Long early morning shadows on our way home from an early morning walk..
Morning Glory just beginning to bloom as they clamber up an olive tree
Figs ripening....
John spotted this, the smallest of newly hatched gecko's on the terrace wall one evening..
probably not more than an inch or so long...
And another baby, this time a praying mantis on the back of a chair also on the terrace,
This was a bit of a surprise because the capers bloomed in May, and we picked them in June, but on this plant were a flower, and 2 capers plus the final stage when it gets big and bursts.
The pear tree in the front garden suddenly decided to turn autumnal and shed lots of leaves. Not all of them though and the rest of the tree is still green! Weird.
I've mentioned before, maybe a year or so ago, about the Juan the upholsterer in Cadiar. There isn't a shop sign to let you know what is there, someone told me years ago, and we have had a cushion on the settee recovered, very quick work, good price too. I went in a couple of weeks ago to ask him if he could repair or replace the zip on a leather handbag. The teeth come undone as I zip it up, so not safe to use. He looked at it and said that the leather would have been cut, the zip stitched in and then the bag constructed and that he couldn't fit it on his machine. Hmm. But he got a couple of tools, pushed and tweaked, tried the zip, repeated the process and hey presto! One fixed zip! Wouldn't take any money for it, as it hadn't taken him long to do.
I went back the following week with 2 chair seats and the arms from the computer chair. These oak chairs we've had about 30 years and the leather look-alike material is badly worn and the stuffing is coming out. The arms of the computer chair have worn badly catching on the underside of the desk. In on Tuesday morning and collected on Thursday morning, everything re-covered and re-stuffed, all for 15 euros, which is almost £11. What an excellent service!
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| from scruffy...... |
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| to smart! |
And finally, sunset a few nights ago. We haven't had many colourful ones recently as the sky has been clear and blue day after day. Actually this was taken on the 21st, so a week ago now.
And us? We are fine, it's been an incredibly long hot summer. We had a week of humid as well as hot weather which was unpleasant, during that time we also had 2 afternoons of strong hot wind - a bit like sitting in front of a hairdryer - I'm usually to be found in the shade of the olive tree reading or cooling in the pool but that wind sent me indoors.
September should bring slightly cooler weather although it's still 31 right now. It's also the time to start planning our winter house maintenance schedule, things that can't be done in the heat; painting and decorating, then pool emptying and repainting. When your roof paint costs 150 euros you make sure you follow the instructions on the tins to the letter! Not too hot, must be dry, no rain for a week at least afterwards.....we'll be keeping a close eye on the forecast. Time to do a stock check for sandpaper and paint brushes!
