This is a bit out of order, as its not Hoya related.....but..I have to show you all a couple of photos of whats happening this Spring where I live. Normally its a hot, barren landscape..Volcanos and desert.......but give it few weeks of rain, and it explodes with color..so.....just let me share todays snapshots whilst driving.....Nature is awesome
And this
I have so many more photos...Poppies, white flowers, pink flowers, blue flowers..fields of them as far as the eye can see!!!.. My Nikon D70 is wearing out....I wont bore you, But.....give me this little window to show whats going on here.....Not sure where else I can share this euphoria with you all and .........well, if you want more..... you only have to ask.!!
A months time and it will all be gone. Im experiencing Nature at its finest hour, putting on its spectacular show........Humbling...Awesome
Dominic
Beautiful!!
I vote for more.
I vote with threegardeners for more pictures. What an awesome site to behold.
MORE MORE MORE MORE...I am going to tell the guys over on TZG about your thread...they are all travellers.....
Thank, Dom
Edited to ask to see photos of your house and surroundings and where you grow your hoyas!!!!
Anyone bring popcorn???
This message was edited Feb 15, 2009 4:55 PM
What a fabulous place to live!
Doug
Dom, in the first photo... Is that black at the lower skirt of the mountain lava? When was the eruption? What material for a mongo daisy chain!!!!!
Carol....the black you see is Picon.........the ash they use to cultivate the fields which we talk about as ash..... I think you get a lot more rain than here.... we are very arid........theres a nick name for this island....Lanzarote = Lanzagrotty. ( from the English,I submit)...These are the people who come to the 3 tourist resorts here especially when its hot and dry...not like now when the flowers are out.''''.......sun sea and 'cough' the other. They dont see, nor are interested in the beauty we have here. Needless to say, I live in the countryside which occupies the vast majority of this island . They spread the picon over the landscape to retain moisture. Theres a much more impressive use of it for the vines...........if I can upload that later/? Its a World Heritage site.. The whole island is a World Biosphere protected zone, I
attach a photo. Where the ash is, the Picon, they grow Onions, etc, and whatever else the EU decides to fund because they like 'culture' but ..usefull as it is, it stops the 'weeds'....the wild flowers growing.
We ( or should I say 'they' ) have had many eruptions here over the centuries......every corner you turn...there is different vegetation completely dependant on what eruption happened in that millenium ........You go over a mountain, and the vegetation changes completely. Some places there has never been an eruption in the last 2000 years or more, Others, its been maybe 1000 years, or 200 years, and its bleak, but there are plants growing that have taken 1000 years to get a foot hold.....and over the next hill , there is just Lychen just getting a foot hold now..but you know, in 1000 years, it'll look like what you saw over the previous hill.........
Can I continue with this thread over the next couple of weeks and show you what goes on here..........? Its pretty unique in the world, and I love it here
Its an amateur botanist ( me ..!! )'s orgasm..... ( Now THATS a big word for here .. )... But in truth....these islands are fascinating.....
Hoya is the subject......But I came here when I was an 18 year old, and I fell in love.......at 46, I moved here........49 now, and this probably isnt the Forum to show off my Island....but thru this chat, and getting to know me a bit, and me ranting on and ...well....., endulge me this luxury.
Carol...I will show you photos of my incredibly ugly but potentially beauiful 300 year old Finca I bough and I will show you how I grow them now, and where they are gonna call 'Home'. The story has just begun.......!
Whats a 'Mongo Daisy Chain'........by the way. Tell me, maybe I can start a trend here!!!!
This message was edited Feb 16, 2009 12:51 AM
just took this photo today also.......it shows the terraces which were built..by hand and Donkey, on every/hill/mountain /Volcano here, all those years back to cultivate crops. Now there is no need.We now have Supermarkets.
Only now, when the rains have been, do you actually see why they were built...for an island with absolutely no idea when the next rainfall was going to come, and having had the best 25% of arable land destroyed during the last eruption.............you have to bow to the dexterity of the islanders to have built these structures..and they are everywhere....to cultivate what they could...and this is just one photo of one mountain.............its the same where ever you look.....and yet in the heat of the summer...you can look at the barren vista, and you wonder why did they build those walls everywhere.................and come Spring,,,,you see exactly what they were doing.
The people from Lanzarote , about 300 years ago, were forced to leave the island........they went to the good old US of A and I think they founded San Diego?....Ill check that, but it was some important city in the US they founded.......small world really
Dom - your joy and enthusiasm for the island is infectious (for me). I would love to know more about El Gran Canario and all the islands. Please share photos and your beauty. The agriculture and flora are most interesting.
HAHA - on the major road around my island there are signs with the dates of different lava flows and the differences are so obvious in the growth of the weeds du jour.
Can't wait for your bus to leave!!!
he he.....yehhhh. Im gushing...Its just a absolutely fabulous time of the year here........Im, well, Im in AWE of nature and so glad Im out of London ( Sorry fellow Londoners )....!!!..Tomorrow I may wake to foggy clouds wafting thru my Orchids/Hoyas...Bliss......followed by sun...its a beautiful world we live in......I meander
Now.........tell me more......first of all.......WHAT BUS?. I think I might have missed somethig there...and.... .Lava flows blocking roads,,,,,?? Is this something akin to our weather forecasts......totally un reliable and misleading...or is this a real threat to you?
Dom...the 'tour bus'...american humor....
This HAS happened in the past, blocking roads. In fact, the whole southern road from Puna down along the ocean to the National Park was cut off by lava flows very recently.
We dont get flows like that....or rather havent had it in living memory.......i often see snippets on the news about the constant activity in the Hawaiin Island.....Yours are much more active volcanoes, from what Ive gathered, destructive to the land, but not dangerous to humans? Is it left, or cleared up after the activity stops, where its blocked roads?
So far it has just been left and there is NO road. To access some of the area where homes were destroyed, the road is cobbled thru. It is funny....some people are actually buying the land ON the lava flow - really cheap - and starting to build with dreams of orchards etc. They bake in the summer!!!!! The lava is about 20' deep!
How safe is that? Does a lava flow never strike twice in the same spot?
OH, it often does. But 'often' is a very relative term...every 25 years? I say it often does...but then, it also can go somewhere it hasn't been in 300 or 600 years!!!
Our island is split into Lava Zones...1 being the worst and 3 being the best on this side of the island. No house insurance for those under Zone 3. We are Z3 and the last flow was 300 years ago.
Dom, more photos please!!!!!
This is how they grow their wine...The vines are in depressions in the ash, and it collects moisture from the air at night..Not my photo but gives you an idea how man overcomes nature. This area is most impressive to drive thru when only then do you realise just how many of these vives are grown over a huge area.
We have houses here built on Lava flows..they use the bubbles to make rooms..they can be quite impressive ( and expensive) residences..however, the only garden they have is where there is a depression, and they fill it with soil........All very striking against the black lava, but not much use to an avid gardner
This message was edited Feb 17, 2009 4:08 PM
So, Dom....the ash has enough nutrient in it? Here, the very rich soil used for growing Sugar Cane was the area of the island that got the ash, not the lava....
Aren't you glad you have a volcano in your backyard? Keeps one in the loop when it comes to geography!!!!
Im not sure how much there is in the ash, but the ground is very fertile. The ash generally is spread on the ground to retain moisture. It traps dew at night, and there is no rain between March and November..but they grow a lot of crops using this method. The island is only about 850 sq km in area, but we have over 130 volcanoes...needless to say theres more than 1 in my backyard...:))
This is the site of the last eruption, which destroyed 25% of the best land for crops on the island. Itsnow the National Park. Because of the lack of rain, its left more or less how it happened. with little erosion. The site is stunning, and the colors are beautiful.reds, ochres, blacks. Slowly vegetation like Lychens and small plants are getting a foothold again,whereas on other parts of the island...from previous, earlier eruptons, you can see different vegetation getting a stronger foothold..each one showing different stages as to how land slowly regains its vegetation over the centuries after it has been destroyed..or rather, reborn after such a cataclysm. The photo is of part of the National Park, which shows a stark contrast to the green vegetative areas
What a beautiful photo...almost like an abstract painting....
I love all your pictures!!
Dom...do you paint? I think you MUST!!!
Yes Carol, I have a website if I can put it here.not sure ? ( not to sell folks, dont worry, just to show.;)) )
I would love to see your paintings. Please post the website!
Doug
Okey doke.
Website is
www.dominicmurray.com
Few more pics I took today to follow
another
and another..whilst the flowers are out.:))
Okay..,.
Dom is MORE than just talented. That's obvious.
Watercolour, Dom? Beautiful!!!
Thanks guys,
Oil, Carol
Christine..I do not appear in a portrait.:))
This message was edited Feb 21, 2009 3:32 PM
Anyhow...Am I the only person who lives on an Island? Does no one else who can show some pics? Carol??
OK...will get some photos of 'vistas'...I just have photos of specific plants and places in my garden.... Gotta get Dave over here from the TGF...he has fantastic photos of the island...especially the lava area...
Here's one from my side of the Island - Kona.
This message was edited Feb 21, 2009 1:23 PM
Lava rock...
Windmills & cows :) on the North end
Somebody stop me !.........
Paula...If you had said that was Lanzarote..I would have believed you....
However, that was for the seascape.youre other photos uploaded in between my post....the others are quite different.
This is my local beach...6 kilometers and not a sunbed in site... I dont know if anyone remembers Raquel Welch in One Million Years BC, but most of it was filmed here..this is the beach where the Pterodactyl dropped her into the sea ( I was only 6 when my dad took me to se the film, and here I am.!!! )
We have a complete cross range from black to white beaches, what do you have there Paula ?
This message was edited Feb 21, 2009 7:29 PM
