QUINCE

It may sound a bit silly but the house we fell in love with here and which is now our home is number 15. In Spanish - numero quince. Well, it was meant to be, with a name like ours. Quin, quince - the next step was to get a quince tree. Membrillo - no connection there then in Spanish, as far as cognitives are concerned. Anyway, now it's fairly mature - the tree, that is - it gave us half a dozen quinces this year. What to do with them? Quince jelly? Naa. Found a recipe in Larousse for Quince Chicken. Deelicious.

If you ever visit in the autumn, you could try it!

Maybe you'll enjoy it as much as heee.

Peter Pan or David Bailey?

Probably both!

This is he:

Making friends with a hibiscus is just as easy for Peter as bringing our friends to life - or at least to our website, anyway.

Thank you, Peter, for recording Tricia's 50th in Cartegena so beautifully:

Happy 51st year to you, dear Tricia, we hope X

Just for the record, for our millions of viewers all over the world, from left to right, there's me Judy, Tricia, once my colleague and friend (still my friend), Ray, whose photography may surpass all of ours - just look at the size of that lens!!!! - and my other friend T.

This was also one of Ray's feats, in Cartagena - it seems Terry has another friend, too:

('ello sailor!)

Well, Peter and Ray can battle it out as to who has the biggest and bestest lens but, thank you Peter for recording these images of our 'bestist friends' and their folks:

Cast, in order of appearance: Bev; Chris; Arthur; Irene.

Particularly nice pic of Chris, don't yer think?

Peter - thanks for the memories, thanks for the images X

33 years on

When you don't see a friend (apart from a couple of brief encounters) for 33 years, it's rare for the rapport to be still there. In 1974, we famously drove round Europe, as far as the Peloponnese, with Peter and Anne. When Peter came to see us a couple of weeks ago, the third of a century inbetween just seemed to evaporate. Well, I ask you, when someone actually demonstrates what breadsticks are really for, how can you help but warm to him?

Of course, no first stay in quinspainland would be complete without a trip to 'the guns' . . .

or to the cave houses . . .

or to the mediaeval village of Aledo in our local sierra, for that matter:

But you'll be pleased to know we've found new ways of entertaining our guests, too. There's the Monastery . . .

(I captured these two in a monastery garden!)

and yet more caves, in the Sierra Espuña . . .

not forgetting the local flora and fauna:

(How did she get in there?)

But I truly think that Peter's natural habitat is the beach bar!

Thank you, Peter for a wonderful visit. May Heaven forfend you leave it 33 years before you visit again - we're looking forward to more olive-rolling.

And bring Homer with you next time!