All of a sudden, like the flick of a switch, Sicily has snapped into summer mode. Spring, so far, has been a pretty poor affair so it has been good to watch everything come back to life.
The granita sellers are back on the street. I will have to write more about Sicily’s answer to the ice cream van (not really a comparison at all) at another time. All I will say for now is Pistacchio ice cream in a Sicilian brioche…. Aahhh! If you ever visit this part of Sicily make sure you try it.
This weekend we took a stroll by the sea in a little town called Aci Castello. It was a perfect warm, sunny day. Even the Sicilians deemed it warm enough to sit outside to have their granita and brioche.
The amazing light made it so easy to take nice pictures…even though I had forgotten to take my camera and had to snap them on my phone.
Our morning stroll in Aci Castello reminded us a lot of our first trip to Sicily. All big, blue skies and calm, azure sea. Whenever I thought of Sicily after that visit, I would always think of the colour blue.
As if Aci Castello hadn’t been charming enough, we then stumbled across a little harbour full of tiny fishing boats. Right in front of us was this boat in a beautiful washed out shade of blue. As soon as he saw it my husband said, “I think you should stitch a Sicilian fishing boat.” I like how that man thinks. Definitely one for the list of “must makes”
I have made a little progress on my current project too. The little spider plant is not quite finished but I had done enough to be able to pot it up.
I have been colour matching for the next part – the box of cereal. Having taken these photos, I was struck with how wonky it looked. I have carefully examined the actual piece of work and it doesn’t look that at all. I don’t know if it is a trick of the camera or if I needed to tighten the hoop a little.
Why a box of Weetabix? Well, this picture relates to a childhood story. Once I had decided I wanted to make another piece using the fish scale pattern I mentioned in my last post, I mulled over how to do so. I then remembered the goldfish we used to have as children. Mine was called Tina (who calls a goldfish Tina??) and my brother’s JackSpratt (obviously). A friend was moving abroad and he asked if our younger brother would like to take ownership of his goldfish, Pedro. He duly did so until the day he decided to share his Weetabix with the poor fish. Hence the name of this piece: “Who Killed Pedro?” We all know who did it but we’ll try not to hold it against him as he was only three at the time. I love how making can trigger off memories and give you a slightly different perspective on how you look back on an event.
I started this post early this morning and took a break to go out for breakfast and shopping. Whilst out and about, with my mind still a little on the blues of this post, I was so struck by all of the flowers that have recently burst into bloom. They are just spectacular. I will try to get out with my camera and share the colour riot with you soon.
Ambrosia Stitches 