A Few of My Favourite Abruzzo Things

If you would like to read the full guest post, please go to the fabulous Life in Abruzzo blog.

I hope you enjoy the interview, and that you will learn some new things about this wonderful region of Italy, which is still relatively unspoilt.

Thanks very much to Life in Abruzzo for organising the interview!

Abruzzo Diary of a Country Lady - Part 1

Chikita has just laid an egg!

I am awakened every single morning by the sound of vociferous crowing, not by a cockerel, but by the 4 chickens who happily reside "chez moi". I love this sound and it means they are so proud to have just laid an egg. I was delighted to be able to take this snapshot of Chikita who had just laid one of her fabulous daily white eggs. Berry is looking on waiting her turn to sit inside my plant tub that has now become the official laying area. The beautiful plant that used to reside here is no more, as it has been squashed mercilessly. This big green tub has also become the place for the cats to have a kip during the day. So all in all this area is now a centre of refuge, peace and calm for a lot of animals.

Snakes
I saw one fleetingly the other day behind my pots and I let out a blood curdling scream, audible only to one man and many beasts.

"My dearest, what's up?" K asked casually as he ambled, yes, ambled towards the source of the screaming fit.

My face ashen white (slight embellishment here for dramatic effect), I pointed behind the pots next to the chicken pen.

"I've just seen a long black slithering hissing SNAKE!!"

" Yes, there are a lot in this area, you do know that, Jan, don't you??!!

Yes, I suppose I did, but at that particular moment, it didn't really help matters.

So where does one go from here? Does one abandon one's idyllic country lifestyle just due to a close encounter with one of its reptile residents?

The answer, of course, is No!! It's a part of the everyday mix of surprises and unexpected events that keep me fascinated with life in Abruzzo.

Every year in Cocullo, a village in Abruzzo, there is a festival in honour of snakes. Please read all about it in this Life In Abruzzo blog post "Getting Slippy at Cocullo Snake Festival". It's a fascinating read, and you will find out what an ophidiophiliac is!!!

Other Resident ReptilesImage of toad found here: http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc68/dalgarvenbooks/toads.jpg

The reptiles do not stop here, however. There are two resident toads who appear only at night time inside more of my pots. Yes, I can confirm they are ugly creatures, hence the term "as ugly as a toad". Now I can say that this comparative phrase is absolutely true.

I stared in utter fascination at a very unusual coloured toad sitting very comfortably and in a very relaxed state, right in the middle of one of my prized pots containing seedling carrots. On closer investigation, I discovered there was another toad buried underneath the soil under the top toad, so to speak.

If you are wondering what I am going to do with these carrot seedlings after being in such close proximity with 2 toads, I can confirm that I have chucked them into the compost bin and will start again from scratch. I don't think I would have the stomach to eat fresh carrots straight from a toad's mouth, would you??

Should I take a photo for posterity? The thought entered my mind. It was after midnight, the moon was shining bright ahead, and I was on my way to bed.

At this point I have to explain that my house is an old "casale" with living quarters downstairs (formerly the stables) and we have to go outside every night in order to get to the sleeping quarters. I find this is very quirky and I love it! It takes me almost an hour to get upstairs sometimes when I inspect each pot for the following creatures of the night:

1. snails and
2. slugs

I dutifully dispense of such creatures by genteely as befitting a country lady, flinging them back into the nature where they came from by means of a stick, which I always carry with me for such purposes. It's slightly tedious, but it's my routine now and I don't mind at all. .

Anyway, I digress!! Back to the toads!! I don't like them. They don't blink, they just stare ahead and I can't bring myself to hurl them genteely back into nature. I just can't. Full stop. Anyway, I have since found out that toads apparently eat slugs and snails, so now I'm thinking maybe that's not a bad thing.
In addition, if you would like to read about how toads can sense impending natural disasters such as the earthquake in L'Aquila in 2009, please click on the link from Italy Magazine called "Some croaking seismologists".

Fluffy KittensThe 4 kittens are growing and are in a very playful stage. I love watching them gambol around and they are absolutely adorable. Samantha who is still a kitten herself, is a wonderful mother and I enjoy watching how she teaches her little ones to copy her. They don't mind being picked up and are already very sociable kittens, with very definite characters.

Feeding time

So, as you can see, my life is surrounded by many diverse animals here in the beautiful Abruzzo countryside. I am learning from them on a daily basis.

The "Abruzzo Diary of a Country Lady - Part 2" might be imminent soon. I just feel that EFL is only one part of my life. I would like to write more often about the other totally different side of my life here in Abruzzo. This is the only place for it on my blog.

Poppy field near home, photo taken on May 30th 2011

Chikita the Movie Star
Chikita proudly showing off the fact that she's just laid an egg!

And Then There Were Three

IT happened last night. The Wordle above shows the story of the grizzly events. The protagonists are 3 dogs and 1 chicken.

Below is the main culprit.

Here is the accomplice

Is this the only dog that really knows what happened afterwards??

Sadly this chicken is no longer with us.....

I blame myself for being so naive. I read the Absolute Beginners' Guide to Keeping Chickens and noted this particular question. Will my dog hurt chickens?
Anyway, I picked up some of the many feathers scattered around the garden and I hope to use them all when I create my homemade cards.

I honestly thought that all the animals were coexisting harmoniously, but I was wrong. So, now I will wait for K to begin the animal behaviourist training which is obviously necessary, if the other three chickens are to have much hope of lasting longer than the one above. Thank goodness he is back tomorrow.

Thank you PLN
I have been alone in the valley for a whole week. This is another first for me. Only myself for company. Not a soul has been here apart from the postman once, briefly for one second. Very late last night a crowd of hunters were out with their huge searchlights wandering across the fields below. They were looking for the wild boar which roam freely in this area.
I haven't felt lonely because I have had my PLN around me virtually. It's kept me busy and I appreciate the contact I have had with everybody via my computer. Thank you very much for your great company.

I will be offline as of next week. I hope to rejoin you after that. Please feel free to continue my Digital Story, if you wish.

Olive Oil Cultivation 2009

Our olives have been pressed at the local olive mill and we have been to collect the olive oil today. The label said "L'inglesi" 22kilos. This relates to 24 litres of pure extra virgin 100% olive oil. We are very proud olive oil cultivators. This is our third harvest. First year: 4 litres, 2nd year:18.5 litres, 3rd year 24 litres. The trend is going upwards so I suppose this is very good news. Mother nature has played a great part in cultivating the olive trees as opposed to any natural expertise on our part. The lady at the mill said the olives were "heavy" this year, due to the huge amount of rainfall we have had in Abruzzo recently. The local word is that it's not been a good year generally throughout the region. As of this afternoon, our barrel is full and we are looking forward to savouring the contents in the many months to come.


We spent 2 and a half days in lovely, warm sunshine, picking the 50 out of 60 olive trees. 10 trees are still very young and so did not produce anything. Maybe next year.

A difference in Colour


This is a photo taken today of the freshly pressed olive oil on the left and last year's olive oil on the right. The difference is in the colour and texture. The fresh olive oil is much darker, cloudy and stronger smelling. It's a fabulous smell. The older version smells much sweeter and is very light in colour and of course, just as delicious.

These 2 small glasses of our oil on a balmy late afternoon represented the past and the present. Here was our vintage 2008 alongside our new -born 2009. It was indeed a moment to savour. We can only wonder how the 100% extra virgin olive oil is going to mature over the following months.

Transhumanza time again!


Our dirt track road was full of sheep making their way slowly across the fields going to lower pastures for the winter. This is known as Transhumanza. We met the very same sheep about 5 kilometres away on our way home from errands. There were 4 Isabella look-a-likes protecting the sheep. These Maremma Pastore Abruzzesi dogs are renowned for fiercely protecting their flock of sheep from wolves and other predators. They are usually a white colour and very tall.

Isabella
Below is a picture of our very own Pastore Abruzzese.


Joe
An English "gentleman cat" in Abruzzo having the time of his life on the balcony today.

Hyla Intermedia
This is a frog I spotted on one of the olive trees I was picking yesterday. It is called an Italian Tree Frog. I was shocked to see a frog on a tree! I thought that only happened in Latin America. I had no idea that there were tree-climbing frogs in Europe. I have learned something new! It was very small and the colour was an exceptionally vibrant green. This first shot was taken by K at the height of the day. I love the symetry as the frog has tucked its leg in to minimise its profile.

This picture was taken at dusk as the frog was preparing for its night-time soiree and so you can see its legs unfolded. I love its big sticky toes used to stick onto the tree trunk! It reminds me of some alien from a 1950s sci-fi film!!

In The Land of Wolves

Living within the Abruzzo National Park, it does not take us long to get to the Wolf Centre in Popoli. This is where we headed at the weekend with some friends. It was my second visit and I enjoyed the walk and guided tour immensly. Read about "Canis Lupus Italicus" from my first visit last year.


Abruzzo Earthquake- a Brave Survivor
Our charming and very knowledgeable guide came from Aquila, the city devastated by the earthquake on April 6th this year. I asked her about how it had affected her life. She was lucky to have survived the impact of the earthquake despite the full force of a big wardrobe falling on top of her in the middle of the terrible tremors. She was too busy helping other members of her family who were injured to care much about what she was suffering that fateful night.


During our walk up the path into the woods where the wolves were waiting for us, she spoke quietly and with great dignity about the horrors of that night. Her house was destroyed and her life has changed irrevocably as a result. She told me that coming in to work at the Wolf Centre was a blessed relief from the chaos and sadness that pervades her city. I admired her stoical approach to life. She has seen so much suffering and yet life carries on as it has to.

Canis Lupus Italicus

One of the most interesting places I have been to is the Wolf Conservation Centre in the National Park of Abruzzo. There I saw many wolves roaming around in their natural habitat within a huge conservation area in the mountains. The Centre is run by "Il Bosso" Cooperative group and volunteers lead visitors on a three-hour guided tour around the parts where the wolves can be seen going about their daily business. Walking boots are strongly recommended! The guides are very enthusiastic and care deeply about the welfare of the wolves which are in danger of dying out. The guided tour is preceded by a very informative talk and multimedia exhibition of different types of wolves and the various cries they make. Not many visitors to Abruzzo know about this fantastic place. I say it's definitely worth a visit!

This is the entrance to the Wolf Centre.