The sun is shining it is still pleasantly warm and I have just spent the past couple of hours at Bellaugello gay guest house sweeping up a never ending supply of leaves from the lawns. It is hot work, even in only a pair of shorts and sturdy boots.
There is not a breath of wind, the blue tits flitting noiselessly from branch to branch on the pomegranate tree, Jenny lying dozing on the lawn, even the river in the valley below has fallen silent on this the day of All Saints, a holiday here in Italy which is celebrated by visits to the family.
Of course the autumn fairs are now busy, the Truffle Fair in our local town of Gubbio and the Sotto Bosco fair in the closely town of Montone. We are heading over to Montone tomorrow in the search of chestnuts to roast on the fire, delicious cheeses and the last of the fruit to make into marmalades for the guys’ breakfasts next year.
Yesterday I was down below the house clearing some of the undergrowth, doing manly work with the strimmer with the vicious disk head, it was heavy work but satisfying as I came across olive tree after olive tree each heavily laden with ripening fruit. Some of the trees, their branches hanging low heavy with fruit. They will not be easy to harvest I guess it will be a pocket and bucket job, the land is steep and my clearing insufficient to get the nets down but there are olives a plenty and after last year’s poor harvest, we will be picking everything so there will be beautiful virgin cold pressed Bellaugello olive oil for you guys to purchase next year.
I am at home at my kitchen window, overlooking the sunny Umbrian countryside, a break from gardening, and waiting on new arrival, a guest driving up from Rome, someone else to enjoy the Bellaugello experience.