Update February to June 2005

What's been happening to stop me from updating??? Another broken arm!

WEATHER:
The weather here continues to be a bit odd. April was a wonderful warm month with a proliferation of white legs being aired again after their winter wrap up but then the last week in May was appalling! Our poor guests were treated to downpours and storms - it even became cold!

The first week in June saw hailstones the size of marbles. now, mid-June, it's about 38 degrees.

I can't begin to guess what we are in for for the rest of summer but I suspect it's going to be HOT.

PERSONAL:
Crikey, it's hard having 3 kids! To be honest, not an awful lot has happened but just getting the day to day things done is an adventure in itself.

We had a bit of a bad spell in the beginning of February when a fox got into the chicken coop and killed everyone. Then, the day after that, Sam the dog disappeared and we thought he'd been killed by a boar. I was very low for two weeks and for the first time ever questioned what we were doing living on a 'God forsaken' hill. However, Sam turned up at the local kennels and I took heart. We have done a bit of re-stocking and now have hatched some chicks. We went to an agricultural show and I couldn't help but buy some cute baby geese (who do sterling work eating the grass but are somewhat messy critters!). Not satisfied with this, after much tugging of Granny's heart-strings, I persuaded her to get the kids a little (and I mean tiny ) pony.

Here starts the story of how my arm was broken. It's almost too embarrassing to admit that a pony of 2 foot 2" broke my arm but that's what she did - completely by mistake!

The pot is finally off now (you can only guess how tricky it was with 3 kids and only one arm) and I have to go for some tests - it's a bit worrying that I've had both arms break in exactly the same way in under a year.

Anyway, the important thing is that we are all restocked with animals and feeling chipper about living at Casa del Sole again. The chicken coop is like a fortress, the dogs have a new fence system which keeps them from straying into the dangerous woods and all is well in our world.

BUILDING WORK:
Richard has been hard at work here again. He's just finished building a stable for the pony (she's preggers and needs somewhere to birth).

He's also been building a rather dapper decking area around the pool which is great for the guests to have a lounge around on.

GUESTS:
The summer season is upon us and we are very busy once again. never have I known so much ironing!

The first Pizza Party was enjoyed last week without any hitch. No flaming pizza but Sam was in the dog house for pinching one!

FINALLY:
I have been looking at different ways to make a buck and we are now selling Casa del Sole Organic Olive Oil directly from the farm - just email if you are interested.

I have also been selling 'Enny' handbags and purses on ebay (their factory shop is quite nearby) so if you are a bag fanatic then take a look - just type in 'Enny' and I usually have some stuff on auction.

Richard has also finally given in to his craving to DJ again - he's started doing wedding discos in the Florence/Lucca/Siena area. Lord help us if he starts on with Jimmy Savile again!