Prowling my world, camera in hand

18 June 2012

Week 24: at home and in the neighbourhood

Filed under: — Administrator @ 06:39

With the exception of the first and last picture, all the images in this week’s blog were taken either in my backyard or while walking my dog in the neighbourhood.

24_1
I start with an image from cycling in the mountains last weekend. A rather threatening cloud was closing in, but it remained an empty threat:
P1010571

The next several images are from my backyard.

24_2
This little weed growing next to my swimming pool makes me think of the phrase from “Jurassic Park”, nature will find a way:
IGP4893

24_3
I was in the garden with my macro lens because my late mother’s cactus plant was about to perform its periodic miracle:
IGP4891

24_4
A few days later, the flower in all its glory:
IGP4916

24_5
Our backyard is adjacent to a golf course, and the skills of the local golfers leave a lot to be desired. We get 3-4 balls in the pool each week and keep them in the sink in the backyard. Occasionally, I throw one onto the golf course and watch with amusement as people try to figure out whose ball it is and where it came from:
IGP4926

24_6
Cheeta was accompanying me while I was photographing the cactus:
IGP4898

24_7
The problem with photographing Cheeta is that she immediately starts running towards me:
IGP4900

24_8
…and tries to lick the lens:
IGP4897

24_9
But sometimes I get lucky, like with this close-up of her face:
IGP4902

Then some pictures from the neighbourhood.

24_10
Our local park, early on a Sunday morning. A botellón clearly took place on Saturday night:
DSF0472

24_11
This building contains three common features of Spanish life right now; a closed restaurant on the ground floor, a “For Sale” sign on one of the apartments, and the Spanish flag displayed for the European football championship taking place this month:
L1007833

24_12
A billboard advertising a real estate development, with a huge empty lot as background:
L1007834

24_13
Another huge empty lot, just 100 metres down the street. Somebody was going to build another large apartment building here, like the ones in the background:
DSF0483

24_14
Instead, discarded construction materials litter the site. This is the explanation behind Spain’s banking crisis. Someone financed all this, someone went bankrupt, someone did not repay the loans:
DSF0489

24_15
Even the billboard is apparently impossible to rent out:
DSF0485

24_16
A more cheerful note. This the Bar 4 Estaciones during the Spain-Ireland match. My Scottish friend Mark, for whom this bar is his second home, bravely showed up in a green shirt. Spain won 4-0:
DSF0476

24_17
Finally, another Eurocopa image, from the Carrefour supermarket. It is common to see promotions of items such as beer and crisps during major championships. But this is the first time I have seen vegetables promoted in this manner. This is allegedly the salad of the Spanish national team (known as La Roja):
DSF0492

To see more about The Miracle of the Cactus, have a look here.

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Leave a comment

Powered by WordPress