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Flower Arranging in Lanzarote
Published January 1, 2010 | 
Ok, so you have decided you want to make a flower arrangement but not sure where to start………….here are a few tips and guidelines… follow these and you will have a perfect arrangement to adorn your home.
Choosing the flowers
I know what you are thinking……………not such a varied choice as back in the UK…………true……….but don’t despair……….there are still choices available.
1. Choose flowers and foliage with different shapes, colours and textures for a more pleasing design.
2. Generally, you will need three sorts of shapes of flowers and foliage……………
(a) Line materials – straight leaves i.e. Bear Grass, Steel Grass, Palm Leaves – flowers such as Lilies, Iris, Strelizias, Heliconia, Gladioli – use to form the outline shape of your design.
(b) Round materials – Carnations, Roses, Gerberas, Chrysanthemums etc. – used as focal flowers
(c) Intermediate or filler materials – Gypsophilia, Ferns, Statice, Solidago, Ruscus etc.
3. Choose different textured flowers and foliage which will reflect the light differently and give interest to the design.
4. When using Lilies, always remove the stamens. There are several reasons for this.
(a) The pollen will stain the flowers and any clothing or furnishing that it comes into contact with.
(b) Removing the stamen makes the flower last a bit longer (a flower that has been pollinated has completed it job and dies fairly soon after pollination, by removing the stamens this pollination is prevented) NEVER NEVER cut off the stamens with scissors, this is ugly and causes discolouration. Use you fingers to gently pull the stamens off. Kinder to the Lily and looks more professional.
Making the arrangement
Here are the basic 5 different types of shapes.
1. Choose the right foam for the flowers you are using.
Green water retaining foam for fresh flowers and brownish stiffer foam for the dried or artificial flowers.
2. Before choosing the container, think about the size of the space where your arrangement will be placed. A huge vase and lots of flowers will look overcrowded on a small table.
3. If making an arrangement for a dining table, keep it low (no more than 9” high) so that guests can converse without having to fight their way through the flowers.
4. Try, wherever possible to using flowers in different stages of development. Buds at the top and edges, largest and fullest blooms in the centre and towards the bottom. When using open flowers, use them at different angles so that they are not all facing the same direction.
5. Ensure that your colours are evenly balanced……i.e. do not use all strong colours on one side.
6. Imagine an invisible outline of the shape you want to create and choose which side will be the front of your arrangement.
7. Choose your tallest and widest flowers and arrange them in your container first within the outline of your chosen shape.
8. Fill in around the base and lower part of the arrangement with more large blooms.
9. Working up and outward user smaller blooms or filler to fill in the arrangement.
10. Use the smallest blooms, foliage and filler to hide stems, oasis and the edge of container.
There you have it, a few guidelines…………..so go on………………give it a go…………you will be surprised at what you can achieve.
A huge thank you to Glynis who has kindly provided this article (and future ones). You can order your wedding bouquets, flower arrangements, and gifts for friends via Glynis’ website at www.flowersbyserenity.net
Flowers in Lanzarote
Published November 30, 2009 | 
Flowers in Lanzarote
On my birthday last week… I received a stunning bouquet of flowers from a friend in the UK. She chose to use the services of a lady called Glynis from Flowers By Serenity – who to our knowledge is the only English florist in Lanzarote – and she chose well! Through this… we have had some great chats with Glynis… and she has kindly agreed to give us some hints and tips on all things flowers in Lanzarote… information that is perfect for anyone looking for an extra hobby. Her details are at the base of this article. Look out for future articles by Glynis!
Good Years For Wine in Lanzarote
Published September 23, 2009 | Those of you that like to take a little more time to select a higher quality of Lanzarote wine may well be interested in the following table.
| Year Classification |
| 1994 Very Good |
| 1995 Very Good |
| 1996 Very Good |
| 1997 Very Good |
| 1998 Very Good |
| 1999 Excellent |
| 2000 Very Good |
| 2001 Very Good |
| 2002 Excellent |
| 2003 Very Good |
| 2004 Very Good |
| 2005 Very Good |
| 2006 Very Good |
| 2007 Very Good |
| 2008 Very Good |
Once again we thank DoLanzarote for this information
Lanzarote Wine Varieties
Published September 22, 2009 | There is a healthy variety of types of wine in Lanzarote. Here follows a brief description of the various flavours.
BLANCOS.- Graduación alcohólica: 10.5-14.5 %vol
Malvasia seco joven:
Straw yellow. Fine varietal aroma (dried herbs and ripe fruit), with character. Boca fat, warm, glyceric, with criminality, good varietal character.
Malvasia dulce:
Pale yellow. Aroma Fine, complex, rich in nuances of herbs (fennel and mint), pineapple and white flowers. Boca powerful, warm, sweet, with balanced acidity, long, complex aftertaste and fine, and excellent persistence.
Malvasia semidulce:
Straw yellow with golden hues. Intense varietal aromas in a complex with notes of fresh ripe fruit, honey, herbs. Flavor has a nice step, smooth, fresh with good acidity balancing the sweetness. Very fruity and comprehensive.
Diego seco joven:
Straw yellow, clean and very bright. The nose is fruity aromas of medium intensity, typical of the variety. Flavor is fresh, soft, well balanced with acidity and delicious. The great personality of the grape “Diego” is notable for its large structure and persistence on the palate.
Malvasía seco fermentado en barrica
Preparation: After the stripping is applicable to a Skin maceration for 12 to 15 hours before pressing. The decanted juice cold-insulated tanks. Alcoholic fermentation takes place in Bordeaux casks of new French and American oak. The wine is kept for several months on its lees, performing batonnage to put on suspension. Before bottling is clarified and filtered.
Tasting Notes: Yellow with golden highlights. Clean and bright. With smoky mineral notes over a background of ripe yellow fruit. On the palate has structure and freshness, power and smoothness with persistent fruit flavors and minerals.
Muscat:
This variety is mainly for sweet wines though a warehouse liquor has made the experience of getting a natural sweet wine.
Sweet muscat wine liquor:
Yellow old gold. Potent aroma, honey, good fund raising oxidative (pastry, hazelnut). The mouthfeel is dense, tasty, balanced, notes of complexity (fig pastry). The alcohol content of liqueur wines is between 15 and 22% vol.
Rose .- 11-14% alcohol vol
Tasting notes: raspberry pink of good intensity with salmon and violet reflections. Medium intensity aromas, fresh fruit, with a background of ripe strawberries and roses, memories varietals. Flavor is tasty and happy, well balanced, with a fruity and pleasant end where the notes come out again strawberries and roses.
Red .- 11-14.5% vol alcohol
Tinto tradicional joven:
Cherry red with violet tones. Middle layer, clean and bright. Aromas of red fruits on mineral background. Flavor is mild and light, balanced, simple and clean with a very nice final fresh and good persistence.
Tinto tradicional pasado por barrica:
Red Cherry very intense. Aroma of medium intensity, ripe black fruit (blackberries, plum jam), roasted. Mouth wide, dry but ripe tannins, woodwork melted with wine, mineral nuances (volcanic), recall of iodine, very original.
Tinto maceración carbónica :
It is produced by a system that consists of introducing completely whole bunches of grapes in a special deposit preventing rupture. For several days there is a process, first breath after fermentation and intracellular (inside the grape), which ends up breaking the cell walls that contain flavor precursors and the coloring matter, freeing them, tinting and perfuming the wort that runs in the subsequent pressing of the grape. This will get wines characterized by their powerful aroma and smoothness on the palate.
Tasting notes: Deep purple, live, upper middle layer, shiny, thick and abundant tears. Amazing power aromatic, strawberry, red fruit, milk, clean, powerful. Very soft in the mouth though long and savory, velvety, round.
SPARKLING WINE .- 11% vol alcohol. sparkling cuvée: 10.5-12% vol
The variety of fruit used for this type of wine is the Malvasia.
Tasting notes: intense yellow color, fine bubbles and continuous crown. Intense aroma and clean fresh fruit and white flowers, bakery tones long aging. Boca long, slightly acid, pleasant in its path, fine and elegant.
Experiments by the bodegas
Crioextracción: is the freezing of the grapes before pressing. The ice crystals that form break the cell walls of cells found under the skin releasing flavor precursors they contain, thus giving more aromatic wines. Also in this way develops the process of crushing grapes in cold, which prevents the dissolution of undesirable substances such as tannins color, oxidases, etc.. Whites getting rounder and balanced. It also prevents the growth of bacteria and microorganisms harmful to the wine.
Natural sweet Muscat.
The objective of this exercise was to obtain a wine of 15% residual sugar and higher than 45 g / l. This split of 900 liters of must with 220 g / l of sugar and 12.9 º likely. The grapes are macerated few hours before freezing, the temperature was lowered to 0 ° C with what we got eliminated much of the water. The yields obtained after thawing:
“With a yield of 50% must have probably 21 degrees and 360 g / l sugar.
“With a yield of 7% we must of 12.5 º probable and 212 g / l sugar.
“With a yield of 43% water we must + 2.7 º likely to be discarded.
The juice was obtained from 21 º probable and 360 g / l of sugar was fermented, achieving a 13.8% vol wine and 82 g / l of residual sugar could not continue because the yeast fermentation stopped due to tolerance the alcohol content was high.
Tasting Notes: Golden yellow clear, bright. It has a high aromatic intensity, guava, passion fruit, clean. On the palate, quite oily and guava aftertaste recalling a nose, a round wine.
Our thanks go to DoLanzarote for this information. Much appreciated!
Wine crops in Lanzarote
Published September 21, 2009 | Lanzarote wines are an integral part of Lanzarote agricultural industry. A drive through La Geria (the wine growing region of Lanzarote) provides you with stunning views across the vineyards, complete with the semi circle shelters that protect the vines as they grow.
La Geria Lanzarote
The relatively low level of Lanzarote’s wine growing area (approx 650 – 700 metres above sea level) protect it from harsher weather than higher grounds… and the springlike Atlantic winds keep a fairly constant mild temperature all year round.
The heat can be a problem for the vine crops… so the local farmers cover the surface of the ground with picon (crushed volcanic ash) which acts as a protective barrier, as well as absorbung moisture overnight… and imparting it during the day. It also acts as a barrier against the sun’s harsh rays. the lack of rainfall has led to the local farmers utilising every single drop of water they can find… all helping to provide Lanzarote with a successful export.
The main wine producing bodegas are in the La Geria region. However there are vineyards all over the island.
Rescuing Whales in Lanzarote
Published May 11, 2009 | Spotting whales in Lanzarote always brings a flurry of excitement on the Island. Recently, a sad tale had a happy ending when a whale was rescued off the coast of Lanzarote. Continue reading
Swimming with sharks in Lanzarote
Published February 21, 2009 | Fancy doing something a little different whilst living in Lanzarote? Then why not book yourself in to swim with sharks at the Lanzarote Aquarium. I’ve tried suggested this to Alan – but unfortunately he’s not biting (pardon the pun) Continue reading
Ladybirds in Lanzarote
Published January 15, 2009 | Don’t know if anyone else has been having this… but recently, I’ve been fishing a number of ladybirds out of the pool, and letting them dry out to survive on the garden wall. Continue reading
Cats in Lanzarote
Published December 5, 2008 | Lanzarote is one of the most popular European sunshine and beach holiday destinations. But for animal, and specifically cat lovers, visiting this beautiful island, a holiday can be tainted very quickly by seeing the abuse and neglect that a lot of the feral cats that live here suffer…
9 Lives Lanzarote is a charity set up to help these cats. They aim to raise the living standards of the cat colonies living on tourist complexes, and via their spay/neuter programme cut down the number of unwanted kittens born every year – kittens that would either be dumped in a plastic bag, poisoned, drowned or otherwise cruelly killed by the staff of holiday complexes.
Based on the same principles that The Twinkle Trust on the neighbouring island of Fuerteventura employs, our main goals are as follows:
Education: visiting holiday complexes that house feral cat colonies, and educating owners and staff about spaying and neutering.
Communal Feeding Grounds: setting up “Cat Cafés” on tourist complexes, i.e. a communal feeding ground for all cats that live there, including putting up signs to inform holiday makers not to feed the cats anywhere else on the complex.
Spaying & Neutering: working with a team of qualified vets and nurses to trap, neuter/spay, health check and, if necessary, treat cats, before releasing them back in their previous surroundings.
If you want to get involved helping 9 Lives Lanzarote in any way, go and find all the info you need on their website: www.9liveslanzarote.com – they are looking for anything from clothes and bric-á-brac for jumble sales to raise funds, to veterinary assistance and money donations.
Our thanks to Barbarella from 9 Lives Lanzarote for providing this article for us… and raising awareness of the plight of cats in Lanzarote.
Fishing in Playa Blanca (incl. License download)
Published October 14, 2008 | I’m maybe not the best person to be writing this – given the results I’ve had since taking up fishing again but here goes…One of the things about Lanzarote is that, if you don’t keep yourself busy, you can end up with a lot of time on your hands. Yes, the lifestyle is fantastic, the weather is great, and we wouldn’t swap it for the world, but if you want to do more with your leisure time than eat and drink, and sit around watching television, it’s time to look for a hobby or two… Continue reading
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