Chicken sitting on a duck

There are three birds living in the living room. The first is a native little baby. It's not quite as common as the dove is for us, but you can normally find at least one or two in every field. The birds are mostly black, with big white patches under each wing. They have a long slender tail, like a swallow. This one living here, bertie, is a baby. Somehow it got into the little foyer before the front door, so they caught it and put it in a cage. Now it's fed cherries, leftover scraps, water. It's doing pretty good. Then fernandas friend brought over a big fat black chicken sitting in an egg crate.the chicken is roosting a cute little yellow baby, that s not another chicken. It is a duck, some how this chicken got hold of a goose egg, and now they live here too.

More work in the grapes

Yesterday morning was pretty fun. Zabeth and I rode into roccaverano with Paula, she had to get her kitchen certification papers signed so that she could continue making honey for the year. The meeting lasted bout an hour so we kept the key to the guard tower that we didn't go up in on our hike, and checked out the view. By the time we got back it was lunch, and then break time. After lunch I painted some railing around the house and Zabeth painted an antique scale and wheelbarrel bright blue with flowers, for decoration. Then paola showed us what to do in the grapes, which was just rake out the tilled weeds and grass. This morning we went out around nine and did as much as possible, and then returned after lunch to finish up for the day. Zabeth was a little tired so she switched to mowing the lawn, and then we picked some cherries. We are going to be leaving here on Friday morning, and heading to camp at lake guarda for the weekend, and then next Monday we catch a train out of Venice for Vienna. We're sticking around to see Adele in a play on Thursday night, Pinocchio, at the school. The weather is getting pretty warm, but thankfully the wind blew a little today to keep things from getting too stagnant. The food is good as always.

Sunday

Today felt like a nice relaxed Sunday at home. When we woke up the kids were watching cartoons, and we drank coffee. Then around eleven we got out for a short walk, and then came back to cook lunch. We offered to cook today and we whipped up modems fresh beans from the green. They were white but I doubt anyone here knows that refrigerator beans are typically brown so no harm done. We also made rice with potatoes onions and tomatoes, and put. Nice fresh fried egg on top. Then of course we took a nap on the deck, and to avoid feeling guilty about it we made coffee and invited everyone out to drink it. Then Paula assessed the bee situation by tKing off the tops from the hives and measuring honey production. When needed more room is added and tomorrow should be apprehension day. The girls hd some friends over who live at a huge dairy farm up the road, so we rode in the car to take them home and walked round and checked out all the stagnant milkers. Or dinner was leftovers, clearing fridge space by eating day old pasta, beans, bread, and peas. It was nice not to have a huge meal. Nw were ll watching a German soap opera dubbed in Italian, and ll the girls re drawing pictures at the kitchen table.

Saturday

Thursday night we were treated to dinner at a pizzeria in a nearby town. Everyone dressed up and no one told us where we were going. Paula gave Zabeth a black dress and told her to wear it, it was nothing fancy but it was a treat for us all to go out together. Yesterday morning we got up around 7 and packed one of our bags full of water, bread, honey and salami. Then we met up with a family friend of 78 years, vittorio, an avid hiker. He helped Zabeth and I get started on a walking tour of five towns and towers in the area, all lookout towers in the province of Asti. The first was three hours away, San gr.... Something or other. Sconce monastero Bormida is the hub of the Bormida river valley, all the spots were uphill. The first part of the walk was the toughest, and then it was about two hours to the next, olmo gentile, the smallest town in the province. There we had lunch at an old church and caught a quick wink. It was only 40 minutes to the next tower and the highest town in the province, roccaverano. You can get a key at the bar and go to the top of the tower, but we were pretty tired of going up. Then it began downhill to Vengore, a tower without a town close by, but surrounded by a moat and a picnic area. Then there was a lot of downhill on our way back to monastero, so much so that we quit taking the trail, which meandered between road and woods, and just stuck to the road. In all we were out for ten hours for a thirty kilometer walk. We were both tired and hot when we arrived home, shortly before the clouds moved in. Vittorio left us before the first tower or torre (cinque torri is the hike) but he came by at eit to check on our safe return. Our prize for completion was homemade tiramisu from Paula. Today they have understood our soreness and let us to our own cutting dead branches out of the vineyard, at our own pace of course.

Nutella

The show we attended at the community theater in Monastero was really cool, All of the actors were disabled. Lucky for us there was not much talking, a musical. A violinist, guitar player, trumpet, and pianist accompanied each skit. It was really moving, also we all got a ribbon and tied them together that united the audience. Today we unloaded a huge dump truck full of wood, ranging from Aspen, Cherry, Maple, and Poplar. We worked all morning, while Fernanda made gnocchi! There was a pesto or red sauce option, then we had frittatas made with the garden greens. Of course, I had a large glass of wine to swallow it all down. This afternoon Paula, dill and I had a tedious job of weeding around all the baby hazelnut trees.....on a steep slope. The nice thing about the work here is Paula or Sergio are alwaysdour there with us. I feel like the job is meaningful and vital that it gets done because they are out there sweating with us. Growing everywhere are elderberries, so fernanda has made elderberry syrup (it is made with the flower, before it fruits). the youngest daughter, nicoletta is a sugar addict so she fills her glass half full with it and then adds a touch of water.

Grape vines

Today we spent the entire day in the grape vineyard. First of course we had cereal and tea for breakfast, and then took time getting things together. Our tools today though we're two scythes, or sickles as the case may be, but I think definitely scythe. Sergio sharpened them, and he prepared his own tool the weed wackier, then we all headed to the grapes. Last week he mowed in between the grapes, but it's difficult to clear the grass between vines by machine so that's what today was. We started at one end with the weed wackier and two scythes going. Zabeth pulled up the party by trimming and cleaning the individual vines. The morning lasted until noon, when the sun became fairly strong and Sergio had to run an errand with his mom. Lunch normally is at one but he was late getting back, so it was 145 when everyone decided to wait no longer, and what a lunch it was. First spaghetti, then fried duck, fried eggplant and tomato and mozzarella. After we had some coffees and everybody settled down it was time to get back to sacking and working. So we went out and spent the next four hot hours under the sun just moving the old blade across the grass. Once the grass was cleared everyone helped Zabeth finish clearing the last few rows of grapes, but she did everything by herself all day, and has the sunburned shoulders to prove it. Tis evening after dinner we met an older gentleman who will be accompanying Zabeth and I on a hike Friday, and then we went in to town for a one act spectacle called viene con me, or come with me. It was a musical play put on entirely by handicapped people that live in or near monastero. It was incredible, the theatre was sold out and every time someone came on stage the entire crowd erupted. The gentleman in the wheelchair who was punched by a girl received by far the loudest ovation, as did one solo singing performance. It was an inspiring night, and it's something that would lighten your mood no matter where you are. We were lucky to be in e audience.

 

Woa

Zabeth and I have experienced a lot of ups and downs during our time in Italy, but we have never had to work like we did today. Yesterday some cousins came to town to help out with the party today, so we had a big dinner, and then watched photo projections of a Vespa trip to Sardinia in 1982 and stayed up until 11. Everything seemed normal this morning, we were included in the big church party at eleven which lasted until 1230, nicolettas first communion. Then we came home and it was raining, and that's when it all started. People were coming over soon so we had to move the snacks into the barn to keep them dry. Of course we ate while we were moving the snacks around because there were so many just right there. Mostly dry meats and focaccia bread and pizza, no problem. Then we settled the food and moved into the dining area. At this point we allowed others to eat, while preparing a nice dish of cole slaw, peppers, anchovies, tomato and rabbit. People moved in and we hit them with the food, not to be le out we ate as well. So now it's about 2 pm and we have eaten salami, focaccia, rabbit and vegetables. Still under control. Then we move on to a simple desert, ricotta empanadas covered in honey and jelly. A complete and fine meal, normal Sunday right. Wrong! Then comes pasta, but not just pasta, ravioli stuffed with greens, what do you want white with oil or red with neat sauce... Well you can have both! Okay okay, not so bad it's just a big meal right, main course first, then pasta to cleanse the palate. Nope, more pasta, green pasta made of vegetables and covered in mushrooms. We might have said no at this point but it's unheard of. Maybe it's just in the interest of having a pasta variety. After the pasta party out comes gelato, a merciful end... Uh oh it's sorbet, the palate cleanser for another course. Then in comes pork, carrots and onions. Okay it's a three course reverse course meal. Surely we're done. Well first we have some nice soft goat cheese covered in homemade honey to settle the belly and then boom! Chocolate pie, custards gelatin with jelly, and a huge fruit tart for allllllllllllll. At this point it's six o clock and people realize that they have been eating for about five hours, so we have coffee, and the oldtimers drink grappa.

G dough

This Saturday morning Zabeth and I have been helping clean up the entire case. She is working inside, on the bedrooms and floor. Then she set the table for 50 people tomorrow. All week people have been cooking in preparation for the part tomorrow, the phrase is "per domenica" as in it's for Sunday don't eat it. I don't know how long ago, but they added on to the existing house, which has been in the family for at least three generations. They added where we now stay, a three room plus kitchen agriturismo. They also added on an industrial kitchen downstairs which is used to rent out for dinner parties and events. That's where Zabeth is helping. I am helping Sergio clean the barn. It's a great big dusty cinder block structure, but much more modern than other buildings because it was built when the addition was. We came in for lunch and had fish pasta, fresh cut pig meat. I forget the cut but I heard the saw working so know its fresh. As we ate it started raining so maybe that prolongs our rest. Yesterday Paola was prepared to drive us about an hour to catch the bike race, but first thing in the morning we found a schedule and caught the early train to savona. Upon arrival we didn't know how to get to the starting line, but one stop in a sport shop and they gave us directions. We were three hours early so we walked through the start area, then took pictures and walked down the street towards the savona beach. Pulled off at a market and had a beer, just since there was so much time before the race. The little stand also made great focaccia bread, offered of course free of charge. So that negated the need to find lunch. After, we walked back to the start line and the team buses were arriving. That was the highlight of the day. The buses all have the logos and sponsors on them, they look like a big jersey from the team. They put the bikes on display outside the bus for people to scope out, just sitting on a rack. There are also the cars parked next to the bus with all the extra bikes loaded on top, the cars are painted up in all the logos as well. The coolest part though is when some of the riders come out, some ride the stationary bike to warm up. Others just walk right off, get on the bike and cruise straight through the crowd to the starting line. We assume they weren't very good, and made it through the mass unrecognized. Actually there are so many people on bikes and dressed up in their bike gear that sometimes you don't know who's a racer and who's spectator. But if you look closely you can figure that a professional probably doesnt carry a cell phone and reading glasses in their pocket. We waited outside of the RadioShack bus, because it's recognizable as lance armstrongs team, though he doesn't ride. One rider from the team was a favorite, Frank Schleck. We waited for him to come off to get our picture of the star and of course he was the last one off and had to do an interview before he started. After he left though we walked to the start and found numerous riders making last minute preparations, and they were much more interesting to see. We caught the start from about 30 seconds down the road and then the entire thing was over. We had some interesting train connections to make, but we finally did. Got home and picked cherries, then some bees made a hive in the tree so they had to be apprehended.

Oggi

This morning Zabeth, Paola and I weeded the entire front walkway. It's actually an elevated flower garden, iris and lavender. There are tons of flowers here, key for the bee population. We weeded until late morning, and then Sergio had a little tractor problem that required attention. He was mowing all the excess grass down on the tractor, when he ran over some unused portion of chain link fence. You can mildly imagine the dilemma. After about ten minutes of work the best course of action was take it to the barn. The next action was of course, hook the chain link to the even bigger tractor and rip said chain link out. It actually worked, until the chain link ripped, leaving the part coiled in the mower still coiled in the mower. Next step... Grinder! Cut chain link out FORCEFULLY! Worked some but not all, so then we settled ourselves to manually snipping with wire cutters. The reward? By the time we finished lunch was ready, and the chain link came out. Lunch was bacon, and eggs, in pasta! Carbonara! Instead of the usual post afternoon doldrums, we stayed alert, because we might be getting a ride to see the bike race tomorrow. Since we don't speak Italian we don't know of that's actually happening, but it's better to prepare for the best and allow for regular day. Zabeth stayed around the house and helped clean out the cantina, sometimes known as a cellar, or better yet the butcher room. I and Sergio went to fill up 15 jugs of wine for the party this Sunday. Mid way thru the filling we had to go help a friend fix his hay bailer? Sergio is a heavy machine operator as well. He got the thing fixed, and we were on our way it before somebody realized io no Capitol Italiano. Sergio told them I was American, and the guy rut away pulls out a business card from a fine cheese importer in Cambridge mass. Turns out he makes fine cheese, so he takes us into his lair and requisitions ftwo blocks of goat cheese for us to take. We go back and finish the wine, then sight see on the way home. Zabeth made dinner, which is pretty fun around here. Grab some salami, boil some pasta, or not, prenda la formaggio, and eat. Zabeth made cherry pie, a big hit! Hopefully we're going to the tour tomorrow?!

Monastero Bormida

Luna Di Miele farm is a like a spoonful of honey on a toasted English muffin...delightful. We arrived to their home that overlooks the valley. It is beautiful with green covered mountains, river, vineyards in every direction and best of all good people. We have lucked out these last 2 months not needing to know a lick of Italian, but now we are Surrounded by a family of five that solely speaks Italian. it's difficult, but this is what we originally wanted, to come to Italy and live on an Italian farm!

Adele is 10 and right away she took us to a cherry tree that we happily gorged ourselves on, then she picked some strawberries for us. There are peach, apple, pear, persimmon ect. Trees, also kiwi and blackberry plants. The bees are kept in boxes right outside of the house in the garden along with the vineyard. There is so much going on here, they have 4 pigs, 3 miniature goats, 3 varieties of chickens, rabbits, 2 turtles, 2 mice, ducks and geese. The farm is small, but has a lot going on and the family is really down to earth and hardworking. Th grandmother lives here too and she runs the apgarden and kitchen, she is cool, what you would omagine a typical old Italian woman to be like.

Cont... Today we mowed the lawn getting ready for nicolettas catholic baptism party. We had lunch with fernanda and the 2 girls came home from school. After, a friend comes and we all pile into his truck and go to his farm. He has an apple tree swarming with bees. We put on suits, Puff smoke at them and they Are persuaded to move their home into a box with trays. I'm really happy because this was exactly what I wanted to see and do coming here.

Genova & Pisa

Pisa was not on the schedule until my dad said when we were in Trieste " isn't there a leaning tower there or something? " no, but there is one In Pisa! For some strange reason Dillon really took to the tower, almost like he understood it's 12 foot lean didnt haveto do with gravity or that people built it on clay, but that the building itself subconciously new the only way it would become famous was if it Leaned! Genova has been on my mind since my mom mentioned she visited once. It is really great, very different from all the other places we have been because it is a...city. There are cars driving on 3 lane roads, along with modern hotels and apartments. However, it is not just a big modern city, it is split between new and old as well as its harbor. (note: frommers book warned readers multiple times about walking around harbors at night). Our hotel is pretty close to city center so we walked there tonight and saw the famous black and white middle age buildings and churches,which they now have put stores inside! It is so cool that these buildings are still standing and in such great condition that they are used daily by people today. It is like people haven't built a new building in the past 70o years...everything is old and historical, but still functional. We stopped at a cocktail bar that had a great apperitivo including mussels, salad, pasta, crab ect for 6.50, great deal until we saw drinks were also 6.50...by some crazy luck though the cocktails were added in the apperitivo price! Not feeling like we got taken, but took them feels great! Feeling good on our choice we went to a brewery in a back street piazza. tomorrow we are planning on going to the colorful oriental market, then going to the 2 nd largest aquarium in Europe before we get on our train to acqui termini. Happy mothers day all and happy birthday to my beautiful, intelligent, Positive souled sister and to my always curious, ready for any turn in life, wonderful dad. Love zab

Siena

So there's lot to catch up on. We came to piza today, but we left the farm in Thursday. We rode the train to Siena, which took eight hours from Abruzzo. Then we arrived and booked a campground, also sister campgrounds with our place in Rome. The first night, Thursday we ate pizza nd salad in th restaurant and went to bed early. It was so nice to be in a place on our own that we booked Friday night as soon as we arrived. Friday morning we walked half an hour into the city center. There was a lot of shopping, but we made it piazza drl campo. Famous for outdoor horse racing twice a year. From here we took pictures, soaked in sun, nd climbed to h op of the bill tower at the church. It's the highest point in town. It's Tuscany,mso the entire country side is green, speckled in vineyards,moline gomes and farms. It's really the best view and the most typical you think of in Italy. Afterwards we worse anus through town, and did some suburban shopping in the evening, looking at a bike store, coffee shop, and shoe store. We ended up there because we thought about renting bikes, but it just wasn't possible with today's schedule. For the first time we got to see real Italian people doing day to day things, we always knew they didn't just hang out and ride buses and go to historic churches. It wore us out so we had the same pizza and salad dinner at the campground and went to bed. This morning, we did the normal coffee, pastry deal, then left our bags and rode the bus down to the city center. We w spe more sights including the medici fort, and another church. Our alms was in the form of Parmesan nd salami, which was accepted graciously. Then we caught a bus to the camp for our bags, and then tithe train station to leave for Pisa.

Piza

So we have been on the move and happy, there is a lot of catching up to do but that's for another iti. For now were in Pisa. We arrived at I've thirty, and takes with a polish guy also waiting for the door man to let us all in. Then we chilled, cleaned up, showered and surfed the net until around seven thirty. When we left the hotel people were just coming out so everything looked like fun. We stopped for an apperitivo, but the people in front ordered multiple drinks, so we stole some snacks and moved on instead of waiting around.we had a place in mind anyway. We walked over the Arno river and towards the university, there we found a highly recommended and giggly crowded pizza jont, il montino. Famous for chick pea pizza, and focaccia rolls stuffed with pizza. Tough to get a table, but the proprietor was awesome and found us a table, then helped us thru our order. Zabeth and I devoured two pizzas, she uttered the phrase... Tomorrow when we're here for lunch.... To offset consumption we walked about ten minutes to the most awesome sight seen on our trip, the leaning tower. it is surrounded by a huge dome and church, but these three structures stand part, and are surrounded by grass, whereas in other cities they are in the center. The tower was inspiring, from now on we agree that when someone tells us the correct way to do anything, we are going to reference the leaning tower! Next stop was a brewery, very close to the pizzas ace, but we decided to exercise first. Today we googled piza beer, and Leo and behold they had a microbrewery. Orzo Bruno, so we go. It was fun, we each had a beer and some yogurt mousse for desert, before we knew it it was midnight. When we walked outside the streets were caked with college kids just walimg around and talKing and drinking. We wanted to join, so we Mae a hot lap and had one night cap. Them it was a 1 lm walk home now we sleep, but breakfast is already out on the table. Buona notte.

Captions

Thfirst picture is all the wwoofers eating lunch outside with the farm, I forget the order, but you will also see some photos of lanciano, which we visited the other day. You will also see our picnic in the fields on the day of liberation, April 25 th. the three of us are z, dil, and drew. The man with th boy is Simon, an English family friend who has an English language school in town, and the boy is Moreno. One photo is the sun coming up over the farm, and the other was taken while waiting for the train to go to the festival. Another picture is the actual festival, as you see it's a saint covered in snakes. One photo is Zabeth eating, and also her kwi eggs, and the garden bed she made? Then the Hungarian BBQ.

Monday

Its a slightly overcast day here in fossacesia, more specifically the localita we live in is called piano favaro. The morning started as usual with horse clean up, then drew and I came in for coffee and bread and jelly. Breakfast conversations follow, normally regarding what chores need to be done. This morning was clean up from Saturday nights dinner. It didn't happen yesterday because the hungarian crew came over yesterday again for lunch. We cooked the kebabs remaining from Saturday, and had bread and salad. Zabeth, the kids, dillon, drew, and peter, the english speaking Hungarian all played soccer after lunch. We played in the main horse arena, using wheel barrels as our goal. Recently we have also figured out how wonderful of a place the arena is for frisbee, once the poop is clean. Back to today, Zabeth washed out around 50 beer bottles from the weekend because they are saved and used for canning the harvest of pomodori. I made bread, but stalled and took a nap while giving the bread time to rise. For lunch we had lentils in pasta. After lunch things slow down, we had coffee and watched Lorena play pick up sticks. Zabeth is asleep like a log.

Hungary for dinner

So the new job around here today was a complete shuffle of living space and rooms. Wednesday night two people showed up and joined the crowd. They are Germans and their business is building ikea stores. they are building a new store in Chieti, the capital of the province we live in now. These two German fellows have the contract, but all of their construction workers, subcontracted, are from Hungary. The German guy who is the boss, schteven, is incredible. For instance, instead of getting all the workers hotels he rents them a farmhouse in the countryside! This last weekend the work was getting the lower part of the next door house ready for the German and 6 other hungarians. Once that was done and they arrived things were kosher. Last night though, schteven had another eight workers show up from Hungary, he had rented another agriturismo over the Internet, but once he showed up it was not quite what the website advertised. In response he asked Carlo what the odds were of renting some more property here at the farm. Whatever the odds, they probably weren't as good as the money schteven offered, because this morning we were all informed that we would now be living in the living room, as Carlos sister would takes our room, and more workers would move into the upper part of her house! This morning we packed up and moved in... Or out... Who even knows.... To the living room. Around five the rest of the workers showed up and settled in the house next door. Aside from trying to nap five feet away form the kitchen sink, and changing clothes in the computer room, we really can't complain. As I said the boss is excellent, and for dinner tonight he bought about 5o sausages, lamb, salad, potatoes, beer, 10 liters of wine, bread, and formaggi, and everything else you can imagine. We lit two outdoor fires and cooked all the meat over an open flame. The moon is full and the table is covered in candle light and food. Everyone is happy, STUFFED! And speaking multiple languages.

Hope for humanity

Yesterday Zabeth and I went to town for some chores. One thing on our list was to put minutes on the cell phone. Immediately we found a megastore that dealt all major brands and other sound equipment. The lady at the counter showed us what we needed to do and how much time we could add for 25 dollars. Then she walked us to the register to pay, I forked over my card and was only charged 15. I didn't say anything until we left,nut Zabeth noticed too that the price was low. I was concerned that we had just been had,nthey take payment but nothing happens on our phone account. Worse yet I gave them my credit card so they could feasibly charge more after we left.nthe next hour I was moderately consumed by the notion. Then we received a text saying thanks for purchasing credit, so we felt relief. Then ten minutes later the lady who waited on us called and said that she undercharged us, it seemed she lost the figure in the translation. Went from being vulnerable in a foreign country, to being responsible for this nice lady losing her company ten dollars. She asked us to come back? Seeing as how we went from the had to the haver,mew could have easily avoided the situation forever, but understanding the angst we felt all morning until she called, we dutifully walked back to the store and gave her the rest of her money.

Warming

We decided yesterday that we're going to be leaving here on the morning of the tenth. One week. It's a little short of our month that we planned on being here, but it's also close enough. Yesterday dillon made bread during the morning, and Zabeth made three excellent pizzas for dinner. One with wild greens, one with potatoes, and one with tomatoes. Carlo said it was the best American made pizza he had ever tasted. There are some people moved in next door, staying for a month. They are a foreign working group here to open a new Ikea in the town of Chieti. They are lucky that the company puts them in a from house near the ocean, rather than the motel. It's fairly interesting because mass produced furniture is the antithesis of Carlo, himself a master carpenter crafting small prices in his homemade workshop. Irony. This morning we got an early start on shoveling up horse poop, so that by noon as it warmed up we were fairly done. We took a walk to the store, then sat under an olive tree and drank a Peroni, and ate a block of Parmesan.

Festivo serpentine

This hours day we planned to take the day off and travel to cuculo, for the snake festival. It's held first Thursday every may, until this year. It has now switched to the first of may, but luckily we found out late last night and ADAPTED accordingly. Game plan was 440 wake up, train hat 510 to pescara. Pescara to cuculo at 620, fun and snakes all day. We arrived on time, but there is no 5 am train on holidays, such as may day! Luckily here was one at 8 30, so we hunkered down on the beach and watched the sun rise. Then napped, chilled, thawed, and walked back to la stazione. We barely made the pescara connection, a special train running only for the festival. We made cocullo at 1130, great timing. It's a mountain town about two hours away, with 280 inhabitants. Te patron saint is domenica, guard against toothache and snake bites, and today is a celebration of him. It is a mass famously ending in a bell rung with teeth, and hen they parade a statue of the saint down the main street. The statue is covered in snakes! So it's a big party, with street vendors, period music and costumes, meat, sweets, junk. We left at 440 and got back to Ffossacesia @ 8 thirty, now we're home and pooped, goodnight.