spring has sprung... at last beautiful days.... the last few have been very spring like, although franco said there was rain down on the coast yesterday we most certainly didnt have it here! in the low 20's now... and just smells spring like if you know what i mean!

up near our house is plaza alta, in this area we have a hairdressers, bar, kiosk, ladies clothes shop, travel agents, and empty shops! they used to be... a supermarket, a mens hairdressers, furniture shop, shoe shop, bakers and something else, although a few have changed hands, but its seven empty now! and when the mens wear shop closes soon that will be eight!! thats alot in such a small area, whats happening?

yesterday, andalucia day here in.... well in andalucia of course! was a quiet day, met friends down town, popped over to a place theyre looking after for a few days, took advantage of sitting round there for a while savouring the huge garden and beautiful infinity pool... and although i must admit to being a tiny bit jealous of 'some' of the house, i came home and up onto our roof terrace and there was a view that that house had nothing of! but i thought while the neighbors were out i could just knock through!!!

Time does not always pass at the same speed.
We are the ones who determine that speed.
The Pilgrimage

TTFN
Marian

Links and Comments

problem with foot odour? note the trainers on the window ledge above a shop in town yesterday...

weather still this and that, bit sunnier yesterday and today, on and off with lots of big grey clouds!

i have another link to add today, some friends here in alhaurín el grande business... it may conflict with another link i have on here already.... one down on the coast, the lovely man i saw for my intolerance test nearly three weeks ago, but this really is such a fantastic thing i know there is plenty of room for you both! so no fighting over there in my links section play quietly together and just get on!

for those of you reading this on one of the surrounding areas local web pages, i will be trying to remember to add a link to the main page so you can see all the links and comments section... hint hint hint...

now you see i did forget and have had to come back on to put in the link!

hey guess what? i sent an email to thames valley tonight, an english channel we watch on sky... a photo of the white peacock from tivoli world and i think theyre going to show it this evening! wha hey!!!


When every day seems the same,
it is because we have stopped noticing
the good things that appear in our lives.
The Alchemist

TTFN
Marian

today we have had rain... again, but now the sun is trying to make its way through the mountian mist (fog)! its the finale of the carnival today, so hopefully things will brighten up!

i have been meaning to tell you, in the post office it had been 'groundhog day' the clock stuck on sunday january 20th, 0836, for about a month, before that the days and months and times had been all over the place, well they have sorted it now (get the pun there? sorted it!!) LOL... sorry... they have fixed the problem now... the clock has gone! and standing there in the post office will become a timeless experience...

my problem... of the rash on my face has returned with vengeance and you know what the only thing i have eaten, and we know thats not much on my avoidance diet i am on at the moment... well i had added something to my fish, to give it flavour, and i think i knew to check it and didnt, and then dispite my face starting to itch i only went ahead and added it again the following day... a fish stock cube! how daft am i? no dont answer this question! ingredients contain apart from white wine which is on my no go list and salt the main ingredient, monosodium glutamate... MSG.

the bell it rang when i read that made me deaf for a moment, all those rashes after chinese foods, and after paella.... fish cube always in that when made at home! and i never ever used them till about 1994, which is when the rash started! doh! countless things we add them to now, the meat cubes dont contain MSG that we have, but again the main item first on the list is salt.

i came across this What Foods Should I Avoid site... and if you go from there to disease states affected by MSG its like opening up a.... a.... oh i dont know, a thing that gives you all the answers!

and yes when i read the MSG and Fibromyalgia page i could have cried! yes i know another straw to cling to eh... but after 20 years... who wouldnt?

Stop thinking about life and start living it.
The Fifth Mountain

TTFN
Marian

today as it has been pouring with more and more rain i thought some 'hot' photos would be much nicer to see, well they are for me anyway! the one above i took when we were in sardinia 3years ago, 2005 before we moved up here to alhaurín, it was february and beautifully warm during the day which was the complete opposite of the evenings and nights.... freeeeezing! and the day before we left we had snow and sleet! what was that all about!


and here cadiz also 2005, and still before we had moved i think... ah no, it was a few days after we moved mom and tony came over to stay for two weeks... look at that heat.... moms look she is from china and me holding that paper over my face! oh how local!

it has actually stopped raining now, its just past one pm, so maybe i will get to put out that washing after all... when i received my warrior of light edition into my email today, clicked onto the link as usual... the one below, and read the quote, it was another of those coincidences i had just finished watching that good old movie with meg ryan and nicolas cage 'city of angels'...

and so today, below the quote direct from Paulo Coelho's blog... check it out in that link on the right also...

Angels are love in motion. They never rest, they struggle to grow, and they are beyond good and evil. Love that consumes all, that destroys all, that forgives all. Angels are made of that love, and are at the same time its messengers.
The Valkyries

TTFN
Marian

did i tell you my mom got some flowers? sure i didnt, but forgive me if i am repeating myself please... last weekend mom answered the door and when she opened it the caller had gone leaving a box of beautiful flowers there...

she was'nt supposed to be the recipitant and couldnt find the lady's number in the book, all i could suggest was she called the sender to tell them... she did and they said to please keep the flowers as a gift from them... and they would immediately be sending the same flowers to the person who should have got them in the first place!

how lovely eh! a huge bouquet of sunflowers and ferns....

rain again today... ugh!

new laws regarding animals, reptiles etc that are NOT allowed here in spain to be kept in your home/land, although here in spain the laws are not countrywide and go from province to province, this one however begins here in andalucia, also certain dogs are effected by the new laws... among them are the pit bull terrier, american staffordshire terrier, rottweiler and doberman. these can still be kept, but only if they have attended a training course, muzzled, walked on a short leash by someone no less than 18, and theyre documents have to carried on the walker at all times.

no more crocodiles or alligatores to be kept as pets! and any reptiles that weigh more than two kilos as adults... now thats not much, two bags of white sugar in these parts anyway.

also any amphibians, arthropods or fish that are poisonous or whose bite could cause harm to a human. and... primates and normally wild animals that weigh more than ten kilos as adults, limited to five kilos if they are a carnivorous species.

there are a lot more details in this weeks sur in english, also the fact that you have a six month period to hand these over to an authorised centre and failure to comply with the new decree could result in fines of up to 115,000 euros!

one more most important thing... there are cadburys cream eggs for sale in the store and for now i cannot eat one! i am purchasing said items and putting them for safe keeping for a couple of months! promise....

Yesterday's pain is the warrior of light's strength.
Manual of the Warrior of Light

TTFN
Marian

Lunar eclipse

the things i do....! this was half past four this morning... the lunar eclipse... the photo above i took with the camera only zoomed in a little...

but.... below!



...as you can when zooming all the way in it causes problems with stability! especially when the photographer is awakened three hours too early! and stood out in the back yard... remember it was a full moon... with reference to the alhaurín el grande warewolf! i am sure he was telling the truth about what he saw... i do! i do! me naïve surely not!


so for me it was a half decent photo, one that looks like the seven moons of venus (?) and back in the house doors locked and back to bed!

TTFN
Marian

look at these cute little darlings... 2 month old petra and on the right 4 month old max... he's huge compared to her... and as you can see neither of them wanted to stay still for me!

today the weather was lovely... no rain and lots of sun... too hot for a coat when i came out of the shop... beautiful, although rain was forecast and is till saturday at least!

i hadnt been taking my anti inflamatories... for about 5 days, to see if what i had been eating had been making my fibromyalgia worse... it hasnt and i am in agony, so back on them again... and just had a weird thing happen, as usual checking a spelling... 'inflamatories' more because as i am writing i have a red line under it telling me i have spelt it wrong, and well you know me, i dont usually bother too much with spelling or grammer :-) ... but i just typed it in to google it, clicked on the first one that came up, and there in the tab i saw as i am writing here 'allergy to anti-inflamatories', i have had a quick look seems a reaction to some of these is somewhat similar to the rash i have had on my face! and... thats got better too... ah ha!.... will have to read up a bit more on this, the doctor did change them once in case this was my problem, so now i am back on these tablets i will see if my rash comes back!

All battles have some use,
including those in which we were defeated.
The Fifth Mountain

TTFN
Marian

The rain in spain... again is falling mostly in Alhaurín el Grande!

well this was alhaurín el grande this morning about 1030am! it was actually a little lighter than it had been half hour before when it looked more like 7pm!


so much rain coming down avenida de la libertad pausing briefly outside bar rosa then continuing down ctra cartama where we are!


people coming in the shop absolutely soaked from a short run, or dry only because they parked outside the doors! we have had thunder and lightening... the lights flickered at one point and then the thunder was immediately after and i said i bet we have a power cut at home after that! and yes we had had, not long enough to turn the video clock off, but the sky box had gone... although since franco climbed up the sky dish pole and gave it a good ol' shake it comes straight back on now every time! (fingers crossed), can you imagine doing that in england! shock horror!!


then above... here i am home again and i took this about quarter hour ago at 12 noon! blue sky and sunshine... but the sky looks a bit grim over there... so maybe its not finished yet!

now we need help in the local Cudeca store here in alhaurín el grande folks, its in calle de fuengirola, between what would be the library (biblioteca) and the school yard... so any of you live here or near... please pop in to fill out a form and tell them when you can start please, fridays are very very short of staff due to people moving on to other things... as you know its well paid... in what your doing for a good cause, bringing money in to help the people in the cancer hospice down at arroyo de miel, i think all the staff are british, so no language problems there eh! and its from 10am till 2pm... thank you!

Finding something important in life
does not mean that you must give up everything else.
Brida

TTFN
Marian

rain rain rain.... most of today so far... had to throw my brolly away outside mercadona bought a new one which exactly matched the top i had on this morning... lime green.... yes great if i am wearing that one only i suppose, but less chance of it going walk about when left unattended by the door or one shop or other eh!

having a bit of hard time at the moment... i just have to avoid a few foods for only 3 to 6 months, theyre not foods i am intollerant to, but are very high in sugars which i have really been overdosing the last couple of years i guess... or longer!

i am doing well and there are lots of other foods i can have, but breakfast, still alternating till i have 'come off' wheat... i am having bacon and egss, scrambled, cant eat fryed.... since a small chick landed in the pan instead of the yolk.... this was years ago, but its stuck!

i have lost 6Lbs... 2.73Kgs, not really enough of me to lose this every week, so hopefully it, or i, will stablise, few extra dizzy spells too, but i am hungry, was the first few days but not now...

quiet weekend.... shopping on saturday and sunday was eviction day of the mildew and mould from our bedroom, its makes its way up the corners on the wall either side of the window and then craws mischeiviously across the ceiling till we fight it back again! not sure what smells worse the mould or the awful stuff you have to use to get rid of it! still its lots better this year since i hung the rug up between the persiana (outside blind), and the window, stops the glass getting too cold and therefor the moisture on the glass is less!

The darkest hour was just before dawn...
The Alchemist

TTFN
Marian

Tom Baxter - Better (Official Video)!!!!

a wonderful track for valentines day

Pico

is'nt she cute... little pico beanie baby from ty, she looks just like pippa.... well enough...
but this isnt why i am here today, today i am feeling a bit tired, all those high sugar products i am now avoiding, i think my body is missing them and just for now its taking its toll...

but just seen this new amazing thing on tv, apart from lil pico above i mean! its a new system just being used by two airlines but all being well they will all be using it, you know the bar code they attach to your suitcase? well its only readable when the case doesnt land on it, a cause for your case possible missing the plane and not you! and why hopefully it does catch up with you....

well the new bar code attachments have a metal readable strip on the inside and can be read however the case ends up, and while in transit the information is always at hand... if you leave your mobile phone with the airline too, when you land a text comes through telling you what conveyor belt your case is on! they hope it will cut down on missing or wrong routed luggage etc... sounds fantastic lets hope it works!

TTFN
Marian

as i was just going through photos here in my picasa album i saw that photo i took of an english milk float back last year on a trip to england... last month as we were leaving the station at harpenden we passed slowly the car park and there was a milk float in one of the car park bays... so whats his day job!

today i went into a new bar in town with friends for a coffee on my way home, its bar ole! i shall take a photo, its on calle san sebastián, on the one way road system out of town, it was very nice and theyre very friendly which makes all the difference.

today the weather is getting cooler, its windy and looks like rain, apparently it rained last evening... missed it, the roof was dry, so maybe it missed us too!

Carry in your memory, for the rest of your life,
the good things that came out of difficulties.
They will serve as proof of your abilities
and give you confidence
when you are faced by other obstacles.
Manual of The Warrior of Light

TTFN
Marian

ok... now where was i?

yesterday franco and i went to cartama estación, a town on the other side of cartama, its market day there on a sunday... and its a big enough market, we got there about 1130 and thought we were going to have trouble parking being so busy, so after a couple of wrong turns and turning back we drove as if going to the market and took a parellel road, and down a side street found a perfect parking place and is was just a short walk under the main road through a narrow tunnel and we were there!

it was very busy and crowded, you would have thought it was a week day! i remember one of the boys mom and i going to a market there during the week a while ago too, which was just as busy. and when we left the traffic was backed up towards the churriana round about and beyond! about a ten to fifteen minute wait by the look of things... and then where were they going to park, so go have a look round the market, but get there early!

its such a shame the market at alhaurín el grande finished, all those people coming into the town, to the bars and restaurants, other shops opening to get trade... a missed oportunity, bit like the trocha market on a sunday too, the shops there should open on a sunday and actually get people into their usually empty shops! now there is no sunday market and everyone looses out.

the photo above is san isidro labrador in cartama estación..

yesterday, as every day when driving our biggest bug bear is people driving or even just on foot not looking left first when pulling out or crossing the street.... whats the problem? in england we were all brought up to look right, look left, look right again! as children it was force fed into us at every turn, at school on the tv (with tufty the rabbit i think!)... here it should be look left first of course i know... but people move their vehicles out or just step of the paths looking right first which is where the traffic on the other side of the road is coming from!!! arh!! and its up to the driver to miss the cars or pedestrians!

Alhaurín de la torre has its own web site now, see link here, and in my links section of course, along with all our other local web address's... our alhaurin el grande
coín and alhora ...

the bottom drawer in our dresser now refuses to open, due to the damp i guess... the other two i have now rubbed with candle wax, any ideas please on a post card as to how to open the other or do we have to wait for summer!

God created the desert so that Man could smile when he saw the palm tree. The Alchemist

TTFN
Marian

Links on the right

Fog

this was the view from our terrace one morning last week...


the world ended on calle nueva... no more guadalhorce valley... nada! a friend down on the coast where i took the photo below was saying some friends were arriving on this day and had to divert to seville, but they couldnt understand why, as there was no fog down there! so now she can understand... just look at it!


above el zolco... the furniture that burnt down, what two years now? mas or menos, they are just doing it now and it looks pretty good from up here, but round at the front still much the same, all the scaffolding still suporting the building above...

friday... i went to have an intolerance test done, to find out exactly what has been causing my rash... it was enlightening to say the least, mostly i dont have too many problems with what i eat, and all my vitamins and minerals were perfecto... but the main cause seems to be the sugar i eat! and i dont mean in sweets only, also the foods i eat, things you would'nt necessarily imagine give you sugar rush when eaten, but think about how those potatoes make alcohol? schnaps.... yes the sugar, and wheat... yes of course, not a wheat intolerance which was my original thought, and no gluten problem, i also have to miss out on fruit and any products containing fruits which turn to sugar every single one.. so its all the sugar my body has been turning into yeast in my lil tummy and causing these problems... so i will do as the man says, follow my six month plan of leaving all the sugary things out, then reintroduce them, but carefully and slowly... not yohurts or of course marmite, which is just pure yeast... the leftovers from the beer makers machinery...

i also have a few things my body just did not want at all, some herbs... my italian grandparents will not be happy hearing this, if theyre looking down at me that is... but rosemary, basil and parsley are to be avoided as much as i can, as is cinnamon! my favorite... i even add that to my lasagne!

and would you believe the thing thats the worst... that my body is saying it really does not want and i have been putting into my mouth, direct access to blood stream in there, and i have been doing it twice a day all of my life, yes thats a long time i know, its mint... in the toothpaste and chewing gum of course, so i going to have to change this slowly over the next few weeks to a non mint product and no more minty gum, although i used to have cinnamon gum too... ahha, no more. now i cant just stop with all of the above things, expecially the mint, it would be like no coffee kick back of headaches you get when stopping suddenly, or coming off a strong drug you have been taking for over 40 years.... so i will be doing the stopping carefully... and i will be letting you know, of course, how i get on with all this, i think the worst thing will be no chocolate for six months.... i have gone for days or even a week without it, but its the not being allowed something that does it for me, i have never been know to do as i am told!

the link below and to the right is for Gerard Kielty i saw on friday for the intolerance test, its not an allergy test, him and his wife are such a lovely couple, so welcoming and made me feel right at home, feeding me too as my stomach started rumbling... really lovely people... the name is Health Scan,.....

lots more to tell you but enough for today... so hasta manaña amigos....

The third indication that our dreams are dead is peace...
The Pilgrimage

TTFN
Marian

this is one of my step dads paintings above and below.... sorry about the angle its on the stairs...


i kind of think the girl centre front here looks a bit like me dont you think? and actually come to think of it that looks like him behind loading up the cart!

·························································································
one of the two houses that were 'pulled' last week is being rebuilt already, no hanging about here! the footings are in, well in spain this means some metal cageing thing, then the up right concrete posts for the lower level were finished on my way into town this morning, and on my return the floor for upstairs was well under way!

its wonderful in the post office... we have the girl who used to be there from last year.... not sure where she went but she is back now and gets the job done so quick, as soon as she see's me, even if i am just through the door and there are ten people infront of me she runs around the back to shout at the guys to get our post out for me! fantastico!

i had a small list of things i forgot on saturday with me yesterday and on my way home i went into cudeca and came out with something, completely forgetting my prospective purchases... so it was sorry pippa no wet dog food, and down the last squeeze of toothpaste till i got them today! now your wondering what i could have got to divert my mind... ok easily done anyway i know, but it was some of those woody plant things to go in a tall vase and they rise about four foot... and have little lights on... so bit like having a christmas tree on all year round....

Love can only be discovered
through the pratice of love.
By the river piedra
I sat down and wept

TTFN
Marian

mas fotos desde fuente vera

above a beautiful up dated cave house in Galera...


near Orce and on the walk around the burial site...

up near where we were staying just a walk down into the valley! just!?! isnt it beautiful... just use your imaginations...



this car was, well probably still is for sale in Galera, what a little stunner eh, done a few kilometers already do you think! this photo looks like it was taken in arizona or mexico to me!


also Galera.... how did they manage to carry things... i guess the good old burro!



yesterday i had a bit of a fire in the kithen! i had dinner was on the go, and iwent up stairs to check on the washing, when i came back down into the house i could smell something horrible, i ran down and one of the oven gloves had fallen off the top of the stove and landed onto the flame!

i picked it up with the tongs and into the sink to put out with water... ugh! second fire i have had now in the kitchen... not including burnt food i hasten to add!! but thats with a gap of over 25 years so not bad eh!

I opened the window and my heart.
The sun flooded my house
and love flooded my soul.
By the river piedra
I sat down and wept

TTFN
Marian

up our street...

got my rash back on my face.... so its back to the brown paper bags again i am afraid! still i am taking some tablets the doctor gave me for the last serious out break i had after our christmas holiday! although on the information about them it says not to take for more than two weeks as the disadvantages out weigh the advantages... but what else can i do, apart i know see someone about an intolerance test.

anyway.... this morning i took myself off to coín and did the weeks shopping at día... must be the cheapest place in spain for groceries, then after filling the tank (car) i washed it! at least i now except the force of water to come out like it does, i remember the first i used it and it sent me flying backwards.... now that would have made a good photo oportunity!

the weather has been lovely this week, just been up on the terrace reading in the sun shine...

started with off well with my spanish lessons, monday tuesday and wednesday, then none since - i didnt get home till nearly 5pm on thursday so was too late and then yesterday, what with these tablets making me so tired i was just.... too tired... do these sound like escuses? they do to me, so i better leave here now and get cracking on todays lesson!

a small bit from the book i am reading...

Da qual tremore insolito
Sento assalir gli spiriti!
Dond' escono quei vortici
Di foco pien d' orror?
Don Giovanni
Mozart

TTFN
Marian