Lars it seems there is no one chart which describes the temperatures accurately here as there is such a difference from one end of the island to another. The south is much warmer and Santa Cruz - the capital city about a half hour drive from here on the east coast - has another temperature range again. Here's the official temps for Santa Cruz from the Spanish Office of the Environment: Coldest month Dec....mean temperature is 66.2 F. (19C) Warmest month Aug.....mean temp is 77F. (25C) Yearly mean temp is 70.16 F. (21.2C) That's taken from a study 1971 to 2000. Another range of temperatures comes from the north airport - Los Rodeos, and still another from the top of the volcano area. Sufficient to say that it's shirtsleeve weather during the day most of the year - except when it rains, or if you're hiking up on top of the mountain when there's snow LOL. One of my ex-work colleagues in Ibiza lived for years in Costa Rica and her sons now live permanently in San Jose. She told many stories of her interesting life there. One of my cousin's sons has also settled somewhere in Costa Rica. I hear many Canadians have retired there because of the beautiful climate and peaceful life. Lars if you like hiking then this is hikers' paradise. Our German friends love coming here and spending many days climbing all around the ravines and the volcanic area. There are many hiking groups here which organize and transport folks with buses to the main starting points for hikes from the easiest to those reserved for experienced alpine climbers. It is a common daily sight to see people walking around wearing German hiking shoes, shorts, walking poles and knapsacks. They will have just come off a bus after having been somewhere up in the mountains. The large older crater area at the base of the volcano is called "Las Cañadas" and it has an amazing lunar-like landscape, part of which was used in filming the original Planet of the Apes. You can see plenty of images of that on this Google image link. Teide is the name of the volcano. There was a cable car which ran nearly to the top which may still be in operation. My brother once took it and walked right up to the existing crater where it was hot, and the air was thin. Another beautiful hike is to the mountain hamlet of Masca. (Click to enlarge the photo at top left corner.) There the roads are so steep that I am nervous even driving in a car. There's a very steep hike from there down to the sea, where a small boat will pick up the hikers, but it's really for only the most experienced mountain climbers. Needless to say I haven't done that myself but I love to see the photos LOL. Ilisa I think everyone is feeling the cold right now even in Europe. A friend just e-mailed me that it's -0.4F in Munich, Germany right now ! Guess I shouldn't complain when I have to wear an extra sweater at night ! SharonCb

You're right Colo lady and thanks for reminding me about this video! I've just been answering an email from an American man in PA who saw my blog about Tenerife and who is coming here with his wife next month. He was asking for any island info I could give him, and this video would be just right to send him. I wonder if you saw the other nature video that was produced for TV as part of a series on the biodiversity of the seven Canary islands. I find this one and its music truly beautiful and very well done. Here is the page link. If you haven't yet seen it, click on the full screen option and turn up the sound. It shows the flora and fauna as well as the sea of clouds over the volcanic crater. SharonCb (Latest blog upload: "The Orchid Garden")

Mine were all tiny yellow potatoes. I boiled up a big bunch with a hand full of salt and tested them so I didn't overcook them. I intended to eat some and keep the rest for fried potatoes. However, I sat down with an LL Bean catalogue, salt and pepper, a stick of butter and a diet Coke. I leafed through the catalogue and admired all the pretty clothes that will never look good on my 2X body and slowly savored the potatoes and Coke. When I came to the last page of the catalogue all the potatoes were gone and an obscene amount of butter had melted and soaked into the potatoes. I decided they were every bit as good as a big plate of really good French fries. I don't recall ever eating just potatoes for supper, but I am retired and live alone and can do as I please and it was a pretty good supper. I will cook up more of the potatoes tomorrow when I braise some bottom round in butter and add a ton of onions and a few carrots. I guess that will count as a well balanced meal. I did look at all the exotic colored varieties of little potatoes in Wegman's but I was captivated by the tiny yellow kind. I have never seen such tiny potatoes offered for sale before. I donâÂÂt know if they are naturally small, or simply dug while they are still small. I think it is quite a plus that I don't have to peel them.

I love just stuffing dates with gorgonzola. Talk about a loss of restraint...... I've posted this elsewhere, but in case anyone is interested: Chicken & Gorgonzola 2 large chicken breasts, cooked & diced 1 cup red onion, caramelized 1/2 small sweet red pepper, chopped fine 2 oz Gorgonzola, crumbled 3/4 cup mayonaisse Salt & black pepper Paprika Combine first seven ingredients. Sprinkle with paprika. I had devised this, originally, as a filling for certain small peppers called Aji Flor or Orchid Peppers. But it works well as a straight chicken salad, served on a bed of greens.