From yesterday's walk.. no! The day before! (And as I forgot to post, it was even the day before that!!)

It was so warm walking behind this corrugated fencing I reached out and touched it, felt so toasty! 

9:30am and felt so warm there.. 

Swan above with her two young'uns!

Yesterday I called the RSPCA, to tell them about the man I saw who was being abusive to his dogs, the registration number I had taken down wasn't right, but I told them all I could.

I posted a photograph in my last Blog, of me walking along the tow path.. did you think 'how did she do that' or something..

It is amazing, and scary what you can with AI isn't it .. 

I took a photograph of the tow path from the other side of the canal

Then a photograph of me..

And asked Gemini to work it's magic..

M.

Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they’re too heavy to be broken.

Warren Buffett - Business Magnate, Investor, Speaker, and Philanthropist

I am feeling better than I was last Monday, it is taking me a while, and I know I am on a slippery slope for the next couple of weeks.

Also, I think seeing this above had hurt me, because I am silly, I know.. but photograph on the left my mom's living room window, Google maps hadn't changed it, hadn't been down her road at least since she was there, those were her curtains and she always drew them when she was watching TV to stop the glare... And although it had been a bad habit when she first died, it also consoled me knowing she had been sitting behind those curtains, watching TV.. It made me feel both sad and happy.. Can't explain.

And thankfully I stopped looking all the time, just now and again; and having looked probably only a couple of times last year, I looked again.

And now it's changed, now someone else has the curtains open, the window handle open.

And now I know she no longer waits behind the curtains, watching TV.

Same curtains, no judgement.

Okay, need to change the subject.. 

Top photograph me walking along the tow path this morning! 

The Nottingham Canal below..

And just here the top is one end and the bottom photograph is the other end! 

Never walked the length of a canal before! Especially in quarter of an hour!

And did I show you this?

Yes a Peter Maddocks print at the top, followed by one of many memorability items..

Then the stick.. I got the idea from a good friend of mine back home, K., she has one by her front door to hold bits n' bobs..

Mine is a bit more special, it's my step dads walking stick.

It's been with me since 2002, always near my front door, first just leaning at the duplex down at Calahonda, then in the umbrella stand in Alhaurín, going quietly unnoticed.

Now, it finally has a resting place, seen every day, remembered every day.

M.

Sometimes you just need an adventure to cleanse the bitter taste of life from your soul.

One of those days...

Sixteen years since mom's passing.. I think because sixteen feels like it's closing into twenty I feel so much sadder...

I was going into town, but then change of plans and walked to nearby town to post a pair of shoes off!

Back and changed into my walking gear..

At the beginning of my walk I came across a man loading four or five dogs into the back of his car, I stopped for a moment as it was near a fly tipping site and I didn't want to get caught witnessing that! 

But what I did witness was by far more terrible..

He was pulling and pushing and hitting his dogs, the sound of them screaming and crying and yelping was so awful, I then realized I had to keep walking towards them because to turn would be worse.. I was only maybe 50 to 60 feet away, very close, he hadn't heard me because of the noise of his dogs.. he slammed the back door of his car, the dogs looking at me by then as close as I was ... And a last cowering old dog, came, head down, around from hiding on the driver's side to be loaded into another door.. 

The man then saw me.. I just stared at him... I can't write the feelings I had, I can't write the words flying around my mind! 

But I did start to cry when I walked off.. for his dogs for my mom, for me too I guess.. 

I had trouble with my tears the whole journey, and they're not far away now...

But keep Blogging for now, focus my mind!

So!! My earbuds were in and as I turned onto the tow path I hit my Theme tune  play list.. 

First track that came up was Patsy Gallant, New York to LA, so obviously my mom was tuning in!

My theme tune play list isn't about the up-beats or down-beats..it is THE beats of my growing years..

Of course, yes, I'm still growing I guess.. we all always are.. 

Patsy Gallant From New York to LA

In the early hours of this morning a light came on in the tall boy cupboard.. it's glow coming through the opening lid enough to wake me up.. figured that too was my mom.. just passing by!

Very long walk, needed to walk to clear my head of sadness, okay, that's not worked, but I am tired now!

Joined by a Robin here and there... Another beautiful bumble bee!

Flowers out, bright yellows pockets of sunshine on the tow path, didn't take photograph of the actual yellow flowers or the yellow primrose, but below are white primrose with delicate yellow centres.. 

First few miles very few people, but then lots more walking into the town further down... Lots of people with dogs, so I grabbed a few cwtches where and when I could! They became assistance dogs for me!

I wish I could have helped those other dogs, what an awful existence they must have.. So very sad.

Okay! So! I ended the walk, over six miles, in McDonald's!

I was absolutely starving Marvin!

On my return walk I wasn't sure if it was my glutes or my hips complaining after pushing myself so far... To be honest I probably wouldn't have turned around when I did, I just wanted to keep on walking.. but I found a small wood, with a sign by the side of the tow path, so I followed the sign, then followed my instinct and came back up to it further up river.. and decided that would be my turnaround spot today!

Now, back and with coffee, Moonstruck on tv, comfy and cosy I think it was my hips!

M.

There are no regrets in life, just lessons.

Jennifer Aniston - Actress, Film Producer

I think I didn't appreciate how lucky I was having the Med so close, so much a daily view.. 

I remember many Blogs mentioning my view to work, coming around the mountain road, sun rising on my left, the golden glow rising from the sea.. the stunning amazing view to go to work with .. 

Of looking out from the doors to the store with a friend and looking at a glimpse of the sea from through the forest...

The return likewise amazing, the many colored mountain ranges ... The sun lowering again from my left... I breathe out slowly now as I write this... That feeling of letting the day go as I drove home... 

Before I remember the sadness of returning home without my beloveds there..

I've begun a new book today, well last night.. Meet Ella by James Middleton.. I'm listening on Audible, and he is reading his own book, already I know I love this book, the tears show this, already he is inspiring, already I greatly respect this man, achievements.. 

I finished the last of the Harry Potter books yesterday morning. 

Randomly it may seem posting Doozer from Fraggle Rock, early 1980's series, and of course, no need to say Arthur Fonzarelli aka the Fonzy,  The Fonz! 

I've carried these around with me for over forty years! They can go now! I've cleaned up little Doozer, he was a bit dusty, just from standing around in various draws and cupboards for decades! 

They're on eBay! Lols 

I was going to sell..

This Tango man! But #1 son has named a claim to him... We did have two, so not sure what happened to the other one..

I got them from an advert on Tango cans, back about '92 or '93? It said to phone the number on the can, listen, and a cost of two or three pounds would be taken and the Tango men sent!

I did, they were, and we had them! One each for my boys! 

One time, #2 son and I went to the Trocadero, train there and back, underground journeys.. The Nickelodeon studios were there then and viewing was from a huge glass window, anyone could watch the bits in-between the programs from there, and often the camera panned around and the viewers became the viewed! 

I had set the VCR (VCR! Lols to record specific times, and we were there! Laughing and waving the two Tango men at the cameras! 

When we got home we saw ourselves on the recordings.. unfortunately, not being something we could do, we couldn't record again on phones.. and again, unfortunately the recording became lost, probably taped over... I may have forgotten to break the plastic tab off the cassette, to prevent further recordings... 

But the memory remains.. 

A walk the other day I went out through the back gate, firstly out from the back door locked with a Yale key twice turned, out through the gate, top latch down, trying not to let the lower latch catch...

Came home and I couldn't open the back gate because the lower latch had shut!

I went through the house, luckily having the front door key but couldn't open the back door because I had double locked it from the outside!

What a conundrum! There was an answer, and luckily I found it quickly!

M.

You are not here to make others understand you. You are here to understand yourself.

Kristen Butler - Editor, Producer