230,158 positives in Italy. Up JUST 0.1% – 32,877 total deaths since beginning of the outbreak.

There are 1,430 positive cases in Umbria. 75 total deaths. Same as yesterday.

1,654,683 cases in the US – 97,974 deaths.
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martedì –  Today I am announcing that I will stop my daily posts. It was quite the marathon! I posted everyday for 83 days. I want to say, it was a huge benefit for me to write this account. It kept me busy, and grounded, and mostly upbeat. It made me very aware of what was happening around me and in our world. I have a foot in two countries and I care deeply about what is happening in both. To be able to keep a journal of sorts was a privilege, especially during the worst of the crisis here in Italy, an early epicenter. I wanted to give my friends in other countries, who were behind Italy in the curve of the disease, an insight into life under complete and very strict lockdown. It was an unprecedented event — 60 million people, locked down tight, but then, a global pandemic is an event that, thankfully doesn’t happen often.

I am extremely proud of what we, in Italy, have achieved. By hanging together we have flattened the curve and have controlled this virus as best as it can be controlled. We have had two stages of loosening and life is returning to, not normal, but a new normal. I feel this journal has run its course and done what I had hoped it would do. I appreciate all the comments and kind words from those who followed along on my journey.  It was super gratifying to me to know that you found it useful.

Stay tuned for future posts…just not every day! We all have to live with this pandemic for a long time. I hope things continue to improve for Italy, or at least stay steady. For the US, I am still very worried. I don’t feel the virus is under control whatsoever.  I urge everyone to use your judgement when going about your lives. You know what that means. 🌈
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Someone asked me what is Feriano after I posted the photos yesterday. I should have explained that. It is the name of a property owned by friends of ours. It is high on a mountain with magnificent views. It has an ancient chapel as part of the house. The Church / house is named for the locality/crossroad, Feriano. Originally, the Church was called Chiesa di San Lorenzo di Feriano. Here are two more pictures.

229,858 positives in Italy. Up 0.2% – 32,785 total deaths since beginning of the outbreak.

There are 1,430 positive cases in Umbria. 75 total deaths.

1,643,499 cases in the US – 97,722 deaths.
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Lunedì –  Memorial Day in the USA. It is a beautiful day here in Umbria. No clouds in sight. A bit cool but I like that. 
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In honor of today, here is a picture of the Florence American Cemetery. Covering 70 acres on the outskirts of Florence, there are 4,401 military dead buried on the grounds. Most of them died in the fighting after the capture of Rome in June 1944. According to the Cemetery and Memorial’s website, those buried here make up an astonishing 39 percent of the fallen Fifth Army members originally buried between Rome and the Alps. In addition to the tombstones, visitors can also contemplate the 1,409 names inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing. Whenever a solider is recovered or identified, a bronze rosette is added to their name. I must add this to my list of “must visit” in Italy.

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Last night I decided on a real American springtime dinner. I fried chicken (!) and I had some beautiful small new potatoes and our first spring peas. Simple and perfect. The potatoes had hardly any skin, it was so thin as to be non existent. Luther shelled the peas. I just made both the potatoes and the peas simply served with butter. I love spring with these super fresh local veggies .
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From my “cousin” Tom and Carole’s beautiful Feriano.

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Enjoy Memorial Day. Remembering today.🌈

228,006 positives in Italy. Up 0.3% – 32,486 total deaths since beginning of the outbreak.

There are 1,429 positive cases in Umbria. 74 total deaths.

1,562,714 cases in the US – 93,863 deaths.
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Friday – Another bright sunny day. We just finished our Italian lessons. Last night we didn’t go for Aperitivo. I would have said Aperitivi (plural of Aperitivo) but I was corrected by my teacher. If four people go out for drinks, it is Aperitivo. As in we go out for lunch (Pranzo). Not lunches. Or dinner (cena). Not dinners. I just automatically assumed four drinks are plural…duh…what do I know. So tonight for sure!🍹🍹
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From The Guardian — Nine top scientists who advised Barack Obama in the White House are warning that the US has just three months to rebuild its national stockpile of emergency medical supplies or risk further drastic shortages of testing kits and protective gear should coronavirus strike again in the fall.

OK then. Plenty of time if people get on it right away. It would be very good to avoid the mistakes made previously at the beginning of the Pandemic. No excuses.
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I have had a pepper plant fatality. It must have happened during the rain storm. Broke right off at the base. Now I need two more since I had not gotten my Jalapeño yet. Let’s turn our attention to the upcoming weekend. It is supposed to be beautiful. We have errands to do. Groceries and cat litter. Maybe peppers to buy. And two new small pots. Oh, and dirt! 
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Todays soup. Chicken with pozole and cilantro. 

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Be safe everyone and have a nice weekend! 🌈

227,364 positives in Italy. Up 0.3% – 32,330 total deaths since beginning of the outbreak.

There are 1,427 positive cases in Umbria. 74 total deaths.

1,541,110 cases in the US – 92,712 deaths.
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Thursday – Brilliant, blue sky after the cleansing rain of yesterday.  Cool and breezy. Vera is here cleaning our apartment. I made a pot of duck stock this morning. I will use it to make a soup. I have just noticed the cilantro is trying to bloom. I need to use it or lose it, and since it is so rare here I don’t want to waste it. So I think a chicken and lime with hominy soup would be tasty. Nice and spicy! I have one last bag of hominy left.😢

Not a lot going on, we got an email for our (maybe) upcoming cruise in late November. They say it is going to happen. I will wait until the last minute to commit to it. Which will be in August.

This evening I think we will go down for our first spritz. How fun! I will take a picture.

Everywhere the poppies are blooming. They are one of my favorite flowers and there is nothing prettier than Umbria in May when whole fields are abloom with red.

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Stay safe ! 🌈

225,435 positives in Italy. Up 0.3% – 31,908 total deaths since beginning of the outbreak.

There are 1,424 positive cases in Umbria. 73 total deaths. Two new cases, zero additional deaths.

1,528,661 cases in the US – 91,938 deaths.
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Wednesday, Market day — pouring rain all night and all day. I didn’t need any produce or fish so I didn’t brave the nasty weather. I suppose this rain is good for all the crops. On Sunday, on our way to Calagrana, we observed workers planting the tiny tobacco seedlings. They are maybe an inch tall. And it has to be completely hand done. So labor intensive. I guess this rain is good for the baby tobaccos.

Otherwise all is tranquile in Umbertide. We missed out on the first spritz outing with friends on Monday. It was my choice. Too many of us. Made me uncomfortable. And truth be told, I am loyal to my good friends at Bar Mary so going to the “other” bar would have been strange. Especially our first time. Not that I have any issue with the “other” bar, just a loyalty thing… We plan to go out as soon as the weather gets nicer. And we will invite our friends to join us. I know they feel kind of the way we do about “their” Cafe Centrale. It is a funny little phenom. 
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Roses continue in Jill’s garden…💕 With notes from Jill beneath the pictures.

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Signing off for now… as always, be careful. 🌈

225,435 positives in Italy. Up 0.3% – 31,908 total deaths since beginning of the outbreak.

There are 1,424 positive cases in Umbria. 73 total deaths. Two new cases, zero additional deaths.

1,496,509 cases in the US – 89,874 deaths.
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I enjoyed this article from The NY Times...I excerpted it…

Life in NYC felt pretty normal in early March…in hindsight, we know that the coronavirus was then sweeping across the city. Deaths peaked in early April. And the typical time from contraction to death is from three to five weeks — which suggests early March was near the peak for transmission.

Over the next couple of weeks, it’s going to be important to keep this recent history in mind. Without mass testing — and the United States is not doing mass testing — there is a lag before a virus outbreak becomes apparent. Most people who develop symptoms don’t do so for at least five days, and sometimes longer. The worst symptoms usually take almost three weeks to appear.

With more parts of the U.S. starting to reopen, many people will be tempted to look at the data this week and start proclaiming victory over the virus. But this week’s data won’t tell us much. It will instead reflect the reality from early May and late April, when much of the country was still on lockdown.

“The data are always two or three weeks old,” Ezekiel Emanuel of the University of Pennsylvania told me. “And we have a hard time understanding that things are different from what we’re looking at.” Crystal Watson of Johns Hopkins University told The Associated Press that we wouldn’t really know how reopening had affected the virus’s spread for five to six weeks.

It’s possible that the reopenings won’t cause the outbreaks that many epidemiologists fear — because many people will still stay home, or because they will venture out cautiously, or because the virus may spread more slowly in warmer air. But it’s also possible that the country will find itself suffering through a new wave of outbreaks in June.

Either way, I’d encourage you not to leap to premature conclusions.

And all of the above will pertain to all countries trying to reopen, including Italy. Caution and care is advised.
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This morning I took a walk early along the river. Cool morning air, few people out.

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Enjoy your day! 🌈

225,435 positives in Italy. Up 0.3% – 31,908 total deaths since beginning of the outbreak.

There are 1,424 positive cases in Umbria. 73 total deaths. Two new cases, zero additional deaths.

1,480,873 cases in the US – 89,318 deaths.
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Monday — gray day with sprinkles. We have started a new Phase today. I am calling it Phase 2.1 — Our numbers in Italy are impressively small, only 145 deaths. 675 new cases. I just hope opening up doesn’t ruin all our hard work. But I am happy for the merchants, bars, and restaurants. It was extremely hard for them all.

We went out with the intention of taking the Porsche out for a much needed drive. It’s been sitting for over three months. But on our way through town we ran into the Books for Dogs team. When they closed up for the shutdown, it was wintertime. But now, it’s spring. All the clothes they have in the shop are winter clothes. So they’ve got to sort out the merchandise and change over. As we strolled along we noted all the shops have opened. Lots of bustle going on. A stop in the farmacia, then we crossed the river to the garage. 

We keep the Porsche on a constant trickle charge since it isn’t drive all that much. But, for some reason, it didn’t seem to keep the battery charged this time. Luther thinks it wasn’t plugged in right. So, no ride for us and we have to sort out how to get it started. Also it needs its annual servicing so it needs to go to the dealer in Perugia.

So much for our Monday outing. Other than that we had nothing planned for today.

I did get up this morning and made a nice big soup for our lunches this week. So, on that note I will close for today. 

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Jill’s garden is here to brighten up our gray day! The Irises have given way to the roses! So beautiful.

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Enjoy your week, whatever you do. Just be careful. 🌈

224,760 positives in Italy. Up 0.4% – 31,763 total deaths since beginning of the outbreak.

There are 1,422 positive cases in Umbria. 73 total deaths. Zero new cases, zero additional deaths.

1,456,841 cases in the US – 88,230 deaths.
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It is springtime. Early summer almost. And that is the time for taking the duvets off the beds. It is getting too warm to sleep under them. So I occupied myself with that today (Saturday). Removing the covers and washing them. On Monday we will bundle up the down duvets and take them to our lavanderia. We found out a year after we got here that they will clean the duvets and then store them for the summer! Everyone takes theirs and leaves them. They are bulky and most people don’t have much storage, including us. So a springtime chore…
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It was a rainy day. All day. We stayed in for the most part. After visiting the market this morning.

Last night we finished an excellent series on Netflix last night. Il Processo or The Trial, in English. It was a window into the differences between the US justice system, and the Italian one. Takes place in Mantova (Mantua). In Italian with English subtitles. If you like Italian stuff you may enjoy this. Tonight we begin Orthodox. I am really looking forward to this one.
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Sunday — what a glorious day! Wow. No clouds and nice and warm. Predicted to hit 30C today. That’s 86F. Almost hot. It would be perfect for a lunch outside at a nice restaurant. Sigh. Not yet! But, speaking of restaurants, we are taking a little ride to Calagrana to pickup our food. I will take some pictures!

It was such a lovely, but short trip. OK. I admit it. We hugged. Oh, but how wonderful it was. Susan, Gary and Luca came too. It’s been literally MONTHS since we’ve seen anyone we know or love, so it was lovely and tear provoking. 

Albi kept his distance but it was nice to see him. He’s the “old man of the mountain” with his bushy beard! Ely showed off her garden. Sigh.

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From our walk a couple days ago. Look at the fish in the Tiber!

And last, but not least, the answer to my question about tables in the Piazza…Mirko is busily setting up for tomorrow! Very exciting! Spritzes are in our future!! Spiffy new tables too!

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Buona domenica to all. Stay safe, wherever you are …🌈