My Midlife Crisis

Yes, I'll admit it.  I am in the middle of a midlife crisis.  My kids are older and no longer need me (as much), and certain life events have made me want to step on the brakes and say "Whoa, not so fast!".

Sounds strange, though, doesn't it?  It seems that men are expected to experience midlife crises, but you don't see too many women running out and buying fire-engine-red European sports cars (especially in Europe!).  I, being a simple country girl at heart, have no need for a 500 horsepower Italian convertible, so I settled for the power of just one chestnut 18-hand Holsteiner. 

Isn't he beautiful?

My husband gave me my dream horse, Canterbury, on April 1.  Bliss was mine for 21 days, but on April 22 the horse spooked when an animal moved in the long spring grass, and I was thrown.  I landed on my back and broke several vertebral apophyses in my spine as well as a rib.  After two months of wearing a back brace, including 3 weeks of not being able to lie down in bed, and lots of pilates, my body is now almost healed.  My mind, however, is a different matter.  My horse is gone, and I now have some mental hurdles to deal with.

Thus continues my midlife crisis... 

... although I'm sure some serious rose therapy will do just the trick!

A Golden Celebration

This post is in honor of my parents-in-law, Pilar and Antonio, on their golden anniversary.  They were married 50 years ago today in Madrid.  What better way to celebrate than with some Golden Celebration roses?

 

 

 

 

 ¡Felicidades, Antonio y Pilar!

Wisteria Lane

No, I'm not a Desperate Housewife (although, now that you mention it, Marcia Cross and I did grow up in the same hometown!).  It's just that, at this time of the year, the wisterias on our road are simply breathtaking.

First up is my neighbor José Luis's house.  This purple glicinia is about 8 years old.  The initial flush of color along his front wall in April is traffic-stopping (literally), and there is another more discrete bloom in the summer.

Can you smell it? 

The plumes of flowers were humming with bees.

 Can you spot one in this photo?

Ah, there he is!

The next stop on our wisteria tour is my neighbor Julieta's house (love her name, and her house!).  This is a 4-year-old white wisteria growing over a carport, and it's its first bloom ever (wisterias usually take 5 years to bloom like this).

So, where is my contribution to all ths wisteria-ness?  My humble participant is just one year old, but already has a fan.

Skiing in Valle de Benasque

We took the boys skiing a couple of weeks ago, and I still haven't got all the gear and suitcases put away.  Heck, if we're going to be honest, I still haven't put away our Christmas tree yet, either (it's in its box, hiding behind the sofa).  Embarrassing.

Anyway, it's hard not to take great photos of such beautiful scenery...

This was the view from our mountain-side hotel.

On the slopes in Cerler.

             

A true New Englander, I had forgotten how much I loved icicles. 

It took great will-power not to grab one to suck on like a kid.

 Believe it or not, this photo was a drive-by. Love the stone houses with slate roofs.

Those bloomin' almond trees!

With all the rain and wind we had in February, our almond trees in LaMancha are blooming much later this year than usual.  I am particularly fond of almond blossoms because they remind me of the apple blossoms of my native New England (which I haven't seen in more than 20 years!).  Our area of LaMancha is famous for making marzipan, and almond trees grow wild everywhere. 

    This quaint dirt road is on our way to school.

 Down by the reservoir

Up near the center of town

  When you get close enough, their scent is incredible.

Some are even pink enough to look like cherry trees. 

These ones are giving the olive trees a run for their money.

 Baby almond trees in my garden

Pruning roses and sage

Although I usually start pruning my roses when the almond trees bloom, this David Austin rose, Benjamin Britten, seemed to want to jump the gun. 




That's a scary thought, considering it was already 10 feet (3 meters) tall.  I have to laugh, because I just saw that the Austin webpage gives a height for this rosebush of only 4 ft (1.2 m).  Yes, that is just how good a gardener I am (ha, ha).    



 This is how much I took off.

Tah-dah!

My supervisor seemed to approve.

I have mentioned before that my favorite non-rose plant is sage, specifically Salvia officinalis.  It stays green all year, is drought-tolerant, has lovely blue-violet flowers in spring, and it's edible (Thanksgiving turkey stuffing wouldn't be the same without it).  What plant can top that?  If you live in my climate, you need sage.

It can, however, get quite big.  It also self-roots if the branches are in contact with the soil.  Last year, I planted daffodils near this sage plant...
         

...and now they're under it!

So, the sage got a good pruning, too, and much of it had already rooted,

so now I have new sage plants!

 Guess who else needs a good "pruning"!  

Whoooo me?

After lunch yesterday, I heard a bird screeching and screeching.  It just went on and on.  Because there are so many birds of prey in the area, many of which are territorial, I figured that either a hawk or an eagle had been injured in a fight.  Funny thing is, even our dog, Cookie, was listening and seemed to be concerned.  So, I grabbed my cell phone and camera and went for a walk around the neighborhood to see what the problem was.

Believe it or not, what I came across was this little guy, a mochuelo (Athene noctua), who of course stopped screaming his head off as soon as he saw me.  According to the English version of Wikipedia, this little owl is actually called... a Little Owl.  (Ha!  How's that for simplicity?!) 

Look!  I'm only 2 bricks tall!

It's hard to believe that such a tiny owl, which can't be more than 8 inches tall, could put up such a racket.

I see you...

All the bird activity definitely keeps Luna entertained, although she also has become more of a scaredy cat, but who could blame her?

Please don't put me outside all alone!