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The family holiday - week two
This week started at a more sedentary pace and we were all allowed something of a lie in - all, that is, apart from Helen, of course, who had the day job to get back to, although the pouring rain that...
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Bittersweet/Sweetbitter
This weekend was always going to be bittersweet, or maybe "sweetbitter" would be a better description. For me, there was the enormous relief of being free from my office work for a couple of days and...
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Work, play, and a smattering of frustrations for good measure
It's been a busy week here at numero 182 - lots of work, some play, and true to form, a smattering of frustrations for good measure.Monday morning saw Stuart heading off up the valley to Vellano for a...
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Passata, prosecco and palio
As Friday saw me take a large couple of steps in a backwards direction with my thyroid-induced tiredness, I made the difficult decision to pull out of a trip to the Orrido di Botri gorge with Chris on...
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What a week!
Apologies for the lack of blog updating, it's been something of an eventful week AND weekend, but all the events have been crammed into the latter part of the week - such is the way of crumbling...
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An UP to balance the DOWN?
With our bathroom still out of action, Monday started with a mercy dash to the coffee shop in the village for a coffee and use of the facilities - I'm sure I was finishing the same yawn I started when...
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New friends and good times
After a thoroughly enjoyable evening at Manero's restaurant in Vellano with Donatella, David and Sarah on Friday night, Saturday morning started out somewhat bleary eyed for us, but we soon kicked that...
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The arrival of autumn
This week has been another busy one - for me, it's been a week at the computer helping tie up the loose ends in preparation for next week's Virus Bulletin conference in Prague, while Stuart has put in...
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An unusual weekend
Saturday morning started (after Helen had exercised and I had snoozed) with a coffee at our localbar in our village. The 'Da Nerone' coffee bar is attached to a very nice little restaurant/pizzeria...
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Home alone...not counting anything with more than two legs.
This week was the week Helen was leaving me for the Gothic sights of Prague, or more accurately the inside of the Clarion Congress Hotel for the annual Virus Bulletin conference, her 15th!Helen's...
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Friends, physical work and feasting
Saturday: Good to be Home!It was with a huge sigh of relief that I landed in Florence last Saturday after my week away at the VB conference in Prague. The week was busy and tiring, and although it was...
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Road trip / Reggie's first holiday
Back in early June, we were all set (and more than ready) for a short mini-break - as much as we love our home and our beautiful piece of Tuscany, we felt as if we needed a break from routine and a...
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Preparing for chickens... and friends
Since returning from our washout of a mini-break, we have kept ourselves busy and have felt fired up about getting things done around here with a wave of renewed enthusiasm. Within hours of our return,...
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Work, rest and play (but without the rest)!
It has been another fun- and work-packed week for us here on our Italian hill. We've spent some lovely evenings chewing the fat with Allison and Q, and some very productive days working hard on our...
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All change - swapping friends for family
It was all change last weekend after we said farewell to Allison and Q, as the very next morning we were back at Pisa airport, this time to collect my Mum & Dad. Their flight arrived on schedule...
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Chickens come home to roost
This busy week has drawn to a close with 5 new additions to our household (well, perhaps not in our house itself...), but before we get to the chickens, we owe you an update on that busy week!SundayThe...
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A weekend of upside down weather
Saturday saw us up and out fairly promptly as we had plenty we wanted to get done before the weekend was out. First on the list was to give the ever energetic Reggie a decent run out, so we hatched a...
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Crocks and olives
The overriding themes of this week have been the two of us feeling like a pair of old crocks, and, well, olives.MondayWe were both up early on Monday morning so that we could let the cats out, let...
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20 litres of extra virgin
Saturday was the scheduled day for taking the olives we'd helped pick during the week down to the olive mill - the appointment for the pressing wasn't until 6.30pm though, so we had enough time to do a...
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Chickens and eggs
It has been another busy and productive week here on our hill, the mild autumn weather making it a pleasure to be working outdoors even in late November.MondayWith olive picking at the Phillips's off...
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