MANILVA AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND

THURSDAY 24^th/ FRIDAY 25^th/ JANUARY 2013.

Well the wet stuff hit us over night, as we got up on Thursday morning the heavens opened, but only for a short while as it settled down to a cool dry grey day for a change in sunny Manilva! We are still very lucky as the rest of Spain is getting it bad with heavy snow and severe rain storms; the forecast for the weekend is better with no rain and gradually getting more sun and clear skies by Sunday/Monday – back to normal and the temperature will be back up to 20degs+! We settled down to some serious reading in the afternoon and later in the evening for supper we had Grilled Sausages,Tomato,Heinz Baked Beans, Fried Eggs and Chips with of course HP Brown sauce!

We then watched the news and then found on TVE2 a delightful film called “ Crush ”from 2001 – it is the story of three forty-something career woman, a headmistress played by the very watch able Andie Macdowell,the village doctor played by Anna Chancellor and the local police superintendent is the excellent Imelda Staunton – it follows their life’s in a rural village in middle England in the present day; it is very moving and very well acted and there is a big surprise as their story unfolds - get the hanky ready!

Later on one of the other channels it was the football, a late 10-00pm kick off in the ‘ Copa Del Rey’ quarter final second-leg over here at Malaga, it was a thrilling game, Pique got on the score sheet and dedicated his goal to his new born son ‘ Milan !? It was 4-2 0n the night and 6-4 on aggregate as Barcelona set up a semi-final place against their arch-rivals Real Madrid who progressed after beating Valencia, the other semi-final is between Athletico Madrid who play Sevilla.

This morning,Friday we shot down early to Sabinillas for our weekend shopping; it is still cool and overcast so we are having another at home day; the dog is here and is playing around the house as she shadows Brenda. Mano and Anna called in to pick up the papers and have a chat just after lunch. Tonight we are having Fresh Large Gambas( See the picture's above) again as they are so cheap at the moment, I will try them out on our new griddle pan- dry with just a little salt and lots of Lemon Juice on them after they are cooked! Mmmm!!! Later we caught a very good legal thriller " A Time to Kill " from 1996 based in the deep south of Mississippi with a great cast; Mathew McConaughey,Kevin Spacey,Patrick McGoohan,Donald and Kiefor Sutherland,Samuel L Jackson,Ashley Judd and Sandra Bullock ! The late film was " The Bourne Identity " with Matt Damon.

PS; This afternoon we managed to catch up with Tim, Thea and Jo on the Skype video- they had already started celebrating Jo getting a job set up in September after leaving university - at a school in downtown Ellesmere Port !Well done Jo !!

Thought for the Day;

A joy that’s shared is a joy made double.

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OLD COLWYN NORTH WALES

CASARES GOLF COURSE MANILVA

MANILVA AT THE START OF THE WEEK

MONDAY 21^st/ TUESDAY 22^nd/ WEDNESDAY 23^rd/ JANUARY 2013. 

The local forecast for here is a little colder this week and some of the wet stuff towards the end of the week although the skies are still clear and the sun is out at the moment; the rest of Spain it getting it rather bad with floods, high winds and snow storms so we can’t complain! On Monday we had a at home day pottering about the house and catching up with the chores; I ended up in the office checking out the WWW.In the evening for supper we had flattened Turkey Breast cooked on the griddle and coated in foaming Lime Butter with baby New Potatoes and Garden Peas – simple but nice – we then watched “ Double Impact ”from 1991 starring ‘ 2 ’Jean Claude Van Damme’s as if ‘1 ’ is not enough – he wrote(?) and co-produced the film and tries to act the two parts! Hilarious!!

On Tuesday morning we went for a walk around the village with the dog; the work on the ‘ Plaza Pozo Del Rey ’is going along slowly as you can see in the picture below, the council have just announced that at the same time they are going to put in new drains in the surrounding streets and then resurface them so as to finish off the project properly! Next month the work is due to start on ‘ Santa Ana ’Church which will take over nine months to complete – the scaffolding is going up inside and out to get access to all the corners that are battered ! Watch this space. In the afternoon we found a rather nice film “ The Fabulous Baker Boys ” from 1989 starring the real life brothers, Jeff and Beau Bridges and the very ‘ Fragrant’ Michelle Pfeiffer as the girl singer with a heart! She won a ‘Golden Globe’ for her part in the film and it was nominated for many awards.

We picked up some Pork Cutlets from our butchers which we had in the evening for supper – I grilled them on our new griddle pan, which is very good and Brenda got the Cabbage with Alselgas and Mashed Carrots and Turnips on the go – I made a new Potato dish with cooked / cubed cold new potatoes fried in foaming butter with chopped Onions and Garlic, diced Red Peppers and cubed Smoked Ham – rather tasty and just right with Cutlets. It was then ‘ Cowboy’ time – a classic John Wayne movie called “ The Sons of Katie Elder ” from 1965 with Dean Martin and George Kennedy as one of the baddies! It’s the story of the four brothers trying to atone for their sins to a saintly mother who has recently died – John Wayne at his best !

This morning, Wednesday we were up early as I had an appointment at our doctors to update him on my hospital visits and also renew a prescriptions, he also gave Brenda the once over – so it was two birds killed with one stone! Today with the ‘ Lavante’ wind blowing it is the first time that our night-time temperatures are due to drop below 10degs! – the day-time temperature is still hovering at 15/16degs with the sunny still out! Yesterday on Facebook Tim posted a picture of himself playing golf at Old Colwyn(?)  Come on over Tim as you will need your sunglasses and no woolly hat to play here in Sunny Manilva at our local courses !! See the pictures above. This evening is ‘ Curry Night’ here in Manilva with some of my now famous Chicken Curry from the other week on the menu; we will then channel hop and watch the news and then a film.

Thoughts for the Day;

It’s what you learn after you know it all counts.  You learn something every day if you pay attention.

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MANILVA THIS MORNING

MANILVA OVER THE WEEKEND.

SATURDAY 19^th/ SUNDAY 20th/ JANUARY 2013.

After the storm had passed we were left with the wind gusting every so often; at lunchtime it brought down our next door neighbours, Anna, shutters which I retrieved from up the street for her, so it was a at home day for the Sextons in a still unbelievably sunny Manilva! The dog appeared during the morning; she missed crashing through the shutters as usual and stayed inside playing for the rest of the morning. In the afternoon I watched the football from England, Liverpool had a good win against Norwich 5-0 and Manchester City beat Fulham 2-0, Everton play tonight against Southampton. Over in ‘ La Liga ’there was a big shock when Barcelona squandered a 0-2 lead and lost 2-3 at Real Sociedad who scored the winning goal in injury time! In the evening for supper it was our usual ‘Steak Night ’ with our new ‘ Griddle Pan’ that we bought on Friday in Supersol-a bargain as it is a very heavy duty one that we have been looking for; we then settled down to watch a film, it was a Spanish film, we do watch some Spanish films as we are just about able to follow them, called “The 13 Roses”from 2007.We have seen it before and I have written about it on the blog, but as we learn more about Spain and the Civil War we are able to understand more about the history, the 13 women,Republian supporters and at the same time 48 men were shot towards the end of the Civil war in 1939, in Madrid as Franco was starting to celebrate winning in reprisal for the shooting of some of his supporters- they had nothing to do with the killings – they were innocent victims !  It is very moving and of course it is a true story so it brings home the horrors of the Civil War which to this day are still remembered in a ceremony at the graves each year – the war is still in the news, only last week they were exhuming bodies from a mass grave and the scars run deep in politics and government.

On Sunday we had a little lie in before Getting the ‘ Coq Au Vin’ on the go; sadly Andy had to call off as he had been called into work at the Aparthotel on the 5-12 shifts so our second choice, standbys guests – Mano and Anna were invited and excepted! Mano helped me to put the shutter back up when they arrived and we then had a very enjoyable meal as you can see in the picture below; I even had Croutons as a garnish, you can see the marks on them from the new griddle pan and Brenda’s mash went down a treat, I had made the ‘Crepe ’mix in the morning and we had then with Sugar and Lemon and Vanilla Ice cream! I had watched the football in the afternoon, Chelsea just managed to hold onto a win against Arsenal 2-1and then Utd,could only draw with Spurs 1-1 who equalized in injury time much to Sir Alex’s displeasure! Here Real Madrid thrashed Valencia 0-5 with Ronaldo scoring 2 and Atl.Madrid won 2-0 so are now only 8 points behind Barcelona with Real up to 15 points adrift! We than caught up with the news and weather on TVE1.

Thoughts for the Day;

Bravery is being the only one who knows you’re afraid. Fight till the last gasp.

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MANILVA SUNDAY EVENING

MANILVA WEATHERFLASH

SATURDAY 19TH JANUARY 2013


We were rudely woken this morning with a very loud crash/bang; our front door shutter had been blown off and ended up half-way up our street ! The forecast for today was severe storms with heavy rain and hurricane force winds!! It is the tail end of the weather that is hitting the rest of Europe and the UK -It come's in from the Atlantic in the west and then turns towards the north east of Spain.As usual down here in Sunny Manilva when it rains - it does it properly!! I had to go out with only my bathrobe on to retrieve them - I can confirm that the wind was blowing up the street and was hitting the parts that it should not!! It is back to normal tomorrow on the forecast,sun and 19degs - fingers crossed.


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SABINILLAS BEACH THIS MORNING

MANILVA AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND.

THURSDAY 17^th/ FRIDAY 18^th/ JANUARY 2013.

It was still sunny and clear on Thursday as we went for our walk with the dog; when we got back Andy called in and as you can see fixed the seat covers in the Fiesta. Next on the list to fix/update is the radio and then we are up to date, hopefully, with the car! I managed to get the BBCTVIPlayer working for a short while and so I was able to catch up with ‘Saturday Morning Kitchen. One of the guest Chefs made a golden oldie ‘ Coq Au Vin’ so this Sunday for a change I’ve put it on the menu; he showed how to cut up the whole Chicken into 13 equal pieces, I think I can get more – watch this space! This morning we found in the wholesale greengrocers down in Sabinillas some Shallots for the first time, so my recipe will be very authentic along with the Button Mushrooms and Bacon Lardons cut from a thick slice of our local Bacon; I’am marinating the Chicken pieces in a whole bottle of local Red Wine on Saturday ready for Sunday; we are going to have Brenda’s famous Mashed Potato with it and Baby Carrots and Garden Peas mixed, another old favourite.Andy and Marie are joining us for dinner – I’ am going to also make my famous ‘ Crepes ’cooked to order and served with all sorts of sweet goodies! After supper on Thursday evening, we had ‘Pan Seared Calves Liver’ with a small Lamb Chop from the English butchers over in Guadalmina,which we picked up on the way back from the hospital together with more Lyonnaise Potatoes that I had made – we watched our Spanish Soap and caught up with the ‘ Copa Del Rey’ results, Real Madrid beat Valencia 2-0 in the first leg and Barcelona drew with Malaga 2-2 in Madrid after going two up – the return leg in Malaga next week is going to be a cracker! It means that if Barcelona and Real win they will meet in the semi-finals.

This morning we have been down to Sabinillas for the shopping, we called into the Sports Office on the way and got a refund for our basketball tickets; as you can see below we missed a really exciting game in the main sports hall over in Malaga, two coaches went with 110 people from the village – Real Madrid beat Unicaja Malaga 64-72 – It is on TVE1 on Sunday on the Basketball highlights show so we will watch it then! Over in Pori in Finland I hope Brian and Lilli are wrapped up well as it is – 22degs! Lilli does have a new pair of ‘Uggs’ so she should be OK! – We are thinking of you both over here in sunny Manilva!! This evening for supper we are having Fresh Gambas a la Plancha with salad and we will then catch a film.We caught " Double Jeopardy " from 1999 with Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones, a murder mystery with a twist and then later " Cliffhanger " with Slyvester Stallone and John Lithgow, Stallone doing his thing in the mountains and Lithgow being a nasty Baddie.

PS; This afternoon a letter arrived in our post box from Finland(Correctly) addressed to the Don and Dona Sexton;it was a very nice thank you card for us both and a typical birthday card for me - the problem is that it has taken nearly five months to get to us from Brian and Lilli in Pori !! They must have sent it in September 2012 after their visit for 'Vandimia ' at the start of the month !! Thanks and love to Brian and Lilli - Keep warm !!

PPS; When can we expect the Xmas card to arrive !!!!!!!!!!!  ( It did arrive on time - only joking !)

Thoughts for the Day;

Adversity introduces a man to himself.   Tough times never last, but tough people do.

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MALAGA LAST NIGHT

MANILVA TONIGHT NEWFLASH

THURSDAY 17th/ JANUARY 2013

This evening at 6-30pm my phone went,it was Mario our local councilor ,who is the Sports Director, asking me why we had not caught the bus to the Basketball in Malaga ? The Sports office rang me yesterday and confirmed that the bus was leaving at 6-15pm.The poster and the office clearly says Friday 18th January ! Oh Dear !!  We are very upset to miss our trip out to watch the game between Unicaja Malaga v Real Madrid - yesterday I had been online checking out the teams and the latest results in the ' Turkish Airlines Euroleague 'and while I was researching about basketball in general I noticed in the fixtures that the game was listed for Thursday 17th/ January but did not think anything of it as the poster clearly shows the Friday date !! It turns out that they had printed the poster wrong!! I wrongly thought that the date had been changed - you know what 'Thought Did'

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MANILVA THIS LUNCHTIME

MANILVA THIS AFTERNOON

MANILVA AND MARBELLA

TUESDAY 15^th/ WEDNESDAY 16^th/ JANUARY 2013.

Tuesday was an at home day taking things easy; the ‘ Lavante ’ wind was blowing in off the Mediterranean so it was rather cold but the sun was still out, in the rest of Spain in the mountains they were on a ‘ Red Alert’ for heavy snow and in all the Northern Regions it was the ‘ Orange Alert’ for rain ! So we are getting our heads into our latest books during the day and in the evening as usual we are Channel hopping; for supper last night we had Minute Steak and Chips and then watched a rather strange film called “ Judgment at Nuremberg  ”from 1961! It starred, wait for it, Spencer Tracy,Burt Lancaster.Richard Widmark,Maximillian Schell, who won the Oscar for Best Actor, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift,Werner Klemperer and even William Shatner in the story of the trails of the non-combatants and the crimes that they committed in violation of the Law of Nations.

This morning, Wednesday, we were up bright and breezy, just like the weather, as I had my six month ‘ Prostrate’ check up with my Consultant over at the Costa Del Sol Hospital on the far side of Marbella; I got the ‘Thumbs Up ! ’ – everything OK,normal results and no problems, he wants me to have some blood tests in three months time and then go and see him again and in the meantime he has arranged an appointment with a Consultant Kidney specialist to further check out my results and make sure that all is clear and working properly! On the way back we called into the car accessories hypermarket in Marbella and picked up some anti-freeze(Cheaper then the garage) had three new screen wipers fitted and spotted and bought some new seat covers which were on offer! The only problem is fixing/putting them on, the details are not very clear and so we are going to have to get some help, not Mano as he bought some before Xmas and has still not worked out how to secure them!! Tonight we are having Pork Cutlet with Lyonnaise Potatoes with as usual Brenda’s vegetables.

PS; On Thursday lunchtime Andy called in and worked out how to fit the seat covers,as you can see above ! Thanks Andy( And Brenda) for getting the job done !!

Thoughts for the Day;

Happiness lies, first of all, in health.  Health and intellect are two blessings of life.

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MANILVA THIS MORNING

MANILVA ON A FINE DAY.

MANILVA PLAZA POZO DEL REY THIS LUNCHTIME

MANILVA PLAZA POZO DEL REY THIS LUNCHTIME

CADIZ 10TH FEBRUARY 2013.

MANILVA OVER THE WEEKEND AND AT THE START OF THIS WEEK

SATURDAY 12^th/SUNDAY 13^th/MONDAY 14^th/ JANUARY 2013.

On Saturday after going down to the Sports Complex we came back to Bar Rojas and sat in the lunchtime sunshine and had a nice drink and some Tapas; in the afternoon I watched a little football from England, sadly Everton could only draw at home against Swansea. In the evening for supper we had our Steak a la Plancha with Baked Potatoes and a little salad before we settled down to watch “ Mission Impossible 111 ” from 2006 with Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise, Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the Baddie( Very good) and Michelle Monahan as the love interest.

We had a little lie in on Sunday morning and then got the roast on the go, as you can see in the pictures Blog below! After we finished and had freshened up we had a Smoked Bacon Buttie to keep us going; I then retired to the office to watch the football from England, Liverpool lost to Manchester Utd. 1-2 but played very well for last 30 mins and deserved a draw! Then Manchester City won at Arsenal for the first time since 1975 – 0-2 in a very hard game – down to ten men on both sides. In the evening over here meanwhile in ‘ La Liga ’Real Madrid had a goalless score at Osasuna ( The bottom team in LA Liga) Ronaldo was suspended and it means that they are now 19 points behind Barcelona who won down here in Malaga 1-3 with Messi scoring one!

Mano and Anna joined us for dinner and brought a very nice bottle of Champagne which we had with a touch of Cassis; dinner was rather special with all the vegetables, especially the Parsnip Chips and the Gravy was to die for! The pictures below show the meal at an early stage before we finish it off in the evening.

This morning, Monday we went down to the Cultural Department Offices next to the Sports Office to enquire about a coach trip to Cadiz in February; we bumped into Mario and thanked him for arranging the tickets for the basketball this Friday then our friend Lucy who works in the office told us about the trip. It is on Sunday the 10^TH/ February and leaves at 8-00am in the morning and does not get back until after 10-00pm! It is the ‘ Carnival ’ in Cadiz which takes place over ten days from the 7^th to the 17^th February and is the largest in Spain and one of the top three in the world!- with millions of visitors to the city and all the hotels booked for years in advance. This weekend in the city the food festivals have started and also over the next few weeks the singing groups “ Quartets Chirigota ”perform at the spectacular ‘Gran Teatro Falla’ It is ‘ Party Time ’in a big way with lots of live music and singing, rides and fireworks,Tablaos and by tradition you dress in should dress in fancy dress costumes and masks !! Watch this space. We have booked our tickets !! Cadiz is spectacular – it is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the Iberian Peninsula and one of the oldest in Spain; it is the principle home port of the Spanish Navy since the 18^th century. It is situated on a narrow slice of land surrounded by sea and to get to it you either cross a spectacular bridge or a causeway. The Old Town ( Casco Antiguo) is where you can easily get lost in the narrow streets as we did last time in the car.

PS; The pictures above show the ongoing work on the ‘ Plaza Pozo Del Rey’ and the children’s playground on another fine day here in sunny Manilva.

Thoughts for the Day;

We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.  Not all those who wander are lost.

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MANILVA SUNDAY EVENING KITCHEN

MANILVA SUNDAY MORNING KITCHEN

The pictures below show today's Roast Topside of Beef,cooked Rare as you can see;and this morning's preparation ready for tonights dinner; Brenda has her usual vegetables,Cauliflower and Broccoli florets coated in a three Cheese sauce( Mature Cheddar,Gouda and Parmesan) Carrots with diced Turnip,Cabbage with Aselgas,Parsnip Chips( Fried later) and Baby New Potatoes( Skinned when cool) Tonight there will also be Garden Peas.I will post a picture of the Yorkshire Puddings and the Goose Fat Roast Potatoes when they come out of the oven later ! Finally the Finger licking Pan Gravy is cooking out in the roasting tray.

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MANILVA SUNDAY MORNING KITCHEN

MANILVA SUNDAY MORNING KITCHEN

MANILVA SUNDAY MORNING KITCHEN

MANILVA SUNDAY MORNING KITCHEN

MANILVA THIS LUNCHTIME

MANILVA THIS LUNCHTIME

MANILVA TODAY.

SATURDAY 12th/ JANUARY 2013.


After a nice lie in this morning we had Brenda's famous Poached Eggs on Toast for breakfast as you can see in the picture below! The picture below of Old Sabinillas back in 1965 shows it as a fishing pueblo with the road up to Manilva in the middle of the picture - the large building is a mystery at the moment! Not any more - it was one of the first hotels in the area - knocked down in the late 70s! ( Thanks Gary )


We have just got back from the sports field,the football on the seven-a-side was between the Police in Blue, of course!( The team everybody wants to beat) and a' Latinos ' team.Meanwhile in the sports hall the junior Basketball on the half-size with low baskets arena  was Manilva in the black and another local team - very competitive and lots of energy.


While we were down at the football we bumped into Gary from'Manilva Media Workshop' who also produces the 'Resident' newspaper,the ' Manilva Life ' web-page and also has a live music programme on FM. I'am now the official Manilva correspondent ( Part-Time,Retired,Non- Stipendiary ) for all of the above and also a contributing editor ( Sic!) from our blog-page !! Watch this space.

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MANILVA BREAKFAST THIS MORNING

SABINILLAS PUEBLO CIRCA 1965.

MANILVA AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND.

THURSDAY 10^th/ FRIDAY 11^th/ JANUARY 2013.

We awoke to yet another sunny morning, the sun shines into our bedroom as we pull up the blinds; it was so nice that when we went for a walk with Cheta, we did not need our coats, we ended up down at Bodega Augustin and bumped into Mano and Anna who were out for their morning walk and coffee; we caught up with all their news and some village gossip; we have asked them for Sunday Dinner as we are planning to roast the Topside of Beef, we will have to wait and see as they never know what they are doing  it’s called ‘ Hasta Manana ’! In the afternoon Brenda retired to the roof terrace and I tried to watch ‘Saturday Morning Kitchen ’on the BBCIPlayer – I’ am having problems getting a good contact – it must be the satellite updates that they are setting in motion. In the evening for supper we had Cold Smoked York Ham with Egg and Chips before we caught up with football news; it was the ‘ Copa Del Rey ’( Same as our FA Cup ) – Barcelona won 5-0 and rested Messi while Real Madrid won 4-0 with a Ronaldo hatrick! We then watched the Spanish soap that we follow “ Cuentame Como Paso ” ( Tell me how it happened ) – it’s about a family living in Madrid back in the late 60s/early70s.It shows life mixed in with actual film footage, last night it was 1975 and the attempted coup in the congress on the 23^rd of February, the music and clothes of the time are also very realistic. The series has been on since 2001 and the characters have grown up in their parts; the two main parts our the husband and wife played by Imanol Arias and Anna Duato- ‘ Antonio and Mercedes.

PS; Mano and Anna have just confirmed that they are coming on Sunday.

This morning we went down to Sabinilas for the weekend shopping; we called and picked up the papers and also some more books ‘ Patterson’s ’for our reading. After we came back we walked down to market with the dog for flowers and I spotted some socks on the 241 stall at 3euros! I then went across to the council Sports office and enquired again about the Basketball tickets,we were on the waiting list but they informed me that they had had a phone call and we are on the trip next Friday - result - it pays to have friends in high place's !We are waiting on Jane sending us their flight details for ‘ Valentines ’weekend on the 15^th Feb. We are really looking forward to our first guests this year and hope that the sunny weather hold out! Tonight we are having some large fresh Gambas to start – A La Plancha – with sea salt and then the rest of the Goujons of Hake with homemade Tartare sauce from last week. It is then film night so we will channel hop and find something to watch.I found the " Shooter " from 2007 - a conspiracy thriller with Mark Wahlberg in the title role and Danny Glover,for a change,as the baddie! 

Thought for the Day;

Television is the triumph of machine over people.

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MANILVA THIS MORNING.

SUNNY MANILVA THIS LUNCHTIME.

MANILVA OPEN FOR BUSINESS.

TUESDAY 8^th/ WEDNESDAY 9^th/ JANUARY 2013.

After breakfast on Tuesday morning, tea and toast, Brenda took Cheta around to the vets for a shampoo and brush up and picked her up later – not very good, she looked just the same so we are going to look after her in the future; we do a much better job anyway! It was a take it easy day at home as I caught up with the WWW. and Brenda pottered about; in the afternoons she is able to go up on the roof terrace for a couple of hours as it warms up and the sun is overhead. We have finished our books so on Friday we will call into the English bookshop and exchange them; In the evening we had Minute Steak’s with Baked Potatoes for supper and then channel hopped and watched the news.

Yesterday morning, Wednesday, we had to get up early as we both had appointments with our doctor at the surgery; we updated our medications and he gave us the once over and checked out two appointments at the hospital, one is next week for my six month check up with the Prostrate, I have the X-Ray and the blood and urine results have gone through to the hospital – so fingers crossed!  Meanwhile it is keep taking the tablets!! Brenda requested something different for supper so I came up with “ Chuleta De Cerdo Charcutiere ” – Pork Cutlet served with a very sharp Piquant sauce – I made the sauce in the morning, finely diced Onions sweated off and then White Wine and Beef stock added and reduced, then I added the finely sliced Gherkins along with a three Mustard paste and finished with small amount of a rich Beef glaze – seasoned to taste – the aromas wafted around the house and up the street! Not bad even if I do say so myself !! We had them with the last of the Boulangere Potatoes and Cabbage with Alselgas and diced Carrots and baby Turnips – comfort food for the Gods!

Just a reminder that we are open for visitors, the calendar is ready – book early to avoid disappointment – bed and breakfast, full English or Spanish with full board available including Gourmet International/Local cuisine with fine wines personally selected by your hosts. Chauffeur escorted excursions to all parts, dining out experiences at local Ventas and Restaurants, Golf at local courses can be arranged and swimming both indoors and out, weather permitting. Beach visits are not a problem and the local bars are well stocked with all our favorite drinks and wine – a warm welcome is ensured – Airport transfers are included with a stop off for Tapas to set the tone for your holiday experience ! Come on over the ‘ Kir Royal ’welcome drink made with Freixenet Cava Brut is chilled and ready!

PS; We have just had our first enquiry/booking for the weekend of the 15th February from Jane and David over in Cheshire !

Thoughts for the Day;

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possible not born until they arrive. No road is long with good company.

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MANILVA AT THE START OF THE YEAR.

MANILVA AT THE START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY 7^th/ JANUARY 2013.

Monday was a bank holiday here in Spain for the ‘ Three Kings ’on Sunday; the village was very quiet after the day before which is a real family day with children all over the place running around with toys. The weather forecast for the week is more of the same – Sun with the temperature hovering at around 18/19 degs! First thing it was time for the Xmas decorations to come down; Father Christmas has left the house! In the post we had a Xmas card from Jeff and Annette in Kuala Lumpur – it was posted on the 14^th December, it turned out that ours only got there on Saturday after we posted it here at the beginning of December! There was also a long news-letter brining us up to date, the main news was that Jeff has extended his contract for another two years.

At lunchtime we went up to Bar Rojas for some Tapas as you can see in the picture below; we sat in the warm sunshine as it reached 23 degs and enjoyed our drinks and Lumy’s Diced Liver with Patatas Fritas. In the evening just before supper the phone went; it was our very old and dear friend Rafael in Madrid ringing to let us know that his very dear and lovely wife Jill had died just after the New Year – we were just about to make contact with them as for the first time in over 45 years we did not receive an Xmas card from him – it turned out that he had been at the hospital all over Xmas.I met Rafael and Jill at the Stork Hotel in Liverpool back in 1965 when I was an assistant manager and he was the senior assistant manager,he had just got married to Jill, a Birmingham girl, at the time ! They were both very good to us seven years ago when we first came to Spain in the Winnebago and we stopped into Madrid to see them and their three sons on three occasions as we crossed back and forth across Spain. They made us very welcome and showed us around the city and took us to Toledo and El Escorial. We are sorry and our very deepest thoughts go out to Rafael and all his family at this very difficult and sorrowful time, love to you Rafael.

Over in England in the FA Cup game Everton won at Cheltenham 1-5 to make Brian very happy and Lionel Messi won the ‘Ballon d’Or ’for the forth year running as the worlds best player; Ronaldo was not a happy bunny and it knocked the smirk of his face! Vicente Del Bosque won the coach of the year. The late film was a ‘ Caper Movie ’ “ Entrapment ” from 1999 with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones in the main roles, it end’s up in Kuala Lumpur at the ‘ Petronas Towers ’which are just across the road from Jeff and Annett’s condo – it’s a small world!

Thought for the Day;

Life brings simple pleasures to us every day. It is up to us to make them wonderful memories.

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MANILVA THIS LUNCHTIME.

THREE KINGS PARADE SATURDAY EVENING.

THREE KINGS PARADE SATURDAY EVENING.

THREE KINGS PARADE SATURDAY EVENING.

THREE KINGS PARADE SATURDAY EVENING.

THREE KINGS PARADE SATURDAY EVENING.

THREE KINGS PARADE SATURDAY EVENING.

THREE KINGS PARADE SATURDAY EVENING.

THREE KINGS PARADE SATURDAY EVENING.

THREE KINGS PARADE SATURDAY EVENING.

MANILVA OVER THE THREE KINGS WEEKEND.

SATURDAY 5^th/ SUNDAY 6^th/ JANUARY 2013.

The forecast for the weekend was good and it turned out to be even hotter on Sunday – 22degs. Anna called in on Saturday morning for a chat and a gossip as we had not seen her since Xmas day; some good news came in from Llandulas over in North Wales, Rob,Jenny;s husband came out of hospital today after his triple-by-pass and valve repair operation, he is very fragile but is on the road to recovery – the prognosis is three months and he will be fit as a fiddle ! All the very best to him, Jenny and all their family for 2013. Over in England it was FA Cup day, third round when the Premiership teams join, Liverpool beat Mansfield 1-2 and Everton take on lowly Cheltenham tonight.

In the evening it was the parade for the “ Three Kings ” along Calle Mar and then around the village; the villagers and children came out in force and the atmosphere was great as the children run wild, and Brenda, collecting the ‘ Caramelo’s ’( Sweets ) thrown from the floats – it happens all over Spain and at the main ones in Madrid,Malaga,Seville etc. they use hundreds of thousands of kilos of them! There were two bands, led by the ‘ Xmas Bomba Band ’who warmed up the crowd and then the ‘Manilva Brass Band ’all dressed up in the main parade as you can see in the pictures above.Mano,Anna,Sally-Ann,Carlos,Fabio and Dylan came along and joined in.

We then came back to the house for a late supper of Steak a la Plancha with sautéed Musrooms,sliced Green Beans, crisp Chips and this week for a change I fancied some good old fashioned Fried Onions Rings, dipped in Milk and Flour and deep-fried! Spectacular is the only word that I can use!! We then caught up with football ‘ La Liga ’as it restarted for 2013.

After another good lie in on Sunday morning we got up to a glorious day; the sun was out and the ‘ Levante ’breeze had dropped and by lunchtime when we went for our walk with the dog it was 22degs! Down at Bodega Augustin we bumped into Mano,Anna and Sally Ann and ended up joining them for a drink and later we went back to Sally Ann’s for an impromptu late Brunch;Dominico was performing in the kitchen so  I had a delicious ‘ Rigatoni Bolognaise ’ and the others had a very rich and lovely ‘ Wild Mushroom Ravioli ’ with Black Truffle shavings! We had devoured the Tapas with local fresh bread especially the Italian cooked meats before staring on the main course! The wine flowed and it ended up with a cake fight with the Cream filled ‘ Roscon de Reyes ’traditional cake,Dominico got Anna and then she got Brenda and me – watch out as revenge will be sweet when she least expects it!

In the evening later back at our house we had “ Lamb Cutlets on Boulangere Potatoes ”for supper, I had made them in the morning before we went out, and then we caught the Spanish football highlights – Barcelona easily beat their local rivals Espanyol 4-0 before Real Madrid held on to win 4-3. The late film was “ Boardwalk Empire ”from 2009 – it was a made for TV series about the 1920s/30s and prohibition in New Jersey and stars Steve Buscemi in the main role, the English actor Stephen Graham shows up as Al Capone - very compelling and the series won widespread critical acclaim,particulary for its visual style, based on historical figures of the time and Buscemi’s lead performance ! One to watch.

Thoughts for the Day;

We create our fate every day we live.   Fate only takes you so far, then it’s up to you to make it happen.

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MANILVA TODAY.

MANILVA THIS WEEKEND.

MANILVA THIS LUNCHTIME.

MANILVA AT THE START OF THE NEW YEAR.

WEDNESDAY2nd/THURSDAY 3^rd/ FRIDAY 4^th/ JANUARY 2013.

On Wednesday morning we made contact with Tim over in Old Colwyn on the Skype video as it was his birthday – he was in fine form and he suggested he might try to come over very soon for a bit of sun and golf which he is missing due to the weather over in North Wales ! ASAP Timmy !! Jump on the plane for Gibraltar and the rest is easy!!  The weather forecast at the moment is good for the bank holiday weekend here in Spain and into next week; on Sunday it is “ The Three Kings ” celebrations which is the main Xmas for children, the parade is on Saturday evening along Calle Mar. Brenda actually was able to go up on the roof terrace for a couple of hours in the afternoon to read as by then it had warmed up; I meanwhile was trying to watch on the BBCTVIPlayer some of my favorite programme’s but I’ am having problems as they are playing with the satellite’s, which is starting to effect the reception on English stations! Watch this space. In the evening for supper we had Pork Cutlet’s with vegetables and Baked Potatoes. Sadly there was no ‘ Downton Abbey’ episode on Antena3 so we had to channel hop. We found a lovely film called “ Waking Ned ”  from 1998 – a comedy about an Irish village that connives together to fool the claims inspector into paying the 7 million winning ticket after the winner ‘ Ned  dies! It stars Ian Bannen, David Kelly,Fionula Flanagan and James Nesbitt as a Pig farmer – it was actually filmed on the Isle of Man- don’t miss it!  The football over in England saw Everton beat Newcastle 1-2 and Liverpool won against Sunderland 3-0 but the surprise of the night was OPR,who are at the bottom of the Premier League, they beat Chelsea 0-1 !! This weekend the ‘Liga ’ over here restarts after the Xmas break and see’s Barcelona v Espanyol ( Mano;s team ) as the main game.

Thursday was curry night; I made a large pan of Chicken Curry in the morning, you can smell it at the top of out street ! The sun is out but it is a little cooler as the ‘ Lavente ’ wind has picked up – 16/17degs. So Brenda had been busy with washing as its good drying weather ! After supper we watched the late film “ Firewall ” from 2006 with Harrison Ford as a security specialist forced into robbing the bank that he’s protecting by the ‘ Baddie ’ Paul Bettany !

This morning, Friday, we shot out early down to the surgery to make appointments for next week when our doctor returns from holiday as we need some updates on our prescriptions and check ups; we then went down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping and picked up the papers at the same time. After unloading we went for a walk with the dog down to the local market for some fresh flowers, at the same time we called into the ‘ Sports

 Office ’off the council to buy tickets for a coach trip in two weeks time to the main sports hall over in Malaga to watch the Basketball Game between ‘ Unicaja( Malaga) and Real Madrid, the champions, in the ‘ Euroleague’ – it is very cheap and was advertised on Wednesday – no luck all tickets sold out already – I ‘am not a happy bunny and have sent off E-mails etc. as Mario our local councilor and the Director of Sports as he said to me yesterday that everything was fine!! No Problemente !! Watch this space.

Tonight we are having Fish and Chips with Peas; I’ am making fresh Goujon’s of Hake along with square Chips and Mushy Peas( Tinned but very good !) – then we settle down to watch a good film ,hopefully.

Thought for the New Year;

Everything is OK in the end, if it’s not OK,then it’s not the end.

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MANILVA VIEW.

MANILVA TODAY.

MANILVA AT THE START OF THE NEW YEAR.

 MONDAY 31^st/ DECEMBER 2012 --  TUESDAY 1^st/ JANUARY 2013.

We had a very quiet day at home on Monday and just pottered about the house; the dog came calling in the morning and Brenda took her for a walk around the village,I meanwhile ‘decamped ’to the couch with my foot up! In the evening for supper Brenda had a ‘ Confit of Duck Leg ’which she fancied and I had Steak and Chips which I fancied! We then settled down and watched TVE1 as the New Year approached, we went for a short walk around 11-00pm down to the Mirador at the bottom of the village, Brian and Lilli rang us on Viber as over in Pori it was just into the New Year(I hour ahead) so we exchanged wishes; when we got back to the house the TVE1 coverage had started from ‘ Puerto Del Sol ’ ( Gate of the Sun ) in Madrid, all the channels broadcast from the square, by tradition, in front of the famous clock tower and bell that mark the traditional eating of the ‘ Twelve Grapes ’and the beginning of the New Year! As we did!! I then was sent out to go around the block and let in the New Year – with in my pocket given to me by Brenda,Tea,Sugar and Matches and Wood ( No coal available! )

This morning the 1^st January 2013 we had another good lie in, it’s starting to get a habit! I then squeezed and chilled some fresh local Oranges to have with our Scrambled Eggs and Smoked Salmon – start the year as we mean to go on!! Brenda has spoken/texted her sisters over in England and I have been busy on Facebook sending messages all over the WWW. We then watched on TVE1 the New Years Day concert of the ‘ Vienna Philharmonic’ which takes place in the “ Grober Sall ( Large Hall) of the “ Musikverein ”in Vienna. It of course ends for an encore with ‘ The Radetzky March ’- just like our village brass band !! This afternoon I will follow the football over in England -  more later,. Tonight for supper we are having a fry up of left-over’s from the fridge.

PS; City won and Utd. won so no change at the top,Liverpool and Everton play tomorrow.


Thoughts for the New Year;

One resolution I have made, and always try to keep, is this; to rise above the little things. May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions.

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