5:46pm Wednesday 1st July 2009
By Michael and Peggy Hunt
July arrived, with no sign of the permission to open for visitors, so we continued tackling the bramble problem on the banks, cutting the grass and herbage to a reasonable lengh and visiting various officials all over Umbria to tick the boxes they needed in order to take small steps forwards.
As we drove around visiting the officials we saw posters for the town’s events advertising “A bull roast” in Turo sul Trasimeno with live music and dancing. Various villages offering evening eating thier special local dishes of pasta, gnocci and other favorites. A classic car show at Gioella and a classic car run from Piazze that had all the vehicles pass below the house so we got a good view using binoculars. “Colour the Skies” air show at Castglione del Lago. We went and along with kites, hot air balloons & small airplanes was a gas powered hang glider sponsored by a local firm. We also met two balloonists who live in the national park by the lake. The kites were amazing and from all over the world varying from small stunt wings to huge oriental forms. The show is an annual event but the exhibitors vary each year. We did find the information structure very frustrating as they posters would promote the events but give scant details and even the tourist offices and town web sites would not mention the full details of what and when things would happen. July is also the start of the most towns’ Palio’s and other events start. Most towns are divided into ‘wealth’ areas, there are 4 in Citta della Pieve representing, the farmers, the shop keepers, the professionals and the highborn each with it’s own area of the town its own flag. On the first Saints day in July, one section presents the flower festival where the streets are decorated with pictures made of petals, a church procession and games in the sports field. The quarter also organises a meal at the town’s open dining room, where anyone can order a meal cooked by that quarters members and sit outside on benches in the courtyard watching the food preparation. Each quarter varies it’s menu and the cost vary also and it is a great way to meet the locals as you all squeeze up on benches and get to rub elbows with your neighbour. The Palio in Mid August is a huge affair, with knights, a canon, medieval tradesmen and everyone dressing up. The canon shoots bags of flour so we were worned to bring a brush to dust yourself down afterwards. Siena being a huge city they have many more ‘quarters’ and their horse races take place round the Piazza on a daily basis for a week until the grand finale when the best horses race for the honour of their Quarter. These races are world famous so if you want to attend that spectacle you need to book a year in advance to get a seat.
There is something on every night of the week, concerts, dances, shows for the three months of the summer. In Ponticelli we have several free concerts. We enjoyed the tribute band for “Queen” one evening and were given a free drink, a panini and were treated to a really good night out.
The heat was not letting up and working in the garden in August was almost torture. The grass was crisp and the watering had to be done several times a day to stop the new plants expiring. One day while I was indoors making a salad Mike arrived to ask who’s dog were we feeding? There, eating the pancetta I had put outside to defrost, was an enormous brown and white monster of a dog, standing waist high, looking like a cross between a werewolf and Cujo from the horror films. I locked the front door and we took a photo of it from a window. After it had left we went to the police station to report someone’s lost dog. How do you explain to an Italian policeman that a dog as large as a donkey had eaten your lunch? Dogs are all licensed and chipped in case they cause problems with live stock. They sighed when they heard us and the officer in charge popped over to the bar opposite and hauled in an English speaking assistant, on holiday from university, to help translate. Later that evening a man arrived asking about his dog, we showed him the photo and he said it was his. He introduced himself as our neighbours from the Western side of the hill. He, Giovanni, and his wife, Alessandra, live in a converted church as housekeepers for a Roman couple, very famous film director and modern art gallery owners. The dog was named Puck, was only 8 months old, lonely and very friendly. Giovanni said he would cancel the alert at the police station and if the dog appeared please to bring it down to the church. We said fine, but when we opened having a dog the size of a horse arrive could scare any guests as it had us, especially if it helps itself to lunch something should be done to prevent his escape. Puck did return, probably thinking he’d be fed again and sure enough he turned out to be a huge softie. We walked him down to the church where he was greeted warmly by the caretakers. We were invited in, given wine and a detailed questioning but they told us all about themselves too. They were Romanian but had lived in Italy for 10 years and worked here for 5 having previously worked in a cigaret factory in Rome. They were pleased we were here full time as the house had been empty for too long and late parties of local youths using the pool and drinking had been noisy and worrying for them. That explained the amazing amount of bottles we kept finding in the undergrowth. When we told them of our recent experience with the wood scam they said they would help us in anyway they could, just ask, and offered to order our wood when they ordered their wood for winter in the next week. “Buy it dry in the summer, you get more.” We were told.
We checked with the geometra, who is a cross between an architect/ quantity surveyor /clerk of works and negotiates for you with the town hall planners, about needing permission to change the windows and doors for the house. Strangely we could fit what we liked, the only proviso was if we had external shutters they must be painted brown or green. We did not want metal framed windows or plastic as we had some in the property and they twisted in the heat and leaked in the rain and spoiled the look of the house totally. We asked for recommendations from local people for a company who could supply and fit them. But learnt we needed a carpentry firm who would quote us for new double glazed wooden framed hand made windows and could get us security doors for the 5 entrances we have in the property from a Perugian comapny who specialise in high security doors and grills.
Eventually we found a small family business – as are most Italian businesses – where both husband and wife worked in the factory unit with relatives helping with the construction from tree trunk to window frame, shutter or kitchen unit. They came and measured everything and asked us to visit the factory to chose the style, colour, wood and fittings, so they could estimate a cost us accurately as possible. There are no ‘quotes done here, just estimates, some are wildly out so it is wise to get several, as it is in the UK. They were meticulous in explaining the different woods, chestnut being the most expensive and pine the cheaper option but they could stain the pine to look like chestnut, if that’s what we wanted. The pro’s and con’s of the different hinges, styles of opening mechanism, normal or tilt and turn. Did we want outside shutters, indoor shutters, what style and so on. We were there most of the day, but they didn’t hurry us or rush us at all. They also measured and organised the manufacturer of the doors to quote too. The estimates arrived. The cost was easily double what we had set aside but then when we had originally planned to replace all the windows and we hadn’t thought about security grills or internal shutters (blinds), nor had we thought to have security doors either. Still it was a job that had to be done and it was just once and they'd be good for life so we decided to go ahead. The owner warned us they would take some months to make 23 windows and the doors would take at least 4 weeks after the August national shut down of a month, they would phone us when they were ready.
In fact they asked us to revisit several times to ask our opinion of the colour stain as we wanted the windows to match the doors, the type of angle on the bottom edge on the window frame, flat or not, and did we want the blinds to match the same angle? Did we want to dissect the panes in half, thirds or leave as one long sheet of glass and the blind inserts to match? They were extreamly thorough but what we didn’t know was if an Italian has work done and they find a fault they generally refuse to pay and demand huge discounts, so the suppliers here are very exacting in getting everything 100%+ While out exploring there was the biggest storm we have even been in. Normally the local storms go around us over the mountains, which is why our drought had lasted so long and we get great lightning shows and loud booms but this morning was all together a very different matter. The day turned to night and hailstones like golf balls hammered down on the car. People pulled off the road under trees to stop the car roofs being dented and windscreens smashed. The rain that followed was like a waterfall, no one could see a thing through it. The wind sounded like an express train bearing down on us and the trees bent in half under the fury of it. We, and others, crawled into a local supermarket to shelter from the tempest raging around us. People were huddled against the counters was the sky lit up in colours of green, yellow, purple and pink as lightening struck the ground and shot across the heavens horezontally. The café owner brought us all coffee and everyone agreed this was a storm of the century and speculated on the damage that would result. We learned that the tall fir trees at either end of the house were natural lightening conductors and that was why they had been planted. It lasted 3 hours, we were shaken and exhausted by the horrendous noise of the thunder claps and hail on the roof. We went home to see what had happened while we were out. The road was awash and the ditch full of sand, leaves and mud, several branches were down but were passable. At the house we had had a near miss from a lightening strike but the voltage shock had taken out the modem, computer motherboard, two telephones, the answering and fax machines. Nothing we couldn’t resolve fortunately. Having learnt by expereince we now we unplug the telephone when we got out – just in case.
We had to dig the ditches to clear out the mud, leaves & twigs so naturally this was the time, covered in mud, sweaty and definitely not looking our best, when we met the Roman couple who own the church conversion and Puck coming up the drive to stay for the weekend!
September arrived, hot as ever and so the region had an early vendemia (grape harvest). We were asked if we’d give a local friend a hand with her harvest and with friends who were over for that week, we arrived ready to learn. There were a good crowd of us, ex-pats and locals who also had grapes to pick, collected together. They would go from farm to farm until everyone had helped each other to gather in their harvests until everyone was completed.
The fields are set out with the vines growing in rows on wires no higher than head height. The fruit hangs down and asks to be plucked. We were handed surgeon’s gloves, secetures and a bucket each and shown how to snip the grape bunches from the vines. When the bucket was full it was tipped into an huge basket which was hauled down to the tractor and trailer to be stacked to go to the winery. It was sticky and hot work, quickly we were down to shorts and t-shits with grape juice running up our arms.
Lunch was provided by the vineyard owner, sitting outside under the walnut trees looking at the views to the mountains with warm glasses of the Montipulcano red wine made from the type of grapes we were helping to gather in, it was a perfect day. Heaps of hot pasta and tomato sauces with grated parmesan, local crusty bread fresh that morning from the bakery at the bottom of the hill, salads and fruit salad, cheeses for those still peckish. None of us were in the mood to continue but we trailed back to the field to complete our day’s quota - it’s a hard life.
Recipe: Peppers with olives and capers 1of each red, yellow and green peppers , de seeded and cut into pieces. 10 pitted black olives cut into pieces. 1 tbs capers oil and seasoning.
Place the peppers into a deep pan with the oil and cook for 20 mins. Add the capers and olives, cooking for another 20 mins, stirring frequently. If the mix becomes too dry add a little water (or white wine).
Serve as a vegetable side dish, with crusty bread and fetta cheese crumbled over as a light snack or as a filling for a vegetarian lasagna.
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