Hit the ground running

Yesterday morning Mom and I took Reggie into Pescia for a walk, the weather couldn't have been more different to the day before when she arrived, the forecast predicted a clear warmer front coming in for a few days and it wasn't wrong, clear blue skies and warm sunshine accompanied our walk along the river and the sun had some real warmth to it, I for one was feeling over dressed in a T-shirt and light fleece, the T-shirt would have been just fine.

After a leisurely walk we put Reggie into the car and went for coffee in the nearby coffee shop, not one I'd tried before but I was told by Helen that it was 'OK' and indeed it was, two good cappuccinos later we went back up the valley home to make a start on lunch which today was a reprise of the spicy Moroccan chickpea soup we made last week and an hour later we all sat down to steaming bowls of spicy soup with fresh crusty Tuscan bread.

As lunch was a bit late it was about two o'clock before we had finished and while Helen went back into the office for another hours work Mom and I sat on the patio drinking tea in the warm sunshine.

After tea we got changed and went to work for the remainder of the afternoon, first job was to move the huge pile of wood from the lawn to next years woodpile so while mom loaded the wheelbarrows I ran them to and from the wood pile, that done, mom got to work weeding the herb gardens and sweeping the patio while I made a start on pruning the olive trees on the terraces, we only have forty or so but it's a labour of love and a job that needs some thought and careful cutting, especially as it's all new to me, I'm told that even experienced pruners will only cut around ten trees a day so there's four solid days of pruning at least in front of me.

It wasn't long before Helen appeared and went up to the top terrace behind the house and made a start cutting back the small acacia trees, with it really feeling like winter is on its way out there's a sense of urgency creeping in to get on top of the outside before the greenery starts growing in earnest which will keep us somewhat busy into the summer months.

As Mom and I packed up for the day Helen reappeared from the house with her trusty hedge trimmers and disappeared back up the hill for an hours trimming before coming in to join us in the house to finish packing for her return trip to England the following morning.

After the animals were indoors and fed we settled down to a dinner of artichoke gnocchi which was delicious, even if I do say so myself and now a firm weekly favourite of ours and will be on our menu for as long as we can get our hands on the beautiful Italian artichokes.

After a busy day it was an early night for us all, retiring at ten for the evening with a prompt start in store the next morning to drop Helen at Pisa airport.

We all arose early the next morning (this morning) and were in the car with Reggie before eight and after filling up on methane were west bound on the autostrada for the trip to Pisa during which we all admired the snow covered mountains to the north of us, not only were the marble mountains of Carrara under glistening snow but also the high Apennines above the Garfagnana valley where the ski resort of Abetone is situated.

After a teary goodbye in the departures lounge of Pisa airport we left Helen in the security queue and got back into the car to head homeward bound.

Half way along the autostrada we took the exit for Lucca and decided that on such a lovely sunny day a walk around the city up on the fortified walls was in order and after parking in the usual car park we took Reggie past the market and up onto the relatively quiet walls.

After half an hours strolling in the morning sunshine (which was about half the circumference of the city wall) we took a short detour into town to a coffee shop for a couple of cappuccinos and a light breakfast in the form of a prosciutto crudo pannini, now feeling fully refreshed we hopped back onto the wall and finished the loop before going back to car to head home for lunch.

Before getting back to the house we stopped off at Amanda's alimentari in Pietrabuona to grab something for lunch (pork and olive stew with rosemary roasted potatoes) and then sat out on the patio to eat it in yet another beautifully warm afternoon, so warm that Mom even caught a bit of sun burn, in February!

After lunch and a cup of tea with some fresh Cantuccini biscuits straight out of Amanda's oven we got changed and went back to Olive tree pruning for the afternoon and as I pruned Mom followed behind collecting my mess up and piling it up ready for burning and we whiled away the afternoon  like this until the sun went down over the hills opposite around quarter to five at which point we lit a bonfire to dispose of the olive prunings.

While the last of the fire embers died out mom collected wood for he evenings fire and lit the wood burner while I put the geese away and and rounded up the animals for the evening, a job made considerably easier due the the fact that Lucca was already indoors this, yesterday he gave us the run around for about twenty minutes before Helen got her hands on him to bring him in, I'm not sure whether he'd spent all of his energy today catching and killing a bird but one of our feline friends had left us a neckless present on the bedroom floor for our return back from the airport.

As the fire got going and I tapped away to bring you this post while Reggie snores on the sofa next to me with his feet twitching away while he dreams of whatever it is dogs dream of, in this case most likely of his prosciutto bone that he ate on the terraces this afternoon.

So with the first two days of Mom's holiday behind her she's hit the ground running and the help has been greatly appreciated as Spring doesn't appear to waiting for no one!