Pear blossom and weeds.

Our pear tree has started to blossom. Last year the pears were rather poor so we radically pruned the tree a couple of months ago, which is why it looks a rather strange shape now.

Click on any picture to see it full size.

However, the bees don't mind what shape it is and they were certainly enjoying it this morning when I took these photos.

Also most prolific at the moment is a weed with a white flower which grows anywhere in the fields and along the roadside.


It grows in such abundance that whole areas become white. The gorse is starting to flower as well so the countryside is becoming very colourful and spring-like with these yellow and white flowers.



The bees are certainly being kept busy - there should have been 3 of them in this photo but they must have flown off.

It's holiday time in Tenerife!

Every few years we are drawn back to Tenerife, especially at this time of year when the spring-like weather is so different to that in England and even now, better than the weather we are experiencing in northern Spain. Once again, we were based in Los Cristianos which is even more English than the Costa del Sol. It made a change for us to eat fish and chips, Sunday roasts and full English breakfasts, (served all day).

Click on any picture to see it full size.

At the northernmost part of the island we discovered a fish restaurant many years ago and we make a point of eating there on each visit. Although it is a bit more commercial now, the very narrow roads have been improved with passing places and there is the occasional coach tour, the traditional salad and fried fish served with Canarian potatoes remain the same, there's only these dishes on the menu. Even the bill was calculated in pesetas then the total converted into these new fangled euros!


The scenery is very dramatic and for the journey back we cut across the centre of the island and past Teide, (3,718 metres, the highest mountain in Spain).


As is often the case, you have to pass through the cloud on the way up and then again on the way down. If it's cloudy at sea level, then all you have to do to find the sun is drive upwards through the cloud and you will have a clear blue sky.


Another village we usually visit is Masca which is hidden away in the mountains and is so popular with tourists and coach parties that there is never any space to park.



Another day out to Icod de los Vinos and the "Drago Milenario", a very old tree.


From wherever you are, you can always get different views of Teide.


Another day out, this time to Loro Park at Puerto de la Cruz. But they have much more than just the parrots to see...
...the gardens and plants are also stunning...


...and we managed to see the seal show, dolphin show, the parrot show and the Orca show as well as visiting the crocodiles, jaguars, leopards and gorillas.


The carnival is held on Shrove Tuesday in the capital Santa Cruz and then works it's way down the island so on Sunday afternoon it was in Los Cristianos and started just outside our apartment block.


As usual, there were lots of participants of all ages dressed in very colourful and flambouyant costumes accompanied by drummers or other loud music.


I don't know how far the procession went but they were certainly giving it their all at the start.



We had a sea view from the balcony and saw many brilliant sunsets.



No doubt we'll be back again in a couple of years time.

It's time for almond blossom!

We've had a relatively mild winter here this year, no snow, (we have had a covering for a few days for the last two winters), and only a handful of light frosts. The first tree to blossom is the almond, and we have just finished harvesting the olives! We noticed a couple of trees in full bloom by the roadside as we were going into Alcañiz last Friday and yesterday some blossom on one of our trees.

Click on the image to see it full size.

Because it blossoms so early, the farmers complain that there aren't sufficient insects around to pollinate it and then as there is always the chance of a late frost the blossom can be damaged. Last year this was certainly the case and we had far fewer almonds on our trees than the previous year.

In a few weeks time the young green leaves will emerge making the landscape look very fresh and spring-like. However, as the summer progresses, the trees tend to look very dry and shrivelled and then by the time the almonds are ready for picking in the late autumn, you are never sure if they will be able to come back to life next year as they have lost their leaves and look positively dead. However, nature is a wonderful thing and so the cycle has started again.

The festival of San Anton

This special day starts with a church service for San Anton which gets underway to a full congregation just after 11 am. Once again we witness the best use of a patio heater as it is being used to heat the inside of the church which is always cold at this time of year. However, this time the gas manages to last until the end of the service as opposed to Christmas day when it ran out halfway through the service to everyone's disappointment.

San Anton is paraded through the streets accompanied by a group of musicians from a neighbouring village and the congregation, it's the only time he gets out each year!



Now comes the clever part. After the service, 2 "devils" collect a dish of food and/or wine from every inhabited house in the village.
Later in the afternoon the food which has been donated by the villagers is set out on long tables in the Plaza Mayor...

...where it is auctioned and bought back by the same people who donated it, so that we can have a meal with our peña groups that evening. We paid 25 euros each into our group fund.

This raised over 3,000 euros! The raffle for the joints of pork raised over 1,000 euros. Remember, there's only 150 full time residents here! However, quite a few more are here for fiestas and long weekends. The money goes to the town hall and this year they are planning on introducing lighting for the ermita.


The venue for our meal later that evening was in the ground floor "entrance hall" in one of the very old houses in the Plaza Mayor and as the bonfire from last night was still going the food was either heated up or cooked on it. The dishes that had been purchased in the auction were many and varied and truly authentic regional cooking. A couple of specialities worthy of mention were the beef tongue and the pigs trotters both in their delicious sauces. We also had fillet of beef cooked on the bonfire outside. Exquisite Spanish home cuisine!

The inside where we had our meal was just like the church only without the patio heater and for those of us near the door, rather chilly when the children kept going out then back in. However, the food, wine and the company were more than enough to keep our minds away from such simple matters and once again a wonderful time was had by all.

San Anton Eve

It's Friday evening and the bonfire is lit in the Plaza Mayor. In England the bonfires are an excuse to burn old timber and other burnable rubbish - here they build a bonfire from a few old olive trees! Sausages are cooked on some embers pulled to the edge of the fire where it is possible to get near without getting the cook too scorched and these are served to all in a chunk of bread.

Click on any image to see it full size.

Meanwhile pieces of pork are being deep fried by more modern methods.


Many years ago a pig would be slaughtered as part of the proceedings but now the carcase is brought where it is butchered on the traditional table.


The joints of pork are then raffled, the draw will be tomorrow.


The bonfire will be going for a few days without any more timber being added.

The whole activity with everyone eating and drinking goes on into the early hours.

3 Kings

When we took part in this 2 years ago I remember saying that I would never have believed we would be part of a candlelit procession walking through a medieval Spanish village. But here we are again and it is just one of the many different experiences we have been part of since we came here.



In Spain, children receive some presents on Christmas day but the big time to receive present is from the 3 Kings on the 5th January and this takes place after the arrival of the Kings to the church and then the procession to the hall which is part of the bar/restaurant.


The 3 Kings and their pages are on a raised platform and as the page calls out the name of the child, or adult, they go up the steps to collect their present. By the way, the black King seated in the middle is Floyd!

Collecting olives!

It's that time of year again and this year we are ready for it. We have about 20 olive trees on our land and this year quite a few of them have a reasonable crop. The farmers use a device on their tractor which grabs the tree and vibrates it shaking the olives into a large inverted umbrella.


We however, are using the more traditional method of hitting the branches of the tree with a long stick and then collecting the olives on one of the two large nets which are laid either side of the tree.


Margaret then sorted out the leaves - however, at the "olive co-operative" in the village they have tumbling machines which do the same thing.