I July 2020 Now it really does feel like a Mediterranean summer.
The temperature here is around 30 in the day, going down to the 20s at night. We eat outside on the terrace in the evening, sometimes quite late and listen to the sound of the day crickets giving way to the night crickets. Al says they have a completely different and less raspy sound. More soothing, he says.
We see many more birds and animals than we do in Bristol, although some of them are roadkill- so far a tortoise, 2 martens of some sort, badgers (last year) Iand a hedgehog. Roadkill has a positive side though - at least there is a population. Birds do better of course. I am no twitcher but we have seen many birds of prey, including an eagle. I watched one yesterday while lying on my back on the Lilo in the pool. It was stationary for many seconds, then with an invisible twitch of the wing feathers, it went into a deep dive. There are young swallows gathering on the a windowsill of the house next door. They sweep down over the pool, at times just touching the water. Are they drinking? Or catching insects? The pool is also a bit of watering hole for house sparrows and even a green lizard. Oh, and geckos climbing the walls. So at the moment it is the Mediterranean of the travel writers. And it's also the mental picture that I
have been carrying since my- adventures with KIWI STAR. Some of you will remember those ...
Feeling a little nostalgic, try this and watch for the link to the next bit: Click the button below for the song, then use the browser back button to get back to the blog. Sorry about this, but I am getting acquainted with the new editor.
We came here partly with the intention of finding out whether this is a place we could live. Of course, the Coronavirus situation has both prolonged our
stay and focussed our minds. Andof course, it seems like a big decision. (CANDY SAYS) We have seen a couple of plots that we like. Well, one really, since we are still waiting to see the 'topographic' for the second to know where the actual boundaries lie.
It is interesting how the 'felt state' has changed since we first got here. Something I didn't expect is the feeling of change with the seasons - when we arrived in March, we had a taste of winter. Then, of ourse, there was the Lockdown with walks and spring flowers. Then the
transition into summer with trips to the beach and dips in the pool.
The beach is mainly about snorkelling and swimming. The local beach at Viglia, just to the West of the Port, has reefs running out from the shore. It's like swimming in a giant aquarium with lots of fish. We've seen some big shoals and there are nurseries where we see hundreds of baby fish. Sorry no underwater cameras with us this time. (It's risky, have flooded at least two.)
This evening we went swimming at a different beach – well stony shore really, (ouch!!). Saw baby groupers and rocked about a bit in small waves. We dressed and went back to the car and this is what we saw. Men had rounded up sheep from the hillside and penned them for shearing under a makeshift canopy. They arrived in a fleet of black pick up trucks, probably spanning a few decades. They were ankle deep in fleeces by the time we left. One of the best things was the clacking of the shears (huge scissors) – sounded like castanets.
Coming soon:Will they, won’t they?