Friday, February 17, 2017

The road through Malaga, making memories...


View of Málaga Cathedral... Our small bijou apartment was only a few minutes not only from calle Lorios but also the Cathedral... a magnificent building, I actually have never been inside of!


I took my proper camera with us, feel like a tourist in Málaga... well I suppose if your not living there, or not working there... Not gone purely for shopping, a tourist is what it is!


A pretty dumpster nearby to where we were staying, a reclying one no less!


We left on Valentines Day, not in our plan, or booking even, but it was getting late in the day, or early in the evening? We had been out for a few hours earlier and were tired, I suggested we came home, we had to be home earlier than we had expected for a meeting with the nurse at our house on Wednesday and I was worrying about rushing about first thing in the morning and in the rush of both workers and travellers... (I must admit also, I was worried about our car, and a second night left parked in a car park just on the out-skirts of the city...) Anyways, after a couple of times of me suggesting going home, we did... we got back to our car, popped our bags in and had a meal where we were... then came home, we were tucked up cosy, fire roaring and watching a movie by ten pm... Very quiet without the Pipster of course!

After the visit with the nurse on the following day I went to get her... she was just the same as if we had been gone for a fortnight!  I also got gas and took them both home!

Franco and I had to do a re-visit to the local social security office in Coín yesterday, we had all the paperwork, originals, copies, done deal... Or so I thought, we arrived, parked okay, got a ticket, and within five minutes in we went, the head of department... did we have everything? No I didn't copy the document itself!  Needed two copies, NOTE to SELF for a years time!!! TAKE TWO copies of THE document!!!

We went into the town, parked, walked to a papeleria copied the document, twice, for each of us, I even got all the rest copied again, well you know... just in case!

Back to the S.S. offices, parked again, lucky twice!  Back in, got another ticket, and this time had to wait a while, all the people with appointments had priority, of course, only right... and a lady who was having trouble with the machine... in the end I went up and asked if I could help her and her husband, did they have an appointment booked? yes they said, was she inputting the correct number? yes she said, I looked.... Mmmmm no, she wasn't, poor woman was trying to insert her health care number!!! So after someone else also told her the same thing, she got her handbag (from the car), and tried again... NO booked appointment had been made and someone else helped them book appointments over the computer there!  Although of course, they could have just taken a ticket!!!

And in this time, I thought I better sort out our now totally messed up paperwork, and I had a panic!  I thought I had left both our passports and my new residencia card in the papeleria shop! Then I found them in our bag!! But it was too late, my head was banging, my neck was like a rock and I felt sick!!

I just panicked, big time... I said to Franco as I was sitting there throwing everything around "that's it, I can't do this, I can't do anything now, I can't cope..."

But I collected myself together, then the paperwork, Francos and mine, and when our number came up in we went and out we came five minutes later, job done, paperwork done, sorted for another year...

We then did a quick shop around Aldi and home...

There is something else, don't know if it will help writing it down, or just make everyone think I have totally lost the plot... but its not a new thing, its not just me, we all have coping things, habits we do when in a bad place... don't we, don't you? Maybe its smoking, running, sleeping, drinking too much alcohol, over eating or under eating, self harming even, in various forms, cutting or making oneself sick... I am sure there are many other ways of hurting ourselves, or doing something which is the only thing we can do to have some sort of control over our lives when we have nothing left we can control, when really big things in life have taken control and we are left failing around with nothing to hold onto anymore, and we have only one thing we can do to be in control... shall I leave it here!!

Okay okay! Well I suppose now I've scared the hell out of you, all I do is I cut my hair!! LOL... My hair has been getting real long over the last few years, maybe six or seven... Last time I got my hair cut was when my mom was diagnosed with cancer, for the second time... I got it cut quite short for me... Went down the hairdressers and chop chop chop! And those of you that know me, know I don't visit the hairdressers! I can count on one hand the amount of times I have been to the hairdressers! Well, okay maybe just into my second hand now and getting it colored when we lived in Wales!

So I really have the need to cut my hair, I just want to cut it all off! I cut it the other day already! Just a few inches, it just looks daft now!  But it was maybe getting a bit rough around the ends... anyway I have seen a hair cut I like, and I showed a friend the picture yesterday, I don't think she was impressed (LOL), and is going to ask the lady who does her hair... and I might be going with her when she goes next time, just for a consultation, if people haven't cut my type of hair then I am not going to be the guinea pig!  You can't cut my hair wet, its about six inches longer when its wet and I will end up with no hair if they try that malarkey!

Otherwise I will just pick at it, hack at it, a bit here and a bit there ... its what I do, I can cut my hair!
LOL my name is Marian, I cut my hair off!

Now... where's the gin?


Tuesday, February 14, 2017

The bitter sweet red roses of San Valentine...

At every turn here in Málaga today, red is all around, blood red passion red red red... While our hearts bleed red tears of loss...

Franco turned to me on a bench as we sat soaking up some needed winter sun "... should buy yourself an eternity ring..." and there, as now, my tears run from my eyes and heart... You see Franco has been looking for an eternity ring for me on and off for past two or three years, just not seen 'the one...'

Our two days here in one of our favourite places is going fast, and slow...

Sun came out once we got here yesterday and stayed thankfully, it's been raining for a few days...

Forever thankful to a dear dear friend for this gift, it was so nice last evening wandering the streets, knowing we didn't have to travel back and could just be 'home' in minutes.  So many people pass through Málaga without a thought, transit only... Such a shame, it's beautiful here, we're staying in a 19th century building, it's just beautiful, it's not quiet, not peaceful... It's city status all night! When the restaurants below said good night to their last customers it was time to clean up! Bring in the outside furniture, tables chairs awnings, scraping and banging... Then, around 2am down came the bin men, wheeling the refuse dumpsters away and back again empty, followed by the street cleaners! Then it was the early bird workers going out, doors slamming and voices shouting! LOL...



I have taken several photographs of this bar front... Different quotes every time of course!

Remember I always used to put a quote at the end of my Blogs?

Here is one from, and for today...

"The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes."
Sherlock Holmes




Sunday, February 12, 2017

This road, this hard road...

I start each Blog with a Thank you, to all of you on this journey with us, with me, with Franco...


The park yesterday morning, clouds low over our towns valleys...

Don't often walk down there... In the doggie walking area, it's a mine field of doggie poop! We have new signs up advising people that they're dogs must not walk or do their business on the playground areas... We also now have in the parks signs telling us that 'our pets, our responsibility' and a €300 fine for deposits not picked up! The major problem really though is that a percentage of the dog walkers never pick up, that usually their dogs are off the lead... Or without the owners at all!!  And those little darlings just can't read!!


I know I posted some shots taken when Franco and I visited Málaga for the Christmas Lights... Just wanted to put another shot here, probably the same, although I know one I did put on had someone with their head down and eyes firmly fixed on their mobile phone! What a waste... Look up! Look around! Look at your life, a memory of your mobile phone isn't worth a thing, eyes open in this world...


Above the lesser spotted claw! I see some unusual things on the walks with the Pipster, never a claw before!

This evening, tucked up warm and cosy with our wood burner doing the business! Second day I've lit it now, yesterday I got it cleaned out, prepped and lit, one small piece of paper with a small bit of firelighters inside, I lit that in my hand then dropped into the floor of the burner, added some pine cones and small twigs... a small log and left it a short while, went back to check it had 'taken', then added more wood, log by log... Did the same today! Did some washing and it dried in a couple of hours, in the past we would always have wet washing hanging around for days!

The day before yesterday, we could not light the burner at all!! We have smoke in the house! It was like a fog! All over the house! I went out midday and must have smelt like a bonfire! Stinky!!

Later on we decided I'd go up on the terrace and drop a stone down from the top, see if it came out into the burner... It didn't! So I can now add chimney sweep to my resume! I climbed back up the ladder, tried to tap off the little roof thingy, but couldn't, but the whole of the last bit of tube did move, so I wriggled that off and added piece by piece the poles, minus the brush (it needs trimming, too big for the diameter of our pipe!). Until I felt the obstruction and stabbed at 'it' until the pole moved freely! Whoop whoop! Then very carefully pulled the poles back up, removing them one by one until the last piece! Terrified of losing any of it down the chimney! No way to get them out again!!!

Still this girl did good!

Then Franco lit the fire and we were toasty!


This evening... Still warm and cosy, we were cwutched up, me massaging Francos back where it aches... We were watching a cookery programme, and as the chef added various herbs and spices... I remarked "I don't know what's happened, we haven't got any herbs left! No thyme, no sage, no rosemary, not even any origami!"

Franco immediately said, as I too realised my mistake "oregano!"

I laughed so hard for a moment, then leaning on Francos shoulder still I started crying... silently...


Sunday, February 05, 2017

Our forever road...

Thank you...

We have an elephant in the room..

Franco and I talking as we always are, we often talk about going to Sardinia again, we loved it there and often recall different aspects of our visit in 2005 I think, yes I'm sure...

We were just talking about Alghero, we were there for a few nights after leaving
Sassari, and a door was banging for ages... In the end I investigated and found an open room at the top, the room we'd been in when we first arrived... A window was open the door bang bang banging!!! I shut it! We were the only people in the whole place, with no reception or any other facilities we really were alone there!!

Anyways... Franco said next time we go we... and then maybe we both remembered we might not be going again... and knives turned in my heart, my stomach...

It's like someone, something... is blocking our view on our future, we have no clear view, we have every day now, 24 hours a day, we have the here and now, our forever now...

Bristol
A couple of photographs I took in Bristol last Saturday, the park on the right as I walked down towards the river and I noticed this plaque on a house there on the square...

First American Consulate

And the ceiling above where I sat waiting for my flight home from Bristol airport...

Bristol airport