I have been at Casa Debbio for 10 weeks. In the last 10 days we have been able to move around a bit more, which is great. It does make a difference knowing there is a little more freedom. I went down the mountain yesterday to visit a friend in Ponte a Serraglio to wish her a happy birthday. I combined it with a shopping trip, but it was great to be able to see a friend.
It has been raining heavily for a couple of days and today is cloudy, so there is no watering the garden.
My garden bed is coming along nicely. The seeds I planted were eaten by birds, so I had to give up on that idea. I bought some small plants and they are growing. Some seeds might still grow. I don’t want this to be neat, I want a confusion of plants.
A couple more peonies have opened. Luckily most are still buds. If they had been open in the rain they would have been sodden and drooping.
The Banksia roses are thriving. We bought these several years ago from Rose Barni near Pistoia. It was quite an experience. Read about it…Adopt a rose
The red roses in front of the house are beautiful.
The pink roses will soon be open.
The stunning red ones behind the house are open.
Hydrangea flowers are opening.
We have 2 sambuco trees covered in flowers.
Lizards run and tumble all over the garden. They are fun to watch. I wish I could get a photo of the iridescent green ones. They are gorgeous and look like mini dragons.
I have been cooking. I made a delicious chicken pie…thank you Not Quite Nigella. Take a look at her blog, her recipes and travel stories are excellent. http://notquitenigella.com
I ate too much and rather than curl up like a cobra to digest it I went for a walk to the village. The house looks great from below.
The road to the village is delightful in spring. The forest is thick and the sun doesn’t shine through much. The trees are still their bright spring green.
I came to the edge of the village, but didn’t walk in. Maybe next week when the bar might be open.
Sometimes lunch doesn’t involve cooking. I found this cute little burrata, perfect with tomatoes and Tropea onions. I don’t buy any other onions here in Italy.
We went to Tropea in Calabria a few years ago, the home of these delicious onions. See more about them…Know your onions and gorgeous Tropea… Tropea, Hercules was here
Today I made a zucchini slice. The thyme and parsley was from my garden. I’m hoping for cherries, raspberries, garlic and zucchini before I leave.
The weather has been all over the place, sun, heavy rain, wind and low clouds.
I have very pale skin and prefer to keep it that way. I am paying for a youth spent at the beach. I always wear a hat in the garden and put sun block on my hands and arms, but I forgot about my legs. For the first time in more than 40 years I have brown legs. To most people they would still look pale but you can see the difference when I take my gardening shoes off.
We have heard that bars and restaurants might be open with seating next Monday, 18th May. There will be restrictions, but I am really looking forward to sitting with a couple of friends to eat something someone else has cooked…very exciting. Also exciting, I saw the first fireflies in the garden last night.