Beast of the East

In honour of today's much trumpeted bad weather, blowing over from Siberia, here's the original beast, a Siberian Unicorn....fossilised remains of a shaggy rhino which may have had a big horn were discovered in the region. A local legend amongst the Yakut people tells of a " huge black bull" killed by a spear with a horn so large it had to be carted away on a sled..... 

Pepe's Finca

Pepe, our neighbour in Spain, brought round a huge bag of oranges from his trees....his fig tree was a knarled stump devoid of its canopy of green leaves

Spanish Acorns

Aromatic Mediterranean plants on our walk along the cliffs...lavender, thyme, rosemary and many unknown species, including miniature holly with acorns, which was a type of oak tree 

Roman Fish Food

Bagged Montgo at last,  735m approx...........plus found the remains of the fish processing works cut into the tosca stone wave cut platforms near the sea,  like giant baths

Green Lizard, Yellow Swallowtail

After a rocky ascent of Montgo above Xabia, Spain, we were welcomed to the summit by this yellow swallowtail butterfly.....m-agic m-oments!!

Flip Flops at the Winter Olympics

Hats off (and shirts) to Tonga's Cross Country skier, PitaTaufatofua. After appearing bare-chested in sub zero temperatures, complete with flip flops and a grass skirt at the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang he managed not to come last! Asked about how he managed to cope with the cold, he said, "if my ancestors can sail across the Pacific Ocean for 1000 years not knowing where the next piece of land will be...then I can go though 25 minutes without a shirt on"

Spanish Fish

Fish with great Spanish names. My favourite is the "trembling cow"....