THOUGHT FOR THE DAY;

SUNNY AND WARM MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY

WEDNESDAY 9^th/OCTOBER 2013.

This morning we were up with the birds and after our tea and toast we shot across to the hospital past Marbella for my appointment with our regular lady consultant in the Dermatology department; the blood circulation problem that is effecting my legs is better but I still needed some local injections (5/6) in the active areas and she has given me another prescription for a steroid cream to be used with caution! She also gave Brenda the once over and gave her some ointment for her eyelids and suggested the she make an appointment to come back for a further check.

The weather once again is beautiful with warm sunshine and a little breeze by mid-morning and the forecast is now good for over the weekend as well. Anna called in later this morning for a chat as I was making tonight’s supper.Later she called back in with Fabio after picking him up from school and collected their container of the casserole for tonight!

“Tarragon Pork Casserole with Vegetables” I’ve made two pans, one using the Pork ‘Costillas’- chopped Pork Ribs that Mano dropped off when their deep freeze was off (Still is!) and one using the diced Pork Loin that I bought yesterday; the casseroles sauce was made with Garlic, Carrots, Celery, Leeks, Onions, Green Beans, Mushrooms, Garden Peas, Broad Beans and White Beans and assorted Green, Yellow and Red Peppers! All cooked in a rich Vegetable stock with Tarragon and my secret ingredients before adding the browned off Pork to the pans and leaving to cook, at the end I add a cream Volute sauce to taste!

The plumbers/maintenance men have just called in to fix our hot water in the kitchen, the pressure is low due to the ‘Cal’ in the local water so the boiler does not kick in- all fixed and working, I made the call just over an hour ago!

Brenda is looking forward to a day off tomorrow before the weekend celebrations take off with the Grand opening of the new park and Museum on Saturday with the village Brass Band,dancers and singers,wine & beer and party snacks for the kids! This morning as we where going out they were just starting to finish the Mosaic Mural on the wall behind the wine crushing pit, when we came back it was nearly done as you can see in the picture below, it’s now official I’ am the one in the middle with the Blue trousers with Mario and Diego the two councilors either side!!! The finished wall pictures will be above later.

Tonight after supper we try and find a film to watch.

Thought for the Day; See above.

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SUNNY AND HOT MANILVA THIS MORNING

SUNNY AND BREEZY MANILVA AT LUNCHTIME TODAY;

TUESDAYS THOUGHT FOR THE DAY;

SUNNY AND WARM MANILVA ON TUESDAY

TUESDAY 8^th/ OCTOBER 2013.

It’s shaping up to be another nice day in sunny Manilva,the rain has passed us by and the forecast up to the weekend is good; after our tea, toast and fresh fruit I walked Brenda down to the bus stop to go down to Sabinillas for her appointment at the hairdressers but a regular local gave her a lift down,I’am picking her up later in the car.

On the way back I called into the butchers for some diced Pork Loin,Chicken wings and a small slice of steak; the menu for the rest of the week has been decided; Gammon Steak with Pineapple, fried Egg and chips tonight, a Pork Casserole on Wednesday, more details to follow and on Thursday the famous ‘Sexton Mixed Grill’ with Gammon,Steak,Lamb Cutlets, English Pork Sausage, Smoked Bacon,Tomato,Mushrooms and a fried Egg! PS; fish on Friday!!

Mano called in yesterday lunchtime as he was out for a walk, still no electricity in their house so they are staying at Carlo’s house as he has moved back into the his large family apartment in Calle Inglaise so as they can rent out their house; which means just by chance that Dave and Debbie’s, from Manchester, son Tom who is 19 and has just arrived here as he has joined with sponsorship the ‘Gecko’ Golf circuit as an professional golfer and has rented it ! We wish him all the best, the last time we saw him he was 14 but was already a very good golfer learning to play at ‘Mere Golf Club, Resort and Spa’ in Knutsford!!

The fine weather means that we are still able to go up on the roof terrace for our ‘Happy Hour’ in the late afternoon. Tomorrow I have an early appointment across at the hospital past Marbella with the ‘Dermatology’ consultant for a check up, it’s all to do with blood circulation and then on Saturday we going to the official opening of the Wine Museum and the ‘Plaza de la Vendimia’at 5-00pm. This morning they putting the finishening touches to the park, the fountain has been covered with Mosaic tiles and at this very moment they are putting on the wall behind the wine press a Mosaic tile picture of the grape crushers! Watch this space for the pictures later!As you can see they grape crushing Mural has three men!!! It's official the middle one in the blue trousers is ME !!! The waterfall was being tested and next it's going to be the fountain meanwhile down in' Plaza Pozo Del Rey' it's nearly there as they have tiled the pillar's and the steps in from our side are ready.

This evening we will catch a film after our supper, last night we watched another episode of the Spanish ‘Voice’ but Anna’s friend from Tenerife, Lydia has still not appeared !

Thought for the Day; See above.

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SUNNY AND A VERY HOT MARBELLA THIS AFTERNOON

SUNNY MANILVA AT LUNCHTIME

COLWYN BAY NORTH WALES YESTERDAY EVENING

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY;

NEARLY SUNNY MANILVA AND NOW VERY HOT ON MONDAY MORNING/AFTERNOON

MONDAY 7^th/ OCTOBER 2013.

Early this morning I discovered that our electrity had gone off in the middle of the night; when I checked the street lights were still on but our main fuse board was blown! Brenda spotted one of our neighbours coming up the street and asked was hers off, no was the answerer so it meant that we had a problem?! Antonia must have had this happen before as she immediately checked around the sockets pulling out the plugs and found that it was the multi-socket in the kitchen, it turn out that the kettle was leaking and had blown the system! We were very grateful for her help!!

After breakfast I made a batch on my famous “ Minestrone” soup; I finely diced, wait for it, Onions, Garlic, Carrots, Green Beans, Green Peppers,Courgettes,Aubergine,Cabbage,Swede,Leeks,Potatoes and cooked them in a vegetable stock and sweated them off, added the cut/cooked Spaghetti and herbs with Tomato Frito and finally added my Tomato Salsa and seasoned to taste but not before I added the final ingredient ‘Garbanzos’- White Beans !!

This afternoon we are going across to the hospital past Marbella as Brenda has an appointment to see an Eye Consultant; the weather is a little overcast and cooler at the moment but no doubt will pick up later.Well it did pick up in fact it was very hot and sunny for our drive across to Marbella;the consultant gave Brenda the full-works and the results are good,no Cataracts of Glaucoma and a low limit reading on her eye pressure test limit,this means that she does need to wear glass's all the time but no other treatment,she has to go back in February next year for three tests to check how she is doing! Result !!

On the way back we called into a new 'Aldi' in Estepona to see if they had the new 'Gourmet Food & Drink'range that I read about the other day in the Daily Mail; it includes Smoked Salmon,Lobster Tails,Angus steak,Cherry Crumble and the award winning Champagne - sadly they have not arrived in sunny Estepona yet! We stopped at 'Carrefour' to check out the kettles,no luck so we called into 'Gavira Bros' but they were too expensive but found one in Sabinillas at our regular shop - another good result!

This evening we are having the rest of the Lancashire Hot Pot for supper before we watch the news and weather forecast on TVE1,last night’s late film after Mano and Anna had left was “ Zodiac ”from 2007 – it is a mystery/ thriller about a serial killer in San Francisco who in the late 60s/early 70s killed all sorts of people, then stopped and was never found, it’s a true story about  newspaper reporters and cops who never gave up the hunt, the main suspect in the end died in 1991but it was never proved that he was guilty; Jake Gyllenhaal,Robert Downey Jnr, Brian Cox, Mark Ruffllo and Cloe Sivigny make up the excellent cast – don’t miss it!

Thought for the Day’ See above.

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BALMY MANILVA ON SUNDAY EVENING

COLWYN BAY NORTH WALES BACK IN THE LAST CENTURY

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY;

SUNNY AND STILL WARM MANILVA ON SUNDAY

SUNDAY 6th/ OCTOBER 2013.

We had another nice lie in this morning and after breakfast we got tonight’s supper ready; “ Lancashire Hot Pot” made to my own recipe, I brown off the Lamb Cutlets after marinating them in Herbs( Secret) and Oil, then I layer the pan with the Lamb, sliced Onions, diced Carrots, Celery and Leek and the hand cut( No Mandoline!) Potato slices! Each layer is seasoned as I build up the Hot Pot and then add the Vegetable & Chicken Stock and finally dot the finished top layer with knob’s of Butter ready to go in the oven later!! Brenda got ready the Cabbage with Alsegas and as an accompaniment we are having Pickled Sliced Red Beetroot.

It was then time to have our showers and freshen up; this is when I play loud music off the PCs using the sub-woofer and speakers! My ‘Spotify’ radio station is called, guess what,’Sunnymanilva’and has on it all my sort of music, this morning’s selection was Bo Diddley, Carl Perkins, Chubby Checker, Muddy Waters and the Spencer Davies Group!

It was then time to go for a walk with the dog around the village before we called into Bar Rojas for a cool drink sat under the Sonbrajo in the warm sunshine. When we got back to the house I watched the end of the’Korean Grand Prix’- Vettel won again- boring! Last night in ‘La Liga’ Barcelona beat Real Vallolid 4-1 but the result of the night was at lowly Levante who were leading 2-1 after 90mins but lost 2-3 as Real Madrid scored twice in injury time!!

Last evening before supper we watched on TVE2 a very interesting documentary, in French, about the Head Chef at the Kremlin in Moscow who is the personal chef to President Dmitry Medvedev; he is French and trained under Michel Troisgros in Roanne, Jerome Rigaud is also a leading member of the ‘Club Des Chefs Des Chefs’ who are selected from around the world and who cook for various leaders in France, Germany, Monaco, USA, a lady called Cristal Comeford and even the Queen’s Chef Mark Flanagan!

They showed the inside of the Kremlin which is spectacular and then went to the ‘Venice of the North’ St.Petersburg and stayed at the ‘Grand Hotel Europe’ and visited the famous ‘Hermitage Museum and the summer Palace of the ‘Czars’ which takes your breath away! It also showed the banqueting food at the Kremlin as well as the Gourmet food for the Chefs and visited a Russian Champagne grower outside Moscow and the main fish supplier ‘La Maree’ which flies in all the best fish and seafood from around the world including Canadian Lobster and giant Kamchatka Crab!

The late film last night was called “Killer Elite” from 2011 and starred Jason Statham, Robert DiNiro, Clive Owen and Yvonne Shrahovsky; the original book was written by Sir Ranulph Finnes and was called ‘The Feather Men’ – lots of action, car chases, shooting etc.The bad guys are the SAS and the good guys are hired killers and they are all chased by government hired killer s at the same time!

Tonight Mano and Anna are joining us for supper; we are having some light Tapas to start, Russian salad, Chorizo and Semi-Curado Cheese before we hit the ‘Hot Pot’!

Thought for the Day; See above.

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BODNANT GARDENS TAL-Y-CAFN NORTH WALES THIS MORNING

SUNNY AND WARM MANILVA ON SATURDAY

SATURDAY 5^th/ OCTOBER 2013.

We had a nice lie in this morning, no crickets, the sun is out and it’s getting warmer by the minute; after our tea and toast I was back up in the office trying to get on-line to watch “ Saturday Morning Kitchen” on the smaller PC which has a different server on which I have the ‘Film On’ channel on which I can watch English TV in full –screen; last weekend they launched from Russia the new rocket/satellite that is going to take over from the old one and then you will not be able to watch in Spain any of the English channels from the satellite dish’s and free on-line systems!

Are you following all this? We don’t have these systems by choice but the ‘Film On’ channel is the new way to watch the English TV by connecting your PC to the main TV! I’ am ahead of the game but sadly this morning I could not get the contact so no ‘Saturday Morning Kitchen’!!

Brenda has just got back from a long walk with dog around the village as I was in the kitchen getting things on the go for the weekend; tonight we are having, again, ‘Steak Poivrade’ as we enjoyed it last week, so the first thing is to crack the Black Peppercorn’s with the rolling pin! I’ve trimmed and seasoned the steaks and then blanched the chips, Brenda is getting her finely sliced Green Beans ready meanwhile. The Spanish Lamb Cutlets/Chops are thinner than a English cut but are still ideal for the ‘Lancashire Hot Pot’ which I will get ready in the morning

It looks like we will be able to go up on the roof terrace later for our ‘Happy Hour’ and start our new ‘Patterson’s’ The weather in the rest of Spain is very wet with heavy storms but as usual down here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’ we are missing it all – at the moment !

This afternoon I’ am planning to watch the Manchester' Blues' game as it’s the early kick-off; then I will catch the rest of the football results here and over in England later. At the ‘Korean Grand Prix’ Vettle is on pole for tomorrow’s race,again,boring! The tennis from the ‘China Open’ in Beijing is on TDP so Brenda has been watching that .

Full time score; Manchester City 3 Everton 1  - sorry Big Bri !
Full time score; Liverpool 3 Crystal Palace 1  - sorry Big Bri,again as Liverpool go top of the 'Premier League !!

Tonight after supper we will find a film to watch as I channel-hop.

Thought for the Day; See below for a change !

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY;

SPECIAL FOR FRIDAY;

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY;

SUNNY AND A VERY HOT MANILVA AT THE START OF THE WEEKEND;

FRIDAY 4^th/ OCTOBER 2013.

This morning we went down to Sabinillas to our Bank, the Vegetable & Fruit market, the supermarket and finally the newsagents for the papers and some more ‘Patterson’s’ to read; after unloading back at the house I dropped the car back down to the underground car park and we then went for our walk with dog down to the local market for some fresh flowers and a plant and on the way back called into the butchers for our Saturday night steak.

The sun was out early this morning and it’s looking like more of the same over the weekend but then in the middle of next week there is rain on the horizon! Anna called in at lunchtime for a good chat and gossip, they have still not got their electricity back on at their house so they are staying in Carlos’s house around the corner, We have asked them around for supper on Sunday, I’ am making ‘Lancashire Hot Pot’ from my special recipe with Cabbage with Alselgas and plenty of shredded Beetroot on the side!

Just before lunch Tim came on the Skype video so we had a good chat and caught up with all his news; he had seen the picture that I put on the blog yesterday and thought that it was very funny! Last night Jo had been to see ‘Jay-Z’ and tonight I notice the Jane is going to see him as well over in Manchester.

On the sport’s front this weekend I will be following the Korean Grand Prix  and of course the football; over here in La Liga’ Barcelona are at home to Real Valladolid and Real Madrid are away at Levante, while over in England Liverpool host Crystal Palace and the match of the day is Manchester City v Everton – come on the ‘Blues’ – but which one ??!! Carlos or Big Bri !!

This evening for supper we having deep-fried ‘Hake in Cruz Campo Batter’ with twice-cooked square Chips, Mushy Peas, Homemade Tartar sauce which I made this morning and some of my now famous Tomato salsa on the side! We will then catch a late film, last night we watched “ Wall Street 2 - Money Never Lies” from 2010 – it was the sequel to the original from 23 years ago and started as ‘Gordon Gekko ( Michael Douglas) was let out of prison after 8 years! With a cast of Shia LaBeouf,Carry Mulligan, Josh Brolin and Susan Sarandon and even a cameo-part from Eli Wallach !!

Thought for the Day; See above.

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BALMY MANILVA THIS EVENING

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY;

CLOUDY BUT WARM AND HOT MANILVA ON THURSDAY

THURSDAY 3^rd/ OCTOBER 2013.

This morning we were awoken by the sound of the crickets, it must be the time of the year and the weather conditions; I think I’ am right in saying that it’s the male crickets rubbing their back legs together to attract the attentions of the females in the mating season – I must try it some time!!

After our tea, toast and fresh fruit I have just made a fresh bowl of my now famous ‘Ensaladilla Rusa’ with Brenda’s help from the ‘Vegetable Department’! We are starting to think about the weekend’s menu’s, Fish in Batter on Friday, Steak a la Plancha on Saturday and on Sunday Lancashire Hot Pot! Brenda has asked   for some of her favorite ‘Minestrone Soup’ which I make with my famous Tomato salsa! She has just shouted that she would also like some ‘Leek and Potato ‘soup on another day – so plenty to keep the ‘Chef’ busy!!

The weather at the moment is overcast and cloudy but no rain as forecast, it’s still warm and the sun is due back later and tomorrow; yesterday evening before we went out to pick Gillian up from Marbella bus station we went up on the roof terrace for our usual ‘Happy Hour’ as it was very hot and sunny!

We have just come back from our lunchtime walk withe dog,it's now officially hot and sunny so we called into Bodega Augustin for a cool drink.

It’s a quiet day at home catching up with chores, Brenda is at the moment washing her hair, next week she is planning to have the ‘Full Works’ down in Sabinillas at the hairdresser’s on Tuesday as we out at the hospital on Monday and Wednesday.

Tonight after supper we will try and find a film to watch after catching the news and weather on TVE1.

Thought for the Day; See above.

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OLD COLWYN NORTH WALES THIS MORNING;

SUNNY AND A VERY HOT MANILVA AT LUNCHTIME;

" EL ESCORIAL & SEGRADA FAMILIA"

SABINILLAS BEACH THIS MORNING

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY;

SUNNY AND WARM MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY

WEDNESDAY 2^nd/ OCTOBER 2013.

We were up early this morning as Brenda had an appointment with our doctor to arrange an appointment with a consultant ‘Oftalmologia’ – ‘Eye’ specialist; result – next Monday afternoon across at the Costa Del Sol Hospital past Marbella, I’ am there on Wednesday morning with the ‘Dermatologia’ consultant !

This morning it’s a beautiful day here in sunny Manilva; the sun is out and its warm with just a little breeze but tomorrow a bit of the wet stuff is threatening to hit us! By the weekend we should be back to normal.

While Brenda was out I made the Chicken Curry for tonight’s supper when we get back from picking Gillian up at the bus station in Marbella after her flight back from the UK.

Last night I had problems getting on-line to watch the football and ‘New Tricks’ but just managed it at the last moment; Barcelona beat Celtic 0-1 and downstairs Atl.Madrid beat Porto 0-2, tonight the big match is Manchester City v FC Bayern Munhen( Pep’s team) Oh Dear ! City lost 1-3 !!

As the presenter on BBC TV1 introduced ‘New Tricks’ she said welcome to the ‘Final’ episode?! After checking on the web-page is there no sign at the moment of the BBC commissioning another series?! What a shame!

Yesterday evening I took some pictures of the new park with the lights on, the director of the Wine Museum is going to test the fountain this evening at 8-00pm so as I can get some pictures, possible the waterfall as well! Watch this space.No luck this evening,will try again tomorrow.

After the football last night we caught a very good documentary programme on TVE1 showing different parts of Spain by helicopter; the first part was in the town of ‘San Lorenzo De El Escorial’ showing the Royal Palace, Monestry, Museum and School of the “El Escorial Castle” outside Madrid in the hills, our dear friend Raphael took us there eight year ago when we first arrived in Spain! It is the where the Kings and Queens of Spain are crowned, married and buried!

Later they went to Barcelona to show ‘Antoni Gaudi’s’ famous cathedral of the “ Sagrada Familia” – started in 1882 and still being built, it is forecasted to be complete by the year 2026!! It showed a film re-construction of it being built over the years and also how it will look when it is finished, even more spectacular than now with a central tower/spire that shoots up above the rest of the towers!

Thought for the Day; See above.

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MANILVA LATER ON TUESDAY EVENING;

SUNNY MANILVA THIS AFTERNOON

SUNNY AND WARM MANILVA AT LUNCHTIME

SUNNY AND STICKY MANILVA THIS LUNCHTIME;

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY;

WARM AND STICKY MANILVA ON TUESDAY

TUESDAY 1^st OCTOBER 2013.

Yet another fine day in sunny Manilva, the breeze has dropped and in fact it’s warm and sticky! After breakfast I made a ‘Broccoli Soup” at Brenda’s suggestion; Broccoli Florets tossed with sweated Onions, Leeks, Mixed Herbs and Celery and diced Potatoes then cooked in a vegetable stock, add a Béchamel sause,season and taste – then blend! Result !! See the pictures above of Brenda's lunch served in our original Paul Bocuse bowls with a Cheese Crute !

Then I made a ‘Tapenda’ of diced Onions,Green,Red & Yellow Peppers to go in the Basmati Rice as tonight we are having we are having ‘Escalope of Turkey Breast’ cooked in foaming Lemon Butter with a rich creamy Mushroom sauce and diced Green Beans; Mano has just called in and picked up his ‘Dinner Box’s’ for later tonight as he is back in work, Broccoli Soup,Savoury Rice and Bread Rolls !! Their electricity is still not back on, Anna is staying at Carlos’s house this evening.

We have been for a long walk around the village with Chispa,they are preparing the roads outside the Wine Centre/Museum and along the ‘La Pedreta’ for the road markings to be painted on tomorrow, the new signs have started to go up on the wine centre and they have nearly finished sealing the flagstones in the new park – as you can see in the pictures above.

The work on church ‘La Iglesia De Santa Ana’ is staring to take shape, the new roof is on, and the towers are finished, the outside walls are being repaired and as you can see in the picture above the inside is also starting to look better; will it be ready in time for Xmas ?!

As we were having our lunchtime ' Soup' a neighbour called in from across our street with fresh from his local Campo,Aubergines,Courgettes and two large bunche's of Manilva Moscatel grapes ! So I have have just made my recipe of ' Ratatouille' -diced Onions & Garlic,Green,Red & Yellow Peppers,Tomatoes,Green Beans,Mushroom stalks,White Wine & Vegetables stock,Tomato Salsa,Fine Herbs and finished with love and care !! As you can see above in the top picture !!

This evening after supper I will be upstairs in the office watching ‘New Tricks’ on the small PC via my connection to BBC TV1,at the same time on the larger PC I will have on the Celtic v Barcelona match while downstairs Brenda will be watching on TVE1 and reporting( shouting up the score!) on the Porto v Atl.Madrid game ! Both are in the group stages of the ‘UEFA Champions League’

Thought for the Day; See above.

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