Another bomb blast this time in Majorca, and the day after Burgos in northern Spain...

now we are definitely expecting more, remember last year when i was working in Torremolinos and bombs then... i think it may be more of a case of where? rather than when?

sad sad news too of Bobby Robson... my thoughts are with his family friends and many many fans around the world...

nearer to home, well actually in the house we have the yearly ant problem! i have caught a couple of scout ants, you know the ones... sent out to find food and to return to the others to tell em where to come and get it! so they have lost those few, but when i opened another cupboard yesterday there was a whole pack of them running wild in there... who i am sorry to say will not be returning heros either! they are the tiny ones that nip and hurt!

i forgot to say on Wednesday evening i had a call from some friends who were having a drink at the bar near here at Plaza Alta, they said come and join us? i declined to start, then thought, heck not seen them for seven months, could be seven months more before i see them again, so off i went, Franco didn't want to come, just put an order in for some ciggies from the kiosk there! i had to change from a top i had to something clean.. and dry!?! and was difficult trying to get in on so rapidly!

so a small cerveza and an hour later the man in the kiosk was shutting shop i ran over to get Francos L&M rapidamente! phew! and then i was home again, only out from dusk till dark!

near the bar a group of lads who i think had just been playing in the band practice were shouting at every passing girl, in cars or foot, with them yelling back at them to shut up! then they bot bored and starting placing things on the road so the next car would have to either negotiate around said article or drive over it, sometimes taking the thing caught up front!

then a scooter came past driving at a good speed, maybe 30 or so i think and the rear passenger was holding on to something! you wouldn't believe what! a guy on a bicycle! hands out stretched from one to the other!!!!

hopefully hear from Mom this evening when she is home... no news yet as to what time....

Love is an act of endless forgiveness.

PETER USTINOV

TTFN

Marian

above 7 prickly pears! i purchased these from a man in the street this morning...they were in a bucket on the ground already free of their itchly prickly hairs that you cannot get rid of... Franco and Tony!?! he topped and tailed them, sliced down one side and peeled back the skin for me to remove into a bag he had given me... i gave him a euro and off i went! dont let the look of these put you off! they are lovely cool from the refrigerator... lots of seeds in them a bit like a pomegranate but lots less troublesome to eat! real juicy and naturally sweet... uuum think i will have another one in a minute!


above Winchester Cathedral...

and Mom... just spoke with her and she is having a blood transfusion at noon, another radiation therapy tomorrow morning, then hopes to be home for the weekend, she has another treatment on Monday morning and then that's it! just the three... so fantastic! the scans showed how much the last chemos had done, and now hopefully this blast of radiation will eradicate what's left!

all is looking good now for Moms trip over here in September, no long jaunts while she is here, just our normal haunts i think, and lots of R&R.

its a good friend of mines birthday to day! buon compleanno ed auguri Pia! she was born 13 days later than me on the other side of the country... probably about 3000 miles mas o menos!

she moved to Italy where her parents came from and married her childhood sweetheart... me (well you know the story!) and we were both following Paulo Coelho's camino and became friends! Have a great day amiga!


Don't let people drive you crazy when you know it's in walking distance
anon

TTFN
Marian

if i am coming through on your RSS feeds your will be proper fed up with me today...

....... news update on Mom......

i have just phoned her and got to speak to her at last today! she sounded great! considering she has just finished her first radiation therapy! that was a surprise i wasn't expecting that! she has to have a blood transfusion, no infusion i mean, she is very very tired and they say this will help considerable.

she may be having the therapy again friday and then monday, but isn't sure if she can come home in between she says the ward is so busy....

ok i done for today.... you think?
TTFN
Marian

up date on Mom, she is being moved to Mount Vernon this afternoon so will be in the best of hands for her up coming treatment, that should start over next couple of days hopefully...

above pic one i took when Mom and i were at Winchester this March... i said to her the other day we missed visiting the grave of St Swithun, although on reading this attached link, a bit gory! he was split over various places... seems his head is in Canterbury! his arm....well so on and so forth! and i guess also we must have passed him by... sorry!

last evening my Mom phoned me to say she was having problem again, the tablets not working any more.... she was worried about calling an ambulance which would only take her to Watford General, problem being they said if the problem returned to go to Mount Vernon, but that's not open to incomers during the night or evening, so she called me back later and after speaking to a doctor there, she had to phone the medics who have i presume! taken her to Watford, was about 11.15pm here when i last spoke to her and will call the ward she was in before in an hours time to check she is there all right, and then i presume will move her to Mount Vernon.

i didn't get to blog yesterday, turn on the computer or really do much of anything. i forced myself to go into town, without a bag of stuff for Cudeca, tried a pack on my back with some books and vids, but was a no go! i went to the dog rescue shop to see friends, and then straight back home again, without stopping anywhere.

think this weather has got to me, not sleeping well at night which means lots of moving about, which in turn means lots of pain the following day, and maybe the fan over the bed going all night isn't helping me either, well it is in the sense of giving us a bit of air... but the constant breeze has given me ear ache and head ache for a week now, after i walked Pippa yesterday morning i came home and flaked out for another hour, and then home from town, was out again for another few hours... i planned a lay in till 7.30am this morning... but the guy doing all the drilling from before 7am didn't help at all! and then when Pippa and i came out of the house and i saw where he was drilling it meant we couldn't walk where we usually do and had to go up an impossible steep hill to get to the park... hey ho!

we all cant believe how hot it is, and its not our hottest month yet, here's to August! help!?! no one is moving very fast and the streets and shops seem so empty, or maybe i am just in town so early to avoid the heat? you only have to open a can of soda, or lift a lid on a pan and you come out in a sweat! you shower and need to shower again! its the time of the year you have to remember to drink all that water that your losing at every turn, lots of people are coughing including me, either the heat, dust or well was going to say humidity, and checked out my weather thingy on my gmail page, but it says 86% humidity and rain for today!?! which in turn has made me have to get up to check out the sky! which is a clear white blue, the color of heat and not a cloud in the sky? but well if it does rain despite the rain being filthy brown at this time of the year when none has fallen for ages i will run, well walk up onto the roof and open my arms to the skys!

Tony just said what's happened to the summer as promised in England, what was it? the hottest forecast for decades? and i said well that because i am going to be there, and throughout June is wasn't to bad... then i came home and it all went pear shaped! ooops sorry!

and for now, i am done in... and in need of coffee, again!

TTFN
Marian

Mom's appointment isn't until this afternoon, so no update yet, apart from her sounding great on the phone... well i think she is making out great, but she sounds tired and worried to me...

this morning i sorted out some more of the things down here for Cudeca, at the last minute doubled up the books and piled them into a bigger stronger bag, shame i wasn't stronger too! had trouble carrying them, and the handles broke on the big strong bag! already hot day and only just managed to get there! the last bit is up a steep hill... those bins at the bottom of the road also looked an ideal place to leave the heavy bag! and after sit down and a glass of water... not sure what happened there, no strength and heart pounding... back down the road again!

had a quick coffee in a bar and then i had purchases to make! one of which was some bacon, and in the store she picked up the lump of bacon and sliced it for me, i noticed as she picked it up all the green mould on the bottom! she cut that bit off and threw it away... now i have to not think about it when i cook it this even with liver and onions and fluffy mash potatoes! i know its a dinner more for the winter, i guess, but i really do just fancy it, so that's what we're having! mould or no mould! ugh!!!

guessing now none of you will be turning up to share this wondrous dinner this evening? should i tell Franco? yes i think so!

coming up the road from town at junction to car park, a car was coming down the street quite fast the front seat passenger a mother with baby on her lap, 2 or 3 years old and no seat belt, they had to pull up quite abruptly when a car came down from the car park driven by a woman on mobile phone! rest my case!

couple of other things on my list this morning were of course the new clothes line and pegs... not sure what happens to pegs? there must be a whole load of them somewhere, they must grow wings and just fly off!!!

so up onto the terrace i knew i had to be quick or i would be cooking on gas up there, or at least feel like i was on a rotisserie... well maybe not a rotisserie exactly, don't want to be skewered on a spit! but you know what i mean, too hot to be up there turning around and around... and that's what happened, i undid the packet and the miles and miles or plastic coated wire just went crazy! became knotted all by itself and was a nightmare, with me pulling and untangling the blooming thing! not helped by the fact that the quicker i pulled the more i burnt my fingers with the friction! it was already 35 in the shade and goodness knows what where i was standing, all of a sudden the missing line seemed a good idea... had seemed strange just over last evening and this morning it NOT being there! it stretches all the way across the terrace and so for over four years you always duck under it, when the lines are new you duck a little less of course! they stretch soon enough though!

but its up now, burnt fingers and itchy skin from taking off the last knots from the old line... made of a ropey stuff and really horrible and scratchy, like fibreglass! and washing is on the lines, well above head height for now! i haven't used this type of line actually, so lets hope it last longer than the ropey stuff.

then for some reason after all that in town, then the washing line i decided to move things around in our bedroom again! so now the tv is somewhere else in the room, see if and when Franco notices!?!

i must include this article that came to me today, all about bacon! well worth reading, and in spite or is it despite? made me want bacon all the more!

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.

MARCUS ANTONINUS

TTFN
Marian

firstly Mom... she has made her escape from hospital, although she said how great it was, food and all that! she is glad to be home and her own routine which does not include getting up at 6am! tomorrow the MRI and CT scans... i have organised her shopping to be delivered today, thank you Tesco for looking after my Mom's needs on that! she is having her hair done tomorrow morning, prior to hospital visit, she missed her appointment with her home hairdresser the day she went into hospital, a week ago.

and here... a bit cooler today, so far, only now saying that looks like the sun is burning its way through the haze over our town and valley!

washing line broke this morning, was down to two lines out of three, bit of an indicator there that the two next lines would be as near to breaking point as the first, we go through about 2 or 3 a year up on our hot terrace! and as i don't listen to obvious hanging a towel took the second line down, moved it onto the remaining one already holding white blouse and dress etc, all white... having spent an hour and half in kitchen sink with whitener... you can guess what happened next! so whites back in the wash and towel! Franco's jeans etc are just hanging around on the backs of chairs up there now!

i am still sorting through 'stuff', not sure what's got into me! took some books and clothes i hadn't worn for years, but still in great condition down to the local Cudeca store... will take me a few weeks to get all these books and videos down there!

today i pulled out all of Franco's things from his cupboards and wardrobe... sort these please? he has, some to bins, some to Cudeca and the rest i have put away again! sorted!!!

when i can get some new/other boxes i am going to go through my memorabilia boxes again...i have too much stuff in them and maybe i can thin them out some more, i know most of whats in there is just rubbish to everyone else but me and if they were gone i would survive!

i put out a ladder in the street this morning, an old wooden one, just hoping someone walks off with it before i end up bringing it back in again!

yesterday i got a very nice couple of plants courtesy of a neighbour up the road, don't know why but i just happened to be looking out of the window and saw her put a huge rubbish bag and two plants down beside it... i didn't know what to do!!! i ran and got some shoes, hung about a bit with the door open looking first one way then the other, not a noise or person in sight... so i tore up the street, grabbed the plants and back in the house! like some thief! but she had put them out for the rubbish and i couldn't bear to see them just thrown away... or someone else take them of course!

they are two good plants, will have to check out what they are though, and where to put them, indoors or outdoors! they are both together in the back lobby just now, along with a whole load of rubbish of course... which we will put out later, in the night... in the dark!

To sit alone in the lamplight with a book spread out before you, and hold intimate converse with men of unseen generations—such is a pleasure beyond compare.

KENKO YOSHIDA

TTFN

Marian

yes men and boys with guns, well rifles i think they are? along our little street of little streets! nothing different there then... lots of men with guns on the streets of Spain, at roundabouts, down walking the towns in uniforms and on the many road blocks...

these ones today though have been practising in the plaza behind the house, part of the routine is throwing the guns in the air and banging them on the ground, looks good during the parades...

and this morning i worked up a real sweat in the cave, was cooler in there that outside but it was pouring off me! loverly eh! will have to take a photo maybe later... of the cave! looks soooo much better now, all of the car boot sale stuff and all the rubbish gone from the cave! and is now either in the back lobby, dining room or living room! yes well, more chance of it moving on and out of the house altogether from these rooms!

some of the boot sale stuff has moved into the house, not much though, one of those clothes things that gather off the fluff from clothes, a couple of fans... one very much is use already, my old one had fallen to pieces only the other day from too much waving around!

been busy keeping myself busy worrying about Mom's scans today, no point in calling her till this evening, and then no news of results until Monday. which now seems like an eternity away...

Mom always lights a candle for me when i am doing something she thinks necessitates an extra good wish... and i have been burning a candle for her too, since 9am and will keep one burning till i speak to her later...

above photo came courtesy of http://ruralphotography.blogspot.com/ some great works on here for you to check out.

i have just read today's Gratitude Day 33 and think i will add a part of it here...

Through the words of another time, the ancients invited
us to embrace our lost mode of prayer as a
consciousness that we become, rather than a
prescribed form of action that we perform upon
occasion. In words that are as simple as they are elegant,
we are reminded to be "surrounded" by the answer to our
prayers and "enveloped" by the conditions that we choose
to experience. In the modern idiom, this description
suggests to us that to effect change in our world, we are
invited to first have the feelings of the change
having happened.

~ Gregg Braden


TTFN
Marian

today a sprinkling of the Arab Bath in Ronda... i have blogged them before but here they are again, i am sure they haven't changed much since i took these photos as they have remained in such a fantastic condition since the 17th centure when last used!

oh heck that Jeremy Kyle program is bringing me to tears... again! mom's or dad's meeting kids not seen for decades! always does it for me!

i can just see it now, through those pearly gates... if i'm lucky! and there will be old Jeremy and standing beside him my Dad and he will say Marian... your Dad who you have not seen for 90 or so years!!!! my Dad who will have been waiting there, by those pearly gates... if he was lucky! waiting for 80 years! in an old rickety chair... will get up and come over and give me a hug! then Graham from the show will totter over and say, you have lots of catching up to do! don't rush things and just take your time with getting to know each other all over again... and time we will have...

well i guess you tell the type of mood i am in today! latest news on Mom is she is having a couple of scans tomorrow at Mount Vernon, she thinks MRI and so maybe CT also, Mom's was saying about coming home Saturday then going to get the results on Monday, but i am not sure if that's the plan the Watford General has, or just Mom's wishful thinking!

i think i forgot to mention when i was in friends dog rescue shop on Tuesday first a woman came in to put up a poster of her missing Red Setter dog, they are from de la Torre, and had a phone call from our area and Coín saying there was a sighting of a red setter, not a common dog to see here, so you know them when you see them.... the dog had got spooked by fireworks (again) and got out of the garden and just bolted... my greatest fear with Pippa she would be lost and gone so far in such a quick time...

then a guy came in with a stray... the dog had a collar, but no chip (illegal), a cute little dog, a pup, but big feet to grow into! he had asked around where he lives in the campo and cannot keep the dog at home, already has one, and the trouble is if you take in one stray you can end up like lots of people here with 5 or 6 or a dozen!

i went into town early as usual today, got another couple of Euro direct phone cards to call Mom's mobile number by her bed, in fact that tobacconist has now run out of them, will have to start on the tabac near here!

i had stayed in the relative cool of the house yesterday afternoon and heard a fire plane go overhead about 6pm so shot up onto the terrace to see what was happening and the heat when it hit was awful! it was 42° in the shade! and its supposed to reach 45° this afternoon here, again in the shade! at least now on GMTV thats what they say now! we have always got on our soap boxes about that, it says 26/36 etc etc whatever and we are like "no thats not right"!!!

just made a list of all the things i need to do, necessary for boxes first, will have to go out later and hunt some down, have paperwork to sort out, the cave! clothes i really have not worn for years, since i have been here even! every summer i get them out and in the winter away they go again with only having hung in the wardrobe! Franco always says but you have so many clothes, yes true i do, but stuff i never wear and truth to tell wont ever wear....

and before i go courtesy of Paulo Coelho and The Warrior of the Light Online... below is the first paragraph of this months issue.... please link above to read the remainder... and enjoy as i do....

	The Four Forces
	Father Alan Jones says that building our soul requires Four Invisible Forces, namely love, death, power and time. It is necessary to love because we are loved by God. It is necessary to be conscious of death in order to understand life better. One has to fight in order to grow - but without falling into the trap of the power that we obtain in doing so, because we know that such power is worth nothing. And lastly, it is necessary to accept that our soul – although eternal – is at this moment caught in the web of time, with all its opportunities and limitations.

and also thanks to Paulo todays quote, which for me is perfect for today!

If you are really down, stop digging!

TTFN
Marian

photo... random, thank you for the borrow!

heck cant believe it! the heat... i went upstairs onto the terrace as i heard a fire plane go overhead, i had the back door open with the persiana down most of the way, and as soon as i started up the stairs the heat just hit me! i carried on to the end to see what was what... couldn't see a fire although the whole of the valley and mountains are covered in dense cloud or heat! its all white out there! i checked the temperature which is in the shade and its 42°.... no point putting it in the sun it only goes up to 52° and its a helluva lot hotter up there than that!

remember my tomato plants... well in this heat was definitely the wrong time to plant out seeds when i did, but one lonely little chap was making the effort, saw the little green stem and leaves a couple of inches up this morning! i cheered! and so did Pippa later when she dug it up! only that tub, not the empty one! what a little doll isn't she!!!

had coffee with friends and neighbours this morning, looks like both couples are on the move... what is this mass exodus that's going on in Spain just now?

the economy really will take a nose dive here if everyone of us expats up and leave... not necessarily back to the UK going by my friends plans though!

Mom sounded good today, really please with some books Tony and Kate took in for her last night, and lots of magazines let by departing patients... more that is!

i sorted out a bunch of stuff this afternoon, time for a bit of a clean out me thinks, this week i think i will make a move into the cave and see what's in there! lots of car boot sale stuff that isn't moving anywhere very fast and taking up too much room, its nice and cool in there so ideal for sorting out treasures!

Of the many strange roads we love to roam, the road we love best is the road to home...

TTFN
Marian

above photo i took in Fuengirola a couple of years ago... such a typical pic of the sardinas eh! could eat a whole bunch of them just now with some bread con alioli (garlic mayonnaise), and a good glass of Rioja... ummm, actually really could do with the Rioja anyway...

worrying about my Mom big time, she is going to have an MRI in a couple of days, so still in hospital until then at least, she had a check up this morning and they have found something else that shouldn't be there shall i say.

she will be going to Mount Vernon for that then brought straight back to Watford Gen.

its good she has a phone by the side of the bed so we can speak a couple of times a day.

Mom sounds very positive, as usual, and full of things to tell of whats going on in the ward and the other patients coming and going....

i wasn't going to go back out again this morning, after Pippa's walk that was it for me today, but needed another couple of phone cards, so went to the tobacconists, she looked at me strangely asking for two, as i had only been in the day before! then as i was that far i went to see friends in the dog resue shop all the way further up c/Gerald Brennan... one of which is now also thinking of 'going home', i think the mistake is that people still call where they come from home! i have always called here, españa home, even before i actually moved out here!

well except when i am talking about the states where i was born, then of course thats home too! and then where my Mom and boys are too i!!! oh now i am confused!

but in general conversation people say this and that blah blah... home, meaning the uk, even though they live here and it can get very confusing as to where they mean...

and at this point in this pointless ramblings of mine dinner is ready, and no, no sardinas para mi!

so hasta luengo amigos, mañana

TTFN
Marian

well all quiet this week so far... dinner half ready for return of Franco, he is using new road (track) and bit worrying as to if he will make it home! at least its light and dry! did you check out the video i took the other day... my YouTube in MaCarmela77, i think you can check it out that way, just go to YouTube and put in my name and there are all the most weird videos i have ever done! uuuummmm! not sure if you can see the videos i have checked out from 'outside' so to speak, just listening to a few of the music ones while i am writing and feel what an eclectic bunch they are!

Mom is doing ok in hospital, if you can do ok! when we spoke earlier she said it was like a bit of a holiday! the food is great! the staff all lovely! making friends of the other 'visiting in mates'! (my words there!) all the facilities are great! she only asked for a few things for Tony to bring, a small red cross package of toiletries though only...

early trip into town this morning under a bit of cloud, not rain, just heat! few things to do and get, another euro direct card... Moms phone in the hospital is a mobile type thing, wasn't working properly yesterday.... turns out it was Mom, bless her!

TTFN
Marian

ok amigos, been away a few days, not from home but from me i think! my birthday has come and gone of course, not as bad as i thought, once again, age isn't the problem, but the where was it, and now it doesn't matter, cant change what's gone before, just move on with it...

firstly Mom is back in hospital, we discussed how she is doing last evening, and one of the annoying symptoms, problems, is carrying on now for too long, i said to her to phone a doctor and ask more questions or if persists she has to do more, find out now what's going on really, 'they' seem to have just left my Mom in limbo, or at least that's how we feel.

so anyway, Mom called me back a bit later and said she felt it was getting worse and called the medics, and they were on her way to taking her to hospital, that was last night, Tony will be my link as to what's happening, and still at the moment we haven't heard anything, feel so isolated, i don't even know what hospital she is in!

so amigos i am calling in prayers for my Mom again please.... keep them coming, much appreciated, thank you.

ok and to catch up with stuff!

Best bit was my birthday cards! the boys cards came on my birthday! so often they arrive the day after... or later still! couldn't believe it! of course i didn't know they had come until the evening when we got home, but made me so happy!

above is the view i had first thing on July 17th! this is from the cafe with Franco in Ikea, Malaga, while we awaited friends arrival!

we spent a fair part of the morning walking around, had another coffee when they arrived, and lunch later, of course i had the Swedish meatballs... always do!

when friends left Franco and i went to the Toys 'Я' Us, so small! not like the one in Luton, but then, maybe they were not sure how a shop like this out in an industrial estate would take off?

we went from there to the Miramar complex in Fuengirola... phew, you can imagine how tired i was by now....

now you may wonder at the reason for all these visits to toy shops? or not of course! but it was Franco's gift to me!!!! he bought me another 'item' also celebrating her 50th birthday! and i now have a very pretty commemorative lots of gold embellishments (very Marbella!) Barbie doll!?!

i have neither opened the box, or checked out other items of clothing she is wearing... us girls will know what i mean, and probably men too!

we got at nearly 5pm! out all day, couldn't believe where the time went!

we had a bit of a rest, and lots of calls! spoke to Barry and Tony with Kate on Skype, my mate i stayed with in England, Janette called, and Mom at the same time!
then it was all changed and showered and off out again!


in the evening Franco and i went to the Higuera, the fig tree in English! last there with Kate and Tony when they were over, sat at the same table too! we were the only people in there for some time, then a table of six Brits came in, followed by another family of Brits, a 4, then two local couples... so by the time we left, nearly 11pm the restaurant was quite full, the tables nearer the bar were all packed, just couldn't see those!



now above looks a bit gloomy doesn't it? its also a river bed we were driving up!

we drove down to Calahonda yesterday morning by way of a track! which came out onto a.. at the moment... dried river bed!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuNX1ZzXdHo

copy and paste this link above into the address bar to watch the video....! we left the almost road near the garden centre and came out as i say above!

what a bone crunching trip! it takes you along a ridge, sound quality not good due to the road surface, although i say road surface in the loosest sense of the word, but at one point on an especially bad bit i say "if we go over the edge with the camera going, it will be like a black box recorder"!!!

we came home a different way, the one Mom and i tried once before, but took us well over an hour due to the fact it had been raining and the road surface was worse back 6 years ago!

i went down with Franco yesterday morning to where he is working with a friend, getting a neighbours house in order for them to rent out, big house sleeps six!

anyway i was polishing the furniture in the lounge, a big dining table with six large high back chairs, a large coffee table and the tv cupboard thing! its all that African hard wood and he wanted it done proper! none of that spray stuff!?! it was bees wax on, electric buffer off, then lots and lots more of cloth rubbing! but came up good, and looked a job well done! i had a pinny on, actually thats not the right word is it? its an apron, just like my step dad wore when he was in his workshop, only his was completely covered in polish, paint, stainers and goodness knows what! mine began pristine white and ended up with brown bees wax hand prints all over!

we did stop for a nice lunch down at La Cala, and were home about 5pm again i think, late anyway, and i was so tired, could hardly keep my eyes open.

on the news today lots of talk about people travelling abroad from the UK and if they catch swine flu as in China, the school children being quarintines there! and that they may ban travel abroad! well with Mexico it was a no go country and they hadn't at the time had any deaths, and its much worse in the UK now.

swine flu - symptoms of which are a high temperature as well as two or more of a list including headache, sore throat, runny nose and aching muscles.

when i was in England and staying with friends her husband came home one day with above symptoms which i prompty caught, i hadn't had a cold for years really, not like this one, and now looking back i am wondering if thats what we had!

and on that note...

TTFN
Marian

Hello!

lots of links today!

probably because i cannot hardly move today! was a great day out yesterday, but for me, too long a day, too much walking... i don't know why but somewhere inside i believe i can walk forever and carry on as normal, whatever normal is!

i might get frustrated at people not realising i have FM, but if even i still after 20 blooming years cant realise i have it then there really is no hope is there! ;-)

so last night i was shattered with a capitol 'K'! i had just enough something left to get photos up loaded and two short videos on YouTube! and then i was gone! i know what a net head! i am officially addicted to this www...

today i thought i might not even be able to get out of bed, till i told myself i wasn't going to start that malarkey! walked Pippa... road up into car park all dug up and so had to take the steep option, wont be doing that again, alright later on in the day, but first thing was nearly impossible, had to stop half way up! out of breath and out of energy!

Pippa missed a lovely little black cat in the park, we walked around it twice! was so cute!

not so cute were these three cats yesterday in Gib! the two on the left and the other? look behind the wire fence there to the left of the white tub.... and that poor bird, not sure if it was after the food or would end up food for the cats! i think it was a young sea gull, massive great thing and i think its wing was badly damaged...


poor thing... we stayed for a while, but none of them moved, not sure who was more scared, the poor bird? the wiry mangy hungry cats... or us of the situation being played out!!!



here of course the rock of Gibraltar! took this on our way out! so there in the foreground is the passport control... we had to get off the coach with all the goods! and walk through then re board!

couldn't believe some people.... bread rolls? toilet rolls? vegetables??? hello!!!! this morning i got from our local veggie shop... 6 bananas, 4 green peppers (long kind), 1 enormous red pepper, 2 courgettes, 4 giant plums... think that was it, for 3 euros 75 cents! who would buy veggies that come via the UK?

on the other hand we had lunch outside a bar yesterday, sat in the shade thank goodness, an omelette for me with salad and fries! two ham and cheese toasties both came with salad and a plate of chips to share, four cold sodas... 18£ not bad, until we realised we were paying euros... 26 of them! just used the xe.com converter which is very good, and 18 pounds = 20.95 in euros! not 26! what a con!!! definitely pays (no pun intended!).... to pay in pounds in Gib if you can!

when we were pulling in the coach park behind the supermarket there we drove along the road running parallel to the sea and the harbour and this magnificent cruise liner was there... Ventura... i walked back down later before we got on the coach to take photos... but it had gone... so this is a link instead! quite fancy a cruise just now, putting my feet up and letting the world pass by instead of me passing it!

also another link i meant to do yesterday came to me via Twitter... or have i already done it? something that happened back in California the week i was born... ooops, giving the game away here then am i not!!! but worth reading...as i think Nuclear Meltdowns are worth a mention! and we were living within the danger zone, therefore breathing in these obnoxious fumes for the first few weeks of my life! lovely!

finally, yesterday was great also there were about 80 to 100 Alhaurínos on the coach yesterday, was nice at turns to see a familiar face!

TTFN
Marian

well todays trip to Gibraltar homewards journey was more than we expected! there was, and very probably still is a fire burning above Marbella, this phone above though is the second fire we saw burning in the area of Monda/Guaro/behind Coín! we can see this one from the terrace.

above city of Coin with the fires burning beyond...


this one above is Marbella...

above and below, the Marbella fire, the plane is dropping a chemical which puts out the flames better than water...

zoomed in shop below....


lots more to tell but absolutely shattered... so mañana amigos for now...

the two videos i took firstly the Marbella one...

sorry not sure why but you will have to copy and paste into the address bar for these?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFauoE-JtSM

and the second fire....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaHOcZnlKa0

TTFN
Marian

Sorry about the quality of these photos... it was 7am this morning! feeling like secret squirrel trying to use my camera and not be seen doing so!


above one of our smaller streets in Alhaurín el Grande, yes its a street! goes by the name of Burgos don't you know! and yes you can get the car down and out of this little exist onto the main road!

these two pics, above and below are off the park which holds the out door gym equipment, i do sometimes use two of the pieces, although bit difficult with Pippa attached to one arm and keys and stuff in the other!

actually this one below shows the slide and swing which was ruined by graffiti almost immediately.

below is a new street in town, new street, new houses! not yet lived in or open... looks spooky no? here is the exit back onto that main road again....

and here from the park area is the entrance into the road!


have a feeling i may not be the happy sunshine person i normally am! ;-) 'This Morning' TV Hollywood... i saw a villa and the mountains and thought oh look its here in Andalucia... then the camera panned in to the big Hollywood sign... then an email informed me that at Lidl its going to be American week! well wooopy doo! i really do need to get over it, as they say! i should never have made the big plan of being back in California this year, and now will just be glad when my birthday is gone, because then... well it will be gone.

i am sure i will harp on about this all week... sorry, bare with me amigos por favor!

back to realistic things now... after i finished washing the floors i went out and did my bit of street washing! still cannot get used to it! rushing out while no one in sight to wash the street between my house and the house opposite, not far of course, and i only really need to do half way, but not a problem going all that way over there!

ok, coffee time now! after yesterdays paella, may have been a stock cube in there... wouldn't like to say, but my face is flared up like a flared up thing, itchy and lumpy! (nice!) so strict week this week! not good at this so will be hard to do, no cereal this morning, had bacon and eggs! and will be green vegetables for the rest of the day! no bread... got gluten, which is ok when i'm not having a flare up, but have to stay away from all thing's pastry for a while till 'it' calms down... me too eh!

need of a good quote for today, hang on let me look for one....

ok i am back, here it is....

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

Abraham Lincoln

TTFN
Marian

i am back already(?) ran out of up load space for this last photo, so back briefly to put this little beauty up, its the top of the high street here in Alhaurín el Grande, you can only come up the street... for now! i didn't know where we were going this morning when Franco pulled out of the car park so we came this way and then had to go back out and down another way! should have brought the sat nav! just kidding!

where we were going was Malaga, first we headed off to Ikea... closed! then to Toys 'R' Us (!) closed, then to Plaza Mayor, looked opened with all the cars parked, but i guess they were doing what we did... parking going in, finding only a hand ful of shops open apart from the bars and restaurants... and out again!

we then headed off to Fuengirola, saw all the new housing, well apartments rising up from the mountain side of the N340/A7 and some of the new works where the tunnel is coming out from Churriana, that will be fantastic, so much traffic will use it to go directly to Torremolinos or Benalmadena, only people with Malaga destinations will use the Churriana strip, as i call it, also by then the direct link roads to the airport will be open... its going to be an amazing change!

anyway... into Miramar we went, that was open of course! did a good old tour of lots of shops only on the lower level, and a coffee first! my batteries had gone in my camera and i had promised photos... so went into the camera shop just as you come up out of the car park, the one assistant was helping two women sort out photos for putting on a canvas and frames, so just standing there basically, i got out the 3 euro for the six batteries and waited... and waited, she saw the money in my hand, and still we waited... and that was it, out i went! sorry but i only wait so long, and i know she only lost 3euro from us, but i expect it happens alot!

so down to another shop, asked for batteries... yes! how much? 3euros! great! walked out with 8 batteries and a cent change! perfecto!

then we were off out with our purchases, got supplies in of milk and chufa! oh and the largest amount of loo rolls you have ever seen... wondered why people were giving me (who was carrying it) a funny look, must have thought i had a bit of a problem!?!

ran out of space on my Twitter with this one...

hey this is funny... out & about today Franco said stay on the path. i followed with "stay on the path, steer clear of the Moors" get it? Spain... the Moors!!! you know who took over the country back in 700 and something! for a few hundred years? no ok... well!

here are a few shots from town this morning on our way around, as the main road was closed we had a bit of a detour down to the lower road to skirt back up to the high street, we usually use the upper de la Torre Road, we always feel its quicker, but everyone has their favourite road to use towards Malaga i suppose, some people i know go via Cartama!?! seems a lot longer to us, but i suppose depends on where your going to also!

these two are taken on the Cartama road actually caught some friends of mine here!

here above and below are two i took coming to Moreno's for lunch on the Mijas road...

and finally here is the Moreno we ate in today for Franco's birthday, he has rabbit in garlic sauce and fries, i had the Paella... that had rabbit in too, was lovely, followed by flan for me and icecream for Franco!

now we're home, i am on here and Franco is on his playstation! arh... boys will be boys eh!

my mouse button is'nt working so must finish here and restart or something, i keep doing it, must be a short cut to change the way you can use the mouse and i am doing it without knowing it!

most annoying!

TTFN
Marian

This is awful another racist attack, this one in Ronda, here is the report care of the Olive Press Newspaper....

the fact that police were called and no arrests made making it all the more awful! and that it hasn't been reported in national papers! well sorry, but have lots of papers following my tweety tweets so we shall see i hope!

now i must change the subject, on the tv yesterday was a report about the Mary Rose, remember Mom and i were lucky enough to get to visit the wonderful ship back in March down in Portsmouth and just before they closed the doors on it, in the hope of bringing her out into the open... wonderful little video on this link above.

wished i had had my camera with me on our walk this morning... also wish i had a camera that was not noticeable, like a hidden camera or something! always feel like a tourist taking photos in town! don't mind elsewhere but just feel so darn obvious here!

but the weird cloud formation was brilliant, it was coming round from the direction of the folly water tower towards Fuengirola direction and curling through into our valley... maybe tomorrow eh! i am promises promises with my photos sometimes....

TTFN
Marian

as i was just about to begin my blog today i turned first to my 'in' box and here was this months Warrior of the Light Online issue... titled 'What is Happiness'...

after reading it i feel now i know why i am basically more or less... a happy person... i make no plans! not when i was little did i think 'what shall i become? what job shall i do? whom shall i marry? how many children?' oh etc etc.

when i talk to friends, some say they had plans when they were small children, or teenagers, of what they wanted to be or go in life... they never did these things and still remember theyre young dreams with a feeling of loss or unhappiness of not doing these things.

i think i have said before i never even thought, up until recently even about being older! just never thought about it!

and as Paulo says in the above article about the people who make plans not being as happy as those who don't have some big life plan, and i guess if you make all these plans and none or few come into fruition then you cannot be happy about that can you? i am talking about big plans here, not the at the weekend stuff or even booking the holiday next year type of thing, i mean the big stuff in life.

i mean look at me recently the only plan i had made ten years before is not going to happen and how sad i get over it! that'll teach me eh!

oh the photos today? was that a plan for today? well no photos and i'm not worrying about it... small stuff eh!

TTFN
Marian

Photos of Gibraltor...

here we have the photos of Gibraltar thanks to my Uncle Richard on the other side of the pond! back home in the States...

don't understand what's so strange about the run way there... you mean you don't have to walk or drive over the run way where you come from?!?

how easily one gets used to things, the only thing we ever think about when passing over from Spain to Gib is will a plane be coming in and hold us up!


seems so strange to think of these pic's doing the email circuit back in the States because of their strangeness, and to us its normal!

bien venido a España mi amigos!

Blooming heck had one of those Repsol guys round this morning frightening the life out of me... knock at the door and opened it carefully.... if your living here and know how hot it is and our choice of clothes in the house! so with Pippa in one hand i cautiously opened the door and thought oh no Repsol? not repsol?

he wanted access to the house and to the gas etc, i told him no and i would check with my husband first on the phone, well he said ok, but then when i had got dressed and came back down stairs, not been able to get a hold of Franco, he was gone anyway! so i locked up the house and came down town, a bit to quickly and in the wrong shoes... so more blisters and more plasters!

i was going to take a bunch of photos this morning of all the road works in town, just to get into town firstly there is the road up, literally i mean here by the green church, then one of the side roads that join the upper and lower one way streets is under construction... you get to c/gerard brenon and this, the high street is closed on the incoming side of the road, so no access at all, if you have got this far, then you will end up back on the lower road and back out of town and give up on coming into Alhaurin el Grande... the road back up does have a closed sign on it to stop people trying to get into town... but lots of people think the signs are not for them!?! and so into town on foot that is.... the high street is being dug up by the kerb to the health centre, and on the other side of the road the new taxi rank is now un available, and this goes all the way round the corner on to the Cartama road, and across on the road out towards de la Torre! everyone's feet are white with dust and stones and people are driving around with looks of horror on their faces, either they have taken hours to get into town or just want to get out of here and cant do it!

well that was a lot of nonsense about our road works,sorry! photos will be better, so manaña, maybe! nope not there, so will do that now, so that means you will have already seen them by the time you get to read this and again wonder at my mind and how it works!?!

second knock on the door neighbour from down the road who came home to no internet connection and needs to borrow some of ours... done what he needed to do and gone now, impressed by my speed of typing... well i still got it!

must also up load some pics my Uncle Richard sent me... or did i do that already? let me check!

just got the mail too, lots in the mail box....! i am getting excited about a certain date on the calender this month! i know i maybe hitting high numbers to some peoples lesser ones, but i cant help myself i am a little girl at heart when it comes to my birthdays, dont know what i always expect of the day itself, maybe it a memory thing and wishing wishes that little girls do, which i guess for me when i was young would have been about my Dad, when he was alive. i think one of my best was ten years ago... what happened with all that time? and i was back where i was born in California and with my brother and birthday cake and thats what i should have been doing in 8 days time... what i planned. ok thats done it, now the excitement has gone and replaced by stupid despondency... i am so so lucky in so many ways, with so much to be grateful for... so better get that smile back on my face! ahora mismo!

ok, adío amigos....
TTFN
Marian

i just cannot get off this today! got hungry about two hours ago and was going to have some nice toast we bought the other day, then Mom phones, decide to get her travel plans for September into action and now its gone 2pm and still hungry! toast is on its way... maybe!

now photo above, purloined from web, muchas grazias a una persona! but this is exactly what i saw this morning down our street, it was inch and half long.. not exaggerating here, and it was walking along by the side of the little lady who lives down here, he, it, turned from us and looked like it was going to try and gain access into her house, he almost pushed the old door down!!!

had an answer to my question of what on earth is this horrid beetle we are having problems with in our back yard, better now, none so far today, only a few yesterday, the plague seems to be leaving, to where? and please do not return!

anyway, Franco was reading my blog last night(?) while i was watching the whole thing on TV of Michael Jacksons Memorial service in LA... and he said someone had told me what the bug might be! have you seen the comment folks? read now if not then return.....

hum hum hum, hum hum hum

ok...

i was watching Torchwood afterwards and it wasn't until later when i thought about what Franco had said i thought, great! will google it tomorrow and see what it says...

well it was Franco! cheeky boy! but maybe i should google it anyway!?!

too hot now for Pippa to even stay up on the terrace when i hung out the washing just now, she is preferring the cool marble floors, and i nearly joined her last night, cant sleep to hot!

so, Mom is booked to come over here now for September, just about the whole month, and then i will be going back to England with her! she dosent mind the trip from Luton over here on her own, but not the return bit, i guess wont be long before one of my boys will have to do the same with me! just kidding ;-)

sure i have lots more to say... like how i have down loaded the Tweetdeck thingy this morning, its great! why didn't i do it before? and how i am obviously eating all the wrong things again at the moment containing MSG, i have signs of it on my face and neck again, so back to reading the small print, and all the hidden words for msg, amazing how it can say, "does not contain MSG" then print out other names for it below, even the numbers! we have had a fair few ice creams, lolly's etc, and some biscuits that had lots of color in! well there it is, when i bothered to have a look!

ok, need food before i pass out, hasta luego amigos... be cool!

TTFN
Marian

this morning down into town... on the way a visit to one of the offices of the town hall, ayuntamiento, apart from the one here next to the Vera Cruz church, there is another down c/Real, another behind the white church and another one i think i spotted next door to the police station!

anyway, the first directed me to the second... (no that was where my tour ended!!) and there i told them i no longer lived at number 'this' that now i lived at number 'that' instead!

she took the details and off i went! easy (?) we shall see eh!

this visit was prompted because this morning i caught a council man putting water bills in our boxes, i tore out got the one out of my box, and told him not mine signor! and he swapped it for the one he had already put into two doors down, the one i gave him... into two doors up! so two of us at least maybe the only persons down our street who actually got their own bills this morning... but now i am wondering, when they took the meter reading? was it from our meter or the one two doors up???

met up with friends and had a coffee with them, then i went into Cudeca looking for saucers for our plants, no luck so got some from a bazaar! he had five saucers without cups, so i bought two! maybe i will make a deal with him tomorrow for the last three!

yesterday i put little note in our mail box about the change of number, well today i also put in our surnames... well it hadn't worked for the council guy had it!

and when the post man came today he put mail for us in the box! with the old number on! from who? oh from Telefonica! you know the phone company i called up last week and gave our new number to!!! maybe i was too late for this bill, will give them the benefit of doubt till next time...

ok washing to go out, and i think i will read up on the terrace a while... in the shade, in the shade!

TTFN
Marian

I'm in the mood for blogging.... just put a little note up on our mail box to remind mail man of our's old house number, might help? and pigs might fly! but ... it just *bugs* me! with reference to our electricity bills we will not be getting now the number has changed! i have decided for now to go into the office every single month and ask for a copy of the bill! thinking of asking for complaints books to tell of my problem, but well probably wont do any good.... like our neighbour says it was the council who changed the number, maybe they should pay for the change???

today Franco and i went down to check all is well at Maria's apartment, yes, then as the shops are now open on Sundays for the holiday season we popped into Miramar in Fuengirola, followed by Dunnes and Miramar Parque! lots of people about, lots on the beaches... and its hot!

people over the way are having a BBQ as i write... tall candles burning, smoke rising, long table covered in a huge white table cloth and tons of food getting under way! was going to water the plants but decided against it, so hot up there still even at 930pm i think the water would just evaporate! so later for that!

so sorry to all my relatives... i didn't forget Independence Day! just forgot to say so on here... apologies folks...

yesterday Franco put up our new back door rejas (grill), so now we have even more added security, Franco always got cross with me for leaving the back door open!?! but now it can be, and the rejas locked! so lots of air and no visitors! Pippa can still make hasty explorations to check out things on the terrace and get back in again without me having to unlock it either! brilliant!

today Franco put up my little shelf i have distressed this week! looks good and with some flowers on it already, tomorrow i will pop into Cudeca (the local cancer hospice shop) and buy some little saucers, if they have any! anything will do, preferable mis matched! to stand the plants on, or my shabby chic shelf will be more shabby than chic!

yesterday morning i made a quick early trip into town to get my euro direct card, the brilliant thing we use to make calls abroad, when we don't use free call of course, even cheaper... my usual supplier was all out and i was thinking what to do?? told i could get one up at the Estanco at the Fuengirola crossroads... and then i thought hang on a min all the tobacconists sell them doh!!! and so i got one in the little shop near Plaza Legion!

still no sign of any seedlings coming up, saw some sun flowers this morning already about 8' high! so i think maybe the ones i planted wont be making it this year... or any other year!

just watched on BBC3 the first two episodes of the old cult classic Day of the Triffids! fantastic had me rivited to the sofa! looking forward to next sundays two already now! sad? who me... ;-)

TTFN
Marian

for today only this link to read, enjoy and think about as have i as soon as i read it... sorry to say it was only today as i received it back on June 24th!

The magic instant.... this came to me via the Warrior of the light online, Paulo Coelho, thank you...

TTFN
Marian

ok folks, please please help! what on earth is this creature? its a hard beetle, around the half inch in length, and as hard as... as anything, you cannot squish it easily! sorry ;-(

it runs fast in haste to escape the broom, which wont kill it anyway, only a solid hard surface!

and the worse bit, sorry there is worse! the small is chemical when it is squished! really bad smell that lingers, in fact its all you can smell when you go out the back door, is the chemical smell!

they are falling from somewhere above, there is a tree holding on to some black seed pods longer than normal this year, but no bugs actually under the tree in the car park above, so maybe not the tree, which only leaves the rock face that is immediately behind the house? they began about two to three weeks ago, and have been a plague, hundreds of them, now only a few at a time so maybe disappearing now, but where from and more to the point where to...


and now the shelf... moving away from all things beetle like i think now! it was wooden of course, and my step dad would, well i would say turning in his grave, but as he is in the University College Hospital in London maybe he has been scaring people by turning around in there! watch yer backs!

so i painted it green....
then i painted it white....

and now its shabby chic! i have been distressing the life out of it! used wrong paint and the glass is hopeless with the sand paper i have used.... but its ok, and i did it, is what important...

are just remember came across a quote for you today... not been doing them much so to say, this came in my World Gratitude that i have been following, for years now....

anyway just the quote...

Inside or outside yourself, you never have to change what you
see, only the way you see it.

Thaddeus Golas

TTFN
Marian

few last photos taken up at Ashridge last Saturday with Janette after our wonderful pavlova and scone, all that cream and strawberry's... oh i wish...

anyway! above a little wooden bridge... bridging the river running through just there... river? well its a muddy boggy place anyway! and looks pretty from this view of it!

this is the spooky looking house that lives in the forest... look to the left there where i wanted to walk to but couldn't some ones open case there with clothes spilling out all over the place, what a cheek being there!
some times i think how nice it would be to live in a cottage like this in these surroundings....

other times i think oh heck no! all those trees, who knows whose looking in and why???

and finally this photo perloined from the WWW! the view from the Buckingham Monument.. no actually this is higher surely... anyway from that end, looking all the way along the monument avenue through to the avenue leading to Ashridge House...