'Cel rogent, pluja o vent'

Hotel del Almirante. 5.22 AM

'Cel rogent, pluja o vent' is a Catalan proverb alluding to dawn with reddish sky presage rain or wind.

After several weeks of invariably blue skies, at little more than the five o'clock in the morning this was the color of the sky.

Clouds. Breezy South winds and some rain drops have fulfilled this portent once again. It is the popular wisdom.

A misty morning at Binixiquet

Binixiquet is a farm near San Clemente which is perched on a crag under which there is a large number of caves probably used since prehistoric times. In a walking distance there are numerous talayotic settlements such as Binixiquer, Binicalaf and Lloc nou d'es Fasser.

Experts in history and archeology agree that it is an area of the island that had human settlements since the time of the first settlers of Menorca.

 In the area there are many watchtowers also that often, as in this case, were attached to farms and also served as a fortress in case of attack. 

Purple Vetch, Vicia Benghalensis, 

With its beautiful purple flowers this plant is appreciated by farmers, a good green manure plant, it is fairly fast growing, an effective weed suppresser, fixes nitrogen and makes a reasonable bulk. A turquoise-green dye is obtained from the flower

Tamarisk

The genus Tamarix (tamarisk, salt cedar) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Europe, Asia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin  and may have referred to the Tamaris River in the former Hispania Tarraconensis, province of the Roman Empire.

Seven species of tamarisk normally grow in Menorca, mostly near watercourses or on the coastline as they tolerate saline soils.

These trees  are used to help to prevent soil erosion because of their deep root systems. They also have slender branches with numerous small, gray-green, scalelike leaves. Clusters of small pink flowers, hanging at the ends of branches or from the trunks, give the plants a feathery appearance during their blooming season.

Abdellah and the blooming of Wild Orchids

Miguel Hernandez was one of the most important intellectuals who lived in Spain in the first half of the twentieth century. Poet and playwright committed to the republic, was tried and sentenced to death by the government of General Franco, although he commuted his death sentence by thirty years of prison which he did not had to suffer because he died of tuberculosis in prison in 1942.

His work often revolves around the drama of death and misfortune and his poem Elegy, dedicated to a great friend, has been set to music by Joan Manuel Serrat in an example of heartfelt sorrow for the lack of a friend.

Abdellah died Tuesday of last week after having worked at the Hotel Almirante for almost forty years. We will miss him so much ...

As a posthumous tribute, Menorca's wild orchids are blooming everywhere in these recent days.

 Ophrys tenthredinifera

  Ophrys lutea

Himantoglossum robertianum

Neotinea conica

 Barlia robertiana