been some time........but now it's 26c!

I have finally stopped wearing my hat in the house. I feel a little like coming out of hibernation. What a beautiful day  it is outside. I was sitting on the step reading a book for a while but had to come inside as I was too hot.
It is Saturday and I like to do more fun stuff, it is the weekend after all. And as I was out last night till 1am I am not as bright as I might have been.
I have not written much since the beginning of April as I have been waiting for exactly the right subject and then the right moment to write it. As if that is possible!!
So consider this a little box of jewels, chocolate wrappers, photos, special ornaments, old letters and so on that have made up life here in the last month.
The jewels would be the lovely people I have come into contact with recently. The friend with an art shop who never fails to encourage me by her enthusiasm and passion for art and  giving local artists a chance to shine. There are the guys who run the club who make us feel so welcome  and the lady I met in the street who always gives me a hug and tells me about events happening round Pisticci, the artist from a nearby town who took us to see his studio and then gave us a gift of a print.... I could go on and on remembering all the little moments when  someone took the time to smile or greet me or wave or ask how I was or offer to help in some way.
Chocolate wrappers  would be all the little treats, like chocolate, like a walk in the dark, meals with friends, cofffee and cakes in the cafe with the lovely red sofas,  Anna , from the bar practising her english on me, arriving in my street and relishing the view again,  seeing the puppies by the side of the road,  enjoying a bottle of wine made locally and on and on....
Special ornaments would be things like my new scooter which glides and is lovely to look at, and my new drawings, which I look at every time I pass them and can't believe I did that. Then there is Pisticci itself which looks like a fairytale village in daylight and a jewel set on a hill at night.
Old letters are like the memories I have of all the crazy, fun things that have happened here in the last 6 years which happen when driving or walking around and recognising street corners because I painted them, or houses because we were shown round them, or remembering how the house used to look before it was improved again,  or finding the electric bill that convinced me to use gas.........
And I am always taking photos but never enough to capture more than a brief glimpse of Pisticci in spring,  my new scooter (sitting -not gliding and zooming  and bouncing), a little part of the street market and so many other things.


my lovely new scooter  parked in my street




Pisticci street market




painted from walk on beach




from the car park today




spring in countryside

 But as a "photo" is worth a thousand words then  enough said.  

A cure for loneliness

Been a while since I wrote something . I have been a little unwell. Just enough to take the edge of enjoying things and not bad enough to get any sympathy.
However today I decided I must get back to normal.
So I started with strawberries and cream. At ten am. I found them in the fridge and for comfort eating I could not have done better. Oh yum!!
I did a little painting , and as I am on the last stages, everything I do now is making an improvement.
By eleven thirty I decided I had better go out and pay some bills.
I was going to go on my scooter but it was windy and like Winnie the Pooh , I like a blustery day. So I set off on foot.
Walking uphill I got some exercise , good for raising your something or other which cheers you up. I have not really learned to stroll up town like a proper Italian and will have to improve as if I do that in the heat I will no doubt expire.(which will not be very cheering.)
I reached the main street and had only just begun to walk along it. I was looking at the enormous palm leaves outside the florist, presumably for Easter, when a woman I only know by sight came rushing up to me and complimented me on my painting which is hanging in the cafe. Shucks, I felt nice.I went on my way smiling broadly.
After taking money out of the cash machine, I went to pay the bills in the tabacceria, where the guy who put them through the computer spoke to me in English. This is nice, as very few people speak english and I appreciated his efforts.
Having paid the bills, always a good feeling ,I tried to make up my mind which cafe I would go to. I had given up coffee, for the sake of my blood pressure, but decided that I was taking it up again. Then I thought , in my windblown, complimented good mood, I would just go to both cafes.
So I headed for the cafe where my painting hangs . Anna was making cafe crema for someone , which looked delicious, so I had that. I also told Anna how to say "How are you". We had a brief conversation  including lots of smiling and laughing and I set off back down the corsa.
Then I remembered that the best 70% cocoa chocolate is sold in a small supermarket, so popped in there. The man who runs it was in  the book where my paintings were used. So we have something in common.
Next I went in the farmacia. There was a bit of a queue, or a random group of people waiting , who all know excactly which order they are in. I am not good with that as people go out and in and  move forward to chat to friends.So I hung about at the back.
I forget that I am usually the tallest person around.Some of the older ladies are quite petite. I was in no hurry so had time to admire some really pretty younger women  and one older one ,who when she smiled was quite beautiful. But I was most impressed with one of the older ladies who went up to the counter and bought light blonde hair dye.I want to be like that. None of this giving up and going into a decline.
Coming out of there , after everyone had gone , except the little old lady who was having a rest on a chair, I decided to get some wine.
As I went in the supermarket door I could hear a little bell ringing. The guy behind the till was ringing it with his chin for some reason. He had stopped by the time I reached the till.


view from my door step

  Walking past the fruit market I reminded myself that I must bring the man who sells the fruit and veg, one of the prints of a painting he is in. I have also painted one of the other stall holders who gave me a wave.
Further down the street I notice the ice cream shop is open for the first time this year. That is nice.It must be the end of winter.
Then I go in the little fruit shop where my painting hangs and buy potatoes and say hello to the nice girl who runs it with her boyfriend.
By then I am not feeling at all lonely or down.
And just to round off the cure , Nella shouts to me and lowers down two lovely bits of fried chicken breast  for lunch and then twenty minutes later ,coffee.
So now I am feeling very much better.
Pity you can't get Pisticci on prescription.