A weekend of upside down weather

Saturday saw us up and out fairly promptly as we had plenty we wanted to get done before the weekend was out. First on the list was to give the ever energetic Reggie a decent run out, so we hatched a plan to go to the Pescia river south of town in the Alberghi area where it's usually blissfully devoid of other people (on the side of the river that we use, at least).

We left the house and drove down the valley in the glorious sunshine, so it came as a shock as we levelled out and approached Pescia to find a wall of fog ahead - gone were the blue sky and glorious sunshine, replaced by thick fog! It seemed like something of a weather reversal - not that we have bad weather on our hill, but Pescia often fares a little better for weather and temperatures due to the fact that it's at a lower altitude and the cloud and mist often float around the foothills. Not so today though, which left me wishing I had come out in more than a t-shirt, especially as the LED sign at the garage entering Pescia registered just 12 degrees.

We were soon on the river bank and walking further south with the river bank to ourselves for the entirety of the walk. Reggie thoroughly enjoyed himself, barely stopping running, including at full speed through the river - he certainly seemed less bothered by the murky weather than we were, although it was just comfortable enough for me in the end.

After a good walk, we retired to café Delice - the one we first tried yesterday - for a coffee. After a couple of much needed and good quality cappuccini we headed off, against the grain, to do our food shopping mid-morning. Visiting the supermarkets mid-morning is something we have been avoiding for many months due to the throngs of other people all doing the same, but the idea of going home only to have to come back into town again at lunchtime seemed like a waste of time, effort and fuel, so while Reggie lay in the boot slowly perfuming the car with the smell of damp dog, we dutifully filled trolleys at both Esselunga and Lidl before finally heading home just before midday for a bit of lunch. As we left Pescia, still thick in fog, we saw brightness ahead of us on the road and on reaching San Lorenzo, the mist parted to reveal the whole of the rest of the valley still bathed in beautiful sunshine with clear blue skies.

Lunch was a fairly rushed affair as we were both keen to get started on some outside work, so after despatching the remainder of yesterday's quinoa salad on the patio in the glorious sunshine, Helen went to work breaking up concrete blocks and other detritus from the side of the house to finish filling the section of floor behind the house that will form part of the shed floor while I started bolting leg supports to the concrete pads I'd poured last week and the making a start on constructing the basic framework of the shed. This was not an easy task as very little is flat or level so it was a case of measure everything at least three times before cutting or drilling a thing!

Helen and I finished the afternoon by mixing and pouring a quarter of a tonne of cement into the section of floor behind the house to start to lay the shed floor.

By the time we had exhausted the 10 bags of concrete, we were both feeling pretty exhausted ourselves, and since time was marching quickly towards dusk we decided to call it a day and retire indoors for much needed hot showers, a glass of wine and dinner. This evening's dinner was one of our staples - vegetable fajitas. Tonight, though, we pimped our fajitas with a tomato salsa made with lime juice from the first of our very own limes from our lime tree - it was delicious!

First on the agenda for Sunday morning was once again a run-out for Reggie. We decided to try a new walk out today, and headed up the valley, through Vellano and on up to Macchino. We pulled over in Macchino in front of a selection of 4 different footpath signs and set off on our way, reasoning that with a choice of four we ought to be able to find a decent enough walk!

We also had with us the sat nav device that we've used on cycling trips, newly loaded with local maps that Helen's Mum and Dad kindly brought over for us. We started following a path through the trees that afforded us some lovely views of the valley. Once again today it seemed as if the hills were bathed in sunshine and bright blue skies while the valley bottom appeared to be smothered in fog and mist - we were quite shocked by just how warm it was. Usually when we drive up the road even just as far as Vellano, we notice a degree or so's drop in temperature with the climb in altitude. Here, however, the reverse seemed to have happened - we were higher still than Vellano, yet the temperature felt several degrees warmer than in Pietrabuona!

We followed the well marked path for quite a way, before turning off to find a loop that would bring us back to our original point, as shown on our sat nav device. All was going well until we found that the path that followed the loop was not quite as well maintained as the main path - in fact, it was obstructed with fallen trees. By this point, we had gone too far to make it worth our while turning back and re-tracing our steps, so we went off-piste, carefully picking our way through the carpet of leaves, clambering over fallen branches and heading in what we hoped was roughly the right direction to bring us back onto the right path. Reggie was delighted that we had for once joined him in going cross-country and ran about happily as we huffed and puffed our way up the hill.

Happily, we did eventually come out on the track again, after which the going was a lot easier!

By the time we reached the car again, we were feeling super-heated - it really was too warm for long trousers and big boots, especially on the uphill climbs! We decided to stop at the little café in the village of Macchino for a well earned cappuccino and a fairly in-depth chat with a very friendly Italian couple who were sitting outside the café enjoying the sunshine with their impeccably behaved dog. They wanted to know more about Reggie, although drew the line at us getting him out of the car, as their dog didn't seem quite so impressed with the idea!

Coffees dispatched, we trundled back down the hill, stopping to take a gratuitous photograph of the beautiful view from Vellano on the way - the mist still lurking the valley bottom.

Instead of going directly home, we carried on as far as Amanda's shop in the village where we called in to get some food for lunch and for Helen to collect some homework from Samantha. We were surprised at how cool and fresh it felt down in Pietrabuona after the heat of the hills.

On getting home, it was getting towards lunchtime, so we popped our treats in the oven to warm through before sitting on the patio in the glorious sunshine to enjoy a seafood and chard stew, pork escalopes in tomato and caper sauce and some boiled potatoes - delicious.

After lunch it was back to outside work for both of us - it might be Sunday, but we had a lot to get done! While I made some good progress on the construction of the shed roof, Helen went up the terraces to spend the afternoon making and tending a bonfire and getting rid of just one of the many piles of brambles.

The soundtrack to our afternoon consisted of barking dogs (for once not Reggie, although the noises did seem to upset him and he spent a fair amount of time barking back, not that we could blame him), lots of shouting and the occasional gunshot. There was clearly a hunt going on and it all sounded very close indeed - it wasn't until Helen climbed up the terraces to start her bonfire that she spotted someone in high-vis orange on the hill opposite us - it's amazing how sound travels around here.

By the end of the afternoon, Helen had completed the burning of one of the piles of bramble and I had the beginnings of the shed roof in place - a productive afternoon indeed!

Tomorrow we are due to try our hands at olive picking for the first time - on Chris and Sue's olive terraces, so it'll be an early night tonight in preparation for an early start in the morning.

Chickens come home to roost

This busy week has drawn to a close with 5 new additions to our household (well, perhaps not in our house itself...), but before we get to the chickens, we owe you an update on that busy week!


Sunday

The second part of last weekend was little more restful than the first - in fact probably rather less so! While Stuart and I attempted a nod to the fact that it was Sunday and therefore ought to be a slower-paced morning, Mum and Dad were up and out bright and early as usual and even before Stuart and I had finished our breakfast, they were busy barrowing gravel down the driveway and moving pieces of cut wood around! Keen not to appear as if we weren't pulling our weight, Stuart headed straight out after making up this year's two jars of chestnut liqueur (with chestnuts picked and prepared courtesy of Mum & Dad), while I finished off blogging, before heading out myself.

Chestnut brandy (chestnuts collected in and around Vellano) and Chestnut rum (chestnuts all from our property).

I continued the tedious but necessary process of raking the terraces that we'd cleared a couple of weeks back. Over the last 12 months, we have learnt the hard way that if you steam ahead clearing terraces without cleaning up after yourself (which is all too easy to do when you are unveiling new ground, releasing tangled olive trees from the thorny grips of mounds of bramble and discovering terraces that haven't seen the light of day for twenty years or more), it will come back to bite you on the backside. Last year, we enthusiastically cleared terraces both above and below the house without a thought to clearing up behind ourselves, leaving piles of cut acacia and thick carpets of bramble clippings across the 'cleared' terraces, blinded by the excitement of being able to see newly unveiled terraces. Where the lower terraces were concerned, we were very fortunate to have the help of our HelpX-ers Holly and Zach, who spent gruelling and tedious days raking the terraces and burning the rakings so that we would be left with beautiful clear terraces ready for our vegetable beds. The upper terraces, on the other hand, were rather neglected and didn't see any 'cleaning' action. The result of which was that nature took hold again, presenting us not only with a forest of acacia trees on the very terraces that we'd cleared just months earlier, but also threading tendrils of bramble, blades of grass and creeping vines through the piles of twigs and branches that we'd carelessly left up there - making the task of clearing up several months later almost impossible. The lesson we have learned here is that we simply must not get too carried away with the exhilaration of clearing new land but we need to take things slowly and steadily, and clean up as we go.

So, while I raked, Stuart went along the drive with the chainsaw to cut down a couple of trees that Dad had spotted on the driveway which he felt it would be prudent to cut down, and to start cutting up part of one of the large pine trees that had fallen way back in the big storm of March. Mum and Dad then spent the rest of the morning, and indeed much of the afternoon moving pieces of tree down the driveway.

Lucca watches the workers.

We all worked on until around 4pm, when we downed tools so that we could take Reggie out for a walk before the daylight faded. We walked along the river Pescia in town, with the light all but gone by the time we got back to the car. Before heading home, we decided to check out the mini chestnut festival that was going on in the small square to the south of the main square. The festa wasn't much to write home about - just a handful of stalls, but they still had their braziers up and running and we treated ourselves to two bags of piping hot roast chestnuts to share between us. The chestnuts were delicious and well worth the detour.

Monday

Monday morning saw Stuart heading off up the valley with Mum and Dad to deliver them to Croce a Veglia, a point at the head of the valley from where they had planned a day's walking. The weather was bright and clear, which seemed like a good start for their day.

After that, Stuart called in to see Donatella on his way back home, while I spent the morning working in the office.

The afternoon was spent with Stuart making some progress on the construction of the shed - before the shed can go up, the old doorway needs to be fully blocked up and insulated, so he spent the afternoon constructing a 'cat tunnel' from the cat flap through an air gap (to be filled with insulation material). Meanwhile, I started a bonfire and spent more than three hours burning some of the bramble and clippings that I'd piled up in my raking. Even after a whole afternoon's burning, I barely seemed to have made a dent in the enormous pile we need to get rid of!

Doorway almost blocked up, insulation in the air gap, and cat tunnel in place.

Stuart headed off up the valley to collect Mum and Dad at around 4.30pm - they came back after having had a wonderful day - perfect weather, stunning views (we can vouch for this as we were treated to a viewing of their photos in the evening), a rather strenuous walk by the sounds of things, involving some steep climbs and precipitous drops, but they both seemed very happy indeed with their day's excursion.

Tuesday

We decided to give Reggie a walk first thing on Tuesday morning, in order to make sure that he didn't miss out, so we collected Mum & Dad and headed for the other side of Sorana. We had a good walk along the track, which was carpeted in golden autumn leaves, before heading home for another morning of raking, shed building, wood moving and so on.

After lunch, it was time for our weekly Italian lesson at David and Sarah's in Vellano. Mum and Dad fancied another stretch of their legs, so we dropped them off on the outskirts of Pietrabuona, where they planned to have a look around the village before heading up the hill towards Medicina. Meanwhile, we headed for Vellano and another good lesson with Johnny.

After leaving David and Sarah's we drove to the Medicina road to pick up Mum and Dad - darkness was beginning to fall by this stage, but they'd made their way all the way up to the village and about halfway back down again, and had enjoyed their second walk of the day.

On Tuesday evening, Mum and Dad treated us to another meal out. This time, we decided to try another restaurant that was new to us - and another one recommended by David and Sarah. We went to Lucignolo in the Santa Lucia area just outside Pescia. Thankfully we'd been briefed by David on how to find the place - it was tucked away in the most unlikely place next to a sports field! The restaurant was lovely - sleek and modern in style, and the food was absolutely delicious. We had a very enjoyable evening indeed, a lovely way to spend the last evening of Mum and Dad's visit.

A lovely evening with Mum & Dad at Lucignolo.

Wednesday

The pace slowed somewhat on Wednesday morning, and instead of all rushing up the terraces or along the driveway to collect wood, we instead headed out on a shopping trip. We were heading for the ipercoop complex outside Montecatini, but our first stop was at the charming café that we'd found on 'soil stack day' a couple of months ago when we were waiting for builders merchants to reopen after their lunch. Anyway, we stopped for a round of coffees before heading on our way to the shops. Next, we pulled in to Maury's - a kind of a large hardware/homeware shop with such a wealth of things on offer that you tend to come out with a dozen items that you didn't go in to buy. Such was the case today: we'd gone in intending to buy a washing-up bowl for the apartment but left with two washing-up bowls, some hand soap, toothpaste (on special offer), a photo album, a box file, an adapter and a hand whisk!

Next on the shopping expedition was Decathlon. I needed a new pair of work trousers, and where better to go than Decathlon? I soon found a pair, and we picked up a new work t-shirt for Stuart while we were at it, before finally heading to Obi. We left Obi after procuring a canopy to go over our front door and several packs of tongue-and-groove, which Stuart needed in order to finish constructing the new version of the woodpile.

Mammoth shopping trip done, we had about an hour back at home to do a few bits of work before heading out again, this time for lunch. Mum and Dad wanted to take us out for lunch before they left, so we decided to head for the Toti restaurant, another lovely place that is tucked away off the Lucca road. We had yet another delicious meal there - enjoying a pasta dish and a main course each (as well as a carafe of wine and coffee all round) on their incredibly good value €10 workers' lunch menu. We also enjoyed a chat with a Dutch gentleman on the next table to us, whom we'd first met back in March at Pescia train station on the day after the big storm. We had been there with Zach and Holly, who were trying to get a train to Florence, and the gentleman had been there too, also trying to find out what was going on with the trains and trying to get to Florence. Remarkably he recognised us in the restaurant and we had a nice chat with him, discovering that he is a professor of oncology at Pisa University.

Anyway, meal dispatched, pleasantries exchanged, we left the restaurant and headed back to Pescia. We made one final stop, pulling into a parking space near to La Baracchina and ordering ice creams from the little gelateria, which we ate on a bench overlooking the river.

By the time we got home, there was only a little over an hour until we needed to set off for the airport, so while Mum and Dad finished their packing, Stuart and I took Reggie for a quick walk at San Lorenzo, this time heading along the road and up the hill behind the hotel.

All too soon, it was time to leave Reggie looking after the house, pack Mum and Dad's cases into the car and head towards Pisa. As ever, saying goodbye was the hardest part of the visit. It had been a lovely 10 days and once again Mum and Dad have helped move us on with our jobs, working harder than many people less than half their age would dream of doing, and being generous as ever with paying for meals out and more. We were thankful that we didn't have a repeat of the weather we had when they visited us last October (when it was mainly very wet), and delighted that not only was the weather better, but that we had some stunning weather, perfect for Mum and Dad's excursions. Most of all, it was lovely just having them here, knowing they were just downstairs in the apartment. We hope their next visit won't be too long away.

Thursday

Thursday was a very strange day – it felt very quiet and we both felt a bit drained and empty. It was, after all, the first day in several weeks when we neither had visitors nor were preparing for them! While I got my head down in the office for a while, Stuart made progress with the construction of the new woodpile using the banner material he'd bought last week.

We took Reggie for a walk along the cava track after lunch, and when we got home Stuart finished off the woodpile while I (under Stuart's instruction) created a 'poop collector' for the chicken house (first sawing off the bottom of the old plastic goose pool, to create a collection tray, then building a wooden frame and covering it with mesh to go over the tray) and fitted an 'alighting board' in the chicken house next to the nest boxes. With these jobs done in the chicken house, we were hopeful that we might even be able to fill the house with real live chickens on Friday morning!

Reggie crunching through the autumn leaves.

Poop collector in construction.

Friday

While I quickly logged into my work email, Stuart did a couple of runs to the bins with some of the piles of rubbish that we'd accumulated over recent weeks. I don't know what it is about living here, but we seem to accumulate unsightly piles of rubbish e.g. broken garden umbrellas, washing machines, old electric water heaters, scraps of fencing mesh, empty bags of concrete... in what seems like a matter of hours after having taken the last lot to the bins. Anyway, temporarily, at least, the rubbish pile disappeared.

After that, the two of us got into the car and headed off for a morning of errands. First stop was the office of the Coldiretti, an organisation that deals with farmers and agricultural workers (that's about as far as I understand what it does, if you want to know more, ask Stuart!). Stuart wanted to make an enquiry about registering for an agricultural tax code and, after waiting for a while in the waiting area, we were seen by a friendly man who gave us some information and sent us on our way. The visit was somewhat distressing for me - on entering the office and looking at the noticeboard, I realised I barely understood any of the words on the notices, and when we were finally seen, I didn't really grasp much of what the man was saying. After having felt as if I was making some small progress with my Italian, this made me feel like I didn't know or understand a thing!

Thankfully, the next stop was less taxing - a stop for a quick coffee at a new café (that is, new to us) on the outskirts of town - before heading to Borgo a Buggiano to visit one of the agragria there to buy a bale of straw and a water container for chickens... Final stop for the morning, then... was to Perondi, a.k.a. (at least in our house) 'Mr Chicken'.

We weren't sure whether Mr Chicken would actually be able to give us birds there and then, or whether we would have to order them from him, but we were hopeful. We explained that we wanted 4 hens and a cockerel. He listened patiently, then started shooting off a list of questions at us at (what felt like) breakneck speed. He asked us whether we had a pollaio (hen house), to which we smiled broadly and proudly described the chicken house, complete with photos on Stuart's phone. Mr Chicken wasn't happy though -  he said that wood is not good and that we need to paint bitumen on the walls and floors to cover cracks in the wood, that we need to insulate the structure, that we need to put mesh over the side of the house so that if it's raining we can open up the side of it and they can stay indoors but with plenty of fresh air, and that we need to cover the floor with a sheet of plastic for easy cleaning. He said a lot of other things as well, but for the second time today I struggled to grasp much of what was being said, my barely existent language confidence quickly seeping away like quicksand!!

By the time Mr Chicken had finished his little lecture, we were both certain that he was about to turn us away and tell us to come back when we'd made all the modifications to the chicken house with photos to prove it - but instead, he grabbed two cardboard boxes and scurried off to the large chicken sheds to pick us some birds! Not 20 minutes later, we were pulling away with a boot load of birds - not that you'd know it, with 4 hens were crammed snugly into one box, and the cockerel getting the luxury of a whole box to himself.

When we got home, we took the boxes out of the boot and put them in a shady spot while we quickly put the finishing touches on the birds' new home: we covered the floor in sawdust, filled their new water container, filled up the food container and put straw into the nest boxes. Finally we were ready!

Nest boxes, complete with alighting board.

Poop collector in situ beneath roosting bars.

Stuart first released the cockerel into his new home - he stood on the threshold looking a bit uncertain. Then it was time for the hens. I managed to get three of them in (although there was a bit of a log jam as they all stood on the threshold looking a bit uncertain), but one of them decided she would rather be entirely free range. As I reached into the box to pick her up, she flapped her wings and managed to get out and scurry across the enclosure. Stuart tried to follow her, but she was quick and got away each time. Before we knew it, she'd got flustered, flapped her wings and had managed to get enough air under her to flap up to the top of the fencing, where she sat wobbling back and forth like a Weeble (if you didn't grow up in the UK in the 1970s - early 80s, look up Weebles here - although it seems they made a bit of a comeback recently).

As quickly  as he could, Stuart exited the enclosure, grabbed a stick to wave around, and made his way to where the bird sat swaying on the top of the fence. He made a couple of attempts to persuade her to flap back into the enclosure, but she had other ideas and flapped off into the undergrowth. At this point we both thought hen no. 4 was gone for good. Ah well, 3 hens and a cockerel was probably enough... But on searching the undergrowth, Stuart found that escapee-hen was simply sitting quietly in a bed of bramble and making no attempt to move any further. He swiftly grabbed her, scrambled his way back around to the gate, and deposited her safely inside the house with her friends. Panic over, we quickly shut the door on the new inmates and decided to leave them to settle in. We plan to leave them in their house for about a week (with fresh water and food of course) before letting them out to explore the wider area of the enclosure (er... hopefully with no more escapees), in the hopes that by that time they will be sufficiently well settled in their house to know where to go at the end of the day.

5 chickens (no really...)

The cockerel was first in.

(The real) Mr Chicken.

Followed by the hens.

Two white hens, two red hens.

It wasn't even this one that escaped.

All safely in the house.

After the excitement of the morning, it was time for a quick lunch before Samantha arrived for my weekly Italian lesson. Stuart took Reggie for a walk by the river while Samantha worked hard to slightly restore my faith in my ability to learn Italian, and by the time she left, I was feeling a little less disheartened than I had been in the morning!

So, as another busy week comes to an end, we have finally got livestock again and feel more like a real 'farm' or smallholding again. We're looking forward to seeing the chickens out and about in their enclosure soon, and of course looking forward to the day when they start producing eggs for us!

All change - swapping friends for family

It was all change last weekend after we said farewell to Allison and Q, as the very next morning we were back at Pisa airport, this time to collect my Mum & Dad. Their flight arrived on schedule and it wasn't long before we spotted them walking towards us through the arrivals gate. It was lovely to see them, and after greeting them and taking their suitcases we headed straight back to the car for the drive home.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Would you babysit this face?

So, while Mum & Dad settled down for an evening in front of the fire with Reggie wedged between them on the sofa, Stuart and I headed up to Vellano for an evening at Manero's restaurant in celebration of the first anniversary of our friends David and Sarah moving to Italy. We had a fantastic evening, with some really great company. It was the first time we'd managed to see Donatella since she broke her ankle a couple of weeks ago - we were away when it happened, following which we have had a string of visitors, so we simply hadn't managed to fit in a visit - it was really good to see her, and good to see her in good spirits too. David's Dad and brother also came, as did David & Sarah's close friends Fabio and Edoardo (aka Fab and Ed) - who we'd met briefly once before, and who we really enjoyed meeting properly this time. The food was fantastic (antipasti, seafood pasta, ravioli with wild boar sauce, vegetable lasagne, swordfish, pork with mushrooms, ribs, various vegetable side dishes, and finished off with cantuccini biscuits with prosecco), the atmosphere buzzing, and I felt as if I spent the whole night laughing and smiling (with the exception of the mortifying incident in which I accidentally hit Donatella's bandaged foot - I knew I shouldn't have taken the booby-trap seat next to the person with the broken ankle...). At the end of a great evening, we said goodbye to everyone before taking Donatella back down the road to her house and handing her carefully back to into the care of her Mum who was waiting up for her.

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.

Who are your friends?

Waiting patiently.

"Are you coming??!"

Lignana

The church at Lignana

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!