It is very easy to focus on the beautiful and charming here in Sicily. There is a such a lot of it. We live in Mascalucia, a peaceful village within a short distance of the city of Catania. I have to admit though, we really struggled with Catania when we first arrived. The dirt, the … More Persistence Pays
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 … More Feeling the Blues
It has been a productive week so far. A good mix of motivating myself and circumstances giving me a much needed push. Believe me, I need the latter more often than I care to admit. At the weekend I was contacted by a customer who asked if I’d considered offering my Fair Isle Monograms as … More Spider Plants – and Other Memories from my 80’s Childhood
I have mentioned before how moving to Italy has allowed us to develop a greater awareness of food seasonality. This is even more the case now we live in Sicily. You only need to look at what all of the street vendors are selling to know what is being grown locally. Just now, we are … More Seasonal Sicilia – Oranges
One of the really big differences I have noticed between Northern Italy and Sicily is the shopping experience. Whilst there were plenty of lovely markets and independent shops in Friuli, there seemed to be a supermarket on every street corner. Most of my Italian friends shopped in Eurospar and Ipercoop so, despite having dreams of … More Shopping
As I mentioned in my previous post, my parents and little brother came to visit last week. It was a good opportunity for us to have a really good look around the island on which we live. Until now, we have actually done very little exploring so we relished the chance to explore a little … More Exploring
Some months ago, friends of ours from Northern Italy were relocating to Sicily. They were talking about what they would take with them and what could possibly be left in storage. In my innocence I suggested that, as they were moving so far down South maybe they wouldn’t need all of their winter coats and … More Moody Skies
Well! Even I am surprised that I have managed to do as I promised by returning here to share my latest project. It has certainly been a “get things done” kind of a day. So, last weekend my parents celebrated their Ruby Wedding. Forty years of marriage is some achievement and we all wanted to … More Fam’ly Occasions
We have spent most of this week in the beautiful city of Vienna. We’d had to visit London at the weekend and, given that there are fewer direct flights to London from Catania, we thought we would make a virtue of having to connect and have a short holiday. Despite living a few hours drive … More Viennese Colour
Once again, it has been too long, far too long, since I have checked in here. The main reason for this is that I have been working on a Special Secret Project which I cannot share for a little while longer. Here is a sneak peek…. …..but more than that I cannot show. No, really … More A Cross Stitch Tutorial (and a Quick Catch Up)
Ambrosia Stitches 