Central Spain

We can't quite see the sunset from here but we can certainly see the colour changes to the clouds in the wider picture. I do have to say though, that we do sometimes get some excellent skies!

This is a favourite of mine and I was surprised (but shouldn't have been) when it garnered no interest whatsoever on Panoramio. Ah well. I'm giving it another airing here and I really don't mind what happens! Sight and Sound, again no connexion to the photo, just love this version! www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxoGvBQtjpM

Because of the rain a few days ago, the mosquito breeding season was a very short but frenzied one. The result was that today they emerged from their watery nymph form and were all set to plague our lives but at just the right moment (they must have been waiting all summer for this), our friends the Pipistrelle bats came out in force and chomped away to their and our delight! Sight and Sound. Watching the bats skimming and swooshing through the twilight skies reminded me of this; www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1F0lBnsnkE

This is the highest point on our little hill and this tower houses the administrative office for our urbanización . I know in the US these bodies are infamous for their zealotry. But these people are benign in the main and don't have all that much to regulate as far as I can see. At least the car and refuse bins provide added colour!

The Sierra de La Cabrera here in its entirity and doesn't it look small? In the distance is the Embalse (Reservoir) del Atazar. I had more than one Panoramio member ask if it was the River Duero! I remember this as an extremely hot mid-October day (and a hazy one, hence the lack of sharpness) and the drought was biting hard. Fortunately November brought with it enough rain to alleviate the situation. We are hoping for the same again but a bit earlier this time, please! Sight and sound; it just amused me! rumble.com/v1jex3v-led-zeppelin-rock-and-roll.html

Front garden. Most of the rose bushes spent themselves out by the end of May, but a few hardy souls braved the Saharan summer and decided to have another go, and this yellow rose is a delightful one with a magical scent!

The church at the end of my 2nd long walk. I'll find out the name of the church for all those of you keen to know! Thanks to Malona, here it is! Parroquia La Inmaculada Conceptión de Valdeolmos

I had hoped to provide some more Cornwall material by now but it just hasn't been possible (yet). In the meantime, a slightly belated H. A. N. W. E. to all! (On large works quite well, I feel)

Supremely well camouflaged. If I hadn't heard them, I might easily have missed them! Sierra de La Cabrera.

Plaza de Colón (Columbus), Madrid

My sister's take in Algete, Spain. A pleasant shot and perhaps even more so on full screen. Sight and Sound, just because I happened to find it and these are two artists I love; www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXgo9pkuhU8

Another of my sister's from one of the terraces. Good on large. (She'll be retiring in the not-too-distant future so I'll try and persuade her to join ipernity as she ought to have more time!)

One of three I'll be posting of my favourite sierra. My sister's shot from the house where we live. The neighbouring village is Fuente del Saz de Jarama.

Another view from the back of the house. Sight and Sound. No reason but that I like it www.youtube.com/watch?v=fatP7thewQM&list=RDGMEMP-96bLtob-xyvCobnxVfywVMfatP7thewQM&start_radio=1

The Sierra de Guadarrama starts to rise to loftier peaks towards the left of the shot, But I prefer the more intimate feel of the granite ridge that is the small but endlessly fascinating Sierra de La Cabrera to the right..

From a few years ago and not uploaded previously. The Four Towers peer above this waste ground, fence and good street art. Re-discovered the shot on a hunt for a fence!

Another of my sister's shots. We certainly get some good skies! View from the middle terrace. I could never get tired of this view! Works quite well on large and then on beaming in further! I thought about cropping it to knock out the top part of the sky, but decided to retain the integrity of my sister's shot in full. Sight and Sound; www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry44Kvr39eE I`ve always appreciated her talent.

La Sierra de La Cabrera. A day of fog for the whole of central Spain. I wasn't sure when I set out by bus whether a) the bus would actually get to the mountains and b) that I would eventually stick my head up from under the cloud. It worked a treat on both counts and I got some lovely pics, many of them previously shown. 11 years ago but it seems like yesterday, of course! It was helpful that I already knew all the paths here like the back of my hand! Underneath the fog here is the Valley of the Lozoya river. Behind me you would have an even bigger sea of fog, with Madrid deeply under it.