A Walk At The Beach

  Well, we are officially in a state of "Shelter In Place".

  I wish I knew exactly what this means, but so far we are getting conflicting realities. 

  I know we can't have our gallery open for the next three weeks, at least, so we went to Carmel today to basically shut shop. We put a couple of signs in our front windows, and then decided to talk a walk at the beach. 

  Yes, we can go for a walk, evidently...as long as we stay six feet away from other people. There weren't many people around, and it was really nice to just chill out and enjoy the views...

Carmel Beach at her best.

Looking south...

...and looking north.

Yeah, it was a nice day for a beach walk.

  

Since we aren't in Umbria, as planned, and we can't go to work...we might as well enjoy our little bit of heaven right here at home.

  I've always loved walking the neighborhoods, checking out the gardens and houses... and I still need my daily walk, after all!

A beautiful tree trunk along the trail.

 I'll be posting blogs this spring from our garden and local walks we take, I'm sure.
 Today I really got a kick out of all that was in bloom already, like this huge 'Ceanothus' along the way...

They are blooming all over town right now, and this one was covered in bees!

  We walked all around 'the point', just because we could. It was nice enough outside to keep us going.

The beach at the mouth of Carmel River.
I hung out here a lot when I was a teenager.

Point Lobos in the distance.
I wonder if it's open? It is a state park...

  Along with the 'Ceanothus' blooming all over the joint, there are also tons of 'Echium Fastuosum' blooming now, and they are at their most gorgeous!

  Big, beautiful blueness just starting to pop open! I'll have to return soon, when they are all opened up.

  It was nice seeing some 'Garden Moments' around town...We love strolling around and finding new gardens to love...

Two big old crab apples blooming their heads off.

A field of 'linaria' that has bloomed here for at least 20 years.
I was so happy to see it's still reseeding itself!

I love this combo of California Poppies and euphorbia,
especially agains this wall.

Another great planting, this one was a front walkway.
Quite striking.

I'll need to return soon to see this wisteria in full bloom!
What a nice surprise to find this.

I love this particular succulent with this particular fence.

  We don't live in Carmel now, but we both have rented different places here when we were younger. It's always nice to park somewhere in an area and just head out on foot. 

  Today, our first day of being closed because of the Covid-19 situation, it felt good to get out and breathe in some ocean air.

  I'm sure we'll walk more here, as well as all over our area...as long as we are still allowed to go out and take a walk.

  Be safe, Dear Readers. Be kind to others as well as yourselves. Revel in the little things we tend to forget or disregard.

  Take a walk.

Finding Our Way Back

  You know, it's really impossible to feel sorry for ourselves. Our life together is filled with so much...

  Yes, this past week was pretty much horrific. We tried our best to get back to our home away from home in Umbria, Italy, but ...and its a great big old but...we didn't make it. 

  We got as far as Heathrow Airport, where we made the very tough decision to turn back. Everything went wrong, and we had no real choice. It was heart wrenching..I cried at least five times, like a baby, in the airport as we went back and forth deciding what was the best option. It was a very sucky time, to say the least.

  Anyway...

  A week later (did we really fly out last Monday?) we are licking our wounds, taking time to decompress, and planning when we can try again to return to our home away from home in Umbria.

  We watch as the entire globe is dealing with 'The Virus', glad to be home in California. 

  Though we had a nightmare, whiplash experience trying to get to Italy, we are glad things worked out and we made it back safe and sound. As of this evening, we feel lucky. 

  

  Lucky that we have had so many wonderful trips to our beloved Umbria already, and we know that there are many more in our future. We know we'll return soon.

  We send all our love to our many friends back in Italy, and we hope everyone is taking care and being as safe as possible. We can't wait to be back in better times, sharing good times together..laughing, eating, drinking...enjoying each other as we love to do. We can't wait to be sitting in the piazza again with our pals. Sigh.

  In the meantime, we are tucking in here at home.

  This week has been a very contemplative time. We have been 'self- quarantined', as we really don't know if we are 'safe' after our 72 hours of traveling internationally... we spent time on the airplane and in Heathrow Airport, for the most part. 

  We have been super careful when we have ventured out, and we are mostly staying home. We are happy to be reading, working in the garden, and making yummy meals.

We are shopping at our local 'small' markets, staying away from the 'big box' stores. 

  I gotta tell you, life is a real trip right now. Who knows what happens next?

  We can totally freak out, or not. I'm willing to move ahead, stay as safe as possible, and try to get back to normal.

  So, instead of sharing my cooking adventures from Umbria, I have a couple of meals to share from here at home in California. We've been cooped up for almost a week now, and all I'm thinking about doing is enjoying my garden and cooking at home.

  

  I've been really happy with a couple of dinners I've made since we've returned.

  First off, there was a simple white bean soup...loads of sage and good olive oil made it super special...

The sage in my garden is looking really great right now.

I've had this bag of white kidney beans for awhile..time to use them!
First, a good overnight soak.

 We started with some good olive oil and garlic.

Then I added the lovely sage...

I figured some home grown thyme would add a nice touch.

More of that good olive oil and water next, to cook the soaked beans.

An hour or so later, looking good1

I pureed some of the beans, to add a smooth texture.
We still had some olive oil from our place in Umbria, so...
YES! Really tasty soup, as we stayed at home, feeling grateful.

  

  Then, today... I decided I wanted to try something new, so I looked up some recipes for 'dal', the Indian lentil dish we love to order when we are out, but which I've never tried to cook myself. 

We are so lucky to live in a small, but super diverse community with lots of small, international markets. We went out and got all the things we needed for an easy vegetarian meal inspired by Indian flavors.

  First, I got some red lentils cooking with a bay leaf, for extra flavor...

  Next, I grated up garlic and fresh ginger...

  

The recipe I was following called for chopped tomato and onions, along with a bit of cinnamon stick, and the afore mentioned garlic and ginger, as well as fresh lime...

 Another key ingredient was whole cumin seed. I toasted the cumin seed, cinnamon stick and onion together in canola oil...

  Next, I added the chopped tomato, along with a blend of tumeric powder and garam masala...I have to say, the fragrance was amazing!

  As the lentils finished, and the tomato mixture did it's thing, I cooked up some brown rice to go with our meal...

  The finishing touch was a bunch of chopped cilantro and lime, as well as a batch of store bought 'naan', an Indian flatbread we bought at the market earlier.

It's all about the fresh ingredients, baby!

I have to say, my first try at Indian food was really damn good!

A dollop of goat's milk yogurt was a perfect cooling element to this spicy dish.

  Truth be told, we are struggling with the reality of missing our springtime months in Umbria. But doing something different, like having a fun new cooking adventure here at home...it helps with the reality of what we are experiencing.
  I think we'll keep trying to find new ways to love our time here, and enjoy our life at home in California.
  I'll keep blogging, as we find our way through this crazy new time we are all going through.

  Stay safe, and keep yourselves as happy as you can. We have been put here on this earth to be happy. It's up to each one of us to make this happen, in whichever way it means to us.
  Dig deep, find what makes you content... and go for it.

Early March 2020 In My Garden

  You all know that I love our travels to Italy....but I do miss my garden when I'm away. It's so hard to leave as it's just beginning to bust open and become a springtime wonderland.

  I worked in the garden several hours on each of my days off this week, and plan to spend a few more hours before we go, just tinkering...throwing some food around, cutting this back, and staking that up, seeing what's new. 

  

  Basically, I need to do this. I need to spend as many hours as I possibly can in my garden. It centers my mind and soothes my anxious soul...to the bone. I am free of doubt, anger, stress, guilt, etc, etc, etc. when I'm in my garden... isn't that what it's there for? I think so, and I'm most likely listening to a book while I'm at it. The garden tires me out in the very best way. It helps me sleep at night, and that's a very good thing.

  So, as I do every day before I head out to work, I took a sweet 'walkabout' this morning and snapped a few shots to share with you.

  She's a small garden, but oh-so-mighty...I am so lucky to have house sitters that love and enjoy the garden as much as we do.

  As always, Thanks, James & Anna!!! Have fun! Pick lots of flowers to have in the house, ok?

  I'm also so lucky to have my Garden Angel and dear friend, Pedro at the wheel here. I know when we return all will be well, and we'll come home to this magical play land, no worries! 

  Thanks, Pedro. 

I love all the texture...

All the roses are sending out that first flush of growth.

My crab apple is one of the first things I planted here.

Succulents are everything...and everywhere in my garden.

Fragrant 'wild' freesias came with the garden.
I let them do whatever they want.

Banksia rose just starting to 'go off'.
Wish I could see it in full bloom!

I love this variegated 'Fallopia'.

These little fellows have taken a jump outside the boarder, but that's ok.

Pretty.

My idea here really worked out well.
I am loving this succulent in this strawberry pot.

Another big climbing rose taking off early this year.

A lovely container planting...

  Sigh. I do love my garden.

Traveling In Uncertain Times

  As we ready ourselves to travel in this crazy time, I am calming my anxious self with what I have to look forward to in the very near future.

  We don't know what will happen as we face travel during this 'virus' madness. We have prepared ourselves as much as possible. There may be flight cancellations, or delays, but once we get to our sweet home away from home, we know we'll be ok.

  I've been looking at older photos, and wanted to share a few of my favorites. It's been a good way for me to get out of the noise in my head, and remember why we are living this crazy double life.

  I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. I'm quite proud of these...

  We know we are risking a bit, but we're good with that.
  Stay tuned for more posts from our beloved Umbria, and let's all remember to stay as healthy as we can.
  We'll see you on the other side.