tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86930820313208623542011-11-28T00:31:06.696+01:00For anyone wanting to live on the Costa Blanca, an area of warm winters when the rain comes, and hot, dry summers when the family comes - you may get some idea of the experience from the information here.Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.comBlogger151100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693082031320862354.post-7382731268877477602009-12-30T20:07:00.006+01:002010-08-26T19:58:31.170+02:00

There are new facilities on the N332! This well-known road leads from north to south and vice versa along the Mediterranean coast of Spain. And now the good old N332 has acquired an interesting feature involving oranges and young ladies. Before the motorways came, way back in the 20th century, this national road was the main route from Valencia to Almeria province and back again! As I write

Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693082031320862354.post-73351697918264909312009-12-24T09:33:00.002+01:002010-04-20T09:52:18.628+02:00

There's nothing like snow on the Bernias. We got up one morning earlier this month and saw more white on the inland mountains viewed from our terrace than ever before in our 15 years here. It really is there if you look carefully! Then came a storm of continuous rain and strong winds overnight. What we saw the next day at the coast was the result of heavy seas. In this photo the Javea Arenal

Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693082031320862354.post-1310376152850421962009-09-15T18:26:00.013+02:002010-04-20T09:54:48.700+02:00

Meet the Bignonia family. It's proper name is: Bignoniaceae Let me come clean: I am going to describe a family of climbing plants that grow quickly in this climate and don't need much looking after. For a new garden in a Mediterranean climate they are a great choice. This reddish-orange flower in the two photos above is from one of the Bignonia family of climbing shrubs. Its name is Tecoma (

Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693082031320862354.post-11210425574498192442009-08-31T21:15:00.018+02:002010-08-27T18:05:36.975+02:00

The night of Sunday 9th August, 2009 the windows of Casa Kaduna lit up with vivid white flashes. Grandfather and Grandmother Bear went outside to enjoy the glorious sky. Was it really lightning? There was no sound of thunder. Across the high wide sky to the north came continuing flashes at intervals of seconds. They illuminated the shapes of clouds, and backlit the Montgó mountain - you can see

Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693082031320862354.post-86588352537884977812009-07-20T13:25:00.008+02:002010-08-26T12:26:01.986+02:00

The rocket shot off with a hiss leaving a red tail followed by a brilliant blue scattering light. Shouting and cheering the group of men from the rowing boat by the rocks near Moriara Marina charged the Tourist Office. In the darkness they hacked down the nearest defenders they found inside. The attackers with blackened faces, wearing bandanas and in bare feet swarmed over the interior as the

Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693082031320862354.post-11752007187391567782009-06-19T07:43:00.033+02:002009-07-20T11:21:02.351+02:00

"Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage; Minds innocent and quiet take That for an hermitage" The photo does not show a hermitage but I hope it looks tranquil rather than punitive. I have quoted the words that every schoolboy now in his third age will know - of Richard Lovelace (1618 - 1657). The photo shows an entrance to the lower part of our house from outside, and the

Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693082031320862354.post-3411069996135187212009-06-02T10:56:00.005+02:002009-06-22T07:46:03.615+02:00

The pretty little nisperos in a neighbour's garden; they are not quite ready to eat. Their colour and the dark green pointed oval leaves of the plant have been a pleasure to look at for weeks now.And in the mountains looking down on Benidorm there are orchards of nisperos.I know that some people enjoy eating them, but do they have other uses? Jam?On Shikoku, the fourth largest island of the

Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693082031320862354.post-58321349912415813752009-05-25T12:52:00.018+02:002010-04-20T10:00:23.059+02:00

Above the pomegranate tree with the narrow leaves and spiny branches is a cherry tree with its dark green oval leaves. Neither plant has produced any fruit ever! They have been there at least 10 years. This year they both showed promise after a cool season with more rain than usual. What might have easily become a cherry or two was optimistically recognised nestling under a leaf or two last month

Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693082031320862354.post-78340983471266267062009-04-27T20:16:00.024+02:002009-07-13T11:31:28.256+02:00

The riu rau was a rectangular building with arches to allow quick access to a sheltered area for grapes which were laid outside in the sun on canes to dry. Drying the grapes of course was part of the process of making raisins. At night to protect the drying grapes from dew the grapes were lifted under the riu rau. And the open arches made it easy to do this rapidly if it rained during the

Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693082031320862354.post-19257233094489208802009-04-01T20:59:00.008+02:002009-05-13T09:09:22.935+02:00

They fished from these cliffs mainly at night and perhaps after a day's work. Any recess in the cliff might provide a place. Sometimes a platform was made from the cane which grew in groves inland. This frail structure was suspended on ropes from stanchions hammered into the rock and hung down on the cliff face above the water.The fish, octupi, squid, etc provided food for the family or for sale

Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693082031320862354.post-50164803588087235672009-03-16T11:00:00.013+01:002009-05-22T19:15:05.414+02:00

This could well be the last evening of the year for the wood fire as the weather now is warmer and brighter. Winter is a good excuse for a wood stove. The bright flames through the glass are a cheerful focal point in the room and the activity of getting up and down from the armchair to add wood keeps you from falling asleep. There are two main kinds of stove available locally. The 'cartridge'

Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693082031320862354.post-1961389085854392892009-03-01T17:50:00.005+01:002010-08-26T12:56:08.333+02:00

Spain is a mountainous country and there is a relatively narrow coastal plain along much of the Mediterranean. Sometimes there is no plain at all when a mountainside drops down abruptly to the sea below. You can see houses built on slender concrete piles reaching upward for as high as three storeys on the steep slope. I imagine living there and being too scared to look down. The houses on the

Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693082031320862354.post-67718833279909486232009-02-24T23:04:00.000+01:002009-02-25T21:51:42.551+01:00

If you enjoy what you see and read on a blog, then you can arrange to have notice of updates sent to you by becoming a FOLLOWER. Look for this word in the right hand column of the blog. Following a blog can be public (your name or user name plus a photo if you like) or it can be completely anonymous - the association is known only to you.Being a Follower openly tells the world and the author that

Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693082031320862354.post-2902056540582206642009-02-01T18:18:00.000+01:002009-02-16T08:56:43.314+01:00

Hercules the Night HogThe clanking of the cats' bowl as Hercules the Hedgehog emptied it and sent it spinning................used to bring us out of the house to watch. He was certainly not discreet. The photos on these pages were taken 5 years ago on New Year's morning as Hercules celebrated by emptying the cats' bowl specially refilled for him. Sadly neither he nor any of his clanking clan have

Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693082031320862354.post-49326325035202636532009-01-02T19:53:00.001+01:002009-09-13T18:17:08.771+02:00

The photos were taken immediately outside the patio doors leading to the main room of the house. The hedgehogs had got so used to us by this time last winter that they would come here to feed from the cats' bowls. They were so confident or hungry that I was able to open the door and take the photo looking down on them.The feeding hedgehogs phenomenon began about 5 years ago. The cats' bowls were

Halvenonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07067722445845819187noreply@blogger.com0