Our Garden in March - Il Nostro Giardino in Marzo

Last year from February until September I published a regular post on News From Italy entitled 'Our Garden' at the end of every month. It was a popular feature and I have decided that now the plants have caught up after The Big Freeze in Lazio and that Spring has finally arrived it should be revived.


I hope you will enjoy sharing these collages of photos taken around our garden this month.

First to show colour were the daffodils with the first ones blooming at the very start of March, with the different varieties spread throughout the month. As I write they are all but over now, nothing is lasting very long this Spring with the combination of warmth and no rain to speak of.  Everyone has started watering, mainly their vegetables of course, but it is very early to need to do so!

Our Persimmon Tree.

One of our Walnut Trees.

Our Orto.

The fruit trees have given us beautiful displays of blossom this month with the Apricot the first to emerge closely followed by the Peach and the Cherry

Last month the leaves on our Camellia were looking very burnt and I really had not much hope for the blooms, but they survived and are actually looking better than normal, as often the Spring rains ruin them, not this year.

                                                   Some general views of the garden.

Other splashes of Spring colour were provided by a mixture of plants both cultivated and wild. 

Cerinthe, Wallflowers and Tulip photographed early morning 30th March 2012.

White Irises, Sweetpeas and Blue Irises photographed early morning 30th March 2012.

The interested gardeners and photographers amongst you will find the full album on Flickr.  Our Garden in March 2012 where the photos can be viewed in a larger format. 
 All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection


I also have a lot of Spring flower photographs that I have not shared here but will be doing so on my photography blog.      LindyLouMac's World in Photos   
                
Do follow along if you are interested in photography as I would love to see you there.

Have a lovely weekend wherever you are in the world and however you plan to spend your time.

Friday Photos - As It Was!

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the big changes taking place at the Fisherman's Beach - Spiaggia del Pescatore in Marta.  In case you missed the post you can read it here.
After reading that post a friend of mine very kindly sent me a selection of photos that she took when she was visiting Marta for me to share with you.  


The Fisherman's Beach, Marta as it used to be.

With thanks to Carol Sansone for these lovely photos.  The good news is that hopefully one day it will once again look like this as the trees have been replaced.


I will show you the latest developments in a future post.


Meanwhile have a lovely first weekend of Spring, or Autumn depending where you are in the world.  At the moment I am enjoying sharing the awakening of Spring here in Italy, over on my photography blog. I would love you to come by and join me.                              LindyLouMac's World In Photos

Linea Verde - Elenora Daniela and Fabrizio Gatta Filming in Marta.

On March 1st and 2nd  Elenora Daniele and  Fabrizio Gatta  came to Marta with the film crew from Linea Verde

 I was really pleased that we just happened to be in town on the morning of March 1st and being a beautiful sunny morning we decided to stay and watch some of the filming.  Having my camera with me how could I resist not taking some photos.

 Photos in the above mosaics are my own and can be viewed in larger individual format by visiting my complete album at Flickr.com entitled  Marta Filming


The video is of the television programme aired on Rai Uno on March 11th 2012 of which Marta is just one of the places covered The video may be watched on Rai Uno, just click on this link,  Alto Lazio - Linea Verde

The programme is nearly an hour long and is about the agriculture in the region in which we live, Alto Lazio. If you have the time to view sometime it is very interesting as it covers many interesting topics, in Italian, but I think you will get the gist of it, even if you do not understand all that is being said.


What will you see growing and where, firstly the growing of cauliflowers in the region and how they are prepared for market. From Civita Castellana, you will see the cattle used in the making of mozarella, from Capranica, the hazelnut groves. The stars of the show use a helicopter to get from place to place and fly over the region to show you more, Lago di Bracciano, Lago di Vico, Viterbo and finally our own, metaphorically as in where we live Lago di Bolsena.


It is in the latter part of the programme that businesses very local to us are visited, including Goats at the Cheese Shop on the road to Viterbo at  Monte Jugo and Marta's Fish Farm where they breed the Corregone to keep the lake stocked and of course the fishermen themselves out on the lake.


Also of course in the film are all the local businesses that we saw being filmed in the town centre the day Linea Verde came to town.


It was very interesting to watch the filming and even more so to watch the programme when it was aired on Rai Uno on Sunday March 11th. Especially when we were able to spot not only places but people we knew and if you know where to look, which you don't, you may even spot us in the film!


Linking up to Outdoor Wednesday

Wind Turbines and An Afternoon Walk

When I go for a walk I often take my camera with me so that I can share the landscape with you here. Today's photos and mosaics are from a walk I took on the 29th of February, a lovely afternoon with the first signs of Spring appearing in the hedgerows. I have shared photos from this walk before but not since the Wind Turbines  appeared on the landscape. You may recall I first mentioned these and a couple of photos in my post HERE.


The Wind Turbines were put up last Autumn while we were away in Asia, so it was quite a surprise to come home and find the landscape behind Marta towards Piansano dotted with them!  I feel that although they are somewhat a blot on the landscape they are a necessary one for a country that has no natural resources of its own, no oil, gas or coal in Italy. If Italy wants to generate more electricity for better or worse we are going to see more of these!


The first twenty, although they are difficult to count so not sure if that is accurate but around that number, have been erected on the hills above Marta and we are told that this is just the start, many more will appear on the hills surrounding the Lago di Bolsena in the future. 


When I took these photos it was a hazy afternoon with the sun behind them so viewed through my zoom lens they tend to disappear into the landscape. They have certainly changed the view.


When I set off on my walks there is no sign of Wind Turbines at all from our house. The cows were the first photographic subjects I came across. In the photo bottom left Montefiascone can be seen in the distance.

Then around the next corner Wind Turbines.

Other views that caught my eye, Marta can be seen in the distance in the first of these mosaics.

       Wild flowers starting to emerge.


Celandines and Mimosa

Crocuses

                           On the way home, Montefiascone in the distance.

Two of my local contacts have made YouTube videos of the Wind Turbines, so I have included them here for those of you that may be interested in some up close views. The second video is more recent and shows the turbines operational, quite a noise they make, as can be heard in the second part of the video. The maker of the film also states that there are expected to be around 150 eventually and that unfortunately this is a private enterprise selling energy to ENEL, the Italian electricity company.  It appears then that although Wind Energy is a valuable alternative energy source, at the moment it is not of benefit to the locals. 

                                                 Uploaded by 5quinto5 on Nov 26, 2011

                                                                 Uploaded by webtony1 on Jan 11, 2012

All the photos are my own and can be viewed in larger individual format by visiting my complete album at Flickr.com entitled Scenes From An Afternoon Walk