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.
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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:
The next several images are from my backyard.
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This little weed growing next to my swimming pool makes me think of the phrase from “Jurassic Park”, nature will find a way:
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I was in the garden with my macro lens because my late mother’s cactus plant was about to perform its periodic miracle:
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A few days later, the flower in all its glory:
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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:
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Cheeta was accompanying me while I was photographing the cactus:
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The problem with photographing Cheeta is that she immediately starts running towards me:
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…and tries to lick the lens:
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But sometimes I get lucky, like with this close-up of her face:
Then some pictures from the neighbourhood.
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Our local park, early on a Sunday morning. A botellón clearly took place on Saturday night:
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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:
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A billboard advertising a real estate development, with a huge empty lot as background:
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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:
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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:
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Even the billboard is apparently impossible to rent out:
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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:
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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):
To see more about The Miracle of the Cactus, have a look here.