Tattoodave

I was in Japan then, didn't hear about the Falklands until it was over and I'd reached Wellington. Met a chap in Morrison's last Friday morning with a very bright sleeve of tattoos and a strapped up chin and split lip, I asked him if he'd had a skateboard accident as he looked the type, he said he was taking a selfie at Gibraltar Point and fell over, he'd had 9 stitches in his chin that morning, it was only about 10ish when I was talking to him and he'd had the stitches put in 3 hours before. Nice way to start the day, with my fear of heights I'd never get up there.

There's a problem with him I think!

Steve, It's a little off the beaten track for me, but I may have to organise a visit sometime. It was more by luck that I saw it at it's best, I did the swallow falls the same day. Dave

Gibraltar from La Linea after a quick shop last Friday.

It's probably the best of it's kind in the world Steve, and needs perfect timing to see it at it's best, I was last there maybe 15 years ago to see it and caught it just right.

Anther flip from me, the shrill sound of the Montclairs....

Sublime flip to The Drifter

The wild gladiolus, Gladiolus italicus, probably the finest one I've seen.

An as yet unidentified compositae, probably a Centaurea, but a week of pawing through reference books have left me none the wiser.

I had to look it up Suz, and from it's description I've obviously seen it before and not known what it was. Well spotted.

It's commonly grown in gardens here, there are several forms, I think yours is probably a dwarf, so will be Euphorbia ingens nana if such a thing exists, as they get to about 20 feet tall here.

It's a Euphorbia Baz, most likely Euphorbia ingens. Dave

Found this yellow star thistle when walking my dog last night, not exactly friendly in flower or in seed.

Also in the same location, the stunning Digitalis obscura

Had an hour or so scouring a new area yesterday, primarily to see if it would be worth a winter visit to dig up a pine or two for growing as bonsai, but then I stumbled on some plants that got me grabbing my camera...

Nice name Reuben, the first large chest tattoo I did was on a guy of that name in Hawaii, circa 1989, the classic Battle Royale, a fight between an eagle and serpent.

Clematis montana rubens maybe Peter, though hard to tell without seeing the foliage close to. The Clematis montana will grow 100 ft. if allowed, and flowers on current years growth, the finest of the varieties is montana odorata, which along with being as prolific in flower has a scent.

It's one of the few that I can identify, I'm pretty hopeless at butterflies and moths, but I have a book that helps.

It's a female Speckled Wood Harry

The flip to "The Night The Angels Cried"...

From an old photo of mine, circa 1980 when I could still walk her on a lead.

Is that a Soay sheep?

And maybe Bovine spongiform encephalopathy with it

A Monarch butterfly that decided to settle long enough for me to take a quick photo, also in Paloma Park.

My birthday treat to myself is a couple of hours in the cactus garden in Paloma Park, Benalmadena, lots of wildlife there if you look.