Cactus d'Algar 2010

Elise and I visited Cactus d'Algar again last Thursday afternoon. We had first visited the place in September 2008, so it was time to go back to see how the cacti were progressing.

Cactus d'Algar is located between that horrible tourist resort of Benidorm and the rather more pleasant inland village (though overly commercialised), Guadalest. Follow the signs for Callosa d'en Sarrià and thence to Fuentes d'Algar. Take extra care in the latter, as it can be overly crowded, with tourists wandering aimlessly over and along the narrow road. Pass through Fuentes d'Algar, and about 1.5 Km along the same road, on the right-hand side, is the entrance to Cactus d'Algar.

Cactus d'Algar is a huge cactus park, thankfully hardly commercialised, with just a small souvenir shop at the entrance. Once inside, there is an even smaller bar and a large terrace, overlooking the expanse of the park, which is largely situated on slopes that face south and south-west. If you feel so inclined, you can buy delicious coffee or other drinks at the bar, but there is usually very little to eat, so don't be afraid to bring a picnic: tables are provided.

From the terrace, follow the network of paths that snake along the slopes and through the thousands of cacti (it is said there are some 500 species on display). They range from the very small to the extremely large, and the expanses of Echinocactus grusonii are quite magnificent. Even if you are not a cactus fan, don't forget your camera, as there is sure to be something you will want to photograph.

When you return to the terrace, you have the chance to buy some very nice pots and even a few plants (cacti and succulents, of course), but there is no attempt at all to force anything onto you.

(Click on the photo to see plenty more from the visit.)

eBook

Some years ago, I wrote and published a book called "Roots Of Elvis." It was based on the information I present in my Elvis Presley The Originals site. The problem with a paper book is that it is difficult to keep the information contained therein up to date. In the several years since the book came out, the information on the site has been modified and added to. Even now, the quest for original versions of numbers later recorded by Elvis Presley turns up an occasional earlier version or even a brand new title, though this is becoming very infrequent. Still, my thoughts turned to a way in which I could present the information in such a way that it could be kept up to date, following the updates made to the site, yet without requiring an Internet connection to peruse the data.

My first idea was to write an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad app, but this was a tad limiting and also required more effort on my behalf than my over forty years in computing could muster. Twenty years ago, I would probably have jumped to the challenge, but it all seems a bit much nowadays. Then I saw an electronic book (ebook) in a format called epub. I realised that this offered a number of advantages: I already had the basic book layout, for it was much the same as the Elvis Presley, The Originals site layout, which is specified in CSS; the epub format allowed internal links, allowing at least some user navigation; I guessed that the intellectual effort required to produce an epub ebook was less that that required to write an app.

After some Web searching and examining of existing epubs, I was ready to try my hand, so created some fixed files, as required by epub, and set up some others with variable holders. The latter were filled in, using the same script I use to generate the website from locally stored data (all done with the free revMedia application); the script was extended to produce the data required for the epub format: manifest, list of chapters, tocs, navmap, etc., as well as the individual chapters of the book in separate .xml files.

It all went relatively smoothly and revMedia also allowed me to use a couple of Unix shell commands in order to compress the numerous files into the epub format single file holder.

So now, each time I make a modification tot he contents of my Elvis Presley, The Originals website, I also generate a new version of its accompanying book, Roots Of Elvis, in epub format.

The epub version of Roots of Elvis can be downloaded for free from here.

Here are some sites that I found useful during my research of the epub format:

Epub Format Construction Guide;
An Epub Tutorial;
Dossier epub;
ePub Zen Garden;
Validate ePub documents.

Just one point, though: the otherwise very good An Epub Tutorial above provides a set of Unix commands to generate the compressed epub file that do not work in all cases. Instead of these, use the following:

zip -q0X yourfilename.epub mimetype
zip -qXr9D yourfilename.epub *

Laid back

Well, the tiles have been laid. Of course, things didn't go entirely according to plan (if there ever was a plan): the "same" tiles are now somewhat darker than the original model from four years ago and are also about 1 mm. longer on all sides. 1 mm is very little, of course, until you lay ten tiles down edge to edge, when it becomes 1 cm and the joints are then noticeably out of line with those of the tiles that you are trying to match up with. Not a huge problem, but aesthetically inelegant. Colour variations are to be expected; same thing with wallpaper: two rolls of the same colour and pattern from two different baths also look subtly different. The biggest problem, however, had to do with a few square metres of tiles that we had put down two years ago in one of the corners at the back of the house. It was simply not possible to match up the joints with the new tiles we have now had laid from the drive-in, up the side of the house, that meet this two-year-old patch, and, furthermore, the tiles are laid at a very slightly different angle. The final result looks strange, but has a certain avant-garde something about it, like the yellow-brick road suddenly taking an unexpected turn to the left in order to avoid the Emerald City. Anyway, that's my excuse.

The layer has done a very good job, really, especially as the idea was to avoid steps, even though the area is not level, with a height difference both from back to front and from left to right. Despite this, Watsis, the chap who laid the tiles, has managed to create smooth, gently sloping surfaces. Well done, that man!

The tiling was finished on Tuesday. We let things rest yesterday and today started on the cleaning of the tiles and the replacing of the plants. First, however, we put some fencing below the new trellising; the Trachelospermum jasminoides plants are growing very well and I thought it would be better for them to have something to climb on lower down, too. The fencing can't be seen in the photo, but it's there and looks good. The cacti that can be seen in the photo have only been placed provisionally. Now that all the cleaning has been done, however, we shall see about placing them better tomorrow. Some new irrigation pipes will also be required and some old ones moved to different positions.

Getting laid

So there was I, thinking that all the work had been done and that we would now be able to lie back, enjoy the Spanish summer that's already begun with a vengeance (at least in this part of Spain) and perhaps snooze away a few siestas.

Some hope.

She Who Must Be Obeyed had clearly been hatching other plans and, after the work to put up the trellising had been completed, revealed these to me: a major tiling job, extending our already quite reasonable collection of outside floor tiles to unheard of dimensions. Yesterday her favourite tile-laying-arranger was called. Alex is a very personable young man of Russian origin. He spent three years in India, studying, and has now been working in Spain with his own odd-jobs company for several years. We have made use of his services before and have been very pleased with his correctness and quality of work.

Alex arrived at about eight o'clock that same evening and everything was explained to him: here a corner, this extended, that a quarter circle, this a right-angle, and so on. He took all the measurements, made his calculations and came up with a price that, though staggering in its enormity, was, all things considered, quite reasonable. The deal was sealed and this morning Alex and his team number eight arrived at close to nine o'clock to start the work: from preliminary measurements to start of work in just 12 hours! Alex is off to arrange for new jobs: he seems to be doing well and deserves it, too. Team number eight, Watsis and Igor are hard at it already.

We, of course, had to be up at the crack of dawn (well, that's what it seemed like me) in order to move the cacti, succulents, and other plants and objects away from the areas that are to be tiled.

Today is initial preparation (removing the layer of gravel now in place, levelling the playing field, and so on) and perhaps some initial laying of reinforced concrete, a job that will be completed tomorrow. Then a couple of days rest to allow the bases to set well, before the actual laying of the tiles. Hopefully, the work will be completed by the end of next week.

Perhaps then the lying back can begin.

Jealousy

The work of removing the aldelfas/oleanders and putting in their place trellising with climbing plants was completed earlier today. The plants chosen are Trachelospermum jasminoides, otherwise known as Chinese ivy, Chinese jasmine, Star jasmine, Jasmin rhynchospermum, and Jasmin rhyncospermum (and, I suspect several other names, as well). Hopefully, these plants will be able to support the hot summers here; they should certainly not have any difficulties with the mild winters. If all goes well, the trellis should soon be covered in largish glossy green leaves, accompanied by several months of star-shaped white flowers which should provide a citrus-like perfume. Some very good photos of the plant can be found here.

Where does "jealousy" come into the equation? Well, the Spanish word for a trellis is celosía and this made me think of the word celoso, which means "jealous." Checking the etimology of the word, I was delighted to find that celosía is, indeed, associated with jealousy. This is even more obvious in the French word for a trellis or lattice window, jalousie, of course. The book, Etimolgía de las pasiones, provides plenty of interesting material regarding celoso, celosía, and even the English zealous.

Where a simple trellis can lead you!

Adiós Adelfa—Oleander olé

The four Adelfas (Nerium oleander) at the front of the garden. They have been fairly unhappy for some time now, with browning leaves and few flowers. I have sought the advice of gardening professionals and have been told that the plants are suffering from:

too much water
not enough water
insect infestation
fungus attack
…

(This reminds me of the story of the blind wise men and the elephant: each touches a different part of the elephant and comes to a different conclusion about the whole, none of them being correct.)

After some research of my own, I decided that the most probable cause was a fungal attack and that, other than spraying the plants with all sorts of rubbish, the only course of action was to cut them right back and hope that they will grow again in a rather more healthy state. Another option, of course, would be to remove the plants completely, but that seems a tad drastic just now, so today the old secateurs and pruning saw were retrieved and the plants were cut back to the ground. It's just as well that the weather is cooler today, thanks to a light cloud cover; had I tried to do the job yesterday, I 'd probably have died from heat exhaustion in a very short time.

Now it's wait and see.

Incidentally, oleanders might be very pleasant to look at, at least when they're healthy, but take care with them, as they are highly toxic. It seems that old Napoleon lost several hundred men during his Spanish campaign, simply because they prepared their evening meal using oleander sticks. A few leaves is sufficient to kill a horse, so I've read.

Fortunately, I don't own a horse…

Eviva Belgica!

What do Charles V, Adolph Saxe (inventor of the saxophone), Tintin, the Smurfs, Jacques Brel, George Simenon (Maigret author) and the song Eviva España have in common?

Well, for one thing, they all come from Belgium!

Charles V was born in Ghent in 1500 and was brought up in Mechelen. He went on to become Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled as Carlos I as the King of Spain.

No, Tintin (Kuifje in Dutch) was not a French invention, nor were the Smurfs a Dutch invention; these comic characters originated in Belgium.

And if you thought that Jacques Brel was French, then think again: he was Belgian and, despite being known as a singer of French chansons, was, in fact, of Flemish origin.

All together now… Eviva España!

No, you are not singing a Spanish song, even if the number is popular in Spain, at least amongst the tourists. The original version of Eviva España was composed by Flemish band leader Leo Caerts, with Dutch words provided by Leo Roozenstraten. Flemish singer Samantha (real name Christina Bervoets) made the first recording and went on to record it again in numerous languages, including French, German and, of course, Spanish. Since then, the song has been recorded by countless artists in many languages and has sold more than 40 million copies. Now the title is usually amended to read the more correct "Y Viva España."

Elise and I were in the El Corte Inglés store in Elche a few days ago. We were walking around the in-store Hipercor supermarket, when we noticed some bottles of Hoegaarden beer, a Belgian make. Then we saw some Leffe, then some Chimay, followed by Duvel and several other quality Belgian beers (none of your Stella Artois stuff). Pity they don't sell fresh Leonidas Belgian pralines!

You are reading this on the World Wide Web. Even that has strong Belgian origins, for the WWW was developed at the CERN laboratories in Geneva by the Flemish Belgian Robert Cailliau, together with Tim Berners-Lee.

And then, of course, there's Eddy Wally, the self-styled Voice of Europe, who is world famous in several parts of Flanders…