Something a little different

On Wednesday this week, possibly for the first time in our lives, we woke up and were genuinely thrilled - not to mention relieved - to see a blanket of cloud covering the sky. Together with a strong breeze, the temperature was knocked down to a deliciously comfortable mid-20s - which felt like a tonic after the days and days of intense heat we'd had.

When we awoke to the same on Thursday, it was less of a novelty, and a little less welcome, and when Friday morning also started out cool, well, really, enough already! It's just not right to need a cardigan here in July! We also had ferocious winds overnight on Thursday, so although the temperature in the bedroom had dropped enough to let us sleep more comfortably, we were kept awake by the roaring of the wind in the trees and worries as to whether one of them might come flying through the window at any minute (or at least I was - Stuart heard one gust of wind and slept through the rest!).

Anyway, back to our week - which proved to be social-themed. 

We had a lovely impromptu social evening on Wednesday - after having walked Reggie at the cava track, we popped over to Paul & Kathy's in Castelvecchio to return an extension lead that Paul had kindly lent Stuart (so that, by chaining extension lead with extension lead, with extension lead, he could get power to the middle of the driveway and use his angle grinder to 'modify' one of the concrete pozzetti (inspection units) that was standing somewhat perilously proud of the drive and threatening to do serious mischief to the undercarriage of someone's car at any point). 

How many extension leads does it take..?

As dog lovers themselves, and with an entirely fenced-in garden, Paul and Kathy welcomed both us and Reggie into the house and garden and were happy to let Reggie explore around the place - and explore he certainly did! While we caught up with Paul, Kathy, and Kathy's Mum, Reggie charged around the place in a state of sheer excitement, soon acting as if it was his own house and garden and barking at the new noises, smells and sounds coming from the other side of the fence. It wasn't long before Paul & Kathy had talked us into staying for a bite to eat (it really didn't take too much to twist our arms - the smell coming from the kitchen was mouth watering), and while we tucked into a delicious chicken curry, Reggie continued to charge around the garden at a million miles an hour, clambering up the banks, snuffling through the bushes, rolling on the grass, and really making himself at home. We decided to call it a night as dusk fell though - it's one thing having Reggie running around in the daylight, but we didn't want him getting the scent of a deer or a wild boar or a porcupine and scaling the fence, besides which, Paul and Kathy's garden had probably had more than enough of Reggie's own unique 'watering' by then!

We had an impromptu soirée of our own on Thursday night, when we welcomed David, Sarah and Donatella to our patio for a couple of drinks and some snacks under the pergola - it had been a while since we'd seen them all, with David and Sarah having been in the UK for a while, so it was lovely to have a long overdue catch up. The evening air was fresh, but the washing machine drum fire pit worked wonders and kept us all toasty until long after dark.

On Friday evening, we socialised in Italian: we'd invited Mara and Franco to join us to go to a beer and grilled meat festa in the little village of Panicagliora up in the hills above us. If the previous evening had felt a tad chilly, it had nothing on this one - it felt more like October or March than July, and we each huddled into our respective layers of clothing while we ate our food at the outdoor dining tables. Stuart managed to scoff down a plate of antipasti, followed by a mixed grill of pork chop, sausage and ribs, and for pudding, both he and Franco had half a rotisserie chicken each! I'm pretty sure he doubled his year's intake of meat in one sitting, but I guess that explains why he astounded all the locals by looking comfortable dressed in shorts and a t-shirt while everyone else shivered under their coats.

By the time the food was dispatched, we were all ready for a little more warmth in our lives, so rather than staying at the festa (perhaps a lucky escape: we left before the dancing began), we piled into the car and headed back down the hill, but only as far as Macchino, where we stopped to have a drink and a chat with Michelle in the warmth of Trattoria Lina. Mara and Franco hadn't yet been to Michelle's restaurant and seemed impressed with the changes she has made to the place - we all enjoyed a warming drink and a catch up with Michelle before heading off promising to come back with empty stomachs the next time!

Anyone for spritz?!

Saturday saw a return to much more normal Tuscan summery weather - there wasn't a cloud in the sky for most of the day, and the sun shone with the intense heat that we've become accustomed to. While it made working outdoors rather more laborious, I for one was pleased to have it back!

After the obligatory morning cappuccino and pastry followed by dog walk, we spent the afternoon chopping up tree stumps, logging and splitting and starting to move the wood from the lower terraces up towards the wood pile. We also harvested our potatoes and had our first meal of the year that was almost entirely home-produced (only the olives being shop-bought).

An entirely home grown salad (apart from the olives): lettuce, nasturtium leaves, French beans and potatoes from our orto, and eggs from our chickens. Dressed with hand picked olive oil.

Here come the aubergines...

...here come the peppers...

... here come the melons

Potatoes harvested (who knows how many there would have been had Mr Porcupine/Badger not taken his share).

And so starts the traditional annual glut of courgettes.

Cutting the acacia stumps.

Re-purposed electric fan - an excellent windmill for the garden.

The beginnings of steps down to the orto, making the steep slope that bit less perilous.

Saturday night saw us going a little further afield for a social engagement - this time, we went to Lanciole, at the very top end of the valley, to meet up with Steve and Rachael - owners of the property at which Stuart does some gardening - and their children, Rebecca and Sam. We last met them about a year ago, at the circolo in Lanciole, where we went for the circolo's regular Saturday night pizza night - which is exactly what we did again this year. Just like last year, we had an absolutely lovely, fun packed evening, full of laughter, wine, pizza and more wine. Steve and Rachael are great company, and all the locals in Lanciole are overwhelmingly warm, friendly and welcoming - so much so that we almost decided there and then to up sticks and move! For a tiny village in the most remote part of the valley, there is a heck of a lot of life and a party atmosphere to go with it. We've visited a number of circolos in and around the valley, and the one in Lanciole has to be the busiest and liveliest we've come across. Everybody in the village seems to get involved - whether with the cooking, the order-taking or the serving, and it seems as if people come from miles around to partake in this fun-filled evening. Just like last year, they were expecting over 100 covers, and from the looks of it, they got them all!

When we finally dragged ourselves away from all the fun, we promised ourselves that we will go back again soon - with such a lovely crowd of locals it would be a shame not to.

We treated ourselves to a mini-lie-in on Sunday, and after a rare walk along the river in Pescia with Reggie (these days we try to avoid anywhere where we might encounter people, dogs, cyclists, joggers, which pretty much confines us to walks in the woods, but since it was lunchtime, we decided to risk it), we decided to go out and do some sightseeing.

We headed up the valley and in the direction of Abetone. We really wanted to pick up some footpath maps of our valley that we'd originally found (getting on for two years ago) in an information booth just outside the town of Cutigliano. For some reason, we only picked up one of the useful little maps at the time, and since then we haven't been able to find the same map anywhere else... and said map has now gone missing! Sadly, the information booth was closed so we didn't even get to find out whether the map still exists. Since we'd gone all that way already, though, we decided we would try and find Doganaccia, a small ski resort up on the hill above Cutigliano.

While there is a ski lift up to Doganaccia, we decided we would drive - which we realised may have been something of a mistake as the narrow road wound up and up and up, and a stream of vehicles came down the hill, forcing us to keep pulling over. We eventually made it though, and while the settlement itself is not attractive (being made up entirely of winter chalets - soulless and locked up at this time of year), the scenery is stunning. With barely a cloud in the sky, the views stretched for miles and miles into the distance. It was also noticeably cooler up there - easy to see why Italians would want to come up to the mountains to escape the intense heat in the plains.

After our jaunt in the mountains, we decided to look around the small town of Piteglio en route back to more familiar territory. Piteglio is a pretty little hilltop town, like many others in the area, just over the top of the hills at the end of our valley, but unlike other small towns in the area, Piteglio has the honour of having its own Comune, and the villages of Lanciole, Crespole and others all fall under Piteglio Comune. The little town seemed steeped in history and surrounded by stunning views - which is no different from anywhere else in the area, I guess, but it was a new one to us and we enjoyed exploring its streets and taking in the views.

We finally wended our way back down into our own valley and all the way home - feeling somewhat drained after a long drive on top of several nights of socialising! After a quiet drink on the patio we retired for an early night, ready to gear ourselves up for the week ahead.