Olive Oil Obsession



our lovely hillside orchard in Lazio

I must be going through my paranoid phase, having ranted about the failings of the insurance industry I now turn to olive oil production. I have been meaning to tell you how I picked our olives in Italy last year but never got round to it, then I was reading an article in The Times magazine at the weekend about the murky world of oil production, how almost every bottle of oil on the supermarket shelf is now labelled extra virgin and isn't, how an oil can be labelled Italian even if it is made up of mostly non-Italian oil, apparently olive oil fraud is big business and what it says on the label means nothing at all.  At least I can categorically state that our oil is pure, I spent 4 happy days in our orchard pictured above picking by hand and I know exactly where the oil was milled in the traditional way and when. The Italians collect the olives by laying huge nets under the trees then combing the branches with little plastic rakes. Not me I picked by hand, no leaves or branches in my crates just beautiful olives.I did have a slight mishap when I fell out of one of the trees, no real damage just some bruising, so Mr FF took over the high level work with a rake.In our village every family has olive trees, not necessarily next to their property but somewhere nearby and in October and November everyone is out on the hillside busy picking. You can hear the chatter of families collecting and the co-operative mill in the village is working constantly, there is also a plant nearby that turns the squashed pulp into fuel, nothing is wasted. My 105 kilos of olives produced 22 litres of beautiful oil, not a great yield but it varies from season to season and is far more than we need so I can be quite generous with it both on our food and as giving it away. My friend in Rome tells me that he needs about 50 litres for a years supply and will source quality oil both locally in Lazio and as far away as Puglia.There is much excitement when the new oil comes home, it's traditional to make bruschetta and taste, which is exactly what we did. I'd been told that new oil is very special but I was surprised how very strong it is, actually a bit too strong for me but it does mellow. Chatting to friends one evening I was asked how much good oil would cost in the UK, when I said around £20 a litre they were very surprised especially when I explained that it wouldn't be anything like the quality or pedigree of the oil they produce for themselves. For those of you who don't produce your own oil The Times gives four stars to

• Tesco Puglian stone milled extra virgin at £6.99 for 500 ml
• Napolina special selection extra virgin at £5.39 for 500 ml
• Nunex de Prado organic extra virgin £7.98 for 500 ml

and for those of you with bankers bonuses to spend

• Manni extra virgin from Harrods retails at £137.50 for 500 ml,

now thats about the price I'd put on my own hand crafted oil.

Time for a rant

I don't think I've had a major rant for a while, well I am having one now. I have a health insurance policy, you may not agree with this but having never been in hospital or touch wood had any major illness in my life I do have something of a fear of these places I'd like to think I might be able to hide away in a quiet and private room if I needed treatment. It has nothing to do with queue jumping and I certainly keep myself healthy, don't smoke, one glass of wine does me, not overweight. I've had different policies over the years and been with my current provider for probably 10 or more years, obviously I've never made a claim. Last year my premium went up quite a lot so I opted for a £1,000 excess which gave a decent reduction and I calculated that a couple of years on a reduced premium would cover any excess I might have to pay in future. My policy is due for renewal next month and when the paperwork arrived there had been a 30% increase from last year, despite the covering letter stating that the average increase for my age was 17%. I phoned up and of course got the same guff I get every time I complain to them, big increase in claims, medical inflation (which I believe is running at around 3%) and when I said that I might not go ahead there was certainly no fawning for my custom, the operator merely asked me to let them know if I wanted to cancel.
So this last week I've been trawling around for a better deal and I've received three different quotes for a policy with the same provider varying from £450 to £1,000, allegedly for the same cover. I have pages and pages of small print to get through but my overall impression of the insurance business is one of deep suspicion.
For example, when our tv in Italy was struck by lightning we spoke to the insurance company who said we'd have to cover the first £100, fair enough, plus obtain two written reports about the incident from tv engineers and we would lose our no claims discount adding about 15% to future premiums. It was cheaper just to buy a new tv ourselves, we gave the old one to the repair man in the village for spares.
When we came to renew our Italian house insurance this year we were told we couldn't have cover for earthquake or land slip. We live on the side of a mountain on the edge of a seismic area, those would be our two main concerns and given the tv debacle we have little confidence we are covered for anything at all.
I might say its a long time since the days of the Man from the Pru, the insurance adviser who used to call round to collect payments from customers door to door, and that the aggressive call centre selling is a deterioration of customer service, but then I bought endowment and pension policies from the man from Equitable Life in a face to face way and a big con that turned out to be. Who can we trust.
Lets not end on a bitter note, here's my lovely amaryllis flowering it's pretty little head off. If only big business was as honest and straightforward, no small print on the bulb, performs as expected, customer satisfaction big style, happy days.

Random Acts of Kindness

So February is almost over, things are definitely improving with long sessions tidying the garden, lighter nights and exceptionally high temperatures. I've noticed a difference in me too, I've had a sudden attack of niceness.
It really began after I won that lovely yarn from Josiekitten and made the scarf. JK contacted me to ask if I would like some more in different colours and after some discussion during which she refused to take any payment, I received another and larger squashy parcel.I have agreed to make a donation to our local Cats Protection League in lieu of payment and also sent a little thank you to JK which has arrived safely.I've made a couple of pairs of socks to give as presents, I've knitted a couple more of the purple cowls again for presents and I've received some white dk from Pam to make something for her next grandchild expected soon. I sent off a little cardigan to Amelia which she was pleased with even if the sleeves are a little short, that girl is growing far too quickly. Please note no yarn has been purchased (recently) to make any of these items, all material used was from my stash.We've had friends round for dinner, I met the working girls for a lunch and spent time with a neighbour who is unwell and off work. I also received a couple of boxes of chocolates, Lindor are my absolute favourites and the chocky covered walnuts are delicious and different.
So what a good start to the year, I can't guarantee that I will continue to be so pleasant, one can but try, let's hope it's not just the leap year effect or there'll be a long wait till it happens again.

A step too far

I'm a big fan on online shopping, in fact I can't remember the last time I went into the centre of Edinburgh for a browse round Jenners, John Lewis, Harvey Nics et al. I also love those smart mail order catalogues that pop through the letterbox and can happily spend half an hour with a coffee imagining myself floating round in a costly but crisp linen kaftan with a sumptuous cashmere wrap draped over me. Todays catalogues are almost a magazine in themselves, a far cry from the dreary old Grattans catalogue my mother in law used to use. The spring edition from Wrap that arrived recently includes this photo, a variation on my cowboy dreams, the boots are almost £300. I was pleased to receive the latest Celtic Sheepskin catalogue yesterday. This company has an excellent eco friendly policy and unlike many indicates where the goods are manufactured, many of them in Britain and some in Cornwall where they are based.However these on the back page are quite shocking - sheepskin flip flops I think not and at £45 a pair they go against all my principles of flipflop wearing.

Like a Rhinestone Cowboy

It could be the onset of spring but I'm definitely going through a strange phase at the moment. Still knitting and gardening of course but I'm also doing a lot of cowboy fantasising. I love cowboy films, I spent a lot of my childhood watching John Wayne etc and reenacting shoot out scenes with my brother and his friends. Growing up on a farm it was easy for us to create the wild west, an old hen hut for our shack, straw bales, cows to rustle of course, we rode round on our bikes wearing bandannas and stetsons. I remember once making myself with string a set of reins to steer my bike though that really only worked when riding in a straight line. I don't actually like horses and was very reluctant to ride my cousins pony even for the sake of reality.I also love those cowboy/country and western songs and have been listening almost none stop to Glen Campbell recently. I truly love his voice, Wichita Lineman, By the Time I get to Phoenix, this morning I was singing along with him over breakfast - such are the dreams of the everyday housewife. So it was no big surprise for me to find myself lusting after a pair of bright pink cowboy boots the other day. Sadly, Glen now 75 was diagnosed last year with Alzheimer's, there is a very beautiful video here if you have the time to look. “I don’t pay any attention to it,” he said. “It’s like when the devil comes knocking on your door. Don’t pay any attention to it.”
Enjoy your weekend and your fantasies, yeehaw.

Neck wear

Gosh I'm feeling jaded today. We were at a friend's house in Edinburgh last night for dinner and didn't get home till almost 2 am. Far too late for a couple of pensioners to be out if you ask me but we did have a lovely evening and all week to recover.

I need to show you the finished scarf from my giveaway parcel, its really lovely and I am delighted.I am equally delighted with this cowl, I'd been looking for a pattern for something chunky and cably, this fits the bill perfectly. I used some Italian yarn that is 40% alpaca, 40% wool, I followed the pattern repeats for a great fit, very soft and cosy with just the scrunched upness I was looking for. I wasn't so pleased that I had to go into the third ball of yarn, I used just over 100 g. Last of all I can now show you my other completed project. This was the second installment of our wedding present for Joanne and Stewart, it's Debbie Abrahams' beaded sunshine cushion from a kit I've had for a while, I'm not sure if its still available but it is very lovely.

Right I'm of to watch the rugby, not that I understand it just too exhausted for anything more strenuous than slumping on the sofa. Have a good week.

The softer side of knitting

Mr FF's jumper of barbed wire is finished, I washed it in the hope that it might soften up but that didn't really work and when he finally tried it on I howled with laughter. It is truly awful. As can happen the twist of the yarn has caused the knitting to twist, the whole thing is slightly out of kilter and I believe it has been banished to the depths of the wardrobe, or abandoned somewhere deep in the countryside I'm not sure and I'm certainly not going to show it to you.
However I will show you how I've moved on to finer things. I finished and posted this little jumper for Amelia. I've used this pattern from Louisa Harding's Miss Beas Rainy Day and this 100% pure wool before. It's fairly plain but with some interesting cable in the rib, such a pity the yarn discontinued it truly is soft and colourful, apparently Amelia was delighted and wore her jumper straight away.I've also made these socks using Regia World College Color which was and possibly still is on offer at Kemps, take a look £3.99 plus postage for a 150 g ball you can't go wrong. Usually I prefer 4 ply for socks, this is dk, but they do seem cosy and Regia is such hard wearing yarn that I'm hopeful they will last.

And I've been cracking on with my super soft giveaway yarn from Josiekitten. I finally selected Lace Ribbon as the pattern for my scarf, reminds me slightly of Clapotis and makes me keen to knit another of those soon.

We heard at the weekend that our house in Italy is under 2 feet of snow but apparently fine. I bet all our friends in the village regret telling us how much they'd love a proper snowy winter, our neighbours didn't get out for two days while they waited for a snow plough. Extraordinary that we have barely a dusting of the white stuff here in Scotland.