Images Of Barnstaple.

Just a few more photos taken in Barnstaple yesterday as I have spent the whole day in the kitchen. My only foray out into the crisp cold air was early in the morning to feed the hens and pour hot water over the ice in their water bowl. 

This bike rack almost looks like a piece of modern art.

Poor Pete has been ill for 3 days with a stomach bug and now one of our visitors has gone down with it as well. Not a nice thing to happen when you are on holiday. The rest of us are all wondering who will be next. Each twinge of indigestion could be the the start of the galloping lurgies. Hopefully I will be taking some of the youngsters into town for the New Year's celebrations in the Square- bands, fancy dress and fireworks. 

Four seasons of gardening

A warm afternoon (more like an occasional late February day) encouraged moving leaf mulch, some light weeding and tidying of winter beds, and musings about planting time. In our climate, more of us should really think more about four seasons of gardening, from vegetables to landscape plants.

The winter honeysuckle is flowering now, prompted by the warm weather. It normally is in full swing by late January and February.


I think I'll sow some winter lettuce in the cold frame tomorrow and set up the heating pad and lights in the garden shed. I'm anxious to start some hardier transplants (kale, broccoli, collards, and mache) and sink my fingers into the damp earth again.

All the covered lettuce beds in Italy this time of year were amazing -- why not here? The hoop frames were simply providing a bit of protection and increased warmth (I think) -- no supplemental heat or light.

I ordered seed potatoes today from my favorite source, Wood Prairie Farm, and onion and leek sets from Dixondale Farms. If I'd kept better records (or had the patience to go back and dig up my notes), I'd know which potatoes did best here, and which varieties from my last year's experiments with onions were most successful, but basically, I love to experiment in the garden -- and every year is different, after all, even with tried-and-true varieties. I haven't yet sorted through my seeds (I'm sure I have plenty already, but maybe I'll find something new I need.... the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed catalog is a wonderful inspiration).

I WILL be rotating more diligently this year (AND KEEPING AN ACCURATE MAP), hmm, is this a New Year's resolution? And, I'll be adding new beds to expand the rotations. Perhaps the trade-off for a mild winter climate is an abundance of potential problems, from fungal wilts to harmful nematodes.

But it's hard to complain about a mid-60° F day in late December, even if it's unusually warm.

Reflections.

It was an early start this morning as Kate's car was booked in at the garage for 8.00. There was quite an obvious petrol leak but it turned out that when it was serviced before she bought it 2 weeks ago they had failed to put a jubilee clip on the petrol hose to secure it. This potentially very dangerous fault was fixed for a minimum cost of £12.00. I just thank God that nothing serious had happened while the petrol was dripping out under the car. Being nice and early the supermarket was almost empty as I stocked up on food. After that I walked over the bridge into town for a meander round the shops.

There was a cool golden light over the river and lots of reflections in the still water.

An hour later the High Street was busy with 'Sales' shoppers. The low winter light was creating an interesting back-lit effect on the crowds.

On the way home I finally managed to get a Buzzard to sit still on a telegraph pole though it's a shame that the camera didn't focus properly on this and closer shots.

 

Late December

Arriving home, we were surprised at how mild the weather was, definitely warmer than Italy. A clear blue sky, with well-dampened earth (a good thing), greeted a morning check of the garden.

Everything is in winter mode now, with deciduous leaves fallen. The garlic is up, as are fava beans, planted in a last minute experiment. The parsley is still green, and the collards look fine. I spent some time reviewing seed catalogs this morning- what fun.

We received a giant load of leaves today, thanks to the city's vacuum trunk, an excellent addition for winter mulching. My gardening companion had called before we left, but flagged the driver down this morning.

Bursting At The Seams.

This morning a heavy frost lay on the ground and stayed for most of the day.

The morning was spent in a frantic rearranging of rooms  ready for our final guests. We have several spare bedrooms but they  been appropriated and turned into a study or a gun store or music/drum room. There was much agonised shouting (me), moving of equipment/pcs/clothes (youngsters)  followed by a quick hoover and tidy up.  Our friends arrived at lunchtime and now every room is occupied. Romas did ask if another friend could come and stay over for the week but as he would have to sleep on the sofa I didn't think that was too practical.

Milo, our friends' Jack Russell, in his favourite position underneath the (lit) woodburner. 

Taking Time Out.

Yesterday I took advantage of the sunshine and the relatively uncrowded streets to take some pictures of Barnstaple's side streets. It is quite an old town with bits dating back many hundreds of years. Originating by the river crossing it was first a sea port and then became the main market town for the region. Now it is a centre for commerce with some light industry but chiefly it is a hub for the tourism based on the seaside villages,the moors and the picturesque countryside. 

Today despite the sunshine I was not in a good mood even after we negotiated the icy roads and went to church in Ilfracombe. I've had a nasty sinus headache lurking which resurfaced when the boys started complaining because I had tidied up paints and stuff of theirs that had been left lying about  in the conservatory last summer even after I'd begged them to tidy it all up. I got so cross with their insistence that they have the right to leave their belongings scattered throughout the house that instead of really losing my temper I simply took myself (and the tv controller) up to our bedroom and had a tidy up of my own things and a bit of a rest.  In a house full of adults I do not see it as my job to be responsible for all their meals especially when they are going to be so argumentative . I've had an evening snack of Christmas cake and Stilton and have provided them with instructions on making toad-in-the-hole. Earlier in the afternoon the boys did a good job of clearing up in the yard so that there will be more room for the cars as tomorrow more friends will be arriving. 

A last day in Rome

Campo de Fiori market

A final day wandering through the streets of central Rome on a cool winter's day saw lots more people enjoying a Saturday post-Christmas. Tourists from all over, but also families out to lunch.

Unexpectedly, we ran across a upscale vegetarian restaurant (Il Margutta) at lunch-time, and enjoyed selecting eggplant, grilled peppers, and other dishes (more vegetables than I'd seen in our entire trip).The market at Campo de Fiori was open, with vegetables and fruits from warmer parts of Italy and abroad. The varieties of lettuce and radicchio were grown nearby, though, and cheese, dried tomatoes, and nuts were also being offered.

The nicest balcony that we saw in an otherwise plant-challenged city

These dogs were enjoying an outing on the Spanish steps (Mocha would NOT like to have any sort of sweater, however, quite popular for well-dressed Roman dogs).

The view was nice from the hills above; Rome was quite peaceful on this post-Christmas visit.

Morte Point.

Some pictures from yesterday's walk. 

Today we have the same chill wind that is keeping the temperature down and the sky blue. Some parts of the garden were still frosted this evening. 

 I went into town to check out the sales but only bought a couple of pairs of trousers for work, (my usual clothes buying excuse). Vytas and Kate came in with me because there was a terrible screeching coming from the brakes of Kate's car but that turned out to be a stone caught in the mechanism. More worryingly Peter noticed a small petrol leak when she is reversing so we'll have to get that seen to asap. I'm still counting this as 'holiday' so I've resisted the temptation to look at my planning for the first week of term. This also means I'm being pretty relaxed about what I eat. Having resisited chocolate for so long I now find I'm very choosy over which kinds I will eat and it won't be such a wrench when I go back to eating healthily. I'm going to have to find a way of making my sit ups harder as last night I kept on going to 620! Vytas has shown me some back strengthening exercises to do as well. I get very excited by all this exercise simply because I'm such an unsporty person. I was useless at school sports and stuck to individual sports such as archery,  shooting, judo, ice skating - anything that didn't involve running around. In my 20s I worked with horses and ended up teaching disabled kids to ride as well as looking after other peoples horses. My excursion into road running a few years ago did wonders for my weight but sent my gammy knee into total decline hence the sit ups in this round of loosing weight and getting fit.

Rome

Tiber River

There isn't much green space in the center of Rome, but we were delighted to be able to experience walking around the piazzas and streets without traffic and bustle.

Tourists were out in force, but Romans are still on holiday post-Christmas, with many shops closed, and it seemed, many more streets closed to traffic than usual.


Perhaps motorcycles and scooters, as well as cars, are actually banned now from pedestrian zones? Or maybe this is just the post-Christmas lull.

Our last visit, in 2001, had us escaping the chaos after two days. (We had planned four). Interesting.

But, today, the Piazza Navona was filled with a Christmas market, complete with chestnut roasters (Middle Eastern fellows roasting chestnuts from bags delivered in small trucks). Quite pleasant.

Rambling was wonderful, without pedestrian-threatening scooters and little traffic.

We enjoyed some delicious pizza in Trastevere -- locals were standing in line. There were actually some arugula and eggplant on my piece, yum (I've been vegetable-deprived in winter Italy restaurants).

There are pizza places everywhere, quite evident in a quiet holiday time in Rome. These are the 'bakery' style pizzas by the 'slice' that my gardening companion loves. He wonders why we don't have these at home?

I wish we did -- Il Fornaio and other pizza places have fresh pizzas, nice-looking bread, and delicious pastries here in Rome.


Now, if the vegetable and fruit market in Campe de Fiori is open tomorrow, I'll have had a wonderful visit to Rome. And even if not, it's been a nice ending to our Southern Italy travels.

Boxing Day.

........ and Christmas Day. 

Christmas started for us with a special Christmas Eve meal, no meat, followed by Midnight Sevice at the local village Church. Each year the numbers grow less which is sad to see. We spoke to a few people afterwards including a lady who used to cook the school dinners at the village primary school. (Only 2 classes for all the children.) She was quite impressed with the size the boys have grown to. I was not the only one coughing and spluttering away during the service and I had to drop all my singing an octave to be able to join in at all with the traditional carols. It is a lovely old Church and there are times when the 'old' traditional wording of the service is appropriate though our usual Church has no set form for the service and the worship is wonderfully enthusiastic.

There was an absolute mountain of presents under the Christmas tree. That's what happens when there are 7 adults in the house, ( and there were presents for other people as well). 
Once every one was up we gathered in the sitting room with cups of tea to start the distribution of presents. 

Vytas and Kate sitting amidst the growing heap of wrapping paper.

After an enormous dinner , slightly late because the Rayburn was burning very low due to the wind direction, we crashed out in the sitting room in front of a roaring fire and watched TV. Vytas had a very old Jackie Chan film, Wheels on Meals, that was so bad it was funny. Vytas has been doing karate seriously since he went up to university, discussed technical details of the fight scenes with Pete who did karate in his youth. I have to admit to falling asleep occasionally, waking up in time to watch Strictly and the very funny new Wallace and Gromit animation - A Matter of Loaf and Death. It's amazing how much expression plasticine models can have. 

Today Peter and I went for a walk along the cliffs at Mortehoe. 

A Band of Morris Men were dancing in the village as we arrived. They are the Pilton dancers who put on a big display for the Green Man Festival in Pilton in the summer.

In contrast to the grey weather of the last few days a chill north-westerly had blown all the clouds away and the sun was shinning in a bright blue sky. ( True to form the Rayburn is now burning efficiently with a decent temperature in the oven).

The cold wind was chopping up the waves and at times made it hard to stand near the cliff edge. We managed to see one fat seal just bobbing about close to the rocks.

Vytas, Kate and Romas drove to Putsborough and ran the 2 mile length of the beach to Woolacombe, (just seen in this picture) and back again. There were a few surfers out but Romas decided not to take a chance as he still has this cold that is affecting most of us. I'm about to do my sit-ups, in between sneezing, and then hopefully we'll settle down in front of a roaring fire and some easy viewing.

Italian lettuce

Winter is not the time to experience the best of Italian vegetables, certainly. I've seen purple artichokes in the fields ready to harvest, as well as in markets. But there haven't been any offered up in the menus of the restaurants we've been at, alas.

But, I've been fascinated by the sizeable areas of lettuces growing under hoop house covers, acres and acres of them; they're butter lettuces (the green ones) and lovely purple ones, maybe a romaine, in alternating blocks. We've been driving by these farmed areas, without a chance to stop and peer closely at them.

Along the coast from Naples north to Rome, above the historic coastal town of Sperlonga (lovely, but no lodgings were available), large areas were being farmed in rich soil, although other areas lay fallow.

We're now in the center of Rome; I'll see what the markets are offering up in tomorrow's explorations.

Christmas Day.

Jesus is the Reason for the Season.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

I'd love it if any readers would say Hi today in the comments section, I'm assuming that somebody out there is reading this blog.