love thursday: autumn love blooms

Even in Calabria we have falling leaves and some gorgeous autumn colors (albeit later in the season), but not everything is dying off right now.

This little group of hearts blooms along the path I walk several times a day with the pooches:

And they make me smile every time.

What makes you smile each and every time you see it (or him or her)?

Happy Love Thursday everyone!

17 Beans of Wisdom to “love thursday: autumn love blooms”
  1. aah bella, happy love thursday to you!

    nyc/caribbean ragazza’s last blog post..Life is over for women after 44?

    Hope you have a great day 🙂

  2. awedree
    10.23.2008

    My niece’s beautiful face 🙂 Just warms my heart; it’s almost like I see all of my family in her face/eyes

    Happy luv Thursday to you too!

    Aw, that’s sweet Awedree 🙂

  3. 10.23.2008

    Happy Love Thursday!

    I have a picture of my babe grinning on my desktop, and every time I start up my computer it makes me smile. Of course, it doesn’t compare to the real thing, sometimes I cry with tears of joy when I look at her!

    KC’s last blog post..1000 things

    Awwwwwwwww! What a great photo to have on your desktop 🙂

  4. 10.23.2008

    Seeing my kids always makes me smile but another thing that I love (which is kind of silly) is eating my favourite candy, Sweet Tarts. I bought a years supply of them when I was in Canada. Yes, I’m addicted!

    Milanese Masala’s last blog post..Ciao Davide!

    Ooh I enjoy Sweet Tarts as well…they used to be the eyes in the “woodpecker” ice cream cones from Mister Softee!

  5. 10.23.2008

    Something that always makes me smile: whenever I check on my girls before I go to sleep and find that my two-year-old has climbed into bed with her big sister. I love that they find comfort in each other.

    Happy Love Thursday!

    Katie in MA’s last blog post..Love sometimes IS about material things.

    Oh that is so adorable!!!

  6. 10.23.2008

    Seeing my son’s smiley face every morning!

    Happy Love Thursday to you, too!

    Aw, how sweet 🙂

  7. 10.23.2008

    Seeing the sunrise…a bright full moon in the sky…a colourful meadow or autumn forest of trees. My daughter and I singing in the car!

    lucy’s last blog post..Five Things You Should Do Daily

    They would all make me smile too 🙂

  8. 10.23.2008

    Those heart leaves are so sweet!

    I love that you see love all around you, that it is never lost on you, no matter where you are.

    I love that you share it with everyone, every week.

    I love the vanilla coffee in my mug that I am not supposed to have, but I am sipping it anyway.

    I love fall.

    XO
    Scarlett & Viaggiatore

    Wanderlust Scarlett’s last blog post..Flowers

    Ah the forbidden vanilla coffee tastes the sweetest 🙂

  9. 10.23.2008

    Lovely! Happy Love thursday Michelle!

    bonggamom’s last blog post..For the love of football

    Thank you Bonggamom 🙂

  10. My nephew makes me smile … just thinking of him, actually. I’m a sap. I know that!

    I’m right there with you 🙂

  11. 10.23.2008

    Everytime my sister emails me a picture of either or both of her grandsons. My great-nephews. Dan & Dave. They are so gorgeous. That’s when I wish I lived closer. Happy Love Thursday!

    Kath’s last blog post..organize your desk day

    That’s so cute! I *love* great-aunts and great-uncles 🙂

  12. Gil
    10.24.2008

    My great nieces and nephews. Nice picture. What kind of plant is it?

    I have no idea. It’s probably poisonous to animals since it’s fuzzy and none of them ever touch it 😉

  13. 10.26.2008

    I think this is such a cool feature – I love how you find the hearts everywhere.

    jen of a2eatwrite’s last blog post..Blog Blast for Education: Geoffrey Canada and The Harlem Children’s Zone

    Me too Jen 🙂

  14. It makes me smile to be greeted by my dogs wet licks in the morning. Messy, but precious.

    I do hope to see Calabria’s autumn beauty one day!

    I love doggie kisses too 🙂

  15. Pat
    10.28.2008

    I was so excited to see this little plant. It so happens that I discovered this plant last fall at a pensione in Toscana, San Buona Ventura…veramente un bel posto vicino a Bagno Vignoni

    but….the interesting thing about this plant is that it has a brain. Please…go and observe this plant over a season. From those cute yellow flowers will come a cucumber-like fruit. There will also be some sprouts that have a very interesting behavior. Using a garden tool, go and rustle the plant and it will throw off a stinky spray at you, a defense mechanism. The really mind boggling thing is that if you annoy it enough, it will remember you and spray you when you even come near, not even bothering it.

    I was so intrigued by this plant that I wanted to bring home a sprig, but I couldn’t stand the smell!

    Pat, hoping that’s two beans worth 🙂

    Much more than two beans, Pat–grazie!

    P has always told me never to touch it, that it emits something nasty, so I’ve trusted him–and if it’s going to remember me, even better that I have since I walk by it several times a day! I’ve never seen little fruits on it, but that could be just because of where it’s located, which is a crack in the cement where it surely doesn’t get great nutrients…but I’ll be watching (and not touching it) just in case 😉

  16. Pat
    10.29.2008

    Well, I tell you. If it were me, I would transplant the little devil to a place where it would have a chance to entertain me for life! Oh, the simple pleasures.

    On the morning we left the B & B, I wanted to snap a few photos so that I could research it at home. As I sat on the railroad tie, the darned thing squirted me and I didn’t even see it happen. The stench gave it away and my husband recoiled when I got back in the car. Luckily it dissipated before long.

    I am completely intrigued. I think it was called a spitting cucumber!

    Two other things. I enjoy your blog from time to time…and my darling DIL is a Duke Grad.

    I just asked P if he knew the name and he doesn’t, but spitting cucumber sounds about right. He said when he was young, he used to practice trying to take the little cucumber-like things off of the plant…with even the slightest touch, he said, they’d explode. Blech. He said he finally succeeded after many, many, icky tries 😉

    Please pass along my best regards to your Blue Devil DIL, and thanks so much for reading 🙂

  17. Pat
    10.29.2008

    OK…just one more comment!

    The squirting doesn’t come from the cucumber itself. They also produce a little spout like tentacle, like the pouring spout on a teapot. That’s where the spray comes from. Gee…I didn’t see any exploding fruit. That compounds the fun! 🙂 I did a post, complete with pictures, on ST last year in November, probably in the Italy department. I called the thread “Plant with a Brain.”

    Thanks for the tip on your posts! I don’t think P ever experienced any squirting, just the exploding fruit. I, on the other hand, have never even seen fruit on this plant, so I’ll keep an eye out….

Michelle KaminskyMichelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived. 

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Recipes

 

Homemade apple butter
Green beans, potatoes, and pancetta
Glazed Apple Oatmeal Cinnamon Muffins
Pasta with snails alla calabrese
Onion, Oregano, and Thyme Focaccia
Oatmeal Banana Craisin Muffins
Prosciutto wrapped watermelon with bel paese cheese
Fried eggs with red onion and cheese
Calabrian sausage and fava beans
Ricotta Pound Cake