Wood and lots of it.

In the non-urban parts of Umbria the most common household fuel is wood. Having had a reasonable cold winter and spring continuing to be damp and cool the fires are still burning. Indeed our fire is burning away again tonight whereas say last year would have have seen us stop having fires in over a month ago.

If you are a member of your local Comunanza (community association) then for 50 euros you have an entitlement to 50 quintale (5,000 kilos) of wood. Although for this you do have to cut the trees down and log it yourself from the community owned woodland around us. Still, this is considerable cheaper than the 8-10 euros a 100 kilos you would need to pay a wood merchant.

The sun is forecast to appear on Sunday so hopefully things will start to warm up.

Forza Alonso for the race on Sunday!

DOP Olive Oil

DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) is the Italian system of product protection based on the EU system introduced in 1992.

It signifies that the product is traditionally and entirely manufactured (prepared, processed and produced) within the specific region.

Umbria is unique in Italy as it is the only region within Italy where the entire production of olive oil is covered by the DOP status.

There are five DOP regions within Umbria and Casa Margherita falls within the Colli Assisi-Spoleto DOP area. If you are interested to find out more then please go to www.stradaoliodopumbria.it for more information.

Rain Again

Rain again today which is definite confirmation I have started to cut the grass in the

Casa Margherita grove too early.

The long winter/damp spring has also resulted in us running low of wood pellets for our wood burning boiler which supplies hot water and eating for the house. So we had to pop out today to buy ten 15kg sacks which will hopefully keep us going until the sun appears and our solar panels start working.

Tonight we have the final of the Italian Cup or sadly the Tim Cup, as it is called after its sponsor. It's Roma vs Inter Milan so I will be backing Totti and the lads to get one over on Mou and the Inter lads. Also good to see Steve McLaren winning the Dutch league with FC Twente - odds to be the next Liverpool manager anyone?

Gardening

Saw our friend today with an idea for her garden (see 22 Apr - Spring time). She needs to speak with hubby tonite so fingers crossed for that.

We have done some research in terms of prices of plants etc and saw this olive - price - only 280 Euro!!. Not sure they'll go for this. But we did find a eating olive, as all the olives round here are for oil and so are unedible - extremely bitter. So thought for them as a family it would be nice to have something in the garden that has fruit you and pick and still seem Umbrian and have an olive in the garden.

Olive Grove Update

We have now completed two of the three major tasks required at this time of year.

We have fertilised all the trees. We use an organic fertiliser which comes in a pellet form. We give each tree 4 kilos which we spread on the upper side of the tree at the edge of the canopy. When it rains (of which we have had plenty) the fertiliser will get washed down to the fibrous roots.

The second part of to prune all the trees which we have now done with the help of Alveiro who tends the trees below our house on behalf of a locally famous lawyer who has a handlebar moustache and a liking for cigars. He comes up once a year on Ferragosto which is a big holiday in Italy to check on his grove.

The third task is to cut the grass. Now timing is crucial here as you do not want it to rain after you have cut it as you will probably need to cut it again. But you do not want to leave it too late as it becomes too hot and seriously hard work. I have started but fear I am a little early as there is rain forecast for most days this week. Ho hum!

The Hay Barn

My partner, Rachel, is a painter and print maker and up until last October had been trying to do this in our house which is basically a 2 up and 2 down albeit stuck on an Umbrian hillside.

This was not a situation that could continue and so we put word out that we were looking for a workshop/studio type space locally. Word reached Stefano who talked with his father, Giuseppe, and said why don't you suggest your old hay barn as it empty (see above).

Giuseppe spoke with Rachel and we walked up the hill to have a look at it. It was perfect. A big open space - exactly what any artist needs. The rent? - the occasional painting for Stefano/Guiseppe - even better.

Being a haybarn it is absolutely xxxxxx freezing in winter but for 8 months of the year it's great.

Rachel now goes up the hill most days to paint and is reveling in the fact that after many years she finally has a decent space in which to work in. A selection of her work can be seen at www. rkwilliams.com

Veg

Today is Labour Day here in Italy and so round our way all the shops are shut except for the garden centres who were doing a good trade in veg and annuals to brighten up the garden.

We went to get our tomatoes, chillis, aubergines etc and to check out some plant prices for a garden project that we might be doing. More on that later if we get the go ahead.

Saw this field of poppies on the way out. In the background you can see the Torre di Matigge.