Update January to April 2006

Buona Pasqua! That's 'Happy Easter' to you and me.

Weather:
It certainly is a happy Easter this year at Casa del Sole. The weather has finally turned and its HOT, HOT, HOT. In fact today we were out in swimming gear (not actually in the pool though because it is currently housing a family of frogs and other interesting, primitive and green life forms - we like to do our bit for nature!).

I've actually not written an update for so long because the weather was naff and with it came a miserable lethargy (and when you can't crow about how much better the weather is over here there doesn't really seem to be much point really!)

Anyway, now the sun is here and I suspect that I'll be complaining about being too hot very shortly.

Torio out for a walk with Daddy in our local town, Pescia

Personal:
Life has been making its relentless move forwards. The boys are growing and changing. Torio is walking and talking (admittedly only in his own private language!). Marco is free range without a nappy - he's had the hard word about potty training because he can only start nursery in September if he can control himself. If it kills me he will be trained! Death by overburdensome washing is looking likely at the moment.

Finally things are getting a little less fraught for us here on the farm - most of the big building works are done (although Richard is STILL working on our roof. I say working but the problem is that he's too busy working for other people and our roof keeps getting put off).

However, we now seem to have settled into more of a 'real life' routine. To give you an idea I'll recount my day yesterday: Gregory went to school and I attended to my emails (always a lot as I not only have many enquiries but also sell our oil over the internet on Ebay and also am the Agony Aunt for our local English Magazine ( www.luccagrapevine.com ). Then I bottled last years cider which had been languishing in a corner of the kitchen in demijohns since September. I was highly dubious about whether it was going to be palatable but to my surprise and joy it turned out to taste like Appletize with a slight sparkle and a somewhat cloudy (rustic, I like to think) look to it. Of course I had to taste every jar (quality control being very strict around here) and at the end of proceedings I can also attest that, unlike Appletize, it is highly alcoholic!

In my boozed up state I decided to tackle the weeding (to be honest, in my veg patch, you have to have a bit of Dutch courage since the weeds are more like triffids).

I planted my little peas and a load of tomatoes. This sounds fairly straight forwards but first I needed to cut the bamboo poles (we have 2 bamboo patches specifically with this gardening use in mind). Cutting bamboo is tricky - you need a very sharp little axe and a good aim and I have neither. I finally managed by hacking away with a machete gaining a spectacular array of blisters. The horses were happy though - there's nothing they like better than bamboo leaves so I left them munching away on the discarded ends whilst I used roughly 50 foot of garden twine constructing my pea tee-pee's (and try saying that after half a pint of home brew cider!).

By this time I'd sobered up a bit and the kids were yelling for lunch so lunch it was. Later on, when Gregory was back from school and Richard was back from work, we saddled up and went out for a lovely ride in the woods. Then we sat outside and had a glass of wine and looked at the view in the warm evening sunlight. Days like these are what we came here for. They don't happen so very often but when they do we really appreciate them.

Richard hard at work in Sorana - but not on my roof!!!

Animals:
Gladys is a happy goose - she was a miserable one whilst the weather was bad and had an accident (no idea how) and broke her wing but now she has perked up and started laying eggs. These are ginormous things equating to 3 normal chicken eggs. The chooks are all Ok. We even managed to hatch some chicks a couple of months ago. Four out of six have survived which isn't that bad a percentage for free range birds. One of them mysteriously vanished at only a couple of days old. All our cats and Sam the dog looked very sheepish and guilty leading me to think it was a team effort.

Only a few days ago we lost another to the buzzard family who live in our pine wood - it's a shame but that's nature for you.

Finally:
We will be moving back into the Barn next month in time to welcome our first visitors in the Farmhouse. I am looking forwards to it now that the weather is good - the outdoor sitting room is looking very appealing.

Here's to an enjoyable summer season for all of us.