Happy accidents, abstracts and oddities

These will keep a few years yet, especially the white Rioja (on the left). I first tried it in the '80s and thought it was horrid (like drinking solid oak, if such a thing were possible!) but a student of mine (he is also a wine merchant here in Madrid) changed my attitude towards it by serving me a glass from half a bottle that was left over from a wine-tasting he did 3 months earlier (thank you Andreas!), and the bottle had been open and out of the fridge that long. It was sensational! These will be familiar to some of our (wealthier and/or aspirational) Iberian membership, I'm sure. They are not my day-to-day regular drinking! The middle one would retail today at well over 100€ a bottle (I just checked; the cheapest on line offer is currently 153€ for the '95 - I used to buy the '68 in 1981 in the UK for £4.50 or thereabouts!) OK, in for a penny in for a pound, best buys for the others; Muga Prado Enea '06: 45,60€ and the white Tondonia '07; 72,00€. My average bottle spend these days: 4,00€.

Not much left of the christmas ham now. That's a bread knife by the way, the ultra-sharp knife used for the ham is tucked away under the joint out of sight. (I don't know what is or was in the tubular box but I think it was more cured ham of some description - the Spanish certainly love their cured hams!)

Chun Quoit (quoit = Cornish for dolmen). Although small, it is the best preserved quoit in Cornwall. All the others have dislodged capstones or some other disturbance. These are presumed to be burial chambers but no burial remains have ever been found. They were all originally buried under a mound of stones and earth but erosion in the harsh environment of West Penwith and the action of tomb robbers has meant that you can see the vestiges of the mound only at one quoit; here, at Chun. Estimated to be approx. 6,000 years old. Sited in Morvah parish, West Penwith, Cornwall. Misspelt Quiot on Google maps! Photo; July 20, 2012.

I can't now remember how this came about but I liked it and tarted it up a bit in editing. Originally done in 2013 and first posted in ipernity in 2017.

Rock window (perhaps hopefully onto a brighter future for us all?). The way I took (not a path at all really) went under this rock. Very common to have a giant boulder wedged over a gully in granite country! Granite forms on Pena del Tejo, a little to one side of La Sierra de La Cabrera proper but terrific scrambling territory in its own right. Indeed I spent a whole day here, intending to move on to the main ridge but finding a day's worth of interest at this place, including the mountain stream close-ups I sometimes post. photo taken 2012 and first posted on ipernity in 2017.

More granite shapes. La Sierra de La Cabrera. Shot taken in 2012 and first posted here in 2017. ***HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY IPERNITY FRIENDS. FINGERS CROSSED FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN ALL THINGS!!!***

An oldie, from 2012, first shown on ipernity in 2016. I didn't see it as HFF potential then but do now, seeing as I didn't have many fence shots early on!

Plaza Chueca, Madrid. Christmas lights in the rain. First shown in 2016 on ipernity from a shot taken in 2013. I can't upload my new 2020 Christmas shot so a blast from the past will have to suffice!

***'Watch the Master and learn!'*** Griffon Vultures, Cancho de La Bola, Sierra de La Cabrera. Granite. Madrid Province This one again (first shown on ipernity in 2016), simply because it is a favourite of mine.

From my balcony one morning in 2013.

Cornwall Coast at North Cliffs. For Pam. 2nd posting - under the new disposition. A shot from 2011, originally posted 2016. H. A. N. W. E. everyone!

Accident of course! This ghostly shadow seems to prefer real shoes!

Colombia Metro Station, Madrid. I just LIKE this station. They didn't have to do this but I'm pleased they did. Just about every other metro station has something of interest to see, admire, like, enjoy the vibrant colours of, etc!

No description necessary. Except to say people are assuming it's whisky (or whiskey); it isn't. Can anyone guess what it is? Answered correctly by Steve. It's rosé (of course!).

I'm fond of this rock, as you will have gathered by now. It even has its own album!

I think it was my old Canon Ixus 100 pocket digital that created all these 'happy accidents'. It was obviously an artisitc little camera!