A STILL VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON TUESDAY;

TUESDAY 28th/ JULY 2015.

We managed a little lie in this morning despite the workmen arriving at 7-30 am as 'Reina' was not due to be dropped off until 9-30 am.It's still very hot & sticky during the night so we are not getting much sleep,during the day we just manage to survive with all the fans on around the house as required, all the shutters down and by wearing as least clothes as possible - shorts for me and shorts and a small top for Brenda!!

Lee & Daniela are having problems at the Border as they go into work in Gibraltar as the Spanish Goverment have installed new Passport Scanning machines that need the latest chipped passports/identification cards with eye recognition, this is just for the pedestrian's, so there have been long queue's ( 1/2 hours) into and out of Gibraltar at the hottest time of the year! They are now taking their fold/down bicycle's and riding across without any wait as there are no machines for the cars & motor cycles!!

After our normal breakfast we sorted our selves out for the day ahead; the forecast for the week ahead is that it's getting a little cooler, still warm but back to normal for this time of the year, the tail end of the cold/wet front that is over the UK is hitting Northern Spain and bringing down the temperatures until Saturday when its going hot again!

We are taking each day as it comes, we are still doing our shopping first thing on Friday morning as usual but otherwise we have no plans this week; then on Saturday its the " Luna - 'Moon' Festival" down on the beach in Sabinillas.

At lunchtime we went out for a cool drink and a Tapas along at 'Bar Castillo' just as we passed the Town Hall we bumped into a English family,the 'Hughes's' who have an apartment at the bottom of the village, they were looking for some where to eat so we recommend them to 'Bar Rojas'

On the way back Mano, Anna and her cousin Debbie, who has moved over here, were sat at 'Bar Rojas' so we joined then for a good catch up and gossip,Later we had a nice chat with the family 'Hughes' and gave then lots of information on the area - nice to meet them and we look forward to seeing them again in September!

On the Council Web-Page they have just announced the details for this years " Vendimia Festival"taking place over the weekend of 4/6th September, the picture on the Web-Page is the one that was used to make the Mural on the wall behind the grape crushing pit, later, of Mario,Malcolm & Diego;  See below;

                                                                " Mario,Malcolm & Diego"

This evening for supper we are having a 'soft' Mixed Grill' using Homemade Pork Sausages, English Smoked Back Bacon Rashers, local Chorizo,Baby Mushrooms,Tomato, saute Potato's & 'Heinz' Baked Beans' - not forgetting the 'HP' sauce !!

The pictures below shows the entrance to the 'Bollinger Chateau' in the village of 'Ay' and brought back many happy memories of when we were guests of the family and where flown over for the day by Private Jet for lunch and of course tastings/drinking of the famous Champagne! " Happy Days"!!

Last night late on 'TVE 2' I watched the " Hondarribia Blues Festival" from the town on the Basque coast of Northern Spain,at this time of the year the channel which is like BBC 2 shows all the Jazz,Blues & Rock Festivals taking place around the country.

Last night it was " Dr Feelgood" - not the originals but still some very good 'old rockers' with the Blues Guitarist Steve Walwyn and the singer/harmonica player Robert Kane belting out the old classics including " Riot on Cell Block 9 - Down at the Doctors and a fast version of See You Later Alligator"!!

Thoughts for the Day; See above.


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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM A VERY SUNNY MANILVA;

A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK;

MONDAY 27th/ JULY 2015.

I was up early to welcome back 'Reina' for the day, she's with us for four days  ( Mon-Thurs) this week here in 'Doggy World Heaven' and on Saturday 'Scruffy' is back with us for a sleep over which we are looking forward to as we love having him and miss him!

As I was waiting up in 'Calle Mar' for Daniela to drop 'Reina' off the Council workmen were dismantling the two stages,then the street cleaning machine cleared away all the rubbish before the Council Water Waggon came along and washed down the street! Now that's proficiency - all before 8-30 am!!

It then went very quiet as today in the village its an unofficial 'Bank' Holiday after last nights party! After the procession had finished there was two live 'Samba/Rumba' Bands' ( see below) on the stages that play one after the other until 4-00 am this morning! The whole village is out in its finest and all the Bars along 'Calle Mar' do a roaring business both with drink and food.

When we came home we had a late 'snack' supper of 'Chicken & Frit' with Mayonaise.I had bought half a Roast Chicken at lunchtime from the 'Rotisserie'' and we then picked up some of Maria's Frits just as they were closing!!

As you can see below in the pictures that I have posted,in the first set it shows Marta,Valentina,Lumy & Pilar and Yolande as well as some locals; in the second set it gives you a feeling of the procession as well as the New Mayor,Diego, with the New Councillors and the New Padre,the Chief of Police.Paco and the 'Santa Ana Queens'

The 'Manilva Brass Band' led by Fernando the Head of the School of Music at one point stopped and turned to salute/pay tribute to the oldest member of the Band,Paco ( Ringo ) the drummer who was sat with his family! A nice touch/thought!

No workmen on the site today,thankfully, so we all went back to bed and had a good long lie before breakfast; at lunchtime the Building Companies waggon came along and is it at the moment collecting all the scaffolding and shuttering and making as much noise as they can possibly make!!

So its a quiet day at home after last nights festivities into the wee small hours; we are taking things easy and catching up with the chores around the house,well that's what Brenda tells me,I'm up in the office on the WWW as you can see!

Yesterday afternoon we watched the 'Hungarian Grand Prix' as Hamilton made a mess of his start and then had a terrible race as Vettel won; over in Paris the " Tour de France" ended with a sprint win for another German ,Grieple as Chris Froome put on the 'Yellow Jersey' for the race winner for his second time!!

On Facebook over the weekend our dear friend  Tim,over in Old Colwyn in North Wales posted a picture of him with Ben on his gradution - more news to follow as we have not been able to speak to him yet.

This evening for our supper we are having flattened 'Chicken Fillets' taken off the Chicken Breast's that we buy, dry grilled and sprinkled with 'Balsalmic Vineager' with Baby Carrots & Green Beans and a Baked Potato.

We will then settle down after all the excitement of the weekend and catch up with all the news,sport & weather up dates for the week ahead.


Thoughts for the Day; See above.


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SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY EVENING " SANTA ANA FESTIVAL " THE PROCESSION.

SUNNY MANILVA ON SUNDAY EVENING " SANTA ANA FESTIVAL " THE PEOPLE !

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY FROM SUNNY MANILVA;

A STILL VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON " SANTA ANA " SUNDAY;

SUNDAY 26th/ JULY 2015.

We were rudely awoken this morning at 8-00 am by the sound of a large 'Rocket' being set off and then the 'Chi Chi Pom' band marching up our street at the start of the " Santa Ana Festival" - as you can see in the pictures below,Brenda is hanging over the balcony of the chill out room!

So we stayed up and had 'Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties' to set us up for the day & night ahead; we are showing and freshening our selves up a little later and will go for a walk along 'Calle Mar' to check things out, then this evening we are going up to Bar Rojas to make sure we have a good table ready to see the Tableau led by the Manilva Brass Band,I will walk down to the Santa Ana Church to take some pictures of the procession leaving!

We went for a walk at lunchtime and ended up at ' Bar Castillo' for a cool drink and Paqui's now famous Paella, she now makes two large pans and it sell our at soon as as she brings it in!

Later the 'Samba Band' will be on the main stage in front of the Town Hall as the nights festivities kick off with all the village in their finest! See the pictures later.

Over in Australia up in Brisbane Jeff & Annette gave a dinner party last night for some friends and the dessert was the classic " Bomb Vesuvius" as you can see in the picture below; it reminded us that we used to serve it on certain functions at the 'Hotel Seventy Degrees' back in the good old days! See below;

Its made on a sponge base topped with Ice Cream & Sorbet,the covered with the soft Meringue which is then baked in the oven; we used to then place a tall 'Hock Glass' in the centre into which a little Cochineal was sprinkled before dropping in a cube of 'Dry Ice' to create the Red Smoke effect!

The first time I ordered the 'Dry Ice' from a special effects company in London it was sent on the train to Colwyn Bay Railway Station where the station master then called the local police as there was a suspicious parcel that was smoking! From then on I used to let him know when one was due!!

This afternoon we will watch the 'Hungarian Grand Prix' - Hamilton' is on the pole before later watching the final Stage 21 of the " Tour de France" from Sevres to Paris on the 'Champs-Elysees' over 109 kms; yesterday in a very gripping final day in the Alps Chris Froome survived and leads the Tout by 1 min 12 secs - the first English man to win two 'Tour de France'!

Before going out we will have our 'Happy Hour' as usual.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.


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SUNNY MANILVA'S " SANTA ANA FESTIVAL" STARTS WITH A 'BANG' & MUSIC !