A Day near the Sea - Marketing

Today, @clareartista and I went to one of the seaside cities near(ish) us to check out the Saturday market there.

Aside from there being some nice food stalls, most markets in this region/province ( Molise ) have been pretty underwhelming. The one in Vasto did not disappoint.

We bought a couple of nice colorful, fun, high quality second hand clothes for a few Euros each and also found a terracotta oven dish that we plan to prepare many yummy future meals in.

We also enjoyed our first coffee in several weeks with a slice of pizza each ( only in Italy! ) in a bar with one of the best vibes ever. ☕🍕

We saw the sea from a distance but decided not to go there as it wasn't really the day for it.

beach and sea in the background,.litter in the foreground... ( Italians do seem to love to dump trash in nature )

And then, after part 2 of the market, we decided to go for a trip to a biggish supermarket, to treat ourselves to some things that we usually don't buy.

In all honesty, Clare and I are not a fan of supermarkets ( bright lights, too much choice, processed stuff from the other side of the world, etc. ) and we like to support local shops and get fresher, regional products, if we can help it. But we aren't the richest and supermarkets are actually cheaper, so we make an exception about once a month, when we venture to a bigger city.

Today was such a day.

We spent a bit too much time in there but got loads of yummy goodies that will serve as the basis/inspiration for a lot of our upcoming dishes. We love to eat and we love to cook ( for each other ) so this isn't a punishment! 🍴

We made it back home about an hour before sunset ( the days are super short this time of year ) and enjoyed a wee walk on our magical land with our cat Fridha tagging along with us, taking occassional spurts and running up tree trunks.

She sure seems to enjoy her new life in the countryside and is rediscovering her wild side a bit whilst still being very sweet.

More on Fridha in my caturday write up from a week ago:

Yesterday afternoon, Fridha was distracting me too much, whilst I was preparing a chicken dish. I had to move her outside. I took a photo of her through the keyhole. Later that day, as well today, she enjoyed plenty of chicken bones.

Look carefully and you will see Clare. sitting in a chair on our terrazzo.

This was just after returning from the city, today. We had to get back into our countryside energy and it was warmer outside than inside our funny shack of a house, especially as the mini wood burner wasn't roaring yet

and here's a zoomed out version...

The aformentioned wood stove is now doing its utmost best to make our bedroom a little bit more comfy. In fact, it even heats up a kettle to refill our hot water bottles with.

More on that stove and the latest saga in our turbulent but adventurous homesteading life, including photos, can be found in Clare's latest post

We have hardly seen a ray of sunshine in the last two days...

but it does make for nice mushroom weather.

Yesterday, Clare discovered this crazy purple blue ( bluer on the photo ) in our garden.

And today she found the following cauliflower one that might actually be edible.

There is so much to explore and this is really only the beginning. We can't wait to find out - and share more!

Sending love from Molise, Italy!