The three main characters...

... in Cilentan landscape and lunch. Olive tree in the back ground plus lemon tree underneath it equals salad dressing. To the left, a fig tree for fresh figs or dried figs wrapped around an almond and dipped in chocolate. And so we dine.

Sunset

Since Italy is long and thin, and oriented roughly north-south, and has a massive mountain range down the middle (remember this if you plan to land at Bari airport and travel from there to the Cilento), you tend to get a view of either the sunrise or the sunset. We get the sunset. Here are a couple of photos of it.

The nameless yellow flowers of the Cilento

These yellow flowers are all over the place at the minute. I don't know what they are called. Carpets of them under the olive trees, it doesn't come out very well in a photo but they're so bright they're almost acid yellow. Looks beautiful!

Spring has sprung

Spring is definitely here, and this is how I know: the lizards are out!

They come out in the afternoons and sunbathe - but you only see them once the weather is warm enough. This little one has lost its tail, but it will grow back. I think they're amazing creatures.

The almond blossom is also out, another sign of spring:

I snapped this tree in someone's back garden on my daily walk around the village.

Today's sunset

It was quite misty this evening, but the colours are lovely. To the left is a mimosa tree.

Cook book recommendation - by Leila

I got hold of three River Cafe Pocket Books kind of by chance when I was living in Brussels. They weren't much use to me, either there or in the UK, because although the recipes are simple, the ingredients were either not easily available or, though available, weren't fresh or good enough to make the recipes work (mozarella, for example. Mozarella doesn't travel. Eat it south of Rome or not at all). But down here, they're perfect. I use them all the time. The recipes seem to be made for this area;; they use vegetables and herbs I can buy year-round, less than five minutes walk from my house, most of them are simple and quick to prepare, and taste delicious. So if you're planning to come down here and want a travel-sized cook book that you can really use, I recommend this series.

7th February - by Leila

We've decided to post about daily life here in Ascea as well as about the work produced here. So today was a beautiful warm sunny day. I sat on the balcony to work and even had to put the sun umbrella up when it got too hot. I also started putting some new plants on the balcony, mostly cyclamen. Dinner today: local fennel-flavoured sausages and roast potatoes with thyme, the same bunch I've been using for about two years! So long as you keep it dry, it lasts for ages.

Here's a photo I took on my walk the other day: the spring flowers are out already.