feeling like i am missing out on telling y'all something very important, and each time i sit down to write it goes right out of my head just leaving a slight glimmer... then as i chase it ...it goes altogether!

and now as i write franco is wrestling with the tv up stairs so he can see if the chelsea match is on spanish telly he is moving the freebox and complaining and talking to it... as if 'it' knows which plugs goes where.....!

tomorrow i take some pics of our new park up here which opened the week barry and lex were here... lots going on here tomorrow so hope to get some good photos... last night people were up and about very late, as i lay in bed trying to sleep so luckily they didn't wake me eh because it was about 2 or 3am! i don't suffer with insomnia usually, in fact very rarely and i am more prone to sleeping any time of day or night... not whilst driving i hasten to add, but with fibromyalgia sleep is one thing that does take us over. in the end i came down stairs and made a list of all the things i needed to do today, all done, except pay the water bill.... again! i was so excited about the machine where we can just go in and flash the bar code at it and pay... then today it denied me! so again, it will have to wait and maybe, again we will get a fine as we haven't paid it one time... humph!

i did get to sleep eventually... trouble is more i move about to try to sleep the more aches and pains i get, and, keep franco awake and then pippa kept getting up to see what i was doing... its getting warm for her now, you can always tell she starts to sleep on the cool floor...

i am putting in an order for warm weather in ol' blighty when i get there on friday please... or at least no rain! especially as i am travelling up to nottingham from luton as soon as i get there... then on saturday back down to a friend who lives in rushden, near bedford, looking forward to seeing everyone and my diary is getting full...

oh i remember.... two things the new market on a saturday and the tunnel!!!

firstly the market, or rather car boot sale... its this saturday may 3rd 10am to 2pm, at El Nacimiento, take the road out of alhaurín el grande towards fuengirola, but take a right before the water tower, (the biggish main road i mean, not the first track!) down to the finca la mota bar/restaurant, with this infront of you take a left, el nacimiento is signposted and is down the road after only a couple of minutes on the right, its big so keep going, you wont miss it!

we checked it out today and it looks a nice place, never heard of it before, its closed on mondays but open from 14.40 till 22.30 rest of the week apart from weekends when they open mid day! and i hope they enjoy all this free advertisment! LOL

phew... oh yes the tunnel! theyre building a tunnel which will link the coastal road to churriana/de la torre road, and its been started, when it will be finished i dont know, when tony steph and i were on the bus the other week i saw a lot of road works going up on the right hand side and commented on it! when i am back from england i will see if i can get some photos of the works in progress!

Feelings form part of a world
in which time, space and frontiers do not exist.
Brida

TTFN
Marian

week of the santa vera cruz....

lots of festivities this week, began yesterday with lots of rockets going off and everyone, who has them, having the green cloths hanging from their balcons...


although we were at the S.E.P.E. market yesterday... very hot it was, thank goodness a nice lady loaned us her para sol, or we would have been toast!

franco has been working so hard on these ornaments, and theyre selling well, thank goodness! the one about a grumpy man makes everyone laugh, well mostly the wives... i think 90% of the men said they were grumpy, and i think the other 10% are in denial!

(its me thats grumpy in our house though! and you know i dont care any more, i have accepted it at last, and what a relief!)

The only way to save our dreams
is by being generous with ourselves
The Pilgrimage

TTFN
Marian

i know i have a link to the right here on marianbonelli.blogspot.com, but i am putting a direct one in here to this months warrior of the light online, paulo coelho site about writing...

sometimes when i write i could write all day, words spilling out of my fingers onto the keyboard just keep on and on, other days i think when i start i have nothing to say! as if i ever have nothing to say... often during the day i think of things to write later, then forget, i keep a note pad on me know so i can put down a note.... then i get home and look at what i have written and think what on earth is this!

has a friend who is spanish and when she comes across an english word she doesnt know she writes it down and checks it later, good idea, so i am doing that now too, and writing it is better, as i had been putting the words into my moible phone and just never bothering to check them! one day last week we needed the word for ceiling... 'techo'... i made up a sentence to help me remember it, sono spiacente i miei amici in Italia per questo, but its said in an italian accent... "you techo my ceiling i techo your face"...

franco and i were out hunting down a type of paint and saw techo and knew immediately what it was for!

and as usual the perfect quote...

The warrior knows that in all languages the most
important words are the small words,
Yes. Love. God.
They are words that are easy enough to say,
yet fill vast empty spaces.
Manual of the Warrior of Light

TTFN
Marian

some wonderful works of art in the Buddhist Temple...


there was also an exhibition down stairs which we will go to next time..


its been a beautiful day today... summery and clean smelling if you know what i mean!

yesterday and today on my way down into town in the street near the bread museum has been the biggest stray i have ever seen here in spain! a huge old st bernard! big old bear of a dog, yesterday he was accosting, in a friendly manner a local lady who was only a head above him! she asked me to tell him to go home in english, which seemed weird but i did as i was told 'go home!' and he turned and walked off up the hill!

again today there he was, looking lost and sad with a bit of string hanging from his collar...

we're getting ready for the aqua mania market on friday, franco is making garden ornaments like a crazy person! we have them every where drying or being painted or setting! so many faery doors in every color possible... i hope they have garden faerys here?

The search for something
can prove as interesting as finding it.
Brida

TTFN
Marian
Links and comments on http://marianbonelli.blogspot.com

these are the photos i tried loading yesterday, this is the Buddhist Temple at benalmadena... it opened october 2003 and the gold bit on top... is gold. it is the largest Buddhist monument in the western world.


we have been up to the building a lot of times, but never until this day have we gone in, there are instructions as you walk in the walk in a clock wise direction and your wishes 'may' come true, so off i walked in totally the other direction huh! what was i thinking, when we came out i said to tony and steph about the instructions and tony said yes we read it, then thought why is mom going the other way!!! who knows...


this is only one of the interior photos i took, others to follow...

it is also very near here there was a terrible coach crash last evening, details in link...

There is no such thing as a strange world,
only a new one.
The Alchemist

TTFN
Marian

Links and Comments on http://marianbonelli.blogspot.com

problems with up loading some photos so will skip until later to tomorrow.... its raining today! a little yesterday too on tony and stephs last day on their holidays here with us... but i think all in all they were very lucky, a little on thursday also, but the rest just sunshine and some clouds now and then! poor barry and lex had rain nearly everyday, and lots of it!

yesterday we got the bus to malaga city and had a bit of lunch and a quick run around! a tramp being arrested, or at least removed from the street, we will just say he wasnt fully dressed for the rest of us!

and now theyre all gone... back to nottingham, st albans and aylesbury respectively! nest not empty though... pippa is here!

more bad things to do with dogs.... we were out the other evening down in town, bar rosa to be exact and outside a small boy was standing just kicking a dog that was tied up there... we went in and the owners came out to sort the boy out... owners being his family! god help that dog... and in the paper yesterday 20 bodies, of dogs found thrown away like garbage, but the claws marks show they or at least some of them survived the drop to try to claw theyre way out, up successfully. and finally a man i was talking to in the shop said his neighbor told him not go walk in a direction he was going... as that way is where they hang the dogs they dont want any more.

good quote for today....

Waiting hurts. Forgetting hurts.
But not knowing which decision to take
is the worst of sufferings.
By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

TTFN
Marian

links and comments to http://marianbonelli.blogspot.com

few more photos from the water park down at benalmadina yesterday.... when we were on our way there we came from the direction of torremolinos, as a fair few times before... there is a road going down under the main high street, its always been there and like the one in fuengirola, but unlike the one there that leads to the car park, this one leads to the marina! only this was the first time we have ever taken it! usually we drive up to the round about and then take the exit down to the sea, or even, go past it and take c/goya which comes out directly in front of the car park areas... i am such a person of habit, it sometimes is worthwhile trying something different!


i am really trying to not have such wobbley photos...



today, as i finished late, tony and steph met me from work and we went just to la trocha where they were finishing at the market today! is it wednesday again?

Never cease doubting
When the doubts stop
it is because you have stopped journeying
Brida

TTFN
Marian

yesterday we went down to marbella, and then to puerta banus.... then popped into coín for a few groceries... above is a guy up a palm tree trimming the lower branches, was clever how he uses the metal feet things to lever himself up and down the tree, also held on by a waist belt thing!


here above is señor banus. a shot from behind of him looking towards to harbour....



today we went to ikea first for lunch of meatballs etc etc... dime cake to follow... mmmm nice! we then drove down to the beach entering the paseo at the very beginning of torremolinos, we did a drive through there then went to, and parked at the marina in benalmadina... we went to the sea life centre, lots more photos tomorrow.... on the way home we stopped in mijas pueblo for pancakes and ice cream! i am so eating everything i hadnt been eating over the past two months, but not MSG! we, the four of us also came down to mijas last night and we had a lovely dinner at our favorite restaurant...

last week went so fast with barry here, and now this week with tony.... poor baz had the worst weather, its been ok so far this week, was full sun till today and now a bit of cloud, but its still 25 degrees, cloud again tomorrow and then rain is forecast... lots of people have friends and family over this month? it always rains in april! why do we always forget this?

i think i am forgetting lots to tell you this week, going to so many places and seeing so many things, i may remember next week, or then again....

Death does not allow us to postpone all the things we can expericence now
The Pilgrimage

TTFN
Marian

today we went to el chorro and the lakes at ardales, first we went to the lakes, tony drove which is great, although we're not used to going that fast in our old car.... had a walk around and a bite to eat, then we drove to el chorro walked first towards the famous bridge above, as i have said i know many times before.... the one where frank sinatra died in von ryans express.... the guard was there to stop anyone going over, as we used to of course...


now they have made a fence and an area leading up and above to get an even better view, and i suppose to draw people away from the tracks, i went up as far as they have made it so far, in the most inappropriate shoes, typical! below the view from up there, the river dry and silt filled to the right and the road we came along on the left...


as we came down we couldnt believe what someone had done.... if you have been up here or get to go, the walk up to where we were is rough to say the least, its for foot travellers only, and those in good shoes even better, there is no side to road and a big big drop down into the resovoir below...

well look... a silly person, have to be careful here.... had driven up and was doing a ten point turn to face back down, was getting out of the car and going to walk from there... unbeliveable!! had to take this photo... and only two seconds later a guard was driving up in a big vehicle to tell them to sort themselves out and get outta there!


well barry and his girl friend left saturday morning bright and early from malaga airport, and the sun was out! first time really in the whole week they were here, and been lovely again today, maybe bit of cloud during this week too for tony and steph...

after i got home yesterday morning we went to ronda, tony drove.... we went the inland way there, and came home via san pedro and then la cañada shopping centre... yes twice in one week for me!!!

TTFN
Marian

Links and Comments

April showers....

well barry didnt want it to be too warm... well it hasnt been that for sure!

rain rain rain... although today we had lots of breaks of sunshine too, at last! this morning on our way to town, franco drove me in to save me drowning! the crack of thunder and lightening right over head was amazingly loud!

our tarp on the roof was threatening to fly off over town again this afternoon, and a few plants went walk about! barry lex and i went for a walk during a sunny spell, we went as far as the old cork mill and the wind was so strong it was hard to walk... it blew off my sun glasses.... and this evening i have hung up some washing... some under cover but the rest will have to spend the night out in the open... thats if it manages to hold on tight!

yesterday we went to mijas... but didnt stay long the rain was too heavy and you couldnt see the view for the clouds even on the way down to the pueblo, we went on to la cañada instead for some dry under cover shopping! was a long way to go via mijas though.... and in the evening we ate up the crazy cod on blas infante, wonderful food up there...

tuesday we went down to the car windscreen place at miramar parque, we needed... well a new windscreen... en español 'parabrisa'... as in 'for breeze'.... the four of us left the dry workshop and ran along to miramar shopping centre, soaked by the time we got there! had some pizza and a bit of a walk about then franco and i went to get the car, was pointless all of us getting soaked all over again! although we did just getting from out car to the house... there was a small stream running down the road we couldnt avoid!

tomorrow tony and steph arrive... both my boys in the house....

The warrior of light only risks his heart
for something worthwhile.
Manual of the Warrior of light

TTFN
Marian

look how rude, bra and panties hanging from the tree! but seemed as good a place as any, although the pink tag there looks a bit strange and misleading from here.... ooops!


this was bits of our stall on sunday down at tivoli world, was a beautiful day, warm sunny and very nice, didnt do much in the way of trade, sold a few bits, not quite enough to clear the days debts though! we had got up at 630am, left as usual for this place at 730, then we had to wait for nearly 3/4 hour at the gate before they let us in!


and at the end it was awful trying to get out, with the crowds of people walking about!

barry and lex are having a good holiday, although the weather today has changed, they met me in town and we went down to miramar, while we were in there the weather turned and it was pouring when we left, we also left the bad weather behind on the coast and managed to get home safely enough, then about 2hrs ago the heavens opened and down came the rain up here, also the power went out! but only for a short while...

lex hadnt been here before and on the way back from the airport we passed through a rather 'quaint' area, shacks and buildings with no roofs, or walls! and i said here we are! just joking....! yes well i suppose you had to of been there!

poor pippa has hurt her dew claw, i think she has rushed up to the railings, as she does, and her claw went past and through the railing and pushed it back! arh my poor baby, its not bothering her, but i think it needs sorting out soon.


Eat when it is time to eat.
And walk when it is time to walk.
The Alchemist

TTFN
Marian

above the gardens on the avenida de la libertad...

barry is over this evening, cant wait to see him, he was last over in september, which was the last time i saw him as i didnt get to visit him in october or january on my last two visits... so the house is sparkling, a chicken has been cooked, he is arriving quite late, but just in case there will be food waiting...

franco is back from the boot sale now, not very busy there today, in fact everyone was feeling the pinch there today! so wish us luck for tivoli world on sunday.... hope the kids come with us, if there is room in the car?

more info on english plated cars... its now illegal, classed as stolen car, if your a spanish resident, been in spain more than three months means this, and driving a uk car that has not been imported or is in the process of being matriculated, you will loose your car and get a fine for not matriculating it within the three months time limit, (you couldnt if you bought the uk plated car here of course!) also expect a bill for import duty and more duty because you never owned it for six months in the country of registration! so in other words, dont buy an english plated car out here, its illegal to buy and illegal to sell i suppose!

The devil is in the detail.
Brida

TTFN
Marian

yesterday after i left the shop we went down to fuengirola for a little walk about, to see whats what!

above is a panaderia in avenida de mijas, used to be a small bread shop just four tables infront of the counter, then one day i was going in and realised they had bought and opened up the shop next door so now they have a huge eating area, with all those wonderful cakes and pastries and the smell of coffee.... mmmm, lovely! view from our table is above!

we walked though from the euromarket car park, and into the town, long way and so evening i had a bad head ache, i think from the walking.

we need to do extra well at the boot sale on friday now, we also have to add new brakes bits to what needs doing, franco is going to fit them tomorrow....! no no it will be fine... ;-)

now we havent been watching any of the english soaps since tony was here last april... we really havent, but its a big week on eastenders this week with ricky and bianca coming back, and the funeral of frank butcher... last night as that was going on i realised its april 1st and it was april 1st last year that i actually saw the actor who played frank butcher down at the el chapperal golf club, he was interested in the interview i was having! never could guess mike read would be gone a year later... so many famous people in the last month from tv and moves and authors!

The simplest things are the most extraordinary,
and only the wise can see them.
The Alchemist

TTFN
Marian