Season's greetings!

I admit it. I have neglected this blog for far too long. But I have to be sincere. I have never be completely satisfied with its appearance, its posts and its projects. I wasn't ready to cuddle it and let it grow, even if it is better to say let me, my inspiration and my crafty skills grow.
So, while oil season was running very fast and I was picking olives, bottling oil, sell at a fair and prepared hundreds of Christmas orders I have meditated over this little adventure.
I meditated, meditated and meditated again.
I love this blog but things got to change. Things have to change in myself, in the way I expect this blog to help me release my creativity.
2011 will be an exciting year, there's a lot going on and I really want to share everything with you all. The New Year will find this blog a little better in its aspect and with more contents and projects. It's one of my resolutions!
For the moment... I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May Santa fulfill all your desires.

Print is not dead.

And I cannot agree more. Altough I love blogland and all the amazing girls inspiring me every day through their blogs, there is something in a magazine that gives me a familiar feeling. The printed page has a vintage vibe and you can carry it everywhere. I love to curl in my bed, at night, and read, when the house is asleep and the only light on is on my bedtable.

That's why I can't be happier to welcome Anthology, a new décor magazine, which, I hope, will replace in my heart the long lost Domino.
The only thing that makes me sad is that I live in Italy and it will take some time for me to find it... how I wish I were in the US right now....
Check out their video, it's awesome!!!!

Print Is Not Dead from Anthology Magazine on Vimeo.

September 6 to September 12

A pretty boring week for my outfits but a very active week in the countryside!

The whole week was devoted to the almonds and carobs' harvests and it is not yet done... we still have a few trees to finish and all the almonds need some sun to dry properly.

I needed a practical and it's-not-important-if-it-breaks outfit but I needed to stand by my SSS pledge. So basically, I used for the harvest activity a pair of bermudas altered by me. I thrifted them as second-hand military trousers in Florence more than 10 years ago and after a couple of summers I decided to cut them and make myself a pair of bermudas. They are perfect for working in the countryside, with those two big side pockets were I can fit all my belongings.

The evening were spent at home in another pair of bermudas which are at least another 10 years old and were overdyed by me some 5 summers ago when, at a beach party, someone spilled red wine on them... by the way, they were beige... I also resumed from the dephts of my wardrobe a refashioned t-shirt... my first and only attempt at sewing jersey...

The only time I went out was to go to the grocery store and I wore a red dress bought in London in 1997 that I took in and shortened last year but I couldn't take a picture of it as once came home I fed my dog and half of his dinner went on my dress. So, straight to the laundry!!!!

I have to say that, even if I didn't sport some me-made garments or gorgeous outfits I am proud of my more than a decade old clothes... I really do think that the age of my clothes is a real part of this challenge, what do you think?

A roadtrip to Magna Graecia

Last weekend, in order to celebrate my birthday and our fourth anniversary, my boyfriend and I (together with my self-stitched garments) travelled to Agrigento to visit the Valley of the Temples, one of the best archaeological sites in Southern Italy to see the remains of the Greek civilization, more than two thousand years ago.

As we wanted a little adventure, we stayed in a camping on the seaside and had the privilege to put up our tent under a huge thunderstorm...

On Saturday we went to visit the temples and the nearby museum and then had fun bathing in the waves of the Mediterranean sea.

On Sunday, before going home, we visited a huge rock overlooking the sea, known here as the Stairs of the Turks (I forgot why...). Due to the composition of the rock, it is all white and it creates a huge contrast with the blue of sea and of the sky... a perfect place to snap some pictures!!!

We had fun, celebrated in the best possible way our years together and learnt so many things on the past life of the beautiful island we live in. But, as today my written english is not very fluent, it's better I let my pics speak for themselves...

September 3 - San Leone - after the rain

September 3 - some fun in a refashioned shirt

September 4 - Valley of the Temples - visiting in a me-made skirt

September 5 - La Scala dei Turchi

September 5 - La Scala dei Turchi - me-made dress

MIA & SSS

I've been "Missing In Action" for more than a month (I didn't even realize that so much time went by from my last post) for two main reasons. The first is that we've been wihout an Internet connection for half the month, the second is that August means holidays!!! We just stayed at home greeting and taking care of the guests that rented our small cottage and had lots of friends visiting. Therefore, blogging, sewing and crafting were almost not allowed, if only for some scarce exceptions (but this is a surprise)!

Today is September the 1st and it marks the beginning of this new big adventure: Self-Stitched-September.
I woke up this morning terrified by the thought that I have only three or four handmade garments ready to wear and that September will be full of adventures and things to do: my birthday (this weekend, two days of travelling), almonds harvest, friends visiting for a week (maybe a trek on Mount Etna) and, on the 27th, a plane that will take me to Switzerland to visit my mom.
My sewing pile gets bigger and bigger everyday and yesterday, while trying to finish a refashion, I finally realized that the road to sewing is very long... and I have just started it...
Anyway, I will do my best to keep up with this challenge and will use even the smallest refashions and alterations I have in my closet. Isn't this all about sustainability and recycling? Well, the 70% of my closet is made of garments that had been worn before I was even born. And this, for me, is as important as handmade.
This is the outfit for today, a long day at home waiting for the gardeners to come (it's noon and no sign of them...).My top was eventually a dress bought in 1998 in Florence, on a Indonesian market stall. I worn it every summer, it was perfect to go to the seaside. Then, two years ago, it broke in the rear and I was lost. It cherished so many gorgeous and happy memories and was so fresh for the hot days that I couldn't part from it. So, after one year lying in the "pile", I cut it on my lower waist and, with the fabric that wasn't torn I made a ruffle that I handsewn to its bottom. Now, it's something like a tunic top that I keep wearing at least three times a week in summer!

Tomorrow will be better, I swear!

Animals...

I love to take pictures of animals. Whether it's my dog, my mom's, cats, donkeys, horses, butterflies, gooses, worms, ants or birds. Here are some of my faves, taken in the last few months! Hope you like them as much as I do!

A cooking mini tutorial: making tomato sauce

I've wanted to post a tutorial for a long time but I have always felt a little intimidated. It's not for an ungoddess to teach something, right? However, as I have spent the last two weeks making this, I decided to devote my very first tutorial to the making of tomato sauce. Plus, I am Italian and my country is the place where you can eat the best "spaghetti al pomodoro".
Just follow the numbers, it's really easy!

1. pick or buy some very ripe tomatoes, they should squeeze a little when touched;

2. cut them in halves or quarters (it depends on the size of tomatoes) and put them in a strainer to drain (just a couple of minutes or you will loose some salsa);

3. put them in a very big pot and add, only if you wish, onion, basil, salt and pepper. Let them boil at least for 10 minutes (boiling time it's up to you, it depends on how you like your salsa, I usually let mine boil from 20 to 40 minutes). Put them aside and let them cool for an hour;

4-5-6. put them in a food mixer (I dont' know the English name for the one I used in the pictures) and reduce them to a sauce. If you plan to use your salsa immediately then you're done, enjoy your pasta! If you wish to preserve it for the winter, keep on reading;

7. prepare the bottles, they should be clean and dry (we have recycled beer bottles for a year);

8. put the sauce in the bottles, filling up to the 2/3 of the bottle collar;

9. cork them as beer bottles are (we have a tool made specifically for this) and put them in a very big pot. Cover them with water and let them boil for 20/25 minutes (to sterilize them). Let them cool in the same pot, it usually takes 12 hours;

10. prepare some nice and fun labels... I know, this is the fun part!!!!

11. store them in a cool and dry place. They should keep from 6 months to 1 year;

12. enjoy your salsa on your pasta or wherever you wish!!!

I hope this mini tutorial was clear and I excuse myself if some words were not correct... I am not an English mother tongue and do my best to write correctly.
If some of you have other ways of making salsa, I would love to read your recipes... so, don't be shy and say hello!!!!