Springtime in Umbria

Since it's been a while since I've written a new post, and I've got lots of ideas but little time to write, I'm taking the easy way out - I'm posting photos of springtime in Umbria. 

Spring rolled in late this year, but, like every year, it brings with it a dizzying array of wildflowers. Their color and variety make me linger a bit longer on my walks with Daisy, who is all too happy for the extra one-on-one time with Mom (as she is no longer top dog since the birth of our daughter).

Our olive trees are filled with tiny clusters of green berries, which will turn ripe and purply-black by the time  we harvest them in November. Our vines have sprouted thick bunches of tightly huddling sour grapes, which will be sticky-sweet come vendemmia time in September. 

The fruit trees in our yard are full of new fruit, and we even discovered several that didn't bloom last year - two apple trees, a peach tree, an almond tree and a cherry tree, which has fruit ready to pick now. It's almost as though the renewed life in the house - it had stood empty for 10 years - has given renewed life to the trees as well.

The wildflowers will last another couple of more weeks, then they'll give way to a hot, dry summer, that comes replete with biting flies and bloodthirsty mosquitoes. But that's okay... I'll live with the heat and the biting insects, if that's the price I pay for this dazzling annual display of flora and fecundity. 

And at least you'll know why I haven't had time to write. 

Enjoy...

These are "broom" plants in English, but in Italian, they're called "maggio," because they bloom in May. I wish I had scent-o-rama so you could smell their sweet, delicate perfume, which blankets the hills around us. I want to swim in the smell of them!

More maggio

If you are lucky enough to stumble across a country road lined with maggio, you might not want to go home until summertime.

A magnificent cherry tree in full bloom. You can hear the low rumble of bees from 10 yards away.

Future cherries! 

Sweet little wildflowers pop up everywhere.

Even some snapdragon seeds that I tossed in the yard last summer decided to sprout

The right flower can make even a chain link fence look prettier...

Daisy gets it. She is always willing to take time to smell the flowers. And then pee on them.