Looking through the lines and patterns of the Royal Alcazar in Seville, Spain.
This is my contribution to this week’s Worpress Photo Challenge: Lines and Patterns and the Travel Theme: Through
We don’t see this beautiful little flower very often because it is usually hidden in the daytime and opens during the hours of darkness to release it’s beautiful perfume. I’ve written about the Dama de Noche (or night-scented jasmine) before, but it made an appearance today because we had heavy rain for most of the morning, and have had a dismal, cloudy afternoon. The poor plant must think the evening is upon us already!
Still, we have had a long hot summer and the ground desperately needed the rain. I know that the sunshine will soon be back 🙂
Anyway, it gave me the opportunity to photograph raindrops on the flowers from An Unusual POV, which just happens to be this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge!
You might also enjoy these other entries from:
Did you enter the “Capture the Colour” photoblogging contest last year? I did – along with thousands of others, and you can see my entry here. The idea was simple – publish a blog post showcasing five of your favourite travel photographs which best capture the colour of the five categories: red, blue, green, yellow and white.
The Capture the Colour Contest proved so popular that it’s back again for 2013 and this is my invitation to each of you to search through your photo libraries and see what you can come up with.
To get you in the mood, whilst you are searching for your multi-coloured photographs, I thought you might like to pluck out one or two PINK photographs for this month’s CBBH Photo Challenge.
Don’t forget that the CBBH Photo Challenge is a little different from some other challenges, in two ways. First, it’s only once a month – giving you lots of time to consider your entry before the end of the calendar month. Second, and most important, this is a BLOG HOP (after all, it is the CBBH – Conejo Blanco Blog Hop, meaning white rabbit in Spanish), so DON’T FORGET that in your post you need to add links to two blogs that you have visited and commented on, during the past month. That way, when we visit each other, we can HOP OVER to your links, connect with others and share a little blog love around!
I’ve written about some of the wildflowers of Andalucía before, but of the many different colours, the pink blooms are my favourite! The photo above is of one of the wild orchids growing on our land. Their colour is so vivid, and the markings on the petals are very distinct.
Here is one of the delicate dusky-pink wild poppies, whose blooms disappear after just one day. I love to see both orchids and the poppies as they herald the coming of the summer months, here in Andalucía.
This little lady in her bright pink flamenco dress was cautiously eyeing up some of the beautiful birds of prey at the Medieval Market in Torrox pueblo last year.
Love it or hate it, bullfighting is a long standing tradition in Spain. This is one of the auxiliary toreros (bullfighter or matador) in his elaborate embroidered costume, assisting the featured torero. As evidenced here, it’s a myth to think that bulls are attracted by the colour red. Cattle are colour-blind, and it is the movement of the cape (capote) that attracts them. During the first phase of a bullfight, the bull is tested for it’s strength and aggressiveness by toreros using magenta and yellow capes.
I’ll finish with one of the beautiful sunsets, featuring shades of pink and yellow, developing into reds and purple that we regularly experience around the Axarquía region – east of Málaga.
** Village Life in Andalucía reveals some of the secrets of living in a small inland village, deep in the heart of Andalucía. John, sometimes referred to as “Pueblo Man” writes with a very easy style, and his latest offering, The Not-so-Common Chameleon, reminds us that this beautiful little creature is on the endangered list. I discovered the Village Life in Andalucía blog whilst I was trying to find out more about one of my favourite Spanish fish dishes – Rosada. Fortunately, John answered my question, “What is Rosada?” by informing me that it’s not even a Spanish fish at all! Sure is tasty though!
** Loren over at Cemetery Travel: Adventures in Graveyards Around the World describes herself as a “cemetery enthusiast devoted to cemeteries“. Her latest “Cemetery of the Week” features Drummond Hill Cemetery at Niagra Falls in Canada, but if you are interested in interment in Italy, France, China, India, England or around the USA, there’s something here for you. So, if like me you are a taphophile, a tombstone tourist or a cemetery hunter, why not pop over to Loren’s blog, and tell them Marianne sent you!?
So that´s the CBBH Photo Challenge for September, guys!
Remember, all you have to do is post your entry by the end of the month, tag your entry ‘CBBH Photo Challenge’, link back to this blog and, most importantly, don´t forget to add links to any two blogs that you´ve commented on during the past month, so that we can all HOP OVER and have a look. Make sure you FOLLOW THIS BLOG so you don´t miss next month´s exciting challenge!
For more information on how the CBBH Photo Challenge works click here.
I hope everyone taking part enjoys the exposure the CBBH Photo Challenge offers to featured blogs and, who knows, you may end up finding a new favourite! I´m looking forward to seeing your interpretations.
[CBBH logo Image credit: (cc) Mostly Dans]
Following on from my rather sombre post yesterday, I thought I’d cheer everyone up again – by feeding you!
I’ve made this dish for just about everybody who has ever visited us in Spain, and it’s been a winner every time. I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for some time, but for one reason or other I haven’t got round to it, but I’m not going to selfishly keep it to myself any longer. This is for you, Cathy – as promised!
The beauty of this dish is that you can do the preparation in advance, so that when your guests arrive, you’ll have plenty of time to relax with them, (enjoying a glass of wine), before you knock their socks off with a delicious dinner!
I love cooking and make most of my meals from scratch. For me, this dish is made all the sweeter by using lemons, oranges, almonds and mint growing in the garden. I’m pretty confident that you’ll love it, too – even if you don’t have your own orange tree to hand! 🙂
Let’s get cooking!
2 medium chicken breasts (skinned and cut into bite-sized pieces)
I medium onion (peeled and chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (peeled and crushed)
2 large oranges (juiced – I also use any bits of crushed fruit)
1 large lemon (juiced – I also use any bits of crushed fruit)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tablespoons of chopped dates (take out the stone and cut into thirds)
1 tablespoon of almond nuts (chopped in half, if you prefer)
1 level teaspoon of ground cinnamon spice
Up to ¼ teaspoon of hot chilli powder (according to taste)
Handful of fresh mint leaves (chopped)
A few whole black peppercorns (optional)
Put the diced chicken pieces and the chopped onion into a shallow dish.
In a plastic measuring jug, juice the oranges and lemon, adding any bits of crushed fruit. Stir in the crushed garlic, olive oil, cinnamon, chilli powder and half of the chopped mint, to combine the ingredients together. You should end up with between 300-400 mls of liquid.
Now, pour the juice mixture over the chicken and onions, add the chopped dates, nuts and whole black peppercorns.
Cover the dish with cling-film, pop in the fridge and leave the chicken to marinate for anything from 10 minutes to a couple of hours.
When you’re ready to start cooking, pick out the individual pieces of chicken with a pair on tongs, and gently fry them on a medium heat in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. (Make sure you have picked out every last piece of chicken from the marinade). Turn the chicken pieces and when they are just starting to brown slightly, add all the citrus liquid mixture to the frying pan.
Your dinner is now less than ten minutes from being ready!
Turn up the heat under the pan, and bring the mixture to the boil. Allow to simmer and as it does so, the mixture will begin to thicken, making the most delicious tangy sauce. If you need to thicken the sauce a little more, just turn up the heat.
Stir in the remainder of the fresh chopped mint and serve immediately.
I usually serve Moroccan chicken with brown rice, but it’s just as delicious if you team it up with cous-cous. There will be enough for two people using this quantity of ingredients. I tend to use one medium chicken breast per person and adjust the amount of ingredients to personal taste. It’s always best to have a spare orange or lemon to add to the juice mix, just in case you need a bit more liquid. If you love dates, put a few more in – they go wonderfully sticky. If you don’t have dates you can use sultanas instead. When cooking for more than two people, I’ve been known to use the juice of a couple of limes, as well.
The main thing is, have the confidence to alter this dish to suit yourself.
Que aproveche!
If you enjoy cooking (or eating), you might like to try these recipes:
Classic Spanish Omelette: Tortilla Española
Easy No-Bake Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Cookies
Fresh Figs Stuffed with Goat´s Cheese and wrapped in Smoked Bacon
Yesterday, I read with some surprise and sadness that Anita Mac, the travel blogger behind Travel Destination Bucketlist, had ended her own life, at the age of 43. I’d never met Anita in person, but we exchanged messages from time to time, particularly last year when she was walking the Camino, in northern Spain.
Anita’s blog is filled with wonderful photographs of her travels and, not only was she inspired to continue to travel and experience more of the world, she inspired others to do the same. Yet, despite her confident and adventurous outer facade, Anita was struggling with her own pain, as evidenced in her final post on August 22nd, “What do you do with a broken heart?”
We’ve all seen reports on TV of teenagers who have taken their own lives after being taunted by anonymous online trolls. The anonymity of the internet sometimes makes people say things that they wouldn’t (or daren’t) say to your face.
I’m not suggesting that’s what happened with Anita, but many of us have some kind of ongoing battle in life that we may or may not choose to share with others – especially somewhere as public as on the internet.
And, who knows where the tipping point lies to push any one of us over the edge?
In the past few weeks, amongst the hundreds of ordinary, everyday comments this blog, East of Málaga …. and more has received, there have also been vile ones with no back-link, and filled with bad language.
What did I do to deserve these tirades?
One person not only left a vile comment, but also took to Twitter to tell the world about my bull**** blog, because they didn’t agree with the price of one item on my recent Cost of Living in Spain list.
Another has attacked me on their own blog because they “question the way my monthly CBBH Photo Challenge works“. It seems that WordPress didn’t send a pingback for a “featured blogger” link they made, meaning that they weren’t “thanked personally” by that blogger they featured! Somehow this is meant to be my fault. Go figure!
As a result of the actions of these trolls, I’ve now switched my options so that I moderate all comments before they appear on the blog – and for that I apologise to the 99.9% of you who leave perfectly normal comments.
I’m not saying I’m above criticism – hey, if there’s something you don’t agree with – let me know. I might even change my mind and agree with you. But there are ways of saying things without making a complete jerk of yourself.
Maybe the actions of such trolls display some form of petty jealousy, envy of a lifestyle or of some kind of perceived success. Who knows?
Like most people, my life is the way it is because I have planned it that way with lifestyle and monetary choices. Some might choose to be envious – others could well be bored, but it would do us all well to focus on what we have, rather than what we don’t have.
This post is my response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge: FOCUS.
I’ll leave you with the following quotes:
“Always be a little kinder than necessary.” ~ J.M. Barrie
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” ~ Plato
East of Málaga 