The most productive Christmas period?

This Christmas has been the first one in the 14 years that we have been together, that we have ever spent just the two of us alone together. Of course we missed seeing our families, and we missed sharing it with our great friends Paul & Marie - who have come to stay with us here for the last two Christmases - but we made the most of the quiet time together, we had a lovely Christmas day, spent a fun Boxing day night with our friends Paul & Kathy, a lovely relaxed New Year's Eve with our friends Mara & Franco, and for the rest of the holiday period... we were out working on the terraces.

Yes, other than the obvious celebratory days, the theme of the week has pretty much been raking and burning, with a bit of composting and wood moving thrown in for good measure. We managed to sit still and do nothing for precisely one day - Christmas day itself - after which we found ourselves getting itchy feet and started off with moving some piles of wood down the terraces on Boxing day, moving more wood and turning the compost piles the day after that (after coming home from a lovely evening and overnight stay with Paul & Kathy in Castelvecchio) and then throwing ourselves headlong into whole days' worth of raking and burning and tidying on the upper terraces. This has to have been our most productive Christmas period ever!

All tuckered out after a morning of presents.

A short interlude in Montecarlo on Christmas morning while the turkey was in the oven.

Beautiful Montecarlo.

Christmas food prep.

Christmas lunch table ready!

"Santa Meercat the Second". Reggie's favourite present from Paul & Marie.

The new and the old ("Santa Meercat the First" having arrived, courtesy of  Paul & Marie, two Chriatmases ago).

After a bright, sunny day for Christmas day itself, Boxing day started out grey and cloudy:

The weather had brightened up by the afternoon though, by which time we found that we just couldn't sit still any longer so we ventured outside in our work clothes to start moving some piles of wood down the terraces.

We took Reggie for our Boxing night party at Paul & Kathy's, where we ate a delicious spread of leftover turkey and trimmings, played some hilarious rounds of the game Taboo, and whiled away a lovely, relaxing evening in the comfort of Paul & Kathy's toasty warm home and above all in great company. Reggie made the most of his mini-holiday, tearing around the garden, barking at all the neighbourhood wildlife, and most exciting of all (for him), he got to sleep on the bed with us.

We awoke to another gorgeous morning in Castelvecchio, and after a leisurely start to the day, a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast (and plenty of coffee), we said our farewells to Paul & Kathy and took Reggie home for a snooze on the sofa - he'd spent so much energy chasing around the garden that morning that he didn't even need a walk.

Early morning Castelvecchio.

Reggie's second home.

Not a cloud in the sky.

While Reggie snoozed on the sofa, we weren't quite ready to sit still, so we busied ourselves with moving some more wood - this time some wood that was logged and split many months ago on the lower terraces beneath the house and that needed moving up to the woodpile - and with turning the compost piles.

Back home in time to move some more wood and turn the compost.

The rest of the week was mainly taken up with raking, burning, cutting trees (creating yet more mess to be burned), more raking and burning. The general pattern for the week was chilly nights, frosty mornings, sunny days, and then back to chilly nights with clear skies.

One of the most disappointing bonfires I've had - it just didn't want to get going...

... meanwhile Stuart was creating yet more mess to be burned.

Beautiful winter sky.

A(nother) frosty start.

Better bonfires! Two at a time this time.

Venus shining brightly in the evening sky (above the tall tree on the left).

Another bright and cold morning.

Surveying the land - and the work left to do!

Yet more wood to move.

The pile gradually making its way down the terraces.

New Year's Eve was spent with our good friends Mara & Franco, who invited us over for a spot of dinner, the all-important lentils (which are eaten on new year's eve to bring wealth and good fortune), and of course celebratory drinks. It proved to be a relaxed, easy-paced and thoroughly enjoyable evening.

New Year's Day dawned bright and sunny - another cold and frosty start, although after having celebrated with Mara and Franco until the early hours, and not having got to bed until 2.30am, we didn't rush to get up in the morning, and we even allowed ourselves a day of doing (next to)nothing.

We took Reggie for a walk in the steep wooded area beyond our house, beyond our washing line. This is the area of our land that we have explored the least (in part because it is so steep and rocky), but Stuart was keen to try to get down to the river/stream that borders our land - and with a lot of scrambling, we finally made it to the bottom, finding a sizeable pool, which Reggie happily splashed about in despite the chilly temperature of the water.

So, as we make our way into the first week of 2017, we're looking forward to a year that we hope will see plenty more progress on our land and our lives here - lots more time spent with our great group of friends, more progress with our language skills (we HOPE), visits from and to loved ones, more apartment guests, the production of lots more vegetables, maybe our first harvest of honey, solar powered hot water (finally!), and who knows what else besides. Happy new year!