We’ve had to wait two weeks longer than usual in our garden, but they’re finally here ….. the first almond blossoms of 2014.
Flowering time: Early January to end of February.
Which flower do you always look forward to seeing in the garden?
Related articles:
A Year in the Life of an Almond Tree – Andalucían Style!
Pretty in Pink: The Almond Blossom of Andalucía
Contrary to popular belief – YES, it does get cold here in sunny Spain in winter!
Don’t get me wrong – even in the depths of February we usually have sunny days with blue skies, but as soon as the sun begins to drop behind the nearest hillside, it’s time to change into jeans and thick socks ready for the cold evenings and nights. By European standards, the temperature doesn’t drop very low (around 6 Celsius) – after all, that’s one of the main reasons we moved here from England’s perishing winters, but it surely feels cold.
Houses around here are built to keep out the warmth of the sun during the long, hot summer months rather than for keeping warm in winter. Village houses are built close together (causing shade), and with small windows. More modern houses, like ours. might have patio doors and larger windows, with insulation in the walls – but we still have tiled floors rather than carpeted ones and inadequate heating (by UK standards).
Fortunately, on our land we have 47 almond trees, which come in handy when pruning time comes around during the autumn months. Branches here and there are selected for firewood – after which I send my hubby out with the saw.
Here cometh the first benefit!
On another day, the branches need chopping into smaller logs to fit in the fireplace, before being stacked in a dry place.
Thus comes the second benefit of the log fire – and still without a match being lit. (Well, my hubby certainly always leaves me in no doubt how warm he gets whilst sawing, chopping and stacking!)
Later follows the third, warming benefit ….. and the bit I like best – the log fire!
See how much better warming value we get, rather than telephoning a local supplier for yet another load of logs to be delivered.
WHAT???
Other posts you might enjoy:
The Green, Green Vegetables of Home
East of Málaga: The Weather in Winter
Chickpea and chorizo soup with smoky paprika bread
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:
The wild flowers are mostly at an end now, here on southern coast of Andalucía – but there are still a few of these gorgeous poppies about.
But, they only last for a few precious, fleeting hours until the petals fall to the ground and each individual flower has gone forever.
Related posts:
Wildflowers of Andalucía: Dutchman’s Pipe
Wildflowers of Andalucía: Bloomin´ lovely!
Zafarraya Pass: Walking with Neanderthal Man
Click any image to open a slide show
Even though I always wear gloves for gardening, my hands were still left a bit grubby after preparing the vegetable plot last week, as I still insist on poking around in the soil even when I’ve taken them off! So I decided to make a very simple salt scrub and my hands were soon good-as-new. Want to know how I made it? Here’s how:
I wanted to only use ingredients I have at home, without going out to buy anything – besides which, I needed to use the salt scrub in quick-style! I used 1 cup of sea salt, 1/2 cup of baby oil, the zest of two lemons and a couple of sprigs of rosemary from the garden.
First of all, I put the sea salt into a bowl, added the baby oil and gave it a little stir. Then I zested two lemons, pulled the individual rosemary leaves from the sprigs and chopped them roughly. All that was left was to tip the lemon zest and rosemary into the mixture, give it a final stir and spoon into a pretty jar .
I then added a label and tied something pretty around the outside of the jar and that’s it – done!
Easy peasy lemon squeezy ….. so to speak!
What rewards do you treat yourself with for a job well done?
You might also enjoy:
Easy No-Bake Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Cookies
Fresh Figs Stuffed with Goat´s Cheese and wrapped in Smoked Bacon
I can see Africa from my terrace!
East of Málaga 