A NOW DRY & SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY.

TUESDAY 3^rd/ APRIL 2018.

We managed a little lie in this morning, we then freshened ourselves up and had a treat for breakfast of ‘ Toasted Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties’ – open on Brown for Brenda, smothered in ‘ HP ‘ Brown sauce, with mugs of steaming tea!

I then went out down to Sabinillas to the main ‘ Medical Centre’ for my appointment with our Doctor, Natalia, for my six month review/check up, my blood tests/ blood pressure are fine, but my ‘B12’ Vitamin readings are not responding to the tablets, due to my time of life, which means that I have to start a course of injections, two tomorrow afternoon and  then one a month, every month, for the next six months, and so on!

I also have to go back on Friday morning for more blood/urine tests, as my sample was broken, before the tests, for the appointment with the ‘Prostate Consultant’ at the end of the month, over at the Hospital in Marbella.

I also have another problem, that has not responded to the initial treatment, I’m suffering from ‘Arthritis’ in my left-hand, so I’m going for an ‘X-Ray’ next Wednesday, at the Hospital over in Estepona, then at the end of May I have an appointment with a ‘Trauma’ Consultant, also at Estepona Hospital, to check the results etc! Watch this space.

NB; ‘ Fingers Crossed ‘ that Brenda comes away with a clean bill of health on Thursday morning after her review/check up!

In ‘ Doggy World Heaven ‘ little princess ‘ Reina’ is back with on Wednesday morning for the day, now ‘ Scruffy’ is also joining us for the day and maybe longer, as Rose has to go back to Hospital for a check up, watch this space.

Overnight we had some , not forecasted, ‘ April Showers’ – by the time I was out on my travels they has passed over, the sky is still grey, cloudy and overcast, but the sun is still trying to break through, by this afternoon the temperature is due to reach 19degs+ - the rest of the week is staying the same, dry & cloudy at times, with the sunshine still around, hovering on the 21degs+ mark, then on Saturday the wet stuff returns, on Sunday and into the start of next week it’s now looking dry, cloudy & sunny, before the rain returns again, watch this space.

See below a couple of pictures taken last night, in Estepona, of the “ Orchidarium  - Orchid House & Botanical Gardens “ 

Also a picture of the ‘ Wall Plant Pots ‘ in the old streets of the Town, they gave us the inspiration for our display!

For our supper this evening we are having ‘Pan- Seared Lambs Liver’ – dusted in seasoned flour and finished in foaming Lime Butter, with grilled ‘ English Pork Sausages & Crispy Smoked Back Bacon ‘ accompanied with a sauceboat of a rich ‘Red Wine, Onion & Shallot and Mushroom ‘ Salsa, with Whole Baby French Green Beans and my now famous ‘ Breton ‘ style Potatoes – Diced, boiled potatoes tossed with chopped Onions and Red, Green & Yellow Peppers, in foaming Parsley Butter!

Last night after supper we watched the next gripping episode of ‘ Marcella’ with Anna Friel, in the title role, as the Detectives closed in on the killer, possibly a lady?! A Detective was blasted with a shot gun and died, the shooter then turned the gun on himself, a Senior Detective was suspended, the nurse is still missing, the suspect husband & wife are still in the frame, then at the very end a lady friend of Anna Friel’s character, has drugged her son, is she the one, watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A GREY & OVERCAST SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY.

TUESDAY 17^th/ OCTOBER 2017.

We had a nice little lie in this morning as the work up in ‘Calle Mar’ is still in the preparation stage, so no noise of drilling etc, yet! After a quick freshen up we had our breakfast of ‘ Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties’ – open on Brown for Brenda, with mugs of strong ‘ PG Tips’

‘Chispa’ came crashing in and joined us for breakfast, she must have just returned from her holidays down at the family ‘ Campo’ – she was very excited to see us, she will now be back, in & out each day, to see all her friends, ‘ Reina’ is back here in ‘ Doggy World Heaven ‘ on Wednesday morning, for the next three days, then next week she is with us for the three days from Monday before ‘ Charlie’ joins us on the Thursday for a long weekend break, watch this space.

Brenda then popped along to the Chemists in ‘Calle Mar’ for our prescription tablets, on the way back the ‘ Contract ‘ workers have started cutting down the smaller trees along the street, leaving the large/mature Palm trees standing, watch this space.


See below;

Sadly Manolo, Lumy's husband, is taking down the 'Sonbajo' outside ' Bar Rojas ' that he built many years ago! We have spent many happy hours under the shade over the years!! 

At the moment it’s grey & overcast with black clouds on the horizon, no sign of the forecasted wet stuff, yet, by lunchtime we will find out what it has in stored for us, it’s now only like this for two days, on Thursday we are back to normal, for the time of the year, warm & sunny, with some clouds, staying in the low to mid 20s, next week is looking the same, watch this space.

This evening for our supper we are having Pan-Seared ‘Escalopes of Chicken Breast’ finished in a ‘Balsamic Vinegar & Lime Butter’ Salsa, garnished with seared Asparagus Spears & Button Mushrooms, finely sliced Green Beans and slices of thick-cut sautéed Baked Potato, on Wednesday its ‘ Grilled Gammon Steaks ‘ topped with seared Pineapple Rings and of course ‘ Campo’ Fried Eggs! Twice-cooked ‘ Frits’ and garden Peas on the side. Thursday night it’s ‘ Banquet’ night as Lee & Daniela are joining us for supper, watch this space.

Yesterday in the late afternoon Mano & Andy called in to see us, Anna is back in the UK, Andy was on his day off, we had a good catch up/gossip with all the local news, along with a couple of chilled beers for the lads, we had our ‘ Happy Hour’ cocktails a little later.

After supper we settled down to watch the final episode of “ Liar “ on BBC TV, as Laura ( Joanne Froggatt ) was finally able to prove, to the police, that Andrew ( Ioan Gruffudd ) had raped her and the lady detective along with 15 other women! He was arrested but got his son to give him an alibi, the charges failed to stick, he then was spotted with a new girlfriend, the pregnant lady detective told her ‘wife’ an army soldier about her rape, meanwhile Andrew threatened Laura on his mobile phone outside her apartment, but let slip that he watched ‘ play-backs’ of her assault! It turned out that his new girlfriend was an undercover cop, but he soon realized and trapped her, Laura’s ex-boyfriend and her sister helped her gather information etc, she then went to his mother’s house and found all the proof in the garage, including tapes of all the rapes, the mother’s carer ‘ tipped him ‘ off and he disappeared only to be found three weeks later, in the marches, dead with his throat cut!! There is to be a second series, with six suspects, to who killed him, watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A ' SNEAK PREVIEW ' OF THE SITE THIS AFTERNOON IN SUNNY MANILVA;

                                      That is our ' Patio in the Sky ' in the middle of the picture below;

A VERY STICKY & SUNNY MANILVA ON FRIDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND;

FRIDAY 17th/ JULY 2015.

We were up early this morning and after a quick breakfast we set off down to Sabinillas for our weekly shopping; as we were leaving the house we bumped into the boss of the building company so I vented my fury about yesterday afternoon/evenings goings on!

The concrete delivery to the top floor arrived and the noise for the next few hours was just too much,the main problem was that they sprayed,splashed concrete all over our roof terrace, our neighbour's and  a house in the side street - they should have put up some sort of covering but as usual no thought or consideration was given to us! Iv'e sent off an E-Mail to the solicitors!!

We picked up the newspapers from the' English Bookshop' and then carried on to our main shop in 'Mercadona' which was very busy as its now the height of the holiday season; we then picked up some flowers from the local market down on the end of the promenade before shooting back up through the vine fields to the village.

Its the 'Chef's' day off today so I'm taking the 'staff' out this evening for the executive 'Tapas' supper at 'Bar Castillo' after it cools down a little; the forecast is for yet another 'Heatwave' to hit us by Sunday making it even hotter than normal for this time of the year! Records are being broken all over Spain for July especially in the interior of the country.

Some local news which has slipped under the 'Radar' is that yesterday the new 'Bells' were installed by a huge crane into the bell tower of the 'Inglasia Santa Ana Church' - I cant find any news or pictures at the moment - watch this space! Also there is an Art Exhibition in the Wine Cenrte Gallery and on Saturday there is a 'Flamenco Show' in the Theatre, at the moment they are arrecting a stage outside the Town Hall but we don't know what for?! The 'Publicity Department' is not very good,to say the least - watch this space!

PS; The stage is being set for Saturday night when its a 'Flamenco Fashion Show in Calle Mar!!

Today's Stage 13 of the 'Tour de France' goes from Muret to Rodez over 198 kms with a sprint finish,yesterday Chris Froome with the help of his team mate Gareth Thomas saw off all the challengers to help him maintain his large lead over all of them and retain the race leaders Yellow Jersey.

We are still having our 'Happy Hour' cocktails along with our reading each evening,Brenda is a little fraught as she is not getting any time in the sun to top up her tan as her main spot was the roof terrace in the late afternoon!

Last night we watched a good film ' Insomnia' from 2002 with Al Pacino as a cop,the late Robin Williams as the 'Baddie' & Hillary Swank as another cop with a heart,it all takes place in a small Alaskan Town where it never goes dark at the time of the year - hence the 'Insomnia' a murder thriller with a twist!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.


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A LITTLE OVERCAST WARM & SUNNY MAILIVA ON SUNDAY;

SUNDAY 14^TH/ JUNE 2015.

Well we finally had a good lie in this morning, no workmen and the village is dead as they are all down at the ‘Romeria’ Festival in the valley by the ‘Roman Oasis’ & Thermal baths; the weather is fine today if not a little cooler as the tail end of the cold/wet front over the rest of Spain crossed over us, the week ahead is looking settled and getting warmer.

‘Scruffy’ is with us for the day and is being picked up later this afternoon, meanwhile ‘Reina’ is coming at noon for the day as Lee & Daniela are at a wedding, next week ‘Scruffy’ is back on Monday and then Friday, we are waiting to hear when ‘Reina’ is with us TBC.

So last night we went up to Bar Rojas for supper after all the excitement of the day, we ended up having a very pleasant evening both food wise and socially; Lumy looked after us, she recommended the ‘Carne Mechada’ that she had just made, her version uses ‘Rump of Marinated Pork’ that is then pot-roasted in a Beer Salsa – Brenda had hers with some local bread and mine came with double ‘Frits’ (some for Brenda!) & Campo Fried Eggs!! It was delicious and very tasty.

As we were sat under the ‘Sonbrajo’ in the cool night air we first spoke to an English couple, retired hoteliers, that have just moved up to the village into the apartments in Calle Utopia where Den & Josie have theirs, they could not stand the noise and English drunks any more in Duquesa Marina, they love the peace of the village.

Then we spoke to Lucy our Spanish friend that works in the Council ‘Cultural’ Department as she was going out with some other friends & neighbors to the ‘Romeria’- we had a good gossip and catch up about all the new councilors and who is getting what job!

As we were finishing our supper Brian & Jan (Charlie) came along on their way home and so they stopped for a chat and night cap & more gossip (well it’s a village with lots going on!) Then just as Brenda was having a ‘small’ Brandy (see the picture below!) - to finish the night off another couple came along for a night cap, this time it was a ‘Scottish’ couple from Edinburgh, retired hoteliers again, it must be the ‘air’

We have seen them around, they have an villa up in the hills by the wind farms behind the village, she is an artist and shows her pictures locally, they have led an interesting life including travels in an Motor Home and also have a great love of dogs, so they made friends with ‘Scruffy’ who was with us! We went down our street feeling no pain after a’Helluva’ night out.

Now for some very sad news; Lumy is giving up Bar Rojas, she sat and told us a few weeks ago that she was thinking about it as their two sons are working away and Manolo is always busy on their ‘Campo over in Estepona, They are closing sometime over next weekend for a week so as they can deep clean the place as a cousin of Lumy’s is taking it over, she has become a very great friend and we are going to miss her and Bar Rojas as our  ‘local’

She is sill going to be living above the bar and she also has her mother’s house two doors down, she has had a really tough year and is very tired and run down. We wish them all the very best and thank them for all their attention over the past few years here in sunny Manilva. What will we do – watch this space?!

At lunchtime we went up to Bar Rojas with 'Reina & Scruffy' for Lumy's famous 'Paella' for the last time as next Sunday we are out for Brenda's 'Birthday Lunch' at " Cocomo" - we are going to miss it terribly!! 

This evening I’m going to ‘Christen’ our new kitchen as we are having ‘Tournedos Rossini’ with finely sliced Green Beans & twice-cooked ‘Frits’ with a Red Wine glaze. We will be watching some football as it’s the Qualifying weekend for the ‘European Championships’ in 2016 as Spain play Belarus and England play Slovenia – both away.

PS’ Please go back to yesterdays Blog as I’ve also updated it this morning!

Thoughts for the Day See above.

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A CLEAR AND CRISP SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY;

SATURDAY 6th/ DECEMBER 2014.

The first bit of news is that my large PC has crashed and I've lost the wireless connection so I'm typing the Blog on the smaller PC -live! I will ask Andy to help me but as its a bank holiday weekend here in Spain and the hotel is very busy he will not be able to help at the moment;it also means that we have lost our Skype video connection just as we going to make contact with the folks over in Australia!

The weather today is already fine and clear here in sunny Manilva for the weekend and into next week its also looking good with more of the same.Tomorrow in the village there is something happening as they have put a small stage up in front of the Town Hall and the signs are up closing Call Mar - watch this space!

" Doggy World Heaven "is busy next week as 'Reina' is with us on Tuesday & Thursday as usual and also here on Saturday for a sleep over and 'Scruffy' is here on Wednesday for the day and then back on Friday for a three day sleep over which means that we will have both the dogs with us on Saturday night and will now not be able to go out for our Pre-Xmas lunch on the Sunday - so we will go the following Sunday instead! At the moment 'Chispa' has just arrived and is playing around my feet!

We have just been for a nice walk with 'Chispa' and 'Raided' the Pine trees for our Xmas Firs! The Xmas decorations are going up on Monday - watch out for the pictures!!

So tonight we are having 'Entrecote Steak' with a Baked Potato and Mixed Salad for our supper,last night after supper we found a good film to watch " The Way Back " from 2010 - an epic drama about an escape from a Siberian Gulag' during the cold war, a true story as they battle across 4000 miles of ice cold frozen forest,Tundra,Steppes, the 'Gobi Desert' and the Himalayas mountains! It stars Jim Sturgess,Colin Farrell and Ed Harris - watch it to find out what happens!!

On the football front this weekend Liverpool v Sunderland, Manchester City v Everton, Real Madrid v Celta De Vigo and Barcelona v Espanyol.( Derby game!)


Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A LITTLE DAMP AND OVERCAST IN SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY;

TUESDAY 24^th/ JUNE 2014.

This morning we had a good lie in until the gas bottle delivery van came down our street blowing his horn! No matter as it’s grey and overcast as forecast and the wet stuff has just started, it’s still warm but the rain is warm!

We are still very lucky as the rest of Spain has severe rain storms,lightenine and large hailstones.

We made contact with Brian over in Pori last night and confirmed the arrangements to pick him up at Marbella Bus Station at 6-00pm tomorrow night after we have been to see the ‘Cardiology Consultant’ with Brenda; one problem is that this morning there is a ‘French Air Traffic Controllers’ strike – we have just spoken to Gillian who’s flight is tonight back to Bristol from Malaga as we are due to take her to the bus station this evening?!   See the pictures above, Watch this space.

NEWSFLASH; FROM PORI FINLAND.

Brian's flight has just been cancelled due to the strike !! He is devastated and very unhappy,at the moment,Ican't reprint his words/thoughts on the 'French' - there are no other flights available or at a very high cost! We are all ready to welcome him back to sunny Manilva - we were looking forward to seeing him again and his company!!

Last night we watched the “ Notche de San Juan ” on ‘Manilva TV’ – live sat on the settee like ‘Derby & Joan’ in the comfort of our home. I took some good picture off the TV with my camera and then went to put them on the Blog, I hit a problem as they would not down load to the page – it looks like I need the help of Andy to sort the problem out, I’ve spoken to him on Skype and he is going to try and come around later today as it’s his day off! Plan ‘B’ is that at the moment I’ am downloading some other pictures from the ‘Resident Newspaper’ thanks to Gary, the theme of the tableau this year is taken from very famous Spanish TV cartoon characters - see above – fingers crossed!

Tonight for supper we are having ‘ Escalops of Pork Loin’ cooked in foaming Lemon Butter with finely sliced Green Beans and crushed Carrots & Turnips, dry-sautéed thick-cut Baked Potatoes with a little Tomato salsa on the side. Later we will watch the news, sport and weather updates and then channel hop to find something to watch.

Thoughts for the Day’ See above.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY FROM A CRISP MANILVA;

SUNNY MANILVA TODAY AND EVERY DAY

MANILVA MONDAY EVENING NEWSFLASH

I had hoped to have the blog from the weekend finished by now but due to technical dificulty's beyond my control it will be back online by Wednesday,fingers crossed and Andy's help!

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