It hasn’t been as cold but, boy! has it been rainy! The Tiber got very high and jumped its banks, but it has subsided. It is still running fast and muddy but staying behaved in it’s banks now. This morning I woke to sunshine. Nice for a change.
Out and about for a nice walk and visit to our local market. First I bought the vegetables I thought I would need. I got one of those beautiful romanesco broccolis. So pretty and so alien looking!
And I got beatole, the big meaty and leafy green I use in soups a lot. Along with a couple nice leeks. Now I have to decide how to use them.
I dropped off the veggies inside our door and went for a walk. I always like to have an aim for a walk and this time I wanted to replenish my depleted bay leaves. When I first came here I tried to buy bay leaves in the store. There were none. I was baffled. Eventually I learned that bay laurel trees are everywhere and you just pick off a leaf or a branch when needed. I went looking and sure enough, I found the town bay tree. You can see that the whole bottom of the tree has been sculpted as people pull off a branch or two.
Just next to the tree are a series of orti or vegetable patches. There are still a few hardy winter veggies like cabbages, but not much else.
I turned up-river and took a couple pictures. Tiber a bit high.
You can tell when we have had a lot of rain because this small “river” called a torrente, which is normally a trickle actually lives up to its name! Here it is joining its bigger brother the Tiber.
Last night I went to the Christmas open house at Books for Dogs – Libri per i Cani. I think everyone who reads this journal knows about this charity which supports two local canile which care for abandoned dogs. It was a nice little gathering. I saw some folks I knew, and met some I didn’t know. I snapped a couple, pictures in the town as I went home.
Ciao for now!
Hi John, it would certainly make a lovely hedge. And useful too! I wonder why you don’t see it in the US much? Or maybe you do and I just never knew…
Nancy, when we were landscaping our ‘due Leoni’ pool area, we asked for a hedge along one side of the area, about 12 meters long. Only some three months later, when the hedge was ready for its first ‘trim,’ did I discover it was pure bay laurels, from one end to the others (you can see it in two of my Facebook pictures). Very aromatic swimming! And still growing strong when we left 14 years later!
Nice. We always loved bookstores and mourned their passing during the big Amazon/B&N boom. Happily they are not dead! Support them, so they survive!
Hi Nancy – It’s an independent bookstore. Brick and mortar and not part of a chain like B&N. They’re making a comeback here!
Hi Carlo, glad you liked it. The bay laurel tree was a surprise to me when we first came. And yes! Try the romanesco broccoli. You can get it in the US although it is not as common. Here it is plentiful and found everywhere. Tasta much like broccoli.
Hi Matt, what is an indie bookstore?
Thanks James!
That romanesco broccoli really does look alien. It reminds me of small cactus roses—not something edible! I’ll have to try it someday. And now, I’m going to be on the lookout for every small towns’ bay and laurel trees!
Thank you for sharing some often unnoticed colorful details of daily life in Umbertide. I really appreciate it.
Thanks for sharing your Saturday, Nancy! Today my wife and I are going to our local indie bookstore to pick up some add-on gifts for family. I love going there.
Nice pictures Nancy!