April 16, 2017. Quiet Easter Day

LOCATION:  Housesitting outside of Casoli in the Abruzzo region of Italy

WEATHER:  Windy.  Cooler.  Spotty rain.  Highs about 60

 

Everything here pretty much closes up on Sundays, especially today, Easter.  We heard the church bells ringing.  The farmers who are  usually puttering around on their tractors in the olive groves took a break today.  

We spent a quiet day here at the villa.  Since this is a guest apartment, there is not a washing machine.  I do a bit of hand laundry daily.  It dries nicely in the sun.

Italians are keen about recycling.  We have some type of pick-up daily (except Sundays).  Each colored  bin represents a different type of material that is picked up......plastics, glass, aluminum, etc.  

The homeowners advised us to be very careful about what we put in each bin.  If you put the wrong stuff in one, the garbage collector will rummage around in it, then leave it for you, rather than pick up the offensive bit.  One day (plastics, I think) the bin was not picked up although I had seen empty bins in other people's driveways.  I thought I had messed up.  Fortunately, the bin was picked up later in the day, after siesta.  

The fox came up to our patio window, partly to tease Gino our dog, and partly to beg for food.  When I took Suki, the reclusive cat, her food dish, the fox followed me around.  It was a little creepy.   

Luna, our other cat, brought us a mouse for Easter.  

In the evening, we listened to a few Minnesota Public Radio podcasts that our daughter had kindly loaded onto my ipad.  Nice to hear Garrison Keillor in a rerun telling about Lake Wobegon in April.  

DINNER:  Spaghetti in pesto sauce with artichoke hearts, chick peas, onion and garlic.  Great meatless dish.