New camera

My sister came to visit last week which was great! and even greater was she brought me out a NEW CAMERA! l have been mucking about with it and having a read...
 SO l will be able to blog with pictures again soon.....
l am still in Spain,,the weather is still lovely and much cooler...
l am not feeling great but it is lovely to have the blue sky and sun on your back
better than the weather they are having back home in London...
As a family we haven't ever gone in for competitions on the TV or magazines, ..we would never win! and l couldn't win an argument! BUT last week my daughter felt compelled
to ring in to a radio station whilst waiting in her car, for her boyfriend at the train station..(bored!).
AND she got through .AND they chose her line 9.AND she guessed the correct title of the music..
AND SHE WON!!!!!!!!! A HOLIDAY TO BARBADOS!! it was amazing...
all she kept telling me when she phoned was that she had spoken to a spice girl!(she loved them when she was little!) Emma Bunton (baby spice) was presenting the show...l am so pleased for her, she finished her Uni course and graduated in July and has worked all summer to get some money behind her ,as she started her new PGCE course last week....now , as the holiday is for a family of four, can she and her brother become children again!? making me  the responsible PARENT!!and able to take them with ME to Barbados!! ha ha!
SO our new philosophy is you've got to be in it to win it!! so try!

Hello there..,

Hello Again!

l'm a bit under the weather or ill you might call it....

so I'm fed up meant to be in Spain again with my builder... but

it ain't happening at the moment!

l have Hashimoto's Hypothyroiditis YEA! I've said it!

along with lots of other things....

l've been inspired to loose all my surplus pounds and try and regain

a level of fitness by MOLLY click this link and it will take you over to her.

AND if you click here clucking-abouthypothyroid it will take you to my other

new blog..more of a rambling journal.

l will be coming back here when l have been somewhere and have something

to share other than how l'm doing!! so l hope to see you come along......

you might learn something ,that could help someone else.....

l have started a new eating plan and will be weighing in on Monday

at home of course!so hopefully you will be seeing less of me in the future!as l disapear

just like MAGIC!!!! ( here's praying! )

HAPPY NEW YEAR

WELL l needed something to get me moving on the blogging side of things..
WHAT it will take to get me on a roll with everything else?!
I DON'T KNOW!
l was on my daily tour of my favorite blogs.....
when l popped into http://friedaquilter.blogspot.com/ .a VERY talented lady ,
l saw her work in a magazine a couple of years ago and arrived at her blog after a bit of a google...
Today she has a link to Tristan Robin Blakeman , he like Freida is a gifted art quilter. He has a love of all things sparkley! and also makes little theatres..well as she mentioned he has a GIVE AWAY l popped by!what a beautiful blog...lm going back after finishing this post to check out the mosaic blog he talked about AND to enter the draw ...WELL a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!!
you can find him here http://tristanrobin.blogspot.com/
as you can see all those dormant months have not improved my layout skills
and what l had got the hang of l have have forgotten, so back to the board..
thay say you can only improve with practice........
l just read a book on journaling inspiration which suggests you should start
WHERE YOU ARE..so here goes! bare with me x

The LOST summer!!

I'm sorry to be gone so long
" Thank you "to those who emailed to ask where l was
and enquire about the puppies.l had a emergency dash
back from Spain with my
oh so special son..leaving the builder there with his tools
and the puppies..and was ill ALL summer..
two big operations and a very bad bout
of swine flu in between ops ( don't be fooled by the press
it can be very bad)tamiflu and the worst sore throat and temperature
I've ever had!
12 weeks in bed on high dose morphine bad dreams hallucinations
not able to sleep...
BUT the bright side!
l lost LOADS of weight ,which unlike weight watchers, Rosemary Conley
slimming world and numerous cabbage diets DIDN'T COST A PENNY!!
RESULT!
l Spent most evenings watching LOST ..a series l hadn't got into,when my two
watched it first time around.Series 1-4 that's a a lot of DVD watching!
l cant wait until series 5 come out before Christmas!
but really got into it whist laying on my bed watching with my oh so
patient, caring son ..
Funny, l now know well Before l touch 70 ,which of my two
children is more likely to put a pillow over my head!!
the builder came home when the puppies where weaned
and was here for the major op..and has been his normal
supportive caring kind self..l'm so lucky .......
The upshot is l can now walk again!!l wont go into
the bad side pain etc...BUT to be able to walk to the toilet
get in the shower and last week SIT in the bath!well there is No
stopping me!!.

Thank you for keeping me entertained whilst reading all so many
of your blogs ..some wonderful work going on out there!
l will update on the puppies soon.......

Again as you can see lve mucked up the layout but hey

so pleased to be back here posting !so be patient eh?

Maternity leave over.

Here she is back..panic over!
We woke this morning to find that Loba had GONE!
The puppies were making a lot of noise and wriggling together for warmth and comfort..
we waited....Had she abandoned them for good?how would we feed them?the builder had been online for information!and was going into town for bottles etc...

I've only ever had weaned puppies at six weeks and over so NOT A CLUE!
So all the worse case scenarios were flashing through my mind..

But we need not have worried and trusted her "Mum always knows best"..

She returned some three hours after we were up ,ate her brunch and then dived

under the caravan , cleaned them and then proceeded to feed them..

She had clocked on for the early shift very loyal to her employer. Obviously one of the new mum breed ,who goes back to work as soon as had them!she didn't eat as much yesterday (watching her waist?) and let us tick hunt around her for over an hour( watching out for her looks?) .......interuption ..Loba at the door wanting food! ah! she is a normal mum ,no will power starts the healthy eating plan and then Oops ( just like myself!)

Whilst Loba was eating l HAD to comfort Pipaluck the pure white one (far left on the picture)l call her/him that as the pup reminded me of a little Polar Bear they named on Blue Peter ( l am a blue Peter girl!) years ago ,funny how things come back to you. l stroked with my finger which stopped the noise!the fur so soft and smooth..some of the others l think will be long haired as they look like they have ripples in their coats! they sure are getting noisy!

These pictures were the best from a bad bunch! l saw a large butterfly on a flower and followed it trying to get the perfect shot!!lt was a really large one half the size of my hand with a beautiful blue pattern on...still looking for the name!

Any way they reminded me of how the weeks are fluttering by.....

Loba the lodger..

On Friday evening there was a brilliant full moon..we sat watching the sky
change colour.The evening was the first, since we arrived ,where we we able
sit out and enjoy the balmy evening weather, listening to the sounds of the night ,l love it

We are across the valley from the Goat farm and can hear the bells jingling as

the goats move about in the distance..Loba and friends work the goats with
Juan their owner .Loba has been a regular visitor to our building site since
our first visit.She was in love with Jasper our Dalmatian(Jasper went to sleep
in December,l still can't talk about that)and would arrive each evening after
a full days work ,for her dinner, bed and board!l wont go in to detail but they
don't have the same regard or feelings for their animals here.Its something
l really struggle with...
Anyway when we arrived here we noted that Loba was AGAIN pregnant ( we have offered to take her to the vet, but they all say its unnatural and you shouldn't play with nature)..
So to cut to the chase.. Loba still comes for dinner ( she knows where her bread is buttered,very clever is this one)she is never here when we wake up as she leaves for her early shift!

BUT on Saturday morning she hadn't clocked in for her shift ,she was having a lay in!
with these little sweeties! there are six of them ....

She is a brilliant mum..we forgot to tell our neighbors she'd had her puppies
(they are cousins of Juan the goat man) we wanted to give her as much time with her babies..

(In the past , she had a litter of puppies also on our plot,we were in England so were not able to help her.The puppies were there in the morning when a friend, who waters our plants, visited.He returned to feed her again later ,and the puppies had gone ...sorry).

Well its now Monday evening.Our neighbors came this evening to ask if we had seen Loba..
We said yes she is under the caravan with her babies!
and please could they tell Juan she is OK there for as long as she wants to stay!( or as long as he leaves her there!)The neighbors said the puppies were fat! l said to the builder "funny that! a puppy thrives when the mother is well fed" and the mother looks really well to! l dont think l need to leave the plot this week l have enough shopping and stuff ,so l shall have to stay around!
l'm becoming really good at catching ticks off of Loba..bloody horrible little things ...
l HOPE IT DOESN'T ALL END IN TEARS!!

Just a note..

Hola! as you might have noticed l
have added a stat counter to the left..
People are popping by from all over the world!
l'm intrigued!please can l ask?
could you leave a comment ,just "hello" would do,then l could take a look at your blog..
Thanks to http://dogdaisychains.blogspot.com
for blogging about this as l would never have known about this clever tool!
thank you to all who pop by.x

These smiley babes are LULU and LILY they live down the hill along with the dancing Chicks..

They visit me each day to eat the weeds and stuff around the plot! they eat anything! l'm gradually loosing the plot! they come when you call and are really friendly just like little puppies

,they are only 7months old and were raised by bottle as their mum had to many baby's and not enough teats! they love their tummys tickled...

Pigs are having a bit of bad press at the mo...

but have you read the article on swine flu at

http://wddty.com interesting....

Got to go now someones calling for a cup of tea!!x

Biker birds

Just as one family of Barbi birds move out ,a new lot of biker birds move in.

l Don't now how rough they are ,l cant see any tattoos! but l can hear them

twittering ,No loud heavy music! which is a result.There's been a lot of action

going on, in and out of the horse box.They have managed to nest in between

the fabric and the polystyrene lining.Very cosy! l will be watching for chicks..

the horse box

haven't got horses ,definatley not horsey!more gypsyish as home at the mo

is two small caravans.So those who thought l was living the high life in

some white villa WRONG!just towed the horse boxes from London to Malaga

with tools and building materials.( and my sewing machine which still hasn't

seen the sun yet!)though l have managed to read all my sew hip magazines!

back to the birds.....

Se Aquiler /Se Vende'

so this BBQ nest is for rent or sale now! l posted pictures of the chicks before but l didn't want to disturb those babes just for a picture of their bed!l think it could do with some clean sheets and a bit of blow through...These dancing chicks live down the hill..they were having a dance on the table.

We had the Bank holiday here today.
Strange to have a holiday on the correct date May 1st rather than the
closest Monday to it! everything closes here even the DIY stores.
have a lovely bank holiday weekend hope the weather is good..
ENJOY...x

Easter parade

Unfortunately we didn't make it to Alora for the service or parade

on Good Friday,but made it into town for Easter Sunday.

The service, probably not what some church goers would expect,

it was like being in Victoria Station on a Monday morning!

People were in and out of the three large doors,mums dropping band members off,band members practicing their tunes and warming up.A group of small children running after a dog who peed up a pew!groups hanging around at the back having a chat...the owner of the computer went for a coffee

as we were half an hour early for the service.

l said hurry up as you don't walk in if the service

has already started ..(ha ha)

After the service the band struck up..

The sound came up through my feet and filled

my body it was so moving...the boys lifted the

really heavy statue and proceeded

to carry it around the town ..stopping for short breaks.

MUCH needed as Alora is on two hills

and has many small sharp turnings in the roads..

the priest rings a bell to stop and start the procession.

the silver base was very ornate and heavier than the statue..the flowers smelt beautiful.

The balconies had banners and posters hanging on them...

On Monday ,not a bank holiday here ,we went to the airport to pickup

my daughter and sister who fancied a bit of sunshine! some hope!

the weather in London was apparently so much better!

We went on to the coast for the afternoon and watched two sand artists

tidy up their sculpture..

the rain had washed away some detail so they were using brushes

and tools to return them to their former glory

l hope you all had a Happy peaceful Easter...

Squatters!

Look who had moved in...
these little chicks are in the BBQ...

And all of these nests have busy parents flying in and out all the day feeding some noisy chicks..

There is so much going on so l'm pleased to be able to have a chance to catch up.l'm going to pop by my fav blogs now...Buenas noches!

Hola!

Hola! we made it! we're here,after following the snow ploughs through Madrid on Good Friday we stopped over at Jaen on Friday night ..

Ater an early start on Saturday we arrived at lunchtime...Alora .....in Malaga province Andalucia.

l've not been here since December though the computer popped out in March for a week..

so l was so pleased to be back....so Green and lush much rain has fallen..

the computer is taking ages to up load so l'm going to have to do this in stages..

also l'm not sure how to alter my key board to get the correct speech marks and spelling SORRY!

All packed up and ready to roll!

Were all packed up and leave tomorrow afternoon...
going to catch the ferry from Portsmouth
l will be posting from somewhere hotter than here ( l hope!)
not always lucky with the weather.
Towing a horse box with NO horse! but overloaded with
building materials PLUS my sewing machine and boxes of sewing ,Paper cutting,felting ,mosaic ,beads and crocheting..
"will l make or do anything with this lot in the 10 weeks lm away"? we will have to see!!
Hopefully will have set up by the weekend ...Have a good Easter everyone xx

Here there and everywhere...

But mainly up the wall ! lve been reading blogs but not writing in mine....
SO here is an update...

We went to Borough market one Saturday morning its so colourful with lots of
tasty food....

These mushrooms look like sea creatures!

We went for a mooch around Coloumbia Road flower market..it was so busy..we just stayed long enough to eat a few olives ...

l loved the mosaic on the school walls..

l popped into the Rob Ryan shop and bought a couple of these lovely cards

his work is so lovely.l recently downloaded a cut out patter from http://angrychicken.blogspot.com/ just a simple picture ...

l'll have to get around to taking a picture..

l visited the Button Queen in Marylebone Road...

http://www.blogger.com/www.thebuttonqueen.co.uk

the week before they packed up all the buttons and

moved across the road to a new shop.

what a job it must have been!

lm glad l got there again before the move, as the OLD shop was well,

old and the new shop at No76 Marylebone lane has a modern frontage ..

l'll check this out tomorrow as lm going up that way to the clinic so l will update..

This frame over the door dates back to the festival of Britain..

all these boxes and Mr Button Queen knew where everything was!

l bought some of these buttons in all colours and sizes.And have swapped them

with the buttons on a cardi..

AND all the while lve been writing this l've been watching the film TAKEN ..

with Liam Neeson...

BRILLIANT...but by not looking all the time at the tv l miss the blood and fighting!

BLOODY CAT!

Pictures would have been to bloody..nine dead frogs ,pulled from my pond

and left on the path.the handy work of the cat who lives next door.

just for his entertainment.l could understand if he had the fish out to fill his

stomach.We caught him trying for a tenth..l spent time fixing a net this

afternoon to stop him. l HOPE HE FALLS IN!

l'm not an anti cat person ,l have a lovely cat myself..

l just DONT like frog killers.

Rib bit

How lovely was today! has spring sprung? there are flowers in the garden ,so colour when l look out from the window.

The computer and the camera have returned from sunnier climes!though looking at the photos of their travels l believe the weather has been on par with ours!there seemed to be a lot of muddy pictures and it was very grey and wet!but as the photographer told me "they need the rain"they have been in drought for four years..

l hope we don't get a frost because look what was in my pond this morning! All these tadpoles. l spent much of the afternoon watching the frogs enjoying themselves!l sat for ages quietly waiting for the perfect shot of the frolicking frogs! they were so aware of me being there, even the Len's zooming in and out frightened them off !

l will have to perfect my skills .lt was so frustrating to think l had a good shot BUT when l downloaded the pictures they had reflections and cloudiness

there were, at one time, thirteen frogs in and around this one!l hope to see more tadpoles in the morning!

Just getting in the swing AGAIN of posting..its taken me ages to download these pictures..just when l thought l was there, l lost the lot!and l am still not sure if the layout will be the same as when l previewed it! fingers crossed......