Guests and more guests

The last three weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind of guests, more guests, acting as tour guides, a short trip to the UK, and cramming in work whenever time and weather allowed.

The weather has been something of a mixed bag. Somewhat disappointingly for May, when we are usually used to rising temperatures and blue skies, we have had rain storm after rain storm - although admittedly at this time of year it's very rare to have a day that's wet and grey from start to finish; unlike winter days, the rain in the spring is not usually the sort that never lets up, and the sun generally shows its face at some point during the day, even if only briefly.

Of course the excessive amounts of rain, mixed in with periods of warm sunshine, are perfect conditions for the grass and weeds to shoot up, and in no time at all, our terraces are looking unkempt and in need of a trim!

One area we did manage to tame - well, slightly - was the orto, where after doing some more tidying, we planted tomatoes, beans, broccoli (all courtesy of David & Sarah), courgettes, cucumber, peppers, aubergines and beetroot (bought as plug plants from one of the local garden centres), so we are happy to be growing vegetables once again.

We decided to leave the weeding on the middle terrace - thanks to the eight months of neglect it has had, nature has taken over and turned it into a beautiful meadow. We had planted cornflowers in amongst the beans last year, and they clearly loved that spot and spread their seed, leaving us this spring with a stunning vista of pinks and blues. For now, we are officially calling this our 'biodiversity' bed - it is already attracting no end of bees, and no doubt all sorts of other creatures will appreciate it being left to nature (as it were).

Eight months of neglect, aka the biodiversity bed.

Marigold.

Back in the growing business!

Sage flowers.

In terms of visitors, we first had a very nice Dutch couple who stayed for just 5 nights and sadly got mainly rain for their troubles - they still seemed to enjoy the area though, and we hope they will be back here again in the not too distant future to see the surroundings in more clement weather. Immediately following them, we had a young couple from Birmingham who stayed just two nights. Thankfully the weather stayed dry for them - with just the one full day here we were relieved that the weather turned out better than forecast and they were able to make the most of it. Finally, the same day they left, Stuart's Mum (Sheila) and her friend Yvonne arrived for a fortnight's stay.

We managed to rustle up some decent weather for Sheila and Yvonne's first day, after which things became somewhat hit and miss as regards to the wet stuff - but still it was nothing that a glass of wine or two (or three) couldn't cheer up.

Over the course of their stay with us, we introduced Sheila and Yvonne to the regulars at our English evening at the circolo; to our favourite morning coffee and pastry spot; to our favourite pizzeria and to the Montecarlo 'Via Vinaria' wine festival. There were also trips to Montecatini Terme, Montecatini Alto, Siena, various local garden centres and clothes shops, a few drinks in bars, meals out at our favourite pizzeria, Come a Casa in Borgo a Buggiano, and at a lovely fish restaurant (new to us) in Montecatini; the drama of a lost dog (no, not Reggie); and new additions to the farm in the form of nine new chickens!

Once he'd (very quickly) got over the initial shock of their arrival, Reggie was thrilled to have two 'nonnas' to fuss him and feed him all the naughty things that he doesn't usually get (or doesn't usually get in such large quantities), and by halfway through the fortnight he was regularly presenting himself at the apartment door in anticipation of a handful of carbs.

More bread please Nonnas!

The dog-related drama involved a poor, bedraggled female Brittany dog who turned up early one afternoon after a thunderstorm looking very scared and disorientated outside the apartment. All of a sudden, we heard Reggie making a racket outside, but not with his "get-off-my-land" bark but instead with his "excited-to-see-you" bark. The next thing we knew, Sheila was calling up to us saying "there's a dog here!", and lo and behold there was a poor damp dog on the lawn outside the apartment. While I attempted (in vain) to calm Reggie down, Stuart went down to have a look and found that the dog had a tag with phone number and address on her collar. The phone number didn't work, but the address was somewhere about halfway between our house and Vellano, so Stuart and Yvonne decided it was time to go to the rescue: Yvonne hopped into the car to encourage the dog to get in, the dog duly leapt in and snuggled up (complete with wet, muddy fur) to her. Then off they went up the road to Vellano. Unfortunately, when they found the house, nobody was at home, but the dog clearly knew where she was and wanted to get out, so they left her there. We guess that she took fright during the storm and then got lost and wandered all the way as far as our house through the woods. I think Reggie might have wanted to keep her as a girlfriend (or maybe as dinner, it's hard to tell which).

Sunshine and cloud over the valley (but no rain!).

Evidence that it didn't rain for the whole two weeks of our guests' stay.

Sunny evening aperitivi to start the week.

Our English evening was once again a busy and fun one. We had some much appreciated help from Paul and Kathy - Paul getting stuck in with conversation with young Alessandro, and Kathy teaching the English names for different vegetables to Lucia, Guisy, Sara, Vicky and Roberto. Meanwhile, Sheila and Yvonne were greatly entertained with everyone's antics, and even got stuck in with a bar of cannabis chocolate. Yes, you read that right.

What can I say?!

English evening with the two new (English) recruits.

Halfway through the first week of our guests' stay, it was the fourth anniversary of the day we moved into our house here in Tuscany (to be precise, the fourth anniversary of the first night we slept in the house, which was the day after we'd broken into the house). By way of celebration, Sheila and Yvonne very generously treated us to dinner out at our favourite pizzeria, in Borgo a Buggiano. As usual, the food was both delicious and plentiful, and with great company too, we all had a lovely evening.

Delicious pizza in Come a Casa, a lovely night out.

It was the 4th anniversary of moving into our house!

We love this quirky pizzeria.

At the halfway point of Sheila & Yvonne's stay, I headed over to the UK for a short but lovely visit to my dear family. It was nice to know that Stuart and the animals had company while I was away, and they certainly filled their time well.

Despite yet more patchy weather, the three of them managed to find a few good hours of sunshine and blue skies in which to visit the beautiful Terme Tettuccio in Montecatini, which if even possible, looks even more stunning in the sun.

Montecatini Terme: Terme Tettuccio.

Unfortunately, the day trip to Siena coincided with a day when it wasn't just rainy but stormy as well, with overhead claps of thunder that had our holiday makers running for shelter (in fact, I can testify that it stayed dry all day back at home, where I was keeping Reggie company and earning a few pennies, but in Siena the heavens opened). They made the most of things nevertheless, and for Stuart it was his first return to the city since our wedding day (I, meanwhile, am still waiting to return!).

Siena in the rain.

Count the umbrellas.

We got married in there! (Thankfully with clearer skies on that occasion!)

In between acting as tour guides and joining in some of the holiday fun, Stuart and I managed to fit in a bit of work around the place, including some strimming, the construction of the tractor park floor, and trying out Stuart's new saw horse:

Did I mention that we got a new saw horse?

During the second week of our guests' stay, we ordered and, two days later, collected, a total of nine new chickens: three white (Livornese), three standard red/brown, and three black ones. We managed to get them all safely into their house bar one of the Livornese (renowned for being flighty and awkward, as we have experienced in the past), which decided to escape and have us chasing around the enclosure after her for a good while until we finally managed to recapture her and get her safely inside the house. As an added bonus, there was an egg already in one of the boxes, and the Livornese chickens settled in and started laying from day one!

This was a bonus! A double yolker as well!

There's always one (and always a white one)...

Not bad going for day one!

At the end of the second week, Sheila and Yvonne once again very generously treated us to a meal out, this time at a fish restaurant in Montecatini that had been recommended to us by our friends David & Sarah. Since Yvonne hadn't visited Montecatini Alto before, we headed out for the evening with enough time to take our guests up to the pretty little historic village that sits above the more sprawling Montecatini for a quick wander around and a pre-dinner drink. The meal didn't disappoint - the restaurant was lovely and very different from the local traditional establishments we are used to, and the food delicious -  a real treat all round.

The expansive view from Montecatini Alto.

The final day of Sheila & Yvonne's fortnight with us proved to be one of the best in terms of the weather - we actually had some sunshine and proper warmth - and what better way to spend the day than touring around vineyards in the Tuscan countryside tasting different wines?!

The Via Vinaria festival in Montecarlo (the Italian one, or as they say around here, the real Montecarlo) allows visitors to tour around the various vineyards in the famous Montecarlo wine producing area. Shuttle buses are laid on to transport you between the vineyards, each of which has a selection of its wines laid out to taste as well as some tasty snacks to soak up the alcohol. We met up with Paul, Kathy, David and Sarah there and had a fun and very relaxing afternoon. The vineyards are all stunning in their location, their architecture, and because they are all a little way off the beaten track it feels like being somewhere quite different, so even for us it felt like being on holiday. 

Fattoria del Teso

Montecarlo from below.

Fattoria Borgo La Torre.

Sausage overload.

Podere Sgretoli.

Tenuta del Buon Amico.

Salute!

We said farewell to our visitors on Sunday morning, but we know it won't be long before Sheila is back again, and Yvonne has promised that she will be back next year - we look forward to it!

With thanks to Sheila & Yvonne for many of the photos included in this post.

(This blog post covers the period 30 April to 20 May 2018.)