Le pecore

In days gone by olive grove owners allowed the local shepherds/esses to graze their flocks though the groves. There were two great benefits to the grove owners of this. The sheep kept the grass down and they fertilized the trees.

When we moved here, we, as wet behind the ears Londoners, were happy to have added to the contract for the house and land the fact that the local shepherd could not graze his sheep on our land. Doh!

He has recently asked us if he can return to grazing his sheep on our land as it makes his passage over the hill easier. We are very happy for him to return. However, Winnie and Ugo will not be so happy as they will need to put up with some very aggressive looking sheep dogs.

Doing the market...

As another month speeds by it was yet again time for the monthly farmer's market in Trevi. As normal, I was present with my wonderful olive oil but this month had decided to do a double header and also do the antique, collectable, any old rubbish market that takes place in the adjacent Piazza.

Having done a bit of life laundry I had a number of CD's that required a new owner(s).

So Rachel was charged with olive oil sales and I with convincing the probably skeptical Trevi public of the merit of 80's/90's music from an English/American perspective.

Total sales. €25.50 for Rachel and a measly €4.00 for me. I was glad to have avoided the charge of €4.50 to have a stall.

Sounds poor, and it is, but this a night out at our local pizza emporium with wine……………

Onward and upwards.

Perugia oggi

Trip to Perugia today. L'Artista to take in an exhibition and take seemingly random but wonderful images such as said above.

I, instead was on an olive oil selling mission which went very well indeed. So a good day for everyone at Casa Margherita.

On a separate note, don't forget to raise a glass to Bagpuss who turns 40 today.

What's going on?

Well, don't want to say too much at the moment but a big change is coming for Casa Margherita and for the artista. Watch this space.

Regeneration

This is the scene below Casa Margherita where someone is wielding a chainsaw and bringing an old abandoned olive grove back into production. Always a pleasure to see but it will be a few years before they are back into full production.

When groves such as these are brought back into production it is often impossible to prune back to something so they cut the truck about 1.5 metres above the ground and will then develop 3 or 4 branches to produce a bowl shape from this cut point.

Valentines Day

Looking for that great Valentines Day gift idea then why not adopt an olive tree. The tree of life for the love of your life. Go to www.casa-margherita.com to find out more.

This evenings sunset

Fantastic colours.