THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM SUNNY MANILVA;

A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY;

SATURDAY 22 nd/ AUGUST 2015.    " NOCHE DE EMBRUJO"

We had a nice lie in this morning as no workmen on the site and the village was quiet before tonight’s party in the street; the sun is out and the sky is blue but it’s a little cooler today, we are down to 33 degs making it very pleasant, the weekend is more of the same and then next week is looking very good
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Brenda treated me to her famous ‘Campo’ Poached Eggs on toast for breakfast ( See below) to set us up for the day ahead; later I’m picking up the marinated Lamb from our butchers for tomorrow nights supper; this evening we are having an early supper before going up to Calle Mar for the street party " Noche de Embrujo" ( See above) with live music and dancing on the various stages along the street, the Council have installed a cleaver lighting and sound system along the street.

We are having ‘Entrecote Steak’ & Frits with the usual trimmings, tomorrow night with the ‘Marinated Shoulder of Lamb’ Brenda is producing a ‘Bouqueteire’ of Vegetables and I’m with her help making ‘Fondant’ Potatoes – turned potatoes cooked in a rich Chicken & Vegetable stock with knob’s of Butter until soft and Golden Brown! 

See below the 'Marinated Shoulder of Boned Lamb' which was killed on Tuesday! Our butcher marinates it in Herbs,Garlic & Virgin Olive Oil and the I add the diced Carrots,Leeks, Celery.Onions & Shallots, Mushrooms & Red Peppers!!

So on the sports front today its all happening; over in the UK in the ‘Premiere League’ Everton welcome Manchester City on Sunday and Liverpool travel down the M1 to play Arsenal on Monday, over here the ‘La Liga’ kicks off on Sunday with Real Madrid visiting Sporting de Gijon and Barcelona back at the ‘Cathedral’ playing Atl.Bilbao for the third time in the last week!

The ‘Belgian Grand Prix’ is taking place at the famous ‘Spa’ circuit; then early this evening the ‘ Vuelta d’Espana 15’ starts in Puerto Banus from a pier in the marina, it’s the ‘Team Time Trail’ over a short course along the coastal pathway by the side of the Mediterranean into the heart of Marbella! The next three stages are all down here on the Costa Del Sol before heading up the coast to Jerez on Tuesday passing through Sabinillas on the way!

Next week we are going over to Estepona on Wednesday as we need to call into our Bank, Josie & Lillemor are joining us and later we will go across to the ‘Boulevard’ in San Pedro for an al fresco ‘Tapas’ lunch; in ‘Doggy World Heaven’ ‘Reina’ is with us as usual on Tuesday & Thursday and then ‘Scruffy’ is back with us on Saturday for a sleep over.

PS; The ‘Euro’ over  the last week has dropped down sadly so our two main yearly pensions that arrive in our ‘Spanish’ bank A/C on Monday will be down a little on last years! We are not having a good week with the fine, two bills and then the Euro!!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM SUNNY MANILVA;

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

FRIDAY 21^st/ AUGUST 2015.

We were up early this morning and after a quick breakfast we set off on our travels; the traffic was busy as we reached Sabinillas and first called into the bank for some cash, after picking up the papers we called into a not so busy ‘Mercadona’ – with one difference – I shot off to the ‘Main Post Office’ behind the store to pay a speeding fine, my first ever!

Yesterday in the post there was a notification to go and collect a document from our local post office in the village, it turned out to be the documents and pictures showing the hire car from when we went to Cadiz with Den & Josie, on the way back at dusk I was caught doing 140 kms in a 100 kms zone! It was a new camera as I know the road well!

So I went into the post office to pay as if you pay within 21 days the fine is reduced by half i.e.; 150 euros!! I had to walk across to our bank to get the cash as they don’t accept cards in the post office – when I got back I was like a wet rag – when we came back to the house later the latest electricity bill (down!) and the water bill (up – leak!) were waiting for us – just like waiting for a bus, one finally comes along and then two more at the same time!!!

The sun was out early this morning so by the time we hit Sabinillas it was already very hot, its more of the same over the weekend and next week is starting to look very good also; sunny Manilva at its best.

Last night we had a very nice Tapas supper up at ‘Bar Castillo’ after waiting a while as Juan had gas bottle problems; we joined Den, Josie, Fliss, Dens daughter, and her two adorable children Macey ((9) & Phoebe (4) Macey is a football star, she plays all the time and has a very good knowledge of all the teams especially Liverpool! Little Phoebe is a real chatterbox & character and we enjoyed talking to her.

                                                 'Fliss' & her girls on their way home!

            Den took this picture of the new building roof this morning before he left for home - thanks!

The Council this morning has finished putting up the canopies in ‘Calla Mar’ and has then started to erect new ones in the ‘Plaza de la Vendimia’  - the new Council have just announced that this years festival will be centered on the park and not ‘Calle Mar’ as usual?! See the pictures below;

We have another party night in the village tomorrow evening as the ‘Tourism Department’ have brought back last years “ Noche De Embrujo” which we asked for, as all the ‘ events & happenings’ where taking place down in Sabinillas at this time of the year, it give sunny Manilva and all the local bars a chance for some much needed business. So for the second year running we have an enchanted night of Music & Dance performances on the various stages along the street starting at 9-00pm, illuminated by candle light!! Fingers crossed!

After unpacking we sorted ourselves out for the weekend ahead; this evening we are having a ‘Fish Supper’ here in the house and then will go out for a night cap later; “Grilled Fillets of Hake” dusted in flour and finished with lots of Lemon Juice along with Saffron New Potatoes & Garden Peas not forgetting the homemade Tartar Sauce!

Tomorrow evening we are now going to have our “Entrecote Steak” with all the trimmings earlier than normal as we will then go out on the town (village) to party! Then on Sunday its our ‘treat’ night as we are having the “Marinated Shoulder of Lamb” – watch this space – our butcher is working on it as I’m typing the Blog!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM SUNNY MANILVA;

A WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON THURSDAY;

THURSDAY 20^th/ AUGUST 2015.

We started the day with a nice lie in as the workmen didn’t make a lot of noise and Daniela was not dropping ‘Reina’ off early; she’s with us for the day and then back next week as usual on Tuesday & Thursday, ‘Scruffy’ is also back with us next Saturday for a sleep over.

We are having a easy day at home as we are out this evening for an early ‘Tapas’ supper up at ‘Bar Castillo’ with Den & Josie and their family, after breakfast I shot up to the office to catch up on the WWW and Brenda is shampooing her hair and showering, I’m typing the Blog and then later I’m making a fresh batch of my famous ‘Tomato Salsa’ using local Plum Tomatoes & Red Peppers, diced Onions, Pimenton Dulce ( sweet) Tomato Frito & Heinz Tomato Ketchup, Malt Vineager,Sugar, a strong Vegetable stock and a slug of Brenda’s Red Wine and the secret ingredients! See below;

Its warm and sunny with just a little breeze to make it rather pleasant for the day ahead, the weekend is getting warmer and then next week is looking settled with more of the same weather, we are back to our normal temperatures hovering at the 35 degs mark and during the night down to 25 degs,the humidity is also normal for the time of the year – after what we have been through over the past two months with all the ‘Heat waves’ – this is easy to manage down here on the ‘Costa Del Sol’ in sunny Manilva!!

                      A 'Den' production taken this morning - it's only just 'Dawned' on him!

On the menu front over the weekend we are planning to have ‘Fillets of Hake a la Meuniere’ tomorrow evening, then on Saturday our usual ‘Entrecote Steak’ with all the trimmings, on Sunday we are treating our selves to a ‘Marinated Boned Shoulder of local Lamb’ from our butcher, who makes his own ‘marinate’ and keeps the shoulder flat – it cooks really quick and is rather special!

We are using the roof box/oven for our ‘Happy Hour’ but it’s definitely hotter as the breeze is kept away in the late afternoon; we could only take it for an hour or so before heading back down to the ‘Chill Out Room’ – we still listen to the local radio ‘Castle Radio FM 89.2’ as I play it loud through the speakers on the PCs!

Last night we watched a strange movie “Bandits” from 2001 – a ‘crime/comedy/romantic drama’ with Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton and the delectable Cate Blanchett – almost un-recognizable in the role of a crazy frustrated wife!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM SUNNY MANILVA;

A VERY WARM & PLEASANT SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY;

WEDNESDAY 19^th/ AUGUST 2015.

We managed a little lie in this morning as we had no commitments in ‘Doggy World Heaven’ – ‘Reina’ is back with us tomorrow morning; the workmen are here in force working inside the building as they build the internal walls, every morning more cement, sand & bricks are dropped off at the top of our street, then the large ‘JCB’ reverses up and down outside our house making a lot of noise from the engine and reversing siren along with toxic fumes for next few hours! The freshly painted street has been ruined by the black tire tracks!!

Our usual breakfast of fresh Nectarines, Weetabix, toast & tea started the day off in the right direction; it’s a lovely morning here in sunny Manilva as the sun is out, the sky is blue and there is a very pleasant breeze to make it very acceptable. It’s getting a little warmer over the next few days and the weekend and next week it’s looking like more of the same!

I’ve just spoken to Josie who is down on the beach in Sabinillas with Den, his daughter Fliss and her two children, we are meeting them for an early ‘Tapas’ supper tomorrow evening at ‘Bar Castillo’ as Den, Fliss and the kids are going flying home on Friday morning; they live in Barrow-in-Furness on Walney Island, so Den is going with them, Josie is staying here until the 2^nd September when she is due to fly over to Donegal in Ireland to see her daughter and grandchildren before she finally makes it home into the arms of Den ‘ up north’ in Skelton later in September!!

As I was reading the papers this morning there was an article about the ‘Beatles’ first contract going up for sale in New York later in the year; it was when they were in Hamburg in Germany back in 1961, they performed on a rock ‘n’ roll version of “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” as the backing group to “Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers” on the LP record! You could not mistake John Lennon & Paul McCartney singing in the background, how do I know this?!

Well I had a cherished copy of the LP (Long Playing Record)! which I gave away to charity when we set off on our travels in the ‘Winnebago’ all those years ago. It was in my very large collection of LPs, 45s & 12 inch records that all went to a good home, at the time! Many happy memories of all the parties in our various flats as we played them on our ‘State of the Art’ – at the time- award winning - “ Bang and Olufsen Beogram” music system with record player & FM radio along with double floor speakers producing the most famous sound quality – all touch activated - back in the early 80s!!

PS; An update on the ‘Skype’ video connection. I’ve managed to register a new version as ‘MALCOLM SEXTON 70’ but have lost all my friends as it was uninstalling the old one?! I’m working on it later as at the same time I have some problems with the new password!! Watch this space.

Yesterday afternoon we were up on the roof box/overn/chimmney for our ‘Happy Hour’ after Lee & Daniela had picked up ‘Reina’- they are going to be our two witnesses on the will documents, once we have them sorted, we are waiting on my papers arriving in the post. I finished my latest ‘Simon Kernick’ and have started on a new thriller written by the award winning ‘Harlan Coben’

This evening for our supper we are having a late ‘Brunch’ with English Pork Sausages, Spanish Smoked Bacon & Chorizo, local Tomato, Campo fried Egg and anything else I can find in the fridge, a small dry Baked Potato on the side.

As usual after supper we will catch up with all the world news, sport & weather details before finding something to watch, last night it was football as the new look Manchester Utd beat FC Brugge 3-1 – lately Brenda has been watching a lot of Ladies Tennis from around the World and I’ve been following the ‘Ladies World Championships’ Badminton from Jakata as the new champion is Spanish, Carolina Marin, who was defending her title won the Gold Medal in a very exciting final – only one problem – they played the old fascist era ‘National Anthem’ with words – by mistake – the correct one has no words – only one of the very few ‘National Anthems’ that you can’t sing along too – not too many people know that – they do now!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM SUNNY MANILVA;

A BREEZY & SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY;

TUESDAY 18^TH/ AUGUST 2015.

I was up early this morning as ‘Reina’ was due back with us for the day, as usual she shot upstairs and went to sleep on her duvet; we had a little lie in and discussed the day ahead as the workmen on the site were making a lot of noise and at the same time there was a delivery to the local shop, they drag the goods down the street on pallets, so more noise, no rest for the ‘wicked’!

After breakfast we started to sort out a little problem that came in the post yesterday, our wills are held in our old bank in Colwyn Bay “HSBC” who are also the executors; they are ‘out-sourcing’ them to a new company later in the year so we need to appoint them as the executors and fill in the necessary documents for both of us, they then have to be witnessed by two persons before we send them back!

Daniela is going to read all the paperwork this evening to check that we are interpreting it right, I also rang the helpline this morning and they were very helpful and answered our queries about names & addresses on the actual wills as we have copies in our files. Watch this space.

Later this morning I’m starting to sort out our ‘Skype’ video connection, I’ve been advised by my local ‘IT Consultants’ – ‘Den & Josie’ that I need to uninstall the currant systems and then re-register onto the system using our new E-Mail address to create a new password – watch this space – especially in Australia & North Wales!!

Its an at home day today caching up with the chores, no doubt later Brenda will be braking in her new Iron! Meanwhile I’m up in the office on the WWW as you can see, catching up with the ‘E-Mails, Facebook messages etc.

This evening  for our supper I’m producing my famous ‘Staked Super Burgers’ using this time for a change the ‘Chicken Burger’ from our butchers; Brenda likes Cheese on hers and I of course top mine with a ‘Campo’ Fried Egg!  They are both made with crisp Lettuce, sliced Beef Tomato, grilled Red Onion slices, crispy Smoked Bacon & of course Gherkins, all on warm Bap’s smeared with Mustard. We are also treating ourselves to some of our own twice cooked ‘Slim Fries – Stringfellows’! See below;

Today the sun is out and the sky is bright blue, there is a rather pleasant breeze which makes it even nicer, the forecast for the rest of the week and over the weekend is for more of the same and getting warmer.

After supper we find something to watch after catching up with the news, sport & weather details.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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