Back in the game

Having started last week with snow on the hills, Saturday morning was as if someone had flipped a switch and turned summer on - or at least spring. We awoke to a lovely mild morning with bright sunshine - and promptly took the opportunity to have our first al fresco breakfast of the year while taking in our view. This was definitely what we have been missing for several months - while it hasn't been a particularly cold winter per se, since Christmas it has felt as if it has been grey and damp almost continuously, and it was a welcome relief to feel the sun on our faces.

After breakfast it was time to take Reggie for a walk, so after a stop at Nerone for a coffee, we headed up the Sorana road and into the woods the other side of the village. We were soon stripping off layers and walking in t-shirts, such was the warmth of the sun - we could barely believe it was less than a week since the ground was covered in snow.

By the time we got back from our walk it was close to midday, so we opted for an early lunch - al fresco once again - before getting stuck into anything.

It was tempting just to sit on the patio, enjoy the view and the warmth of the sun on our faces all afternoon, but our consciences got the better of us and we turned our attentions to work. Stuart headed off to light a bonfire just beyond the washing line in order to get rid of some of the clippings from the olive pruning. Meanwhile, I got the strimmer out and headed up the terraces to carry on where Stuart had left off on Thursday.

This started well, but after a short while, the strimmer cord broke, so I had to traipse down the terraces and get Stuart to help manhandle the strimmer head apart in order to re-thread it. I headed back up the terraces, got going again... and then the cord broke again, so it was back down again.

The fourth time the strimmer cord broke and needed re-threading, Stuart decided to take matters into his own hands and to save me any more fruitless traipsing up and down the terraces, he headed out to go and buy both a new strimmer head and cord, leaving me to tend the bonfire while he was out.

The new materials worked a treat and I was soon strimming uninterrupted, and by 5pm had made good progress up the terraces.

We decided to call it a day at 5pm - with the excitement of our al fresco breakfast and lunch experiences earlier in the day, we had fully expected to spend an hour or so sitting on the patio enjoying a glass of wine in the evening sunshine after work, but it seems we'd got a little too carried away with ourselves. It is, after all, still only March. When the sun dipped behind the hill opposite us, just after 5pm, it felt decidedly chilly, so instead we decided to go indoors and light the fire, really feeling as if we'd earned a relaxing evening after our productive day.

We were treated to more blue skies and sunshine on Sunday morning - there was a fairly stiff breeze though, so it wasn't quite the weather for al fresco breakfast today, but bright and sunny nevertheless. After a quick bowl of porridge therefore we headed straight to Nerone's bar for a coffee before turning up the San Quirico road to take the increasingly impatient Reggie for his morning walk. We'd decided yesterday that we'd like to do a walk we haven't done in quite a while - the walk to the old mill at Stiappa. From last year's experience we know that this time of year is perfect for this particular walk, but in a month or so's time the path will be overgrown and harder to navigate.

As expected, the path was clear and lined with clusters of primroses, crocuses and helibores. When we got to the mill we let Reggie have a run around - we even tried throwing an abandoned frisbee we found down there for him, but he didn't seem to 'get' the game - running after it, stopping short of it, looking at it before running back to us empty-handed.

Walk done, we drove back down the valley for our regular Sunday stop at Amanda's shop for lunch, homework and a piece of bread for Reggie from Samantha - I'm sure in Reggie's head Samantha is 'bread person', and it certainly seems to have cemented their friendship.

Once home, we heated up our lunch and tried to decide whether it was warm enough for an al fresco lunch. The verdict was a resounding 'yes' - the house sheltered the patio from the breeze and while not quite as warm as yesterday, the sunshine was plenty warm enough to make it feel very pleasant.

Once again, after we'd finished our lunch we were sorely tempted to sit and enjoy the weather and the view and have a lazy afternoon in the sun, but once again our consciences got the better of us. I'd only managed to finish half of the terraces yesterday and was determined to get them all done, and while it was far too windy for another bonfire today, Stuart had his own ideas of other jobs to turn his hand to.

I headed up the terraces with the strimmer while Stuart took his chainsaw and cut down an acacia tree from the edge of the car parking area. He then used his military-grade rope (donated to us by our friend Paul) and his boy scouts knowledge of knot tying to tie the rope around the tree and pull it up the slope using the tractor. This particular tree was not destined for chopping, splitting and adding to the wood pile (much to my disappointment), but a plan had clearly taken shape in Stuart's head and the tree was an integral part of it.

When I traipsed down the terraces after an hour or so to refuel the strimmer, I found Stuart with the tree trunk on our patio - he seemed to be creating a beautiful trip hazard feature on the patio. Little did I know that it would soon turn into an attractive border for the gravelled area that would keep those pesky pieces of gravel where they are meant to be!

Just as I was about to head back up the terraces, Reggie started barking - heralding the arrival of our friend Paul who'd popped in to see us on his way back from Pescia. Stuart and Paul were soon sipping a beer on the terrace, and it wasn't long before Reggie decided to give up the volley of barking and settle down in the sun, which was a relief for everyone's ears. After half an hour or so I left the boys to it and headed back up the terraces with the strimmer, determined to finish the job before the day was out.

Stuart continued with his project after Paul had left, and by the time I finally finished the strimming, the tree was looking a lot less like a trip hazard and a lot more like an attractive border - with a cleanly swept patio to boot.

So after a second satisfying day's work in beautiful weather, we came indoors, lit the fire, had hot showers and relaxed with a glass of wine that, once again, we felt we'd really earned.