A Shot in the Arm

Three of us finally have had our first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, and we couldn't be happier. Here's how it came about: 

There is a site for the regional health system where we could sign up to get our appointments. Access to signing up was restricted based on age for a long time (Umbria has a huge number of elderly people, and they were focused on immunizing the 80+ group), but finally Jeremy and James were able to request an appointment. At this point, neither Michael or I had received our appointments but were in theory waiting to hear back on our dates.

However. As one would expect, there was another way. One of our friends called to say that the neighboring region, Lazio, was offering an "Open Day" (in English) to provide the Astrazeneca vaccine to all comers. We excitedly and hurriedly signed up, because the appointments were for last Saturday and Sunday. Since we had plans for all of Saturday, we elected for Sunday. We heard that the follow-up appointments would also have to be done in Lazio, and that our friends' dates for the second Since that sounded way better than waiting for late August, we decided that Michael and I would go for our local health service rather than using the Open Day.

The Lazio set-up was a very temporary-type location essentially set up in an old strip mall. The important thing, though, is that vaccines were being given. Unfortunately, James was not able to get his there due to an allergy to crab. They wanted to have his administered in a hospital setting just in case there was a problem, so they recommended that he call our family doctor to start that process.

Curiously enough, Michael and I had appointments in different towns altogether. Michael's was down in Ponte Rio (just down the hill) and mine was all the way in Marsciano, a town about 20 minutes away. As it happened, we both got appointment times that were perfect for us.

The Marsciano location is housed in the permanent structures associated with a local park. These were two concrete-block buildings. Along with our appointment, we were sent links to documents to fill out prior to arrival; this greatly reduced the amount of time we had to spend at the facility. I arrived 10 minutes before my appointment time, and made it through the intake (three separate processes, including bureaucratic and medical) well in time to have my shot at the original appointment time. They asked that I stay for 30 minutes after the injection since I have an allergy to penicillin instead of the usual 15. I was out of the facility within 45 minutes of having arrived.

We just can't wait to get out and see people again! We've been so diligent about staying in so as to protect our fellow citizens and ourselves, but the weather is so lovely and the piazza calls.

Love,

Alexandra

Gardening day!

I can't believe how time has flown during this time. We're still in a family-driven lockdown, since Italy has been slow to receive vaccines from the manufacturers. The good news is, though, that Michael and I have signed up to get notification of appointments, so that's a step in the right direction. With any luck, we'll at least have an appointment scheduled sometime in the near future.

In the meantime, we're just contented to have lovely surroundings, good food, and enjoyable company. It's a good thing that we (mostly) like each other! 

This morning, Michael went out for the first time in months to go down to the weekly market. James accompanied him, and they chose flowers for us to enjoy in this new season, since the pansies were really looking tired.

Our home improvement activity for the weekend, therefore, was doing some planting. Here are the results:

Our upper terrace, just off the bedroom

Kitchen balcony

Kitchen balcony

Everything still looks very young and needs to fill out a bit, with the exception of the asparagus fern. That was removed from a larger pot that I wanted from the upper terrace, and it required that I really whack at the roots. Not sure it'll make it, but I wasn't emotionally attached to it other than the fact that it's one of the few plants I've kept alive for about four years now.

Love,

Alexandra

Saturday Lunch

We have taken to a traditional Umbrian meal like ducks to water: open grilling in the fireplace. This has been our Saturday meal for the last few months, and something to which we all look forward.

  

 

First step is to start the fire. 

Slice some bread,

then put in the grill. 

 Prepare the garlic, freshly-pressed olive oil, and salt.

Prepare peppers!

When the coals are ready, shovel them aside

and put the bread on to roast.

When the bread has been toasted, everyone gets DIY bruschetta...scrubbing the rough surface with the fresh garlic, then oil, then salt.

Simultaneously, it's time to start the peppers on the now-cooler coals and let them roast slowly, allowing them to cook through before roasting the skins.

Next course, meat! Pork is traditional, but of course anything is acceptable. 

Today, we did "puntarelle" (rib cuts in small chunks) and sausages.

Mmmmm. Can't wait until next Saturday!

Love,

Alexandra

Today, our much-anticipated shelves arrived! During construction, we discovered the former fireplace in the master bedroom; we promptly re-opened it in order to form a niche. Our choices were to install shelving in the niche or find a chest of drawers or other furniture to put in it, but the best choice was shelving for a variety of reasons.

Time to get Maurizio and Roberto on the job! Maurizio was in charge of sourcing and cutting the wood, and Roberto was our choice for the carving and finishing. We are so very happy with what they did. I asked Roberto to find a way to incorporate the design from my armoire that dates to the 1700s, and boy, did he ever do a great job!

I can't wait to put some of my special things on it! 

Love,

Alexandra

The armoire

Detail of the door carving

Shelf detail

Shelves installed and ready!

Addio, Cesare

 Another beloved personage here in Todi has left us. Cesare Toppetti, our well-loved violin and cello maker, died this past December. Always ready with a smile or encouraging word, he was happy to show us his works in progress and his lovely masterpieces. If you were lucky, you'd hear him singing as you arrived at his workshop.

He will be greatly missed by everyone in the town, along with many artists all over the world. He was commissioned to make instruments that were used at La Scala, the Met, and other famous performance venues.

Sadly,

Alexandra

Pandemic Ennui

Like probably all of our readers, I'm clearly suffering from pandemic haze, where one day just leads into the next without my having accomplished much of what I thought I "should" get done. The blog clearly reflects it. After all, we've had Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and even Groundhog Day without a peep from me on this forum. I can't wrap my head around doing a retrospective post even for those highlights, so I'll give my general impressions of what's been going on.

We have elected to maintain a family lockdown throughout this period. This seems the most prudent to us, not only to protect our health, but also to protect that of our neighbors and fellow townspeople. What does this look like? It means no going out for pleasure (or even exercise, more about that later) or any reason other than legal (we had a condo meeting, for example), health (medical appointments), or the weekly food pickup (Jeremy only). It is so very fortunate that we were already well ensconced in the house and all the work had finished (ha! More about that, too) before this hit, since it means that we all have our special, comfortable spaces to be. Had we been in our old place, this would have been much more difficult.

For Thanksgiving, we roasted a turkey leg (it was huge!), and did the traditional dishes, including stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (I had canned some a previous year thanks to a US excursion during cranberry season; cranberries aren't available here), and pumpkin pie. The four of us put a pretty tablecloth on the table, pulled out the silver and crystal, and celebrated our health and that of our loved ones. And then we enjoyed our feast for a few days (yay, leftovers!).

Christmas we actually celebrated on St Stephen's, aka Boxing Day, because Jeremy had gone to Turin for a required test and only arrived home on the 12th of December. Since we wanted the two-week quarantine, it meant a delayed meal. That worked out fine, and we ended up doing the Thanksgiving menu again because it was so popular the first time! Zoom was an important part of our celebrations, and we managed to have a lot of good cheer despite only having four of us physically at home. We certainly missed the girls, though!

In December, seven of us started a Dungeons and Dragons adventure. For those not familiar with the game, it's more of a choose-your-own-adventure experience, where you take roles and make decisions about how to complete quests and navigate a fantasy world. Michael bought a beginner's kit, with a prepackaged adventure, when we first started quarantine. Jeremy and I loved it, and since that time, we've been on a huge variety of adventures! For a larger family experience, we got Eleanor and Matthew and Florence hooked up by Zoom (Ashley had other plans!), and have been playing every weekend. It's been a really good way to clap eyes on each other.

New Year's was actually lovely. We stood on the balcony of Michael's office, each with a glass of bubbly, and enjoyed the fireworks all around the valley. I'm not sure who was setting them off, since at that point community gatherings were banned, but we were delighted to see probably 40 displays in a 180-degree view. 

And now we're in February. The schools were re-opened for attendance in person at the end of January, but James is electing to continue distance learning while we keep an eye on the situation. Sure enough, they are already considering closing the schools back up.

We now have a home gym! That's a really snazzy way of saying "there's an exercise bike cluttering up the bedroom." While it admittedly takes up floor space, we have it parked right by the doors to the terrace. This gives us the most beautiful view of the valley, which certainly adds to the charm of the stationary bike experience. Since we weren't able to get out to walk or run, it seemed like a good idea to add this to the family's possessions. So far, it's working quite well, in that it's being used for the intended purpose rather than for hanging clothes on. It arrived I think at the beginning of January, and was quite a lug up the stairs (thank you, James and Michael!).

Remember the repointing work we had done on the exterior walls, where the mortar holding the stones together had to be redone because it had crumbled away? Well, the law of unintended consequences is having the last laugh. Our house is made of a variety of stones, including tufa. Tufa is a very, very porous rock which, curiously enough, is soft when in the ground but hardens with exposure to air. You saw the word "porous," right? So, when the wind drives the rain against the walls (as it has for most of the winter), water is forced into all the cracks and holes in the tufa. Prior to the work we did, we presume that the water just drained out through the nonexistent/sandy and friable mortar that was there previously. Now that we have mortar that will hold the stones together during an earthquake, the water has had difficulty draining, and is now forcing its way through the walls. That's right, we have wet walls and peeling paint in our bedroom and hallway. Just when we thought construction was over! The only solution is to wait until spring and the complete drying out of the walls, then we have to spray the exterior surfaces with a water-repellent coating. This will last for 2-3 years in this particular location (we have dramatic winds on this corner of the house) before needing to be redone. The good news? This work does not require scaffolding. In the meantime, we're living with a wall that appears to have dandruff and sheds copious amounts, and two dehumidifiers running fulltime in our bedroom. 

There you have it! The general update on how we are and what we are up to. Oh, and during this time I've knitted 4 sweaters and 4 privacy curtains, re-covered a footstool, and made a pair of wool slacks for Jeremy. The time hasn't been completely wasted, but I certainly feel uninspired at times.

Love,

Alexandra

The bunnies thought the tree was a treat!

View from the home gym

Lace curtains for the bathroom window

It's a New Season!

I can't believe it's been two months since the last post. Given that we've been in family lockdown, you would think I would have had more time to post. The fact is, I've been as busy as ever and just haven't made the time. Plus, in many ways, there's not much to report.

However, it's been on my mind to note the changing of the seasons. Up until now, the weather has been quite mild and the thermal mass of the walls has kept us comfortable. However, after a few weeks of highs in the 40s and low 50s, it's starting to be time to take some chill out of the air. All this to say that we turned on the radiators yesterday. 

Since we are constantly indoors, the biggest change that we see is in our food. Produce is very, very seasonal and provides a great source of variation. Here are some of the things that are happening:

1. Grapes. We are seeing the last of the harvest, but there are lots of varieties available. One of our favorites is ironically a hybrid with a New World grape that emerged quite some time ago: it is called "uva fragola" (strawberry grape), and has a flavor quite similar to a Concord grape (or muscadine, even). It is quite small (large blueberry-sized), purple, and has the tartness right under the quite-tough skin. Delicious! Other types are pointed, globular, large, small, and differently colored. We mostly get green grapes, though some are light yellow, and purple is also not uncommon. Red isn't generally available, but there is one variety that we see from time to time.

2. Chestnuts. I have fallen in love with roasted chestnuts, for indiscernible reasons. They are pasty, chewy, and were initially abhorrent to me. However, it's been a good five years that I am thrilled to see them available, and I inevitably get some. There aren't a lot of fans in the household, though, so I don't have them often, sadly.

3. Oil! The olives are being pressed now. On the rare occasions that I have had to go in the car the last few weeks, I have found myself behind tractors pulling trailers full of olives to the local presses. Here, olive oil is bought once a year from someone you know. The "olio nuovo" is justly celebrated: opaque, bile green, and astringent, it is amazing on toasted bread (bruschetta, pronounced "brew-SKET-ta") with a rubbing of fresh garlic and salt. Yes, you just pour it on with joyous abandon and fill every pore. That said, the bread here is dense and doesn't have a lot of pores to fill. We have purchased 4 tins of 5 liters each, about quarter of what people here typically buy on a per-person basis, from what I've gathered. As the year progresses, the oil clarifies (you have sludge on the bottom of the tin) and yellows. The flavor mellows and it becomes much less pungent and flavorful.

4. Wine. The new wine (red) is also out. It always has a softer flavor than the older wines, because it is not as fermented. It is traditionally consumed with chestnuts at any kind of gathering, festival, whatever. There's definitely a reason for it, since the pairing is delicious.

5. Mostaccioli. These are little cookie-things that are made almost like pretzels in that they are boiled before baking. They are made with the wine must (the mush that is left after pressing), raisins, flour, maybe a bit of sugar? some aniseed, and that's about it. The shape is made by rolling a little rope into a circle and then pinching it at the intersection of the rope ends (almost like a wreath with a diameter of 1 1/2"). They are crispy and crunchy and oh-so-delicious. I've never made them, but I can get them at Pianegiani in this season.

6. Citrus. The clementines, lemons, and oranges are coming in. The blood oranges will arrive around February, though. Limes have only been available to us in the past 3 years or so.

7. Pumpkin. The season for hard squashes is here. We get all kinds of squash called by the same name ("zucca"), which translates to pumpkin. However, this would include what in the US is called butternut squash, another squash that is similar to a butternut but larger and has a variegated green/yellow skin, a large, tan-skinned pumpkin, a more American-look orange pumpkin, and more. You can buy them whole or cut to the size you need. Pumpkin is used in soups, with pasta (combined with pancetta and a sharp cheese, it's quite amazing), as a spread on bruschetta, and so on. Pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread is not a thing here. I may have to make some for our friends to try at Christmas!

8. Apples. Apples are back in season! And pears. Michael loves the pear and chocolate cake which is a fairly common dessert for menus here.

9. Mushrooms. Everyone around here is going mushroom-hunting at this time of year. I would unquestionably gather toadstools, so I'm not part of the general effort. However, the extension service here offers workshops every year in mid-November and will inspect the mushrooms you pick to make sure they're okay to eat. I'm really excited about doing it, but have yet to have my availability and the workshop's align. In the shops and markets you can find all sorts of yummy mushrooms, though, so I don't feel too deprived.

10. Greens. Chicory and "brocoletti" (aka rape) are back in season. These are delicious boiled, then stir-fried with olive oil, garlic, salt, and hot pepper. 

11. Truffles. The trick to get flavor from fresh truffles is to grate them into olive oil. Apparently, the oil blends with the flavoring substances of the truffle in a way that allows the flavor to emerge. I'm just now feeling brave enough to buy and use fresh truffles. 

Things we're seeing less of:

1. Eggs. I have tried to reduce my support of egg batteries. The laws are a little more stringent here than in the US with respect to beak trimming, space per hen, fresh air, and so on. Even so, I feel sorry for the animals and have taken to buying eggs from locals who have their own chickens which run free and eat bugs and lead good chicken lives. Interestingly, though, as the weather gets cooler, they are much less productive. Therefore, our egg consumption will probably be reduced somewhat.

2. Melons. These are a summer fruit, and are no longer to be found.

3. Hmmm. I don't know. I'm sure there are other things, but it's easier to notice a new presence than to mark an absence. I'll just have to highlight the new produce when it comes around again!

Buon appetito,

Alexandra