MANILVA START OR THE WEEK.

MONDAY/TUESDAY 23rd/24th APRIL 2012.

Monday, ‘ St. Georges Day ’ – see the pictures below - was hot and sunny here in Manilva ; the forecast is for the temperature to rise to 28 degs by Wednesday but it is going a little cooler with some of the damp stuff over the coming weekend ! First thing on Monday morning I was on the phone to England ( Newcastle actually ) to check out that our Spanish health cover is correct as the new government in their austerity cuts and changes are bringing in charges for all pensioners on a pro-rate capped system for all prescriptions; you can have a ‘ European Health Insurance Card ( EHIC ) but our ‘ Tarjeta de Afiliacion ’cards are fine – so no change needed. Both our Chemist Miguel and our Doctor say that the charges will be very minimal if nothing for us. Brenda’s pension arrived in the bank this morning, it has gone up thanks to the small increase and the current rate of the Euro against the Pound which is at its highest in over 18 months ! I then shot around to the surgery as for the last few days I have had quiet bad cramp style pains in my left leg, but all the time and at night and our home treatment was not helping very much ! Our Doctor after giving the me the once over diagnosed a trapped nerve as we suspected and has put me on strong painkiller ‘s which are helping and at the same time he made appointments to get my yearly check over with blood and urine tests, eye test and a foot test – as well as x-rays for my up coming Prostate check over in June which is every two years ! Talk about the full works – the Spanish medical system is very good and quick !
In the evening for our ‘ St. Georges Day ’ dinner we had Steak and Chips with all the trimmings and then settled down to watch, Brenda with her hands over her eyes , “ Hannibel ”2001 the sequel – with Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, this time and Gary Oldman ( Scary ) in the psychological thriller !!

At one minute to nine on Tuesday morning I was down at the surgery for my foot test, passed with flying colors and at 1-46 pm in the hospital in Estepona my x-rays were taken and passed back to me !! The eye test again at a new medical centre in Estepona will be some time next week and all the sample test are booked in at our surgery for the second week in May !! We called into our bank in Estepona on our way back to arrange for a new Debit card as my current one has been hacked into and used ! Estepona was looking good, it is still our favorite place on the coast and on the way back we stopped at Sabinillas to do our English shopping. In the afternoon Andy called in to check out a few niggling problems on the PCs and also installed a new film channel to watch movies. On the IPlayer I have watched ‘ Saturday Morning Kitchen ’ this morning and last night I caught the new series of ‘ New Tricks ’ In the evening we had cold Pork for supper and then watched the second leg semi final of the Champions League between Barcelona and Chelsea, Chelsea leading 1-0 – it was a “ Helluva ” game for bad and good reasons with the match ending 2-2 which meant that Chelsea go through to the final with the agg,2-3 ! Messi missed a penalty and hit the post – oh dear ! Tonight it is the Real Madrid v Bayern Munich game in Madrid with Bayern leading 2-1 – watch this space !

PS; Well it was one " Helluva " match - Bayern went through after the penalty shoot out after extra time had been played - it was 2-1 to Real on the night so it was 3-3 agg.Ronaldo missed a penalty and so did two of his team mates ! Casillas saved one but the Germans finished it off !!

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Thought for the Day;

Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up.



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MANILVA THIS WEEK.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY 7^th/8^th JULY 2011.

Thursday was very hot so we stayed inside and caught up with the jobs around the house; Brenda ended up after lunch out on the roof terrace but moved inside for a while as it was just too hot, we then had our early evening drink on the terrace and then had a light supper later as the sun moved around, the locals at this time of the year all sit outside in the evening chatting away with their neigbours,we can’t as the road outside is to steep so we have the door open and watch the world go by.

Friday morning we got up early and shot down to Sabinillas to do the shopping before it gets hot; on the way back we called into our local markets in the village and picked up some flowers. As we were unpacking Anna called in so we caught up with all the news and gossip,Mano is busy at the villa during the day so she is not getting out as much in this weather; we then walked up to Bar Rojas for a cooling drink and bumped into Andy, he is working full time at this time of the year and is on the 4-00pm to finish shift six days a week in the family bar down by the front in Sabinillas, Carlos then came along so we had a long chat about the forthcoming football season here and in England. We had a light salad snack lunch back at home as we had planned to go up to Bar Rojas for supper later when the sun had moved around; We sat outside under the Sonbrajo, Manolo is just about to extend it ready for the Vendimia festival at the start of September, Lumy looked after us as we took in the night air and the tranquil atmosphere of the village, Brenda had a Fresh Fillet of John Dory cooked in a crisp Tempura Batter accompanied with a salad and I had one of my favorite local dishes ‘ Carne Mechada ’which is a Rump of Marinated Pork which is cooked very slowly in its own juices and served sliced thin with either the juices or Sea Salt which I prefair,It’s best cold, I had it with Patatas Frits and Heuvos Fritos ! Delicious !!

TOUR DE FRANCE 2011.

Edvald Boasson Hagan secured Team Sky’s first Tour de France stage victory in wet conditions on Thursday, the riders had to endure torrential rain at times on a punishing 226 km stage from Dinan to Lisieux,the longest stage on this years Tour. Yesterdays stage was through the Loire Valley from Le Mans to Chateauroux; Mark Cavendish’s second stage victory of this years Tour was overshadowed by the freak crash in which Bradley Wiggins broke his collar-bone and had to retire from the Tour; Cavendish had a perfect lead-out from his HTC Team to the line as you can see in the pictures below. The route takes the riders into the Massif Central and down to the Pyrenees during the next few days so the climbers will be out in force;todays stage is from Aigurade to Super-Besse-Sancy over 189 kms and is in vaguely mountainous territory and is pretty much uphill all the way !

Thought for the Day;

By the work one knows the workmen.

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