above gardens in alhurín el grande...

another week gone... weather has been good this week, cooler but out in the sun very very lovely.

although i have carried my para aqua about with me all week, washing in still drying up on the terrace so cant be bad.

news of a new alhaurín el grande by pass is top topic this week, think i must pop up to the town hall and check out the plans.

just google map'ed the area, so many peoples lovely homes and land, although i am not certain exactly where the road is going except for the 404 bit, and its not even a case of the money compensation is it, if you have a blooming great road going past your window when you thought you lived well away from all the traffic... but...

but... the trouble is although there are many many people whose properties are going to be effected, and of course those of iligal build wont get any compensation at all, the but is that there are also thousands and thousands of new properties going up in coín and alhaurín, there is also plans on the horizon of that theme park over at de la torre, and the road infrastructure as it is now cannot take another 2 or 3 thousand more cars a day, can you imagine on our little 'B' roads that are now sliding away beneath our tires!

the road we really need to have sorted out is our road down to fuengirola isnt it? 'they' are supposed to start work soon and take 18 months to get that fixed up, put in a slow lane, or is that an overtaking lane i mean!

check out the alhauríntoday.com site there on the right to see all the news about the proposed by pass... of course... it may never happen anyway!


Anyone who loves
needs to know both how to lose himself
and how to find himself
By the river piedra i sat down and wept

TTFN
Marian

this evening as the sun sets beyond these mountains the cloud is pulling through the gaps...

terrible news here today in alhaurín someone we all know in town has passed over so unexpectedly and so so young. all i can say is our thoughts are with his family at such a sad time, especially just before christmas too.

A warrior of light knows
that he will hear an order in the
silence of his heart that will guide him.
Manual of the warrior of light

TTFN
Marian

The rain in spain....

lots of rain this week... yesterday, friday was the only day it was dry i think, its been just drizzly stuff up here in alhaurín the odd hard pour but mainly just drizzle... on the coast they have had the hard stuff!

walked into town this morning popped into the shop for a quick chat and a coffee! there was no one out side of any of the bars this morning... i still think its nice to get out even if it is wet, the air is clear and the colors different and in the house its even darker so out side is good to me! also needed my shredded wheat, ended up at the super sol, couple of other places were way over priced... why!?!

yesterday i felt better too, for three whole days i was having a real bad total joint flare up, agony and a headache to match, too many pain killers and muscle tablets to count, went to bed hoping i would be better in the morning and yesterday i was, i felt so much better people commented i looked happy about something... it was just i wasnt in so much pain people!

also yesterday friend and i went to the new ikea at last.... yeah... swedish meatballs with gravy and cranbury sauce... oh so yummy.... and the restaurant was set out exactly the same as the one in wembly london, i almost felt if i had walked out i would have been in london! only about 20 degrees warmer here i know!

i forget to say... had wonderful doughnuts at last last week, and no not from tesco back ol blighty, but from taylors bakery up on avenida de la libertad, they were fantastico still warm and the jam was perfecto!

also forget to mention i think.... taking the hire car back to malaga airport for out trip to england last wednesday evening, i followed signs for car rental and parked the car, hefted out moms heavy case locked the car and we walked over to the office to find a sign saying sorry car rentals now in another car park on another level!! would have good to have seen a sign on entering the car park telling this news, so back to car, back in with case and off in search of rentals drop off point, found some signs which did.... eventually lead us to the right place which by then i was a little grumpy to say the least, and very probably appeared as a rude customer, so what can i say!

when mom and i had had enough of duty free and coffee and cakes we walked down stairs towards the departure area, only three weeks ago i had done the same prior to my week holiday, walking down the stairs, past the seating, past the newish small duty free shop on the corner before turning right and walking up the slope to the small two man office of passport control...

well we came to the shop on the corner and two things happened, a man in one of those little cars pulled up and welcomed us on board, mom on the back me up front with him, he drove us through a new corridor to a different and new passport control, taking our passports and the electronic doors opened for us.... through we went and he dropped us off at the shop near the gates... fantastic, he must have thought we looked very very tired... i guess!

oh, so the second thing that happened i suppose was that i realised afterwards that the route up to the departures had changed, but it all happened so quick i'm not sure how it is now!

now i was going to pop a photo of doughnuts at the tops... googled some pics and came across this little golden nugget... so have linked to it as what the lady say here is so funny... i want to share with you...

only now i want a doughnut and i will leave you all with this sweet sticky thought...

Perhaps love makes us grow old before out time
and makes us young again when youth has passed.
By the river piedra i sat down and wept.

TTFN
Marian

have i really not blogged since last wednesday? and this afternoon i have a bit of a head ache.... so a quick catch up eh... well mom and i flew back to luton, england, left late, a man came off the plane and lit up a cigerette... idiot! still on the walk way, and so illigal, by all the signs and of course the people who have usually just told you prior to landing no smoking or mobile phones till etc etc... anyway he wouldnt put it out so the police were called and he was arrested!! probably deported out on the next plane!

we landed more or less on time though, as usual, and were met by one friend on mine to take mom home and tony and steph for me! steph had coffee... which was much appreciated by me as easy jet had none on the flight at all! what was that all about, no coffee on a late evening flight...

anyway it was freezing, literally, as we came out of the airport, and me only with my hand bag, felt very strange... back to tonys and he made a bit of dinner, which we ate nearly midnight, went to bed about an hour later, i was so tired but in a way didnt want to sleep knowing we would just get up and go back to the airport again...

which we did at five am... i was tucked up in stephs duvet on the back seat as they scraped all the ice off, quick journey to luton and they dropped me off and in i walked straight up the stairs to the xray machines and through into departures... no long line up for me and just my hand bag and pre printed boarding pass which set me up for the 'A' group to board, ok as we didnt need to ride a bus as pretty pointless otherwise, like wise the speedy boarding group and elderly plus children sections ahead of us! now there is only the 'B' group that follows A, no C and D anymore... whats going to happen though soon? will there be the 'more speedy boarding' section do you think?

i had friends pick me up when i landed about 11am... thank goodness was a bit tired and felt very jet lagged after two flights within 12 hours, didnt even see daylight in england!

back to work on friday... bit dyslexic but ok, felt like i had had a migrane all day, but no thats today, so sorry if any or most of this makes no sence whatsoever.... ok ok no change there then!!

also meant to tell you... no sunday market at la trocha at the moment.... but the wednesday is definately on ok! which is brilliant...

saturday just a walk to town... colored my hair, again, only did it a month ago but it was far to dark and too red for me, so did the job again, this time two colors and it looks much softer on my face... i think!

sunday franco and i got a couple of gas bottles, but had to hunt them down, now its getting cooler theyre in much more demand and we wanted two for the two gas fires...

it is getting cooler now by evening and night, its down to about 20 - 22, feels nice in the sun sitting at bar rosa... relaxing... but in the house now its cool got my fluffy slippers out this evening when i went through my summer winter clothes, swapping there position in the big old wooden box they live in in alternative seasons, and once again, i find myself putting the same summer clothes away unworn, well some of them, ones i just cannot throw or pass on, i know its silly... so maybe next spring when they leave the box they will leave me too.... or maybe not eh!!

ok.. got to go now, cant type anymore, my back in hurting and my neck and my head! so ciao and hasta luego amigos...

TTFN
Marian

well off to england tonight to get mom home and then back again in the morning! traveling light no cases only my hand bag! going to feel strange coming back into malaga airport and just walking out... so therefore i am packed already with gloves and scalf! and only to change into a warm sweater and boots...

tony is collecting me from luton, and bringing me back there 7 hours later... nice eh! and another friend is collecting mom for me to take her back to her house.

just seen in this months Inland magazine a chap talking about setenil de las bodagas... wonder if he read it here first! remember tuesday october 9th

cant believe i am having to take this ka (car) back to the airport with half a tank! and they will top it up and have the cheek to charge another 45€ to the next person!

going to put a new link in for 106.8 Ace FM over there in my links section too if i can.

ok, adios amigos....

Anyone who loves
in the expectation of being loved in return
is wasting their time.
The devil and miss prym

TTFN
Marian

they showed lots of people in new york doing their christmas shopping especially with the dollar to pound ratio... they also told how customs have legal rights to your credit card on entry back into england to make sure you havent spent more than the 200 pounds allowance... so, no wearing those new clothes home now you hear!

but back in london... the inner london charges what are they 8pounds a day? if you go into the center every day thats a lot of money, but apparently there are people registering their vehicle as a mini cab and only have to pay 26 pounds a month! on the list of mini cabs are two seater sports cars, mercedes, bmw's etc, vehicles that have no intention of being used as cabs! who has these clever ideas i ask...

today mom and i went to fuengirola, spoke to snr lorenzo who was our land lord when we first arrived here in spain, saw a few people from alhaurín too!

we also went into el corte ingles in las lagunas on way home, bit tired by then...

had a record played for me on the local radio station this morning!... that was very nice surprize, thank you tim! although i went to pieces and the till showed over 500€ to pay back to the customer ooooops!

but it was one of those days today, mishaps on till, leaky coffee cup, saw a few near accidents on way down to coast, nothing unusual there i know but we watched with horror as we could see the man in front over taking a truck and we could also see a vehicle pulling out from a side road in front of the truck to come in our direction, that would have been a very nasty head on collision had the man not braked hard and pulled back in behind the truck! idiota!

but it is tuesday 13th, and here in spain this is the unlucky date and day, not a friday!

In love lies the seed of our growth,
The more we love,
the closer we are to spiritual experience.
By the river piedra i sat down and wept.

TTFN
Marian

after work this morning mom and i went to ronda, took a long time today, stuck behind one truck then another round those rocky mountain twists and turns... took nearly an hour and half!

the shops were shutting when we arrived so went to have lunch in our favorite restaurant, with the andalucian courtyard, i had the gazpacho soup, followed by meat in tomato sauce with potatoes and flan for desert... the only problem with the wonderful place is they dont have coffee!! i know unbelievable isnt it!

we had a wonder around the few open shop, walked over the tajo above and took these photos from the newest look out point.


above the wonderful parador hotel...


and finally above this huge material is covering a section of new building to the left of the parador, or the right of course from where we were standing...

took an 40 minutes to get back to coín where we shopped in mercadona and then home, so an hour travelling time coming home thank goodness... this little ford Ka really shifts!

Saturday... mom and i went down to the dunnes down at miramar parque area of fuengirola, it was so crowded with theyre get 3 pay for 2 thingy... i think we got the last car park space at the time we arrived, and inside it was a jumble of people grabbing and pushing and going crazy!

we had already been to the miramar itself and after dunnes went up to mijas for lunch, had to go to a different restaurant, our usual was closed, but it meant that we sat somewhere different, seeing a new outlook on the pueblo, a church i actually hadnt been in, until after lunch that is! and i had a massive plate of wonderful fried squid, the baby ones tenticles and all! beautiful!

Sunday... no market at la trocha, so not sure whats happening i better find out before the end of the week i think to let you all know! mom and i went to the garden center for a coffee and went into a shop near alhaurín golf to buy some fruit and veg, its a house with shop inside just by the side of the road, i remember years ago they used to have everything in boxes by the side of road...

Love will never seperate a man
from his personal legend.
The Alchemist

TTFN
Marian

two more photo's of rodin... two more of the thinker... of course!


today... we just got home and found mom had shut pippa in the cave when she left this morning! my poor baby, at least its not too hot or too cold... but six hours on the cold floor and no water... i know i know shes 'just' a dog, and most spanish dogs are out in the cold all day and all night!

we went to the bajondillo paseo today, popping into plaza major as with barry, but no lunch there, we called tony, as last time, but this time he was at work, and i got him to check out that web cam link over there on the right side of my page... under links...

and yes he could see mom and i!!! i know very very sad!

then we had lunch, i had ensalada pulpo, (squid salad), and mom had tuna, the two cokes were 2.50€ each, out of the tap and it came to nearly 20€, oh these coastal prices.... and there were only a few touristas about to catch!

mom and i then went to the marina at benalmadina, saw a couple of friends from alhaurín, the lady at first not recognising me, i think she thought i wanted to sell something! had a chat then when we turned to go he jokingly called out... i dont want to buy a holiday!!! when they passed us later he came over to say sorry! at the same time i did the same thing making so many people look over! it was only afterwards i thought i should have said... look i am not giving you my autograph!... that would have been fun!

now... thats the first week with new people in shop and it has gone really well, i suppose we were all feeling a bit strange, but its been fine.

Desire is not what you see,
but what you imagine...
Eleven minutes

TTFN
Marian

Rodin Malaga, España

Rodin

apart from 'the thinker' i am sorry i didnt write down the names of the others ;-p

hope you can find them on the site above!

Rodin

oh cant up load images at the moment, so will just tell you about the day!

work ok, still feeling bit strange settling in with new folk... i suppose too for them especially as my friend is still there too when she owned the shop, not sure if she will be in tomorrow...

then mom and i went to malaga on the bus to see the rodin sculptures in the old town, calle lario, bus ride ok, better than yesterday when we went to fuengirola, think i am getting bus sickness! well travel sickness!

we walked to the town centre stopping for coffee in the larios centre first on our way, then over the river into the historical centre of malaga...

we found the sculptures easily enough and i took lots of photos, i will up load them when i can, i took all the angles of 'the thinker' so will show them one each day!

we then went to collect a rental car from the airport, i only booked it last night on the internet and waited to receive the info for today, it only came this morning before i left work, so a good thing i wasnt arriving by plane! no print out no car!

we got the airport bus and stopped right by the car rental office opposite the san miguel factory, good thing the bus stopped there otherwise it would have been a long walk from the stop in the terminal! the info said to collect the car from down stairs after getting your baggage, ok if your actually landing i suppose! so i phoned ahead and they told me to go to the office... we did!!

mom found it a bit difficult getting up the slope from the road, alright the bus stopping but no path and no easy route for getting up onto the other road, anyway i pulled her up and there was the office...

they wouldnt take moms visa as it was a debit card also, that would have been interesting had we just landed and not had another card to use, and a polite sorry we dont take debit visa would also have been nice, not the rude way he refused the card, this wasnt mentioned on their internet site either! and the promised full tank of fuel was also not there after paying over 45€ for it! i suppose i should have gone back in the office, but the mood i was in by then seemed a little pointless, if we hadnt been at the airport i would have just walked anyway, but there we were stuck otherwise!

so we have a ford ka!

oh before i go get coffee.... dunnes yesterday shredded wheat 4€ 35!!! getting cheaper!

Love is a complicated path,
and that path can lead us up to heaven
or hurl us down into hell.
By the river piedra
i sat down and wept

TTFN
Marian

la trocha market was back on today folks... shame not many turned up? i spoke to the market man friday who didnt know till later if it was going to be on, so maybe it was just a little late in getting the info out!

there was no signs to say it was even open when we arrived and there were only a few stalls, and a few people looking, we were quite early so hopefully more turned up after we left.

ok today i have a little item, its called the price comparison section...

and today on the shelf we have shredded wheat, a british breakfast cereal.

super sol supermarket sell a 12 pack for approx 4€ 22cents
dunnes supermarket section 18 pack for approx 4€50 cents, still not bad considering 6 extra in their pack!
and today i saw an 18 pack for 6€20... are they having a laugh or what? i was having histerics, we actually popped in to look for dog food, which i also decided against buying in there for that price!

i guess i should remind those of us from the uk it costs 1.57 for an 18 pack of shredded wheat in tesco, which equals 2€ 25, so thats an extra 2 euros in the spanish shops, but an extra 4 euros!!! now i know it has to be shipped and taxes paid, but these people are not buying it from the supermarkets, it comes from a warehouse at a cheaper price and to charge 6.20 for it for drives me crazy!

ok thats good i feel better now, now what shall i pick on next week, coffee maybe, its only just 4€ in mercadona for a big jar of nescafe so i will have to search out the high prices around the area...

He who loves has conquered the world
and has no fear of losing anything.
True love is an act of total surrender.
By the river piedra i sat down and wept.

TTFN
Marian

poor little chap eh, took this photo when barry was over and this praying mantis was minus a leg!


and this was barry taking a photo of me, of course doing the same!

town seems different since i have returned home, quieter, a little cooler, and just different, cant put my finger on it somehow...

into work tomorrow, which will be different, the place the same, the stock the same, but new people coming in and my buddy leaving...

everything in the shop will continue on as usual, so the customers shouldnt have need to worry... me on the other hand?...

and i have a sore throat and ear ache so thats fun, maybe i brought this back from england, so many people had colds, and i heard on the tv this how you have 4 times as much chance of catching a cold on a plane than elsewhere!

did i tell you one of tonys friends 'did' my nails for me? they lasted me through carrying the baggage, no small feat, but last night lost one openig the refrigerator... on the radio, in the uk... question asked what is frigophobia? answer is afraid of the cold, makes sence spanish cold is frio! and just came across this absolutely useless item!

True love does not consist
of trying to correct others,
but of feeling joy
that things are better than we expected.
Unpublished (2005 diary)

TTFN
Marian