Saturday 18th May

Saturday 18th May

This was a rather messy day in some ways. It was Daniela’s birthday and there was a family meal planned but we had a misunderstanding about whether it was lunch or dinner. So we decided after breakfast and a brief laundry session, to go to Megalo to get some things and also to call into a florist in Rosciano and get a table decoration for what we thought would be a dinner. On the way to Megalo we called into the florist and arranged for the table decoration which we would pick up at 5 p.m.

We then went on to Megalo and bought some birthday cards, some groceries and other things. Then, deciding not to eat at the mall, we started for home only to get a phone call from Stefania that Daniela, her daughter Beatrice and Emmanuelle’s daughters, Elisabetha and Camilla were arriving in half an hour for lunch!!!! So we rushed back and found Daniela and Beatrice at the house and the other two young ladies appeared soon after and we sat down to lunch of a dish of stuffed crepes, pizzettas, arrosticini and salad. It was all delicious but very filling. To finish off there was a birthday cake and the singing of ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘Tanti Auguri’.

Sadly, the meal was overshadowed by some disagreements between Stefania and Daniela. Soon after the meal was finished, Daniela and Beatrice took off for a few days in Naples and Elisabetha and Camilla back to Pescara. It was very nice to see them, even if briefly.

It was the last day of the full moon and gardeners feel that this is a good time to plant. So Gabriele spent the day planting tomato plants for the summer’s crop. Hopefully the good auguries of the lunar cycle will bring forth a good harvest and outcome to Daniela's problems.

Later in the afternoon, Stefania had to give a speech about the book she has written about the work of women on farms in Abruzzo. There is a small group of women in Pescara who describe themselves as eco-feminists and are dedicated to ‘Planet Earth’, environmental issues from women’s perspectives. They had invited Stefania to talk about her book and also the methods that she used for sustainable farming and use of the land. So, we made a quick run to the florist to pick up the now redundant flowers originally intended for dinner!!, which we deposited back at the house before jumping into Bruno’s car for the trip to Pescara. We drove into Pescara with Bruno, parked the car in the apartment garage and went to the Modern Art Museum, almost next door only to find the event to which Stefenia had been invited to address was at a different location, some distance away. Bruno had to extricate the car from the garage and we drove to the new location with Stefania only 15 minutes late.

The event was called (in English) ‘Planet Earth - for a culture of Radical Change’. Stefania delivered her talk on the subject of the book she has written which is entitled Autrice di Contadina d’Abruzzo. The book concerns the work of women, often left alone when the menfolk were away at war or at other work. The women, cooked, cleaned, worked the fields of the small Abruzzese farms and brought up the children often alone and single handed. Stefania feels that they have never had the recognition they deserved with their quiet unsung but very hard work that they undertook in, often very difficult circumstances. The last chapter in her book concerns her grand-mother Maria Donata, just such a woman who Stefania loved and admired very much and who provides much of the inspiration behind La Fattoria di Maria Donata. The book is as much a tribute to her as anything but also to the other unsung women who had contributed so much to the economy and social life of the Region. Their work and lives should be recorded and not forgotten. The young people of today should know where they came from and how they got to the often comfortable lives they live now. Sadly, there were few young faces at the event.

After the speech, Stefania sold some of her books which she signed for the purchasers. Then, we called Bruno and he came and picked us up in the car and we returned to the apartment building, parked in the apartment garage and took a nice evening walk down the pedestrian precinct of Pescara. On this very pleasant Saturday evening, it was quite crowded.

We ended up at Berardo’s Gelateria close to the apartment, where we had gelato and rested for a while. Then, picking up the car from the nearby apartment, we drove home, still full from lunch and off to bed.