served with Glazed Carrot Batons, Whole ‘French’ Green Beans and ‘ Parsley New Potatoes’


See below;

After supper we will be watching the first leg of the semi-finals of the ‘ UEFA Champions League’ as Liverpool play Barcelona at the ‘Nou Camp’ stadium, with a capacity of 99,354! Last night Tottenham Hotspur lost to Ajax 0-1, the exciting and youthful Ajax played sublime open football, while ‘Spurs’ were terrible!

The final episode of  ‘The Widow ‘ was a let-down!!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A NOW ' CRISP' DRY & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

WEDNESDAY 19^th/ DECEMBER 2018.

We had just a little lie in this morning, ‘Chico’ has settled in and spent all night on a blanket on the floor, ‘Charlie’ is arriving this evening, ‘ Chispa’ has already been in to see who’s here! After a quick freshen up Brenda took ‘ Chico’ out for his first walk of the day, I waited in for the gas-bottle delivery man to call, but there is still no sign of him!

After our fresh fruit, toast & tea I popped along ‘ Calle Mar ‘ to the local Bank to pay the electricity bill, when I returned I then got this evenings supper on the go.

Sadly this morning it’s grey, overcast, cold & damp, not as forecast, it’s still showing on most of the forecasts & the ‘TVE’ weather report that we are going to have sun later with patchy clouds, hovering on the 18/19 degs mark, down to 9/10 degs at night, the rest of the week and over the ‘Pre-Christmas’ weekend we are in for more of the same, getting a little warmer at times, next week starting with ‘Christmas Day & Boxing Day’ ( not a Bank Holiday here!) it’s looking dry and settled, with patchy clouds, a light breeze but most importantly none of the ‘ wet-stuff’ ! Watch this space.

See below ‘ Everett, Ontario, Canada’ this morning.

For our supper this evening we are having my recipe of “ Cottage Pie “  - using Beef & Pork Mince, I simmer the Mince in a Beef & Vegetable Stock and skim all the time, at the same time I sweated-off, separately, the finally diced Onions, Shallots & Garlic, Carrots, Turnips, Leeks, Celery & Mushrooms and chopped Parsley, in more of the stock, adding a dash of ‘ Lea & Perrins, Tabasco & Tomato Frito’ - along with seasoning, to taste, then all the ingredients are added together and left to cook-off before adjusting the consistency and taste. The ‘ Vegetable Chef’ then tops the savoury ‘Mince’ with her famous ‘ Mashed Potato ‘ – made a little ‘ thicker’ – to go in a hot oven this evening, served with glazed Carrot Batons & Garden Peas. “ COMFORT FOOD TO DIE FOR “

I then went back out to take the car to our local garage, where Pedro Snr & Jnr, looked after me, it’s due the annual ‘ MOT – ITV ‘ so they check it out and then take it across to the ‘ ITV Centre’ in Estepona, this afternoon – ‘ Fingers Crossed ‘ !! Watch this space.

When I returned I made contact with Lee as the ‘ IPTV’ System has crashed again, I have tried all the re-set checks with no luck, so he’s calling in tomorrow evening to re-programme and update the system, using his ‘IPhone’- meanwhile we are back to watching all the main ‘Spanish’ terrestrial channels for now.

PS; We have had more Christmas Cards arrive over the past couple of days, from England, some of the family/folks have seem my appearance on ‘ A Place in The Sun’ – by chance! We are still waiting to hear from Australia & Canada that theirs have arrived!!

This evening it’s the Annual ‘ Christmas Band Concert’ down at the ‘ Iglesia Santa Ana Church’ – we are going to try and pop down with the two dogs, depending on what time ‘ Charlie’ arrives, before supper later, and will then pop in & out to watch the concert.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A GREY & OVERCAST START TO WEDNESDAY IN SUNNY MANILVA.

WEDNESDAY 14^th/ NOVEMBER 2018.

We had a long lie in this morning and were awoken by the gas-bottle delivery man backing his lorry down our street and blowing his horn! After freshening up we had a quick breakfast of toast & tea, before getting the day on the go. I shot up to the office/studio to go on the ‘WWW’ and then type/post today’s Blog, Brenda is getting things ready in the kitchen, as I’m making, later, my now famous “ Beef & Vegetable Stew- later turned into Scouse”

The Council have just announced the details of the Second Annual ‘ Xmas Gastronomic Food & Wine Fair’ – taking place in the ‘Plaza De La Vendemia’ over the weekend of 7/9th of December, see below.

Last Friday when I was in the ‘ English Butchers’ down in ‘Puerto de la Duquesa Marina’ I ordered our ‘ Xmas Turkey’ – then yesterday at the local Butchers I ordered the ‘Beef on the Bone ( Entrecote)’ for Boxing Day! Tomorrow morning we are going across to ‘Pueblo Nuevo de Guadiaro’- past Sotogrande, to go to the ‘ Oversea’s Supermarket ( Iceland)’ for all our Christmas ‘ Goodies’ !!

This morning has started a little grey & overcast, hopefully by lunchtime the sun will break through and the clouds will clear, as the breeze stiffens, it’s forecast to reach 19 degs+ again, by this afternoon, going overnight down to 15 degs, on Thursday we are in for more of the same, then from Friday the ‘ wet-stuff’ is due to hit us and will carry on over the weekend and all of next week, when it will also go a lot cooler?! Watch this space.

“ My ‘ Mother’s’ Scouse Recipe  “      " Muriel Eileen Sexton ne, Knowles " 

I first dust the ‘Diced Beef’ ( Neck of Lamb in the original) in seasoned flour and brown it off, then all the vegetables are chopped/diced ‘ Onions, Shallots & Garlic, Carrots, Leeks, Celery, Turnips, Green Beans & Mushrooms along with the cubed Potatoes, then all sweated-off, adding a dash of ‘Lea & Perrins and Tabasco’( and a little Curry Powder!)  - along with a large spoon of Tomato Frito, before adding a strong ‘Beef & Vegetable Stock’ along with the browed off Beef, and then left to cook, adjusting the seasoning to taste, I add more par-boiled cubed Potatoes, as required as the ‘ Scouse’ cooks/falls! Served with Pickled Beetroot and Cabbage with Alcelgas. Comfort food to die for!!

After supper we will channel hop and find something to watch.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY CRISP & DRY SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY:

WEDNESDAY 31^st/OCTOBER 2018.    “ HALLOWEEN “

We had another little lie in this morning, as we are still quiet in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ – still no sign of little princess ‘Reina’ this week, ‘Chispa’ is in & out all the time, weather permitting, ‘Scruffy’ is due back with us later next month, of course ‘ Chico’ is booked in for his two-week extended ‘Xmas’ Holiday, last night we had an ‘Facebook’ message from Eileen, asking if we could look after little ‘ Paddy’ for five days at the beginning of December, it will be very nice to have the little lad back with us!

As we were freshening up this morning I was listening to ‘Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the ‘WWW’ – for the first time this week, the music quiz came on, it was a three-second-backwards track, I got it straight away, it was from 1956, “ Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers “ – ‘ Why Do Fool Fall in Love ‘ – last week I won, again, for the third time, the music quiz winners draw! Watch this space.

For our breakfast this morning we just had a quick toast & tea as I then made this evenings supper, “ Chicken & Mushroom ‘Tarragon’ Casserole “ – using diced breast of Chicken, dusted in seasoned flour and browned-off, I then made the sauce, with sweated-off diced Onions, Shallots, Garlic, Smoked Bacon Sippets, Carrots, Leeks, Celery, Green Beans, Red, Green & Yellow Peppers & Baby Mushrooms, with a dash of ‘Lea & Perrins’ and ‘Tabasco’ – along with lots of ‘Tarragon’ and seasoning, then a good-strong ‘Chicken & Vegetable’ stock is added to the pan along with the Chicken, I add the Garden Peas & Chopped Parsley, as well as a little cream sauce, to taste, and leave it to cook-off under the supervision of the very able ‘ Second Chef’! It will be served with fresh, local Brussels Sprouts & Parsley New Potatoes this evening!

Since yesterday afternoon the wet-stuff has gone away, the light breeze moved it on further up the coast, for now, it’s still very cold, by our standards, hovering on the 18 degs mark! – overnight down to 12/13 degs+ The rain is still in the air and could return tomorrow as another front comes in, over the weekend it’s looking dry & sunny, with patchy clouds, next week is going to be mixed, but still in the low 20s, about normal for the time of the year, with sun one day, patchy clouds another and then the wet-stuff, with moderate to heavy rain, watch this space.


PS; Later this afternoon a severe thunder & lightening storm hit us, with heavy rain!



Sunrise over ' Puerto de la Duquesa Marina ' this morning.

Brenda popped along the Chemist in ‘Calle Mar’ for her prescription tablets etc, as it was still dry, the ‘Gas-Bottle’ delivery man exchanged our bottle, he’s still able to come down our street, as the lorry is under the weight restriction, for ‘Calle Mar’!  The wet weather & wind is affecting the new street Canopy, as from time to time, one of the triangles are coming down, when the cord breaks, it’s being maintained all the time, watch this space.

We also have bags of sweets ready for when the local children come calling this evening, for “ Halloween “ – later there is party for them down at the ‘Multi-Purpose Hall’ at the sports complex.

See below;

It’s an at home day, so will be watching all the ‘Quiz’ shows that we follow ‘ Countdown, Tipping Point, The Chase, Pointless, Eggheads, Only Connect & University Challenge’ – clicking from one to another, we also catch ‘ A Place in the Sun’ when it’s down here on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’ – yesterday in Belamadena! Watch this space for my appearance on the programme!!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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