Once home, Mum and Dad went to settle themselves into the apartment while Stuart and I busied ourselves preparing lunch. The weather was beautiful and plenty warm enough for an al fresco lunch (a theme that continued more or less throughout the week - and it was certainly a much better week of weather than they had when they visited us last October). After lunch we were presented with piles of goodies brought from the UK - most notable of which were a series of little parcels all beautifully wrapped up in wrapping paper with hand written labels: gifts for Lucca, Florence and Reggie from our nephew and nieces Joseph, Naomi and Hannah. Lucca and Florence were the lucky recipients of some very tasty-looking packets of real-meal treats, while Reggie received a rope ball from Naomi, a crocodile-shaped chew from Hannah (which he had carried off and half demolished before we even realised it was edible!), and a bright orange rubber pig toy from Joseph, complete with oink. Reggie was a little unsure of the oinking pig at first, but quickly realised it was the best toy he's ever had, and ran around the garden oinking with it.
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| Reggie meets Piggie. |
Mum and Dad were both tired from their travelling and an early morning start, but felt up to a gentle dog walk in the afternoon, so we all piled into the car and drove to the spot further along the river near to the Da Vita agraria where we parked the car and headed down along the river, with Reggie happily charging up and down the banks and between the four of us.
By the time we got home it was nearly 4.30pm, and with the clocks having changed the previous night, we realised there would only be about an hour's worth of daylight left! Stuart and I quickly grabbed tools, and were soon joined by Dad to do some work on the fencing around the former Goose Island (soon to be chicken enclosure) before the daylight faded and forced us indoors.
Monday
Monday morning saw Stuart heading off to work up in Vellano, while Mum, Dad and I busied ourselves at home. While Mum moved some acacias that I'd cut the previous day, Dad and I moved a pile of chopped logs (that Allison and I had split last week) down from the top terrace to the temporary woodpile for next year, at which point Mum took over the job of stacking it. Dad and I then moved a large pile of ash poles down the terraces to the wood pile before turning our attention once again to the chicken fencing. Mum, meanwhile went for a wander and to explore the woods.
Stuart eventually came home for a late lunch of cucumber soup (made in the summer from our glut of cucumbers), which seemed to go down well with everyone - al fresco of course, as it was another gloriously sunny day.
After lunch we all headed up the hill to Vellano to give Reggie a walk along the cava track, before coming back down the hill and realising that we were about to lose our daylight. This year, putting the clocks back seems to have really made a difference to us, and we are finding ourselves feeling frustrated at the shortness of the days which seems to put a stop to our work prematurely.
Tuesday
On Tuesday morning, Dad, Stuart and I started the day doing more fencing. That was until we lost Stuart to the man with the tractor. While Dad and I carried on with the fencing, Stuart went out to greet Claudio, who had come from Maionchi (the shop that sold us the backpack strimmer) with his truck and a tractor loaded onto the back of it. The idea was that Stuart and Claudio would give the tractor a trial so that they could see how it would cope with the terrain of our driveway and (more importantly) the donkey tracks. So while Stuart chugged up and down the drive on a tractor, Dad and I continued with the fencing, while Mum went on a search for chestnuts. The verdict on the tractor was that it would be perfect for our use - provided we clean up the donkey tracks a little (i.e. moving stones and brambles out the way). We need to sort out some paperwork before we can make the purchase, but for now it seems that the search for the right vehicle is over.
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| Playing with a tractor... Claudio proves it can cope with the donkey tracks. |
By the time Stuart had finished playing tractors (and Claudio had taken the tractor away again), it was lunchtime. Once again, we sat in the fresh air on the patio, this time enjoying a leek and potato soup from the freezer. It being Tuesday, the afternoon was devoted to our second Italian lesson with our teacher Johnny at David & Sarah's house in Vellano. We left Reggie home alone but took Mum and Dad up the hill with us and dropped them at the bottom of a track that leads to Macchino, the village above Vellano, and while we went for our lesson, they walked the track.
We had another very enjoyable and productive lesson with Johnny, after which we said our goodbyes to David & Sarah and went to find Mum & Dad. We found them gradually making their way back down the road towards Vellano so picked them up and came home for an evening by the fire.
Wednesday
The theme for the day on Wednesday was wet. As predicted, the rain started coming down on Tuesday night and didn't let up until the morning. The morning was damp but not as wet as it had been during the night, so we all headed into town with the plan of dividing tasks between us. We dropped Mum & Dad in the main square so that they could browse the shops in search of postcards and have a wander around. Meanwhile, Stuart dropped Reggie and me off by the river to go for a walk while he headed off in the car to go and get some fuel, get some plumbing supplies, and pick up the wood he'd ordered from the wood yard for building our new shed.
All seemed fine until Reggie realised that he had been short-changed - once he'd run around relieving himself on every blade of grass he could find, he suddenly looked up and realised it was only me with him. As I walked off in our usual direction along the river, he simply turned on his heels and ran back towards the bridge at which we'd been dropped off by Stuart! I called him to me, and he came, but as soon as I started walking again, he'd run back again. I decided to put him on the lead, and he reluctantly walked along with me for a while, but before we'd even reached the first bridge he sat down and went on strike - he simply wouldn't budge. Feeling frustrated and more than a little bit put out, I gave in and turned back in the direction in which Reggie wanted to go. He all but dragged me all the way back to the bridge, but with Stuart still on his rounds of errands I knew Reggie would be disappointed and disorientated if we went back up to the car park and found that Stuart wasn't there. Besides which, he needed a walk!
I led (dragged) him on the lead past the car park, and kept him on the lead until we'd gone past the next bridge, this time heading in the opposite direction to that in which we usually go. When we got far enough away from our drop-off point in the opposite direction, Reggie seemed less distracted so I let him off the lead again, and this time he happily ran around sniffing and walking in the same direction as me (progress!). We walked past the hospital and all the way along the river bank as far as the path goes on that side of the river before turning back to go and meet Stuart, who had come to pick us up despite not having completed his round of errands. By the time Stuart picked us up we'd managed almost an hour's walk, but I was disappointed at Reggie's apparent lack of enthusiasm at walking alone with me!
We headed to the wood yard to load the car up with wood for the new shed before picking up Mum and Dad and heading home. After the weather forced us to have our first indoor lunch of the week, Stuart headed off to the doctor's surgery to wait to see the doctor for a repeat prescription while Mum and Dad came up to the house with bowls of chestnuts to peel. I left them there peeling chestnuts and baby-sitting Reggie so that I could have my Italian lesson with Samantha in the apartment in peace!
Mum and Dad had kindly offered to take us out for dinner on Wednesday night, and we'd decided to try somewhere different. Locanda Zacco in Goraiolo had been recommended to us by a couple of different people, so we decided to try there. As we set out, the weather was just getting wet again, and as we drove up the road, through Vellano, we drove through patches of fog and mist. As we left Vellano and headed further on up the road, the fog became less patchy and more, well, like a white-out. It was a tense drive up the hill as we could barely see the edges of the twisty mountain road - full beam headlights only made it worse. The relief of finally arriving at our destination was tempered slightly by the thought of having to do the same journey in reverse - but we clung onto the hope that by the time we'd finished, the weather would have cleared.
The restaurant was lovely - the owners were incredibly friendly, the atmosphere and surroundings were homely and comfortable and the food both generous and delicious. Despite being the only people in the restaurant, we had a very enjoyable evening with fantastic food and service. And, indeed, by the time the meal came to its end, the fog had cleared - only to be replaced by thunder and high winds! Clearly the storm had blown the fog away, but we figured it was still better to drive home in rain and wind than in a complete white-out!
Our drive home featured a fallen tree in the road, a squashed porcupine at the side of the road (not squashed by us, I hasten to add), a baby deer hopping off up the verge into the trees, roads so covered in leaves and chestnuts that it seemed like we were driving through snow, and then when we finally pulled into our driveway, we were met with 6-8 wild boar running up and down the drive! We had a good look at the pigs before they finally darted off into the trees. What an eventful evening!
Thursday
Thursday morning was once again wet, and as we headed down the road into Pescia with Mum and Dad to deliver them to the train station, it felt as if someone was throwing buckets of water onto the windscreen of the car. Mum and Dad had planned to spend the day in Florence, and thankfully the sky looked brighter in that direction. Once we'd dropped them off and made sure they had their tickets safely, we headed to the river with Reggie for a quick walk. This time, he was as happy as Larry with both me and Stuart walking along with him (I'm pretty sure he wouldn't care if I wasn't there, as long as Stuart was there...). We rewarded ourselves after our walk with a coffee and a pasty (breakfast) in Franco's bar in the square.
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| A murky morning. |
After that, it was a day of office work for me, while Stuart did some long overdue admin in the office, until it was time to collect Mum and Dad from the station at around 5pm after a full and seemingly satisfying (but tiring) day in Florence.
Friday
Friday morning saw Dad and me out on the chicken enclosure fencing again - this time running barbed wire around the perimeter on the outside of the fence as an extra anti-fox device. Meanwhile, Stuart made a start on digging and pouring concrete footings for the shed while Mum finished preparing the chestnuts she'd picked.
Later in the morning, I switched to the strimmer, going over the recently cleared terraces with the metal blade on the strimmer to try to get up all the bits of bramble and roots that hadn't been caught first time around, then raking over them again.
We switched back to an al fresco lunch again after just two days of having been chased inside by inclement weather, and in fact the sun was so strong, bright and hot that we needed the umbrella up to give us some shade.
The afternoon saw us doing more strimming and raking (me), shed work (Stuart), and Mum and Dad started cutting and stripping down some ash poles from the terraces. Stuart headed off mid-afternoon to drive to Pistoia to go and pick up some banner material he'd ordered from one of Donatella's contacts. The material will replace the tarpaulins we currently have covering our wood pile and machinery. We have literally lost count of the number of new tarpaulins we've had to go out and buy as each time we get any heavy rain and/or high winds, the weight of the water collecting on them plus the force of the wind causes them to rip. Donatella has had covers made from this banner material that have lasted for at least 3 years, so we are hoping that this will be a more permanent solution for keeping our wood pile dry.
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| Damage to the tarpaulins after the rain. The new banner materials will hopefully stop this happening. |
By the time Stuart came home it was a little after 4pm and knowing it would soon be dark, we decided to all down tools and go out for a quick Reggie walk. We decided just to take him along the San Lorenzo track, as the light would be fading quickly, so off we went, with Reggie pulling us along.
We stopped off at Amanda's on the way back home to pop in and buy something for Mum & Dad's dinner. Stuart and I were due to go out for dinner, and we wanted to make sure Mum & Dad had something good to eat (tripe in tomato sauce for Mum - which she assures us was delicious - and lasagne for Dad) while they babysat Reggie.
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| Would you babysit this face? |
Saturday
Saturday started with bleary eyes for us after Friday's late night, but we were soon up and at it in the bright, fresh sunny morning. After checking to make sure Mum and Dad were suitably rested, we decided to make going for a walk the first activity of the day. Mum and Dad had expressed an interest in walking to the abandoned village of Lignana, in woods just above Sorana, so that's where we headed. It was a fresh morning, and when we set out I almost wished I'd brought another jumper with me, but as soon as we got going on the steep upwards climb through the trees I warmed up and was glad I only had one jumper to carry! Reggie had a great time snuffling around through the leaves and running back to check on Mum & Dad every now and then, and after about an hour of walking we made it to the chapel and the ruins of the old village. Stuart and I were amazed to find that it was just yards further than we'd reached earlier in the summer - on that occasion we'd lost the path and by the time we'd found it again (not realising how close we were) we'd decided to head back to the car as it was so hot and Reggie had been running out of water. Anyway, it was good to find the buildings this time, and after a good nose around them we headed back down to the car. By the time we all made it back to the bottom, we'd been out for about 2 hours, Reggie had thoroughly stretched his legs and we'd all enjoyed the walk.
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| Who are your friends? |
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| Waiting patiently. |
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| "Are you coming??!" |
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| Lignana |
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| The church at Lignana |
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| Lignana church. |
It was time to start preparing lunch (Ligurian potato salad) when we got home, which of course we ate in the shade of the umbrella on the patio. Not only are we eating al fresco at the end of October, but we need the umbrella to keep the intense heat of the sun off!
The afternoon was filled with more raking and strimming, chestnut peeling, ash pole stripping and so on, until the sun dropped below the hill opposite and the light began to fade. One final job for the day was to have a quick run into town to Esselunga for a few essentials (thankfully not a 'full' shopping trip), before coming home to light the fire, cook dinner (chicken in red with with sultanas and pine nuts, served with boiled potatoes), and relax!
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