A look back at times in Italy

Hello.  I hope you have had a good week.  We are well and continue as before.  We find new ways of occupying our time and there's always plenty to do in the house and garden.  Next week I'll do a roundup of April's garden and gardening activities. 

During a weekend we usually phone relatives in Italy or my sister-in-law phones us. They're still required to stay at home, being in the vulnerable category. Younger members of the family are permitted to deliver food to them.  Most live in family groups, but the sister-in-law and brother-in-law who went back to Italy on retirement live on their own.  They're somewhat isolated from the rest of the village, although they do have good neighbours to help in an emergency. They're particularly in our thoughts. In fact, my thoughts often turn to Italy and our house and family there which we very much miss.  Mr P and grandson were there July 2019, but I haven't been there since 2018. Today I felt like looking at photos and made some collages to share.  Some images are new and regular readers will be familiar with others.  I'll post the ones of visits to the nearest small town.  I can imagine that the streets right now will be empty of people. I hope that some day some sort of normality will return to those cities, towns and villages that are having such a terrible time.  

The door bottom middle is not a real door, but painted on boards like the ones in the photo above that have been installed around some houses of historical interest that are being restored. The illusion was completed when over the months the plants grew and trailed down over the boards.

cafés and restaurants daytime and in the evening

a pizza van, day and at night

The barber's shop is on the left of the photo.

There's a van and barber's chair outside.

Thank you for your visit.  Take care, stay safe and well.

A Walk on the Common

Following on from the beginning of my walk up to the Common I came to one of the entrances on to it. This area is just as well looked after as the Common itself either by village volunteers or by the nature reserve Rangers.

The dead bracken has been cleared.  You can see the rooftops of the houses at that end of the village. Being high up there are views across the valley.

There are many paths across the Common and I chose to go through a wooded area. In years gone by there were old quarries where ganister stones were lifted and broken up to line the inside walls of the many kilns of Sheffield. How many workers have walked these well worn paths across the commonland to get to work or gathered other hard stones to make grindstones which would have occupied the home workers in the village cottages as they sharpened pocket knives and other items to take to market?  Before that the open areas of the Common were used by the gentry to exercise their horses.

primroses and forget-me-knots

honesty flowers

Through the woods I could still see the houses on the edge of the village.  A path that leads back to a field and the village had been cleared and I could see that primroses and forget-me-knots had been planted there.  They looked at home under the shade of the trees.

I walked onwards and soon came to open ground where I could choose one of the many pathways there. The heather is just beginning to produce new shoots as are the young ferns.  There were other walkers on the Common and we had ample paths to walk without being near one another.  That was rather strange as villagers taking exercise walked away onto a different path as we saw one another in the distance so that we would avoid coming into contact.  It's very sad, but a necessary action at this moment in time.

I walked back the way I had come and will go back again soon.  We had a few days of cold weather with cloudy skies.  Apart from some showers of rain it has stayed dry and today the sun is out again so it's a good idea to make the most of it by being in the fresh air and enjoying the many quiet places a walking distance from home.

a pink and white variety of periwinkle

More magnolias in a neighbourhood garden.  The wisteria is just beginning to show signs of the beautiful flowers to come.  

The pink clematis Montana again that I showed you before.  I'm near home now.

Our young neighbour across the road, (the girl who did the rainbow drawing I shared recently) posted

this picture through our letter box that she had coloured in for us.  I stuck it up in our front room window.  It's a reminder of the reality of the awful situation we are still facing and the sadness we all feel about the thousands of lives lost. Our resolve is to remember them and all those who continue to work tirelessly for the good of our individual communities and national life. 

Thank you for your visit.  I hope that you're all keeping well and safe.

A walk to the Common

We've certainly had above average good weather for the time of year this April and it gave me the incentive to go out walking again.  We have some pleasant places where we can walk and the local 100 acres of heather, oak, silver birch, bracken and grassland that makes up the local Common is one of them. It's a nature reserve managed by the Parks, Woodland and Ranger Service of Sheffield City Council together with volunteers and in consultation with local ecologists. It's also a walk uphill through some streets lined with apple and ornamental cherry trees that look beautiful when the blossom is out and attractive in the Autumn as the leaves colour up. Some new trees have also been planted on the grass verges and there are many mature trees to be seen along the way.

 a copper beech tree and horse chestnut trees in the churchyard

heather hanging over a stone wall in someone's garden

Along the path is one of the entrances to the Common and next time I will show you where I walked on the Common.

Have a good day!