Monday morning just past 10am, England, raining, cold and grey...
Franco left me at departures saturday morning, i didn't even go up to the duty free section, i sat down on the lower level and then at 11am walked through passport control and into the departure gate area, spent a penny! and the gate number was up already! great...
sat down and marvelled at the amount of people who were at our gate for Luton with Monarch but they wanted Easyjet, some even saying but it says Luton!!! and the poor guy had to keep saying, yes its Luton but Easyjet is at another gate...
flight went quickly too and we landed 10 minutes early, bag came almost first... Tony called as i approached the carousel i had a head ache and he knew when i answered the phone to him! still have a bit of a pain on the side of my head.. relax i keep telling myself, thing is i never listen to myself...
stayed in pretty much over weekend... rain stopped play! but was a nice break, watching movies and eating! and last night Tony and Kate brought me over to Moms... she doesn't seem as good as she was in october, i dont think. she has had a lot of problems over last month...
we have a couple of people due this morning then we are going to go to Berkhamsted, Mom hasn't been into town for a while now so a bit worried the trip...
have a bit of a poem to follow....
..... Keep Ithaka always in your mind,
Arriving there is what you're destined forl.
But don't hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you're old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with what you've gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvellous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
by Cavafy about Ulysses
TTFN
Marian
Monday, November 30, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
i better get a bit of a blog done eh! i am off to Blighty tomorrow and not sure if i can have internet access until i get to Mom's on Monday, i will be twittering, so that will be there on my blog i believe down on the lower right hand side...
anyway, where have i been? since tuesday? where did the week go? ok, i had enough of these fatigue causing meds and had the last one wednesday evening, so last night wasn't as tired as usual when i went to bed, tired normal that is for me, but not completely whacked out and semi conscious! well if my Mom can go rebel on hers i forsure can do the same on mine, although strictly speaking maybe Mom should still be taking hers! but she now sounds so much better, awake, positive, she made it to the prof. at the Mount Vernon yesterday without any problems, she just sounds so well now... even though she is not.
i went down town..., it must have been wednesday, Franco was out and i made it down, i had to get some labels for Christmas cards, rather than take the whole address book, which is heavy and big! the main road into town, the high street is being paved also like the rest of this area and the road closed signs were up, in three places, not enough though, people were driving round them, i still cannot get my head around the fact that people here do not take any notice of road closed signs, its like they don't think its for them??? so people had to reverse (help!) all the way back up the street, and try another route, most of which also have road works on, well, why not do it all at the same time i say!!!! problem with the reversing here... most of them were ending up on the paths, no kerbs, just a smooth kerb to allow for parking, so people were over steering right, left and right again! like something from a Harry Hill video... there's a thought now, i missed that one didn't i!
i stopped with friends outsider a bar and had coffee, then on my way stopped at a friends home for a tea! i think i better cut down a bit on my coffee, but how much is too much? i only have about 4 or 5 a day, and when my BP was low, which was forever till now, i have had 10 or more and been fine? no comprendo mis amigos!
Thursday Franco and i went down to Calahonda, checked out Maria's place, everything fine, quiet, not many holiday makers out, yesterday we had a bit of rain too, not much only a sprinkling, and friends we were meeting up with had on t shirts and shorts! Brrrrr! we went to Los Olivos for a tapa and coffee(!) saw a mate that used to live here in Alhaurín in there which was great and arranged to meet up when i am back in a couple of weeks.
then a guy came in we used to live near, and a few others! was like coming home...
had a good day... in the evening we had to go to Vodafone! we were in there only an hour and half! was light when we entered and dark when we left! lots of people out and about in the evenings here in town, but a mist was over and for the first time this winter you could really feel the dampness in the air...
but today! hot sunshine again, hot in the sun anyhows, cooler in the shade! when Pip and i were out bright( er no dark still!) but early we met up with a couple of neighbours! one mi amiga who has left Spain and now lives back in England.. she is only over for a few days, and another who was out having an early morning ciggie!!!
was strange meeting in the dark like that! but later after a quick trip to town i visited with the friends she is staying with and we went out, a visit to the cemetery and then a bar for coffee (!) and tapas... good to see her again, i miss her being round the corner...
today i notice i am not taking the tablets, sorry doc! although when the alarm went off i felt tired, it was just normal Fibro tired, not drug induced, and its nearly 4pm now, not had to nap yet or put my feet up...although having been out a while i probably should do, especially as we have to go out again later!
washing on the line, hope it dries, i am wearing some of it tomorrow! case packed with clothes to keep me warm, it feels cooler here, for us, but mi amiga felt hot! i guess she has got used to English weather already!
ok amigos, probably lots more to say, i usually do! but have things to do, and hands tired... Franco will be moaning at me, so hasta luego and off to England....
omnia mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis.
All things change, and we change with them.
Roman proverb
TTFN
Marian
anyway, where have i been? since tuesday? where did the week go? ok, i had enough of these fatigue causing meds and had the last one wednesday evening, so last night wasn't as tired as usual when i went to bed, tired normal that is for me, but not completely whacked out and semi conscious! well if my Mom can go rebel on hers i forsure can do the same on mine, although strictly speaking maybe Mom should still be taking hers! but she now sounds so much better, awake, positive, she made it to the prof. at the Mount Vernon yesterday without any problems, she just sounds so well now... even though she is not.
i went down town..., it must have been wednesday, Franco was out and i made it down, i had to get some labels for Christmas cards, rather than take the whole address book, which is heavy and big! the main road into town, the high street is being paved also like the rest of this area and the road closed signs were up, in three places, not enough though, people were driving round them, i still cannot get my head around the fact that people here do not take any notice of road closed signs, its like they don't think its for them??? so people had to reverse (help!) all the way back up the street, and try another route, most of which also have road works on, well, why not do it all at the same time i say!!!! problem with the reversing here... most of them were ending up on the paths, no kerbs, just a smooth kerb to allow for parking, so people were over steering right, left and right again! like something from a Harry Hill video... there's a thought now, i missed that one didn't i!
i stopped with friends outsider a bar and had coffee, then on my way stopped at a friends home for a tea! i think i better cut down a bit on my coffee, but how much is too much? i only have about 4 or 5 a day, and when my BP was low, which was forever till now, i have had 10 or more and been fine? no comprendo mis amigos!
Thursday Franco and i went down to Calahonda, checked out Maria's place, everything fine, quiet, not many holiday makers out, yesterday we had a bit of rain too, not much only a sprinkling, and friends we were meeting up with had on t shirts and shorts! Brrrrr! we went to Los Olivos for a tapa and coffee(!) saw a mate that used to live here in Alhaurín in there which was great and arranged to meet up when i am back in a couple of weeks.
then a guy came in we used to live near, and a few others! was like coming home...
had a good day... in the evening we had to go to Vodafone! we were in there only an hour and half! was light when we entered and dark when we left! lots of people out and about in the evenings here in town, but a mist was over and for the first time this winter you could really feel the dampness in the air...
but today! hot sunshine again, hot in the sun anyhows, cooler in the shade! when Pip and i were out bright( er no dark still!) but early we met up with a couple of neighbours! one mi amiga who has left Spain and now lives back in England.. she is only over for a few days, and another who was out having an early morning ciggie!!!
was strange meeting in the dark like that! but later after a quick trip to town i visited with the friends she is staying with and we went out, a visit to the cemetery and then a bar for coffee (!) and tapas... good to see her again, i miss her being round the corner...
today i notice i am not taking the tablets, sorry doc! although when the alarm went off i felt tired, it was just normal Fibro tired, not drug induced, and its nearly 4pm now, not had to nap yet or put my feet up...although having been out a while i probably should do, especially as we have to go out again later!
washing on the line, hope it dries, i am wearing some of it tomorrow! case packed with clothes to keep me warm, it feels cooler here, for us, but mi amiga felt hot! i guess she has got used to English weather already!
ok amigos, probably lots more to say, i usually do! but have things to do, and hands tired... Franco will be moaning at me, so hasta luego and off to England....
omnia mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis.
All things change, and we change with them.
Roman proverb
TTFN
Marian
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
i was just about to relax with a book when i realised i haven't blogged since couldn't remember when... saturday it seems, these meds are doing me in, read on the FM site this morning about something new i might try... funny how us FM sufferers are guinea pigs for so many different things... we will try almost anything you know if there is the slightest hope of it making us better...i also came across a poem, will place at the end of today's post, it made me cry i must say
the truth does doesn't it....
also been talking to lots of other women with the same FM as me, i must admit in the past when i first registered on the site, and the odd times i have *popped in* as it were, reading other people stories, the same as mine mostly, has just made me depressed and felt worse than before, now, no, now i feel a certain comradeship, a joint army against what is pulling *us* down, and you know it is good to talk, and to talk with people who have the same symptoms which cause the same thoughts and feelings...
and to hear symptoms you have are real... because after a while you do wonder... especially how i have got so much worse this year, and why, and i am still willing to give things a go to improve myself, and i certainly have to, cant put up with this... i wont put up with this!
anyway... eh amigos!
photos.... so here today i welcome you to a new street here in Alhaurin el Grande... whats the name of it? ooops, didn't look, maybe soon eh!
top photo as seen from the park with the exercise stuff on... as you turn into the street the wall there and the other side of the road full of graffiti already, as everywhere it seems..and the next is the street as you head up to the main road with the Sierra de Mijas in the back ground...
and above looking back... looks lovely eh, well sort of, as in nice and clean and straight, cracks appearing between some of the houses already... lots of the door knockers are missing already, they were there the other week, not now...
the odd one going, maybe, but loads....
and this is the name of the little charmer leaving his (her?) mark everywhere just now, not sure why the *?* is the person unsure of their own name!!!!
no one lives here yet and by the time they do there may be very little left!
Poem...
The pain we go through the agony within
how do I get rid of it fm its a sin
Shoulders hips knees and your neck
also to feel like a nervous wreck.
Take the tablets one by one
and off to pain clinic it might work for some.
I think of times long ago
when life was a breeze and fun it did flow.
I may be sick and have fm thats a curse
I am going to fight it and try not to get worse.
TTFN
Marian
Saturday, November 21, 2009
not often you see bare naked trees around here... these are some of those burnt in the Mijas fire the other week... what with the color of the mountains beyond it makes the picture look so cold....
we stopped here too... there is a parcel of land for sale, not much bigger than a mans handkerchief! well a bit bigger i suppose, but the sign says room for 37 houses! as you can see there is a finca here just now....
yes well, the remains of one, there is a nice pieceof land just in front, room to turn a car, with power steering! so not ours!?! then its down hill on three sides and the drive up! so 37 houses????
look how think these walls were, but there on this little mountain shelf sticking out as it does, you would need them! no protection for the hot sun, and none from the winds either!this morning we went down to the coast, we did a bit of a shop, Aldi and Iceland(!) bit cloudy again today, still warm, but up here the cloud is only just lifting now and its 2.30pm, we had a coffee down by the shops and sat out in the sun shine where the sea breezes move it on... here!
with the release recently of a new game Franco would like, although he hasn't had the first one yet, our minds turn to the difference in prices here from England... the game was down to about 26 pounds on release day, not sure what it is now, but here in Spain 86Euros! even the first one is over 60Euros! we noticed the other day too, a Robbie Williams CD he has just released, 7 pounds i think in England was over 17Euros!!! not sure if its just the shops ripping you off here, or some over priced charges they pass on?
.... the games here anyway are, well obviously in Spanish! but the other languages are French and maybe Portuguese! never English??? whereas the games you buy in England have them all, and more.... why??? the games packaging is all in English... but there it ends, so these are made especially for Spain, in fact some say not to be sold out side of Spain???
ok too may question marks today!
up date on Mom, she is rebelling and does not want to take some of her meds! too many side effects all causing more trouble than their worth! so is seeing the Professor at Mount Vernon a week early, i will now be missing her appointment!
me(?) my side effects, (must run in the family!) just as bad, insomnia now too, so although even more tired, less sleep!!!! all i can say is, don't let me drive....
Thursday, November 19, 2009
"There is a secret
that almost nobody knows.
I will tell it to you
if you promise
to tell someone else:
The world isn't quite finished yet,
it isn't quite complete.
It's still
being
made.
that almost nobody knows.
I will tell it to you
if you promise
to tell someone else:
The world isn't quite finished yet,
it isn't quite complete.
It's still
being
made.
Everywhere you look
and everywhere you listen,
someone or something
is helping
to make the world."
wanted to share this poem above with you, curtsey of World Gratitude, i have been following them for a while now, words of wisdom, words to up lift....
made some notes today as the day has gone on or i cannot remember anything! my Mom is having trouble with her memory at over 80! well if things carry on like this i wont even remember my name by then!
so.. like my Mom and her calls to me, i shall take note of my notes...
today we have had rain, woke up to it at 7am, didn't realise it was raining though and opened the back door to let Pippa out and she backed in! so back to bed! yeah!
it stopped later and i went into town, only as far as i had to go though, and i was dressed for the occasion, flowery Wellington boots! longish purple sweater with shortish sleeves! and sun glasses! funny looks? actually no! most people were wearing coats and boots and carrying para aguas! glad i didn't have the coat i was boiling by the time i got home!
on the way down to the high street i remembered when i first came here how there were speakers outside most of the shops from the Vera Cruz church down to the department store at the bottom of the road, and from the speakers came municipal music! strange tunes... but missed now they're gone, progress? i am not so sure....
the book i am reading about this journey on a narrow boat from England to France is good, not my normal read, but very good, and now the couple are in Paris and talking of all the sights Mom and i saw from the river Seine... so i can picture them for real in my mind now, as i could of Leighton Buzzard when he mentioned there earlier on in the book!
TTFN
Marian
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
view from under our stairs... sound of the sea, lovely little island out there... muy buena!catch up with Mom... she is doing ok'ish, she had been taking tablets for something and has decided not to take them any more! then asking the doctor afterwards! she hasn't been out for two weeks, which isn't like her at all, hopefully when i am over we will be able to get out a bit, i'm sure she will summon her inner strength... she regularly has family coming to see her to say *hello*, and making sure she has everything she needs, also good friends nearby, a chemist that delivers! i have been doing most of her shopping on-line for her, but hope she will be back out shopping with her friend soon once a week to a supermarket.
and reality... we went down to Las Lagunas this morning, coming and going through the campo and came across what the fire here had done to land the other week...
trouble pulling over with a car behind us all the time, none on the way down of course, typical!people were very lucky didn't look like any of the many houses were touched, about 200 evacuated, and in the spring all will be green and healthy once more!
still the warm weather holding on tight! the other evening Franco and i walked down into town after the shops had reopened and i wore a skirt!!! shock horror! i dont think i wore a skirt all summer, shorts or jeans... felt weird!
monday i walked down town to see mate in the animal shop, and stopped for coffee with another friend by the cross roundabout in town, sat under the shade of a para sol! expect i will be needing my para agua when i get to England in just over a week will i? everyone was wearing too many clothes and having to carry cast offs!
me? the side effects of my meds are still doing me in more than making me better yet, this has taken twice the time as it seems sometimes someone else must be doing the typing as words appear that i don't want, whole words? not just typos! which is a bit un nerving, maybe my keyboard has a poltergeist! or of course could be my head ache... so adieu my friends for now...
Dreams are the soul's pantry. Keep it well stocked and your soul will never hunger.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
I am afraid we didn't make it down the track still known as the Fuengirola road, we walked around the market at La Trocha, popped round friends house, coming out of there we thought as their road is now tarmac we would see if you can actually come out by the Moreno restaurant now, but alas... no! so it was a turn about and the long haul back to Coín and home....
was, am just too tired... and the head ache is back, had it all day yesterday, it gave me a reprieve this morning...
anyway! was 17° on the terrace last night when i went up to hang some washing, and was surprised to find it dry this morning, usually gets a bit damp over night up there, but this weather is still wonderful, cant believe its November, when i hung out some more washing... winters scarves, gloves and woollies etc, it was 25° in the shade up there!
i had wrapped up a bit warmer for the rastro this morning, but needn't have! so i took off my gloves(?) and left my scarf in the car, getting back in Franco said "what's that cloth there?" cloth! ha my scarf!!! which i promptly wrapped round my neck again, i get a helluva draft around my neck from the open window!
market was as busy as usual which is great, lots of people i knew... and back home i noticed a twitter friend was there too! strange to think we pass each other like that without knowing... bit like on Facebook the other month i noticed two people i know were both in a town out shopping, facebook friends of mine but don't know each other...
am really please with what i did yesterday, sorted out my winter things from the chest they live in in the summer, except a pair of leather gloves i had had for long time, but still good and very comfy, had turned green with mould! luverly!!! and just so Spain!
the sealed bag was full of the above washing stuff... and although put away clean now smelled of mould, so everything in the wash! i put away summer things and now my draws and wardrobe are full of winter!!!! bring it on!!! (not!)
sorted some things for Cudeca and some for the bin! yet still i have clothes that i brought over with me 7 years ago, which i have never worn since! i know i keep hearing if you haven't worn it for two years chuck it out! but then there are some things missing from the chest, which i guess i did chuck out.... i am so bad at hanging on to things... bit like this blog today, i am fighting sleep, so should just give in to it, no its not night time, just siesta time in our quiet street in our quiet town at this time on a sunny Sunday afternoon....
hasta luego amigos...
TTFN
Marian
was, am just too tired... and the head ache is back, had it all day yesterday, it gave me a reprieve this morning...
anyway! was 17° on the terrace last night when i went up to hang some washing, and was surprised to find it dry this morning, usually gets a bit damp over night up there, but this weather is still wonderful, cant believe its November, when i hung out some more washing... winters scarves, gloves and woollies etc, it was 25° in the shade up there!
i had wrapped up a bit warmer for the rastro this morning, but needn't have! so i took off my gloves(?) and left my scarf in the car, getting back in Franco said "what's that cloth there?" cloth! ha my scarf!!! which i promptly wrapped round my neck again, i get a helluva draft around my neck from the open window!
market was as busy as usual which is great, lots of people i knew... and back home i noticed a twitter friend was there too! strange to think we pass each other like that without knowing... bit like on Facebook the other month i noticed two people i know were both in a town out shopping, facebook friends of mine but don't know each other...
am really please with what i did yesterday, sorted out my winter things from the chest they live in in the summer, except a pair of leather gloves i had had for long time, but still good and very comfy, had turned green with mould! luverly!!! and just so Spain!
the sealed bag was full of the above washing stuff... and although put away clean now smelled of mould, so everything in the wash! i put away summer things and now my draws and wardrobe are full of winter!!!! bring it on!!! (not!)
sorted some things for Cudeca and some for the bin! yet still i have clothes that i brought over with me 7 years ago, which i have never worn since! i know i keep hearing if you haven't worn it for two years chuck it out! but then there are some things missing from the chest, which i guess i did chuck out.... i am so bad at hanging on to things... bit like this blog today, i am fighting sleep, so should just give in to it, no its not night time, just siesta time in our quiet street in our quiet town at this time on a sunny Sunday afternoon....
hasta luego amigos...
To see a world in a grain of sand And heaven in a wild flower, To hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, And Eternity in an hour.
WILLIAM BLAKE
TTFN
Marian
Friday, November 13, 2009
friday already folks, where is time going, wish i knew the answer!
we didn't do much yesterday, in fact i took Pippa out for her morning walk, and didn't venture out again until the shops reopened to milk at the local shop in the evening.
was a lovely warm day, outside, chilling up a bit in the house now, need to get some fluffy slippers and soon, my toes are getting cold!
today Franco took Pip out for her walk, and i went to town later on, gathered some of the local free papers and stopped at a friends for coffee in town on the way home, we went up on to her roof terrace to hang the clothes, she has a wonderful 360° vista from up there... next time i must take some photos yes? yes!
our old boiler is now playing up, just to add insult to injury! Franco has taken it apart a few times and run it through with aqua forte, a weird fluid we use here in Spain, probably an illegal substance back in the UK!
i am still fluffy round the corners with these meds, but persevering as the doctor has asked, and i do not usually do as i am told! but i guess i must this time eh!
but he phoned the other evening, did i tell you? couldn't believe it, the doctor calling and checking on progress, wonderful! anyway he said i must persevere, that it could take 4 or 5 weeks for the nerve endings to stop feeling pain! and the side effects, stomach ache, head ache, dry mouth, twitching(lovely!!!) tiredness and this awful foggy fussy numb in the head thing! he said not to worry about the high blood pressure yet, and we would deal with that another time, which is worrying me of course!
saving all of the above for now, and not telling my Mom, she has enough on her plate just now without worrying about me, because then i would worry about her, worrying about me.... arh!!! and there we go around and around!
we didn't do much yesterday, in fact i took Pippa out for her morning walk, and didn't venture out again until the shops reopened to milk at the local shop in the evening.
was a lovely warm day, outside, chilling up a bit in the house now, need to get some fluffy slippers and soon, my toes are getting cold!
today Franco took Pip out for her walk, and i went to town later on, gathered some of the local free papers and stopped at a friends for coffee in town on the way home, we went up on to her roof terrace to hang the clothes, she has a wonderful 360° vista from up there... next time i must take some photos yes? yes!
our old boiler is now playing up, just to add insult to injury! Franco has taken it apart a few times and run it through with aqua forte, a weird fluid we use here in Spain, probably an illegal substance back in the UK!
i am still fluffy round the corners with these meds, but persevering as the doctor has asked, and i do not usually do as i am told! but i guess i must this time eh!
but he phoned the other evening, did i tell you? couldn't believe it, the doctor calling and checking on progress, wonderful! anyway he said i must persevere, that it could take 4 or 5 weeks for the nerve endings to stop feeling pain! and the side effects, stomach ache, head ache, dry mouth, twitching(lovely!!!) tiredness and this awful foggy fussy numb in the head thing! he said not to worry about the high blood pressure yet, and we would deal with that another time, which is worrying me of course!
saving all of the above for now, and not telling my Mom, she has enough on her plate just now without worrying about me, because then i would worry about her, worrying about me.... arh!!! and there we go around and around!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
got up earlier today and took Pippa for her walk, was a bit wobbley but she knows the way! and when i got home i had another little nap! because i sat down on the sofa and just went back out like a light!i also walked down town in the hope of seeing a mate, but she was no where about, in fact no one was about! very quiet in town this morning at 10am! i also went into the farmacia to have my BP checked again, still high at 146/92! not sure really what to do, the doctor sort of went on to other things... but reading on here, which is probably the worse thing to do both these readings are this awful stage II!
driving down to the coast this morning down the rough track that goes behind the garden centre to Entrerríos, we could actually come out onto the road now, not have to drive along the river bed, so progress, even if it doesn't look like it!
but what i was going to say... so easily distracted i am, that during the drive i kept trying to tell myself to calm down! other drivers, state of the road, other drivers! i could hear my heart beating in my ears! hey ho!
its not like i eat badly, we eat fresh veggies and lots of fruit, no pre packed foods, i have a bit of exercise, walking Pippa and into town most days, i know that's not exactly the gym but with FM i am sorry its a no can do for me.
i can only think, although i have had plenty of stress before in my life, that stress is the cause, worrying about Mom, lack of work, therefore money and all that encompasses, which is in itself no small stuff.
oh how i miss the NHS you lucky lucky people over there in Blighty, don't you know how lucky you are... of course as are the people who *forgot* to mention they were leaving when they moved to Spain!
ok mustn't stress now about it!
so after Calahonda and checking out apartment, view above near by... we stopped off in La Cala, market day and busy, but we were lucky to find a car park space and had coffee at a friends bar, where we hadn't stopped for too long! while we were there we heard sirens going and by the time we left the N340 heading towards Fuengirola was backed up on both sides... so that determined our journey home, back up the La Cala road past turn off for Entrerríos, then the road towards Fuengirola but taking the golf road off on the left, then it was track from there to the Mijas pueblo road! no goats or bulls today... and i had my camera at the ready, we could smell them, but not see them!
when we got home Franco took the boiler off the wall, we are having the worse trouble getting any hot water at all out of the old thing! there was a wasp and a snail there, both dead! and even without their presence its not looking good.... we know now its not the water pressure with the wonderful new pipes we have in town!
anyway time to relax (ha ha) going off to read my book now!
TTFN
Marian
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
a bit of a bleary foggy blog today... took my new meds last night at 8pm should have been7pm but was confused as usual, without the meds!!! an hour and half later i couldn't keep my eyes open so only saw a bit of the new series on every day this week! unable to catch up too! humph!
and to make matters worse i will take today at 7pm on time... because when the alarm went off at 7am this morning i couldn't move at all! Franco took Pippa out for a quick walk and i didn't get out of bed till 8.45! nightmare, so apart from feeling even more tired than i always do my joints were that much worse for laying down for so much longer! and i have had a fuzzy headache all day too, i feel doped up and lethargic! just put some make up to go out to the shops when they reopen shortly, we have run out of coffee!!!!
i normally *do my face*, i don't do much, but what i do do, i do right after breakfast weather i am going out or not, so not good eh!
pain wise, well no change, or am i being a bit ahead of myself, i guess i should give it a bit of time without giving up just yet on them. but if the only difference is me feeling this awful foggy feeling on top of all the rest, forget it.... and i will not keep taking them if i have a headache all the time either!
i think too i should check my BP in a chemist soon, seems odd the doctor just left it.. he said *ok, lots going on here...* dealing with my FM and possible RA? oh heck!
well this is turning into a great little blog today isn't it, me having to use the back button on numerous occasions due to bad spelling, worse than normal as i cant seem to keep my mind straight!
i think i will leave you here and get back to my book... leading lady in Rome, and a mention of Hemel Hempstead earlier, i love it when a book mentions somewhere i know, yes daft eh! but having been to Rome i can visualise where she is walking and what she is seeing... blah blah blah..
ok amigos i am of no use to anyone for now, so adieu!
TTFN
Marian
i normally *do my face*, i don't do much, but what i do do, i do right after breakfast weather i am going out or not, so not good eh!
pain wise, well no change, or am i being a bit ahead of myself, i guess i should give it a bit of time without giving up just yet on them. but if the only difference is me feeling this awful foggy feeling on top of all the rest, forget it.... and i will not keep taking them if i have a headache all the time either!
i think too i should check my BP in a chemist soon, seems odd the doctor just left it.. he said *ok, lots going on here...* dealing with my FM and possible RA? oh heck!
well this is turning into a great little blog today isn't it, me having to use the back button on numerous occasions due to bad spelling, worse than normal as i cant seem to keep my mind straight!
i think i will leave you here and get back to my book... leading lady in Rome, and a mention of Hemel Hempstead earlier, i love it when a book mentions somewhere i know, yes daft eh! but having been to Rome i can visualise where she is walking and what she is seeing... blah blah blah..
ok amigos i am of no use to anyone for now, so adieu!
TTFN
Marian
Monday, November 09, 2009
Just a quickie today... well if i can, went to see a doctor today, he is changing my meds, trying me on a different anti inflammatory, and trying me back on some nerve dulling things i havent tried for a long time, although Franco reminded me i did try some again about 4 years ago, they must have been so numbing i forgot i had tried them???
but i suppose i have to try them again as the flare up i am having now is so bad i really cannot cope with it at all, he said it could be RA, as this has showed up in a previous blood test.
but first *we* are giving these things another go, the last time i remember taking them was about 1995 i think, and i turned into a zombie... these are only 10mg of something some people take at 200mg! goodness knows how they cope with that!
i am going back with the results when i am back from England mid December, when he will also check my BP which didn't look good! he tested both arms!!! i normally have great BP really low, in fact almost abnormally low, today it was 160/80 which is graded as stage II, which is a bit of a shock to say the least!
i said i think i am in the wrong place and should have gone to the vets...
so amigos, i am going to leave you here and hope i am not to bleary eyed or cant wake up enough to blog ever again!
hasta pronto... and will be more cheery too, what with everything else ... this is just about the straw that broke the camels back! hence the wonderful picture by Pablo Picasso..
TTFN
Marian
Sunday, November 08, 2009
mira! look! tar mac! on the Fuengirola road... don't blink though amigos or you will miss it! and its not quite as far as the garden centre yet, but nearly! and you can now access the garden centre again from the Moreno/BP round about again which is soooo much better than having to go through Alhaurín golf, and better for those residents too i guess!
just at the exit to the garden centre car park and looking right is the view above... Franco and i went there for a coffee and to take a walk down the road! well to have a nose of course, and i suppose there wont be much walking going on down here once its up and being used again, the speed the cars will be going!
its very wide in places, although the predicted (papers) four lanes, plus crawler lanes, does not seem possible.... some very nice retaining walls coming up in place... and water gullies with massive culverts... and hope they are massive enough!
we decided maybe driving down the road would have been better... i didn't, as usual, have walking shoes on, so was all over the place! and the wind was up!prior to here, we went to La Trocha market first, so many more stalls! un believable, not even any car parking to the left or right as you enter the covered area which of late there has been, the outer car park was totally full and we squeezed in in the main one.
the whole of the car park was full, no spaces at all for one more trader! even the back wall which is normally just where you would walk around to get to the next isle! so great for La Trocha at 15 euros per stall! but less probably for each individual stall holder... seems to be lots of new stuff too, which had apparently been stopped(?)
it was a little breezy walking around there, wouldn't have wanted to be there from 7am like some friends i talked to had been! not without a think cosy coat and gloves anyway, should have had my gloves on today, and maybe another layer, its great there, under cover from rain and hot sun, but a gale blows through there on days like these...
ok, above, to the left the old road, and to the right, the new road....so much here where we live we drive around these country roads going hither and... the other, and say "oh look, the old road!" well here will be another such place, well if they leave it like this!
well i am going to get on with my great new find, and read on line, my first down load book i just kind of jumped on one near the bigining Harriot Evens, titled I Remember You,i have never read anything of hers before, but am getting into it, the next book i read, i must check more carefully first i know so many books i want to read that i have seen and have caught my eye...
adio amigos...
Saturday, November 07, 2009
not sure how its happened but another coffee crumble cake is baking in the oven at this very minute! have added a layer of sliced apples ⅔ of the way up, no doubt in my mind they will be at the bottom when its cooked! but never mind, will taste lovely i hope, not sure how long with cake cooking phase will last so am making the most of it!?! i guess when i am fed up with it! this recipe uses a lot of margarine, bought some in the local shop on my back home from town, un loaded the bag and didn't find it there, back to shop! there is was on the counter, un paid for though too!
not long in town, weather ok, bit of sun, warm enough too, i have on a vest t shirt thing and put a thin cardigan thing on top, sounds worse than it looks (i hope!) and i was warm...
cant type for too long today and have only just started, mixing cake i guess not helped...
but want to tell i was like a kid at Christmas this morning! got an email from the library, back in blighty, and i can down load books now! for free, 21 days to read it, 3 at a time if you want! fantastic, i know i have the *100 books* on my DSlite, but they're the classics, which are ok, but good to read fresh new books... this is absolutely fantastic news for someone who reads like crazy!
and Franco just now is killing and being killed by zombies... boys eh! if he could see himself... head down, remote about 6 inches from his face and talking to himself! or maybe me? the music is creepy too, like the music on the movie *28 Days*...
ok amigos, going to start reading a good book, wait for the apple crumble cake, smells good already doesn't it....
not long in town, weather ok, bit of sun, warm enough too, i have on a vest t shirt thing and put a thin cardigan thing on top, sounds worse than it looks (i hope!) and i was warm...
cant type for too long today and have only just started, mixing cake i guess not helped...
but want to tell i was like a kid at Christmas this morning! got an email from the library, back in blighty, and i can down load books now! for free, 21 days to read it, 3 at a time if you want! fantastic, i know i have the *100 books* on my DSlite, but they're the classics, which are ok, but good to read fresh new books... this is absolutely fantastic news for someone who reads like crazy!
and Franco just now is killing and being killed by zombies... boys eh! if he could see himself... head down, remote about 6 inches from his face and talking to himself! or maybe me? the music is creepy too, like the music on the movie *28 Days*...
ok amigos, going to start reading a good book, wait for the apple crumble cake, smells good already doesn't it....
Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.
NORMAN COUSINS
TTFN
Marian
Thursday, November 05, 2009
well now i see it on here it doesn't really look all of that as they say... its called Jo's coffee crumble cake... and i took the recipe from one in my quilters recipe books that i got one time i was back home in the states... had to work out the different quantities they use there, so different to the ones used in England... the amount of margarine sounded extraordinary huge till i turned it into ounces!
lots of sugar, but no milk whatsoever? oh and although its called coffee crumble cake, it means something to eat with coffee, there is no coffee in it! should have used vanilla, but had none, and something was missing(?) i added a layer of greengage jelly after half the mix was in the baking dish, then added the second half... it sunk to the bottom, but made it a nice base while eating! and the crumble is the topping, half and half of marg, brown sugar and some flour!it does taste better than it looks... and only half left already! made it yesterday late afternoon....
couple of views from our terrace as the sun was coming down just now... its windy out there today forsure! we arrived at friends this afternoon around 4pm for coffee, and their washing was just being blown from Las Delicias to Coín!
keep getting confused what day of the week it is! with Franco not working at the moment we don't have any structure to the week and one day seems much like another!
i cant seem to remember, or find about our trip to Álora we made the other week to go to the tax office, so forgive me repeating myself if i have...
it only took the half hour Google maps said it would! on the approach to the town the road up is steep, and i mean steep, one helluva mountainside to climb! we got up it ok, and drove around the car park a couple of times and then got lucky when someone left a space, it was pouring too, absolutely chucking it down gatos y perros! we sat in the car and steamed it up waiting for it to let up, which it did!
it was only a short walk to the plaza and then the hacienda (tax office), i showed the desk man the aviso from the post office, he printed out another copy and told us it was a fine for something i had paid late!!!!
very unlike me, i never pay things late, just don't see the point, it was also four years ago, should have paid it october 22nd and paid it december 22nd instead! we were being given a 25euro discount so *only* had to pay 75euros! for what?? who knows... but you have to pay it, it would only have gone up to 100euros, and then more probably, followed by another fine for late payment no doubt!!!
(i am sure i have said this already) but the only thing i don't remember telling you was about the ant! that week was the time for flying ants, leaving here and going (somewhere else)??? well this little chap was on my window when we left home, and he hung onto the wet window, his little wings blowing in the breeze... all the way to Álora... he stayed there throughout our visit, hacienda and coffee, and all the way back home to Alhaurín! amazing... would be great to use his technology for something really useful eh!
Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
this morning Franco and i went to the local social security office, nearest is in Coín, i thought i might be able to get a travel heath card, but you actually have to be working, under contract, to get one, which will only last 3 months.
so back to Alhaurín El Grande, and the health centre, i held the door open for a woman and then she had the cheek to que jump! and then... another woman came along and stood to talk to her for a minute before standing in line behind her... yes in front of us!!!
not sure how i kept it together, Franco was telling me to calm down while i was jumping up and down and screaming... well that was what was going on in my head... good thing we were in the health clinic eh!
we only had to stand in line for about half an hour i guess... seemed much longer, especially as a woman at the counter was having a go about something, waving her arms about, clapping her hands together, and slapping them down on the counter in front of a poor receptionist who didn't know where to look or what to do!
this went on the whole time we were waiting, and when she left, she briefly came back with a small child looking like she was handing him over and his poor little foot knocked the computer screen!
last evening i had copied every document i have of any consequence and the receptionist took most of them! i filled out as much of the form as i could and she ticked and crossed the rest for me and that was it! not sure exactly how much of the health system i will be able to access without actually being in work right now, but time will tell, and now hope to receive a health card in the future!(?) then *when* i get the card i will make an appointment and see whats what!
we popped into Mercadona and home again!
there was a bit of a breeze blowing when Pip and i went out this morning, but it was lovely, it was blowing a bit yesterday and we thought maybe a drop of rain would follow but nada!
yesterday i had coffee round at a friends apartment, her place is up for sale, she has had one daft offer, but i suppose these days at least she had an offer! the apartment is lovely, in town, and huge! its bigger than our whole house! 2 large bedrooms and a small one that is being used as an office, en suite to main bedroom which a whole wall of built in wardrobes, plus family bathroom, big dining room plus a breakfast room next to the kitchen.... although she has no area like our roof terrace, she has a great inner court yard, protected on four sides, and no windows looking into it from other people at all, she also has private access to the whole of the roof! and no i am not on commission even if it does sound as though i am selling this bright open first floor apartment!!! i just know she needs to be back in England with family and how unhappy she is now, her husband passed on this year and is empty without him....
TTFN
Marian
so back to Alhaurín El Grande, and the health centre, i held the door open for a woman and then she had the cheek to que jump! and then... another woman came along and stood to talk to her for a minute before standing in line behind her... yes in front of us!!!
not sure how i kept it together, Franco was telling me to calm down while i was jumping up and down and screaming... well that was what was going on in my head... good thing we were in the health clinic eh!
we only had to stand in line for about half an hour i guess... seemed much longer, especially as a woman at the counter was having a go about something, waving her arms about, clapping her hands together, and slapping them down on the counter in front of a poor receptionist who didn't know where to look or what to do!
this went on the whole time we were waiting, and when she left, she briefly came back with a small child looking like she was handing him over and his poor little foot knocked the computer screen!
last evening i had copied every document i have of any consequence and the receptionist took most of them! i filled out as much of the form as i could and she ticked and crossed the rest for me and that was it! not sure exactly how much of the health system i will be able to access without actually being in work right now, but time will tell, and now hope to receive a health card in the future!(?) then *when* i get the card i will make an appointment and see whats what!
we popped into Mercadona and home again!
there was a bit of a breeze blowing when Pip and i went out this morning, but it was lovely, it was blowing a bit yesterday and we thought maybe a drop of rain would follow but nada!
yesterday i had coffee round at a friends apartment, her place is up for sale, she has had one daft offer, but i suppose these days at least she had an offer! the apartment is lovely, in town, and huge! its bigger than our whole house! 2 large bedrooms and a small one that is being used as an office, en suite to main bedroom which a whole wall of built in wardrobes, plus family bathroom, big dining room plus a breakfast room next to the kitchen.... although she has no area like our roof terrace, she has a great inner court yard, protected on four sides, and no windows looking into it from other people at all, she also has private access to the whole of the roof! and no i am not on commission even if it does sound as though i am selling this bright open first floor apartment!!! i just know she needs to be back in England with family and how unhappy she is now, her husband passed on this year and is empty without him....
TTFN
Marian
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
A minute for Madeleine
A minute for Madeleine... please watch and share to everyone you know as far as you can reach around the world...
TTFN
Marian
TTFN
Marian
Monday, November 02, 2009
All Souls Day....
El Dorado this morning!and above is the church....El Dorado was where we thought it was last time, but last time it just didn't look right, scruffy old buildings that looked like sheds, or porta cabins!
not sure if its been taken over since, but we parked up outside and walked in with Pippa...
we had a very nice coffee 1.20, so average price for here... Pippa made friends with Pedro, a big old dog who sat down and joined us, while the gardener was watering around us, then followed him about, we thought it was just Pip who shadowed us wherever we go.... building above looks like a town hall i think!
view again of the church and the little plaza in front.... its this church we can see from our terraza, at last after over four years i can now say it is for sure El Dorado we can see from home!
some of the houses, all these *homes* in the series are now used as hotel rooms, well hotel houses really! as are all the smaller cabins around the place, and there is a small square of *places* that look a bit like a Pontins holiday camp!beyond these houses we came across a big building that may have been used as the social centre in the series, i now need to see an episode of it again to place it all up there... is it ever on tv these days though, i did think i may have been the only viewer! no i know i wasn't by what's on here... the WWW!
also going past this big building, no photo, is a huge (green) swimming pool followed by an (also green) wonderful lake! also no photos... *blushes* my batteries gone again in my camera, i must get some more rechargeable batteries soon! much more to photograph... we will be back!!!!TTFN
Marian
Sunday, November 01, 2009
All Saints Day
well dont laugh but this was me last night... i was more dressed up than a few of the kids who came a knocking for treats! but most of them were wearing scary masks and clothing, mostly they came round in between two's and four or five, but then a gang of about a dozen i think were standing there trying to get into my bag of sweets! so i just told them to come in, and i sat down and handed them out! they left one by one as they received their sweets! they also left behind a bag of eggs... i expect they would have gone to those who didn't open their doors to this lot!
this morning walking Pippa there was a strange quiet over the land... we were swathed in a cover of damp cloud... very spooky... but still doesn't beat the sound of being in snow does it? i am having trouble remembering it actually, but that deep quiet all around ... and the funny crunch you make walking as the snow compresses... the chill on your skin and the flakes falling of the sleeping trees... erm right ok! now i am being weird!
so when i got home i went up on the terrace and took these two photos above... you see you cannot see the valley at all, never mind monte gordo or chica oposite! and the villages in the mountains? nada de nada hoy!
these next two, above and below is now, the sun is trying to come through and its getting warm but still the cloud is fighting for its life...
actually getting a bit of a headache so will leave this now, getting more dyslexic (had to spell check that!!) as i go, not sure if its my neck causing problems or too many sweets....
TTFN
Marian
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