Autumn in Lucchio

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Debra Kolkka

Lucky Catherine Keens has a house in Lucchio. She was there recently and took these gorgeous photos of the village.

Autumn is a beautiful time to be in Lucchio. Thank you Catherine for sharing it with us.

I wouldn’t eat these

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Debra Kolkka

I found these gorgeous yellow mushrooms growing in the forest.

I left them there.

Autumn mists

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Debra Kolkka

Autumn is a beautiful season in Bagni di Lucca. It can be a bit wet, but I love the rainy, misty days.

…as long as there aren’t too many of them.

Porcini mushrooms

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Debra Kolkka

Now is the time for porcini mushrooms in our area. It has been very dry, not good for mushrooms, but some have been gathered in Garfagnana and have appeared at Ristorante Del Sonno in La Villa.

…just perfect for a delicious mushroom risotto.

The recent rain should have more growing in the forests…we wait patiently or impatiently as the case may be.

Local news…

Don’t miss the Pinocchio festival in La Villa this weekend…it is always a lot of fun.

Vendemmia…time to pick grapes

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Debra Kolkka

All over Italy grapes are ripening on the vines. My friends invited me to help pick their grapes to make wine. I happily agreed.

The setting of the vineyard is lovely and it was a gorgeous day.

The grapes are looking excellent…they taste good too.

Time to pick grapes.

Time for lunch…with some of last year’s wine.

Thank you for inviting me to be part of the day, it was fun and I look forward to sampling the wine when it is ready.

Summer in Ponte a Serraglio

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Debra Kolkka

Ponte a Serraglio looks glorious in summer. I love every season, but when everything is green and lush Ponte is wonderful.

There are often fishermen on the river, I hope they catch something.

By the end of the hottest season the water level in the river drops unless there is summer rain.

This year has been very hot and dry, so it will no longer be as green as when I took these photos, but still beautiful.

Swim in the Lima

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Debra Kolkka

Summer in Italy is hot, especially this year. The water in the Lima River is cold…the perfect place to cool off on a hot summer day.

We found this inviting place to swim near the bridge to Casoli.

There is a path down to the river. The water looked wonderful. Unfortunately we had no towels or swimsuits so had to content ourselves with an ankle deep paddle.

I would have loved to dive into the deeper water.

The water is clear and running fairly quickly. The photos were taken in mid June, so it may have slowed a bit.

We saw lots of tadpoles…they are probably frogs now.

Happy swimming.

Goodbye pansies, hello geraniums

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Debra Kolkka

The pansies on the bridge in front of my apartment at Ponte a Serraglio this year have put on a fabulous show. We have had little rain or wind since they were planted and they have thrived.

They were still looking great, but they won’t last through the summer and it is now time to plant the geraniums.

This year I have had help to plant the flowers on the bridge. It has been great. There are lots of pots and dragging the bags of soil, carrying the plants and digging up the old ones takes time, so having 2 helpers made a big difference. Thank you Paul and Sheila.

Paul also cleaned out and replanted the large pots beside Villa Fiori. (Somebody pinched one of the lavender plants almost immediately, which is a bit disappointing).

We are now thinking of buying some new hanging pots for the lampposts along the river and planting more geraniums. There is a reasonable amount of expense involved in this, so if anyone would like to contribute it would be appreciated. Please email me at debrakolkka@gmail.com if you are interested in helping out.

Bluebells

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Debra Kolkka

I came upon this abandoned garden where bluebells have taken over…lovely. They can take over my garden any time they like.

Wonderful wisteria

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Debra Kolkka

I love it when wisteria appears in spring. It seems to bloom overnight and there are fabulous festoons of lovely lilac flowers hanging from fences and walls all over Bagni di Lucca right now.