Newsletter - July 08.

 

Time to BBQ.

I love them. BBQing on the hot balmy summer nights was always my idea of life in the med. And the men do all the work! Well not really, but they do most of the meat cooking, whilst my Sicilian girlfriends help a lot too. It gets a bit hectic just leading up to the BBQ.. and then it all miraculously seems to get together.

We are usually quite a diverse bunch of people. On this occassion, there are Sicilian, Italian, American, Maltese, and British. (Andrea)

A Unique Art Show

Sicily is a country where there is a constant stream of events. The lovely thing is, it is so social and easy to be involved.
Sicilians are an artistic race and some entrepreneurs in a nearby mountain town had a brilliant idea. They got together and invited five Sicilian sculptures, living away from the island, to come over and produce a piece each in one week, working outdoors in the village “belleveder” (that means literally “beautiful view” but refers to the main street or square in a town with the most noteworthy view).
They were each given an enormous block of limestone and left to get on with it. For a whole week there were events in the square while work continued ceaselessly. These events ranged from Discoes to poetry reading, all with a local flavour. As the sculptors preferred to work mostly at night and sleep in the day, to avoid the fierce sun, I would say it was a pretty unique occassion and a huge success in the end.
It merits a lot more photos here but we only have space for one so I had to make a difficult choice. (Mark)

Make Hay (stack) while the Sun Shines (fiercely)

Once again Mummy and Daddy had to buy the hay for the coming year. This year, we needed more than ever because we now have fourteen horses. Dad brought in some hired hands to help build the stacks although mum and him still worked too. I wish I could help but the bales are too heavy for me to stack up. Instead, I try to help with other things. (Pippa)

A "Zorse" is Born..

Not fresh news and not exclusive to us... but I just thought I would include this anyway, as it is so amazing and interesting for us horse enthusiasts. And.. it did happen in Italy.. although it was on the mainland not here in Sicily.
This is a cross between a domestic horse and a zebra !! The owner was keeping a herd of both species together in one field and has been doing so for many years. I suppose he must have been as surprised as everybody when he made the discovery. It was previously thought that such an animal was an impossibility. (Mark)