Hot air and the Adventures of a Small Furry Animal (part 2)

Sorry for the delay....normal service may be resumed...maybe

Finding the time to do this blog thing is harder than I thought. A lie. I thought it would be tricky, but assumed I'd find the odd half-hour here and there. Not so. So I've now got lots of things to talk about and about...well...two hours typing time, I guess, in which to do it all. V and Kim are cooking up a storm for guests tonight....finocchiona on freshly baked gnioccho (I'd better remember to check the spelling on this lot later!), Pasta Senese (my fave), roast pork, rosewater panna cotta and rose ice-cream (guess what's in season?)...anyway, enough about that. It's making me hungry, and I haven't budgeted any time for food. 3...2...1...go.

The Patrignone Balloon Fiesta

Mark and his balloon team were here all last week, and we had a fantastic, albeit brief time with them. As usual the pressures of normal life here meant I didn't spend as much time with him as I would have liked. But we had some fantastic flights, and even a bit of a drama to spice things up.

The first flight on the Sunday morning took us right over the Piazza del Campo in Siena...what a spectacular view that was! The landing was hairy to say the least, but hilarious. We were dragged 40m though a field of broad-beans/animal feed (depending on who's story you believe), and we ended up with the basket on its side, me and Harvey laughing ourselves stupid with Mark and Philippa well and truly on top of us. Thursday saw Patrignone's first ever balloon launch. We took off from Campo della Fonte and got some good pictures and some video of Patrignone from the air. If I can work out a way to get some of this video down-sized and uploaded without wasting half my life trying, I'll update this blog entry in due course.

On the Tuesday I was crewing, which means I get to tear around Chianti in a Land Rover following a hot-air balloon while talking into a walkie-talkie. What fun! Well, these things are normally rather straight forward, only this time things got a bit...shall we say "Interesting" at the very least. Mark was burning [balloon-speak - Ed] quite hard to get off the ground as the basket was a little heavy, and when he took off [showing off now - Ed], he lit some gas [made-up - Ed] to get high quite quickly. However, this caused to balloon to drop a flag telling Mark that the envelope was too hot. So Mark prudently decided to keep low [bored now - Ed] and look for a safe spot to put down so that someone could get out to lighten the load. Only the wind died completely, leaving Martin and myself running backwards and forwards across vineyards, ploughed fields, fences and ditches, while Mark tried repeatedly to circle around and put the balloon down in the same field, only to be thwarted when the breeze would pick up at the last moment, leaving him with no choice but to burn hard and go up and around again (I didn't know balloons could do that either, but they can), or risk ploughing into 20-year-old mature vines, and probably get us all lynched.

We eventually got down OK, and the two B&B guests who went up with Mark in the balloon absolutely loved every minute. For my part, I quite enjoyed the excitement, but could have done without the sprained ankle.

It was a tiring week, with lots of early starts for us all, but especially for Mark, who was up before the crack of dawn every day. So thanks a million Mark - you're a star and a half. And let's hope we can convince you to make an annual event of it, though maybe not every single morning, eh?

Furry Rodent Adventures

Sorry, but part 2 of the Adventures of Roger the Rodent will have wait until next time. I'm on a schedule.

Kimber's back

Yes, our intrepid Ozzie alla pari is back with us for another season, and with V up-the-duff (did I mention that before...no...?) we're very glad to have her. Though quite how insane she must be to come back for another summer of slave labour with us should be a worry to her friends and family alike. You would have thought she would have learned her lesson, wouldn't you? I guess it takes all sorts.

In any case, she's settled straight back in and you can hear all this from her point of view on her blog... The Kimba Chronicles (though shame about the spelling Kimbers).

Welcome back Kim.

[Am currently chompin on some fresh gnioccho brought in kindly by Harv...hmm...not bad, if I say so myself...]

V has a bun in the oven

Yes, V is indeed expecting another bundle of joy. Well done me. We don't know the sex yet, but V desperately wants a girl, and I guess I do too, if only to provide some familial balance, and V really really wants a cute thing to dress up in pretty clothes. So if it's a boy, expect an ambiguous name (Lesley/Leslie?) and don't be surprised to see the poor blighter in a skirt and shiny shoes from time to time.

We're obviously delighted. It's due via the sun-roof sometime mid-October. More news as and when...

Tuscan Weddings a go-go

I am supposed to be liberally sprinkling this blog with key search phrases like "Weddings in Tuscany", and "Chianti Weddings". Apparently such phrases will make my blog irresistible to the Google worms which feed on such stuff, growing larger and fatter and presumably ever hungrier for more snappy keywords. No wonder Google is so big. It's literally eating the Internet. (Shouldn't somebody do something?)

I am trying to remember to be good, but it's hard to [hmm...pan-fried finocchiona...I knew V wouldn't let me starve] write in a natural way while plugging the blog. Maybe I should have a blatantly commercial paragraph somewhere near then end that you can completely ignore?

Anyway, we've got four weddings here this summer, with another possible late booking for October (a couple who were here just last week, got engaged in Venice, and want to get married here...how sweet!). The first is in June (sorry, got distracted by a large plate of pasta... an occupational hazard round these parts) and it's quite a biggie.

We are, of course, more than a little nervous. The dearly intended have entrusted us with one of the biggest days of their lives, and by golly we're going to give them a day to remember! But it's a lot of work for us, and a lot of pressure. There's a lot to get right, but I guess we've been planning this for several months now, and everything is pretty much in place. I'm doing all the paperwork, which is pretty straight forward for a UK couple, albeit time-consuming, we've got the menu planned, the forest disco organised, Prosecco ordered, fresh lamb in the freezer (and when I say fresh, this little bundle of fluff was springing through Sardinian fields yesterday morning)...all is in hand.

But we're still a little on edge, and I guess it'll only get worse as the day approaches. And maybe that's the way it should be. We wouldn't want anyone accusing us of not treating the whole thing with the gravity and seriousness it deserves, even if the bride and groom are about as easy-going and laid back as you can get.

I think I'm getting an ulcer.


Our Swimming Pool in Tuscany is now open...and the swallows are back

And a whole month earlier than last year! We've has some amazing weather the last few weeks, glorious sunshine, blue skies, everything flowering and growing like mad after all the winter rain. So if you are looking for a Villa in Chianti with a lovely swimming pool, then make sure you take a loot at our website at www.patrignone.com before you book anywhere else. Thinking of booking an apartment in Tuscany? Well, what do you know?! We have just the thing!

See? Sounds shitty. Can't be done.

Oh, and the swallows have invaded in force. We keep beating them back, the rotten swine, but they just keep on coming! Why, oh why won't they leave us alone? We won't last long...tell Laura I love her. Two pairs nesting either side of the Villa kitchen. Stupid birds, but very chatty and pretty. Keep flying into my office to say hello. Miao'll get'em for sure. [Sniff.]

The final touches to our extra-virgin 100% organic olive oil

(Yes, I am still trying.) It's nearly then end of spring, so before the cantina gets too warm, I've been making the final adjustments to my olive oil. Basically, this means I've decanted off any sediment from the bottom of the storage vats from craftily designed taps in the conical bottom, filtered some of my remaining unfiltered oil, and done a little surreptitious blending. The finished product is extremely good - I'm really happy with it. Mind you, it's not like I can really claim much credit. Frankly, all I did was pick the olives, and that I most certainly didn't do that alone.

But it is none-the-less very satisfying to end up with such a good and completely natural oil.

Now I just need to find someone who can take a few hundred litres! I have a couple of promising leads in Vancouver, so watch this space. Meanwhile, my efforts to set up a more direct network of 'friends of Patrignone Olive Oil' (who buy direct from me and distribute to their friends and family to keep prices down) needs more work from me, and I intend to attack the issue with renewed vigour next week. I promise Kathleen!

Oh, and I found a 50 litre tin of unfiltered oil that I had set aside from a single day early in the harvest in October...and it's amazing! First come, first served!

And, I'm nearly done!

I just need to add some pictures tomorrow, but I'll press the 'publish' button now just in case some other catastrophe takes over.

Finally...please don't read this

Are you looking for a villa in Tuscany, an apartment in Tuscany, or maybe a villa in Chianti? Are you looking for somewhere with amazing sunset views, a nice pool, surrounded by unbelievable scenery, run by interesting and intelligent young people? Are you perhaps thinking of getting married in Tuscany? Or are you mindlessly surfing the web when you should be working? If any, none or all of these things are true, and you have read this far, then we have it. In fact, whatever it is you want? We have the solution. 100% guaranteed. www.patrignone.com

As I write this there is a vicious storm looming. The lighting is striking close by, no more than a couple of klicks away, and set we've not had more than a drop or two of rain so far. Enough to give the air that deliciously strong scent of earth, dust, and iron, like blood in your mouth. But on the whole mustn't grumble, we're had a couple of fantastic days, beautiful weather, stunning sunsets.

We cooked for our guests last night. A full house - everyone staying here came to eat, and a merry old time they all had. We started the meal with a bottle of Prosecco out on the Terracotta Terrace watching a big red disk set through the thinnest of mists behind the Apennines. It was a bit chilly, but no one seemed to mind. People will put up with a lot for a good sunset or a spectacular sunrise.

We set wine enough for half a bottle a head, but we ended up supplying several refills, so there was much chatting, much laughing, and everyone seemed to get on really well. The food was great, much better than my over-cooked pork from last week. V has got into her stride really quickly this year, and the she did an Ossobuco that would be hard to beat anywhere, I kid you not. We had the left-overs this evening, and I swear it was even better than it was last night, as is often the way.

We sat and had a drink with our guests afterwards, before heading off to bed and leaving them to finish a bottle of decent Vin Santo.

The end is neigh

Yikes. The storm has now kicked off in fine pyrotechnic and apocalyptic style. That last crash shook every window in the house. Everyone else has gone to bed (it is past 11, after all) but how they're managing to sleep through all if this is anyone's guess.

Every time there's a big storm like this, we worry. Is a roof leaking somewhere, are we going to find an apartment flooded, is some poor unsuspecting guest going to get dripped on in their bed?
Of course, apart from the off drop or there, guests haven't had to cope with anything serious yet, thank goodness. But we have had bad leaks, and I guess, with a place as old as this, with some of the ferocious storms we get (like this one...it really is a hum-dinger), there is always the risk the someone may be going home with the kind of Tuscan adventure story they weren't expecting.

So we worry. We cross our fingers (metaphorically speaking), do a bit of praying (usually metaphorically, though not necessarily), and we hope for the best.

And right on cue, we get a power cut. The wind is howling out there, and it probably did something extreme to the power lines. I lost 15 minutes of pointless drivel, which you won't miss either, I promise you, and I headed out in the rain with a head-torch so see if there was anything I could do. As it happens, the problem was up the line somewhere and the power came back on of its own accord before I could get too wet. [By the way, don't let all this talk of storms put you off coming to Tuscany in April or May - most of the time it's lovely, honestly! Wait till you see some of my pictures!]

And what of our guests?

Well, as I promised some time ago, in the aim of being non-specific when it comes to guests, so as to avoid any direct finger pointing and embarrassment, especially to those staying here at the moment, I can't really talk about our current guests...except to say that they are all lovely. We had a group of young ladies leave today who got extremely attached to Miao and the dogs, and we were sorry to see them go to. Have fun ladies.

But it does mean that maybe I can recount an embarrassing story or two for last year, does it not? I mean, as long as I'm not naming names?

Furry friends

Well, let me tell you a story about a very resourceful critter. Small. Furry. Pink pointy nose. Whiskers. Not a small cat. Anyway, one of our guests came knocking on our door one afternoon to say someone or something had been at their fruit. Of course, we're living out in the country, trespassing on Nature's patch, so it's not surprising we get the occasional unwelcome visitor. We've had birds, mice, stray cats, lost dogs, even the occasional horse (another time, maybe). So we try to keep calm, and deal with the matter in a relaxed way. So out came the trap, grizzly metal contraction designed to dice and slice with minimal collateral mess. Actually, I jest. It's a steel trap much like the one used by the children-catcher in Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang. [Though quite why I should have though of that right now is beyond me. I must be losing the plot. Maybe I'd better go to bed and finish this tomorrow? Good idea.]

I need to finish these blogs when I can, because it's now 4 days later and I've lost my train of thought. And I'm really not totally convinced I should be airing our furry visitor stores in public! Should I?

I'll have a think...but for now. I'll stop here.