October break

I have been in galicia for a week now, at first it was very strange, I felt like I had come home again from a holiday but I got the hang of being here soon enough. We have done a lot of cleaning and tidying of the grounds and the house despite the weather but I have not taken any photos of that. We took a look at Pantin one day, we parked in the top floor of the car park. As always if you click on the images a couple of times they get bigger.

The boys did boy stuff

We made some cool pumpkin lanterns but didn't have any candles and missed the pumpkin festival.

 And we paddled down at Vilarrube but left the cameras in the car ofter getting a shot of Kate setting out.

 A couple of hours at Ortigueira timed well with some hot sun. I really miss these walks to the beach.

 Autumn crocuses are a pink haze on many dune edges

 A little green one, there were a fair few but most were scaredy cats

Lovely arching trees by the lagoon

 Aw

 We did see three people on the beach over 2 hours but these were not them, this is Chris and Luke kiting in nearly enough wind.

 Chris playing dodge kite

Such a lovely resource and so underused. 

Luke made a car

 and I made a swirly thing that was a lot bigger than this bit

 That is a fair bit of compost to get out of one strawberry bed

 The football pitch is flat again but the woods and the field will have to wait until Spring.

 I Idon't recall the lake ever being this low

 Yesterday we went to Pantin again the waves were wonderful and the boys got wet, first Chris

 Then Luke

 Back on the beach there was loads of space waiting to be drawn on but the sun was getting low

 so we headed up to the cliffs North of Baleo and the view was well worth the shuggly drive

 It is hard to convey the scale - they are big waves

 It looked Wintery but felt summery

 Then it looked African

 Back in the garden its time for these fellas again

 and strawberries, very tasty but not many cropping prob because they were so overgrown

Neil brought his dogs round and they made themselves at home

So far a good productive break and so much to do tomorrow

A quick visit

Lovely to get back and see friends and places again, the ginger has grown some and many more flower spikes to come, the other 4 varieties we grew from seed look to be settling in well and might flower next year with luck.

Over at Cerdido our cats have settled into their new home well, Sally made herself at home in our van.

 Brugmansia number 1 is flowering wonderfully but the other two still have nothing on them.

 The boys had some great surfing sessions down at Vilarrube

 We drove back via the Picos de Europa and visited the caves at Valporqueo

 Kayaked at about 5000 feet and met some snakes 

and thousands of trout

 

who were less than enthusiastic about the boys snorkelling with them, air temp was around 35C water felt like about 1degree.

Morning in the mountains was very cold just above freezing but rather beautiful

we had a couple of little walks at about 5500 feet

Met acres of wild roses

 and thousands of autumn crocuses but fortunately no bears or wolves - both were seen very close to the camp site a few weeks before we visited.

 We set off for Cherbourg but were diverted into a swim in a mountain lake, a few little lens clouds started to form

 Leylandii in their natural habitat scattered all over the mountains

 I had a new paint job done on the back window...I wish

 Wish we had the time to climb a few like this one

 As we hit the autovia we realise the whole sky was pretty much full of stacked lens clouds, thousands of them but by the time we had found somewhere to stop and photograph them they were dissolving or turning into other types of clouds

23 hours of driving and we made it for a night in Cherbourg and a rocky trip home. 

Can't wait for the next trip.

What I did while working in Galicia

Is the same thing as I do now - it makes no difference where I work from as far as the students experience goes as the course is fully online - actually helps the facilitators empathise with the students as we all work and study from home as well.  Here are two of the students I worked with talking about their experience. We are recruiting for September if you are interested check us out at http://ultraversity.net or find ultraversity on Facebook.

Front garden

I rarely show the front of the house, the drive has recently been cleared reformed and reseeded so is looking a bit bare but there are a lot of flowers and bushes trying hard to grow, there are bananas and orchids, marigolds, hollyhocks, nasturtiums, pansies, nicotiana, lilac, yuccas, jasmin raspberries, hebes, roses laurels, brugmanisias, azeleas and a cycad that is about to put out a set of new leaves, it will soon change. The echium has made it to a bit over 4 meters I think, possible more although it will not grow much higher going on past experience.

 The old shop next door has been painted and the free soil and rocks I got turned into a little wall and flower bed.

 Flowers.

June evening

I am sitting in the garden watching the evening turn to night, feint radio 4 via internet provides a back drop to crickets and night birds, I guess it still defines me as an Englishman abroad. The frogs down at the lake are still talking and there are half a dozen different kind in the fields nearer the house. Its 11 pm and about 18C just warm enough to sit out. The air is filled with the scent of nicotina and the first gardenia flowers, bats flitter about under half a moon and the church bell wakes a few distant dogs.

I have had some American people visiting to help clear the land, soil has been shoveled walls knocked down, rubble carried and a new drive almost completed as well as a good bit of strimming 

 and forest clearing.

.

I took them to cliffs and beaches on the way back to their house.

They Went to Vilarrube

and did good swimming out to a sandbank

then did swimming away with the current on purpose

and played American football and did singing and other American things, it was a good time right out of a novel, one I might have been in in the 1970s but wasn't.

I have painted and painted and still there is more painting to do but the outside of the house and the butchers shop look a lot better, photos tomorrow I hope. Most of the inside rooms have been done as well.

Jenny, the boys, Shirley and Derek visited for a week and did lots of cleaning and sorting things and we managed to find time for a few beach adventures including some good pirate kayaking with sandy islands and a whirlpool,  I didn't take enough photos though. Valdovino sand dunes below, one false step and you come right back down.

That is where we were sitting eating and drinking

And below is where else we were sitting, the lawn looks a bit bare but the recent rain has started a lot of grass seed growing so it will green up in a week or two. Where those stakes are next to the brown plant pot is a line of oleander of different colours that will be a hedge and windbreak one day, they are settling in well. Behind the bench seats are 4 flourishing varieties of ginger that will fill the area with scent later in the Summer. Two Brugmansia or Angels Trumpets should be flowering soon, a hairy Japanese fan palm is settling in well and a gardenia is beginning to enjoy its outdoor life. Daphne, rosmary, roses and all sorts of bushes are growing really well. Its kind of like doing part of a painting then sitting back and watching it evolve on its own but it takes years and changes through each year. It also looks a lot better in real life than in the photo.

 Lots of things are changing as spring fades away my last days of properly living here are nearly over, the house will be occupied on a holiday rental basis via http://www.rentalia.com/125628 With the new shower room and other work done on the house along with the work we have done in the garden staring to have an impact the whole property feels like it has become a new place as well.

 I will be leaving on a jet plane pretty soon although I will be back again on and off so the blog will be more intermittent in future. As I sit here uploading photos a cricket starts by my feet and an owl swoops silently landing in the walnut tree briefly then a soundless glide down across the garden a shadow in the moonlight...time for a sip of Hierbas liqor.