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Thursday April 9th 2008

Heavy rain overnight and it hasn't stopped yet. Looking up the Genal Valley mist is hanging on the ridges and the sky looks very heavy. A great day for walking ... so I put my boots on, filled the haversack full of donkey food, grabbed my camera and set off.
It rained steadily all the way. I wondered why I'd bothered bringing the camera ...

The donkeys looked pleased to see me ... Okay that's not quite true.
I hoped that after a long trek through the campo in the rain, with a heavy bag of food, that they were pleased to see me. They really looked very wet ...
Poor little Rosie
She's so sweet.
Their hay was dry in the sacks, so I gave them plenty.
I set off back. I took this photograph of Algatocín, so carrying the camera wasn't a futile act.
The rain eased and I started to walk a little slower, taking in the beautiful campo.
Green shoots, more will follow after this rain and the grasses will grow very quickly.
I thought this was an Early Flowering Orchid but it hasn't got any leaves.
The same type of Orchid.
This plant has leaves like a primula - primrose but on close inspection they are covered in short sharp spikes.
This small plant has flowers like a Mimulus - Monkey Flower, but it's a lot smaller than the variety used as bedding plants in the U.K.
Cork Oaks are wonderful trees to look at, especially when they've been recently stripped of their cork and given a good soaking.
I think this is another Orchid.
Nature occasionally throws up a different coloured variant. Like the White Borage we saw a few weeks ago. Here's a very pale Lavender. I haven't noticed another like it out of the thousands of bushes I walk passed.
Lavender.
The early wild lupins are thin and blue. Another more sturdier variety comes up a little later. Here's a pale pink one, it has variants that are blue/white and yellow.
The Sweet Chestnut trees are just bursting their buds.
Finally I did find an excellent specimen of an Early Flowering Orchid, quite tall at 60-70cm.
A really enjoyable walk in the campo. If it rains, don't stay inside, put waterproofs on and get out into the countryside! Things are often more beautiful after a good soaking.

Later Jane and I made a corned beef and potato pie. Which was very tasty. Homemade pies ....mm mm

Then we watched a long film. A true story about Ira Einhorn. 'The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer'. Directed by William A. Graham. With Kevin Anderson, Tom Skerritt and Naomi Watts. Originally made for TV and four hours long. So quite a late night. We both enjoyed it. This version has been cut to 150 minutes. It was a good story and probably worth developing the characters fully in the original.