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 !!!

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.


 

“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.

 

Spring in my heart

I just came back from a 4 days break in Spain. I went there to visit my family, in a special way my mum.

I see her twice per year, usually in Easter first and in summer then.


This time I went there even the week after Easter since before it was impossible for me. 
For this reason, I was there in the very late April. 
Maybe the last time I visited my home-country in this period, was more than 20 year ago, before having got married. So I didn't remember how it was beautiful  in Spring.

The first surprise was the green explosion I found when I arrived in this sort of Spanish "Shangri-la".

Two years ago, a very terrible forest fire hit this "Paradise" and till this Spring I saw there desert and burnt landscapes.
Now for the first time in two years I have seen green hills again.

The second surprise was the many kind of flowers, with many kind of colours.

They were specially purple and yellow: two among my favourite colours.

I found many of them planted in gardens but also many of them around the fields growing wildly

             

Then, the trees... the ones which were saved. 

It seems that a "dry" storm was the cause of that tragedy . One thousand hectares of forest were burnt. However this place in my heart, located into a round valley, didn't suffered any damage but  the land around this natural circle was completely destroyed.

In any case, in this last week of April, it was splendid and  rigorous of life. 

Bye winter, Hello spring

This winter has been a very rigid  winter for me.

I had a very hard time at work from the end of August till the middle of November. There were many, many things to do in a very short time.

They were very stressing months.

Then some other family problems had to be followed and the whole situation made me very tired and I felt very weak.

Then, from the beginning of December, we had a very humid winter here in Tuscany . Practically it was raining every day. Sometimes hardly, sometime softly but it was very difficult to do anything outside.

So, from the end of X'mas until now I hibernated inside my warm and comfortable home. I read many, many books. I checked many, many topics/matters in Internet and I made many, many biscuits, bread rolls, pizzas…… and others. I adore to do all these things specially if I can have a very nice cup of Japanese tea and during this winter, I almost finished all my provisions.

However today was a very beautiful day. In early morning it was a little bit chilly but around the afternoon we got 15°C. and a very nice sun was high in the sky .

I saw also that some flowers are open their beautiful faces to glad our days.

This situation encouraged me to go outside after lunch to work in my garden. 

I started seeding some vegetables into small vases. So now, I have to wait until the small plants will come out from mould and at that point, I will transfer them in the garden .





This summer I should have in my garden: carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, peppers and chilies. 
I keep you posted on development……

It was a very nice day!.

Forest in Tuscany.

Finally some minutes for me !!!

It is more than one moth I don’t write any post.

It was because I had have too much work in the office! 

From the beginning of Septembe till now, I have gone there very early in the morning until the afternoon, then, as all women, I  have to take care of my family and home….. I am very tired ….. During this time almost 8 weeks, I was unable to take care of my vegetables and flowers in my garden. 

Mushroom

Also I was unable to read my books as I would have like to do!

However, now the situation is getting better and I have some more time for me, so I could go to the forest yesterday for a walk and also to harvest some mushrooms (we collected almost 10 kgs.) .

I always mention the beauty of autumn in Tuscany. Every year,  I feel in love to these gorgeous fields and forests. I adore the colours but also the smell.

The only bad feeling ?? Many hunters ! They send me into a very sadness condition. 

another corner in a Tuscan forest. 

Beautiful chestnut leaves

I also had some time to harvest pumpkins and other fruits.

Pine-nuts :They are pine seeds. They contain proteins   and they are eaten in Europe since Palaeolithic period. They are  one of ingredient to prepare Pesto sauce.

Hazelnuts: they are hazelnuts tree seeds. They contain vitamin E and phytosterols (substance very important against to disorders of the heart. They are rich of monounsatured fats.

Almonds: they are almond tree seeds. They contain vitamin E, proteins, fats, magnesium and calcium. 

Pumpkins  from my garden 

dried fruits