THIS WEEK IN SCIACCA
It seems like we never left! Everything is familiar and comfortable and we are sleeping for great amounts of time to make up for our lost sleep in the states. We have caught up with the newspapers and the magazines and the goings on of our friends. And the summer shifts into the end-of-season activities and we smile and know the noise will end soon. The other night we attended a play at the cavea (dance floor area) here, and we will participate in the covered dish supper tomorrow and the formal dinner Thursday. Last night we went into town to walk around, have excellent arnacine at La Grotta, and observe again the mating rituals of pre-pubescent Sciacca kids. We visited an art gallery and one of our favorite old churches, Santa Margherita, which usually has an art show, but this time it was just open to show the restoration work. Then we attended the last night of the first annual Sciacca jazz festival, and got tee shirts to prove it. The scene was the ex-convent of the Jesuits in the middle of town, a wonderful open-air spot. The music was awful (some singer with a bad operatic voice singing Beatles songs) but we have high hopes for the future success of the festival.
The dead garden is ok, because I got a cherry tomato plant back from Franco and Giusie upstairs and a nice basil from Paolo. Paolos flowers are gorgeous and his basil is like a jungle growth, overpowering his roses, proving that you CAN plant directly into the composted sheep fertilizer, which I thought was impossible. My hot red peppers are producing, and there are green peppers still on the vines on the patio. So I have enough growing to keep me happy as I look forward to the fall garden. Melons, pears, peaches, nectarines, and green grapes are all in season, so we have great fruit salads everyday. Steve is holding the cucuzzi that Paolo gave us, and thankfully, the huge amount of figs that Steve picked the other day got dumped back to Paolos house.
We had Sunday pranzo at Paolos yesterday with Maria and Alfonso, Ignatzias sister and brother-in-law, visiting from Staten Island. She is a fellow writer and is looking for a publisher of her book of reminisces and authentic Sicilian recipes. They are visiting friends and relatives here, and it is so nice to be able to finally meet Maria after corresponding with her for so long.
Everybody is mourning the cold summer with temperatures barely exceeding the 80s and constant winds. I cannot agree. I think it is perfect, even though the sun is still too strong to do much when it beats against the front of the house in the AM. So I just do things in the house then and go out when it is a little less fierce. The beach looks awful with wind driven algae everywhere, so we have taken to going to the big beach at Capo San Marco.
The dead garden is ok, because I got a cherry tomato plant back from Franco and Giusie upstairs and a nice basil from Paolo. Paolos flowers are gorgeous and his basil is like a jungle growth, overpowering his roses, proving that you CAN plant directly into the composted sheep fertilizer, which I thought was impossible. My hot red peppers are producing, and there are green peppers still on the vines on the patio. So I have enough growing to keep me happy as I look forward to the fall garden. Melons, pears, peaches, nectarines, and green grapes are all in season, so we have great fruit salads everyday. Steve is holding the cucuzzi that Paolo gave us, and thankfully, the huge amount of figs that Steve picked the other day got dumped back to Paolos house.
We had Sunday pranzo at Paolos yesterday with Maria and Alfonso, Ignatzias sister and brother-in-law, visiting from Staten Island. She is a fellow writer and is looking for a publisher of her book of reminisces and authentic Sicilian recipes. They are visiting friends and relatives here, and it is so nice to be able to finally meet Maria after corresponding with her for so long.
Everybody is mourning the cold summer with temperatures barely exceeding the 80s and constant winds. I cannot agree. I think it is perfect, even though the sun is still too strong to do much when it beats against the front of the house in the AM. So I just do things in the house then and go out when it is a little less fierce. The beach looks awful with wind driven algae everywhere, so we have taken to going to the big beach at Capo San Marco.
posted by Sicilian Mama at 7:30 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home