christmas at calcarole

It's just after 2.30pm on Boxing day and I have started to write this post outside on the roof terrace of the house in the country , as it's much warmer up here than it is in the house.( and I am saving money by using sunlight instead of gas to keep warm.)
It was foggy this morning when I woke up and after my usual breakfast of  mixed omelette ( still can't chew after the accident.) we set off for Pisticci through the foggy valley.
We had things to do - such as see if we could find someone to fix the gas heater which had refused to  work at all on Christmas morning. Not the best way to start Christmas when I was already feeling a little homesick.
However the friendly gas man not only arranged for a friend of his to come and look at our heater but also gave us a portable one as well.
So while we waited in a cafe to meet the repair man, drinking coffee paid for by the friendly gas man someone asked about getting either one or two portraits done. I have  arranged to return on Friday to get photos. (Back in the country later I had another inquiry about a portrait - so it looks like I need to get back to work.)
On leaving Pisticci I took a photo of the fog which had partly lifted and left what looked like an ocean of mist in front of the mountains.
And now I am sitting outside, having been reading a book about Basilicata by Ann Cornelisen (Torregreca) . Its fascinating and horrific to think that in the late 50s some of the older people I know might have been living in circumstances such as she describes.
It was my gift to myself . I am enjoying learning more about this area and reading it was part of my plan for things to do on the 25th. No heating was not part of the plan.
On Christmas day (as planned) we went to Pisticci and walked up and down the corsa and greeted people and also because it was such a nice day , sat outside and had coffee and a soft cake. (So I could eat it.) Then on returning to the house I lit the pizza oven to cook a not traditional lunch. I have only used the oven twice before so I was a little nervous, but apart from baked potatoes in tin foil which we ate in the evening, the roasted vegetables and chicken and sausages cooked perfectly. We had toasted marshmallows for a sweet - yumm!
By then it was after 3pm and we turned on the portable gas heater we had borrowed and settled down to watch "Miss Potter". It was lovely. By accident I found a Michael Buble Christmas concert on TV and it seemed like a good idea to watch it too.
So there we were eating chocolates - only if broken into small pieces in my case - when the borrowed heater  turned itself off and refused to light again.
What is it with us and heaters?
Anyways I am just so enjoying sitting here in the sunshine. I can hear someone working with a chainsaw somewhere over to the right and there is someone else trying to start a  scooter. And there are dogs barking - then there are always dogs barking. Its peaceful despite that.

The sun is beginning to go down and the shadows are starting to form between the trees and soon it will get cold and I will need to go in , but I want to remember this feeling - sitting reading , writing and dreaming. And keep moments like this in my mind forever.

sunny morning in calcarole

Thought I would post these photos as it is such a lovely morning. They were all taken at the country house.

flying through the air........

Have had another adventure - of a painful nature- when  a dog attacked my scooter, causing me to fly off over the handles and land on my face. I was wearing my helmet , as always, but  as I sat up my nose bled like 2 fountains. If I hadn't been worried about having ruined whatever looks I had I would have been more fascinated by the way my nose could bleed. My foot was stuck under the scooter but I managed to yank it out - all the while saying to myself - I cant find a hanky, where is my hanky. I staggered to my feet while the blood sprayed out my nostrils and manged to get my scooter upright and push it into the side and park it. There was no one around so I got out my phone and trying to avoid the blood managed to phone my partner and mumble enough to make him get in the car and come down to find me. He didnt really understand my mumblings and was apparently horrified when he arrived and I stood covered in blood and looking a bit bemused. (I have never been someone who panicked - so far at least- which is not neccessarily a good thing!)
So after deciding to use my scarf as a hanky  we set off in the car for the hospital - only to realise part way along the road that I had left my handbag in the scooter box - at which point I did consider panicking as all my stuff including nasal spray and passport were in it. So we went back for it. By this time my nose was only bleeding copiously. What a relief!
It only took about 15 minutes to reach the hospital at Tinchi. (The same place I went to when I got stung on the throat.)
I staggered into the waiting room and not surprisingly was seen straight away. It was such a relief to arrive and the staff there are not only professional but so kind and friendly and soon had me on a bed and checked me over. It looked like I was more or less in one piece and had probably not broken my nose and my teeth appeared to still be stuck in. I had a big scrape on one knee and various bruises and  small cuts but basically my bleeding nose - which didn't stop bleeding for over 7 hours - was really the worst thing.
I was at the hospital for about an hour and was given some sort of drug through a drip and then left gratefully to go back to the country house. Where I have been ever since.
When I left the hospital , apart from the bleeding nose I looked relatively normal but by the next morning I looked like a piebald chipmunk. I ached a bit but actually having a practically blocked nose bothered me much more. And I think the drugs also made me feel a little queasy.
And my er good looks only got worse over the next few days. I turned black and blue and red and green and yellow all over my face. (I was so lucky that only my lip was cut and I had no scrapes on my face.)
So is now a week since all this happened and I am getting better every day. I still cant eat normally and I have not taken my face out anywhere incase it scares little children.
Am  assuming that in another week I should be more or less back to normal. I have been and started my scooter, cleaned off the blood and am arranging for it to get checked over in the next few days.

I have sort of enjoyed  relaxing (once my nose got unblocked) and actually started a little painting of a big vase of flowers today.
And I have no idea what happened to the dog.