lagartera and the sierra de gredos

it was semana santa 1986? & that morning i walked back down the hill just in time to see the local girls' five-a-side finals with a can of cold beer in my hand

my, how those girls perspired !

 

my very first morning in spain, 1986

calle del barco in madrid, ramon's apartment, 1986, the view from the terrace

the teapot was made by pedro de la cal, the sweetest old man in puente del arzobispo

faded prints of much loved places

this fuzzy image is scanned from a small print that was pinned up in about six different homes as i've drifted around

it was taken in lagartera in 1986, a sweet village on a low granite hill beside a wide dusty plain with a spectacular view to the snowy sierra de gredos

a few very old ladies still wore their traditional costumes about the streets and the main sources of income were from their families' marvellous embroideries, and from the pig industry which burgeoned with eec grant money at that time

this silhouette of the village soon disappeared as that cash was re-invested in a not-for-sale property boom when the villagers built themselves modern homes on their tiny fields and olive groves

come in number one hundred and twenty three, your time is up !

 

reflections of reflections

 

boat jam

at the end of their downstream sprint the exhausted scullers move slowly back upstream towards the clubhouses and the ramps

the tide has slid out really quickly and there is only sufficient water for one boat at a time to pass beneath putney bridge

 

"my hands are blistered !"

 

peace keepers returning from the clapham peace demo

 

fashion v style ... unreal city

i wonder what constellation the moon was rising in today ?

Answer = it was a waxing gibbous moon rising through leo

... hey ! that's my constellation !

t.s.eliot's river ... run softly 'til i sing my song

 

too many oars !

today it is the womens' heads of the river race

i've never seen so many fit birds

 

brighton; the west pier's skellington, the ruined bandstand, and one of brighton's fabulous cast iron lamp posts

pictured during a traffic jam on the sea front

a distant view of shoreham's gas-fired power station ...

... and another of brighton's fading glories

another side of brighton

the charming olde view along shoreham harbour as you approach from the west

 

findon church, near worthing in west sussex

you get this tantalising glimpse for about two seconds from the main road as you pass through the south downs towards the coast

 

after the rain

 

more sphinxes than you can shake a stick at !

 

a storm brewing above battersea dogs & cats home

we had thunder and lightning and hail and cycling home was less enjoyable than usual

 

may's folly at hadlow in kent

 

you might not want to walk through this space on a windy day

 

a very cold wet afternoon on the village green at westerham in kent ...

 

... one of the worst sculptures i've ever seen

 

popped along the river bank ...

 

... in case the oxford crew needed some advice on ...

 

... how to handle their oars !

 

three beautiful sounds

the cacophony of an espresso machine
in a tiled & smoke-filled bar
with twenty five spaniards
all shouting at the television

the hiss of the breaking wave
rushing back down the pebbles
on brighton beach

the ear-splitting merriment of
a feasting flock of sparrows

... and a fourth

the turbo-charged,
window-rattling,
organ-loft storm
of George Collinson's voice
in the middle of a joyous rant !