Archive | Sicily

almond blossoms in our valley

February 21, 2012 at 3:48 pm

I am feeling slightly overwhelmed right now after downloading about 600 pictures onto our computer. We took a weekend trip and have come back with more photos than I know what to do with! Eventually these will be turned into some fun blog posts, but can anyone else relate to the feeling of way too much data to sort through at times?

In the interim, here are a few photos of a beautiful evening hike in our valley last weekend. The almond buds are turning into pinkish blossoms here and the air has a touch of spring in it.

This photo made me laugh because what on earth do I have on my feet?! Then I realized it was my hiking boots. They look like enormous platform shoes!

Ahh the almond blossoms…

Elliott took a photo of me taking photos. Despite about 10 minutes of dedicated labor, I only came away with a couple of good shots. Maybe that’s how photography goes? Hopefully not one day…

We kept hiking and then rounded a hill. And there in front of us was an entire flock of sheep! We haven’t been quite so close to them before, although frequently we have to wait for them to cross the road or see them grazing in the valley from our balcony.

We sat down nearby to admire them and take some photos. Lena, meanwhile, struggled to get free and then crawled off to begin examining blades of grass and tall weeds.

I took this video of Lena enjoying the grass as the sheep grazed. There’s a view of our house from the valley, too.

3 :: in Italy, Lena, pretty places, Sicily, video

almond blossoms in our valley

February 21, 2012 at 2:48 pm

In the interim, here are a few photos of a beautiful evening hike in our valley last weekend. The almond buds are turning into pinkish blossoms here and the air has a touch of spring in it.

This photo made me laugh because what on earth do I have on my feet?! Then I realized it was my hiking boots. They look like enormous platform shoes!

Ahh the almond blossoms…

Elliott took a photo of me taking photos. Despite about 10 minutes of dedicated labor, I only came away with a couple of good shots. Maybe that’s how photography goes? Hopefully not one day…

We sat down nearby to admire them and take some photos. Lena, meanwhile, struggled to get free and then crawled off to begin examining blades of grass and tall weeds.

I took this video of Lena enjoying the grass as the sheep grazed. There’s a view of our house from the valley, too.

3 :: in Italy, Lena, pretty places, Sicily, video

a trip to the farm!

February 14, 2012 at 4:22 pm

On Saturday Elliott, Lena, and I were invited to a kid’s birthday party. This particular party took place on a farm which, according to our friends, is overrun with wonderful animals.

They were not mistaken! The woman who owns the farm has about 10 pigs (9 of which are piglets), about 8 dogs, a calf, and a goat. We stepped out of our car and spotted piglets running around… and Elliott and I were in heaven.

This piglet is the family favorite and gets more free rein than the others on the farm. But we spotted the rest of the crew with their mama, easy to find with your nose or your eyes!

One of the German shepherds had herded this little guy into the orange groves. I tried to coax him out, but nothing doing. He was content to just stand here, tipped forward on the hill, batting his eyes at me.

Later, after roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire pit, we found the calf back in the barn. He was snuggling in the hay with his friends Goat and Piglet.

What a place! This renewed the desire in our hearts to one day have a farm with our own animals (as well as our children) running to and fro. We both agreed that we wanted fewer dogs and pigs and we’d probably like to add a pony, a cat, and a dozen or so chickens…

5 :: in family, Italy, Sicily, weekend

a trip to the farm!

February 14, 2012 at 3:22 pm

On Saturday Elliott, Lena, and I were invited to a kid’s birthday party. This particular party took place on a farm which, according to our friends, is overrun with wonderful animals.

This piglet is the family favorite and gets more free rein than the others on the farm. But we spotted the rest of the crew with their mama, easy to find with your nose or your eyes!

Later, after roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire pit, we found the calf back in the barn. He was snuggling in the hay with his friends Goat and Piglet.

5 :: in family, Italy, Sicily, weekend

a hike in the hills

January 21, 2012 at 12:20 pm

We live in a house that overlooks a magnificent valley here in Sicily. Ever since we’ve moved in, Elliott’s been itching to explore the whole valley, not just a little traipse here and there. Finally he had a four-day weekend and so last Saturday we packed our bags and set out for the day.

Our goal was the highest rise on the other side of the valley, which is about eye-level from our balcony and goal we’ve been studying since we moved in. For a refresher, here’s an older photo of that highest point:

We hiked down into the valley, past the farm in the foreground of the photo, jumped the stream in the middle of the valley, and started up the steep hillside on the opposite bank. At last we achieved our goal! We stood triumphant overlooking our lovely Italian countryside. We could see the Mediterranean, the whole Plain of Catania, and the queen Mt Etna presiding over this little piece of the world.

We headed down the ridgeline until we found a quiet spot for a picnic.

“I’d like the whole biscuit, please, Mama.”

A pause for a diaper change…

We continued through sunlit olive groves. All the olives were picked for the season, but they’re disgustingly inedible right off the trees anyway. Much brining is required before they become the savory snack we get from our neighbors.

Prickly pears are in season. Haven’t figured out how to eat them yet.

We also found a dormant vineyard, tied up neatly for the winter season. Little raisins hung in clusters from a few of the branches. I can’t wait to see the vineyard again when the vines are heavy with grapes. Perhaps we could even find a bottle of wine made from the grapes grown here!

Elliott (and Lena) spotted some local birds. His eyes are amazing. He’ll suddenly stop and stare at something that I can’t see, swing his binoculars around and study it a little more, and then announce, “Hmm, I think that’s a…,” and then check his book to be sure. He’s almost always right. How does he know these things??

At our farthest point from our town (visible in the background of this photo) we were in the middle of orange groves. Most of the blood oranges had been picked for the season but we found some discards on the ground. They were so sweet and rich with their shockingly red flesh. (No photos of them, though, because our hands were too sticky!)

There were still plenty of mandarins, though, and we found a few of those on the ground to taste as well. They were so refreshing and sweet.

And finally we hiked home, weary and triumphant. We have explored our whole valley now, from its quiet groves to its delicious fruits. How many more hikes in how many more seasons await us in these next few years!