I have been a very poor example of a Blogger recently my friends... Been home going into four weeks nearly now! And not Blogged!!  Infact up until yesterday I hadn't even turned on this lap top at all!

The first week of being home Franco and I were out and about, a lot! Local and down to Fuengirola... Then the second week Franco was back home with his mom and family for a week, I was out and about, again! Local and La Canada, Torremolinos... Miramar! And time out just relaxing at home with the Pipster...

Also the week Franco was away was the Semana Santa week, so very noisy and busy around out house, the parades, the people, the parades.... and more parades! LOL

Franco arrived back in the evening of last Sunday, and we stayed at the airport to pick up daughter of a friend who was coming in quite late and staying further down the coast with her friend, so we had a good run down the A7 to drop them off, and home eventually.... We got to bed quite late and felt like we had jet lag when we got up last Monday morning!

We should have got the car ITV'd but something came up on Thursday and by the time we got the car to the garage it was too late, so we are staying close to home this week until we can get it back into the garage for its check up and paperwork on Friday!

Now on the mountain from a week ago last Sunday, shame about that tin sided 'thing'... we had a great view across to that mountain range until a neighbor decided to cover up the whole of his terrace with that delightful tin monstrosity!

Yesterday we had wild wild winds all day, they came with rain and cloud cover so deep even when it wasn't raining you got wet just being out side!  Last week sun burn, yesterday ground level cloud!  I suppose being half way up the mountain doesn't help!  Today is better, still windy, but more sun than cloud, and none of the wet stuff!

We went into town this afternoon, and for half an hour I stood where I used to, when I worked in the papeleria there, people coming in and out, thankfully a quiet half hour for me!  I had trouble working the photocopier! Worked it out in the end!  As a man patiently waited I said "its making a lot of noise with nothing much happening, a bit like me!" he laughed I laughed... my last resort, comedy if all else fails!

Sunday, we as in the town, had a motorbike fest!  Thousands of bikes all on display in the local feria ground, demonstrating this and that, and driving around the town, a lot! Old bikes, new bikes, road and mountain, from the oldest to the youngest, one small boy, must have only been about 7 or 8 on his motorbike!!! Seemed a bit dangerous to me!?!  The police came round on the first circumnavigation of the town with their sirens blaring to warn people motorbikes were coming through!!  We could hear them from here, even on the upper road, this coming weekend is the bicycle... there is always something going on in town, so often we miss things though, seeing it on the local television channel the next morning... Not sure how accessible it is outside of Spain... RTV Alhaurín....   We always see the film crew about town...

Franco has been painting up on the terrace, bright white, tiles back on where they have fallen off, looks great up there now, real bright!!!  I moved a huge lavender plant, it was small when I planted it in the big trough up on the terrace, but it completely took over half the area!  Dominating the rosemary so much it lost its rosemary smell, which is weird!!  And a little succulent I planted months ago, that had disappeared underneath its huge shadow!  So lavender is down on the back terrace by the skylight, its looking a bit sad for itself since the move, hoping it will pick-up eventually, planted a nice new climber near the back wall and we're going to get some flowering flowers for the trough to just be small and look pretty!!  The fig we had there before would have been lovely, but when we weren't here it perished...

Since Semana Santa Pippa has been a bit nervous to go out, slightest noise and she won't go anywhere... some days we have gone out the front door, turned right and left and Pip just pulls to go back into the house, despite wanting to go out initially, or we have been out and she has heard something that makes her think a rocket is going off, like the sound of a persiana being raised or lowered and she refuses to go further and its a question of trying to find a way to get home without her trying to back out of her harness and bolt!  One day a little dog followed us out of the car park by the house and was with us all the way home to the front door!  He would not go away, he was on her tail the whole way, and on some busier roads it was a nightmare!  Pippa is getting very irritated by other dogs now, her patience is as slow as it could be with smaller dogs, she is fine, well better maybe? with bigger dogs, but little things running around her feet get her crazy, and of course me knowing this probably makes it worse if she senses my thoughts!

Okay rambling now time to go!

TTFN
Marian