Thank you to recent guest Sally Logue from Utah for sending me her lovely photo from her walk on the Cinque Terre.

I have always loved wildlife and actually came to the UK to become a wildlife film maker, but sadly didn’t have the contacts to pursue that career.

I love the migrating birds and preserving our estate to maximise all nature and food traditions.

Pine Martins, these are excellent climbers and often found near streams. They build huge nests high up in pine trees

Golden Orieles, these beautiful birds are commonly seen eating ripe fruit, especially figs.

Barn owls are less common in the last 10 years and I have found several dead in the barn, predated by larger raptors

The Redstart, nests every year in our car port. It is such a cheerful summer migrant and flies around the pergola when we are eating.

The red backed shrike or butcher bird as it often named because it catches insects and impales them on thorns

The Bee-eater is a bird I often see in Africa or nesting on cliff edges. During pre-stormy weather they often congregate very high over the pool in large flocks of 15-20 eating insects and making lots of chirpy noises.

The hoopoe is another summer visitor from Africa and is seen probing for ants on the lawn, high on the oak tree by the car port or fluttering across the valley – the white bars on its wings are very clear to see during flight.

We also have lots of Little Owls, Nightjars that used to lie on the track in the evening enjoying the warmth from the day, cooing Turtle Doves, Peregrine Falcons, Hobby, Buzzard, Sparrow Hawks, Woodpeckers. We also have Porcupines, Foxes and Badgers – when we had a large fig tree by the south terrace they would come and eat the figs while we sat having dinner on the east terrace.

There are large herds of Wild Boar, ‘Cinghiale’ but they are very quiet and secretive; your car headlights may pick them up at night. They are harmless preferring to disappear into the night. The locals shoot about 200/ year in the valley, it is a natural free range food source. It is very much a cult thing and in Italians dna.

The turtle doves are usually seen on the wires around the house or flying across the valley, sometimes eating stones on the track. This is such a beautifully delicately patterned bird which sadly is becoming rarer due to the shooting in southern Europe and theNorth African coast.

We are so lucky to have these wonderful grand villas and gardens to visit in our local area. https://www.villeepalazzilucchesi.it/web/scheda_struttura.php?id_struttura=81

Villa Grabau https://www.villagrabau.it/en/the-villa/

Villa Paolina

I always find it very refreshing to see how the Italians have respect for both the old (& young in Italy). Young people are very respectful of their elders.

Most families live very closely within their family home. Our pool boy & gardener, aged 44 still lives at home with his parents with his mother providing all the cooking; as his father has become ill, he has also become his carer despite having a full time job, plus ours. Even in our valley, I can hear the wives calling their husband’s and family for lunch served at 12.30.

My Jeep car rental hire had problems with the tyre pressures and eventually I noticed we had a puncture when I was in Ponte a Moriano. It was late afternoon and I had an early flight in the morning so I had to have it mended. I panicked & thought who would mend my tyre so late in the afternoon. I went to the local Ferramenta (DIY shop) and spoke to the owner Maurizio. He sent me up the road to a local garage, who despite being busy said they would mend it. Initially they were horrified as the rental car had old worn tyres that were illegal. They were a charming team of mechanics, working under a lady & man boss.

However, when, I went to pay, I noticed their office was covered in topless photo’s of women – you don’t have things like that in England but in Italy it’s still the norm. It was a surprise, especially when one of the owner’s was a lady, but she seemed oblivious to it!! She was more concerned about Catherine, Princess of Wales sad cancer diagnosis that what surrounded her on the walls. The Italians love the British royal family, they love the pageantry and sense of occasion.

Our Gelateria, Sauro’s is full of a mix of ages, teenagers, young kids with parents, old & middle aged; it’s refreshing to see.

Incidentally, if you ever need a car/ tyre repair, I can’t recommend this local garage more highly. They are charming, polite and only 50m along the river from Lucca Vini on the old bridge. Autofficina il Ponte di Mugnani & Evangelisti. +39 0583 406131. Closes at 19.00

Every July there is a brilliant music festival in Lucca. All the music greats have played here as well as Puccini Opera in Torre del Lago and the wonderful choirs in Lucca’s cathedrals. Lucca is the birthplace of Giacomo Puccini.

This year we have Rod Stewart, Ed Sheran, Duran Duran, Lenny Kravitz, Diana Krall , Swedish House Mafia, Sam Smith, John Fogerty  to name a few with more names to be added.

Please check the dates on the https://www.luccasummerfestival.it/home

It’s that time of year, most of us in the northern hemisphere, whether US or Canada, northern Europe are waking up to drizzle & cold windy days in need to a summer holiday to boost out vitamin D; I ‘m glad to see the weather in Tuscany is full sun for the next ten days, 18C. The buds are beginning to break through and the olive trees have been heavily pruned and vines are ready to be tied to their posts. A unique Italian tradition is to plant willow trees near vines. They sprout vigorously every year, so every Easter the farmer cuts 1 metre long shoots to tie up the vines. The rest of the world use wire or string but the Italians prefer their own organic method.

Wild boars are common in Tuscany but are very really seen apart from with car headlights at night. They shoot about 200 in the valley very season Nov – February with packs of hounds. Most of the shooting is for game birds. It is very carefully managed by the cacciatore (hunters). The cacciatore have a good reputation as excellent hunters and the packs of cinghiale (wild boar) dogs are looked upon with a lot of respect.

In Italy, as with most of Europe, the Italians have the ‘right to roam’ policy which allows hunting in all areas. In the winter months we often see the cacciatore (often dressed toe to toe in Armani) with their retrievers and pointers walking in the vines, olive groves. Italian farmers often leave trees for cover wild birds and animals.

Every year when we’re having lunch on the Kitchen terrace I see our friendly redstart has returned to nest on an old chestnut beam in the stala (barn). The swallows will also return soon. After their epic journey from southern Africa they return to nest in the barn; as soon as they return they start re-building – isn’t nature incredible. In the really hot months they dive bomb the pool to keep hydrated.

I am always blown away by the art, country, culture and of course the views around Tuscany. The ancient Devil’s Bridge is over the River Serchio and 5 mins north of Ponte a Moriano.

Every summer we benefit from lots of migratory birds, like bee-eaters that nest in the nearby sandstone cliffs, also golden oriels that love the fruits and the red-backed-shrikes.

A bird with us all year is the barn owl that lives in the barn. Sadly, we’ve had a few owl fatalities probably from Eagles or Eagle Owls.

Every summerI love eating all the local summer sweet fruits; we have planted many more olive trees which have really grown despite the dry summers.

In the autumn the blackberries, blueberries and apples are plentiful and during the Christmas holidays we have an abundance of Persimons.

Among many wild flowers you will see many autumn crocuses, the stamens of each are saffron which is such a fantastic flavout. Each crocus only has 3 stamens which is the reason they are so expensive.

Because we water the plants to try to keep them alive during the long dry summers it does attract some large grass snakes. These are not dangerous but may alarm young children, although Harry aged 4 didn’t appear to be frightened when he found snake skins.

POOL SIDE FOR YOUNGSTERS

CROCE DI BRANCOLI