More walks along the beach

With 10,000 steps to do each day you can imagine I see quite a lot of the beach...

...in all weathers too!

Goodness knows how many photos of the jetty I've taken over the years...

...and there's more to come...

...even a shadowy selfie!

We don't often see working boats near the coast, and I was intrigued about this one

Mystery over: it was positioning the buoys to mark the various channels by the jetty

With the season fast approaching it was great to see some old favourites re-appearing. Here, Côté Plage, a no fuss beach bar/restaurant just opposite the Baie d'Aunis campsite.

But where is la Cabane de Marie (formerly Pedro's)?

What a difference a few days make. Marie is doing a wonderful job and the beach bar is as popular as ever. 

A couple to finish showing the very low tides on 'our' beach...

...and by le Pavillon.

Garden update (2)

The garden also LOOKS good, as I'm sure you will agree

I have to admit these first two photos were taken in April, but doesn't the wisteria look fantastic? 

Smack up to date and firstly the hanging baskets...

...then the tubs.

Not Tine's favourite plant but I love the hydrangea 

Look, sis, the albezia is in full flower several weeks early. The sweet aroma it gives is wonderful.

Finally the new plants on the front of the house with a pebble base (hopefully to be labour-saving)...

...and lavender, definitely the bees' favourite.

Garden update (1)

The amazing weather of recent weeks and your faithful blogger's daily watering ritual bode well for a bumper crop of garden produce.

The raised beds have been such a success. I would wholeheartedly recommend them to the amateur gardener (which I am most definitely)

Here our (mainly) herb garden also with a couple of sweet potato plants, a first for us

The French beans seem to grow as you watch them (thankyou, 'Er from Brittany, for the seeds). It won't be long before our first crop as the plants are beginning to flower.

Another mix here: cherry tomatoes, celery (another first), beetroot and radishes

Cherry tomatoes just starting to 'blush'

The main tomato bed, all the Italian variety Marzano, excellent for sauces

Our third to the last artichoke. After all these years we have had a bumper crop!

We dug up our first potato plant the other day (Ratte variety) and not only were they delicious but there were loads!

Peeking through the leaves there are quite a few pumpkins on their way. Urm, we didn't plant any pumpkin seeds!!

An old favourite though: the courgette, two harvested, hopefully very many to go

It looks like we're going to taste our own figs this year, the tree looking VERY healthy.

Mmmm, strawberries. Need I say more?

The raspberries too have been plentiful and very tasty

Finally our blackcurrants. With very little care they give excellent fruit each year.

Roque de las Bodegas & Las Teresitas

The final two stops on our last day in Tenerife, another two coastal delights.

Our lunch break was at Roque de las Bodegas
 where we ate 'papas arrugadas' (wrinkly potatoes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canarian_wrinkly_potatoes) served with freshly-caught fish. Luckily I enjoyed the non-fish part of the menu!

What a beautiful coast though...

...still with black sands...

...but a lively sea!

Barraquito, the local coffee drink: complete with  condensed milk, cinnamon &  Licor 43 (a sweet Spanish liqueur). I enjoyed it, but not really to Tine's taste!

Back in pirate mode: it was HOT out there!

 Our last stop was the beach at Las Teresitas

Look: golden sands...

...imported from the Sahara desert (not Tine of course)...

...with a man-made reef to stop the sand from disappearing! 

Next day, our return flight with fantastic views. Here we waved to Sue & Paul holidaying in Porto, one of our favourite city breaks.

So, what did we think of Tenerife? We loved it, but thankful that we weren't in the hustle & bustle of the southern resorts. Would we return? Yes, but there are so many other places we haven't visited. Watch this space.