Fish with Whiskey

There must be over 200 people in the room, and we're existing as clear outliers from the average age.
Colourwise too, we are eggshell. They are somewhere between 'crispy bacon' and 'burnt wurst'- leathery delights. When we walk past some of them on the beach I can imagine their bellies pricked and bursting and sizzling like a sausage. Disgusting.

I'm trying to read my book- something factually interesting but badly written. But Andy wants to talk about the people he's watching- one man in particular, tall, loud, but thinner than most, wearing suspenders.

He has a giant plate in front of him, filled only with orange pieces, and he's attacking them with voracity, wrapping his lips around the things and pulling the flesh from the skin like a giraffe divulging acacia leaves from the spines.
It's fascinating, and we watch quietly for several minutes.
Later, I'm ready to leave, but Andy wants more juice. Wants to follow the Giraffe more like- we see him approach the bufffet  and load up another plate of oranges.
"That must be how he got so tall" Andy whispers.
I see a lot of oranges in our future.

One of my favourite things about being in Spain (even if it is the Spanish Islands)- is the flowers.

They're a lot like those from home!

My folks have a massive pink and white bougainvillea climbing the house in Perth. My relationship was a bit love-hate.

It was beautiful, and when pruned, I could climb the thing right to the roof (as a kid). But the cats also used it as escape to taunt us, it was not uncommon for me to find one of the ridiculously long spines embedded in my feet (which were generally bare).

Seeing it now just looks like home.

We also saw some Australian bottlebrushes. A man walked by, German, and noticed us playing in what he referred to as Katzenschwaenze (Cat tails). Fortunately, I now know enough German to scold him- and responded in no uncertain terms that clearly these were bottle brushes...


.. or, you now.. moustaches. (Obviously this muttering was done under my breath- all the better to be passive aggressive with m'dears).

 It's so nice to see plants that look, smell and taste like home.

Jacaranda!



The other day, Andy and I climbed a Gum Tree! (more on that later).

Here is a gif of it being windy.


You're welcome.

When you kick the stuff, it separates, and the dust puffs out like tiny fungal spores.


And it barely sinks in water, but can't quite mix- instead forming a moody-looking colloidal form.

When the water rushes off again, the dust is too heavy to follow completely, and too light to settle immediately...

...so it hangs around at your feet, in little rivery threads.