Friday, May 28, 2010


had a little siesta this afternoon, still trying to get over yesterdays hard slog... anyway, i was asleep and in my dream i was dreaming! that's dreaming in a dream... and in that dream i could hear my Mom talking to me from the next room, but in that dream i knew Mom wasn't here any more and i was crying and trying to wake my self up... so i woke from that dream into my still dreaming self... and tried to wake up again, and again was crying....

i cant remember what my Mom was saying... and i cant stop crying...

So that was yesterday afternoon... felt bad all the rest of the day, had little sleep and feel naff this morning, only good thing was reading about some new idea on a drug for FM, so next time(!) i see a doctor i will ask him about it, its being used at the moment for other things so should be widely available....

Franco and i came up here together just now, he had a quick coffee and is off now, we popped into the chinese here to get a few bits and bobs for the house, you know the usual, face masks, plastic goggles, industrial gloves (roof terrace), normal plastic for indoors, empty spray bottle! just need some bottles of clear white vinegar and some bleach, not to mix together, but giving the mildew and mould a chance with the natural way first back at home soon! bring it on...

not feeling so talkative today, have headache.... going to Ikea tomorrow, so should be having a smile on my face! but pain in my neck is keeping me grounded!

oh photo, i took this here the other day... hope cat doesn't fall asleep, i don't think i can move that fast to catch it if it does and nine lives or not, a 15 or so foot fall wont do it any good!

TTFN
Marian

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Paris above, taken when Mom and i were at the top of the Eiffel Tower...

WOW, just realised i hadn't left this page open when the battery failed me, failed me real bad, told me i had more minutes than i did, i needed just two more minutes so i could down load the book i am reading! my down load had said 1hr and 10 minutes, about, when i came on battery time left 1hr and 14 minutes, or thereabouts, and i suppose having said thereabouts is the thing i should have realised to start with! and turned this off for even ten minutes maybe, or would the on/off thing spent more of the battery than time itself...

so, i waited and right down to the last two minutes left before i could down load it again, i couldn't reserve it either, as, it correctly realised i already had the book, so *it* didn't understand me wanting to reserve it at the same time!

so i had the blog open and clicked on new post and here this has popped up! when i turned this on at the wifi bar the page was still there ok, but i had to refresh the page to put up the photo, or even continue with the post, i copied it once more, just in case, but it was all there, well here... so i will continue, but also, copy and pasting on my notes bit, well you can never be certain of anything being where its supposed to be!

in the news yesterday *they* are saying how eating certain fruits will give you a sun tan! on tv they explained they took a photo of a group of people, these people then ate fresh fruit and vegetables for a month, they took a photo of them again and asked so many people in which photo did the people look best in, more tanned. reply came back the last pic, because they're skin looked fresher, eyes brighter, just overall more healthy, which may have been they thought they looked more tanned...

Bob Hope, or rather *real* name (An)Tony Audenshaw from Emmerdale was just on tv, we, Franco Tony & i saw him when he finished the race at Milton Keynes on Mothers Day this year! we were standing waiting for Kate and along he came!

along with the veggie thing above they were talking about de hydration, and said if you sweat for 90 minutes without taking in any fluids your brain shrinks one year in size! once you drink your brain with expand again, but bit frightening eh! and i suppose the headaches we get when we're dry is actually your brain shrinking! no wonder it hurts!!!!

then the doctor said if your taking exams, apart from the water have some chocolates too, as well as upping your sugar for energy, others who see the chocs and don't have any, will be thinking about them and putting them off their stride!!!

have a trip to Marbella tomorrow to pick up the Wills, wish me luck... well too late by the time you read this and i am sure by now there is more beneath to fill you on what occurred! and hopefully if all has gone well and i have collected the Wills, then hopefully also, we can go to the Notary this week, and get things done, then i can get home and get the house cleaned up, i'm going to do a bit of a video, that i cant down load anyway or show you! how frustrating! i could download them onto Franco's lap top though couldn't i? take both to the wifi bar with me, that would look weird! and still 2 screens short of the four Tony has on his desk at work!!!

no disrespect Ma'am, but the Queens crown looks like it has flashing lights on the front! so many jewels sparkling in so many lights! this was during the Queens speech just now, that i missed typing this....

Wednesday afternoon now... don't know how many of you check out my Twitter updates down there on the right hand side? if you did you would be mighty confused by now!

my lawyer asked me to get the original copy of my Moms will from the lawyer we used to do it. he was, is, in Marbella, so this morning i was on the 9:30am bus to Marbella, took about 35 minutes i think, not much more, then a short walk to the office and up 8 floors to their offices, couldn't believe it the guy who was our lawyer from seven years ago was there, he had gone to offices in Javea, but had been back about 3 years, so, he had a word with our lawyer in Fuengirola about the query, and turns out a *Copia autorizada* sounds like authorised copy, so probably that, is what is needed, the actually Wills in Spain are in the Matrix!!!! no not the movie series, although could be? but in a matrix format, meaning its not a hands on thing, but can be picked up by computer wherever its needed from Madrid where the matrix is!

so i went down a couple of floors to the Notary where i could get the above document, but, of course there is always a but! and this but was that they needed to see the original death certificate, the one i had done from English to Spanish with an English Notary back in Berkhamsted... this little item of course was with my lawyer.... in Fuengirola! so at 11am i am back at the bus stop waiting for another bus... which came about 11:20am, off to Fuengirola, this journey was a lot longer, many many people of the bus, tourists which is good from the industry point of view, but not mine! so i arrived in town about ten past 12:30! a nice fast walk trying not to knock any dawdlers over, and i arrived at my lawyers office! collected documents, had a short bathroom pit stop! and off to the nearest bus stop, this one luckily was nearer than the bus station and once there a bus came about quarter past one... back to Mar-be-lla!

i got back to the Notary's office at 14:05, 25 minutes before closing!!! first he said "you will have to come back for the Copia tomorrow"!!!! my face must have fallen to the floor because the man who would be doing all the computer work, said, oh no its ok i will do it! and then my blood must have started pumping again because i felt all faint, this happened yesterday? and i asked for some sugar, he came out with a whole bag! and a spoon, i said i only needed a couple of spoonfuls please! so in a cup that's what he gave me, and i got the sugar in quick and felt better, must have been quite normal for them because non of them registered anything strange about my request, in fact the man on the computer agreed that's what i probably needed!

at 14:28 someone took the paper work to the top bloke, the Notary himself i guess in a different room, and it came a couple of minutes later.... phewey!

down in the elevator i went, not my first choice of the two in the building the one waiting didn't do anywhere when i pushed the buttons, so got out of it quickly!

i then went down to the paseo, at last not rushing, not having to be anywhere quick... i took a walk along to where Mom and i used to go, the people we used to know who ran the restaurant are long now, but i still chose the same place, old habits eh!

so glad i did though, El Teja, (i think its called), sells all the norm, but some wonderful tapas, of which i chose two, one named tortilla de gambas, a prawn omelet of some sort came to mind... strangely! and calamaris de romana, so squid therefore!

squid was nice, nice little squidge of lime rather than lemon which is my preference, but the tortilla de gambas was just the best, not really sure how to explain them, a photo would have been good and maybe if i had been two, not one, one of us could have taken a photo, but that so was not going to happen on my own! they were the thinnest omelet i have ever seen with such a wonderful flavour of the prawns and herbs, be-auti-ful! there were two and i could have eaten more, want more now!

and so, after that nice little break of tapas and a coffee, really should have been a glass of good Rioja of course, shall have to go back and do it properly now... well not right now! i walked back up to the bus stop... and yes, caught a bus! about half hour wait, must have just missed one!!!!

i got back and off at the Cabopino end of Calahonda, noticing on my way through there earlier the sign there says Bienvenida Marbella, welcome to Marbella! and the first thing you see is a dilapidated building, hotel, apartment block thing, totally graffiti'd from head to... tail! Ummm, doesn't look good for Mar-be-lla!!!!

you do see so much from a bus that you don't from a car i must say, but four journeys by bus and about 3 hours on board in one day is a bus ride too far....

oh next step now with all the paperwork i have acquired is with my lawyer and the Notary back in Fuengirola...

here i am now, live, so to speak, wondering why the mouse doesn't work, when i have forgotten plug the stick thingy in! funny how much better it does work when it is!

was also thinking on my way here how i do go on a bit don't i? i remember so clearly my Uncle Dave, back in Charlotte one holiday year ago, saying to me, "Mariachi... you build a clock when you tell a story!" cant remember why he called me mariachi, like the music, or because Marian and Mariachi go together!?! anyway, yes i do build a Grand Daddy of all clocks when i tell my stories of my days don't i? but then yesterday would have been....

... went to both Marbella and Fuengirola to get paperwork sorted for Notary yesterday... full stop!...

i want you to see, feel, through my eyes, so this is what you get!

life would be boring if conversation were short!

i think i will get this up and loaded now, its a long blog and some of you's be getting tired eyes by now amigos!

so TTFN
Marian
i was going to add a poem or something up there, googled poem and came to this immediately, don't ask me how, its how things happen sometimes... A Journey of the Hands... i stopped to open it really because i keep waking up with my hands in fists... its good, but sad, but good.... so open with caution...

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

above Mom and i in Cadiz, Tony camerman! love this photo!

Trying something new... well to me, am seeing if i can work on blogger off line, at least do all the work here and not have to do all the copy and pasting stuff

after i had blogged today a loverly little birdie came a by, parked his little tushy up on the edge of roof and did a doo doo that landed right here on my shift/ctrl keys! and after cleaning them up a message came up about sticky keys! well yes i did! but i clicked cancel anyway!

i tried the lawyer again, a hour later as asked, still not in, was 11:30am, so....

and so of course i will copy and paste this to docs, in case this isn't here next time!

i seem to have been a bit lax with my on line book also, and it runs out today, i cannot reload it until it runs out! so will read a bit today, maybe, and hope no one is waiting for it tomorrow and i can grab it back straight away! i cant read outside which doesn't help! cant see the screen!

today, above, is now yesterday, and so time goes does it not!

bank machine still not working... and lawyers not answering phone at all now! well it is only 10:22am after all!!!

i didn't get to read my book, too tired, hope when i get home i will get some much needed energy to clean up all the mildew and mould! is it my FM or the sea air making me so exhausted, i am finding hard to even hold up a cup of coffee, thats how bad it is! i wasn't even sure about coming up here today, thought an hour ago i wouldn't i would just stay sat down all day, but that probably wouldn't make me feel any better, so now just have to hope i get back again!

this off line page stayed, so hopefully when i click post it will do!

TTFN
Marian

ahem... clicking *enable wireless* might help!

Monday, May 24, 2010



photo above sort of borrowed, a photo of a friends photo... the one above is quite evidently for my Mom, and the one below is how i imagine the fire escape to look like in Moms reoccurring dream...


i wonder if she found her man there, the one she often dreamed of, over the years both of them getting older, he in dream land, her here...

this photo below is a photo i actually took by mistake, but looks cool! it Maria's string... nets? what are they called, they're not really net curtains are they? we have them at home too, anyway, they keep your privacy in and the flys out!


on Supernanny US this morning Jo suggested a good idea, she got the little 3yr old to put all his pacifiers into an envelope to send to the paci fairy, and he got an envelope back in the morning with little animals and there was fairy dust and glitter around the mail box where she had been! 28 years ago i had a similar idea, only i thought 2yrs was probably a year too long to be having a pacifier for my oldest, so we got him to put all his into a brown envelope also, but we sent it off to Father Christmas, it was a month before Christmas and he got a little something extra for doing so! and he, just like the little boy on the tv, slept soundly and never asked again for them! when i was moving from England i came across a brown envelope, addressed to Father Christmas, i opened it, inside 3 or 4 pacifiers..... did i cry?

its Saturday today, Pip and i have been out, but that's it for today until this evening, its a struggle to get to the top of the road at the moment, yesterday Franco called on his way home and we met him up at Lidl... my 4th walk! 3 too many, when we get back home i am going to start taking the Samento again, remember i was taking it back in England, but was probably not a good idea to come of the anti inflamatories at the same time as some people do, so i am going to stay on regular meds, and take the Samento at the same time, see if it helps at all, i am also hoping its not going to be taken off the market, i received this in an email the other day about taking some herbal meds off the market in the EU, i don't know if its just Chinese, or across the board, i cant believe they would even take Chinese herbal remedies off the market, these have been used for thousands of years, long before western medication, they seem to have a higher rate of cure, they are natural, Mom was taking one for anti cancer, she was taking before and after we went to Paris, she stopped taking them the month after we came back from France. i dont know if they were helping, if it was too late....

i noticed when we came back from our walk this morning, some people renting an apartment over the way had they're bedroom windows open, persianas up... rather them than me for sure, any gypsies about would have been in, whether they were in they're room or not!... its Monday now, how time flys, and holiday'ers over the way are still risking it with their open windows and persianas! oh well sé la ví... or whatever!

Monday morning now, before wifi, just downloaded the photos on here and confused myself by reading *its Saturday today, * so goodness knows how you keep up with what i am on about half the time, or, of course, maybe you don't and are just as confused as I!

our lawyers accountant phoned me on Friday to ask, again, if i had the original wills, i said, again, i did not! but i would check at home and call him today, over weekend we came across an article saying about a woman who hadn't got her will and on requesting it was told a charge of over 9€ a month had been in force and she owed well over a thousand euros! well good luck with that if that happens to us, we actually thought we had the real wills....

had expected to be home as off this weekend past, but have to see above in Fuengirola and with road still closed and bus taking a day and half to get there... (not really!!!), more just the case of infrequent buses isn't it from Alhaurín, 9:30am and 2:30pm, you kind of stuck! Alhaurín is a big town with lots of people, doesnt make sense, the smallest of villages where i used to live have a bus an hour at least, even if the bus has to come off the beaten track go into the village and back out the same road, it does it....

poor old Fergie, what was she thinking, 500 thousand on info on her ex Price Andrew! UUUmmmm, ok Dave, better watch out, (but i will split it 50/50 with you ok! just don't tell anyone!), but isn't all this entrapment, if a journalist pretends something to be other than it is, to trap people into situation they wouldn't otherwise have been drawn into? isn't entrapment illegal?

did i tell you a fellow neighbour from here has fixed the gate to the beach now? he and his wife wired it up closed, three or four places on the right and left, so we safe here now for sure! and when we went out yesterday through the security gate that's been broken, its fixed, i wonder if he did that too!



what about this little feller? well little is maybe not the word! this morning he was failing about on his back with his legs going like he had an invisible cycle! poor thing, Franco gave him a prod with his key but he just rolled down another step, which was probably why he was on his back in the first place! when Pip and i got back half hour later, the plucky *little* feller was still cycling for his life, no ant attack yet thank goodness, so i just popped him back onto his feet! and he was away, but slowly....

i wonder if our internet was cancelled back home? guess we will find out when we get back eh! i still have to phone them to get our 23€ back for reconnection fee, i think it must the fair up in Alhaurín this week going by all the lights as you come and go into the town, the lower road is covered from roof top to roof top in blue plastic sheeting, giving the street beneath a strange blue light...

well that's it for now, will switch off and get up to the bar about 10am, hasta pronto amigos!


you know i cant ever remember going into a bank in England and getting wound up? cash point here not working, nothing too new there i guess, and THE most robbed machine in the area, rife for cloning and general thieving! so go in, up to desk, only one, and only one person, who says he is doing something, man in an office comes back out after five minutes and up to desk to complete his transaction! he wants money out! 10 thousand euros! obviously without previous notice no banks are going to give that, but after filling out numerous forms he gets 1.500€ and is coming back for the rest tomorrow! he liked to show off this man, he took his mobile phone out several times in the ten minutes of waiting at the desk! it was *lovely*, all gold! the lovely there was said very sarcastically by the way! what a first class plonker! will have to come back to the bank tomorrow now, to complete what i needed to do, just hope i am not there when buddy boy is getting out the rest of his dosh!

TTFN
Marian

ps phoned lawyer already, 10:30, and he is not in yet, maybe an hour the receptionist said!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Tony's girlfriend Kate and her Mom are running this on Sunday, the Hairy Haggis team relay, an Edinburgh half marathon...

Good Luck Kate and Michele!
view above through Cross at El Chorro...
apparently they are starting work on it soon, well in September, the month it should have been finished and soon, we will all be able to walk the walk around the mountains up there again... El Camino Del Rey, the World's Scariest Pathway! oh and Good luck with that amigos!

Wednesday as i write, lots of *action* going on here last evening! something drew my attention outside and we [Pippa &i],watched as people seemed to be running like crazies from here and the complex next door, running down through the open [broken still] gate to the beach and back again, hiding things behind they're backs! a guy from somewhere ran off with a huge grey box! then was back for more!!! well this morning Franco and i went up to El Zoco this morning and there were four guys in the sea, police scuba divers, and lots of police up and down the beach, and lots of grey empty packages everywhere... and later, we took a walk along to Cabopino, must have been over a dozen of these empty boxes, looks like a huge haul of hash came ashore last evening! boxes strewn from here half way to Cabopino! police still out on beach positioned along the coast, looking out for more incoming packages maybe? or bodies??? no boat, and i guess the people who should have been there to receive the drugs missed, or messed up! anyway, the police had been here all day... on our way back just now from another Pippa walk, the police were talking to a group of gypsies who were on the road to our apartments here! not sure if they caught them coming or going! i had another word with a different gardener this morning about the broken gate that leads out onto the street, he thought it was working fine, he has probably been putting in the code and pushing gate without realising he can just push the gate open! and the beach gate, this morning after Franco and i passed out through it we bolted it on the one side, so probably very awkward now to open, but better that then being left broken and just leaning against the hedgerow!

we also went down to La Cala, again, two times in two days! i go for months without a visit! the saddle shop was open today! yeah! bought a tub of saddle cleaner... for our sofa, he said lots of people use it for sofas! so lets hope it works on our green and mould sofa eh!

was a good walk this afternoon, tiring though, i wore trainers! looked silly maybe? but easier to walk in than flip flops for me... we had a drink in the bar near the port, no parasols up yet so may have been ok for the touristas but was hell for me!!! and after a look around the port an ice cream!

yesterday, Tuesday, we went to La Cala, saddle shop not open, as you have gathered already! said opens at 10am, but hadn't and didn't! then Franco and i went back to El Zoco, we had a drink outside the wifi bar, Franco left and i went in, i said to the guy could i please have another tea, in about ten minutes, about an hour later i went to remind him! i guess in my little corner i am out of sight out of mind! still indoors, quieter in here...

this morning we went into the local bank, you know the one! and the man let me take out all my stuff before telling me the system was down! we came back later and it was back up again!!!! and jobs done!

ok live now!! police still down on beach, yesterday afternoon i risked a walk along the path and two police were dodging waves to pick up small packages! and just now drove past me on my way out!

last night two guys were fixing the gate to the beach, not the gardeners, one of the residents, they were wiring it up on both sides! so that's sorted for now isn't it!

yesterday afternoon i went under the N340 to get to a friends house, they used to live in Alhaurín and moved down here about two years ago, sat on her front veranda for a couple of hours, body out of the sun but my legs got scorched... brown this morning? no! why? don't understand why they just don't get brown!

had charged up this little baby of mine but seems there is only hour and half now? so better get cracking...

Franco was going crazy when he got home last night reading through a whole bunch on new road laws coming into force here in Spain, i will either have to look at them, or link to them... may be back in a minute.... hang on... ok i have linked to the Sur in English on line here, its still last weeks copy, but should be updated today... lots of speeding fines, no 10% allowance here as in UK, tail gating fines, good! loads others...

i think my Mom wanted me know she was about the other day... i opened my purse and a half dollar coin landed on my lap! didn't know that was in there... if it was???

TTFN
Marian

Monday, May 17, 2010



Do you want to hear a joke? of course you do...

woman goes into a spanish bank to pay in an english cheque! correct bank... but no! you can only pay this in to your own branch... but here is the full account number? no, it has to be paid directly into the correct branch, we can post it there for you? what! no! woman leaves bank laughing, laughter turns to tears.... how ridiculous!

joke? no my reality!

now to my copied and pasted from offline mode notes!

i love this bit in the book i am reading now Brother Odd, by Dean Koontz, its the 3rd in the Odd series, it says..... well Odd is speaking he says something about some gum then goes on to say... "I have leaned a great deal from novels. Some of it is even true." does this sound familiar to you!

wonderful weather today, Saturday, no sign of rain, non forecast though! yesterday it looked like rain but didn't!

we went up to the house this morning, all ok, well same as.... picked up mail, forgot a few things i meant to pick up, brought back things we had in the back of the car that we forgot to take out and down to the house.... there are road works on the Mijas pueblo road now, well been there about 2 or 3 weeks now, its the third Saturday we have had to line up to get past them, the road has subsidence, no one working on it, well it is the weekend after all and a very busy road!!??


on our way back down we went into Miramar, the road to Calahonda and beyond was closed, a truck had come off the road, we saw it on the way down, but it looked like now they were probably using a huge crane to get it out of the gulley, it had gone through the crash barrier and gone some way along the ditch thing that carries away the rain water...


no pictures of that, just the empty bars and restaurants in Miramar, four closed in the food hall near the cinema section! dont know how long the two fast food chains will last... cant believe the pizza place has gone! it was cheap and always good, made fresh right there in front of you... lots of shops closed too, when, and its a big when of course, they have built the massive super shopping centre in Torremolinos this place may be even emptier, but then, you have to go to Torre and parking there is bad now, buses take about an hour!.....

last time we were there was with Barry and we found then the restaurant downstairs, which i preferred was also gone... still is!

met up with our old neighbour yesterday, as in old from where we used to live!!! had a couple of coffees and a good talk...her Dad died December 29th... what an awful last few months for so many people i know, the guy who used to help Mom with the garden, his wife died a couple of weeks before my Mom, i didn't tell her, i went to school with their daughter...i think that's five Moms and a Dad, in just over 2 months.... of people i know of course...

Newspaper news... our Prime minister Zapatero's cuts: public worker salaries, average of 5% pay cut: 3bn euros. Pensions: frozen from 2011: 1.5bn, Baby cheque 2,500 euro pay out to parents at birth scrapped from 2011 1.2bn. benefits no longer back-dated, infrastructure cuts: 6.04bn, few other things totalling estimated savings of 15.015 billion euros.

a woman attacked by a huge dog was brought down by the first bite on her leg, then another 3 dogs joined in the attack, a man came when he heard the poor woman's screams, and said, "tranquila, no pasa nada"!!! quiet, its alright! just like the idiot in the woods with Pip and i, he took two of the dogs, he couldn't manage all four, the two that were left attacked her again biting her neck! she managed to get a way to her home 300 meters away and is now in Malaga hospital needing skin grafts, they tore of the back of her leg, the matter is now in the hands of Seprona, the Guardia Civil nature protection service.

La Barracuda Hotel in Montemar, Torremolinos is an apartment hotel, the laws changed there six years ago and the owners can only use their apartments for eight weeks a year free of charge and then only between October and April, not at Christmas, new year or Easter! if they want to use their own properties outside that period they then need to pay the hotel to use their own properties that they have paid for and have the title deeds to! in high season this equates to 66 euros per night plus tax! there is one British lady who lives off a modest pension and lives there full time and has no other property to move into. she can't sell the lace as no one in their right mind would buy it and she can't afford pay the fees of staying in her own place in the high season, so she could be homeless!!! at a recent meeting the hotel management requested the keys of these apartments in order to accommodate their clients during the summer season. in return the owners would receive a percentage of the profits, however should the business make a loss, the owners would be liable for this too!!!!

school children in Valez who are having trouble getting up for school on time are to get a wake up call knock on the door before 9am to make sure they are up and getting ready for school!

my horoscopes in one paper told me to ... wandering amount the trees, listening to the birds, it will help you to relax!... it doesn't mention to watch out for attacking dogs though does it!!!

in Mijas, we think it must have meant Mijas pueblo, it is now illegal to walk you dog, in parks, near fountains, play areas, green areas, they must be muzzled whatever size and always on a leash, you must also have dog passport on you at all times, although they are supplying doggy bags for free!


photos of dingy...



And here at the apartment on the beach! not in the papers! when Pip and i went out bright and early this morning lots of police down the road to the beach here and in the urbanisation next door, they were all on the beach surveying a massive speed boat dingy, four engines, about 30 foot long! massive thing! so i guess a lot of drugs came into Spain here last night whilst we slept on... the fence had been folded over where the men must have climbed over into next door...

THE most expensive meal at the new restaurant in El Zoco, the Japanese, 300€ per person!

our old place down here at Calypso, when it was raining for so long they had a leak from the roof... i guess despite all the mold and mildew in our house, we were lucky not to have running water, well except in our cave... where the photos and old books are that i am trying not to think about yet, or until i have to!


something also learned from Dean (Koonz).. a Hogshead... is 63 US gallons of wine back in....????? well looks like back to at least the 11th century... so that's where the name comes from for the branches of Hogshead bars in England, if they're still going?

ok back to real time, for me! still getting over the bank *joke*... still shaking my head in disbelief....

i think today i shall use this little quote, been saving it for the right moment, today is it!

A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma...
(the banks in spain)
also apparently said by Winston Churchill to describe Russia in 1939

TTFN
Marian

Thursday, May 13, 2010

a poor quality photo of a cruise liner pulling out of Malaga port we think, caught in the sun set, i imagine a much better view of us from there, than them from here!!!

these two pics are the mess being caused just now by the works in next doors complex, above Franco and Pip walking towards the almost non existent path... and below the state of the beach!


that's interesting... on the English news just now they are warning people about caterpillars that can cause severe health problems, they are nesting in oak trees and another i cant remember, already!?! i wonder which clever person brought back a beautiful pine cone from Spain and out came a caterpillar then? i suppose most people have, i did when i used to holiday out here and didn't know the severity or actually even the specie's! its feb to april for the little critters here, but they are saying may to June in England... beware!!!!

i applied for a job that was offered to me from the promotions company i have worked for before, it was only last night i really thought about it though, and the impossibility really for me to be able to do it! i would have to leave about 8am to get to the airport for ten, that sounds extreme but there is the walk to the bus stop in town, the wait, the hours ride, the walk from the N340, it would take an extra hour if i got the bus all the way into Malaga city and then waited for the airport bus back again, passing the same places twice! its about 15 to 20 minutes to get to departures from there, i would need a coffee after that long haul trip alone! then be standing all day, just to repeat the process at the end of the day, its only 30 hour week, all weekends, so maybe 6 hours a day with a half hour break, maybe? so would be home between 6 & 7pm, so i don't know, and i might not be offered it of course, they didn't mention having to be fluent written and spoken Spanish so we will see....

i don't normally get any bites, the first couple of years here maybe, then the odd one or two, but i am covered in them! at night i hear the little brute, after he has bitten me and thanking me for my blood! and he wouldn't leave me alone last night! buzz buzz buzz, when he wasn't bothering me i could hear Pippa snapping at it! Franco slept on.....! well until a family arrived about 1am behind here, pulling out the table and chairs and parasol... not to use then, of course, in the night, in the dark! but the racket they made! consideration amigos por favor!!!!

haven't made it to wifi today, too tired and woke up with another head ache, drink a load of coffee and took a pain killer... Franco bought home a paper with loads of info about migraines, as if us migraineurs don't know enough already about our symptoms, but it was an interesting read,the info reads... "the biggest misunderstanding is that a migraine is just a severe headache. it is, in fact, a complex neurological disease that affects the central nervous system which is accompanied by a range of physical and emotional symptoms. that they are caused by abnormal brain biochemistry and are not, as some believe, self-induced. they are a chronic, neurological illness that is present from birth and is in most cases inherited from one or both parents, sorry boys! a staggering one in ten Britons suffer from migraine, it is the ninth leading cause of disability in the world, more common than diabetes or asthma, being genetic condition, sufferers cannot be cured, but the debilitating effects can be minimised. avoiding chocolate and MSG can trigger a migraine in some people, but not in everyone, everyone's experience or history is different. there is so much here, too much for me to copy, it goes on to say caffeine is the cheapest, easiest, most available drug to treat a migraine. it constricts blood vessels which can decrease pain, if you feel a migraine coming on, try drinking a cup or two of strong black coffee or caffeinated soft drink, caffeine also helps you absorb other medications, which is another reason why it is included in some of these medications. it also suggests two massages a week for five weeks cut back on migraines by 50 per cent!! i said to Franco i have always had coffee when i felt a bad head coming, no one told me, i just knew it helped, quite often it would be a Costa coffee or two, and or a glass of coke, usually helped, i remember once coming back from Milton Keynes, Mom in the car with me and speaking to Tony, (when we were allowed to use phones whilst driving i hasten to add!!), and Tony had just got to MK, which was strange enough, but then he had a head ache also! we do that a lot! and now he knows its probably my fault! the paper also mentioned magnesium to help, my mate Lisa got me using that years ago, do you remember? i think i stopped taking it though after coming here, i was getting them still when on holidays in UK... then stopped... probably about 6 years ago... heck, that's a while now isn't it!

ok, leaving this here Pip is wanting to go out, but she must wait a while yet, sorry honey...

well we went out about 5pm, off to our new venue of the woods! BIG mistake, we were just entering, literally when the german shepherd we have seen a few times before from more of a distance was coming along the path with owner, off the leash and onto us in seconds! i must have looked like a whirling dervish! Pippa running behind me, it following, raring up on its hind legs teeth bared growling and snapping, me spinning to release me from the lead and Pippa and IT! the owner arrived at the moment i started squirting it with water, carrying a little spray bottle now for such emergency's, although it had no effect at all and wished i had the pepper spray! although i guess me and Pip would have ended up with more in our eyes than an aggressive dog would have had! been back a while now and my heart hasn't stopped hammering away madly! don't need to take my BP my head is banging and cant see straight and hands shaky as a shaky thing!!! brought back all my old fears of dogs, i used to so scared of them when i was younger, i think i was more afraid than Pippa! her? now? asleep on the floor...

so before i forget, did i mention the other week the bins here have a wall and roof around them, open fronted for you to chuck your rubbish in every day, well probably the refuse truck knocked it off its base and there was a huge, dangerous bit where the corner had separated from both sides and the base! today they are now, as i type rebuilding it! good job! the gate which has been broken for a few days, still is! you can just push it open without need of pin code on lock, but then as the beach gate still hasn't been fixed....well! now if i was President here... i wouldn't have let Juan get away with these things not being fixed immediately!!!! oh they're still working next door, took some pics last night, the beach is ruined here! you would think they would have done this work in winter would you not?

adío!

ok amigos its thursday morning now, my spelling up there was atrocious, worse than normal, must have been the headache, the spell check took ages!

so this morning, Pippa put her trust in me and we went back to the forest... well we are stuck the beach is a no go to turn right with the men working on it, and it was nearly 9am so didn't want to risk coming down along it from El Capricho bar, so we had no choice really for her to do her business... we walked along side it while i checked in out for wild animals or people! and we entered from further on, we were taking a side path when we came across the Swedish lady we met up with a few weeks previously, i told her about the awful incident yesterday and she said it sounds like the dog that attacked her friends golden retriever two weeks ago, causing 22 stitches for the poor thing! i said did she go to the police and she said she did, and they said "its just a dog!" with a shrug of their shoulders... so its against the law the dog was un leashed un muzzled and nearly killed her dog, but it didn't matter...

i picked up a stick in the wood, maybe better than the little spray bottle of water, but you know i truly think if i hit a dog with it to get it off us, the owner would very likely hit me...

heard back about the job, they sent me more information as i requested and hope to hear back from me... er, sorry nope! or at least only to say no, sorry, not for me! i was correct about the six hours a day thursday through to and including monday, ok, for three months ok, six hours a day yes would have been great only they read like this... 10:00 - 13:00 and then... 18:00 - 21:00! a five hour break in the middle, the last bus outta Malaga is at 8pm to Alhaurín el Grande, so, i guess if i could actually *live* at the airport then that would be the only way.... er no, not doing that!

we had a drop of rain again yesterday, not much just a sprinkling...
looks cloudy again today and forecast is for rain, what is going on, its hot... days and at night just right for now, that will soon change...


Teach us...
To give and not to count the cost;
To fight and not to heed the wounds;
To toil and not to seek for rest...

- St. Ignatius Loyola, by way of Dean Koontz and Brother Odd

was going to leave this here but thought i better check out the above Saint before i just leave a quote from him without knowing him better, glad i did now, check out the link folks....

TTFN
Marian

Tuesday, May 11, 2010







phew its so humid today already, only 830am, and its awful! my skin feels damp! luvverly eh! we had rain yesterday(??), quite a bit of it too! it was still hot, so when it stopped it was like walking through the jungle! this morning started out bright but the sky looks threatening now, dark grey and sooooo humid! when Pip and i were out earlier our walk down through the *dry* river bed, wasn't so dry, the journey down from the forest was wet enough with lots of tall grass and bamboo plants, but then the river bed grass seemed longer today or maybe just where it had been moved about by the rain, i don't know, but when we got back home Pip looked like she has been out in a rain storm! i was wet to the knees but she was wet to the tips of her ears, and as you know that way high!!!!

yesterday afternoon i saw a man on a terrace over the way open up his lap top and start talking... i had two thoughts...

pause... its pouring now, just got the clothes line in, have clothes to hang in a few minutes???

ok back to those two thoughts... man on terrace talking to his lap top! ah ha, i thought wifi! so we turned on ours and there was a signal, and we both seemed to be on line, but couldn't open up any pages, so not sure really! so many people use wifi without security, oh by the way didn't to be doing anything bad, just wanted to read my emails!! and do a little surfing as usual! if we knew the guys next door were online and wifi we would be giving them half costs to use it!

oh and by the way the second thought i had from above was that the man was just a crazy guy talking to himself!!!!

so its raining, looking like i wont be going on line today then amigos, i have a bad head ache again anyway, so probably not a good idea to drag myself up there, sit on a hard plastic chair for an hour or more then try to get back here!

on the other hand we now have no milk! mercadona is closer though so if it stops i could always try to get there for la leche!

now whats been occurring since Thursday? Friday i didn't go to far from home apart from the three walks with Pippa! Saturday Franco and i went up to the house, checked everything was ok there, humid in there too! and more jungle like than the week before! actually i don't thing it looked any worse, i just want to get in there and get it all cleaned up, road should be opening up soon, fingers crossed!??? we went from there to Ikea, had to get a few things for someone, so Franco thought as he knows how much i love the place we could go together on Saturday, and i do! so we did! we got there about 10am, and it was packed! the restaurant opens first about half hour before i think, and the store was filling up already! i had a piece of dime cake, you know like the dime chocolate? mmmmm nice with coffee, Franco had a toasty! then we travelled the upper part of the store, with all the rooms and furniture before going downstairs to where all the bits and bobs are! i could fill a truck with all those bits! but we just got what was on Francos list and then had to run the gaunlet of daudlers at the warehouse pick up points... so we did a run though there, we really did run! and straight to a check out, had to wait of course, there are always phone calls to make as bar codes don't work, weirdly Franco knew the price of the tea clothes the cashier didn't know, and that the price 1.99, was for 4 items! which the customer was pleased to know! then we were out of there... with a catalogue, which i have read a few times already, and if the rain keeps up i will read again today!

above, the merry go round on the Paseo Maritimo in Fuengirola, exactly same as the one in Milton Keynes at Christmas, there on the right, just about to go out of sight is the Cinderella carriage than is the same as the one Mom and i went on the Christmas before last.

from there we went dropped off the things, had coffee with friends and came home via a trip to Mercadona, we had a lunch of mussels, cooked in garlic, Italian white wine and a bit of parsley! and very nice it was too! just a shame we forget to get a stick of bread, never mind! at the check out they were just closing a couple of tills, well it was lunch time, who needs four tills open at that time of day!!!

really raining now, can you hear it! no guttering here, so its straight down, hope its not raining up in Alhaurín....

i wonder if my friend got home last week with these flight cancellations again? i haven't heard, remember i said the last time this volcano erupted it lasted for a year back in the early 1800's, they're saying it could last a year this time too now!

i keep forgetting i say one of my favorite birds the other week! it was in the garden of a house near the McDonald's just here the Hoopo bird! i used to see them when i was working on the golf courses down here... they are amazing, will search out a photo for you and put that up once i am on line... its may why is it raining, again.....?

wondering also who bought Moms table and painting, in the catalogue it said picture of a mother with her two children! it wasn't just a mother! it was Mary with baby Jesus and John the baptist as a child! it was painted in the early 1700's, 300 years old in the school of ---------, i hope who every bought them will love them and look after them well..... i wish i wasn't the type of person who got attached to *things*, its stupid really, they are just things after all, so far this year i haven't really lived with my things have i? first 2 and half months in England with only a case of my things, and now since were back home in Spain, we're staying at Maria's, and i only have a case of my things still dont i?

i was talking to a friend of mine the other, who also just lost her Mom, a couple of weeks before me in fact, and i said i feel like i have lost my anchor, my compass is just spinning with no north... she feels just the same, two lost little girls all over again....

raining so hard to tv is breaking up now....and its gone! hey ho!

i don't even have a book downloaded at the moment arh!!!!!

oh you wouldn't believe it... at home, a letter from Telefonica, a bill, and they are charging us 23€ for re connecting our phone, when it was there fault for not taking the money from the correct account, again! what incredible stupidity, i am going to get the local guy here from Telefonica to phone his office for me, he speaks about 8 languages, and i shall explain the whole idiotic story to him and get him to tell them that i want the 23€ paid back and if not we're cancelling Telefonica permanently! the whole thing, no phone nada! its just gone beyond a joke now, such incompetence for such a big company, we were laughing yesterday watching the Grandprix, Moviestar, telefonicas mobile network! rubbish, poor reception and expensive! great advert guys!!!!

ok i am going now, hang the washing out, in, and read my Ikea catalogue, again!

Tuesday now! it rained mostly on and off all day yesterday, and a huge percentage of the night!

while passing a rental car on the street yesterday i was thinking there is another con! well i don't know about other places, or even here i suppose how it really works but if you take out a car, its checked on hand over and any knocks and nics written down, so you take the car, you have a knock/accident whatever, you will lose your deposit, 200€ or more! but the next customer comes along, the damage is again noted on hand over... and here we go again! the rental cars in Spain are about the same as most of the cars here, obviously the newer the better, and i think most never get much past the two year mark before they are replaced, but is the work ever done? your deposit ever used actually for work done on the car? yes if its something like a mirror, or once in our case a door lock, the car was broken into within half hour of us collecting it! but we didn't lose all the money, the guy in Alhaurín told us how much the lock cost and labour costs and that's what we paid, but if your holidaying here...? i think if you lose your deposit you should be sent a copy of the bill for repairs, at least you would know your money has actually been used and not just taken!

this morning on the beach above...

there were tractors on the beach every time it stopped raining! i thought they must be doing more of a clean up job... but when we went out last evening to walk Pip we walked right up on the path and they are clearing, digging and removing all the tiling next door! the urbanisation next door that is... last few weeks they have been replacing the small little blue tiles in the big pool, which had been empty since we got here along with all the other pools next door, so now, they have fixed the pool... no water though, and now they are using big machinery to break up and remove all the tiles surrounding the pool?? er hello! vibration and all that? would like to take bets on how quickly the pool will start to crumble now! no common sense or planning? is it the same people who are doing the roads around Alhaurín? no just kidding i know its not!


anyway... i have gone off on a tangent as usual! so they are using the drive from here to get on the beach then 2 or 3 tractors up and down and down and back! making a huge pathway down onto the beach from where they're wall used to be! down onto the beach, so that was a slippy walk last night! no one can walk on the beach between here and Cabopino, or of course do any sun bathing from outside here! Franco has an idea that we will come back here later and find the whole complex gone! they did build twice the amount that was on the plans, are higher and nearer the beach than the law states, mind you looking at the state of them it looks like they will be falling down all by themselves!!!

above and below shows the damage or wear and tear from just over 5 years... above apartment is actually crumbling away!



Also, and to be quite honest have ruined Maria's view of Cabopino and the wonderful sun sets that come from that direction!

hope i can get up to the wifi bar today, going stir crazy when it rains, but if i can get up there and down load a book i will be fine! Franco isn't starting till noon so will get a lift down to El Zoco...

yeah! i am here, i am wifi, i am! now need to get the photos up loaded on here, must remember the bird too! The Hoopoe Bird!


TTFN
Marian

Thursday, May 06, 2010

Tom Waits - Green Grass


Happy Birthday Barry! cant believe its my oldest babies 30th Birthday today! what?? i'm not old enough, he is definitely now older than i! Barry is the little honey on the right up there!

no breeze down here today, little bit misty is all... was better here yesterday than day before when my fingers had turned blue and took hours to regain feeling again! but yesterday i was only here briefly, only just made it here, then went home as quick as i could felt awful and a migraine came to visit, had some imigran thank goodness, took one, went to bed for about 3 hours and got up with no head ache! i wish they had invented these 30 years ago, i have lost so many days of my life! and now this has been the third migraine in a month...

Pippa and i had a change of view on our walk this morning, i think the beach is out of bounds now for us, from May to September no dogs, we don't actually go on the beach but on the path above, but its a close call if push comes to shove weather its really the beach or not, so we took a tour of a pine forest... normally a no go zone with the caterpillars but i am hoping they have gone by now, and Pip loved it, we then found a track, well i did, i had an idea it would meet up with one of rivers that comes down to the beach, someone at some time had walked down there and we pushed our way through and down a steep slope to come out between urbanisations and then it was only two minutes on the beach path and home!

wow, i am clever! been hearing just a line of a song in an ad on TV and its been bugging me no end, well i am having a bit of a music fest today with YouTube, at last remembering to bring my head set! and i found the music... its Green Grass by Tom Waits! i have 4 or 5 of his CD's, i didn't know the singer was him, but now i know it is, i know why i had to *track* it down! no pun intended! i think i have just published it straight to here, just found the bit of publishing from YouTube straight to Twitter, FB and Blogger!

Just remember the Auction is today for a couple of Moms things, two things that i dearly wanted to keep and couldn't, no where for them.... just checked out the catalogue, and feeling sad now for them going...

and now i think i will go...

TTFN
Marian

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

well firstly *Heroes*... last one of Chapter 5 last night, Chapter 6 *Brave new world* to come...but when??? this series started the first Saturday i had arrived here at the beginning of January, i was at Tony's, i did miss the second episode, i thought the repeat was on a Sunday the first showing being the Saturday before, so the second one i think it was, somehow i missed, and then the other week i didn't watch Sundays episode and went to watch it on Saturday... it wasn't on and so missed it, stupidly they showed that episode the week after!! but i didn't watch it! but i think 17 out of 19 wasn't bad...

do i go on about nothing sometimes... oh well!!


what do you think about the above photo? was looking down at it from the balcony yesterday, checked it out a few times, it was huge, it didn't move and other people seemed to look at it as they walked by... from the terrace it looked like a huge giant slug! i had to go down in the end to check it out! it was an avocado! so another U. F(fallen).O. identified!

zoomed in a bit for bigger pic, still looks like a slug eh!



above view normal.... this photo is of Africa, i am always amazed for some silly reason about Africa being so close, a whole fantastic country just over there... at it nearest only 7 miles from down near Cadiz... about 14 here i think, must check my figures first, when i get on line, and if i remember! its usually on cold crisp morning you can see best over the med to the Riff and Atlas mountains, but then you can see them in the middle of summer too sometimes... so you just can see them sometimes!


and here above zoomed in pic of Africa..;

did you see on the news yesterday evening the age for retirement in Greece was at 53yrs! its now shot up to 67yrs! no wonder their economy was so bad! 53!! i feel so sorry for all those people just getting to 53 thinking yeah!! then... no now its 67... booooooo!!

we did a fly by at our home yesterday, left Pippa home alone here... i ran in checked the mail box, put a few things in and took a couple of things out... i know once we're back in we can get the place cleaned up, but its so heart breaking seeing it like this, our neighbor said the little bit of road from the tobacconists is open Friday to Sunday for use, did she mean after work time on Friday? or are the road builders only working Monday to Thursdays now! with the bad weather that was here they should be working 24hr shift work to get this road done, its been a year already on the Alhaurín to Fuengirola road and its no where near being ready, maybe by the end of the year? and maybe not!

on our way home we popped into the Pick & Pay store, a supermarket, English by name English by nature, on the main drag down from Mijas pueblo to Fuengirola, i think where the old Iceland shop was (no relation to the Overseas store that goes by the same name).

its not too badly priced in there.. and we couldn't think of anything else that would be open, still holiday here, i think a few shops still closed today, so much goes on in May... and every Month!

helicopters been busy down here on the coast speed checking the vehicles along the N340... something else we're checking out is something in the papers here recently about the medical your supposed to have when your 45 here in Spain to prove to anyone who asks (traffic police), then your fit and able to drive, its only news to us foreigners here, of course, but they can apparently if you haven't got this medical on you, take your drivers licence, whichever country it originates from, no medical, no licence to drive here! and no licence, no insurance!!!!

i read though about people trying to get the medical and document from a doctor, but lots have been told you don't need it! but from January 1st 2009, you do!!!! well if your 45 and older that is!

Franco clocked the mileage on his way back with the car the other day from the garage, it was 3 miles!!! that's how far we walked to get into town on Wednesday! no wonder i was ready to drop by the time we got to the fish market where Franco made me walk around there before getting a coffee!!! 3 miles! and we stopped and looked around a couple of shops too...!

well its 9am now and i am off on the bus to Fuengirola to meet a friend later, i think on the 12:15 bus, i haven't seen here since i left here at the beginning of January, because she left here to move back to the UK when i was still in England! she has come back for a holiday, already! I'm not sure i could come back here if i left, it would break my heart, but there is a whole lot more to Spain, you could have a life time of holidays here and never stay at the same place twice! i know if we leave here we're going to visit Africa and Portugal first, i mean they're both so close and we have never been to either country! mind you i lived in England all that time and i have never been to Scotland or Ireland!


Tuesday now! how times fly from one paragraph to another... back in the UK today more of the volcanic ash coming their way, airports in Ireland and Scotland effected!

yesterday, as mentioned only a moment ago for you, i got the bus to Fuengirola! to say it was breezy at the bus stop would be the understatement of the year! i kept stepping back by the force of it! it was the same in town too! terrific gusts of wind and dust and dirt! i was just getting off the bus when i got to say she would be late, her friends didn't know the little bit of road between the tobacconist and BP garage was closed??? where have they been i would like to know! so i was thirsty and hungry by then and went down the paseo maritimo to have something at my friends bar there, there was no one at the bar at all! right opposite the beach, popular place, popular area, so quiet! i sat right at the front, drew a few people in after i sat down, had a coffee and tarta de manzana con helado! and very nice apple pie and ice cream it was too! got a text, mate here! and off i went to meet her! and back to Bar Luiz after we met up, why not! she was hungry and we would need to sit, so back to his place! and it was empty again? very very few tourists this week here, here at the apartments we think only 2 or 3 have people in, plus us and permanent neighbours next door! see what its like up at El Zoco shortly.

anyway, we had a good chat yesterday and caught up with so much... then she was being picked up at 4pm so back up to bus station and i walked her up to where she thought they would be meeting her and i got my ticket and onto the bus 5 minutes later. hope they found her.... was so good to see her after all this time, goodness knows though when we shall see each other again....

this morning walking back along the beach a wonderful view again of Africa, the Atlas mountains in particular and Gibraltor, but you cant see them from here now, now as in after they built next doors complex!

Brrrr bit nippy here in El Zoco today in the shade, breeze about and cant move into the sun or i wont be able to see the screen!

i was all calm and fine, went into bank... the cashier just carried on doing what he was doing, fiddling with stuff, counting money, writing notes... then oh shall i serve you! he had said hello when i walked up to counter... you'd be fired in England for ignoring customers!!!!

ok... emails to read, FB to check on while i am on line and can actually answer people! then back into the heat and the sunshine, and get my white fingers back to pink and not this shade of blue they are turning into!!!

TTFN
Marian

Saturday, May 01, 2010

Dia del Trabajo


New restaurant opened here in El Zoco last night, and i took a photo this morning, that makes a change for me eh! its a Japanese restaurant i think, and i am not sure exactly the full name of it, only what we can all see from above photo! so pretty poor journalism from me, no brownie points today... but heck you got a picture right!

this morning pippa and i were out about 8am, and didn't get back till 9am! Franco in the apartment had even called me, although i don't take my phone with me now when i walk pip, i used to, but don't know..

i said i only did the usual run, which takes between 15 and 20 minutes, but we hadn't reached the end of the street when a woman came over with her dog and started chatting, heck she could talk! she is from Sweden, i remember when Mom Baz and i were at Nottingham bus station and met a Swedish lady there who also liked to talk! so our dogs sniffed each other and we talked, then parted, then down by the El Capricho we met again, another chat and on our ways...

today back in Alhaurín there will be lots of rocket fire and whistle blowing and much carrying on, here its a holiday, May 1st, Labour day, so just about everything will be shut... well except the bars, restaurants, bakers, tobacconists and here some gift shops!!

its very different here from inland, we had clothes drying on the balcon all day and still damp, lots of moisture from the sea... no one has let me know what that noise is yet??? out in the sea, the booming noise, oh and those awful little critters from last year are back at the house, did i say last week? there were only a few, but they came in their thousands last week for two weeks then were gone as fast as they came... never did find out what they were?

i have re downloaded a book i was reading, cant believe its taking me so long, but then i cant read it outside, the sun is too bright for the screen... i only have it for another 14 days so i must finish it! maybe tomorrow, franco will be going to our house on his own tomorrow we think, with the celebrations still going on it might be easier just to drive up, run in, check all round, empty mail box and drive off, and as he is visiting a mate to help with something up there and we will have pippa it will be easier if we stay here... we think! who knows till tomorrow eh!

just now when i was down loading the photo i noticed my little notebook here had jumped a whole day ahead of itself, to the 2nd May already! or is it Sunday and i have missed a day??

Mom used to have a recurring dream of a man whom she would meet outside of her window on the fire escape in New York City, she dreampt this dream all the years i can remember, said he grew old with her, and that she could never remember what they spoke of... i wonder if she has met up with him now.... dreams are weird, i am reading all these Fate magazines Maria has in her apartment and so many things ring true, after seeing this bird here who keeps on pooping at me... i am sure now its Mom!!!!

am i having de ja vu? or am i just repeating my self?

wish now actually i had arranged to meet up with that Swedish lady this morning for a coffee sometime, seems strange we met up twice for no reason, she is about 60 i guess..

OH HECK forgot to say most importantly car passed its IVA!!!! yeah... an absolute miracle, really.... how it passed is a mystery, Mom had that candle burning all day last year, so while i was at home yesterday so did i! Franco called and was talking about something or other then said the car had passed!! yeah! all those black plastic ties holding it together...

there were a few things the guy did, lights falling out, well that will be the alhaurín road at a guess! oil change and clean up where we have a leak... but was no more than about 150€, i had so many people praying and crossing things, i even had my eyes crossed at the end! >..<

Franco bought me home some jelly babies the other day, they weren't the real ones and are full of horrible things, i have been ok'ish, just a bit of a circle under my ear from my last dose of MSG, well these have set if off proper bad again, circles under both ears coming round my neck! perfect little bright red circles! that are itching like crazy! also the sweets made my teeth sore again, why do i eat things i know will make me bad? probably because i ran out of chocolate..

last night about 11pm no later 11:30, we just checked out the news before going to bed and it said a couple had been stabbed in St Albans, the man dead the woman critical! i went critical... Tony and Kate living in St Albans, and i know they are in town every friday for Nandos! i couldn't breath, felt ill, just went into melt down, i texted Tony immediately, like a fool, of course he didn't answer, i said to Franco i bet they're already asleep? and this morning Tony texted to say... they were asleep... and they were fine...

so i think i am done for now, get back ache too sitting here, the sit slopes away from the table a bit...

and so many distractions here, still no bird yet! or cigarette ash!

TTFN
Marian