I didn’t get all that much writing done this week because I snuck off to Barlovento for a couple of nights. My friend Petra had a cottage at Las Cabezadas for a week and invited me to join her for a while. Probably my favourite bit was the ducklings at Barlovento reservoir. As you can see, they were utterly adorable. But as ususal I took photos of everything, particularly insects…
Sow thistles look rather like a dandelion gone ballistic. They’re also really popular with insects. This morning I when to the garden at the Caldera visitor centre, and had fun trying to get macro photos of all the insects enjoying the feast. I made lots and lots of notes for the new novel. In the last couple of days, I think I have a rather nice romance sub-plot going, although…
Bejeques or saucer plants (Aeonium in Latin) are a genus of plants. There are loads of dfferent ones in the Canary Islands, but this is the very common one. IT covers rocky ground, drystone walls and the roofs of old buildings. They make a great buffet for bees and they flower in time for Christmas.
I’ve had two photo sessions at the observatory this week, trying to finish up illustrations for the third edition of “A Breathtaking Window on the Universe“. Last Sunday I had permission to take sunset photos around the MAGIC telescope. I took five minutes out from that to photograph these backlit seed heads. They aren’t dandelions, but i think they must be in the same family. After I got the photo…
I’ve been to Rivendel again. I had a great time. I hope to post more photos tomorrow.
I haven’t found out what sort of insect this is, but it seems to only have the one pair of wings, so I think it’s a fly. The top view isn’t particularly beautiful either.