Some Day To Day Stuff....

I love my Italian life. I really do. But...let's get real. The better part of the day is doing the same old stuff that we do back in California. And that's just fine with me, as I kind of like the same old grind. 

We go grocery shopping, do our laundry, maybe some terrace gardening....even getting wine is a bit of an adventure

It's just that here in Italy, things are always a challenge because of language difficulties, or driving on narrow roads...doing laundry is a total workout! Just getting stuff from the car to our apartment is a challenge. But...we love it. We love it all. I think it's keeping us younger, honestly. Lord knows it ain't easy. But damn...it's fun.

So, I thought I'd do a little post about the day to day...

Shopping for groceries is always fun. We have several options for grocery shopping, including the tiny local market in the village, the great big COOP, the weekly outdoor "farmers markets"...

They each have their own charm. Yesterday we went to the Conad. This is a medium sized market with all types of groceries, a deli section, wine, and the regular household items like toilet paper, etc.

A very typical smaller supermarket.

Just like back home, you start in the produce section...

This place has really good food 'to go', if that's your thing...
Everything from lasagna to roasted chicken.

They often have grilled veg, or salads you can buy by the kilo.

You can get a scoop of pesto, or some olives and sun dried tomatoes...
even truffle sauce for pasta or bruschetta.

The ricotta and mozzarella are delightfully good here! Of course.
I prefer sheep's milk ricotta, which is hard to find back home.

Lots of fun cheeses to choose from.
I always zone in on the ones with red "offerta" stickers. They are on sale.

Don't get me started on the pasta section.
I mean, come on! How many types of pasta does one need? Many, evidently.

We've learned the system over the years, and it's gotten easier to navigate. It's always an adventure!

Checking out. We even have our 'discount' card for this place.

Thought I'd take advantage of this mirror...
There I am!

My favorite day to day chore is my little terrace garden...from buying plants and soil at the various nurseries around the area, to grooming and tending the plants, I really enjoy this mini-garden of mine.

The challenge...getting all this stuff up the very steep 30 steps! Also, everything is watered by hand from the kitchen sink.

Getting my pots ready to plant again.

A sweet batch of violas...my fave.

I like to mix in color, herbs and nowadays, even succulents.

Some of the plants keep while we are gone, but mostly I start over with fresh plants every visit. Smaller plants are a good value here, so I don't mind buying new ones.

Geraniums and violas, for the most part...
Also some nice lobelia.

Succulent cuttings are from a local pal's garden.
Also, a pot with thyme, marjoram and sage. 
There is plenty of rosemary in the main garden here.

Another fun chore is going to buy wine. Sure, you can get bottles of wine both expensive and cheap in any of the local markets, but we like to get our 'house wine' from Anna, a local grower. We buy our wine in bulk, five liters at a time. It comes in a vacuum bag that goes into our reusable box. It's a good table wine at a decent price. We decant it into glass bottles at home.

"Il Poggio", the wine place we go to.
We also splurge and buy their bottled wines sometimes...

One barrel has house red, one has white.
It comes out like gasoline, from a hose, sort of.

Peeking into the winery rooms...

White wine, ready to go!

 

There are several local vineyards to buy what they call "sfuso" here. That's the name for the bulk wines.

Laundry day is always fun...First, I hike down stairs to the laundry room with the load of clothes, then I turn on the water to the machine and get it all going. I always choose the 'delicate' cycle, because it only takes an hour. Otherwise, it's about two hours to wash a load.

There is no dryer. We hang clothes on the line. This means you need to pick a day when it isn't going to rain. The clothes dry fast...it's really dry here in Umbria...unless it's pouring rain.

Once the clothes are done, we hike down to where the clothes line is.

You go across the lawn and down through the olive grove...

The olives are being pruned, so lots of branches on the ground down here.

I don't mind hanging the clothes. It's a lovely spot and often the donkey says hello from down the way. It's a chore that is kind of fun.

Now you just wait until later to bring the clothes in.

Anyway, that's a small taste of the day to day choresI get to do here. Not super glamorous, but this is the real life stuff you do here in Italy. And I wouldn't change a thing.