SUNNY AND WARM MANILVA JUST WITH CLOUDS COMING OVER AT THE MOMENT

FRIDAY 13^th/ SPEPTEMBER 2013.

So far ,so good!!  We went for the early bus this morning but our friend Julia picked us up; it was shopping time in Sabinillas,only ‘Mercadona’and the paper shop then I went and got a taxi and picked Brenda up. After unpacking we walked down to the market for some fresh flowers and Brenda bought a new pair of jeans off one of the local stalls; The pictures above show the on-going work along the ‘Pedreta’ and  the structure going up around the ‘Roman Oven’

We then called Andy and he took us across to the garage, in the meantime I had checked the petrol receipt with an old one and they were the same, which means it was not a mistake with the Diesel as the garage man Pedro also confirmed later! So this means that its something else, fingers crossed as we wait to hear !

We met Anna while we were out so she walked back from the garage with us and picked up her papers as well as some fresh Figs and Grapes that out neighbours have passed in. Mano and Anna are joining us for supper on Sunday evening as I’ am making my classic ‘Fish Pie’ which we haven’t had in a while; seven sorts of fresh fish and seafood with my secret ingredients and of course toped with Brenda’s famous Mashed Potato – in fact the last time that we had ‘Fish Pie’ was when Brian and Lilli made it when they were staying with us for the ‘Vendimia Festival’ two years ago! ( It was Delicious!)

It is still very hot and sunny today despite the forecast and it looks like we might just miss the rain tomorrow before it goes nice again over the weekend and into next week; the bad weather that is hitting other parts of Spain is blowing in from the Atlantic Hurricane that is causing havoc at the moment!

Of course this afternoon I will be watching stage 19 of the “ Vuelta 2013’from S,Vincente Barquera to Oviedo – Alto Naranco in the ‘Principality of Astirias’ over 181kms; the 3 second difference between the leader Nibali and Horner is going to make it rather interesting today and on tomorrows mountain stage before the last stage in to Madrid on Sunday!

The Spanish rider Joaquin Rodfrquez won the stage but more importantly Chri Horner now leads the tour by 3 seconds from Nibali and is tonight wearing the RED jersey!

Over in San Fransisco the ‘America’s Cup it getting very interesting as ‘Oracle Team USA’ brought in a new ‘Tactician’ as they have sacked the old one, none other than Sir Ben Ainslie the five times Olympic Gold medal winner and the top racing seaman in the World at the moment! ‘Emirates Team New Zealand’ had not read the script as they then went out and won the next two races !! Oh dear !!

On Saturday the football returns over in England in the ‘Premier League’ as Stoke take on Manchester City at home, Everton welcome Chelsea to ‘Goodison Park’ ( Founded in 1878,won the ‘League Championship’ nine times !) For Big Bri over in Finland !! On Sunday its Swansea v Liverpool; over here in ‘La Liga’ Villareal welcome Real Madrid and it has just been announced  that  the most expensive player in the world, Gareth Bale will play in his first game for Madrid!

Before we have supper we have been asked out to the opening of Brenda’s Dentist’s new ‘Bodega la Espanola'’ at long last, half way down Calle Iglasia on the left; pictures to follow later as you can now see above;  Victor Brenda's dentist is from Argentina so he has built in the kitchen a large ,round,open BBQ pit, he is in front of it with his mother-in-law, Victor is a world renowned BBQ Judge in his own right!The food was rather special,Smoked Sausage,Chorizo,Black Pudding,thick cut Beef - all from Argentina and served 'Open' on local bread as a Tapas.

The dish of the night was his homemade 'Empanades' - two sorts,one with chopped Beef and the others with the addition of Smoked Cheese, the pastry was so light that they melt in your mouth! They were originally a Spanish dish from the regions of Galicia and Asturias which the Spanish conqueror's introduced into the country back in the 16th century,Lumy up at Bar Rojas makes her version of them,sometimes they are deep-fried but these were straight from the oven,by far the best way!

This evening for supper we are having ‘Merluza – Hake’ deep-fried in ‘Crusecampo Batter’ with Mushy Peas and square Chips, homemade Tartar sauce on the side.Half size portions later on !! 

Thought for the Day; See above.

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MANILVA THIS MORNING.

MANILVA TODAY.

MANILVA START OR THE WEEK.

MONDAY/TUESDAY 15th/16th JULY 2012.

It was an at home day on Monday after we went around to the vets with Cheta – but they were closed until Tuesday ! – she is not too bad in her self otherwise we could take her down to the other vets in Sabinillas - so Brenda decided to wash all the curtains ! I shot up to the office to catch up with the WWW. and later watch the 15th stage of the Tour; Pierrick Fedrigo of France won as Bradley Wiggins retained the Yellow jersey,it was expected to be a bunch sprint on the largely flat stage but the main ‘ Pelaton ’switched off and let the six man breakaway race as they took things easy before Tuesday’s rest day and then it is the two big days in the high Pyrenees with four big climbs including the Col de Aubisque and the feared Col du Tourmalet ( The highest point on this years Tour ) on the Wednesday and then on Thursday The Port de Bales provides the sternest test !

Meanwhile down in Sabinillas it was the festival of the “ Virgen Del Carmen ” who is the patron saint of fishermen; it goes on all day and into the night with main procession in the early evening, we had decided not to go down this year so the pictures above are taken from the ‘ Manilva ws. ’ Facebook page ! Thanks ! The tableau makes it way from Sabinillas to Duquesa port and then is transferred to a boat and taken out to sea ! After our drinks on the roof terrace we had a supper of Chicken Schnitzels before we watched the Film of the Week ; it was a violent cop/crime/thriller based in London – “ Blitz ” from only 2011 starred Jason Statham as the bad cop/good cop and the villain is played by Aidan Gillen – catch it !

Today , Tuesday we shot around to our vets in the village with Cheta ; she gave her a good check out ,no fever and all sign’s OK but she has a nasty throat infection so she had to have two anti-inflammatory injections – this is the point were I go outside as I can’t take the squeals !! She is on a course of shots that we have to syringe down her throat twice a day for a week – hopefully she will feel better soon. We then went for a walk around the village as you can see in the pictures below ; they have started planting trees on the new ‘ Plaza de la Vendimia ’ and the work is shooting on also down at the new ‘ Plaza del Pozo de Rey ’ As I was in the butchers Brenda bumped into our village dentist, Victor Macaya and he showed us his new Bodega that he is opening with his family in a street down in Calle Inglaise – he has just also moved into new premises on Calle Mar with his dentist practice so it all happening for him ! He is a bit of a character and a Wine Buff so we often chat to him about wines and champagnes ! They have taken over a large premises and are doing it up at the moment so watch out for more pictures as things take shape ! Brenda took advantage of seeing him to book an appointment for a check up tomorrow morning at the same time !

When we got back I made a ‘ Chicken Tarragon Casserole ’ for dinner tonight ; I used diced Chicken Legs, Thighs and Breast and then the rest of the recipe is a secret !!Parsley New Potatoes and Garden Peas are the accompanying vegetables !It was perfect and we both really enjoyed it,Tarragon is my favourite herb and Parsley comes in second - we always have it in stock as we have a large sprig on our statue of ' San Pancrias ' for good luck ! At the same time I poached some Chicken Wings for Cheta tonight for her supper, cut into small pieces after taking the bones out and mixed with chopped carrots ( Her Favorite Vegetable ) and in the cooking stock jelly – I think she is just a little spoilt !!


Thought for the Day;


Helping you think thoughts that you’ve never thought before.



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