Category Archives: Umbria

Quiet week

Things have been changing around Europe (and the world) with the virus. Italy has had an uptick, but the numbers are still low compared to many countries like the US. And we have good tracking and testing methods in place. And quarantining.

We are having a lot of people from other places In the EU come in. As well as some other “allowed “ countries, also immigrants from many places. Many of these have brought the virus as a “gift” to us here in Italy. 😕

I’ve also been reading the US newspapers and watching this reopening of schools. I’m seeing it as a poorly thought out strategy. Super dangerous to so many.

In Georgia a high school opened. They said they couldn’t mandate the kids wear a mask. But they can punish a girl for wearing spaghetti straps, shorter skirts and scooped necklines (all prohibited by dress codes), yanking those girls out of class for “distracting” their fellow classmates with scandalous body parts like knee caps. 😳 oh my! Kneecaps! So tell me…if they can make a girl comply with dress codes…why can they not make the student populace wear a mask? Hmmmm? 🙄of course they can! Don’t be dopey.

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Life in Umbria is good, but we also have upticks. Seven Franciscan monk acolytes from all around the world arrived infected, and from them many other Monks in Assisi. A bunch in Passignano from an Romanian guest worker. Perugia has had an uptick also from guest workers. Marsciano 2 cases, both Belgian tourists. I, for one am hanging pretty close to home. Good food, wine and views. Summertime is splendid here.

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Andrà bene 🌈 You are your own keepers. Stay safe.💕

Fishing competition on the Tiber!

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Una bella domenica! A beautiful Sunday. Our weather has settled down into August. Typical hot weather. But at least it’s not scorching. Highs from 35C today up to 37C later in the week. That’s 95F to 98.6F for you non-metric folks.

Anyway, I decided if I didn’t walk in the morning I wouldn’t walk. So off I went about 8AM. My intention was to walk along the river. But I was thwarted. There was a sign that said “International Fishing Competition”. And there were maybe fifty people with all their gear along the river, blocking my way. This is not unusual. It happens almost every weekend here. I paused to take some pictures.

Fishing here on the Tiber is a “Big Deal”. This is the fishing capital of Italy. Really. I’m not making this up. As with most things, it is very orchestrated. The participants gather In Umbertide, and are given numbers which correlate to spots along the river. They all then go rushing off in their vehicles to set up. You don’t want to be on the narrow roads leading to the river at this point 😳!

Once they get to the river they unload and start preparing for the starting gun. The fishing here is NOTHING like any fishing I’ve ever seen anywhere before. They don’t cast. They have very long rods that are in pieces that they fit together to extend them about 10 meters or 35 yards out over the water. I looked this up and I think it’s a form of Feeder Fishing, although none of the pictures had rods as long as these. They have complicated stands on which to prop the rods during construction and afterwards to help hold them above the water. They have very fancy, collapsable chairs with matching umbrellas. And a creel which is a canvas tube which goes down the bank into the water in which they keep any fish they catch alive. The fish are never kept, but returned to the river afterwards. The Tiber teams with fish. The fish are Common Carp, Common Barbel, Common Roach, Catfish, and Asp.

When I got down on the path, it was dead silent. Everyone was intent on getting everything set up perfectly and not scaring the fish (I assumed).

This looks chaotic, and it IS! It is a sea of poles!

A little closer to the action. Today I saw my second female fisherman ever. It is a mostly male sport. Today, though, a lot of women had accompanied the men. I believe since this is an “international” competition these people could be from far away and the wives don’t have much to do. They sit in the shade and looked quite comfy.

Note the creels going into the water. This picture looks almost organized. Now, they wait for the starting gun. We can hear it from our house and these competitions happen almost all year, but mostly in the spring, summer and fall.

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Buona domenica everyone. Stay safe…andrà bene🌈

Pronto soccorso (emergency room)

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Today I visited the Pronto Soccorso for the first time. It is a weekend and I am unable to see my doctor. Yesterday we decided to give our two cats their yearly bath. Simba objected. And at one point he went totally nuts and while struggling with him he bit down on my thumb, right through it and for a moment I wondered how I was going to get him to let go. And it hurt! A lot!

I know a cat bite is one of the dirtiest bites you can get. I’ve also heard horror stories. I asked a friend of mine who used to work with animals and she said a veterinarian she knew lost her thumb due to a cat bite. That kind of lit a fire under me. I am never anxious to go to a doctor or a hospital, or worse, an emergency room. But we live in Umbertide. We have a hospital and we can even walk there. So we walked over to the Pronto Soccorso.

We rang the bell and explained why we were there. I had to fill out a form about how I was feeling today (Covid related) and they took my temperature. Then I got to go in. I had to go alone as they won’t let more than one at a time. I was pleased I understood everything they asked me and could answer all the questions. My Italian has improved quite a lot I’m happy to say.

The doctors were nice, interested because I am American. One even looked up Virginia on his phone and started listing the states all around Virginia. I showed them my Tessera Sanitaria, my health card enrolling me in the system here. They were surprised but I explained I live here and am in the health system.

There was no discussion about the cat bite. It seemed almost a given that one must get treated for a bite from a cat. They examined my thumb and redressed it. Then they gave me a tetanus shot and a prescription for antibiotics and dressed my wound. I have to return in 6 weeks for a booster tetanus shot. The visit cost nothing. I do love the Italian health care system 💕.

Afterwards we walked back and I drove to a farmacia to get my prescription filled. All in all a painless (mostly 🙂) visit. I’m glad I broke down and went. I won’t be so reticent in the future.

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Yesterday and today I made pesto. The Basil is going wild. I harvested these two. They aren’t so pretty and bushy now. If you want to keep your basil producing you must cut it back as it starts to flower down to just above the juncture with two small leaves at the intersection of the stem. These small lives will grow into new, robust basil branches. I have regular basil and violeta.

Here is the jar of regular pesto I made.

This one is an experiment. Thai basil pesto. It has a dark color because of the purple leaves, and it has Thai flavors like fish sauce, sesame oil, etc. I haven’t eaten it yet. I will report back.

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I have more to report as today was a busy day, but I will save it for tomorrow 🙂

It is still ungodly hot but supposed to break on Tuesday I think. Stay safe y’all. 🌈

Sunday dinner

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I made a wonderful dinner tonight and I thought I’d share it. The recipe is called “string beans, pickled beans, tomatoes, and olives on Tonnato”. It is from the Six Seasons cookbook. It has started to get hot and we have at least two weeks coming up of very hot weather so salads are nice.

I read the recipe a few weeks ago and made a jar of pickled beans. They’ve been curing in the refrigerator for a while and I thought they were ready. I added a few things, like endives for crunch, and a soft boiled egg. The description of the recipe said it had evolved from the Salade niçoise. The egg added a little more umph so it wasn’t “just a salad”. The tonnato sauce underneath the salad was great and you could get some with each forkful. It was quite filling. I’d make this one again.

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🌈 mask up everyone! 💕

Old lady carrello

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I have a friend, who shall remain nameless 🙂, she calls these “old lady carts”.

I admit, the little old ladies here DO use these for their shopping. They don’t have cars so these are a big help to them. But…. I say defensively…. I have also seen younger people, and even (gasp) men with these. I decided to get one. The one above is mine. Sitting in front of our door. Deluxe model. You may note it has the high tech, coolio, triple wheel action, handy for curbs and stairs. Note to my anonymous friend (who lives in Perugia, a hill town 😳), you need one of these!! 💕

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The weather has turned gorgeous. Not at all hot. Brilliant blue sky with no clouds. It gets very cool at night. The Saturday market is going strong. I got my shopping done. The peppers on the left I harvested this morning from our own pepper plants. They are all spicy.

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Dinner tonight will be from a recipe from Italian Food Forever. It is called Summer Spaghetti. So easy, and so good in summer with the beautiful tomatoes. No cooking, so it doesn’t heat up your kitchen. You put it together and let it sit 4 or more hours. The flavors meld. You cook and toss the spaghetti into the sauce while it is hot, saving some sauce to put on top. A little pecorino cheese and it is summertime heaven. Mmmm. Nothing makes me happier!

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I have been watching the US news, as I’m sure we all are. It is so sad that if people would just wear that damn mask they could almost stop this Virus in its tracks! Please stay safe and wear your masks. 🌈 😷

Trivial issues and tomato sandwiches

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In the grand scheme of things, considering the really dire state of the human race on our earth, my small problems matter not a whit. It is true. And truly, if I never get Saran Wrap again but the Corona Virus is vanquished, I am more than fine with that.

Last night I used the last of my Saran Wrap. I can manage with the Italian plastic wrap, but Saran is much, much better. During normal times I would be traveling home to the US once a year or so. And I always stock up on all the things I like from there (I bring an empty suitcase). Needless to say we won’t be going home anytime soon. And we won’t have any guests from the US anytime soon, so I will make do.
Dead soldier…

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Tomato sandwiches were a staple of my childhood lunches. My mother adored in-season tomatoes. She would have called them “home grown”. She would make a sandwich with Wonder bread, mayonnaise and thick slices of tomatoes with salt and pepper. That’s all. And I grew up eating these. Since “home grown” tomatoes are only around a couple of months I tend to eat them everyday here. How? You ask? Watch me work!

First, and don’t you people be shouting about this because it is in all the Supermarkets here, I buy a nice loaf of American Sandwich bread. Just like Wonder Bread 🙂.

Then, I slather on lots of mayonnaise…and not just ANY mayonnaise but the real thing! Hellman’s! Also available here at selected supermarkets.

We don’t have what Americans call Heirloom tomatoes in our markets, but what we have are outstanding!

The Romas on the left are destined for Gazpacho. The basil will be pesto! Mmmm I love summer.

So, using all these fine ingredients 🙂… I make my daily Tomato sandwich. Mmmmmm. Sorry…half eaten 😋

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I also got my haircut this morning. First time since lockdown. Whew. Nice to get it cut. I drive around 40 kilometers from Umbertide to Sansepolcro. Nice small city in Tuscany. I love Stefano, my hairdresser.
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Stay safe everyone! 🌈

Market day

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It was a beautiful Wednesday. Cool and breezy. I went out for a bit of shopping at the big market. I got tomatoes, which are so good right now. I got eggplant, little peppers, garlic, red onions. Beautiful produce. Also I bought some mozzarella…the little balls. So good with the beautiful tomatoes and basil.
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I am upset at what is happening with the CDC and Fauci. To me this kind of sums up the issues in the US. I love Fauci.

From the Washington Post.

On Fauci.
“What he cares most about is not his influence, but what’s happening — that things are going so badly and it’s going to cause so much disease and death,”

Four months ahead of Election Day, Trump wants to “reopen and move on,” said another senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal deliberations. Those who disagree with that approach are out of favor, the official said.“

It is not possible to just “move on”. It is not going away if you don’t look at it. If you try to ignore it. If you don’t test. If you open up. 😳 So, I guess it is STILL all about him. And his election. Screw the country. Who cares that people are sick and dying. Who cares…Fauci does.
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Things are still going well here in Italy. Inside of businesses we all still wear the masks. I noticed at the market this morning the Protezione Civile folks were chucking folks out who weren’t wearing masks. Good for them! Life is fairly normal here. It could be so in the US if everyone would wear a mask, distance, and mostly stay home and out of inside spaces.

Latest news is that US tourists are still not allowed to come to Italy. I’m in agreement until the US can get the virus under control.
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As always, we enjoyed our dinner on our terrace. So beautiful. I could not live without this view and outside space.

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Be safe. Wear your masks. It is the easiest way to slow this virus.🌈

Activities on the weekend

July 5 — Luther’s birthday

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Special day for Luther. We were invited to a BBQ up in the mountains. Our Italian friends who are our Italian famiglia invited us. It was a beautiful, breezy day. Not at all hot. We were nine people. The family of four, two young girls and their parents, who own the lovely property, and her father from Slovenia. Me and Luther, and another couple with a house in Umbria. They are Polish and live in Colorado and also in Puerto Rico.

The meal was wonderful. We started with a guacamole dip and a tomato salsa and chips. Wine flowed right from the start. I brought chocolate chip biscotti, the Poles brought a hunters stew. This property has a great pizza oven and BBQ in it’s own stone structure. We had grilled sausages, pork, beefsteaks. Also a very spicy eggplant dish which took me by surprise by its spice 😳 and also salad.

After a short time frozen vodka flowed as well as lemoncello. There was a cake for Luther to cut. My cookies and chocolate we brought rounded out the desserts.

View of had — View of the yard and oven.

Dessert. Luthers cake, my biscotti, and a chocolate bell.

Home, and enjoying summer weather!

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What lovely, hot weather we are having. It is in the 33-34C range or around 93F. I went out yesterday morning and enjoyed a coffee with a friend at Bar Mary. I’d call her a new friend except we’ve known “about” one another but never had a face to face chiacchierare (chat). Her name is Elizabeth. She wrote a book called Sustenance which I really enjoyed. She just managed to return to Umbria from San Francisco where she has been trapped for months due to Covid. What an ordeal. 22 hour flight with two changes! Only because she has a Permesso di Soggiorno and a medical reason was she able to return. And then she had to quarantine for two weeks. She is just freed. She said she would never leave Italy again! She used her quarantina to plant her garden, which is going gangbusters already, she reported. Anyway, it was lovely to get to know her and I’m sure we will meet again soon.

I went out to the Saturday local market today. Pretty day, a bit cooler with a nice breeze. The early summer produce is abundant now. I got beans, fennel bulbs, zucchini and zucchini blossoms, and lots of tomatoes which I “hope” will be good since it is coming onto the best time for them. I also took a few pictures 🙂