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Some Spanish sunshine

We have been back from Spain for over almost two weeks now.  The sun has shone ever hotter and brighter in Spain since we left and at home we have been enjoying much cooler but sunny weather.  It has been a wonderful and blessed relief!  I am not much good with hot and steamy climes.  I much prefer it here!  If you are outside, busy in the garden, you can still get a tan to impress!

Since we got home, between showers, we have been dealing with the garden as a matter of urgency, before the weeds take over completely!  As an aside, the wild raspberries have crept up on the woods around the house and there are simply thousands of berries on bushes which were not evident last year.  The nettles and brambles entwined throughout the canes make the undergrowth impenetrable and so unless the birds gorge themselves on as many berries as they can, an awful lot of lovely fruit is going to waste.  I have, however, picked some fruit from the woodland fringes  and made the children the sweet pastry round with raspberries in the middle that they enjoyed last year.  I gave the recipe for this in a post of 1 August 2012 and it is good for any sort of fruit, including mincemeat and grated apple which is yummy too.

Anyway, I digress because this post is supposed to be showing you some photos from our time in Spain.  To be honest I have been a bit disappointed with them.  I think my camera needs a good service.  It's not really performing as well as it did and probably needs some attention.  To be fair it's been working overtime for three years now!  

So, with a few occasional comments thrown in, here are some holiday snaps!  I think I might spread them over a couple of posts as there are quite a few.  I start with the ancient walled hilltop town of Morella.  It was rather lovely with narrow streets and quiet lanes.  The whole lot is topped off with a castle.
 This photo is part of the enormous beautiful old doors to the church of Santa María la Mayor
and a detail of it's door handle.  I saw some wonderful old doors on holiday.  Some will feature here but I am going to hold back a bit because I have been planning a post on doors and door knobs for a few months now (sounds like I need to get a bit of a life!!) so will keep some of them for another time.
There were some lovely embroidered linen shades hung over balconies to deflect some of the summertime heat.  They billowed in and out like sails in the wind.
Back by the sea, here is the view on the cliff side of the castle at Peñíscola looking along the beach towards Benicarlo.  Down in the bottom right hand corner you can just see a brave soul snorkelling around the bottom of the cliff.  He has quite a long swim back to shore.
I am not sure what these makeshift flags are for.  They sit alongside the fishing nets as they are laid out in ribbons on the quayside.  Maybe they are markers that the fishermen use out at sea.
Mending the fishing nets.
A curious little figure perched up high, looking down to the street below!
A Spanish fan - a very useful item in such hot weather!
 I'll show you the rest in the next post so, for now, adios amigos!






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