In Italia

Here we are in our lovely house in Lazio after a successful visit to Puglia, not least because on the journey there and back I managed to knit a pair of socks. We had two positive meetings with our architect and are now happy with the proposals and ready to rumble. We visited the ruin to find that someone had broken into part of the trullo and (I kid you not) had taken away loads of junk, old furniture, empty bottles, crates, broken pottery, completely cleared it out which can only be a good thing. I'd already had a good check round the property when we first bought it to make sure there were no hidden treasures so nothing lost. We had a lovely moment when a local farmer with two large dogs herded about 75 goats through our land into another pasture, giving us a cheery wave as he went by. I adore goats and would be happy for them to graze our land if they promised not to eat the olives and the figs that I noticed they had been nibbling as they passed through. If I'd had any doubts about the property, which I don't, seeing the goats would have confirmed that it will be a perfect place for us.
We enjoyed staying with our friends Les and Patsy who were extremely hospitable, put up with our various comings and goings and gave us the benefit of their experiences.
The evening we arrived here in Lazio our neighbours told us that the local gastro festival was taking place having been postponed from Saturday because of rain. So we quickly unpacked and took off for the village to sample about 20 different types of wine, cheese, hams, breads etc, all produced locally and all delicious and accompanied bymusic and some dancing. Such a good start to our visit and an opportunity to meet our friends.
We are now settled into a happy routine of some work some relaxation, local shopping and many visits to the builders yards. Today we bought sand, cement and timber to construct some garden steps and came away from one shop with free t shirts and from another with caps that the owners said we would need for our work. Our Italian vocabulary is amazing when it comes to construction, fortunately Mr FF is able to sketch what we plan to do and all the assistants gather round giving us the correct words and advice, its just brilliant that they are so happy to help.
It will soon be Ferragosta when everything closes down for several days, we have dancing in the village square and firework displays all round the valley. The weather is gorgeous, very hot but we always get a light breeze in the afternoons, a perfect time to be in Italy and to live my flip flop dream. Ciao, a presto.