Circles and Olive Trees and Oranges and Lemons

Here are some pictures of some of the little things we have been doing and seeing in the last week since getting back from South Africa. But not including our trip to  Tempio di Segesta and the race in Balestrate, which we went to on the same day. That is for another page. Same with South Africa, where our visit also coincided with Mandela's passing away. They are both still floating down to earth and cant quite enter the realms of letters and sentences yet... And so, for now this is about olive trees and circles, and oranges and lemons..!

First, this is Mauri's post with lots of pictures and something about circles. It's on FB but hopefully still opens ok: HERE

Olive trees need to be pruned at least about every 3 years or so, in order for them to bear fruit. If there are too many branches all growing leaves and little offshoots of new branches then the tree puts all its energy into the new bits and doesn't have enough for the olives. Also the olive trees are often hundreds of years old, and have quite thick chunky bases, which generate 'new tree's' from that base, so you could have a few trees growing from one base, and that can also take a lot of energy. Olive trees are beautiful and majestic and just full of character. Each one is totally different and they seem to almost be moving in slow motion right in front of you, they look as if their limbs are doing a slow beautiful dance. You don't really get furniture or planks made from Olive trees because the branches and the trunk are never straight, I think they grow the way they dance!  The wood seems quite dark on the outside, but inside, it is actually quite light, like creamy butter, but it's very very dense. If a branch is cut with a saw, then you can see very delicate little circles, on the buttery wood, which look as if they've been drawn with a pencil lead. I have some pictures!

So Mauri had arranged for some expert olive tree cutters to come and trim the tree's, and that has taken a few days because they haven't been cut for quite a few years. Now it will be easier to maintain them. It is hard to explain how they cut the trees and what is involved, but there is a saying that says you need to prune your trees so that 'a swallow can fly through them' meaning that the shape to aim for is one that allows light and air into the center of the tree. From what I could see when I was watching them, it definitely seemed like a fine art, involving a sort of intuitive sculptoring of the tree, and I am sure they were carefully sculptoring both the tree and the light and space around and through the branches

Now the men are almost finished, they just have a little bit more to do, and hopefully next year, olives will start growing! In Italy, or at least in Sicily, there is the option of a wonderful sort of arrangement between locals where if you have Olive Trees, but you are not in the business of farming, then what you can do is: You can come to an agreement with a local Olive Tree Harvester, who will harvest your olives for you, during harvesting season, and then as payment, you give him half the harvest. So there is no cash exchanged, its a kind of a bartering system. I think it must be quite ancient and I do like the idea. (and certainly nowadays, with Italy having one of the most excruciating tax system in the world, especially for small businesses, then it makes sense to use alternative methods of earning your keep, where possible!) Maybe Mauri will do that next year, we shall see! it will be amazing if we can harvest olives and make Olive Oil. Mauri told me that some years ago, his family used to do this, and they had enough olives to have olive oil for the family for a whole year! imagine, home made virgin olive oil from the land!!

While Mauri was working on the land tidying up the cactus's, building steps and walls, me and Babacino went and collected some nice oranges and lemons from around and about, for pudding. Delicious, once we added a little bit of sugar! 

I also made a little Mandala, to celebrate autumn and the olive trees. I think my hands needed to express something. And I also had circles on my mind, as I often do, these days.. or at least in the last year! I am still sort of swimming around the images and the experience of the olives trees. It is a strange concept to think you know a colour quite well, like olive. But until I had actually see an olive tree in real life, in its true setting, and was able to touch and smell the leaves and the tree, I don't think I ever understood the colour olive. It is a strange retrospective realisation, and now I understand why some people travel the world to write books about colour!

This is a little thing I wrote to one of Mauri's little writings.. that I'm putting here to store it, and because it links in, circles do that it seems!

I think that circles don't really break, they just have a rest or turn into new circles. Maybe each season has its circles, some we see, some we don't, and the best are the ones we make or the surprise ones we find on our journeys if we keep journey-ing. Jung: “In the products of the unconscious we discover mandala symbols, that is, circular and quaternity figures which express wholeness, and whenever we wish to express wholeness, we employ just such figures. ”

So, for now, I am learning about how to feel about the colour Olive! 

Here are some pictures, and of course, you can see how Babacino has been growing. He is now 73cm and 7.3kgs!! Thats 5cm and 500 grams in one month, not bad for a little rainboy boykie!

Tomorrow we are going to Ficuzza, me Maur and Babacino, to the Eco Trail.  And, cousin Aldo is coming along, Tata, Adriana and also Vincenzo and Titziana, and then we are having lunch. It will be a memorable jaunt day for sure. Yay! 

I think the pictures explain themselves but if not, just imagine!:) 

About Half Marathons and the Palermo Half Marathon of 2013

Sometimes in life, there are little happenings and things we try or do, that seem at the time, to stand on their own.  Sometimes we remember one, or even two of them and reminisce, and sometimes we forget about them all together. Until one day, suddenly there is a little thread magically joining them up, the remembered ones and the un-remembered ones. And ‘hey presto’ a new little story pokes it’s head out of the web of life.  For a moment in time, when that happens, it feels the way it does when you put your feet into real earthy soil, or stand next to a mountain, after having been in an expanse of concrete city and buildings for a time. I think, as it turns out,  the ‘half marathon’ has been a little bit like that for me, like a little found bracelet of shiny collected things!

 After all, the ‘half marathon’  is certainly not a distance that I’ve regularly run,or concentrated on at all, and so its not been something I’ve particularly pondered over. But then again, as it turns out, this little half marathon story thread is all linked into the story of Babacino and Mauri, and so, in a way it is no surprise that it’s a surprise. And for that reason, I would say it’s worth writing down the story!

On Sunday morning, just gone, at about 8:15 in the morning, our little family: Me, Mauri, Babacino and Tata (and in spirit: Raul, Signora Maria and Franci!) – headed off on our little jaunt for the day, as we do.  Wheels and Feet, Feet and Wheels. Stai Attento! Camera’s at the ready!  Annnnnd, all together now:

C'era una volta un piccolo naviglio

che non sapeva non sapeva navigar e dopo una, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette settimane e dopo una, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette settimane e dopo una, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette settimane il piccolo naviglio incominciava a navigar

cu issu e senza issu
cu issu 
cu issu
cu issu e senza issu

Avanti u peri cu issu

It was the day of the Palermo Marathon and Half Marathon, the 17th of November 2013 and the 19th edition.MARATONA DI PALERMO 2013 The races start and finish at the Palermo Athletics track, which is right at the foot of Monte Pellegrino, where you can find the ancient pilgrim’s path leading up to the beautiful Church of the Saint Roselia (built into the mountain) Santa Roselia is the Patron Saint of Palermo and much loved by Palermonites. [ Monte Pellegrino and the Sanctuary of Santa Rosalia ] We had already visited the stadium the day before, on a little jaunt to the expo and to collect my race number. And also the other fun bit, the collection of the  ‘pacco gara’ which directly translated means ‘person race’. But what it is, is (usually) a bag containing, various goodies like chocolate bars, maybe some pasta, a drink, and some other little suprises from sponsors of the race, or even locally made produce and of course very often a t’shirt to commemorate the race. In Italy, it is very exciting getting the ‘pacco gara’ as you never know what you will find!  I think it is a bit like when you are a child and you get buy a lucky packet from the sweet shop, all excited to see what you get. The Palermo Marathon and Half Marathon certainly lived up to the reputation of the ‘pacco gara’ of Italy!

Back to Sunday: It wasn’t long before we were warmly greeted (ESPECIALLY Babacino!) by many of the running fraternity who know Mauri from so many years of running and taking photographs and writing about everything to do with running and the human spirit.  Likewise the stadium was a buzz of excitement. Bouncing and jogging runners meeting runners; families with kids (of course, this IS Italy!) and music; the smell of coffee, warm weather; bright colours,  all of the things I’ve come to love about Italian running events. But this was my first real true Sicilian Italian running event AND in Palermo our home town.

When Babacino was still a Beetle, before he got born, Mauri and me used to talk about a lot of things to do with the Beetle child Babacino, like how we’d take Babacino to Villa Sperlinga, and do some running around the park, taking turns and being close to Babacino at all times. For me, this would be my gentle re-entry into running. In real life, it soon became  a cherished little family ritual. I think the first few times I ran 3 or 4 laps of the park and then step by step we built up our distance as Babacino grew and grew.

Somehow out of that the idea of running the Palermo Half Marathon emerged, but with the very distinct caveat, that ‘we’d see how Babacino was on the day’, and decide to run or not to run. Babacino needs his food and lots of hugs first and foremost.  But on the day, Babacino was right on form and running was on the menu!  And so, with special thanks to Mauri, the running of the half marathon came true and Babacino got his first real life medal and he got to cruise  around with a press pass and his Papi, taking pictures of all the runners starting and finishing, and no doubt interviewing a few!  

And this made me think, it is indeed a good thing to have dreams and to talk about them, that way, they are more likely to come true! I think Babacino must have a huge amount of dreams in him, because the dreams about Babacino, even the ones that are still pictures and not even words yet, just seem to come true. Bravo Babacino Bravo!!

My first half marathon was when I was in school, in Johannesburg South Africa. Johannesburg, also known as: Jozi, Joburg, Joni, eGoli or Joeys, and JHB! As I recall, I managed to catch a much coveted lift from my (most idealised by me!) big brother. In my memory, that was probably one of my hardest races ever. Up until then, running was just putting on some shoes, and running, being free and going where ever my feet took me. Of course that was also long before the days of Garmins and GPSs where we had the 'luxury' depending on how you look at it of being able to analyse everything about running. Johannesburg is about 1800 meters above sea level, it’s dry and hot. The race was fairly rural,  taking in some out of town potted roads with lots of dry red sand on either side blowing up in plumes like smoke, every time a car drove past. I’m not sure how much I walked or ran, all I know is that I finished, I think I got a packet of iwisa (maize meal eaten in South Africa),  some toothpaste and some mens deodorant at the finish, and I was hooked on ‘long distance running’ from that day on.  Little did I know that running and that taste of ‘long distance’  would take me on quite some journey around the world

Forward again to Palermo 2013.  I admit to having felt a bit nervous before this half marathon.  It was to be my first race (apart from a little taster of a few kms in Villabate a few weeks ago) since Babacino got born, a little less than 5 months ago. Since then, I haven’t run more than 12km’s at a time. Nor have I been away from Babacino more than the time it takes to run 12kms! Luckily I knew that Babacino would be ok with Mauri, who was fully armed with passagino, baby carrying sling, banana  and mashing implements, ‘choocho’,toys and hats!

The start of the race was  right on the athletics track on the side where the spectator stands are. This meant families could be near by, and there was as usual a lot of animated banter, along with music and announcements and talking over the loud speaker. I had wanted to wait until literally when the gun went off before going to the start, but Mauri sent me off, and off he and Babacino went taking pictures of the start and the runners and I went to soak up the atmosphere of being in the midst of the runners of my first Palermo Sicilian race. What really strikes me about Sicily and of course this was totally prevalent at the race, was how proud the Sicilians are of their country and the Palermonites of Palermo. Most runners were dressed in their brightly coloured club gear or else in t-shirts from local or Italian races and this seems to emanate a real feeling of celebration.

There was a bit of a delay in the start of the race, but with glorious weather of about 23 or 24 degrees C, it just meant a slight continuation of the enjoyment and anticipation before the gun and the start. I found myself thinking about the last half marathon I had run, which was also the last race I ran before Babacino was born! That was the Richmond Half Marathon, in London, on the 31st of March 2012, when I was precisely 6 months pregnant with Babacino. At the time, I guessed it would be my last race, and it was quite a moment for me, because having run most of my life, I knew I was entering into a new phase and wasn't sure when I would be in a position to run again, especially as this was my first baby.  Also it would be my last race of running with Babacino so close and so attached to me. I really enjoyed my running when I was pregnant and often wondered whether all the running would be going into my little boys feet making him a runner before he even got born!  And so, little did I know at the time, that I had just added another Half Marathon to the Half Marathon Story!

At about 09:30 the race finally started and off we went out of the stadium into the road heading for Della Liberta, and the first long stretch into the Old Town of Palermo.  Feeling quite fresh and quite relaxed with no time to aim for at all, in fact I had forgotten to even put on my Garmin, I immediately settled into the race at an very manageable pace, enjoying the sites and saying goodbye, for a little while, to Monte Pelegrino. By now all nerves were gone, although it was still rather strange not to have Babacino in my arms or in the next room with Mauri.  

Fortunately all the roads had been blocked to cars, so it was easy pleasurable running in that sense. In Italian road races, there is a rule that stipulates water stations at least every 5km’s, which was perfect for a warm day.  In true Italian style, the people manning the tables were as friendly and convivial as ever.
There were also plenty of spectators especially given that the race went through some really beautiful historical sites within Palermo. We were even fortunate enough to run through Palazzo Abatellis (also known as Palazzo Patella) which is actually a palace, located in the Kalsa quarter of Palermo. It is home to the Galleria Regionale della Sicilia, the Gallery of Art for the Sicilian region. Mauri took e to visit this gallery on my first visit to Sicilly, so it was wonderful to run through it with the lovely Sunday morning sunlight bouncing off the ancient stones we were running over.

Of the other sites, I found myself wishing I had a slightly better memory so that I could recall more of the history and information about the rest of the sites that I recognised and which Mauri had told me about whilst on our little jaunts. There is something wonderful about walking anywhere with Mauri. He either knows the entire history of a place including how it got it’s name and how that was derived from Greek or Latin or the Normans or the Byzatines etc, Otherwise, if it’s somewhere he hasnt visited before, he generally has a pretty good idea of what it is all about just because of the vast travelling library in his brain which he carries around with him. I think it is also a common trait of runners that they are explorers and love to travel to new places and experience the essence of a place by foot.

Palermo is definitely a most beautiful city full of surprises. I am always struck by how you can arrive at an 11th or 12th century building, with almost no (signed or visual) announcement or introduction. In England such an ancient site would probably have ropes around it preventing anyone from going too near and you’d almost certainly have to pay an entrance fee. But here in Palermo these buildings are dotted around the city, often in the most unexpected places, eg right next to a derelict building, or a very modern building or just next to an ice cream shop. In a way, they almost feel MORE authentic because you can imagine that they probably haven't changed much for 100s of years, and the experience is definitely a visceral one, if you allow yourself to feel! You can even touch the stone walls and stand as near to them as you like! Perhaps a bit like how Stone Henge used to be before they built designated pathways around the stones and installed ropes so that not only can you not go near the stones, but their view is obscured by these crowd controlling ropes as well as spotlights to make them more ‘visible’

The race snaked around some of these beautiful sites in the old city with the route backtracking on the same roads, so that, in this part of the race, you could  almost continually see runners coming towards you and away from you. Again, this definitely facilitated more joviality and animation amongst the runners, and that part of the race wizzed by.Before I knew it, we were already on the road headed back to the stadium. There was Monte Pelegrino again, and it felt comforting to be running along it’s side, watching  the sunshine warming the majestic rocks.

By this stage, I was suprised to be still feeling quite ok, not at all needing to walk and managing to keep a steady pace. Although looking at the Marathon markers, I did think to myself that a marathon at this stage would require walking and I dont think I am ready to be away from Babacino for that long, yet.  I focused on enjoying the last bit of my Half Marathon.

The week before, we had happened to be at a press conference held in a beautiful building and surrounding gardens, just near to the Chinese Palace.We’d had a lovely walk through the gardens and the palace grounds, again a fascinating little gem of Palermo.Here you can see some information and photo's about the press conference:  Supercoppa Italiana 2013 WheelChair Basket. Press conference This is one of the many amazing things Tata is involved in, in Palermo.
Mauri had said the gardens would be part of the race route so I knew we still had this to do before heading back into the stadium.  Once again, I found myself trying to remember all the bits of information Mauri had told me about these places, and thinking how lucky I am to be able to walk around and enjoy these places with both Babacino and Mauri and then, a few days later to be able to run along the exact same paths. What could be better!

Finally, I headed for the finish, and the Half Marathon Story was saved into my heart, waiting to be written. Excited to find Mauri and Babacino and Tata again, off I went in search of our little family, and I found them! I gave Babacino his medal and a BIG hug and Mauri too, and ciao to Tata, and then we had the rest of our family day!

AND BABACINO IS NOW OFFICIALLY ITALIAN AND ENGLISH AT THE SAME TIME! Guarda!!

And finally, here are lots and lots of pictures of the race, taken by:

Mauri Crispi and Babacino Crispi!

The Photo's!  - click!

This is what I made! with Babacino and his Papi posing beautifully for the unveiling!

and another one!

Babacino is four months old today exactly! and here are our feet!

Today Babacino is exactly 4 months old!! Here are some little pictures of Babacino rituals and things.

These are our family foot prints, woot woot!! as explained the day before yesterday i think, here:

 ALTA VILLA, RUNNING, SOME COLOURS, AND MORSELS FROM MAURI - 25 October

And here is one of Babacino's 'passeggino' story decorations.. coming along coming along

Here is a little bee and his Pappi 

having reading and sleeping time!

And here is Babacino at Tata,s at lunch time, in his 'new' from the family, chair. Now he can see everyone!! 

by by and good night, lots of love Gabriel !! GABRIEL BABACINO WAS HERE!! xx xx xx

ALTA VILLA, RUNNING, SOME COLOURS, AND MORSELS FROM MAURI - 25 October

25 Oct

ALTA VILLA, RUNNING, SOME COLOURS,  AND MORSELS FROM MAURI

Today is Friday and on Monday Babacino will be 4 MONTHS old.
I have some orange paint to make foot prints and hand prints. I think I’ll put orange paint onto me and Mauri’s feet too and make family prints!

I am still writing by hand, I suppose in an attempt to catch the little buzzing fireflies, which have to slow down when I use my hands to think, and also as I have so much to write down that if I don’t use my hands and paper, with edges, I could end up with a huge fuzzy  word lake on the Internet, without edges, and it would be impossible to properly see and read.

If the things I remember, I recall via paper and my hands, then maybe, hopefully , my hands will choose the most important things. And then of course, there are the colours, but in fact my hands choose those too, with making and with the camera!   

Let us Begin:

Starting with colour. A little while ago, Mauri found, what must have been a small child’s name badge, somewhere on one of our jaunts or morning runs. It was a sort of an animal shape cut out of coloured card , and a child’s name was written on it in crayon. A little piece of wool was tied to it, which must have been what was used for the child to wear the name badge. For about 2 weeks this was a decoration on Babacino’s buggy. I became quite fond of it, and wondered about the story of the little child whom it had belonged to. Along the way, it somehow disappeared from Babacino’s buggy and probably headed off again, on it’s own new little journey. And so I decided it would be a lovely idea to make a real one for Gabriel, with his name on it.
Of course, that left me unable to decide on one animal, one type of card, one colour, what crayon to use etc, as this would be Babacino’s first official buggy decoration (not counting the musical strawberry we got as a  Baptism present for Babacino - which sadly we’ve also lost!). Important stuff!!  Naturally, I now have about 5 big pieces of different coloured card (and that did involve me trying to curtail my version of a sugar rush, but  for colour, as I could quite easily have acquired ALL the colours in the shop! ). And naturally, again, we now have a multitude of Buggy decorations in various stages of making, also involving lots of cutting out and glue and story growing, with lives of their own!

So far Babacino loves the sound of scissors cutting card, and when I show him the things I am making, I think he might even like them, he follows the bright colours and shapes when I move them around.
And to confess, at this stage, I don’t know if I’m making them more for me or for him!, but at least one thing – I do believe that in the intention of making and creating something for someone, there is an energy flow and a spirit (destined for that person) which inevitably comes alive, somehow.
I believe and trust in that a lot when I make things, and same goes for such gifts received. On that note Babacino has been VERY blessed with a multitude of hand made gifts, all of which I believe are full of love and creativity and all the good stuff that a little person needs for life and living.
I hope that Babacino receives, in abundance whatever energy and spirit is finding it’s way into these little coloured story shape creations. I suspect, from the history of the little friends of Babcino’s buggy, that these story shapes may well also head off on other journeys at some stage, and who knows, they may even find their way onto other buggy’s somewhere in the world!! But also, they are just for fun, not actually serious serious serious...;)

That brings me onto the next topic, of ‘MORSELS’
I thought yesterday, or the day before, of a new little name for Mauri! He could be ‘The Morsel Man’ because he seems to have the most curious, inquisitive mind for finding things, books, ideas, experiences, and then, he is like a quiet, lithe and graceful cat. He loves to quietly and often 'sneek-ily' give and present these little (or big, depending on how you look at it!) morsels to people. For me and Babacino he has always known exactly what morsels we love, and he is for ever surprising us with these most wonderfull-est of morsels. The little cardboard name badge is just one little example. Each morsel would need a whole story for itself, so I shall have to write about the morsels in 'little morsels' over time…..

But just a little thing still on the topic of Morsels: Mauri’s house is full from top to bottom of books, and even though he has a rule of not reading books a 2nd time, (because there are SO many books in the world waiting to be read! And luckily for Mauri he has a brain that can drink up and remember 100’s and 100’s of books, so he doesn't actually need to read them again!) Anyway so even though he doesn't read the books again, he does like to potter around  and pick up books, look at a page, remember something, or suddenly have an inkling to find a particular book from a certain time, or person, or that reminds him of something or someone. And so, I have a growing pile of little morsels of books next to my pillow, from Mauri, chosen out of the book house, for me to nibble on, especially when it’s Babacino’s eating times!
And of course, Mauri also loves to acquire new shiny books, and he loves picture books too! And so we (me, Mauri and Babacino) have a growing collection of some of the most beautiful story books, which all kind of connect somehow and are becoming part of our family story and which I hope Babacino will love, when he understands stories.  To begin to explain this little book family would need it’s own blog page, so another time!  But here is one just to show you! : A story about a Tiger

This week, we went to Alta Villa gain, and I took some pictures of my run. Last week, Mauri showed me the route into the village, so I gave it a go, and this time, I didn't get lost!! – with help from certain landmarks, for example ‘turn left at the rubbish!’ – picture included for evidence!

On the way to Alta Villa , for one reason and another, we had a crying really hungry tired little boy, who, as soon as we got there, had his supper and fell asleep immediately, followed an hour or two later, by more supper and a nice bath courtesy of the best bather of little monkey’s  in the world – Mauri himself! and pleasantly followed by more supper and a nice long sleep, much needed after so much crying!

And so during this prolonged sleeping time, Mauri and I sat at the big table, making our different creations, Mauri with words  and photos and me with colours.  You can see a photo of our real live ‘work table’ as well as our subsequently decorated supper table, as evidence!

Babacino has a new gym! He loves it! He got it from a very kind lady who does some work for Tata. It is a combination of a little gym and Franci’s play mat from when he was little. Now Babacino has a play gym in London AND in Italy, lucky boy!

Franci came to visit us a few days ago, while Babacino was in full play mode, and you can see a photo of ‘Brothers Playing’, it is so cute!! AND we have a photo of the full Crispi Clan, you can never keep Mauri away from a good toy! or being with his boys!! J  - And that, the Babacino Gym story, is also part of our colour topic for this little blog story.

Even though there are a lot more things to say about MORSELS, in relation to Mauri.( I haven't even STARTED on the food morsels!! – another of Mauri’s specialties), I will save them for another time, … In fact, there are many many morsels and types of morsels, and I am sure even more to be discovered!

So that is that for now, for Alta Villa, Running, Colours, and Morsels, in the Crispi Family!

Oh, and to mention, the Alta Villa thread idea comes from this little story :

A visit to Alta Villa 22 October

And now for some pictures!!

Babacino in full play mode in his sparkly gym

Franci and Babacino

MORE Franci and Babacino, Babacino in his dungaree's from Kyle his cousin in South Africa!

And all three Crispi's!

Then, this is the 'work table' of me and Mauri, the words and the colours.

Here is where the colours began, next to a cute sleeping boy!

And the decorated yummy supper at Altavilla

The next day very early, Mauri is up, ready to work in the fields and just in time to see the sun rise!

And the Alta Villa house in the beautiful morning light.

It is the morning, and now it is time to run. Mauri, Babacino and Frida head down the road with me, to open the complicated gate.

First things first, an Olive Grove! There are lots and lots of Olive trees all over Sicily, and just up the road, there is even a place that makes olive oil! 

and here you can see the sun well and truly up in the sky, how beautiful for just a few days before the clock changes

some more lovely trees in the area

And a view of the little village and the harbour

Now I have reached the start of the village. I turned around at this point and headed back up the hill, but next time, I might do a little jaunt into the village itself just to see...!

Heading back, always remember to turn left, just after the rubbish!

Here, not very clearly, but it is a true story, there is a little farmyard of chickens and hens. This area is an agricultural area, so people are not allowed to build blocks of flats or houses next to each other. They have to leave the land open and grow things or have animals. So there is quite a collection of different types of growing going on, and no shortage of trees!

Here is a loquat tree! The only place, other than Johannesburg South Africa, where I have seen loquat trees. Once, we had a whole bowl of loquats for pudding at Alta Villa. Loquats are quite fragile fruit and can't really be transported as they bruise easily, but they are totally yummy just off the tree! I forget the Italian word for them, but this is what they are: About loquats

The very last of the Fichy d'India's for the season... The Fichi d'India

And now finally, I am almost home, here is the first gate, so I am definitely in the right place, and haven't got lost this time! Bravo!!

And the final gate, here is the drive way

And look who is waiting when I arrive!! Yayyyyy... my two lovely boys!! 

In the fields: Just to show you, these are some steps that Mauri made!!

This is us in the fields later in the day

And this is some of Mauri's work. There is always a fire to be made, for tidying!

Last but not least, I just had to add this picture, it's Mauri and Babacino in Villa Sperlinga, Babacino now holds on like mad when you carry him, and he especially loves his Papi's arm!!

And that's us for now... until the next time!!