Is it Thursday already?

Seems it is and no posting since saturday last. Its been a busy week. John did a stint on the animal rescue ambulance and boy did he need a shower when he got home. The hugh young dog he took to foster carers had been running loose eating anything she could find poor animal. What heroes the fosters are because this young lady is big now and still growing, lovely nature though as I saw when I meet petra out with her foster mum the next day.
As I say busy week, Bec poor thing has the flu, hopefully on the mend now though. We've had quite a bit of rain , oh yes bring it on. We did manage to get a nice walk through the park in Gaurdamar the other day though. The wild life there seemed to be enjoying the fact that everywhere had had a good wash. One lot of creatures that fascinates us are the terrapins in the parks pools. I recall friends keeping these type of reptiles as pets back in the sixties. There are native species of terrapins here in spain but we will have to get closers to see which these are. They range in size from one that would fit in the palm of your hand to huge things the size of a large dinner plate. The water fowl do not seem to bother them at all. We wonder what they find to eat in the pools, must be some good stuff has the population appears to be increasing

Scrubbers

We had a lovely walk again last evening just as the sun was starting to set and the temperature was a little lower. It has been another roasting day,as we walked we both remarked on how much everything has grown this year despite the lack of rain. Our walk took us along the old road towards the centre of Formentera and back along the side of the river. There are a lot of plot along the old road, some with houses some with out, lots of trees and plants on the plots make the walk interesting. We have noticed one or two owners have uprooted orange trees this year for some reason. We are hoping its not to start building there as this particular walk would loose a of its attraction then.
As i say lots of plant life and one plant we always find fascinating is the Loofa. Many people seem to think the loofa you get for the bath room is some sort of sea creature, not true so its a bit more environmentally friendly than a natural sponge. Indeed the loofa is sometimes know as the sponge cucumber.
The Loofa is in fact a fruit, probably native to tropical Asia or Africa. It comes from a plant called the Loofa cylindrical of the gourd family. Some species can be eaten though I have to admit I have never tried to cook them, watch this space! We did try to grow some one year using seeds we colleted form the campo. Lots of leaves but non of the lovley yellow flowers so no fruit.
To harvest for use as a body scrubber or as a pot scrubber in the kitchen you have to wait until the The fruit are picked when the skin turns a dark orange colour, the seeds are removed and you have ya loofa. The seeds are large and black and are easy to shake from the fruit.
I have found a recipe for the plant so i will let you know what they are like.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Loofah-and-Chicken-Stir-Fry-106268