Central Spain

Apart from 3 sunny days , the weather has been atrocious these past 6 weeks since I returned from Cornwall! The oleander seems to thrive in it though!

They were out in force this dusk just gone and they are hard to capture at the best of times but this is their time when they feast on the plenty of mosquitos we unfortuntely get here, especially at the start of a heat wave (coming now). I sometimes try to capture them in honour of the sterling job they do (I react badly to mosquito bites!). I can only find two and I thought I had got a dozen or so in shot!

This is the sort of scene I was hoping to see this Spring but the weather was against me and I'm not yet 100% sure I've got quite enough stamina back yet. Oh well ... This is a previously unshown shot from the last time I walked in this granite wonderland; 25/05/2019. Four whole years ago. It doesn't seem real somehow! Sight and Sound. Eric Burdon and War. Tobacco Road. An all time favourite. Long but worth it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF87aqqmf4Q

The house is indicated here (top right). It sits on the top of a ridge and commands extensive views over the countryside of the Jarama Valley and the distant Sierra de Guadarrama. It also affords views of some spectacular weather!

Algete is fairly hilly so there are plenty of alternative steps where I can take my exercise. This one boasts only 45 fairly gentle steps but when I add it to some of the other more serious flights, it all counts! Streets of Algete no. 21.

Our 'posh' neighbours like to think they are living in, or more likely, ruling over some Near-or-Middle-East potentate! Streets of Algete No. 22. 2nd of three tonight. Maggie suggests 'excellent on large' and, as usual, Maggie is right!

A shot taken from the opposite direction to the shot recently posted of the house from the road down there. Shot taken from the middle terrace, overlooking the lower terrace, part of the back garden and part of the vegetable and fruit garden.

This won my 'Best-dressed Bollard of the Year Award' back in 2018. I passed by it again yesterday but it wasn't quite up to scratch so I post another of the shots I took back then, simply because I like it! I'LL BE OFF-LINE FOR A FEW DAYS WHILE MY LAPTOP IS IN DRY DOCK FOR ESSENTIAL REPAIRS. CAPACITY ISSUES TOO (PHOTOS!) I HOPE TO BE BACK IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING THIS COMING WEDNESDAY..

There are over 200 to choose a favourite from but, even so! I like the sturdy, if still small, interestingly shaped branches out of the ancient tree! Should be spectacular in a couple of hundred years!

These splendidly gnarled old olive trees seem to be be well liked by ipernians, Algetians and me! Parque de Los Olivos, of course, as if it needed any other name!

I wasn't looking for perfection here, I just liked the colour contrast and the general HFF theme. Algete street scene 23.

Anvil shaped storm cloud (I would guess somewhere over the Lozoya Valley), sunset and, yes, it came our way. Another very stormy sleepless night! Enough is enough! (Sorry about the bit of camera shake clearly visible in those town lights!)

Algete street scene 24. Broadly similar to a post last year but with one big difference. The trees last year threw many shadows across the road. Now they've all been chopped down. Not sure why, but on looking at one or two of the stumps, perhaps some form of longhorn beetle larva (I've seen similar in other places). Anyway ANOTHER storm on the way and I got home just in time! BTW, someone (who shall remain nameless - she meant no harm), deleted the cable from this.shot. I prefer it in and kept it in for the purpose of compositional balance. Please don't amend my photos without my permission for whatever reason. Thank you!

Another day, another storm! And another day I had planned to get back to those mountains you see there! Ha ha!!

La Sierra de La Cabrera. Pure granite. An oldie for sure. The town of La Cabrera lies at its foot. From the town, it's quite a tough and steep ascent. I'm trying to build up the stamina to tackle it again. No editing - I quite like the rough effect. Sight and sound; another Sixto Rodriguez classic: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCbtijgxUw8

Another side of the Sierra de La Cabrera that is away from the main ridge but has its charms! A smoky / hazy winter shot. (Also posted ages ago but worth another airing methinks!) Another bitterly cold winter day. Here is a link to my 'Mushroom Rock', as mentioned in the photo notes. www.ipernity.com/doc/2247598/46109522/in/album/1039862

A test photo edit and share to drive and then to ipernity. Not as edited as it could have been due to limited time but it kinda seems to work! It was my most fun day in these mountains ever! Especially as I didn't know, finding my way through the fog, whether I would actually stick my head out from under! When I did, the granite playground was mine, MINE, MINE!!!

When you get bored, tell me and I'll move on!