A short ride on my e-Bike resulted in beautiful photos.
I’ve had a tough few moths with hip and spine problems. There have been x-rays, MRI’s, pills for if the pain gets too bad, homeopathic medicine and long chats with my doc. I think I have it sorted now. The pain has not been bad enough for me to break out the prescribed pain meds, which is good, because I don’t like the way they make me feel. The homeopathic option, which of course I have to pay for, does seem to help a little. Yoga and flexibility exercises are a lifesaver too. I never thought I’d enjoy yoga, but I do. As well as stretching the problem area, it is calming.
I felt a little unsteady as I set off on my first ride of the year, and worried I’d fall off. I did have a tumble last year, which ended in cracked ribs, don’t want to do that again. Our home is half way up a mountain, so even with the battery, I have to put some effort into my ride. My left hip, which is the one that gives me problems, hurt when I first began to peddle. I powered through it though.
Biking gives me the opportunity to explore a little further than walking, so I get chance to see even more of the beautiful countryside of Abruzzo and Le Marche, and even more importantly… is easier on my arthritic old bones.
Easter Monday today, and we’ve invited a friend for lunch! I do love to cook, and today I’m making mushroom soup, followed by lamb roasted on a bed of potatoes and topped with cherry tomatoes . No heavy side dishes. Just a salad with home made honey mustard dressing, and for dessert, lemon polenta cake.
Not too heavy, or too complicated! I make life as easy as I can these days!
Easter was my favourite time of year when my daughter was little. We made it special with Easter Traditions.After living in Germany, I adopted the custom of painting small tree branches white, and hanging tiny Easter Eggs from them. Joanna loved the Easter Tree!
The next tradition was one my mum had shared with me as a child. We’d pick wildflowers and take them home. Then we’d sit at the table with a carton of eggs in front of us. After dipping the petals of the delicate wild flowers in water, we’d gently place them on the eggs, and wrap them in old, brightly coloured cotton or linen, before tying them into individual parcels with string. The eggs would be placed in large pans of water and boiled for a half hour or so. Often we’d add onion peel to the water too…not for flavour, but to enhance the colour.
When the little egg bundles were cool enough to touch, we’d gently remove the cotton. The result was always beautiful. Wild flowers, captured on egg shells. The colour from the cotton, and the onion peel would stain the egg shells, and the flower petals, would leave delicate imprints. The final touch was to rub each shell with butter to make it shine.
Wonderful memories of my childhood, which was spent in Summerhouse, County Durham. It was just mum and me back then. Special times.
In later years, Joanna and I would follow the same steps with my daughter at our home at Worthy Down, Dorset. Time flies. Memories are precious.
Easter Monday would bring the family together for a picnic. More often than not, it rained, this was England after all. The rain didn’t dampen the fun though. We’d roll those lovingly decorated eggs down the hillside to see which were the strongest. The eggs that survived would then take part in a “jarping” competition.
Jarping means you try cracking someone else’s boiled egg without cracking your own. The winner is the person who’s egg survives the longest….did you learn something today?
On Sunday afternoon, we had a rainbow so close I felt like I could reach out and touch it. The rainy day brought a silver lining…it gave me a chance to rest a little. Doesn’t happen very often!
Easter is approaching, and by the end of the week, the weather looks more settled. I’m ready to soak up some sunshine. We have no big plans for Easter. A friend joining us for lunch on Easter Monday (Pasquetta), which will be nice.
We’ve spend almost two years cleansing the house of its previous occupants in more ways than one. Now the house is filled a new vibe…ours!It’s warm, comfortable and welcoming.
Monday found me gardening again. I just can’t help myself. After a whirlwind trip to Ascoli for a few bits and bobs, I cooked lunch, and then broke out my new lawnmower. So boring aren’t I? I actually enjoyed mowing the lawn. So much easier with my fancy new lightweight battery operated Ryobi. No pulling my arm out of its socket to start it, and so easy to push. Small things make me happy.
Its March, so we have to have a little rain between the sunny days, and thats what we woke up to on Tuesday. I had plenty to keep me busy…including my very first batch of Limoncello!
It’s in the freezer right now. Taste test is tonight!
Beautiful weather so far this week, so lots of garden work keeping me busy. Hubby built me a wooden box to hold flower pots. I stained it on Wednesday morning so now all I have to do is fill it with flowers.
I’ve started work on my secret garden at the back of the house too! More of that to be revealed as I fill it with shrubs, flowers and “interesting things”. Retirement has been busy for me. This is a bigger house than we were looking for, but I do like the way it keeps me occupied, especially in the garden. We had three lovely acres in Colorado, but I couldn’t plant much because of the deer. My plants would be their smorgasbord. Finally, in my old age, I have the garden I always wanted. Let’s hope I have enough energy to tend to it.
As much as I love my garden, it doesn’t take up all of my time, we take many days off to explore this marvellous area. About ten years ago hubby and I watched a TV show about someone looking for a house in Le Marche. At the time I though it looked like a good place to live, then forgot about it. Now, on the border of Abruzzo and Le Marche, we are in the perfect position to explore both provinces, as well as the bordering regions of Lazio and Umbria. We can also be in Tuscany in a little over two hours.
On Thursday morning I visited Francesco, my hairstylist, who I almost didn’t recognise because he changed his image. “My new Spring look.” he said proudly in English. His usually shaved head was covered in a healthy looking mop of highlighted brown hair. How did it grow so quickly? I asked myself, but all was revealed. “Is good for due mese” he said. (Lasts for two months). OK! So it’s not real, but looked very good. My hairstylist has a very individual style, always dressed in black, with huge crosses hanging from his ears. Lovely guy!
Next shopping! I managed to make it to the mall without being rear ended.
I always forget how HUGE Easter is in Italy, and once again, was overwhelmed by the amount of Easter Eggs on sale. They were like castles in the supermercato.
Absolutely gorgeous walk on Thursday afternoon. And when I got home I had just enough energy left to bake. German apple cake to use up a couple of aging apples in the fruit bowl. Hubby does like cake in the house, and he finished the chocolate cake for breakfast.
There was a huge bang at 5:23 on Monday morning…thats when I discovered how windy it was. The shutter on the west side of our house had escaped its catch. I heard hubby close and lock it, so I dozed off to sleep again. When I next opened my eyes, it was 6:30. The wind was still blowing, but not as fiercely. Maybe it is blowing nicer weather our way. I hope so, we have visitors coming to stay next week. My view north, across the valley was lovely.
Monday lunch was a little more successful today. Cheesy polenta with a turkey and mushroom ragù. Big hit with hubby, I’m going to start calling him Polester because he had three helpings. Polenta is one of those dishes you never cook right, until you see it cooked in Italy. The day soon brightened up, but I decided to make it a baking day!
As the ginger cake and oatmeal biscuits (cookies to my American friends) were cooling…the sun came bursting through. It was too late to go anywhere, but at least I was able to get outside and work in the garden. Gardening is very therapeutic for me. I may even write a few pages of my book before I settle down for the evening. I still need to figure out a title, and although I’ve made a list of over thirty possibilities, none of them grab me…what to do?
I had my first appointment with the physiotherapist on Tuesday. Very impressed. I hadn’t actually told him about the problem with my hip but he picked up on it immediately while working on my back and neck (this poor old soul is falling apart). Apparently my hip joint is my main problem…so I have another appointment on Thursday and then I think two each week for three weeks.
I am already benefitting from the manipulations done by my physiotherapist on Tuesday. As I sat down to eat breakfast on Wednesday morning, I was much more comfortable. Amazing! Hubby has almost finished stacking wood. His huge construction is just about full. Yup, I know it’s still minus a roof. Waiting for some wood, and then the roof will go on this weekend. I may have a roofing party! We must have enough firewood to get us through next winter and beyond.
Wednesday is here, bringing a day so beautiful, it even smells good.
Here’s a silly smile to help you through your day!
Egg Jarping was a much loved pass time when I was a child. We always had family Easters, and the Egg Jarping competition was the much looked forward to, main event. It usually happened on Easter Monday, when we’d go for a family picnic. My favourite cousin was called Alan. He was a champion jarper and always beat me. Definition – the activity of knocking one pace-egg (“a hard-boiled coloured egg traditionally made at Easter”) against that of an opponent, with the aim of cracking the other’s egg and leaving one’s own intact, an Easter custom in many countries.
I love customs and traditions. When my daughter was small I taught her how to dye eggs with wildflowers, the way my grandmother (Alice Hobson) showed me. We’d go for an Easter walk, (always chilly), and collect spring flowers, which we’d place on the shells of the eggs, before wrapping in cloth and boiling in a pan of water. Dyes could be used in in the water, but more often than not, we used onion skins, a natural dye that worked just as well. I miss those days.
On Easter Sunday I planned to cook a lovely Easter lunch and relax. It didn’t quite happen that way. The oven that came with this house isn’t very good. It’s smaller than I’m used to, and if I try to cook on more than one shelf…it lets me down. My Yorkshire Puddings weren’t as crisp as I like them, and I was frazzled by the time I sat down to eat. Hubby enjoyed it, but it all made me grumpy. A grumpy me can’t relax, so Easter Sunday became a very busy day.
Today we woke up to strong winds and stormy looking skies. We’d planned to go to the coast, but maybe a day indoors is on the cards…Easter weather is always unpredictable.
It’s a sad day when you put stormy in your google search and this comes up!!! I was hoping for pictures of the weather.
AntipastoPiconi (Easter cheese filled pastries)Chitarra pasta with Cinghale ragu
Easter is normally a blur of shopping, cooking and eating, but this year we’re doing it our way. On Good Friday I cooked a nice meal of salmon and wilted spinach, with bread, fried in olive oil.
I visited Villa Lempa market in the morning. Did I find a bargain? Of course I did! I have a good relationship with the couple who run a linens stall, and what they don’t have on their stall, they bring for me the following week. Lovely couple. Up to now I’ve benefitted from their prices on kitchen mats, pillows, and tea towels. I’m learning how to shop the Italian way, and its fun.
We worked in the garden because it was such a beautiful day, but I heeded my body and stopped when it told me to. I’m really enjoying using the materials I find in the fields around us (marble, natural stone and unusual shaped logs), to create interesting areas in the garden. Projects like this are what I thrive on. One day my body will be too old to work, but by that time, my little empire will be built and I can enjoy looking at it. On Friday evening, I sat on the terrace for a while and enjoyed the view, listening to the tinkling goat bells as they returned home from their grazing.
On Saturday we explored new areas around Ascoli Piceno. Such beautiful countryside. We ended up having lunch at Cubinato Bailon again. Nine minutes from home and definitely our new favourite lunch spot. The meat course (secondo), was so delicious, I forgot to take a photo of it. Dang, I’ll have to go back and try again.
When we got home I was going to cut the grass, but the daisies looked so pretty, I decided not to, and went for a walk instead.
Memories of Easter 2019, when I flew to Abruzzo from Colorado to get a few things organized in our holiday home in Colledimezzo. It seems so long ago now. My friend Linda came with me, brave girl. Our bathrooms were still a little basic, but useable. We had heating in the house, beds, furniture, (very old drafty windows and doors), but none of that mattered, we barely spent any time indoors. It was short, fast trip, but lots of fun. We were invited to join Nino and his family for Easter lunch. It was a delicious traditional Abruzzo meal. On Easter Monday, we ate at La Collinetta in Montazzoli, where there were two pasta courses…we were so full. We experienced so much in a very short period of time. Visited a fish restaurant in Vasto, then sat by the Adriatic and enjoyed a glass of wine. Linda experienced her first Trabocco in Fossacesia. Poor Linda, I didn’t realize she wasn’t keen on fish, but she took it all in her stride. We watched the flag throwers in Roccascalegna and then, before flying back to Denver, we spent a lovely evening in Rome. Look at those crowds on the Spanish Steps, who knew that in less than a year those steps would be deserted, as well as the rest of Rome. How the world changed! Now it’s Easter 2022 and I’m living in Colledimezzo (for a little bit longer). The vacation home turned into a permanent home. We knew it would. We’ve had a peaceful Easter this year, resting before a very busy couple of months. Soon we fly to the US for a vacation, seems odd booking a return flight to the US from Italy, it’s usually the other way round. Our house is no longer bare, but a real family home, ready for a new family as we move on to pastures and adventures anew. All of my Colledimezzo memories are wonderful. I’ve never met more genuine, friendly people. The villagers have already accepted the new family and I can tell they will fit right in.
The world keeps turning and we all turn with it. Happy Easter everyone.
This week has been a little exhausting. A week of studying contracts, finding economical hotels and organizing the next couple of months of our life. A lot for an old gal to get her head around…keeps me out of trouble though. Yes, I do still get into trouble. My hair is white, and I have a few wrinkles, but I’m not dead yet. The weather and the colors on my afternoon walk were glorious today. I’ve walked this village for almost five years, but today I came upon a house I’d never seen before. A house tucked away behind some other buildings. I took d-tour to get a better view of the village, and when I turned around, there it was. A beautiful yellow house with huge windows. Stopped me in my tracks. I love huge windows. There are some very big windows in the house we are moving to. One day I’ll be too old to get out much, when that happens I want to sit at the window and watch the world go by. I hope that’s a long way off, but I’m preparing for it. It was too nice to sit in doors when I got home, so we enjoyed a cocktail in the piazza. It was full of people chatting and basking in the sunshine. Life is very good in Colledimezzo.
Have a lovely Easter weekend everybody. Stay safe and keep a smile.
Easter in Abruzzo was colorful. After the solemn procession on Good Friday, we enjoyed this amazing display in Roccoscalegna on Easter Monday. This wonderful village is 20 minutes from my new home. Can’t wait to live there full time.
Travel Tales and Mishaps 