Country Road

This  school boy  was running beside the car on an unpaved road

near a friend's farm about half an hour outside Marrakesh towards

the Atlas Mountains. How lush the landscape is.

The Road to Marrakech

Late afternoon, leaving the farm after a lovely quiet day.


Down a dirt road where the children are coming home from school.


This really doesn't look like Morocco at all.
Mediterranean olive groves, lush fields watered by run-off snow from the Atlas Mountains.


We are some 30 km south of Marrakech, towards the mountains.
Fertile, rustic and quite hard to get to.




The day was overcast rather than the usual blazing sun, rather refreshing.


The clouds played on the low hills making sharp contrasts between light and dark.


One can sit and look at the hills for a long time.

Gracious Hosts in the Countryside

There is a huge walled garden full of old olive trees and a long drive bordered by luxuriant roses.
Some of the roses need dead-heading to make more and better ones - even though there are plenty already.
The old-bat English lady-gardener in me determines to bring secateurs next time.
What joy it would bring me to do real gardening rather than just fiddling with pots on the roof.
Peacocks and guinea fowl roam in the olive orchard.



There are all sorts of other birds and animals but I'm saving their pictures for tomorrow.



Roses decorate every table top -the handiwork of an artistic five year old of my acquaintance. Her excellent sense of design was probably inherited from both her parents. But, even so, she brings her own individual flair to it.
CocaCola. This is drink much beloved of the Moroccans - as well as everyone else except me. I always like to see it with Arabic script on the bottle. It looks more exciting somehow. For nasty/nice sugared water I'd rather go for Hawaii - a really bizarre yellow brew sold here.



All the drinks - including fresh orange juice and two kinds of water - fizzy and flat.
I can drink tap water here but mostly don't, except for cleaning my teeth.
Of course there is beer and wine for the grownups.
One little boy (aged 4) decided to pour himself a glass of red wine. Luckily he was noticed and gave the most beatific smile as it was taken from him........



The big table indoors has African artifacts on it which make me think of the south.
But today is for outside.



I'm not quite sure what plant the yellow sprinklies came from - but I like the effect.



Pink on pink is so chic. There was lots of food including green sausages - see Flickr. They looked poison but tasted fine.
The secret ingredient turned out to be spinach.......



Even the bathroom window - very high up - is sort of intriguing.