Harvest 2013

The harvest this year has been what I would call "miserable". Last year we had an abundance of plums, figs, pears and olives. I made 30 kgs of plum jam and also some fig jam (in addition to eating as much fresh figs as we could possibly stomache for about 3 months). I made canned pears and the olive trees gave us 1600 kgs of olives that we made into 220 llitres of olive oil.

I was of course hoping for the same numbers this year, but no... Mother Nature does as she pleases... So I ended up with 5 kgs of plum jam and I have eaten 2 (?!) pears. The figs did as well as last year - if not even better - so I have 30 kgs of fig jam in the freezer at the moment. Figs & apples, figs & walnuts, figs & cinnamon and figs,apples, walnuts & cinnamon. Yummie! And this will keep me going until next year, I think.

But the really big disappointment this year is that we're not getting any olive oil. Not even one litre of oil. We have 85 olive trees - and this is what they've produced this year......

Not nearly enough to make any oil. From 100 kgs you'll get 12-20 litres of oil and what we have here would probably give us 7-8 litres... But in addition to it being really embarrassing showing up at the mill with two small bags of olives they wont even consider pressing it before you have at least 200-300 kgs.

So, change of plans. I'm now going to brine the olives. So yesterday I picked out the best olives which I've put in a small container with water to cover them. Today I'm buying salt to make the brine were they will sit for 40 days. Then rinse well and put in new brine for another 10 days. And finally I can put them in a glass jar and fill up with brine and olive oil. And then we can eat as much olives as we want for the next year to come. I think I will try putting different flavouring to the olives - such as orange (peel), garlic, rosmary, oregano and chili. I'm really looking forward to trying the end result!

The reason why this year turned out like this is partly because we have been pruning the olive trees earlier this year. And some we can blame on the weather, I think. We've had lots and lots of rain this year so it's not just our harvest that turned out this way. And finally we have the "mosca" which is the tiny larva of a fly that eats into the flesh of the olive and destroys it. Before I didn't understand why people where hanging plastic bottles with some sticky liquid in it in their olive trees. Now I know. It's to attract the mosca to the bottle instead of the olives! I know what I have to do next year....

But anyway, now I just have to sit back and wait for the New Year when I can finally taste my brined olives. Can't wait!

Weather report from Italy

The cold weather in Europe has reached Italy. And with the cold comes the snow. Compared to Norway it's not that much snow, but enough to force Italy on its knees.

The whole society closes down when it starts snowing. It's completely caotic on the roads because the cars don't have winter tyres like we use in Norway.

Close to the town where I live there are lots of small, picturesque towns - you know the ones that are clinging onto the hilltops? They are all isolated from the rest of the world at this moment. No one can get out and no one can get in. My mother-in-law has a neighbour whose daughter was going to get married today in one of the small, beautiful churches in one of the hilltop villages and the party afterwards was to take place in a restaurant in another hilltop village. Well, it didn't happen. Even though everybody tried their best; the priest even offered to marry them in the restaurant and the father of the bride tried to get hold of a bus with winter tyres that could drive all the guests to the restaurant, but it didn't help. The Civil Forces don't let anyone in to the village. So the poor bride and groom has to wait until next Saturday, hoping that the snow will go away...

There are 120 000 people without electricity at the moment. Many telephone lines are also "dead"; I haven't been able to call anyone in the last two days. There are lots of tv-channels not working. Luckily I still have access to the internet even though it's very slow at the moment. I've spent the last hour writing these few lines and I guess it will take one more hour before I'm done with this post...

Schools and offices are closed. Lots of shops, farmacies and supermarkets are also closed. Those that are open are out of dairy products, fruit and vegetables and it's been really hard getting hold of a piece of bread today. The shops that did open this morning closed around luchtime and the town looks more or less like a ghost town at the moment.

The government tells people to stay indoors unless they have something really important to tend to. Trains and buses don't run. Yesterday lots of buses in and around Rome just opened the doors and told people onboard to get where they had to on their own. Which for many people where miles away from where they were at the moment... And in high heeles or sneakers it's not easy to walk on foot in the snow so I guess they weren't too happy...

At the moment I'm doing what the government has told us to. I'm staying indoors - even enjoying a cup of steaming hot cappuccino - hoping that the weather gets better by tomorrow. If not, well, then I just have to pour me another cup of coffee and turn up the heating....

Have a nice weekend wherever you are!

At last - September is here!!

Finally autumn!!

Earlier this year I promised family and friends that the 1st of September I would dance on the table out of pure happiness because autumn is here. Well, it's not really autumn yet and the next week the really hot weather will return because of some winds coming from Africa.  BUT - September is here and with it comes the promise of cooler, more "people friendly" weather. The really "aggressive" heat that we've had to put up with lately have now turned into just nice, hot weather. This morning I woke up to 22 nice degrees. It made me think of Norway where there's often a "crispy edge" to the (little) warm weather we get.... And I realized that I miss this kind of weather.

But, waking up to this kind of weather means that normal life is returning. And I'm so happy! Because in the summer I don't feel like I'm living - I'm just excisting. My body somehow goes into "hibernating" because of the heat. And I guess it's the same for almost everybody living in a hot climate. You also need to plan carefully what to do and when to do things during the day. Things that you don't need to do right away will surely be postponed to some other day - or even month... I always do whatever I have to do early in the morning or very late in the evening - so very often you will see me cleaning the house at 1 A.M in the morning.

Now I'm just happy that I'm no longer "forced" to have a siesta. I say "forced" because I wish I could do without it, but when the temperature reaches 40 degrees you don't have much choice. I always fall asleep after lunch - wanting it or not.... Which means I don't get to sleep in the evening - and so you find me cleaning the house in the middle of the night....

At the moment I'm dreaming of

roasting chestnuts by the fire

(Adesso non vedo l'ora di poter mangiare le castagne)

going for long walks with my dog that really doesn't like the heat (here it looks like she's blaming me for the hot weather)

(Voglio ritornare a fare lunge passeggiate con il mio cane perchè in estate lei non vuole uscire per niente.)

nice crispy weather so that I can really enjoy a cappuccino in a bar....
(Amo andare in un bar a godermi un bel cappuccino quando fa freddo fuori. Spero che posso farlo al più presto....)

I know I promised to dance on the table (and my daughter wanted me to send her a video of the "session"). However, I think I will be doing some sort of "raindance" outside later tonight - when nobody is watching.....

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Finalmente è arrivato Settembre! Ed io sono così felice! Adesso si respira! 

Oggi ho la voglia di "ballare sul tavolo" - e una cosa che si dice in Norvegia quando sei tanto felice. E l'ho detto a mia famiglia e i miei amici un pò di tempo fa.... Il primo Settembre mi vedete ballare sul tavolo perchè il caldo fra un pò se ne va ed io tornerò a vivere. Soffro il caldo e durante il giorno non ho voglia di fare niente. Quindi - in estate pulisco la casa all'una di notte..... Però, oggi ho pulito la casa dopo pranzo! Che bello essere di nuovo in grado di muoversi senza morire dal caldo!

Quel ballo "sul tavolo" non posso fare siccome il mio tavolo è di vetro, ma forse faccio "la danza della pioggia" sotto casa stasera..... ;-)

Wishful thinking...

I wish this could be me.....    

And no, I don't want to be a fat, little Italian (that's resembling "Onslow" in the British serial "Keeping up appearances" ) ...., but I wish I was on a boat, just relaxing - away from the heat in the city, because at the moment it's so hot that even the butter has melted

inside the fridge!!!

On the beach

Now I'm back in Italy again and last weekend I went to the beach or - as the Italians say - al mare to "recharge" myself. I didn't have any plans other than relaxing on a sunbed under an umbrella, but then I decided to bring my camera and I ended up looking at the beach-life through the lens. What caught my interest was the huge number of "clandestini"; the illegal immigrants that walk up and down in front of you wanting to sell their (illegally imported) goods. And they can offer you everything your heart desire.... and more. Or even more true - everything you don't want or need and here are some pictures to show you what you can buy....

Here you can buy all kinds of hairbands....

Everything within the range of floating devices......

If you need a hat to protect you from the sun I'm sure you can find one here.....

This guy is selling pieces of coconuts for refreshment....

If you ever need to have your name written on a piece of "mother-of-pearl" I'm sure this man can help you.....
 

What about hats or something nice to put in your hair?

If you didn't like the hairbands that the previous guy offered you, I'm sure this one can help you...

And I'm sure that these "Gucci" sunglasses are the real thing and not fake.....(hmmm)

This one offers you everything you didn't know you needed...
 

Even more stuff you don't need or want......

Here you can buy a scarf in case you get cold; paper windmills to play with or other unuseful things. Or what about a kite to play with on the beach? (The kite didn't make it on the photo, just the line...)

If you have just realized that your beach bag from last year is totally outdatet, you can buy a new one here....

A hat for me and a hat for you, if your old one is broken buy a new.....

If you still have some money left this guy here is happy to take them - offering you in return things of unknown origin....

And if your recently bought "Gucci" sunglasses broke in two even before you could put them on, you can buy some new from this one....

The prettiest hairbands in the world you can buy here.....

 And if you need a tablecloth to have a picnic on the beach, this is the place to buy it.....


And if you have bought everything they offered you on the beach I guess you don't have any money left and then I think it's best you just pack your things and leave ....