Friday 20 July 2012

A bit of everything


Its been a strange week for me somehow,its been difficult for me to blog as I didn't quite know how to write about quite a few things. Its been one of those weeks where lots of things have happened but didn't seem too significant to speak about at the time. Some of the important things were that I had a couple of letters from old friends, spoke on the phone to my kids, who were all well, one of my grand-daughters had straight A's in all of her exam results, met up with some people that I haven't seen for a while, these things I class as very very important but personal, there were also the crappy things that have happened to me, that I feel I have no control over my reactions, which, after a few days or even hours, I realise, they seem so irrelevant and I wonder why I even reacted the way I did at the time. We are such complex creatures aren't we?
Ive also been continuing with my painting on a daily basis daily, despite the heat, my studio is in the shade of some pine trees, so it is a nice place to work, especially late afternoon, I feel Im in a different world when I go there to work.
Ive done loads of different things this week, we went to the beach one day, it was lovely, as the breeze felt wonderful. The sea was freezing, its so strange because it was so hot on the beach, I don't think I've known the sea to be that cold before, in Italy, but I still went in and swam some.




On Wednesday I went to a little market that was run by a few women that make and grow, they are now trying to sell their produce, it was very interesting, I bought some delicious rye-bread it was very heavy and cost much more than the average loaf of bread, but I love rye-bread, the malty, sour smell and taste that it has, it also doesn't turn into concrete after two hours, it was worth every penny. It is difficult to find brown bread here in Italy only few bakers use wholewheat or rye flour. It was very yummy, I also bought some bio- milk that was so creamy, that too didnt taste like the usual milk that I buy from the supermarket. 


We have been trying to keep our vegetable plot going, although we haven't yielded very much so far, only courgettes, beetroot and some woody onions, but the tomatoes are now ripening and some are even taller than me, they have many kilos of fruit on. So I'm gonna need some tomato recipes for the future, the Italians bottle theirs, but I don't want to stand in a hot kitchen when I can just put them in bags and pop them in the freezer, yes I know I'm a lazy one, but I am getting old and can buy passata at the supermarket very cheaply. I have been using the large marrows to feed the goats too, they love them, thank goodness, its saving me buying carrots etc. We have planted quite a few winter cabbages and cauliflowers, hopefully they will survive in this heat.

Speaking of vegetables, we went to the market this week and found a shop that was run by I believe Egyptians, they were all very handsome young men around 20 years of age who were, smiling and singing and seemed totally happy,( nothing like the grumpy supermarket girls working on the checkouts, who throw your goods at you), the shop sold only vegetables and fruit, which looked as though the sell by date had gone, but I picked through the piles and bought loads of good, potatoes, cauliflowers, apples, cabbages, peppers, aubergines, onions, garlic, even big lettuces for what I thought would do very well for the goats and hens, but they were in such excellent condition they were good enough for us to eat,  when I got to pay, this bounty cost only 3 euros, I could not believe how cheap they were, I thought of the hard work that we do to grow our own, and asked myself 'is it worth it?' especially when there are only two of us to feed. How far does one look at how things are grown and how good it is for us. We could die of chemical poisoning or hard ruddy work for only a few courgettes, a couple of beets and quite a few tomatoes. 
I truly understand that some people have very strong principals but I am thinking quite a lot about the time and effort also the energy and water, that we use when growing our own, even though I love to do it, could I be doing something else.? Another big decision to think about.

Today we were invited by a friend, to have lunch at his restaurant, it was very very nice, we  a sat at a table under a large shady tree in the little garden where the tables were all odd, lots of quirky ornaments and boxes, there was even a mattress and cushions,  if you wanted to lie down after you had eaten. We were plied with cold crisp wine, served, fresh home-made pasta with clams for the first course, then Coregoni (a local fish from the lake) baked in parchment with orange, lemon and herbs, with a large crunchy salad, ending with little coffee's thick and sweet. This has finished my very mixed week off in a very positive way, and that is, to enjoy and appreciate every good moment that happens  during ones day and to feed from that.








Have a good weekend everyone, I may have time to write a little but not too sure, as the family are arriving from Rome this evening.
Dont know why I have white patches on the blog, sorry.

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