Teba

sorry... will write more tomorrow, but above and those below are photos of teba, we took them yesterday on a journey we made looking for caves.... yes i know we have our own in the house, but for some reason franco felt the need for more! bless him!


this castle was atop a very high mountian, we walked up from the street below, only realising when we reached the top we could have driven up! oh well, good exercise, i know because i am still aching from it tonight!


also, inside were a lot of stairs.... down and up, i think in most places this castle would not have been given access too, the celler beneath was open and creepy, the first landing had a couple of rooms that seemed safe enough, the next level up the floors had been replaced with wooden floorboards of which some had been knocked through, maybe when someone walked on them! then i went up onto the roof! yes silly i know it was fairly windy up there but there was no sides to the roof, just one big flat area! and the stairs were close to the edge! i had to get tony to hold out his arm for me take so i could safely get onto the first step down!

anyway more manaña....

movies waiting to watch, we have no sky telly, 4th day...... arh!

TTFN
Marian

yes the soldiers... they do a route from one church to another, we have three main churches here in alhaurin el grande, in the old section at the top of the high street first is the white church (yes i know they are all painted white), but this first one in plaza baja is called apart from its saints name, the white church, then you walk along a bit further and reach the purple church, san sebastian, its cross is purple... then after about ten minutes you reach 'our' church, the santa vera cruz, the green church, the cross is green therefore...

from there its down the main street, back to where they started from!

on lots of occasions the soldiers and other bandsmen travel the whole town, up hill and down dale, from end to end, north south east and west!

we have several bands in town, the army band the police band, and three maybe more also, and they march along one after the other, picking up water bottles along the way and dropping them everywhere... window sills or door steps... along the way!

when the soldiers march they stop and throw theyre guns around and into the air and to eachother! they have axes or shovels or other implements on their back too...


spain is still an army country, we have the traffic police, the town police and the army police, theyre the ones we see most often at round abouts stopping all the cars to peer in to see if people have anything dodgy going on! i guess drugs, guns illigal immigrants and what not!

all the police there, unlike the england, carry guns, the army guys have these huge weapons very much in clear view and are very intimidating.

tony... arrived here wednesday, i went over to malaga by bus to meet him at the car rental section at the airport, he says next time he can find his way to alhaurin now, but i dont mind meeting him, infact i like to, its part of him being here afterall, and the same goes for barry and other family and friends too!

we have been able to get around quite a lot in the afternoons as franco has been leaving work early, so we have been to... la trocha in coin, the miramar complex in fuengirola, last night down to calahonda, our old area down on the coast, we met up with franco's sister maria and her two friends who are out here for a couple of weeks. we went to the palmtrees restaurant that we have been going to for so long, i suppose since 1989! and still don antonio is there, and he has never changed, infact he was born here in alhaurin el grande!

we had a very nice evening, got home about 1230... and i had to be up for work, ugh!!

today, when we close franco and tony are meeting me here and we are off to gibraltor...

hasta pronto...

Joy is not in things, it is in us

TTFN
Marian

Dia de Jesus, 14.00 june 16th 2007

here are some pictures i took only 15 minutes ago more or less, its 1410 now...


there is a small video too, just wish there was sound with it, they sound fantastic the music is stiring marching band... makes you want to join in!


i didnt get quick enough to see, but first came the young children, with a long long piece of purple cloth held between them all, all chanting and laughing...

then came a little older, the cloth also purple was so long you could not see both the bigining and the end from our house!

TTFN
Marian

here is our friend flep and his girlfriend, they're having their hols back in merry ol england just now, flep arrived with me last month and then 'she' arrived later on, she's very shy, looks like she needs the sun too! so after england its off to sunny limes in florida before returning here in a few months....

this is just a little note really for 'the friends of flep'...

to everyone else.... its ok i havent really lost my marbles.....

TTFN
Marian

ugh! i have just found out where all these little black flys are coming from! we have this bucket out by the back door for food waste, for the worms, and franco has maybe not emptied it yet! i knocked the lid by mistake earlier and a swarm of flys escaped the dark moving interior! its alive!

yesterday we had ´ladies that lunch´date, i met up with mate after work and helped her books some flights for her husband and grand daughter, we then had a coffee in bar rosa in centre of town, we go there a lot and know the waitresses, one in perticular we always have a good banter with, well she gave me such a great compliment.... not verbal, more in the sense of trust, she asked me if i would put some money in her bank account for her as she couldnt leave work before it closed, not a few euros either, all those spanish there, and she asked me! of course i was happy to help and left feeling more of an alhaurina... (resident of alhaurín).

then when i got home they have put a huge spot light thing attached to our balcon for the parade thats on this week, for 'dia de jesus'

i think that is the right link i put on the above.

pippa must have gone crazy with the ladders and some fellas up on the balcon and fixing that on there! she never even told me it was there! i noticed the black strips outside the house, but it wasnt till later i saw the light fixed on and the roll of black electric cable.... with the plug for us to plug it in when the time is right.... but when is the time right? we dont know what time of what day they are coming down our street! i guess when the other lights are turned on eh, as long as no one is waiting for our que!

we're thinking of putting a web cam of our street on here, not sure how yet, or even when, but that would be good wouldnt it, because of course you will all want to see the comings and goings or the locals round about.... hahahaha :-)

the old gals pouring their buckets of water down the drains (oh and me too), the infrequent post man on his scooter, dog walkers, old boys strolling down to the local plaza for a brandy and talk, the parades... jesus carried high by 100 men, and the easter parade in all its glory, actually even i would like to see all this from a web cam! oh and hey i have just remembered girls... mercadona man too!

When someone wants something then they should
be aware that they are taking a risk.
This is precisely what makes life interesting.

TTFN
Marian

saturday today and mercadona man, as usual bright and early this morning, and as usual i went to the store afterwards to get a few things that i forgot to put on the order! nothing to heavy at least, i must get one of those trolleys eh! mom did buy me one when we moved in here, but its well, not sure how to put it, its not exactly trendy and i am far far too young to be pulling that up the street! I am!

when we were last in ronda i saw some very fashionable trolley things, so i think next trip there i will buying one of those!


hey look what i found, that one up there.... ok thats sorted!

just remember youve seen the old one, remember the photo of the jamon sticking out the top at christmas?

anyway today... stopped for coffee with friends one way down in bar timon, then to supermarket and into to see friend in shop, long chat and hello's to everyone who came in, no buddy about, she and her husband must be up later, then on my way back same couple from earlier outside different bar so stopped again and had a tinto verano.... very nice in this warm weather...

we 'lost' our phone line this week, tuesday i think it was, so paid the bill on thursday morning(!) tried on wednesday, but of course, you may not pay your bills on a wednesday! but anyway we got back on line in the afternoon, amazing, some people say it can take days, and the internet came straight back too!

tuesday night when we were off to bed the water went.... nothing to do with us, this time! and i heard the cistern refilling around about one am, then i could still hear water.... i listened to it for ages, probably about an hour or more, franco slept through of course, eventually i went up onto the terrace and found franco had left the tap on up there! so we had a bit of a swimming pool on the roof, and i got soaking! of course it had sounded so loud because of the camera with mic that we have on now all night, checking out the back wall etc... it sounded like a waterfall!

i got kind of conned in the shop the other day, friend had to go out so i looked after the place for her for the morning and a woman came in with some books, friend takes books in and sell on, big market here for second hand books as they are so expensive here new, ten to fifteen euro for a paperback book.... anyway, this 'lady' says that the other lady gives a euro for a book... i said i know she gives 50c, so if she wanted to come back later that would be best, she said no she didnt want to, so i said ok i will give you 50c per book and then if the owner wants to she can!! give the rest next visit.... so ok!

then she comes back with husband who goes off about how expensive the books were and we sell them for more well yes 3.50€ rather than 2.50€.... so i said ok ok, give me your name so i can tell owner i have given 3€ of her money to you!

they left and the books.... one a year old but very very well read by who knows how many people, the second 7 years old and pretty rough, the 3rd and final book was an ex library book from ten years ago!

franco has started his blog again, so will get that sorted out on here for the link, he does not hold back on his views of things that go on around here, so remember that please!

Life always waits for a crisis to occur
before revealing itself at its most brilliant

TTFN
Marian

well another week passed, lots of tourists in town now, recognisable by their lack of clothes... hello we're not on the beach folks! one woman today walked past bar rosa wearing one of those thin silky beach tops, kaftan design thingys, thigh length, over her nick-bini! would have been so bad i suppose if she had been under 60! OMgoodness what a sight, well she certainly stopped everyone mid conversation, never know that bar go so quiet.... sorry lady!

franco is doing some work at his sisters on sunday, so we will go down with him bright and very early, june now so cant take pippa on the beach which is a shame as her apartment is right there almost on it!

i am listening now all the time to this new station i found when i went to england, not sure if its on line, i will have to check it out, i think it must be as its one of those DAB channels(?) digital something or other.

its all old stuff, sort of 70's and 80's mostly, i need to break away from day time tv when i am home during the day, its like a drug, and one would think i could only watch the same 'inspecter morse' or 'midsummer murders' episode the once, but no seems i could keep on and on as long as they show them!

so effect in catching up with the 6 or so books i have waiting to be read, and of course, my leaning spanish...

ok gotta go, lasagne waiting to be popped into the oven...

I live neither in my past nor in my future.
I have only the present, and that is what matters.
If you can remain always in the prsent
then you will be a happy man.
Life will be a party, one long celebration,
because life is this moment we are living now

(above from the alchemist-cant believe this book came in today to the shop, i could never give mine away, i have bought it for lots of friends to give, but always kept mine, and the book today i gave to val to read)

TTFN
Marian