Now of course when I say back to normal, I don’t really mean “normal”, because life at Sensone is anything but “normal”. After the heady fun days of Charlie’s visit back in October things started to go a little pear shaped or rather more “normal” than usual. The biggest problem by far being my computer gave up on me, it was 20 plus years old, but held so much information which for over a month was lost.
When I was without my computer and information it really felt as if my right arm had been cut of, and although I had the Ipad it was just impossible to do any writing or work on it. I became so frustrated as we decided what to do, at first Richard tried very hard to repair it, taking several weeks fitting it in between other work. It was evident though that it wasn’t going to work so now I had to think about buying another computer and Richard convinced me to go for a laptop so that I could work from anywhere.
Thankfully all is well now, and it is all systems go. Thanks to the guys at Ennebi Computers, in Fornaci di Barga, all was recovered safely and placed onto my new laptop computer which I am now getting used to. Typing at any speed on a laptop is nigh on impossible as my hands rest over the touch pad, I am finding it a little frustrating to be honest. But perseverance is my middle name!
Things have continued to move forward here, when the weather has permitted I have been trying to expand my Vegetable Patch, it is hard work as I cannot use any machinery on it, it all has to be forged out with pickaxe and brute force, so it is a very slow job. I have set myself the task to clear the terrace by the Spring by doing a small section each and every day that I can, weather and other projects permitting.
Its been quite good because I have been digging out some great stones that I am using out the back by our Chicken Coup to build a small dry stone wall, which is taking shape nicely. I find here that it is difficult to finish one job before starting another as here one job certainly leads to another. So at the moment the garden projects are very much in the early stages of development but I am sure that over the next couple of months everything will come together.
I have found this winter one of the easiest, not sure if I am just getting used to it or we are just so much more organised. We certainly don’t have to worry about wood for the fire here, we just have to put in the effort and make sure we have our wood stores full. (Which this year we were well ahead of the game our wood stores are overflowing). So keeping warm is easy, in fact it is harder to regulate the temperature of the house so Sensone is very warm indeed.
Even the hay for the horses this year was so much better, not as dusty and it has meant a lot less work and worry for me this year. Last year my old horse, Shane who’s 22 years old, really struggled to make it through, in fact there were several days when we thought we were going to loose him. But we didn’t and this year he is doing so well. We have him on a course of medicine for his COPD, *(basically he has a really bad reaction to dust particles) which is well under control.
So apart from the field turning into a large cake mix from all the rain, and the cinghiale wanting to say hello to them, (and they so hate pigs of any kind not to mention the wild ones), things have been pretty straight sailing as far as the horses are concerned. Even Coco our little Shetland Pony seems settled and content to be at home. Although I have no doubt that that might change with Spring.
We consider our Christmas and New Year to be one of the best since we have been here, even though Richard was awaiting the results of his biopsy. It actually started the Sunday before when we went for a luncheon party at Albiano, the sun was shining, the food and wine was fantastic and we met up with many of our friends, what a perfect way to kick start the festive season.
After our phone around to all of our children and Mum, we spent Christmas Day with the family here at Renaio, I caused a little chaos with the indoor fireworks but the children and I had a lot of fun, not always appreciated by the older members of the family. As always Diana laid on a huge feast, six courses long, we could hardly move but we had made plans for the evening to visit Boo. What an evening of frivolity and fun with Boo, Sonia, Eric and Nikki, thank you all.
In between Christmas and New Year we had the wonderful news that Richard’s biopsy showed no signs of cancer, he was a little put out when the doctor told him it was just “Old Age”, so now its official I am married to an old man, not that he believes that. So our Christmas just kept getting better and better. Even with the arrival of the snow it added to the excitement and magic.
We only had to walk twice from the house to Renaio, the first time was the night of the first snowfall. We had been invited out to dinner and we believed that we could make it to Tiglio. Walking to Renaio was fun and we then realised how deep the snow was but thought if we could make it to Renaio we could always decide and turn back if need be.
I am sure that Paolo Bacci thought we were raving lunatics as he drove the snowplough around the corner and there we were. We had no change of reversing in the Citroen but every credit to Paolo as he reversed, with some difficulty I might add, the huge snowplough back to the car park. We were so grateful, but we now knew that the road had been cleared so there should be no problems getting to our friends house. There wasn’t and we had a wonderful evening which included the walk back to the house.
We also had a wonderful lunch at Sensone with the Brothers and Sisters of The Community of Jesus, who braved the weather, the icy roads and snowy pathway, for a cinghiale feast and Christmas drinks. As we walked back to Renaio for a coffee with Diana to finish their day, we met some children sledging who very kindly let us have a go. I did wish I had warn my gloves and ski pants, I would have stayed to play a little longer, but frozen fingers brought my sledging to an abrupt end. The night sky was magical, vibrant reds and purples which enhanced our panoramic views of Sommocolonia and the valley below, rounding off the day, it was just another perfect day in paradise.
New Year too we had a wonderful dinner again with the family, there was also a party in the Old School House and at the bar, which we gatecrashed (not really we had been invited) and had a ball. There was lots of eating again, drinking, dancing and fun all followed by more fireworks and champagne at midnight, and this year I even managed to get a New Years Eve kiss from my husband, crawling into bed just before 3am.
Since then we haven’t stopped, New Years Day we visited one of Richard’s clients whom I am now pleased to call our friends to see the massive project he and his wife have undertaken. They live near Voltera and have started restoration on one of the three largest estates in Tuscany and I always thought that we were verging on the crazy side living up a mountain but every credit to this couple and I cannot wait to see it when it is finished.
We had such a lovely afternoon walking around the estate, looking into basements and rooms that once Kings and Queens visited, abandoned for years to be taken under the wings of our friends. I was in awe of the Animal Palace and just hope that my animals never get to see this one, it was amazing, the architecture was outstanding and even in its abandoned state was palatial.
So here we are the second day of 2015 drawing to a close, I know that this is going to be a really great year, I can feel it in my bones, I would like to thank ALL of our wonderful friends for the parts they have played in 2014 and I look forward to making new more exciting memories with you all in 2015.
Buon Anno a tutti
Article by Sensone
