a poor quality photo of a cruise liner pulling out of Malaga port we think, caught in the sun set, i imagine a much better view of us from there, than them from here!!!

these two pics are the mess being caused just now by the works in next doors complex, above Franco and Pip walking towards the almost non existent path... and below the state of the beach!


that's interesting... on the English news just now they are warning people about caterpillars that can cause severe health problems, they are nesting in oak trees and another i cant remember, already!?! i wonder which clever person brought back a beautiful pine cone from Spain and out came a caterpillar then? i suppose most people have, i did when i used to holiday out here and didn't know the severity or actually even the specie's! its feb to april for the little critters here, but they are saying may to June in England... beware!!!!

i applied for a job that was offered to me from the promotions company i have worked for before, it was only last night i really thought about it though, and the impossibility really for me to be able to do it! i would have to leave about 8am to get to the airport for ten, that sounds extreme but there is the walk to the bus stop in town, the wait, the hours ride, the walk from the N340, it would take an extra hour if i got the bus all the way into Malaga city and then waited for the airport bus back again, passing the same places twice! its about 15 to 20 minutes to get to departures from there, i would need a coffee after that long haul trip alone! then be standing all day, just to repeat the process at the end of the day, its only 30 hour week, all weekends, so maybe 6 hours a day with a half hour break, maybe? so would be home between 6 & 7pm, so i don't know, and i might not be offered it of course, they didn't mention having to be fluent written and spoken Spanish so we will see....

i don't normally get any bites, the first couple of years here maybe, then the odd one or two, but i am covered in them! at night i hear the little brute, after he has bitten me and thanking me for my blood! and he wouldn't leave me alone last night! buzz buzz buzz, when he wasn't bothering me i could hear Pippa snapping at it! Franco slept on.....! well until a family arrived about 1am behind here, pulling out the table and chairs and parasol... not to use then, of course, in the night, in the dark! but the racket they made! consideration amigos por favor!!!!

haven't made it to wifi today, too tired and woke up with another head ache, drink a load of coffee and took a pain killer... Franco bought home a paper with loads of info about migraines, as if us migraineurs don't know enough already about our symptoms, but it was an interesting read,the info reads... "the biggest misunderstanding is that a migraine is just a severe headache. it is, in fact, a complex neurological disease that affects the central nervous system which is accompanied by a range of physical and emotional symptoms. that they are caused by abnormal brain biochemistry and are not, as some believe, self-induced. they are a chronic, neurological illness that is present from birth and is in most cases inherited from one or both parents, sorry boys! a staggering one in ten Britons suffer from migraine, it is the ninth leading cause of disability in the world, more common than diabetes or asthma, being genetic condition, sufferers cannot be cured, but the debilitating effects can be minimised. avoiding chocolate and MSG can trigger a migraine in some people, but not in everyone, everyone's experience or history is different. there is so much here, too much for me to copy, it goes on to say caffeine is the cheapest, easiest, most available drug to treat a migraine. it constricts blood vessels which can decrease pain, if you feel a migraine coming on, try drinking a cup or two of strong black coffee or caffeinated soft drink, caffeine also helps you absorb other medications, which is another reason why it is included in some of these medications. it also suggests two massages a week for five weeks cut back on migraines by 50 per cent!! i said to Franco i have always had coffee when i felt a bad head coming, no one told me, i just knew it helped, quite often it would be a Costa coffee or two, and or a glass of coke, usually helped, i remember once coming back from Milton Keynes, Mom in the car with me and speaking to Tony, (when we were allowed to use phones whilst driving i hasten to add!!), and Tony had just got to MK, which was strange enough, but then he had a head ache also! we do that a lot! and now he knows its probably my fault! the paper also mentioned magnesium to help, my mate Lisa got me using that years ago, do you remember? i think i stopped taking it though after coming here, i was getting them still when on holidays in UK... then stopped... probably about 6 years ago... heck, that's a while now isn't it!

ok, leaving this here Pip is wanting to go out, but she must wait a while yet, sorry honey...

well we went out about 5pm, off to our new venue of the woods! BIG mistake, we were just entering, literally when the german shepherd we have seen a few times before from more of a distance was coming along the path with owner, off the leash and onto us in seconds! i must have looked like a whirling dervish! Pippa running behind me, it following, raring up on its hind legs teeth bared growling and snapping, me spinning to release me from the lead and Pippa and IT! the owner arrived at the moment i started squirting it with water, carrying a little spray bottle now for such emergency's, although it had no effect at all and wished i had the pepper spray! although i guess me and Pip would have ended up with more in our eyes than an aggressive dog would have had! been back a while now and my heart hasn't stopped hammering away madly! don't need to take my BP my head is banging and cant see straight and hands shaky as a shaky thing!!! brought back all my old fears of dogs, i used to so scared of them when i was younger, i think i was more afraid than Pippa! her? now? asleep on the floor...

so before i forget, did i mention the other week the bins here have a wall and roof around them, open fronted for you to chuck your rubbish in every day, well probably the refuse truck knocked it off its base and there was a huge, dangerous bit where the corner had separated from both sides and the base! today they are now, as i type rebuilding it! good job! the gate which has been broken for a few days, still is! you can just push it open without need of pin code on lock, but then as the beach gate still hasn't been fixed....well! now if i was President here... i wouldn't have let Juan get away with these things not being fixed immediately!!!! oh they're still working next door, took some pics last night, the beach is ruined here! you would think they would have done this work in winter would you not?

adío!

ok amigos its thursday morning now, my spelling up there was atrocious, worse than normal, must have been the headache, the spell check took ages!

so this morning, Pippa put her trust in me and we went back to the forest... well we are stuck the beach is a no go to turn right with the men working on it, and it was nearly 9am so didn't want to risk coming down along it from El Capricho bar, so we had no choice really for her to do her business... we walked along side it while i checked in out for wild animals or people! and we entered from further on, we were taking a side path when we came across the Swedish lady we met up with a few weeks previously, i told her about the awful incident yesterday and she said it sounds like the dog that attacked her friends golden retriever two weeks ago, causing 22 stitches for the poor thing! i said did she go to the police and she said she did, and they said "its just a dog!" with a shrug of their shoulders... so its against the law the dog was un leashed un muzzled and nearly killed her dog, but it didn't matter...

i picked up a stick in the wood, maybe better than the little spray bottle of water, but you know i truly think if i hit a dog with it to get it off us, the owner would very likely hit me...

heard back about the job, they sent me more information as i requested and hope to hear back from me... er, sorry nope! or at least only to say no, sorry, not for me! i was correct about the six hours a day thursday through to and including monday, ok, for three months ok, six hours a day yes would have been great only they read like this... 10:00 - 13:00 and then... 18:00 - 21:00! a five hour break in the middle, the last bus outta Malaga is at 8pm to Alhaurín el Grande, so, i guess if i could actually *live* at the airport then that would be the only way.... er no, not doing that!

we had a drop of rain again yesterday, not much just a sprinkling...
looks cloudy again today and forecast is for rain, what is going on, its hot... days and at night just right for now, that will soon change...


Teach us...
To give and not to count the cost;
To fight and not to heed the wounds;
To toil and not to seek for rest...

- St. Ignatius Loyola, by way of Dean Koontz and Brother Odd

was going to leave this here but thought i better check out the above Saint before i just leave a quote from him without knowing him better, glad i did now, check out the link folks....

TTFN
Marian