MISS ALABAMA E LA CASA DEI SOGNI di Fannie Flagg

07/07/2014

La nostra protagonista Maggie è una donna bella, elegante, ben educata ma tremendamente infelice in quanto pensa che gli anni vissuti siano stati insignificanti, a parte il fatto di essere stata eletta

Miss Alabama molti anni addietro e il fatto di essere arrivata seconda (solo perché era stata boicottata) al concorso di Miss America.

Inoltre, Maggie è convinta che i migliori anni siano stati quelli vissuti perché, da quel momento in avanti le cose non potrebbero che peggiorare: vecchiaia, malattie, l’indifferenza degli altri verso di lei…, così decide di uscire di scena

In punta di piede, ma in modo dignitoso ed addirittura elegante… così come ha sempre vissuto, ma una serie di avvenimenti “fortuiti” …….  Fanno che si avveri il famoso detto “attenta ai tuoi sogni in quando potrebbero diventare realtà !

Racconto veramente carino, divertente e tenero, pieno di positività e di speranza ( anche nei passaggi più “cupi” riesce a far sorridere.

Stile agile e divertente. Si legge in un baleno

Protagoniste spassose , dolci e umane .

Dalla stessa autrice di POMODORI VERDI FRITTI ALLA FERMATA DEL TRENO

NEW ARRIVAL AT OUR HOME

This spring is a very rainy spring. News paper and tv tell us that this is the most rainy spring of the last two centuries.
I like rainy days, because I think the from the point of view of beauty the NATURE (plants, trees, fields and flowers) is more beautiful after a SOFT squall : everything is clean and colours are brighter
and you can feel a restoring smell.
I like the rain also because it helps me with my garden: I don't need to water my plant… they are watering "naturally" .
Last Friday while the sky decided to take a pause I went down to my vege garden, so I collected some strawberries, some artichoke and some broad beans.
Coming back to home, near the cypress, I found a baby bird: it was a JAY.

For sure, it came down from the nest and it was very lucky I saw it before any of our cats.
This bird , called JAY in English , is called GHIANDAIA in Italian ( it means: the one who eats oak nuts) and in Spanish ARRENDAJO… so I call it RENDY.
Its binominal name is Garrulus glandarius and it belongs to Covidae Family.
I love watch the birds which visit my garden and I had seen that Jays usually eat fruit. For instance , they ate many of my cherries some days ago.
So on the base of this observation, I thought that I could give HIM some grinded cereals + some strawberry , all of them mixed together .
I was afraid he was going to die very soon but …. I was wrong . He is growing up more and more every day and every day is more and more funny, 
here Rendy when he is very HUNGRY 

        

 

 

Ristorante Joia in Milan

I spent the last week end in Milan.

I went there, together with my husband, mainly to have dinner at Pietro Leemann's Vegetarian Restaurant .
I heard about Mr. Leemann after the time I decided to try the vegan philosophy.
I was looking about vegan mayonnaise  directions when I found instead , in YouTube channel, a receipt by Mr. Simone Salvini who is a collaborator at Joia restaurant and also at the School called "Organic Accademy".
In that moment,  I knew about Mr. Leemann and his restaurant, later I knew also about his book whose title is : "DIARIO DI UN CUOCO, Che cosa mangia un grande chef a casa sua" (a cooker's diary: what a great chef eats at his home).

I love this book.

Mr. Leemann is a very creative person and he introduces us an assortment of very creative receipts.
This fact proves to everybody that vegetarian cuisine is a very funny a delicious kind of cookery.
Many persons think that to be vegetarian / vegan means to eat only boiled vegetable but Mr. Leemann proves them that this sentence is absolutely unreal .

Joia's motto is " A healthy diet as your philosophy of life".

Any dish you select , it will be the best select .

The book is divided into seasons : 4 of course.
It includes around 100 hundred receipts and each of them includes a personal note by Mr. Leemann.

I suggest both :
Firstly it is better to buy the book and to read each receipt and comment.
Secondly , allow yourself a dinner at Joia restaurant.


Here bellow some directions:

about the restaurant:

www.joia.it
prenotazioni@joia.it
Address: Via Panfilo Castaldi , 18
20124 MIlano 
ph. # +39 02 29522124

about the book:
Title: DIARIO DI UN CUOCO - Che cosa mangia un grande chef a casa sua.
Editrice:PONTE ALLE GRAZIE
Collana: IL LETTORE GOLOSO
ISBN code : 9788879289344

Lethargy is over

Some months are over.
They were a difficult period . I had not any time , I had not any will to write anything.
I think to the last 7 months as my period of lethargy .
I found myself sleepy and energizing- less
As my Nelly cat in this picture (maybe beacuse she is falling in love ... )

 
And also the old tree is sleeping right now

 


The spring is almost coming . 
It is time to wake up and what is better than some garden activity ?
Near my place , in a small village called STIGLIANO a group of nice people organize events and activities to help people to know better and love the NATURE.
This cultural association is called LA BOTTEGA DI STIGLIANO and in addiction to activities they set up a shop, that kind of shop we call here A FILIERA CORTA , which means "from the closest farmers".
There is also a bar + a restaurant which can be asked even for VEGAN MEALS (my last passion)

 

HERE THERE IS THE FLIER

 

 

La Bottega di Stigliano è uno spazio innovativo
dedicato all'alimentazione e all'agricoltura di qualità,
un luogo multifunzionale dove fare la spesa
acquistando direttamente dal produttore,
assaporare piatti a "Km 0"
e partecipare ad iniziative culturali
per approfondire il legame tra ciò che consumiamo
e l'ambiente in cui viviamo.

L'obiettivo della bottega è sostenere il consumo
e la produzione di cibi locali
come elemento centrale della qualità della nostra vita
e dello sviluppo del nostro territorio.

 

 

 
In any case, last Saturday the meeting was about ROSES, with the title of

ROSE : CHE PASSIONE !!

The guest speaker was Mr. SANDRO DI MARE, who is a LANDSCAPE consulting .
The meeting lasted about 2 hours and half .
I learnt

• how to plant these bushes (which are perennial plants with more than one hundred different kinds of species).
• How to wet, compost and prune them.

I learnt that one of the most beautiful roses bush I have is called ICERBERG ROSE.
I learnt that ICEBERG belongs to FLORIBUNDA group (which is an hybrid between TEA and POLYANTHA)
It is a very energy rose bush which can resist against illnesses which normally hit roses plant. The flowering can repeat from spring to winter.
White flowers in clustering shape and light green foliage give a very elegant look to this beautiful plant.

ICEBER ROSES

 

Papilio machaon

The last week end I had some time to do the things I like to do.
I found a worm on one of my lavender plants.
I have the suspect it was the caterpillar of Papilio Machao butterfly.

I read that when butterfly , it has a wingspan of 6/8 cm.
I took at least 20 pictures at several time of the day.
This is the best one.

… and the Spring has already arrived… what a beautiful scenes !

This winter has brought very intensive cold, with very copious snow… so the cold was double, triple ….maybe it recalled the winters of many, many years ago, because the very low temperatures.

Then suddenly, the cold has left us and temperature has become warm more and more and very punctually … the spring has arrived… I believe "none words are needed"!

all of them are flowers in my garden !!!

The cat GEDEONE

As already told, we have a cat, a female cat. Her name is Nelly.

She was born on 30^th June 2008.

She has an older brother , I don't know exactly when he was born but for sure , it was at least 1 year before than Nelly.

Frankly speaking we never learnt his name since too difficult so,….

We call him GEDEONE

His "human mum", (who is my neighbor) every winter, leaves her house here in the countryside, and moves to the city center.

Her cat stays here, together us.


 
After a very terrible weather in the past days, the temperatures are getting warm little by little.

 
This morning and early afternoon we had a very beautiful day. The sky was blue and the temperature got even 14°C. … not bad if , we consider that 1 week ago, in the early morning it was even less than -10°C.  

GEDEONE has decided to enjoy this very beautiful day on his "private watchtower" .


 
I couldn't resist to take him some pictures

Magic snow

Just two lines since an imagine tells us more than thousand words …. !!

Last week,  I went to the city center, in the late afternoon and this is what I saw

 

 
Beautiful , isn't it ?

It is snowing (also this year ) !

Again, also this year, punctually in February the snow visits us .

All media  advised us. They told about very, very  low temperatures and too much snow … it was true.

It started on Tuesday afternoon and it lasted till the late afternoon of Wednesday.

Then it came again during the morning of Thursday and a little bit during the night of Friday .

My well I almost completely covered: 

  And also my poor plants, here one of my rose trees.

 

It is very cold and it is very difficult to drive since the low temperatures  iced the snow , so I have stayed  at home all this time.

I have read “The help”  by  Kathryn Stockett.

And I have observed the birds . I have put some feeds at the entrance of my home and they have come many of them.

I also have taken many pictures but not all of them are very detailed

In any case I am sure that I have seen ROBIN birds many of them

But also a new bird, never seen before. I am almost sure that it is the Chaffinch

 

Then I have checked in Internet and …

 

This bird is common and very familiar throughout Europe. It is the second most familiar bird in the U.K. Islands .

It was introduced from Britain into a number of its overseas territories in the 18th and 19th centuries.

It uses a variety of habitats, but open woodland is favored, although it is common in gardens and on farmland.

 

it's been such a long time!!!!

Many weeks (even months) have passed since my last post.

This last summer and autumn have been very busy period in the office, then all the other things to follow, so I have not had too much time for my personal things.

Now, a calmer period is arrived and I can write, and read and cook even I can work in my garden.

Christmas period is already over . It was a busy time too, preparing everything thing: decorations, gifts, greeting cards, sweets, lunches, dinners .

We are now in the most crude winter: in the morning, sometime it is very cold (even -7°C) or very foggy .

The sky offers fantastic scenes

 
Sometimes it seems to be into a dream

 

The fields sleep, the trees and flowers sleeps too. The birds are some difficulties to find something to eat.


I see them from the window of my kitchen with a cup of tea, hot and sweet. I feel I would like to be a bear, I would like to go into hibernation and then to wake up to the life only in spring.


 

Traditions

Rome, January 2011

I don't know why but, even if I am not a religious person, I like very much the Holy representations which can be found around our streets or on the facades of our buildings. 

Rome, January 2011

Rome, January 2011

Rome, January 2011

Rome, January 2011

Maybe,  

it is because I, in any case, have been educated into Catholic religion and seeing habitually them, I finished for liking them since undoubtedly, they are so beautiful and also they are an important part of our history.

Siena, June 2011

Siena, June 2011

Siena, June 2011

It is very easy to find hundred of them all around: they recall to our mind many remembering of traditions and rituallity 

“My” bee eaters.

The bee-eaters are birds , Meropidae is their family.

From my observations, I understood that they love warm temperatures, but not too hot. In fact I see, they arrive here around end of April and leave our places before July.

Then, I have seen several of them in July at Principina a mare (sea village near Grosseto, where I have spent my holidays when my son was small) . I suppose they move to the sea side because the sea breeze.

So I learn that most species are from Africa and Asia but others from the South of Europe, Australia, and New Guinea.

They are particularly beautiful since their colored plumage. The colours I could see are: yellow, green, red and turquoise.

Winds and tail are pointed and they are to swallows (even if bee-eater is bigger), Their bills are probing.

I knew that there are 26 different species of bee-eaters.

As their name tells us, they eat flying insect, basically bees !

They are gregarious and mainly monogamous (what a love ! ).

They arrive here, to my garden, 3 years ago.

Before that summer, they lived a couple of km far away and I was very invidious . It was so beautiful to see them while flying !

Now a part of them moved to me. I sit down under a tree and for a instant, I forget everything and everybody.