" A PLACE IN THE SUN " ' A STAR IS BORN '

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A WARM & BREEZY SUNNY MANILVA ON THURSDAY;

THURSDAY 27^th / OCTOBER 2016.

I was up first this morning, early as usual, to see ‘ Reina’ back with us for the day, we then all had an extra hour in bed, ‘ Pax’ on his bed, ‘ Reina’ in her duvet and us back under the covers! 

After freshening up we shot out with ‘ Pax’ for his morning walk around the village, we bumped into an English couple, Cliff & Madeline, looking for help, we told them about the bus times and how to watch English TV, where to eat & shop etc.- as they are renting an apartment in the village for a month, and also a lady in a car looking for the Chemists, we said  ‘ Buenos Dias - Hello’ to lots of the villagers, as normal, Carlos passed us and Andy went past in his car, all village life at its finest!

Yesterday afternoon the ' Costa Del Sol Hospital' rang with two appointments for Brenda, which we have been waiting for, the first was for another Blood Test etc, and the second was with the 'Kidney Consultant' in the middle of November - the Blood test is a surprise as Brenda had already been seen, it's on the same day as my yearly appointment with my ' Prostrate Consultant' at the start of November, so we are going to have a day out in Marbella, the problem is that they have still not given Brenda an appointment for her ' Kidney Echogram '- I asked about it and they said that they will get back to me , watch this space!

Overnight the temperatures reached 19 degs and this morning it’s still in the mid 20s as the ‘ Lavente’ breeze has picked up, the sky is clearing and the sun it out, the rest of the week and over the weekend is looking fine and settled, mild for the time of the year!

For our supper this evening we are having ‘ Grilled Chicken Wings’ with finely sliced Green Beans and a Baked Potato, a little Mixed Salad on the side, Friday is going to be a ‘ Fish Supper’ and then on Saturday we will have our usual ‘ Steak Night’ – on Sunday we  are having ‘ Pan Seared Medallions of Pork Fillet’ with ‘Lyonnaise’ Potatoes, watch this space.

Last night after supper we watched the final of the ‘ Great British Bake Off’ – ‘ Candice’- the lady with the ‘ Pouty’ red lips deservedly won, then it was time for the next episode of ‘ The Missing ‘ – the complex, dramatic thriller, taking place in two countries and at several times ( flash backs!) – you have to concentrate all the time and not miss any of the dialogue, arrests were made, a suspected military cover up of a ‘ Paedophile Ring’ was uncovered, the missing girl is not who she says she is, a dramatic suicide fire bomb then kills her and badly burns her father, an illicit liason was traced and at the end the murder of a witness by a gang of masked men using a butchers hand saw! ‘ TBC’ !!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY;

SUNDAY 1^st / MAY 2016.  “ MOTHERS DAY – SPAIN “

We started the day with a nice long lie in, the first this week, the village is very quiet and peaceful, the only sound is the birds on our neighbours’ Bougainvillea’ every morning; we then had breakfast, Brenda’s famous ‘ Campo’ Poached Eggs on Toast’ with a good strong cup of hot tea. We have no plans for today, we are just taking things easy and relaxing, at lunchtime we are going up to ‘ Bar Castillo’ for a light ‘ Tapas’ lunch with his excellent ‘Paella’

Its already hot this morning and by lunchtime it will be warm & sunny, the nights are starting to get a lot warmer so we will be taking off some of the duvets on the bed later, hopefully we are in for a nice long sunny spell over the next few weeks leading up to the normal weather over the following months, ‘ HOT,HOT,HOT ‘!    See the sunrise over the Duquesa Marina this morning;

This evening for our supper we are having ‘ Escalope’s of Turkey Breast’ pan fried in foaming Lime Butter and served on a bed of savoury Basmati Rice made with Red, Green & Yellow Peppers, whole Green Beans and a sauceboat of a creamy Mushroom sauce on the side; we have not planned our menu’s for next week just yet, watch this space. See below;

I’m working on my play lists etc for my next few shows on ‘ Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW’ – yesterday as I was talking to Andrew during the show he told me that the new main studio at the ‘Manilva Green Aparthotel’ is not now happening, negotiations have broken down, the broadcasting mast is still going to be up on the top of the hotel, he has found new premises with an office down in ‘ Puerto de la Duquesa’ which will be more suitable and high profile, watch this space. Meanwhile the preparations for ‘ Studio 4 ‘ ( ‘Sir’ Malcolm - live on air! )  in the heart of sunny Manilva are on going!

Just a quick update on the football results; Everton won 2-1 after loosing their last 7 games, Brian, ‘ Charlie’s dad, was at the match at ‘Goodison Park’ as he’s over on business in Liverpool, over here in ‘ La Liga’ there is no change at the top of the league as Barcelona won 0-2, Real Madrid won 0-1 & Atl, Madrid also won. Lewis Hamilton is not a ‘happy bunny’ after his engine failure, for the second time in as many races, at the ‘Russian Grand Prix’ in Sochi.

Last night we channel hopped and watched various programmes on BBC1 & ITV1 before catching the late film ,tonight its the pen-ultimate episode of ‘Undercover’ – next week we are going to watch the new series, the third, of  “ Peaky Blinders “ which is a fictional historical drama, founded on factual events, about a gangster family set in Birmingham during the aftermath of World War 1 – the main character is played by Cillian Murphy with a mega cast.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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ANOTHER VERY HOT & SUNNY DAY IN SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK;

MONDAY 29^th/ JUNE 2015.

We had a surprise this morning with a nice long lie in as the workmen on the site have not arrived! (Yet) I’ve just caught a site meeting with the builder/architect along with owner so I went and voiced my complaints, they tried to shut me up, but with no joy, so they had to answer my questions about the dry coursing between the adjoining walls and why that are working on a Saturday which is illegal?!  - As well as the total loss of our roof terrace views – they quoted that the ‘Council’ had approved the plans and they are working to all the planning rules, Watch this space.

We are up early on Tuesday & Thursday to welcome ‘Reina’ then on Wednesday we have early appointments at the surgery for our check ups before an early start on Friday for the shopping!

Today is another hot one as the sun was out early and there is no breeze, it will reach 33degs by lunchtime and the night time minimum temperatures are hovering on the 27degs mark! In parts of Andalusia inland it’s reaching 44/45degs and yesterday afternoon in Cordoba it was 48degs! For the rest of the week we have more of the same but its going a little cooler as the hot front from Africa reaches up to the UK on Tuesday & Wednesday – watch out, for a day its going to be hot over there!

Some early news this morning from the Council is that finally ‘Fiber Optics’ are reaching up to sunny Manilva over the next year TBC – watch this space as this has been promised for some time now!

After our usual breakfast of fresh Nectarines, toast & tea we had our weekly menu planning meeting for ‘Week 3’ of the diet! This evening we are having ‘Minute Steak’ with a Mixed Salad & Baked Potato, no butter (Josie) On Tuesday for a little treat we are having a ‘Sausage & Mushroom Casserole’ with lots of vegetables before plain dry grilled flattened ‘Chicken Breast’ on Wednesday.

‘Chispa’ has just arrived after crashing in through the front door shutters and is playing around the house as Brenda is up in the drying room next to the roof terrace catching up with her ironing; we will go for a little walk later for a bit of fresh air and to stretch the old legs.

We went for a short walk along Calle Mar to the local bank and on the way back we stopped at 'Bar Castillo' for a cool drink,I had my usual and Brenda had a refreshing 'Tinto Verano' made with the local Red Wine,a slice of Lemon,a dash of Lime,lots of ice and a can of Sprite! Juan Holgado Pienda,the new owner and our friend also brought us a small Tapas of local Baby Tomatoes in Garlic Oil ( Comp) as you can see in the pictures below.

We took in the sights & sounds of sunny Manilva as all the locals passed,I called Tim on my mobile as we used to sit and enjoy 'Bar Castillo' when he first came down many years ago,Thea answered as they were driving back from the 'Glastonbury' in their Mobile Camper Home where they had a 'Helluva' time! Lumy's son Paco came along so we found out the 'Bar Rojas is due to open on the 10th July with Lumy's cousin 'Kino'?! taking over,he used to run it for a couple of years many years ago!! Watch this space,

Last night after supper we found a film to watch “ Soul Surfer” from 2011 – a true story about Bethany Hamilton ( AnnaSophia Robb) who is surfing and looses an arm when bitten by a shark, she goes on to become a professional surfing champion with the help of her family played by Dennis Quaid & Helen Hunt – don’t miss it!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A NOW WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK;

MONDAY 25^th/ MAY 2015.

I was up early this morning to take ‘Charlie’ for his first walk of the day down the lower part of the village, more like he takes me around his route & ‘message’ spots! See the picture below of ‘Charlie’ flat out on the bed before we went out, showing all he owns!

It’s still a little overcast this morning but at the same time its warm, the threat of rain is still in the air, as forecast, before the week ahead starts to pick up.

In the village its still the morning after the night before as the ‘Election’ result starts to become reality, all the locals are stunned as you talk to them, why you may ask? Well the result was that the ‘PSOE’ had the most votes, then the ‘Compormiso’ party were next and in third place it was the ‘IU’ party! This means that the ‘PSOE’ have 5 seats, the ‘Compromiso’ party have 5 seats and the ‘IU’ have 4 seats with – see the chart below;

Overall the Council is made up with 17 seats and it takes 9 seats to be the ruling party in Government; this means that over the next few days there will be lots of wrangling and political maneuverings as the three main parties try to gain power and form a pact in a Coalition Government! WATCH THIS SPACE.

As I was coming back with ‘Charlie’ the ‘PSOE’ candidate and possibly the New Mayor ‘Diego Jose Jimenez’ was in his vegetable shop on the cross roads, so I took the chance to congratulate him and his party on the win! His party was last in power over 25 years ago here in sunny Manilva so he was rather pleased to say the least!

After our breakfast Brenda shot upstairs to shampoo her hair and meanwhile I was busy in the kitchen making another batch of my famous ‘Tomato Salsa’ and then getting tonight’s supper ready “ Albondigas - Meatballs” in a rich Tomato and Mushroom, Pizzaiola Sauce served on a bed of Spaghetti .See below;

Tomorrow night we are having ‘Steak Pie’( Iceland) with twice-cooked ‘Chips’ and on Wednesday the ‘classic’ dish of the week is “ Chicken Kiev” with a little twist to my version!

At lunchtime we went for a short walk with 'Charlie & Chispa' to pick up some tablets from the chemists and on the way back we stopped at Bar Rojas for a cool drink and a chat with Lumy. The workmen on the site have been banging away since first thing this morning and the pipes have just  arrived  ready to pump a large load of cement down from the top of our street later this afternoon!!

On the sports front yesterday on the final day of the ‘Premiere League’ Everton lost 0-1 to Spurs ( sorry Brian at the match!) Manchester City won 2-0 at home to Southampton but the worst result of the day was when Liverpool lost away at Stoke 6-1, 5-0 down at half time, the only Liverpool goal was scored by Steven Gerrard on his final game for the club!!

At the ‘Monaco Grand Prix’ Lewis Hamilton’s team made a huge mistake very near the end when they called him into the pits to change his tires and so lost him the race which he had lead from the start! He was not a happy ‘Bunny’!! Over in the ‘Giro d’Italia Alberto Contador was at his best in the ‘Dolomites’ and retained the leaders ‘Pink’ jersey.

Over in Liverpool on the ‘Bank Holiday Monday’ the excitement is building as they await the arrival of the two other ‘Queens’ on the River Mersey to start the celebrations – see the Pier Head this morning with the “QM2” berthed -  all the picture to follow later above!

                                                                                  Here they come !

                                                                 
                                                                    All Three 'Queens' !!!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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MANILVA TODAY.

MANILVA THIS WEEK.PICTURE BLOG.

THURSDAY 26th JANUARY 2012.

The pictures above have been taken over the last few days in sunny Manilva and I will talk about them in the Blog to follow;


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MANILVA THIS AFTERNOON.

MANILVA THIS MORNING.

MANILVA TEST MESSAGE.

WEDNESDAY 13^TH APRIL 2011.

This a test blog to make sure that our new systems are working with our Googlemail Crome and the Google E – Mail. More to follow !

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NEWSFLASH UPDATE RE HACKING.

WE ARE NOW SORTED  THANKS TO OUT LOCAL RUSSIAN IT EXPERT !! WE HAVE RE - ENSTATED OUR HOTMAIL ACCOUNT WITH A NEW REGISTERD PASSWORD/ PROTECTION AND ARE BACK TO NORMAL - OUR E-MAIL ADDRESS REMAINS THE SAME !! THANKS TO ALL FOR THE MESSAGES ON FACEBOOK,E-MAILS,SKYPE VIDEO CALLS AND PHONE CALLS FROM AUSTRALIA.KUALA LUMPUR,USA,ENGLAND AND WALES !!!

NB; WE ARE FINE AND DANDY AND DO NOT HAVE ANY PROBLEMS !!!! THE POLICE IN ENGLAND AND HERE HAVE BEEN INFORMED.

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR CONCERN AND THOUGHTS.

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MANILVA PIE DAY.

TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY 8TH/9TH/10TH FEBRUARY 2011.


Tuesday was another beautiful day down here on the Costa Del Sol in sunny Manilva; we pottered about the house and then went for a short walk and bumped into Mano,Anna and Carlos outside Bar Rojas as we took in the lunchtime tranquility of the village. In the evening we had Pork Cutlets for supper before settling down to watch a good film on the TV.

On Wednesday morning morning we got dinner ready as we were going out at lunchtime down to the industrial estate to pick up the Smart car; Mano dropped us down and we came back up to the village in the car, we now have to arrange to get the Spanish number plates and all the paper work done, then get a Spanish insurance before we can take it to the ITV ( MOT ) but we have to get the car ready for the check by having new headlights and rear lights and some other small jobs done, then when it is finally transferred to the Spanish system I am going to get a Spanish driving license ! In the evening Brian and Lilli joined us for dinner as we had not seen them for a couple of weeks so we had lots of news and gossip to catch up with ! Dinner was another “Sextons Special” Steak, Kidney and Mushroom Pie; I had made the filling in the morning and left it to go cold in the dish; the steak was from our butcher in the village and the Ox Kidneys came recommended from the English butcher, diced Carrots,Celery,Mushrooms and Onions start the filling off but then it’s the secret ingredients that give it a kick ! We had to use frozen puff pastry as we could not get out to get any Lard or Suet to make short pastry but it worked very well as you can see in the before and after pictures below ! Brenda had got ready Carrot Batons, Garden Peas and Cabbage with Acelgas ( Swiss Chard ) which we use all the time; we get it from our local shop opposite the house and add it to the Cabbage to make it more green and tastier, it is used all the time in stews and soups especially for the same reason. The potatoes to go with the pie were an old favorites “ Pommes Bataille ” diced/cubed and blanched and then served crisp – classic ! All washed down with copious amounts of Faustino Rioja as you can also see in the picture below.

Today we are taking it easy and just enjoying the weather as it is forecast to stay over the weekend and tonight we are having Steak, Kidney and Mushroom Pie again as I also made a smaller one; my latest project is to get the flags renewed on the Town Hall at the top of our street and especially the main Council Chambers down at the entrance to the village, the three flags,Spain,Andalucia and Manilva are all in a terrible condition and they give such a bad first impression to visitors; so I am approaching all the local councilors as I see them and showing them the pictures in the hope that I will get a result – after all it is the local elections in May ! The picture above will show you what I mean.

PS; I've approched three local councilors now so I'am expecting a result !

Thought for the Day;


Some will never learn anything because they understand everything too soon.


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MANILVA TV.

Sunday 7th.September.

In the early afternoon we called into the house to refresh ourselves and noticed on the TV that the local station,ManilvaTV, was broadcasting live from the Fiesta,They cover all the events and mostly film them as they did on Saturday so when we went back to the main street after watching the end of the Grand Prix from Spa,Hamilton was robbed! I managed to get myself interviewed by one of the news presenter’s Ana Ma Ruiz with the help of some local interpreter’s about living in Manilva,the Fiesta and where we came from,this was before I knew that I was crushing the grapes,later they showed the Grape crushing live,so I was on the local TV twice!!
A “ Star “ is born !!