It’s been a week of Firsts. Our days are full of new things, but this week has been particularly Firsty … The first First was “the first time it’s ever rained all over my new floor”. I was about to say “it rained inside my house”, but actually, given that the bathroom ceiling leaks, and that the upstairs windows are not watertight, and that downstairs has no windows at all, rain inside my house is fairly standard. However, we returned from a wonderful lunch out with friends to find an indoor swimming pool where our floor had been, and that … Continue reading The First Time I Ever …

According to The University of Google, a healthy olive tree, well pruned to the correct size and shape, should take no more than an hour to harvest, and produce around 25kg of fruit. An olive box holds 25kg of fruit. … Continue reading An Extra Virgin Harvest

Over the last couple of months, we have been busily finalising our residency status here, in preparation for Scott’s retirement, and also to Brexit proof ourselves. In Scott’s case, this has been incredibly straightforward. A couple of visits to the … Continue reading Busy Doing Nothing

Ah September. Back to work, back to school, back to renovations, and the month where frantic harvest preparation begin. Inside the “house”, The Builder and his team are back, working from Too Early o’clock until Tea Time, with only a … Continue reading Harvest Preparations

August is a strange month in Italy. By day it’s too hot to breathe or eat, and by night it’s too hot to sleep. August is a month for recharging one’s batteries, a month for taking life slowly. Really slowly. … Continue reading Summer In, and Out Of Sabina

Twenty nine years ago today, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. And so, Scott and I nipped down to the registry office on a Saturday morning, and got married. We did this mainly because we loved each other and wanted to be … Continue reading A Moving Tale

Three weeks on from my last blog post, and we’re still waiting for the plumber to come to work. He was sighted briefly one morning last week, wandering around the site drinking a bottle of coca cola, but then he … Continue reading Construction Site Living

I’m feeling rather sorry for the two chaps who work for The Builder this week. Having dug out 120 metres of old floor, and smashed their way through every internal wall on the ground floor, they were all set to … Continue reading Hot, Hot, Hot, in 50 Shades of Green

Hello Dear Reader, remember me? I’m the one that used to blog weekly about my little farm in the Sabina hills. Then I blogged monthly, and then the world started turning so fast that I had no time to blog … Continue reading May-hem, and Buon Lavoro