August
Weather Report
Stifling. Pushed pass 40°C in the shade on many days. No rain since 1st
August.
The holiday season a la Casa Grotta,aka a change is as
good as a rest
Because we are as poor as
church mice. La D and myself sat down at
the beginning of the month and asked ourselves how we could have a summer
holiday without spending any money. We thought and we thought, and then we had
one of those “Eureka
Wow, I thought, this is why I
married this woman. Pure genius. It would be like being a different place
altogether, and we have the luxury of having an en suite.
The spare bedroom is slightly
cooler and it is more difficult to hear some blasted dogs barking in the early
hours of the morning (presumably at cinghiale). Err .. that’s it really. We
tried to behave as though we were on a holiday, but who were we kidding.
Ourselves. Anyway, nothing ventured, nothing gained and it didn’t cost us a
centesimo. But do we feel relaxed and refreshed? Do we buggery!
If I could meet the smartarse
who coined the phrase “a change is as good as rest” I’d punch him on the nose
Next year we are
contemplating a fortnight in the office!!!
Beach versus Pool
Because most of the Italian
population are mainly on holiday during August, we tend not to venture down to
the coast as it is so crowded. Fortunately, regular readers of the blog will
know that we have a public swimming pool about half a mile from us. As the
month has been the hottest here for many, many years, boy did the pool come in
handy, almost a necessity some days. We took to going down about 12:30 – mad
dogs and Englishmen, I know – just when those who had come for the morning were
packing up. Often we were the only ones there till about 3. It was fab and the
pool’s temperature was about perfect. It was really holiday like. It closed
today, but the people running it told us that next year they would be opening
for July as well. Good stuff.
Animali
We have had two cats living
around us now for about 18 months producing kittens left, right and centre.
Although here in Le Marche
Freya is still into “chicken
tossing” but, thankfully, it is becoming less frequent. Mind you, she is ony 7
months old, today in fact. The trouble is she is now as tall as Bertie and it
so hard to see her as a pup, or cucci in Italian.
The chicks are doing
brilliantly still giving us 3 eggs a day. Occasionally they have to “play” with
Freya – see above – but it doesn’t put them off laying!
Orti
We have been watering every
other morning, very early before the sun comes up on us. The result has been
well worthwhile with everything growing to abundance. Record onion crop. Tommies
are prolific. Corn is beautiful, etc., etc.. The only problem this years has
been with the spuds. They were very poor. I doubt we got more back in weight
than when we planted. We may not do them next year.
A bit of bad news
My son Pip was going to come
to Italy - Porto Recanati on the coast,
not far from us - , with a friend for a few days and they were going to stop
with us a for a night and we were going up and see them. Just before they were
coming my son’s friend was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer and further tests
now show it has spread to his stomach and liver. Devastating news. So the
holiday was cancelled and Pip is using his holiday time to spend with his
friend. It is too early to say how he is getting on but we think about him
often here at Casa Grotta and are hoping that they will come out next year. All
the very best to him.
Ciao, mantenere la fede
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