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Friday, 10 February, 2012

Strufoli per Carnevale....ma non solo

Famous strufoli for Carnevale in Perugia.....but not only them...
I famosi e deliziosi strufoli per Carnevale a Perugia...ma non solo loro!

Thursday, 9 February, 2012

Perugia's sky tonight

Do these clouds say that it will snow?
Dicono che nevicherà, queste nuvole?

Wednesday, 8 February, 2012

WIll the big snow come to Italy again?

We are waiting to see.....if Italy and Perugia will get another big snowfall.
I will sit at the computer and wait.
And wait.
And wait.
No, think I will go to bed ; )

Tuesday, 7 February, 2012

UFO IN ITALY!!!

Really this is a UFO spotted outside my window today.
AMAZING BUT TRUE!!!!!

Veramente questo è un UFO che ho visto fuori dalla finestra oggi. INCREDIBILE MA VERO!!!

First, I saw this light....sort of plate shaped.

Prima, ho visto una luce...a forma di piatto.

LUCKILY I had my camera! But as soon as I took the photo, the UFO totally disappeared.

PER FORTUNA avevo la mia macchina fotografica! Ma appena ho fatto la foto, la UFO è sparito!

Monday, 6 February, 2012

Orange lady with umbrella

Made from a real orange on my terrace with a little snow.
Fatto da una vera arancia sulla mia terrazza con poca neve.

Saturday, 4 February, 2012

My window

COLD outside
but warm inside, THUS this dripping window with condensation dripping down slowly slowly....

FREDDO fuori

ma dentro casa, calso. COSI' la condnsa sulla mia finestra che continua a sgocciolare giù giù.....

Friday, 3 February, 2012

EVERYONE has been talking about the "BIG SNOW", I mean B I G!!!
But we have just had a little sprinkling of it....
This cartoon expresses my feelings.

TUTTI hanno parlato della "GRANDE NEVICATA" e vorrei dire GRANDE!!!
Ma finora abbiamo avuto soltanto qualche fiocco...niente di importante.
Questa vignetta esprime i miei sentimenti.

Thursday, 2 February, 2012

Paper snowflake

Kind of a lonnnng snowflake, but gee, I used to make these when I was little....and that was a lonnnnngggg time ago!

Un pò lungo come fiocco di neve...ma li facevo quando ero bambina...tanti anni fà!

SNOW ON MY CAR

This is a photo I took another year, of the snow that had fallen on my car.
And the eyes? Well, they were two eyes I prepared and put on top of the car.

Questa è una foto che ho fatto un altro anno quando la neve è caduta sulla mia macchina. E gli occhi? Beh, erano due occhi che ho preparato e messo sopra la macchina.

Wednesday, 1 February, 2012

PASTA ....a really delicious kind!

Anyone know what kind of pasta this is?
It is especially delicious!

And a close up of this delicious pasta!! Anyone out there know just what kind of special pasta this is??

Tuesday, 31 January, 2012

Art Project: new materials

Exciting, starting a project I have thought about for years.
And stimulating using materials I have never used. Like this rod cutter that cuts this meter-long rod that has threading on it. Have to make my own screws. Sounds funny, but it works.

Eccitante cominciare un nuovo progetto di cui penso da diversi anni.
E stimolante utilizzare materiali che non avevo mai usato. Come questo strumento che taglia barre filettate per poter fare delle vite. Suona strano, ma funziona.

Monday, 30 January, 2012

New art project

Fun to make little figures made of wire

and cotton

and thin scothtape!

You can bend them

anyway you want!

Divertente fare delle figure pieghevole con fil di ferro, cottone, e lo scotch. E si piegano in qualsiasi modo!

Sunday, 29 January, 2012

PERUGIA - festa di S. Costanzo

Oggi è la Festa di S. Costanzo, il patrono di Perugia. Questo il famoso e buonissimo torcolo di S. Costanzo.

Today is the festa of S. Costanzo, the patron of Perugia. This is the famous cake for this festival, the torcolo of S. Costanzo.

And here is one I photographed in 2009. Seems to perhaps be just a little bit more filled with rasins and such....could it be the crisis that this year there is just a little less to it?

Ed eccone uno che ho fotografato in 2009. Sembra che ci sia qualche uvetta, ecc in più. Potrebbe essere la crisi quest'anno che significa che ci mettono qualche ingrediente in meno?

Thursday, 26 January, 2012

Perla Arredamenti - Italian furniture store

L'altro giorno ho avuto una visita molto piacevole ad un negozio di mobile davvero bellissimo. Sono rimasta piacevolmente sorpresa alla bellezza ed eleganza di non soltanto lo showroom ma degli oggetti esposti, cose meravigliose con tanto di buon gusto. Vorrei avere per casa mia tante degli articoli che ho visto. Date un'occhiata qui sotto oppure andate a visitarli a Santa Maria degli Angeli, Assisi. http://www.perlaarredamenti.it/)

The other day I had the pleasure of visiting a really stunning furniture store in Santa Maria degli Angeli, Assisi, Italy. The items on display show excellent and refined taste, many things very artistic and extremely original. I would love to have many of the things I saw for my own home. Take a look at the photos or visit them on their website: http://www.perlaarredamenti.it/

Wednesday, 25 January, 2012

Italian Talk Show

On Ballarò last night....how could one NOT notice the difference between the "frontground" speaker and the "background" beauty? This seems to be typically ITALIAN!

A Ballarò ieri seera...come non si poteva notare chi stava davanti, e la bellezza che stava indietro? Tipicamente ITALIANO!!!!

Tuesday, 24 January, 2012

Schettino - Letterman Show in USA

Italian cruise ship comander Schettino ends up being talked about (!) on American Letterman show.
Here is the video with subtitles in Italian.

Schettino finisce in tv Americano, the Letterman Show in un video. Eccolo con sottotitoli in Italiano.

http://it.notizie.yahoo.com/video/mondo-5212457/schettino-finisce-al-letterman-show-e-scivolato-nella-scialuppa-27962431.html?nc#crsl=%252Fvideo%252Fmondo-5212457%252Fschettino-finisce-al-letterman-show-e-scivolato-nella-scialuppa-27962431.html

Monday, 23 January, 2012

Thank goodness for history, food, weather and natural beauty!

Boy, Italy is really making messes of things lately! I and others are afraid that we will lose all credability, however, we still have great food and weather, and natural beauty, and history and wonderful museums and art. Thank goodness! Italy has a lot to offer, but if you read the paper and look at the news, we are in a nice mess!

Mamma mia, l'Italia sta facendo un bel "casino" in questi tempi! Io, ed altri hanno paura che perderemo tutta la nostra credibilità, comunque, abbiamo ancora ottimo cibo, il tempo è bello, c'è tanta storia, e bei musei e arte. Italia ha molto da offrire ma se uno legge il giornale, e guardi le notizie in tv, siamo proprio in un bel casino!

Creative Workshop number two

My next workshop...should be fun!
We will work with wire, cardboard, corks, sponge, lots of things. Not only can one make decorations and artwork, but also solve little problems at home, using ones imagination.
At Onnivora, Ponte Felcino, Perugia, Italy. http://www.onnivora.org/

Thursday, 19 January, 2012

Creative Workshop number two

Here is my newest little poster, just photographed yesterday.

How do people in Italy feel about the cruise ship story?

I know how I feel.
I think how I feel may be different from many of the people's feelings.
I may be wrong.
We are influenced by what we read and see on tv. THAT is the powerful message of how we get our information, thus, our thoughts about what has happened.
I personally feel terribly sorry. Sorry for the loss, the pain, the ruining of many families' lives. The deaths, and also, about the need of people to not only see the comander of the ship who made huge costly mistakes, but the need to point fingers and blame, but to blame in a aggressive way. That is the part I don't like.
I put myself in his shoes.
I don't like to make his suffering worse.
He is at fault most likely from what is written, and from his own acknowledgement of what he did wrong.
But I don't like the "joking" that is coming out on tv, or on the web, to make it all something else to laugh about, or joke about.
It is hurtful enough. It is no time for rubbing in the horrifying mistake, or to make those still waiting for their loved ones to MAYBE return, to make light of a solemn and sad time.
I can understand when a dictator of a country is made fun of, when a person who is evil inside is torn apart, I do not do it but I can understand it. But I can't imagine doing that to a normal person, who, unfortunately made a HUGE mistake, and more than one. My viewpoint may not be shared by many, I don't know, these are my own personal thoughts.

Tuesday, 17 January, 2012

Comander of Italian cruise ship's phonecall during emergency

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma80H1UaAkY&feature=player_embedded

This is the Italian phonecall of the comander of the Italian cruise ship, being ordered to board the ship to see how many passengers are still aboard.

Questa è la telefonata del comandante della nave Italiana mentre gli danno ordine di salire di nuovo sulla nave per controllare quanti passeggeri ci sono ancora a bordo.

Sunday, 15 January, 2012

Italian video - cruise ship, Italy

Italian video about cruise ship in Italy, January 15, 2012

Saw this on Facebook today, regarding Italian cruise ship.

Saturday, 14 January, 2012

Shipwreck in Italy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_lJbwofmJk
A terrible tragedy just happened last night, when a cruise ship hit a rock off of Giglio Island in Tuscany, Italy.

DONUTS

Why would I be thihnking about donuts on Saturday afternoon....perhaps one was missing with my cup of tea today?

They are really junky but good. And pretty too!

Perchè sto pensando di donuts questo sabato pomeriggio...forse perchè ne mancava uno insieme alla mia tazza di tì oggi? Sono proprio un junk food, ma buoni. E belli anche da vedere!

Friday, 13 January, 2012

The Dilemma

I have a question. For anyone reading this blog who wants to reply.
I just visited a store, an unusual one, of a very particular and likeable young man.
He and I get along just fine, but today he told me a story that I don't know exactly what to think.
Actually, I have my own opinion about it, which I will write at the end of this description of what he told me.
He said that he had just gotten back from a very expensive 4-star hotel at a very prestigious place in Italy.
He said that in the dining room were some foreigners (I won't say from which country they come, so as to not offend anyone here) and they had their SHOES OFF.
My friend of the store was VERY upset! He was paying about 250 euro a night to stay in this hotel and felt that the people were not correct to be so casual as if they were in their own homes, AND that the Italian management should have done something.
I told him my idea: it was the management's fault. The people may well feel that they, due to a different culture, are allowed to do such a thing. I feel, let's always give the benefit of a doubt to the people from another country unless we know 100% all their cultural habits. So, what do YOU think?

Thursday, 12 January, 2012

My first workshop at Onnivora

Sunday, January 15 at 10am until 12.30 I will be giving a workshop on creating with many different mediums.
Watercolours, acrylics, tempera, pastels, pencil, ink on paper, plastic and glass.
Come and try out many different techniques, and learn a bit about the different ways to use paints, etc.

Domenica il 15 Gennaio dalle ore 10 fino al 12.30 farò il mio primo laboratorio a Onnivora a Ponte Felcino, utilizzando tanti medium diversi. Acquarelli, acrilici, tempera, pastelli, matita, inchiostro, su carta plastica e vetro. Vieni a provare e sperimentare con diverse tecniche, ed impara dei diversi modi che puoi utilizzare il colore.

Wednesday, 11 January, 2012

Find a photo

Now I am going to go into my hundreds of thousands of photos...and chose one just by chance, without concentrating on it, or reflecting on what I want to share.....here I go....

Ora vado nell'archivio delle mie centinaia di migliaia di fotografie e ne scelgo una solo per caso, senza concentrare su quello che scelgo......ora vado....

And here we have it NEW YEAR'S EVE IN SIENA, ITALY!

Sunday, 8 January, 2012

Party in Rome

A WONDERFUL party in Rome today!
Artists, and musicians, and poets, and an actor. And they all performed! And we sang, and we ate, and we watched a video...it was all just wonderful!
Here are some of the cakes served....a wonderful day, with glorious weather.

Una festa meravigliosa oggi a Roma! Artisti, musicisti, poeta, ed un attore. E tutti hanno mostrato il loro talento. E abbiamo cantato, mangiato, e visto un video fatto dalla padrone di casa...era tutto proprio bellissimo!

Ecco sono i dolci serviti...questo giorno meraviglioso, con del tempo bellissimo.

Saturday, 7 January, 2012

CAPPELLETTI

Very delicious pasta served in broth or with sauce. These are from the area I live in, Umbria.

These are from a shop that makes them homemade.
Questi vengono da un posto che li fa come fatti in casa.

Wednesday, 4 January, 2012

Happy New Year

VERY busy days!
On the computer
in the house
at the stove
with family
doing a million things
feels just like 2011!

Tuesday, 27 December, 2011

AT A CHINESE SUPERMARKET.......WHAT IS IT?

During my trip to Dalian China I took a picture of this....in the section where fish were. Yes, it was for sale to be cooked, I imagine. But what is it?
Durante il mio viaggio a Dalian Cina ho scattato questo in un supermercato dove vendevano pese. Sì, era in vendita per essere cucinato e mangiato...ma...che cos'è?

Monday, 26 December, 2011

Gioielle in Umbria

Wonderful lunch with American and English friends in Gioielle, and this view towards evening.

Prazo con amici Inglese e Americani oggi con questo panorama veerso sera.

Sunday, 25 December, 2011

SANTA GIRLS IN HAWAII

Christmas time in mini skirts
Hawaii, 2010

EATING and other things....in Italy

Lunch and dinner -- these used to be very big meals in Italy, well, luckily, times have changed. It used to be that there would be a pasta dish at lunch AND a meat dish, plus vegetables, maybe two kinds, fruit and perhaps even a dessert (well, for company yes). Well, dinner would come along and you would have to prepare also a soup or something like that, and a protein and vegetable. Fruit at the end of the meal. Two big meals, and two times washing pots and pans. Now, luckily, people have lightened up, sometimes just pasta and salad, and at dinner meat and vegetable. Less work, but still, too much work most of the time. Italians love to eat, and they eat well!!
HOme made breadcrumbs. WHY would you make your own? Because the stuff you buy in a bag is salty, has spices in it. If you want a simple bread crumb, especially if you have European bread which is simple and often contains no salt, just heat in an over and then grate in your electric blender (I have a blade that does the work, inserting it all from the top of the machine). The crumbs can be used for all sorts of things, good to have them on hand always.
SFORMATI - is what I made for lunch today. You take eggs, and mix in all sorts of things. At the end it becomes sort of like a souffle. I added parmesan, broccoli, ricotta, and a little milk and nutmeg. I always experiement. Something hot for a very very cold day.
Toast....and a pinch of salt and some olive oil....YUMMY!
Parmesan - I've been told that parmesan cheese sold in the States is not great quality...the already grated cheese is hard and close to the outer layer. Wondering if that is really true....I know the cheese here is excellent, "Parmesan" otherwise, less expensive is "Grana Padano", if good quality, you can hardly tell the difference.
Risotto...what is it? Well, it is a rice dish, it can contain vegetables, or cheese, or meat or fish or any variety of these or other things. And it takes a while to cook, stirring so it won't stick, adding spices and things. It is very good, and usually each town has some sort of risotto. I made one today, though it wasn't a real recipe. I made it up, with artichokes, and anything with artichokes is good, even risotto that isn't quite risotto.
Chocolate.....some people eat a piece at the end of the day, others just on special occasions. But I do know, the chocolate in Italy is excellent...but when we get a gift box of Belgium chocolate or Swiss, or German, that is plenty good too.
BAY LEAF -- may sound like a surprising ingredient, but actually it is a long leaf that when dry, is used as a spice in soups, or with meat or fish. It really has a wonderful aroma, and I love to add it to foods. Usually they use it to create a WALL between houses or yards, because it really grows very thickly and you just can't see between it and the next house!!! If you find it, pick it and dry the leaves at home, then store them away. Use one leaf for cooking in a soup, or crunch it up and add to meat. Delicious! It really does make a difference.
BOY those flavors taste good! I just got back from the USA and when I ate my first meals here, they sure tasted good! I think the reason is the olive oil for one....and perhaps the freshness of the vegetables. If you buy things in season, they really are tasty. Or maybe it was because for 24 hours I ate airplane food....THAT could be the reason!
ITALIAN PRODUCTS...in the USA. Funny! They have brands here that I have never even heard of! Italian pasta, cakes, etc of brands that they don't have in Italy. Somehow, Italian food is really really genuine when you are in Italy. It's hard to say that it is excellent here when you are used to the real thing

WHO AM I??

I'm an American artist who has lived in Italy most of her life. I love to travel, meet people, art, and life. I love to write, and I love to photograph, hence, a blog is a way for me to express myself. Hope you enjoy my posts, please feel free to write or comment! P.S. I am also the designer of Delishoes (more about that down below), have been to China and had a photography exhibition called "Incontri ravviCINAti" (close encounters), and am always busy doing lots of artwork and taking pictures ALMOST non-stop (at times). My Cactus Ladies, well, you can meet them down below (click on the picture) and I could go on and on I see here....where IS the end of this page?! Doesn't seem to be any end....THAT is the problem with computers....never-ending space for a woman who likes to talk...better go. See you next post!

HOW TO SPEAK ITALIAN...in 60 seconds

E' vero? That means, is that true? You can use it, even as a casual little phrase....like E' vero che è una bella giornata? Isn't it true that today is a beautiful day?
Per me, per te, con me, con te. It means....for me, for you, with me with you!
NEVE. That is the word of the week: snow. And the verb to snow is nevicare. You pronounce the words Nev - a (like the letter a). And the verb you pronounce nev- ee- car- a. And that is exactly what we are waiting for la neve!
Sale. It is NOT sale. It is pronounced sal - a. And it means SALT. Yes, salt! If you want to say SALE as in lowering prices, you must write and say SALDI. Yes, that is right. That means that things are on sale. Don't forget sale, means salt. Saldi means on sale!
The way people ask how you are lately is "Com'è?" It means How is it? Sounds funny in Italian though.
HA HA HA.....I have learned that they just don't write it like that in Italian!!! So what do they write, on fb and other places? They write AHAHAHA!
My bike BIANCHI - when I had a fold-up bike in Los Angeles, an Italian brand, I didn't know how to pronounce the name. The word, Bianchi means white(s). The bian is easy...but the chi? CHI is pronounced KEY in Italian. If it was CI it would be chee like in cheese. So....Chi è? Means who is it...and you pronounce it.....KEY A.
NOTTE - means night. But, it is also a short way of saying buona notte, which means good night. If you want to be correct say the long version. If you are with people you know well, or want to sound very Italian and as if you have been here for a long time...surprise them with notte. And that by the way is what I am saying now, because it is almost midnight "Notte!" I am going to bed.