yesterday Mom and i got the bus to Watford, long journey, and we rode top deck right at the front! bit on in sun, but was great ride, apart from the many speed bumps!

we went of course via Hemel Hempstead, took about an hour i guess or a bit more, but coming home was nearly two hours! we even popped into the bus depot to change drivers!

we had a stroll around the shops, and also had to find an internet place for me to print/sign/fax a document, our car insurance back home had expired and Franco got a new policy, much cheaper elsewhere, which of course meant it needed my signature to release the old one!

i asked someone where we could find an internet place, bit of a stroll but it was really good, and cheap, 50p for half hour, i was given a plastic card with a pin number on it, all i had to do was type in the pin and enter... and i had half hour! you could extend the time by getting the card swiped back up at the counter, but it meant no one could be on it when they shouldn't or longer!

printing and faxing to Spain, 60p! cant be bad!

before we went to Watford Mom and i popped into Costas, of course! for a small coffee and pastry... i was starving, getting up at 6.30am, means by about 10.30 i need food again!

we're getting into these nice coffees called Macchiato! a real kick and you can really take advantage of the wonderful taste of coffee.... ummmm, could just knock one back now!

there was something i missed on the news about all these company's everywhere at the moment, TV ads, stands in the shopping centres, they take your gold, and give you the cash, £'s for grams of gold!

what worries me is that things are being melted down! all that history... gone, old jewellery is so much more detailed than some of the stuff you see these days... but just maybe these companies are not melted down but selling it on for huge profits, maybe that's what the news was all about!

coming along today to get back to Mom's you could see coming along a long long line of cars, led by a very slow car making a helluva racket! it was being driven by an elderly man, his equally elderly wife along side him, and the noise? i stopped to watch as he turned down New Road and the poor man had two flat tires! both his off side tires were down to the rims! but i am not sure he even realised, i mean why hadn't he already stopped!

i am sort of packed now for our trip tomorrow... off to London, to ease us onto the Eurostar first thing Monday morning... a holiday, while i am on holidays in England! only at the moment this mess at my feet looks worse than it has over the last two weeks, taking the very minimum two nights in Paris, then directly up to Nottingham...

while we are gone... keep up with me on my Tweets there on the right hand side of this page...

and now to French! taken me all these years a hablo español!

so adiós, ciao, adieu!

TTFN
Marian

the other morning.... and same today, except for the mist over Northchurch common, today its clear skys all the way to the hot air balloon below and back at'cha!

along this street on the right there is where we used to live... this house Tony came out of one more time than he even went in to!!!!


as usual when you speak of something... there it is! well excluding talking about winning the lottery of course! but Mom and i were talking about how wonderful it would be up there in a hot air balloon yesterday... and there this morning on my way out to the shops was, of course, a balloon! had to get back in to get the camera, its not actually attached to my arm!

and on way back my Auntie Linda was at her door and took my arm to come out to have a look at it!

i remember one April 1st when there were dozens of them coming down all around the school here, St Marys, they came over the hill from Gt Missenden direction and just dropped! it was early and people were dressed in anything just to get down there, still carrying cups of coffee and helping catch the ropes to bring the baskets down safely, all around the school playing field and playground, it was great to see and be there... when the first few balloons came over the boys who were small started shouting, but i thought they were pulling an April fools joke, it was only when the dog joined in i believed them! and out we went, down to the school...

and later we all got in the car and drove to Shrewsbury... all the way up the A41!!! don't ask!

TTFN
Marian

Journey

above photo... *borrowed* thank you....

so much bus travel... don't know how Mom is doing it all! its tough on me, she is so determined to keep going... we went to see Uncle Cliff in Tring first thing this morning, and were going to go to Watford, but it would have been far too late for there by the time we got there we would have had to turn right round and back on the same bus!

so we went to Hemel instead! then a stop over in Berkhamsted on the way back to Mom's! she is out for count now though! bless her... sleeping there in the chair... oblivious to me telling the world and his brother about our day!

first thing this morning though i popped out to the local shops, the air was clean and fresh, a real autumnal chill in the air, spelt so refreshing... dew on the grass and cars.. no frost yet! so many of the trees are turning golden and russet and all the other colors of autumn!

i bought some really beautiful flowers this afternoon in Berkhamsted, from the flower shop on the Kings Road junction... i made the selection! it was filled with water and was fun to carry home on the bus!?!

ah ha! back to yesterday though, movie *cloudy with a chance of meatballs* in 3D.... brilliant movie, Mom and i both enjoyed it, all cartoon animation, did anyone else in the theatre enjoy it? well there wasn't anyone else there! NO ONE! we were the only two in the cinema! it was like a private showing just for Mom and i, i couldn't have planned it any better eh!

been to see a movie with seven people in before when Tony and i went one time, but never just two! did we move into the comfortable premier seats? no didn't bother, suppose we should have, but i booked the seats on line and placed us exactly in the centre of the place! and we had got in 15 hour before the previews and were comfy... so there we stayed!

not sleeping any better yet, still taking about 2 or 3 hours for my back to stop hurting, hey ho! maybe a two and half hour train journey will help!!! and i will at least be in a normal bed from Sunday night to and including Thursday... we're getting so excited about our trip! we have had to cancel so many things last minute i will be glad when we are there... then glad to be back too, if you know what i mean....

and we must take the least possible amount of clothing and *stuff*, the very least...

Journey...

What makes the world go round? It's people who can't sit still. People like you and me. Roaming the earth for new ideas. Always wandering, constantly challenging. And taking whatever they need for the ride.

Life's a journey. Embrace it, live it, love it.

TTFN
Marian

i am sorry to say my camera didn't make daylight yesterday in Oxford... but luckily a few people have been before and i have, thank you very much, purloined a few pics for you today! the above photo of the Starbucks is the only one though that i could have actually taken, as its from a street view, not a birds eye view!


Mom and i were very lucky with the buses! we got off the one from here and the Oxford bus was waiting on a stand! the ride wasn't great, new bus, with new hard seats, very uncomfortable and bumpy and real bone cruncher of a trip which lasted an hour and a quarter!

but once there we had a short stroll to loosen up a bit, and then had a coffee and a bite to eat!

we really only looked about the shopping centre... i know! all that history and we only *did* the shops! we looked down lanes and at the quote *dreaming spires* unquote...

the weather was good, sunny and lots of people about, tourists and students galore! its great seeing so many people from so many different countries and cultures, the way we all dress so differently... meaning i wish i could, or rather would dress a bit more how i feel than how i do sometimes... woman of all ages just being themselves! and being comfortable with it!

i was chatting to a friend the other day and she feels the same, all of a sudden we feel like we dont know what to wear anymore! how weird is that! and i feel i am not wearing what i should be, so time for a change... for change will come....

i am good at changing the subject am i not!

so back to Oxford... or was that it already! we had another coffee later on, i had bought a house warming present.... for some special someones! and later on it turned out i had paid ten pounds more than i should have! but once you have left the store you have left your rights behind also!

i feel now Mom and i are climbing a roller coaster... we are slowly making our way up to the very very steep top... almost there at the brow! and on Sunday we take a dive! and there will be no stopping, no where to hold on, and slippery all the way back down!

.... today, just over to Aylesbury for *cloudy with a chance of meatballs* in 3D, cant wait, really looking forward to seeing it!

tomorrow, visiting Uncle Cliff, he will be 95 tomorrow! WOW!

Friday... well not sure yet, hope to catch up with friends... all sounding quiet to you? not very rush rush rush!

but... Sunday - London, Monday - Eurostar and Paris.... Wednesday - Back to London and from there straight up to Nottingham, we were going to get the coach on Thursday, but its twice the time with a stay over in a bus station for an hour! so, we thought just get up there! what's the point of coming back from London in the evening, tube, then over ground train, then a taxi! and in the morning, bus to Hemel, onto National coach and as i said above, its not direct, changeover then arrive mid afternoon in Nottingham.... so its rush rush rush...!

in fact best not to think about it eh!

well this was going to be short... and here i am rambling away as usual and not even 9am yet!

so for now amigos, adios....

God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

REINHOLD NIEBUHR

TTFN
Marian

well bit of a catch up needed this evening, a little late and a little wobbly to do so too...

visited migraine city today! not had an actually migraine for a while i don't think? lots of headaches just before i came over here.

well Saturday morning i went over to Janette's in Hemel Hempstead, got the little bus over that travels through the countryside, so nice pleasant and quick journey...

we had coffee and a good old chat, then went over to have lunch and a spot of window shopping in St Albans... where i would be going the next day with Kate and Tony... only we gals did the shops and around the cathedral and into the park... we went back into the shops, park was busy and a gang of boys were causing trouble, not bad, but a woman had asked them to be careful with they're football kicking it over the path and back again... and on and on, but they replied rudely so her husband got all up tight, as he would! so we thought, shops! and went!!!

we popped into Janette's daughters in Boxmoor for coffee on the way home, then just spent the evening relaxing watching tv, and of course, talking!

yesterday, Sunday, Kate and Tony came to pick me up, Tony said what time they would be there, and right on cue *beep beep* car behind next doors truck, said bye to Janette, quick hug and off i ran behind the truck to the car.... then continued right back round and back into the house, before she could close the door..... wrong car! OMG!! we were in hysterics! it was so funny, although i imagine anyone watching from another house would have had an even better laugh at my expense!

and when Tony did arrive i made sure it was his car before i jumped in the back!

this morning Mom and i should have been off to Oxford, but got up with my normal bad back, and it progressed to my neck and head, and hey ho, migraine! Mom needed to do stuff in town so went down and came back, thank you Mom, with some Imagran, and after a few hours that cleared up the pain in the head, i got up about 3pm and am still now at gone seven, trying to get the rest of my body moving again... we will go to Oxford tomorrow now, all being well, and i am sure it will be just the same as if we had gone today, i mean what can change in a mater of 24hours in such an old city...

TTFN
Marian

this is 3rd time lucky to upload these photos just now, really don't think they're worth it, but never mind here now!

was a lovely sunny day first thing, in fact just about up until Mom and i left the house to walk down to town along the Grand Union tow path!

above is a rather strange sign... 60 miles to somewhere i have never heard of, and the piece below mentions the name of a boat i think! but cannot see it now, and i cannot remember it!

we had only been on the path a short while when we passed a bloke who i think is married to one of my old best friends! in fact he put in a kitchen in the house in Seymour road where we used to live! don't know if he remember me, but i didn't speak anyhow!

then when we were in a store in town we met someone else we used to know, not seen for donkeys years! she used to run the George and Dragon, good to catch up, she hasn't changed really...

photo above doesn't really show what i could see when i took the pic, the canal just here close to some barges... the water was all colors of the rainbow... just like petrol on water! and the poor ducks and swans and little moorhens were drinking it down! poor things...


lots of the barges were well stocked with wood for their wood burning stoves.... i wonder if they can just stay parked there or have to move along every now and then? they look really settled in, washing lines, and lots of plants up top, tv aerials and stuff!

Mom's Iain Rennie nurses came this morning, so was good to meet up with them, they caught up with news from our hospital visit yesterday, and will be at the end of a phone 24hrs a day if need be...

got some euromillion tickets today, well one each, its a roll over! so good luck eh, you have to be in it, to win it as they say!

i went to the police station again today, to hand in this badge thing i found, and they were shut! again, to alternate between the days they close at 3pm.... they don't open until 4.15!!!

so i still have this thing! now i wish i had just left it on the ground... but then it could have got into the wrong hands... i will try Hemel Hempstead police station... surely they are open all day?

didn't have much to eat for lunch today, so feeling tired and under nourished! no energy and lethargic! will be so nice to be in a proper bed tomorrow night! not sure why i am suffering from the air bed, as i said before its what i usually sleep on when i stay at Tony's, and i cannot imagine why the location should make any difference! maybe i should sleep in a different direction! maybe my *feng shui* is all wrong!

It's all right to have butterflies in your stomach. Just get them to fly in formation.

DR. ROB GILBERT

TTFN

Marian

is this a wonderful little house or what! so cute! and any bird would be proud to live in side it wouldn't they!

not sure how long its been where it is, Mom hadn't noticed it... but just as long as a bird family does thats what counts!

this morning i rushed on foot into town to collect a letter that couldn't be delivered yesterday as we were out, what a difference here in England, walked up to the counter... open all day, six days a week! and handed him the card... he gave me the letter i signed a receipt and left! no proof of passport or residencia, (although it did say something would be asked for!), no having to give anyone my national insurance number, equivalent of NIA number in Spain! no inside leg measurement required!

about 11.30 Tony came to take us to Mount Vernon for Mom's appointment with the Professor, not much came of the hour long wait past Mom's actual time... keep on taking the hormone tablets as they're doing so well, and see you in 3 months time! there are two different hormone tablets they give for cancer treatment, one makes you depressed one happy! seems, luckily for Mom she is on the happy pills! he said there is no need of a scan at this time, as she feels well, and has no bad symptoms... so, when i am back in early December we will come back to see him again!

Tony dropped us off in Berkhamsted before returning to work, i had found something on my walk back from town this morning to take to the police station, but, as they were shut it will have to wait until tomorrow! it closed at 3pm, and we had gone for lunch, not realising they shut early...

we went to the *home and colonial* store for lunch, its a great old building on the other side of the road to the Swan, Crown, and Kings Arms pubs! Swan is no longer a drinking establishment though!

home and colonial is an antiques plus new shop... it takes three long steep flights of stairs to get you to the restaurant, but worth the climb... and on the way down i bought an antique cake slicer!

uncle Bill is coming over again this evening, i think with one of his daughters, not sure yet. but as we're both still so full of lunch we will be having dinner late me thinks!

also while we were in town i took my bracelet into a jewellers, it broke the day i was packing before coming over here, a link was lost, they are going to replace it, but the woman said the bracelet is very worn and weak and more may break sooner rather than later, i said its only ten years old! Barry bought it for my birthday back then, how can it be so worn out after only ten years?

above is the bird box again, as seen from Mom's front door!

In the valleys you look for the mountains In the mountains you've searched for the rivers There is no where to go You are where you belong You can live the life you dreamed.

JUDY COLLINS

TTFN

Marian

this is a cool shot from our pod aboard the London Eye on Monday... looking down directly towards the ticket office this building with its steep tiled roof, and little windows... and if you look closely... or just zoom in! you can see from the two windows on the upper level there are tables and chairs! and there was a whole line of these windows.... that would be so great sitting up there with a coffee! and watching the watchers above!


this strange thing is the bottom of a street lamp post, but the base is two fish wound round the pillar... i had to lighten the shot, so back ground looks strange....

another one for a zoom in i am afraid! because almost impossible to see what i could see with my naked eye looking back at this photo! but there in the far distance are two structures... they look like Eiffel Towers! what are they for? and where exactly are they! oh and how tall must they be???

this is the land duck tour bus... we would have gone on it, but the wait was well over an hour, it was about 20£, so not cheap, but good novelty value and it drives over land first past notable buildings and then... off into the Thames River! well onto the Thames i should say! and then your off land!

we went then to check out the tour buses at the next stop, but at 24£!!!! we decided that was taking the what's it!

as we sat with our most awful sandwiches from nearby eatery... and opposite us was this statue... a huge Dali clock, again with the sun behind i have had to lighten the photo so we can see the details....


Ok yesterday, Mom took time out and i went into Berkhamsted, i walked down *the middle* road, when i was a kid, we had the *low road* which was the old A41, the *middle road* through Durrants Estate and the *high road* which is! oh which is the country road up there! sorry mind lapse!.... oh and not forgetting the canal! so lots of varients for my nearly 3 mile walk to school for 5 years! well i guess it kept me fit, didn't like sports at school and did no extra sport stuff... ever!

... er ok, so back to yesterday! walked into town, had a little peruse about the shops and a cafe latte in Costa Coffee! of course! read a magazine... then into Tesco for last nights dinner and bus back to Mom's!

Uncle Bill popped round with cake and chocolate rolls about an hour later, and my old neighbours from home! so strange to see them here! they live much further up north here in England now...

tv just now, says the perm is back! YES at last my 80's hair is back in fashion! its been a stuggle living with 80's hair all my life! even before the 80's arrived!

Maxine didn't arrive till late yesterday, so my surprise, for Mom, dinner came late too, we were starving! i did salmon and new potatoes, it was that salmon i have seen on tv the last few weeks, just pop it in the oven in its little bag... and away you go! and for desert i made... yes i made! banoffee pie! i (ashamedly) bought a pre baked shortcrust base, the caramel, well when i lived here you had to put a can of carnations cream in a saucepan and boil the tin for ages, being careful of explosions and burnt hands, but now you can actually buy this ready made!!!! OMG!!! and then the topping of course bananas in thick cream! oh dear and now the other half is calling my name from the refrigerator where it waits.....

still walking up every morning with the most sever back ache, weird as i always sleep on an air bed when i am here, but not had this problem before... so this morning i set the alarm early... as in well before 7am, and got up and outta here! went for a walk down the main road, then up the road i lived in as a kid, past the house Mom and i moved into when we came over from the states... many a year ago! and as far as the canal bridge... but on the way i had a small pre breakfast meal, and i think one of my five a day! a handful of blackberries! not eaten blackberries fresh from the plant since i left England! it was lovely! and i think still ok to eat in September, i know in October they become devils fruit(!) old wives tale that means something.

check out the superstition and myths section on this link, interesting and gives you a very good reason not to eat after September 29th!

i better get more tomorrow morning and make the most of them, reading what value they are to our health too!

today? this morning we are going to Aylesbury, just have a slow amble about town, take our time, and go into every single shop we want to! maybe pop into the cinema and see what's on too, but Mom doesn't know this yet!

ok...

All nature is but art unknown to thee; All chance, direction which thou canst not see; All discord, harmony not understood; All partial evil, universal good; And, spite of pride, in erring reason's spite, One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.

ALEXANDER POPE

TTFN

Marian

this morning a bunch more photos from yesterdays up in London, above i stood right next to some of the suspension cables that help hold this thing up! gulp!!!

birds eye view... i did try to take a photo of a seagull that was passing by, i think he was the one from the short 4D movie we saw before we took the ride! and strangely this morning just before i got up i heard a seagull too! here in Berkhamsted is quite near to the point that is the furthest from the sea anywhere in England, well one of the two locations it seems... bit of an argument over this point!


we really were lucky how empty we had the pod, not sure we would have enjoyed it so much had it been full... apparently you can rent a whole pod for parties! that would just be so cool!

we were at the top here... looking down on those who had gone before!


Mom and I.... on the top of the world!

TTFN
Marian

London Eye

close up workings of the London Eye, each pod weighing in at ten tonnes each!

well lots of photos from today! Mom and i left in a cab to Berkhamsted station and onto the train to Euston! then a trip to Kings Cross/St Pancras and collected our tickets for our trip on the Eurostar two weeks today!

this is the cucumber!?! in the middle there, but i think i have the wrong name for it? no its the Gherkin! just asked Tony! these photos are so small hope i am describing the write thing in each one, if not they will be here somewhere!!!

we had a coffee and pastry in a French café in the station there before moving on to Waterloo... the walk down from Euston to get onto the platform for Kings Cross was like a spiral staircase! just went down down and down further into the bowels of the earth!

now this one i cant get wrong, in foreground is the Horse Guards Parade ground and beyond Buckingham Palace!

in St Pancras i popped into a Vodafone store, my phone wouldn't text! OMG i know a disaster isn't it! anyway, a guy said maybe i had used it abroad and it needed a quick two second *thing* doing to it, and it worked again! thank you sir!

here The Houses of Parliament.... and St Stevens tower, with the bell, Big Ben, we were outside having a cold drink and the most awful sandwiches you have ever tasted... when it chimed One o'clock! a man also tried to sell us a big issue magazine for two thousand pounds! i said maybe tomorrow, but today i was right out of cash!!! this photo also looks like you can see the curvature... but not sure if that's right, or an optical illusion?

we were lucky there were only i think 7 of us in the pod, we sat down for a little while and still no one was in our way, it was cloudy and grey when we left, about 1.30am ish i think(?) and the trip lasted about half an hour, i suppose when there are more people coming and going each stop the trip lasts longer? but then i say *stop*, it of course doesn't actually stop, it just keeps going, but it is going so slow there is time for everyone to get off, and next lot in! and they even give the place a quick wipe over in between, not exactly sure what they were wiping, two people went in with long handled things and wiped at something on the ceiling! there was an air con unit in the pods too...


here in the distance is St Paul's Cathedral.

when we came out of Waterloo i knew to take exit 6, and signs for South Bank from the station, but after that i just followed my nose... usually leads me in the right direction! last time i went to the London Eye, not on it, but just near it, we came from the Imax, so was slightly different direction....

Mom's knee started to hurt before we went on to the Eye, kept asking her if she wanted to just get home when we got off, but she is determined and so after that awful lunch we got back to Waterloo and back down onto the tube and off to Bond Street station, we had to walk for ages from Waterloo? no that's not right, i think we got the tube to Bank from there, then had to walk for ages to get to a platform to take us to, oh that's not right? we were in Bank and the tube just went to Waterloo? but now i already cant remember what order of things took us there! must have been before the London Eye... anyone else confused or is it just me!!! sorry about that... anyway, it was an almost empty train at that time of day!

also before we went on the Eye, there was a 4D experience, we were at the front and there were 3 or 4 tiers only, we stood and with these real classy specks on we watched this massive screen, quite close to us, being at the front! and there we were flying through the sky, eye to eye with a seagull! which flew almost to our faces... or so it felt! we were at once in a pod with dancers, confetti falling almost within reach and when back *outside* during the movie when it snowed... it was amazing is all i will say! you could feel the snow on your skin.... no really you could! it snowed inside! when we walking in you could see the smoke from the ice rising...

i have lots more photos, so more tomorrow and for the next few days! i kept putting the camera away, then having to get it out again!

so, Mom still would not give in, and did not want to go home, so as i was saying way back sometime.... we got back onto a tube and off to Bond Street and along Oxford Street for a stroll! we popped into a couple of stores... a coffee in one, but we were both so tired, not sure how we kept going, determination or stupidity! one or the other eh! no answer required thank you very much!

so, Oxford Circus and i took away the options and said here we are... this is ours, and down we went, just a couple of stops and we were at Euston, straight up to the trains, onto ours which was there already and waiting! and we were back into Berkhamsted half an hour after leaving London!

going through the ticket machines was hilarious! i had Mom's ticket, she didn't want to do the necessary! so each, and every time, her in front i first put in one ticket, she went through, then i swapped tickets and through i went! only problem, people thought when i put the first ticket in i would be going through, and i didn't!!! and on the tubes and trains, not sure what people were thinking, me directing her about to seats and when to get up or not! oh well, we made it through the day, happy and tired!


oh this poor woman on the tv, her two little boys only 2yrs old, suffering from e.coli, they're in St Thomas Hospital, which we could see, very close from the Eye today.... they knew the farm had already caused cases of the e.coli and yet still stayed open... poor poor little darlings...

ok, time to get some dinner on now, we have only eaten rubbish all day, which wont be helping much, so adios amigos....

TTFN
Marian

Bodega Muriel Reserva 1999

this is what Mom and i are having this evening with the vegetable lasagne which is bubbling away in the oven just now.... bought this for Mom some time ago, its a Rioja which goes by her name and is a 1999! so lets hope the wait has been worthwhile eh... will let you know of course!


above is probably a shot of the Plough at Sarratt that not that many people will recognise... but there you go! that's me, awkward eh! i took it from the coach at the entrance to the car park at rear of pub... but it was the chimney that caught my eye....

we're a bit tired at the moment... slept slightly better as in 2nd morning and the air bed stayed a little better than it did yesterday morning! back not great, but not as bad, so that's a bonus isn't it!

this morning we got the bus to Hemel Hempstead, a double decker, i am sure when i left England these double deckers were fewer in our area here... in fact you hardly saw one! but they're back now for sure! we went on two today! and we got off in Berkhamsted it was a regular bus, i said to the driver i had got off early, and could i continue my trip on the same ticket? he said i should not have been allowed to disembark early! i think he was just kidding... i hope! but at least he was friendly, the other two were grumpy!

i saw my mate in the shop she works in Hemel, the one i stayed with in June, we stepped out and sat with her while she had her break... sat in the warm sun, in fact it was a hot sun! beautiful day, and i had a long sleeve t-shirt, typical eh!

as i said we stopped of in Berko to get groceries, went into Waitrose! and loaded ourselves down with bags for the last step home...

i have my English mobile hanging out of the window here, no signal indoors, have i told you this already? hope no one see it!?!

ok... dinner time!
hasta pronto amigos...

If we do more with less, our resources will be adequate to take care of everybody.

R. BUCKMINSTER FULLER

TTFN

Marian

there i was trying to keep calm and not stress myself out about the flight... Franco and i parked in the car park... only one on site now at Malaga, apart of course from the long term of course! we were about to get into the lift but Franco had just lit up(!) so i said, i'll take the elevator see you on the next level, only one flight of stairs... so it took ages for the lift to stop on 1, i got in and pushed 2, and at last went up the one level... got out... and you can guess! where is Franco? i stood on the path, waiting and waiting... thinking what to do? should i go back down to 1? will he be coming up the stairs now or taking one of two elevators???? so after about 5 or 10 minutes... seemed longer! i went back to the lifts... picked one and went back to level 1!!! got out and yes lo and behold... along came my honey!!!

as you can imagine i asked him to phone me when he got home... well just in case(s)!!!!

flight left on time, in fact as i came into the area where the gates are my flight came up on the screen, which has never happened before, i am usually left standing like a lemon looking up at the screens with all the other lemons!

boarded and left on time! arrived into Luton 40 minutes early.... that's where our luck ran out! our 'parking' spot already had a plane parked up... we had to wait for it to leave! then we were sharing our carousel with another two flights, which you can imagine caused a few problems! main one being the carousel wasn't actually doing its job at all, and going no where slowly... the Jersey luggage was taken off and dumped on the floor! then the carousel started and here came some luggage... from Alicante! then eventually from our Malaga flight....

but we were still out earlier than had we arrived on time i suppose!

not sure what's occurring here i keep getting a notice to install updates... i do, then 2 seconds later it comes back to tell me the same again!?! think i may have to turn off and re start... as you can see the wifi here at Mom's work great, it was just out of the box, plug in this and that... and put in the safety code, of course! and away you go....!


Tony and Kate just came by with my bedding! sound like a pet don't i! but what i mean is air bed, pump and duvet! had a good catch up with them, i usually know 'some' of what they're doing, what with all these network sites we're on, but better in person..... much better!

earlier on Mom and i went down to local shops, i needed to get something in the post urgently and then we were hungry, so popped into the fish and chip shop near here... where the grumpy'ist chippy lives! not a smile not a cheery word! nada de nada!

while we waited for the cod... i popped down to the bus stop to see what time the buses run first thing in the morning... no car remember for the first couple of weeks! and there were two ol'boys sat right in front of the timetable! i stood, therefore, right in front of them, i said "sorry i am just reading the time table!" and they said they thought they're luck had changed!!!! so we had a bit of a laugh at that... and then one got up and said "don't worry, here is the bus now!" and i replied, "the bus i want is first thing tomorrow morning"... the response to that was "what time is that? see you then!!"

heck i feel tired... but then i am an hour of myself here(?) but then that only makes it 9pm, but then lots of travelling, lots of standing around and not much coffee....

so for now amigos... hasta mañana!

TTFN
Marian

09.09.09

well all packed... twice! although i have only got a few things, i am bringing something over for friends and now i have twice the amount of stuff! and when swapping things over i got a bracelet caught in the zipper, a present from Barry ten years ago! strangely it broke the day before i came over last time.... odd!

this time the link that was dodgy has gone altogether now so its needs professional fixing this time, feels horrible not having it on my wrist, long time being there...

took Pippa down to the vets this morning for some more of her Bach remedies... but i was asked to phone back at four, just did, and they say theyr'e not selling them any more...! G R E A T!

still more last few odds and ends down town this morning and now i am ready for the off tomorrow mid day!

Mom and i already have our first date in the diary... Friday lunch with a group over in Sarrat! pub on a green! you know it must have been a while, because i'm not sure if Sarrat is where i think it is, or even if its the pub on the green!

just checked it out on Google maps and got more confused... this isn't good!

another hot hot day... call me crazy but i am looking forward to some cooler air back in England, and the 10 day forcast says its looking good... because although i want it cooler, i don't want the wet stuff!

ok things to do, washing to get in and put away!

see you all over in blighty.... *well some of you!*

Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.

WINSTON CHURCHILL

TTFN

Marian

this evening at about 8.15pm the view over the Guadalhorce... beautiful, i meant to say earlier, no rain yesterday or today, although bit of cloud now and again, cooler first thing and now its a lovely 25 on the terrace, but during the day still 32 in the shade.....

just came on here briefly to say hello to Tony, but thought i would check in here with you guys quickly... if i can be quick! i have a bad headache, again, went for months without one at all, so not sure whats going on here! i know its my neck and back, took Pippa out early this morning, came home and had to go back to bed, i felt the pain take over for a minute... so got up instead of letting it! too much to do today, didn't do much yesterday getting over the car boot sale from Sunday, and couldn't afford to waste today, i took some pain killers but haven't touched it, no matter, onwards and upwards...

the ants... before i get! they were in the kitchen cupboards... all of them! all the wall units around two walls! after finding them in one i ran around opening all the doors, i couldn't believe it! a nice little straight line of them going in one direction and of course, as they will, the return line side by side coming straight back! i was shocked to see them and took immediate evasion tactics! coming back armed the a can of raid!

then of course i needed back up... Franco came to the rescue and was up on the lower units emptying everything out and spraying and the spray nearly killed us! its so strong we were both coughing and i kept pushing Pippa out of the way, but she was excited seeing us running around like a pair of crazies!


ooops was away for an hour just then to watch a tv series i like... sad! i know, don't have to tell me something i already know...

but, still have the head ache anyway...

so antz! walking into the kitchen was like walking into the kitchen in the move Six Sense! remember with all the cupboard door open?

after a while i climbed up onto the lower units to do a clean up job! ok getting up there! then i panicked! weird, i am ok up some of the worlds tallest buildings, but up on the work units and forget it! i couldn't move or get down, i think it was more claustrophobia than heights actually!

Franco had to carry me off! and clean up!

so many ants this year, they're even coming up from the bathroom plug hole! teeny tiny little black ants....

today to town, bills to pay in bank, so nothing left owing before i go away which is good, and a list as long as my arm of purchases to make!

i phoned a friend to collect me from Luton airport, well i phoned to have a chat actually but he offered to come and pick me up which is lovely, i was going to get a coach to Hemel and then a bus, so very happy about this outcome...

and tomorrow i have to pack! hopefully without this headache!

My mind is made up, don't try and confuse me with the facts.

OLD SAYING

TTFN

Marian

well where to start.... not really blogged since Thursday, Fridays poem was a bit of a get out clause! sorry but been so exhausted... just doing normal stuff around the house and running errands has completely knocked me out....

so catch up? where to start? invasion of the ants maybe of the car booty?

Friday i did go down town, mostly because i had forgotten all week to take something back to friends! funny how you can leave something next to your bag... every day for a week, and still not pick it up on your way out! so Friday i had to actually only go into town to take that!

dont think i stopped for coffee? Thursday i did, when i came out of the Animals in Distress shop with a friend we stopped for coffee, the bar near there sells a very good café con leche for only 1euro! cheapest place in town i think! this lady i sat down with we were having a good chat and amongst other things she mentioned her oldest son is 49, and i only thought she was about mid fifties!!! still cant believe it!

now Saturday... nope didn't get to move much at all, just pottered about the house and grounds! only one last fig left on my tree now... hopefully that will be ok by Thursday...

i think someone must be visiting in the house next door again... the water leak started again this morning, i noticed it when Pippa and i went out for our walk, that wonderful sounds of dripping water... well, more a gentle pouring really, goodness knows what condition the cement is getting into with water coming out through cracks in the walls?

yesterday Pippa and i were out eXtra early around 6am! because Franco and i were out of the house not long after! and in La Trocha car boot sale by 7am! i had the chance of a box to sit on from time to time, but basically its standing isn't it! walking bending, and trying to keep the price nearer to what you want and less near the amount some people want to offer... there is definitely a pattern... the Brits don't seem to want to ask or try to get the price down much, or too much! the locals are usually ok with the prices a bit more, or just ask, and walk away without any offers till you say mas o menos! *more or less*... then there are the others.... who just go on and on, badgering you till you either break... or you tell them NO! just GO! and then they come back again and again, and when they do pay, a whole lot less than you started out on, they only have a huge note! 50euros or more! after all the talk they have more money than all the rest of us! and of course, they want it cheaper as they are going to sell it on, either here or a couple of hours drive and a boat trip away!

we left there about 2pm... Franco came home and had a nap, although i was tired i think i had got past the nap stage and just watched tv, then i wanted to stay awake for the new series of Waking the Dead, of course! and started at 10pm for an hour... which point Franco had fallen asleep although he had plugged in a movie about what they believe went on on flight UA93 on 9/11... which of course was not conducive to a good nights sleep! the movie finished about 1am, i had by then been awake for 19 hours but sleep was evasive for a while more...

i should be making the most of our comfortable bed.... its a blow up mattress for me for a month soon! and i am sure Mom said she had her central heating on already.... help! i will be sleeping in her garden under... or in the tree!

there is a special castle in england, where they filmed one of Moms favorite movies, i emailed them regarding accomodation, but they only do weddings and *do's* for other occassions, bit disappointed... but onwards and upwards eh!

we are going to do the London Eye... and maybe the Imax, see what's on... i saw at La Trocha an ad for a movie i know Mom will love so will go see Agora... hope i haven't missed it in England?

our list is getting long! our *buckets* will be full to overflowing....

and now i am going up onto the terrace... before it rains??? maybe? will let you know, if i recognise it! just kidding, i saw rain in England when i was there in June of course! ;-) but i have a book to finish today! lots to do Tuesday in town, and then last minute stuff on Wednesday....

i will be back about those ants later dont worry, i wont forget that nightmare amigos....

So, if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

LUKE 16:11

TTFN

Marian

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear, Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I marked the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost

above a photo of c/Burgos... the new paving, this street is just slightly narrower than ours!

i took these two, above and below this morning... when Pip and i went out this morning the air was wonderful, even slightly chill in my sleeveless cotton top and shorts!


.... so when we got home i went up onto the terrace and took these, sat with my coffee and watched the mountains turn from purple to terracotta... beautiful, and the breeze? coming from a different direction, i wonder if this is the turn of the season? it was still 33°c though this afternoon in the shade..... oh! just remembered i didn't hang out the washing... reason why....?

a man delivering letters came up the street, i enquired if i had anything? and he thought he had posted ours into the neighbours buzon... and a bit later she was outside rushing from here to there and back! and said she had put something in our buzon! but these, of course, were for the house that used to have our number....*arh*, so i put them there and took one with our number on from elsewhere!!!! although the name on it was not for anyone in our street???? and then on opening i found a letter, not real headed paper, the whole was printed in one shot and from apparently Repsol... or was it???

don't know how to find out... and i was so un nerved Pippa got an extra morning walk, Franco had called to say he was on his way home, so we walked all the way up to the crossroads... we didn't see him so hung around in the car park for a while! this sounds totally stupid i know, but i am so fed up with these *possible* repsol men knocking on the door.... anyway, i came home, changed and went out again into town! didn't see the man, he had gone in next door.... don't know the outcome of that yet!

when i got home Franco was back, and no further sign of Repsol man!

also when i got home, there was a message to call Tony, and i just panicked, i thought something had happened to Mom! shaking and my head went blank(!) Franco was telling me, Mom was ok and that it was something else, but i didn't hear any of it! i tried Tony, couldn't get him, so called Mom, and of course she was fine.... then i spoke to Tony, then i got upset all over again! worry and relief don't make peaceful partners....

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.

ALDOUS HUXLEY

TTFN

Marian

the last of Franco's peaches have come off today.... 3 were in the earth this morning and i picked the last two and bought them into the kithen.... they never really reached their full potential this year and wonder if the tree was cut back to far last autumn, the peaches were tiny and quite bitter.

my fig tree is still producing, slowing down a bit now and having to wait a couple of days in between for the last few to mature...

my FM is really slowing me down these days, not sure if its this heat... i hung some washing up earlier on today about 12 noon i guess and it was 32°c in the shade, i moved the thing into the sun and brought up a coffee and my book....

.... its 5.15pm and just paused briefly to go up and bring in that washing as above... the temp gauge still in the sun reading 48°c.... so i guess the tiredness is this on going heat.... glad i sat up there earlier, i know i will feel a huge difference when i get back home again in early October!

when Mom and i spoke earlier *word of day it seems!* we practised a bit of french! amazing how much we know without knowing it, if you know what i mean! although i am sure i will slip into español if i'm not careful! Franco uses quite a bit of french, but not entirely sure which dialect he uses! Del Trotter springs to mind....

something i read from Tonys Twitter yesterday made me hunt down the details... there is a drive-in movie at Hatfield House over the first weekend i am over in England... i wont be getting a rental car for the first two weeks however, and said to Mom we will have to just turn up with a radio, blanket and basket of food! that made her laugh.... well why not watch Mama Mia without the car!?!

well in a weeks time i will back in blighty again, when i came over in June in search of a job.... then decided against it, couldn't bear to be away from my honey any longer.... i didn't think i would be back over again so soon, every time i say never.... never happens again.... well that's life isn't it.... unpredictable as always... bringing good and bad and the indifferent!

there he goes again! that man on his little earth carrying thing has been up and down our little street since about 8am... up full of earth back down in reverse empty! and sometimes its quite funny... as a car comes up behind him thinking he can get out the other end!!! ha that's got him... when he is suddenly reversing to get out of the way of the little truck on his way back!

this morning when Franco went up to the car one of our door mirrors was on the bonnet of the car! nice of whoever to pop it up there for us... was it the person who knocked it off, or a passer by one wonders.....?

Everything happens to everybody sooner or later, if there is time enough.

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

TTFN

Marian

this morning like the last two we, Pippa and I were bothered by a horrible little dog, one we first met four years ago and from time to time I think has moved! even the house it lived in has gone... but not him! he seems to be staying over as it were under a truck these day, and is so small, but so mean! Pippa takes no notice of him, its just me who has the problem!

a dead rat we saw has also gone... gracias snr road sweeper! that made us both jump yesterday, or was it the day before?

today i spent nearly an hour on the phone to Monarch, most of it waiting time, i think i was in a flight holding pattern! i was certainly going round in circles with the old taped "sorry to keep you waiting" and music!

i needed to change the flight Mom should have been coming out here on on the 3rd of this month, left if a little late didn't i! so i could change the flights dates and times etc, but on line, not the name! on line i had already found the charges were 88£ over the already paid amount... and once through to a great girl who helped me sort out the problem... or tried to! the cost would have gone up to 162£ over the already paid 147£!!! so there goes another flight un used, sounds like last year doesn't it....

we did check with the bank of course and reclaiming via the card protection thingy, but once your 80 years the insurance is out! Mom is so it is!!!

but on the plus side... we're booked for Paris! just a two night trip on the Eurostar... cant wait! I have never been to France before.... neither of us on the Eurostar, so we cant wait!

this morning just a short trip into town, visited friends in the Animals in Distress shop, café con leché at the Cruz bar... and home!

well its the first of September, no change in temperature though! i know what can you expect! but on the 1st of the last four months there seems to be a noticeable change upwards in heat... so one would expect the opposite today! no? ok!

just gave Pippa her dinner and there was an ant attack going on near her bowl... if they wanted the best, they should have waited till now when she leaves a little for later! but they blew it, all zapped out with spray, candle wax filling the route into the kitchen... and it was adiós amigos!

Mom and I have now decided to do as above, Paris, and then a few little trips out and about from hers... probably most days! I am also booked, already for two more weeks this year with Mom, first two weeks of December.... my wings will be well worn out by the end of the year... from all this flying.... when do I get a free flight please Monarch?

Follow your desire as long as you live; do not lessen the time of following desire, for the wasting of time is an abomination to the spirit.

PTAHHOTEP

TTFN

Marian