Oooo...nearly a month since my last blog. So much is going on and I don't seem to be finding time to write. I am going to try and blog more regularly throughout spring and summer so keep with it!
Today, however, is an important update on the wine (let's face it, for most of us it is a mutual appreciation!!)
In mid March, with Pasquale, the font of all knowledge, we went to see "Hugo". I'm sure you are all bursting to know who Hugo is, so I won't keep you in suspense! Hugo runs a small hardware shop / building suppliers / garden centre under a mile from our house. It is not advertised, it's not on a main road, it's not even clear as to what it's purpose is when you get there, but he sells almost everything you might need for outdoors (and indoors I suppose, as he is also our bottled gas supplier!!). It is like an Aladdin's cave! It's a prime example of how businesses run on word of mouth and local knowledge round here, not passing trade and/or marketing. Great for those of us who have been here for generations and know where to go, not so great for those of us who only moved here last year! I have yet to decide if Abruzzo is a marketer's dream or total flippin' nightmare!
I digress. From "Hugo" we ordered 6 peach trees and 45 new vines. 40 Montepulciano and 5 various eating variety vines. Once we got the nod from Hugo to say they had arrived, under instruction from Pasquale we buried them in the garden overnight (we are still not sure if this was to keep them alive or to stop them from being nicked from any wandering garden plant thief that might fancy a new vineyard on the cheap!)
The following day we spent the morning planting our new vines in amongst the existing ones in places where we have taken casualties over the past 6 years. It was very technical, not recommended for beginners...we needed a bucket, a trowel and a pick!!
Team Reid saw Dougie digging the holes a foot wide for the centimetre wide stick, 30cm long new vines. The followup team - me, Jake and Josh (mainly me!) - had to plant, fill and water. I have to say we fulfilled our role pretty well!! Now we have 40 new montepulciano vines waiting to burst into action as the warmer weather approaches!
Our first
winter here is nearly over and there is a definite feel of spring in the
air. Each day we have sun we can see the snow line on the mountains all
around us receding.
But
we still have a few more weeks to squeeze in the winter sports that
were one of our reasons for choosing our move here to Abruzzo. This
season Dougie and I invested in new skis and boots, after a 3 hour
fitting session at the sports shop in Sulmona!! Now, we are making sure
that we make the most of them!
The
Alto Sangro ski resort is 21 miles, just 30 mins drive, main road all
the way, and has more than 100km of pistes to choose from. We have been 4
times and are still trying out new runs each time we go. Personally, I
think it rivals any Alpine ski resort I've been to (and I have been lucky enough to visit a
fair few!).
The
boys have also had their first skiing lesson. Jake loved it and an
unexpected 2 days off for the Italian general election meant they had
another practice a couple of weeks ago.
Monday, however, it is school for the boys
and the slopes for us...what the heck, the gardening, washing,
cleaning, etc. can all wait, but this time next month the snow may not
be here. 'Carpe diem' and all that!!
To
make the most of the mountains this winter, as well as skiing, we have
been sledging, Dougie has taken up snowshoeing, with an overnight exped mid feb to go and sleep in a snow hole in the Maiella (I,
however, was quite happy in my nice warm bed, despite the
earthquake tremors that night!!)
When we get bogged down with the hassles of life and everything becomes a bit of a strain, I just
have to pinch myself, look at the breathtaking scenery that surrounds us
and think about how lucky we are to live in this amazing place that has so much to offer. I hope
you enjoy the photos!
Well, a while back I promised photos of where I work and this is it: XYZ language school in Sulmona.
It is fairly small with 3 classrooms and an office (mine is the middle window), plus we go into some of the local schools on contract teaching all ages from 6 to 18.
The owners, Anna (Canadian) and Antonio (Italian) are extremely well respected and do a fantastic job running the school ...so much so, they are currently keeping me too busy!!
It's a fortunate thing to be able to say given the current economic climate here in Abruzzo. The stress of the PGCE is starting to pay off!
So, now well into 2013, we are starting to plan our veg patch and garden improvements for the coming year. The boys are very excited that we are going to designate them an area for their own veg patch and Jake has already made a list of the veg he will be growing!!
As for us grown ups, in January we moved and renewed our compost heap - 'thrilling' you might think - and yet, we were actually quite excited about it...that's what living in the Abruzzo countryside does for you!!
Plus, after watching a handful of youtube videos, we clearly became experts at pruning fruit trees! Or maybe not...time will tell!
So, what next? Well... I have decided I am going to experiment with an area of no dig veg patch, we are going to modify the hen run for those times when 'the girls' can't be out roaming free for one reason or another, I have started on the design for the new herb garden - which will also house the Pizza Oven, we have made a rough list of the veg we want to grow throughout the year in the veg patch, we want to make a private garden for the rental apartment, plant some more fruit trees, renew the wood shed roof and...well seriously, do we need anything else?
A treasured friend once told me that I need to shorten my list of things to be achieved, that way I am more likely to succeed and feel that sense of achievement...Becks, I am still working on it!
Regular readers of this blog may remember that back in October I posted about going Eco in Abruzzo. Part of our plan when moving to a house in the Italian countryside was to become both more self sufficient and more eco-friendly.
So far, our major achievement has been the fitting of the solar hot water (which is an absolute triumph!) and it has provided us with huge amounts of sun powered hot water since it was installed! We have our five chickens laying their organic free range eggs, we had a successful organic veg patch last year and are still eating the fruits of our labour from the jars of fruit and jam plus the veggies in the garden.
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| Mmm - Borlotti! |
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| Pumpkins & squash |
We are making our own compost, our central heating is run on 100% ecological wood pellets and we have fitted the 89% efficient wood burner in the lounge for that bit of extra comfort(again wood burners are much more environmentally friendly than most standard forms of energy, being one of the few carbon neutral fuels-ok, environmental science lesson over!). Up until the end of November we took the boys to school and picked them up on the bikes almost every day. I am still cycling to work on average 3 times a week. All of these things help to reduce our carbon footprint.
We will continue to look at ways of improving our green credentials, although Dougie has drawn the line at a compost toilet! Any suggestions welcome!
Shame on me...it has been nearly one month since I blogged. I have so much to tell you, and yet finding the time to blog has been kind of difficult recently, between work (paid...well kind of) and work on the house, school and just living in Italy, which seems to take up so much time!!
However, tonight is a very special night and therefore blogging could not be postponed until a later date. After all our hard work in the vineyard, and the understanding we were not to touch the wine until Christmas apart from the taste we had on San Martin - when all must turns to wine - we, today, went to Santo Pasquale's house and were offered this year's wine...it is now officially Christmas!!
If it is good enough for Santo Pasquale, it is good enough for us!! So here it is, a picture of the first wine we have ever produced from our vineyard. What can I say...epic!
In mid March, with Pasquale, the font of all knowledge, we went to see "Hugo". I'm sure you are all bursting to know who Hugo is, so I won't keep you in suspense! Hugo runs a small hardware shop / building suppliers / garden centre under a mile from our house. It is not advertised, it's not on a main road, it's not even clear as to what it's purpose is when you get there, but he sells almost everything you might need for outdoors (and indoors I suppose, as he is also our bottled gas supplier!!). It is like an Aladdin's cave! It's a prime example of how businesses run on word of mouth and local knowledge round here, not passing trade and/or marketing. Great for those of us who have been here for generations and know where to go, not so great for those of us who only moved here last year! I have yet to decide if Abruzzo is a marketer's dream or total flippin' nightmare!
