MIXING SPANISH,SCANDINAVIAN AND FINNISH TRADITION DURING THE MIDSUMMER EVE.

In Sweden and Finland  the Midsummer Eve,has a mystic atmosphere. After the long and dark winter this solstice day ,with half Scandinavia without night, and the area north of Polar Circle, without sunset, is something to experience .The towns look abandoned, everybody must smell the smoke from bonfires and the scent  of green leaved birch woods and hear the melody of the lake water breaking against the green beaches.To take this natural sensuality to Southern Spain is very difficult, but with good food and clean nature and smooth summer night air, like we have here in Los Vives, the magic transfers from Scandinavia to Spain.

A Midsummer bonfire by a lake in Finland.

Our Midsummer Mix is a traditional combination of Finnish gourmet.

Gravad lax,Smoked salmon and mussels,marinated herring,a big schrimp and a salad.

NIGHT STALKER AND A "BELLE DE JOUR"

The larva of Death's Head Hawk moth (Acherontia atropos)  eating olive tree leaves, which is an unusual  "menu" for it.

A colorful Swallowtail (Papilio machaon) sucking nectar from Geranium flowers.

Finca Sofia team is a community where everybody works for maintaining wildlife and nature for the future generations, so that also our grand children can enjoy the nature's magic and it's marvels.

REPTILES AROUND THE HOUSE

MEET THE OLD SEA BOTTOM AT 225M ABOVE THE SEA LEVEL.

Our finca in Los Vives is situated about 225 meters above the sea level and some 50 kilometers from the Mediterranean coastal line.Somewhere here near us the European and the African tectonic plate meets each others in subduction belt.It means that the African plate is diving under us, and sometimes we here it "making noise" when there is a small earthquake. The hot springs near us in Fortuna and Archena are consequences of the  cracks in the the earth's crust where ground water meets the magma.
If you climb towards  Cerro Agudo hill , and start to observe the stones, the more fossils you see the higher you follow the slope.Here are  my recently collected samples of different kind of mollusc and coral fossils.

                                FINCA SOFIA TEAM

PINOSO-CULEBRON VINTAGE ROUTE

Today we carried again through  our old culinary route with my still very active 86-year old mother-in-law and her daughter, my life partner, to experience the Spanish viticulture heritage. If you visit our "FINCA", there is a "MUST" to do this journey, and buy at least one bottle of "FONDILLON" gran vintage  from bodegas de Culebron.

Fondillon in tasting barrels in Culebron.

Vintage wine in barrels in Bodegas de Culebron.

Plaza in the center of Culebron.

Co-operative wine producer in Pinoso.

Vineyard in Pinoso by the road to Jumilla.

COCHINEALS ATTACK!

Cochineal is a small tick (5mm) which lives on Opuntia Ficus-Indica cactus. It sucks the juices of the plant and reproduces on the leaves. Only the wingless  female cochineal (Dactylopius coccus) sucks the plant liquids, while the male has wings and it's only purpose is reproduction. Cochineals has a nymh phase which lives together with the females and produces waxy white substance. The ancient Aztecs and Mayas used dried insects  for coloring clothes.
We had lot of Opuntia fig cactus here in Los Vives , but the cochineal plague has destroyed most of them.

 In the picture above ,waxy substance covered cochineals.Near the white square  flattened  insects with their carmine color.
   

FINCA SOFIA TEAM

VINTAGE ROUTE

We have a new trekking route which can be connected with Finca Sofia - Cerro Agudo route.It is called Ruta de Rio Chicamo-Finca Sofia  and you can find it in es.wikiloc.com. Also I will advertise here our old Pinoso Vintage Route, which starts  from Abanilla and goes through  Pinoso to Culebron. These two communities belongs to Alicante province and they are famous for their wines. In the picture L'antigon table wine bottles.

L'antigon red and white wine from Alicante.


FINCA SOFIA TEAM