Vespa

Mobile phone addiction

Sadly a friend and neighbour died in June. He lived with his partner in a lovely woodman’s cottage further down in the valley.

Here is a poem of our valley in Gugliano.

Like a mate, a place draws you to it.
We touched these undulating valleys:
they embraced and entranced us. Unlike
Shelley – who drowned in the waters of
Cinque Terre – we sank into the arms of these hills:
Gugliano,

By James Berry O.B.E. 1998

His wonderful poems are all available in book form on Amazon. I recommend an audio CD so you can hear his wonderful Jamaican voice & laughter.

http://www.summer-festival.com/

Lucca has organised some of the best musicians to play in their Summer festival. David Bowie, Elton John, Robbie Williams, Eric Clapton, Lou Reed, BB King, Alicia Keys, Elton John have all paid. This year the organisers have attracted the Rollig Stones, their only Italian venue during their summer tour

In February the restaurants are serving white asparagus and after Easter the usual asparagus is arriving in the markets with other spring produce.





Ponte a Moriano market every Tuesday morning.

I was invited by chef Aurelio to go to the Biroldo festival in Marlia. Biroldo is like black pudding, boudin noir. It basically is a blood sausage and popular in the Garfagnana mountains; I like it it but it is an acquired tasted, often offal. I can’t imagine a festival like this in Britain or the US, maybe France but in a small town outside of Lucca there were 2000 people.





There isn’t a market in Italy without a porchetta

The tasting & judging to find the best Biroldo lasted about 3 hours with the winner having a throne to sit on.


The event was so Italian & of course had to have cheer leaders, although the brass band stopped playing in the middle of their dance routine.



Nice trainers

The swallows arrived in mid March and started building their nests immediately in the barn. After flying a few thousands miles from southern Africa it is an amazing achievement.

The redstarts have returned to their next in the barn wall by our front gate; it is so good seeing they have returned once again. They spend their life singing & hopping around the barn & terraces. The cuckoo is singing away but not in the numbers they were. Many of the migrants are killed by the bird shooters in Malta, which is so sad as they give so much pleasure too many people

Angela: She is a lovely youngish lady who prepares & cleans a Corte. She cleans on Saturday and is available if you require mid week cleaning.

Pier Luigi: He cleans our pool & cuts all the grass. He’s a lovely man & we have known him for nearly 20 years. His Friday & Saturday evenings are spent at a night club in Montecatini until 4am dressed in a white suit in the summer and all black in the winter #SaturdayNightFever He cuts the grass & cleans the pool on Saturday, sometimes on Wednesday during very hot or thundery weather.

Rafa is our odd job man but a superb craftsman, a true artisan. He & Antonio check the pool clarity on Friday.

Lovely Marcello lives in Gugliano and waters our flowers and plants on Wednesday during hot weather & maintains the land throughout the year.

GianFranco is our farmer & lives in the village with his brother & his wife. Our valley has been farmed using traditional methods for years and still milks his cows by hand. He wears a different hat per job, but usually seen on his tractor in a vest & black beret during the hot summer months


(GFranco’s spraying hat is made from 2 brown paper bags)

It is always a pleasure having guests returning to A Corte. Last year we had 2 families and this year we have a another 2 families and hopefully this will increase to three or four.

Last week I read a good article by David Sexton in the Evening Standard about the subject of returning to a known place http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/david-sexton-on-the-joy-of-holidaying-in-the-same-place-a3448821.html

When it’s hot there are only 2 places to be, either on a lilo in the pool or at the beach

End of a long days work in the sun at Maolina