There are places in Spain that are astonishing.*

[bending_sickle]

While in Spain, I took pictures! I've already uploaded some on Flickr but here's some more that didn't make the Flickr-cut.

Grandma's Village:

Our church, where I was babtised:




The countryside:




Stuff you can find in the countryside:








Our vineyard:


The road to the bodegas:


The road to the bodegas, looking back:


Our bodega. Note the charred rosemary bush from the fire two years ago.


Grandma's huerta (backyard fruit'n'veggies garden), from right to left:






Note Nela, Uncle's English Setter (deceased)'s doghouse. She never used it, preferring instead to sleep in the pigeon coop (building right behind it). The water tanks are for Uncle's drip-irrigation system.


Tomatoes!




Giant pumpkin-ish vegetable!


Onion!




Path from the backdoor leading to the tool shed (left, behind the Japanese cherry tree) and pigeon coop (right):


Back door, giant rosemary and lavender:


It's a vegetable!


Flying bikes! Each one has been "my" bike for at least one summer.


Grandma's street (house is the one immediately to the left):




Great Aunt and Elder Uncle, on our way back from the cemetery:


Vuelta de Burgos (Provincial Bike Tour) setting off in the larger village nearby, and Sickle:









Links of the Day:
Palin Bingo
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
Gimp Quickies: Tutorials
Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book: Chapter 4 - Neil's reading one chapter per tour-stop, and it's being filmed and uploaded by his wonderful elves :)
gratefuladdict's "I Don't Care About Apathy: What I 'Should' Care About - But Don't"
wtf_nature's Mercury(II) thiocyanate/mercuric thiocyanate reacting to heat


* Robin Williams

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

LOVE the pictures. your church is absolutely beautiful, and so is the countryside and the gardens.

it all looks so different from canada! like, not green. seriously, what season was that?

xxx
kit-kat

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

It's the dead of summer, yo. The countryside's all shades of yellow. For years, these were the only colours I'd associate with Spain, and then I actually got to see spring and, lo, there was green :D

[blizzardcake.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness, not only are your photos absolutely stunning, but those fresh vegetables made me hungry :P <3

Also, the Palin Bingo: FREAKIN' HILARIOUS!!!! XD I wanna plaaaaay~~~

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

Those fresh veggies are delicious, until yo realize you've been eating zucchini for one week straight and there's still loads in the garden that must be consumed. There is such as thing as too much of a good thing ;)

Soup.

[(Anonymous)]

Zucchini Soup With Small Pasta Shells

A pretty, fresh-tasting soup which could be made using cucumber instead of zucchini.

Ingredients:
4 tbsp olive or sunflower oil
2 onions, finely chopped
6 1/4 cups vegetable stock
2 lb zucchini
1 cup small soup pasta
fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped fresh chervil
salt and ground black pepper
sour cream, to serve

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onions. Cover and cook gently for about 20 minutes until very soft but not colored, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the stock and bring to a boil.
3. Meanwhile grate the zucchini and stir into the boiling stock with the pasta. Turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the pasta is tender. Season to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
4. Stir in the chervil and add a swirl of sour cream before serving.

----

Thanks for the photographs.

-D

Re: Soup.

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recepie! I might just be able to actually make that. Once I figure out what chervil is, o'course.