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Croatia Calling

Pic of the week 30/7/23

On Thursday we (Becky & I) returned from a fantastic 8 days in Cavtat, Croatia.

I loved it – it is a beautiful place, the pace of life was suitably chilled, a melting pot of nationalities, the price was right, the food and drink delicious and the water – well the water perfect.

The sea was deep, calm and refreshing.

It didn’t matter whether it was “our” cove,

or over at beautiful Plat – a 15 minute bus ride to the other side of the bay:

The weather was hot (and the apartment air-con deliciously cool) and we woke on the Tuesday to smoke on the mountains opposite as bush fires took hold. All day, we watched aircraft scoop up water from the sea and then water bomb the mountains opposite us.

We were never in danger (in fact, it was a privilege to watch the planes in action) but a few days earlier we had read in the news of holidaymakers being evacuated from Rhodes as they fled forest fires. The scene that night was quite elemental as we watched the hills burn:

The fire just added to the drama and interest of the week. We also saw a spectacular lightening storm one night, water polo practice in the harbour, some local folk dancing and some varied bird life – I swam 5 metres from a cormorant,  saw a heron and kingfisher in plat and had swallows swoop within feet of me as I swam in the calm of the early morning. It really was a great holiday.

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Sunflowers

Sunflowers, 17 July 2023

Thought I should do a quick update for the records re: the sunflowers – they are growing well, as can be seen in the pic above.  The tallest currently measures 2m 8cm and I’ve needed to add the top “wire”.

The biggest challenge this year has been the wind – on the days before we went to Mallorca, and on the days since our return, it has been really windy and the sunflowers have need some extra support – I don’t think they would all have survived without it. In addition, where they were being blown left and right, their stalks were rubbing against the wire, causing scaring, and one was nearly cut in two, so I put some neoprene fish tank hose over the the supporting wire to make it a much less harsh surface. I also tied all the individual sunflowers to the wires to keep them upright,

They are looking good – we are off to Cavtat tomorrow, I hope they still look as good when we return in nine days time.

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Soller, Majorca

Pic of the week 16/7/23

On Friday, we returned from 10 lovely days -en famile- in Soller, Majorca.  We had a fantastic Finca a few minutes walk from the town centre, with a pool set in a lovely garden.  It was, however, hot! As the week wore on, we became embroiled (emboiled?!) in the heatwave Cerberus with temperatures hitting 36, 37 degrees, and not getting much cooler at night (which then exacerbated the omission of air con from the property, although ceiling fans dis their best to keep us cool.)

We did a lot (well, Becky & I did – Sophie really didn’t like the heat, and Sam didn’t like getting up in the morning!) Probably the highlight for me was on the Sunday when Sam & I went coastering of Deia, climbing rocks and leaping of cliffs (10m high?) into the sea. The best bit for me was entering the sea cave – in fact, it was exiting the sea cave! The water was so perfectly blue as I rounded the corner the enter the final passage. This was no grand cavern, the exit was not very big at all!

Other highlights included our trip to the orange grove Ecovinyassa, and on our final day when Becky and I took the bus to Fornalutx, explored it and then walked down to Biniaraix and back to the house. But the whole holiday was great – food, family and fun!

Day 0 – Arrival

Day 1 trip to the Eroski!

Day 2 – Deia

Day 3 – Market Day in Soller

Day 4 – Becky went to Valldemossa, whilst Sam & I went coastering

Day 6 – Becky & I walked to Port de Soller. Hot, hot, hot!

Day 7 – In the evening we got the bus to Port de Soller

Day 8 – Ecovinyassa

Day 8 – exploring Fornalutx and Biniaraix

Day 9 – Heading home

(For the record, our return flight was delayed by two hours)

 

 

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School’s out!

Pic of the week 2/7/23

School’s out for summer!

The term, for me, sort of fizzled out (not that I am complaining) – with most year 11s finishing their two weeks before the end of term, and all the week before, I’ve been on easy street as term drew to a close, but it was still great when it finally, officially, ended. To have the long summer hols stretching out in front of me is something to look forward.  I’ve kept myself busy and active so far: spinning on Thursday, swimming on Friday, Park Run yesterday and an 8K run today, with the intention of swimming tomorrow and spinning on Tuesday before I “let it all go” on holiday!  I’ve also spent some time pottering and tidying up in the garden.  The first sunflower has burst into bloom, which is nice to see, but now want them to slow down for a couple of weeks whilst we are away!

On the rat front, they have been consuming quite a bit of poison and I restocked all the blocks on Friday, but nothing more has been nibbled – beginning to hope that, perhaps, they’ve done their job …?

Had a doctors appointment on Tuesday to discuss my cholesterol – not really sure it was helpful or useful, he didn’t really know why I was their and needed me to him my results.  We then chatted about cholesterol for a bit, he suggested what I was doing was the right thing and wants to do a full blood test in September/October to see if the changes to my diet have had a positive effect.

Off to Majorca on Wednesday, so no post next week …