March 2013

Since we arrived over 6 years ago we've been at the mercy of the bureaucracy and tied to the property by the work needed to be done both at the house and in the rented olive groves and financial restraints. This mostly done, except the general up keep, we can look forward to exploring and experiencing the many festivals, fairs and customs of our adopted country, assuming the petrol doesn't get ridiculous, and the bus trips / train offers continue.

The 8th of March is Donna's day and to celebrate a friend had organised a get together, bring a plate and bottle, for a girls day. It started badly with a phone call from a friend who rang at 9am to say David had died that morning at A&E, so she'd not be coming and nor would another lass who had been up all the night supporting the new widow. I phoned another of the group who said she was also canceling as her brother was in hospital with breathing difficulties. I called the hostess who said due to circumstances bring the husbands. Mike had been working on the computer 12 hours a day for a week, upgrading , up dating and so on and he woke with a headache on the Friday morning and the tablets didn't do much to help but he said OK he'd drive us over. It was a very nice lunch but Mike took ill halfway through and was dreadfully sick.

The following day we learned what had happened the previous day. David had felt unwell in the early hours and drove himself to the A&E and he fell dead at their feet. They phoned his wife who rang Annie who drove over to collect her. They were greeted by the doctor asking them to go back home and get a suit to dress the body and which coffin did they want? Its traditional for the funeral to be held the day afterwards here but as they have children in Spain and in the UK it would be delayed. A second friend, Ann, arrived at 11ish so Annie could go and get some sleep. We then learnt that Ian, the brother who fell ill on the Thursday also died suddenly.

The funerals were a week later at the crematorium, there was no services as such as being a mostly catholic country it is expected that the church service would have been held earlier and the funeral directors normally deal with the crematorium side and return the ashes, in urn, to the bereaved. So a simple room with the casket, chairs, flowers and a microphone where people recanted memories of the deceased. The funeral directors then wheeled the casket across the driveway behind a high wall and into the furnace! Not for the faint at heart.

The spring was 3 weeks late and this years rain after last years snow eroded banks and caused a landslide on the large slope to the grotto, which had also erosion and a foot of water on the floor, so a small digger will be needed to repair and form a shorter terrace to stabilize the situation when its dried out a bit.

Our neighbours were struggling to get to their church property as the corner was a metre deep of mud and a large pool had formed below that, they had to hire a tractor to pull their 4x4 out and lorry loads of old tarmac were poured in to help. Mr Sofia thinks it won't last 2 minutes into another down pour so we'll have to wait and see. He has stopped work on the apartments as the financial crisis means no one will want to buy them and if he completes he'll have to pay rates.

On a positive note the new pope, Francis (as in Assisi), made a good impression, firstly paying his own accommodation fees and then catching a bus. He's all for reforming the church back to its less political stance and more for the poorer peoples to relate to and be helped by . On the political front the Argentinian president made it to Rome in record time, 3 days to ask the Buenos Aires born papa help in getting the Falkland Isles off the UK, as they've just unanimously bar 3 people voted to stay British this doesn't seem likely.

The government was hung and remained that way until the President made the far left and right shake hands and try to create a parliament that wouldn't sink the ship. This was not helped by Grillo saying he'd not help but constantly criticising everything tried and Burlosconi wanting to be top dog, which cannot happen as he didn't win, so the wrangling went on.

To go out with a bang March gave us gales and a thunderstorm that produced 2” of hail in two goes on the last Wednesday of the month, it reduced the driveway to a soggy mess again. Friday the lawn mower man returned the huge unit with a bill for 120 for 2 Honda drive belts, he didn't have the heart to charge for collection and delivery! Mike began tackling the grass, mostly its started to grow in clumps, with the strimmer. It looks as though he'll do an hour here and there as the weather permits.

2 things can be made with day old refrigerated risotto (never leave rice more than 1 day) 1) Dice an onion and a head of radiccio and fry gently in a little oil and butter till soft and cooked. Set aside on a plate. Press a layer of the risotto into the base of the frying pan till covered. Put onion mix over and top with more rice until covered. Press down well and neaten edges. Cook over a medium flam and when edges begin to brown, use a plate to flip over the rice cake, and brown the other side. Serve in wedges.  It might be possible to do this with ordinary rice if mixed with a beaten egg.

2) Rice risoles. Cube mozzarella or cheese of preference. In a damp hand take a ball of risotto and make a hole with your thumb and press a cube of cheese inside, reform ball. Double dip in flour and egg to get a good coating all over the rice ball, or it will fall apart, and deep fry. If using mozzarella when eaten it will form strings which are called "telephone lines" here in southern Italy.

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