Back to Oliena

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After two days of good sunshine in Esporlatu pruning olive trees and cutting some fire wood the rain is back here in Oliena. The plan to plant potatoes is now postponed; we might need to wait until the middle of the week. Also the extension can not be completed as we need a good spell of dry weather.  In Esporlatu we worked non- stop for a day and an half managing more tasks than planned. This demonstrates how working together often achieves more.

The olive trees have been pruned. A meticulous job. every plant needs individual assessment and attention.

We had some problems with the chain saws at the beginning, but nevertheless we managed to cut down 4 trees and chop branches to a transportable size. Lots of  broad beans and peas have been planted around the cultivated part of the land. I spotted two amazing lemon trees  which had lots of fruits. Graziano (my brother living there) gave us a full crate of lemons to take back and 40 eggs from their chickens.

The hills around. Paradise of oak trees.

The surrounding area is covered with oak trees and many shephards keep both sheep and goats. The little town of Esporlatu has a population of a few hundred and is slowly dying. No jobs around here and young people can only go away for better opportunities leaving the old people to look after the place. Little villages are disappearing in Sardinia. It is a shame that investment is not there to keep them alive and the place is just beautiful.

The trees we cut were selected. My brother's knowledge as a ranger helps and of course we do not cut trees unnecessarily. These ones were dying and some were creating access problems. Other trees will be planted nearby.

Some winter wood...

When back here to Oliena we decided to clean the wine barrels. Another job to be done and often people leave this kind of task for when they cannot do anything else outside.  The rhythm of life here is very different. Plans are not necessarily  kept as things change all the time and people are mentally trained to adapt to sudden changes. As many things need to be done, there is no risk of boredom.

Transferring the wine in order to clean the barrel.

Even when there is an hour to spare, a visit to a relative is an opportunity not to be missed. These aspects of relationship are considered very important and old people are always visited for a chat and kept in a good spirit.  In an hour's time we are going to see my Aunty Maddalena who lost her husband not long ago. She will be pleased to see me. 

Lemons to go...

Hopefully the weather will improve for the rest of the week so we can go ahead with the vegetable garden and the extension.

Snow and more

20/03/2018

Low pressure in Sardinia is causing a weather pattern which is going to last for another week or so. Through the night we had very heavy rain and yesterday rain and strong wind, which concerned us as it potentially could have damaged the broad beans plants in full flower. Luckily no damage occurred but some jobs could not take place as hoped.

Wild pear tree and sheep grazing

Nevertheless yesterday, with my brother, we managed to put up the 4 posts for the extension, a job we could not start earlier as we were busy on jobs mentioned previously on the land. This part of the building project was the most difficult one, and hopefully the rest will follow relatively smoothly

This morning, after heavy rain and a leaking roof which will have to be sorted as soon as the weather improves , we decided to crack almonds in preparation for  having some of them transformed into amaretti by my aunty after Easter.

Wild fennel 

Our first bread with wild fennel

 Between showers of rain we had a walk about collecting our food and going down the river to see how things are there. The river is high and fast flowing at the moment. We managed to locate a walnut tree which we thought was taken away by the last flood, but it is still there and hopefully we will get some nuts in future.

Fruits trees – peach, pear, apple -  are all in flower and if no hard frost arrives it seems that there will be plenty of fruits coming along. On the way back from the river Lesley disturbed a hare which was hiding in the tall grass. This is a good sign as the population of hares has been low in the past and it is not an animal you see often in these parts.

Our wild asparagus keeps growing at a speedy rate, and it takes only 10 or 15 minutes’ walk to find enough for a dinner. We collected  more wild fennel which grows in abundance between the vines and I decided to make a loaf of bread with it. Bread was cooked in the “ Aga” oven, and although it turned out okay, the crust was a bit too hard, but it was still tasty. Space for improvement here.

More wild orchids were spotted in other people’s abandoned land, and generally the abundance of wild flowers is one of the best things happening at this time of the year. The goji berry trees are also starting to produce the flowers whereas the Kiwi is still dormant and has been pruned.

The almonds

The almonds being opened

Sorting the almonds from the shells

21/03/2018

Another wintry day. Some snow on the high mountains above 1200 meters It did not rain in the morning but later in the afternoon we got wet as we were working on the extension . We managed to put up all the support beams and the extension is now taking shape nicely. We are making the fire every night and this is for me what I was not prepared to do. Bringing wood under the canopy to dry is something which I never thought to be doing at this time of the year.

Having a burning fire is always  pleasant anyway. We toasted some almonds with a pinch of salt for a snack. Some evenings we play cards and having no tv is not bothering us at all. In the morning we put the radio on, but briefly, and internet is only an hour or less in the evening after we have done everything else and after dinner.

Finally ( ! ) the snow arrived.

No comment

Spring still away

Since the pasta making we have been back in the Locoe house where we have managed to improve the stable door , not only by the addition of a handle – left over from the stove flue – and a complicated locking mechanism, but also , and more interestingly, providing a solution to our coat hanging problem , in the form of a very stylish , elongated, two tone ex-oven handle.

We have not started the extension as outstanding jobs on the cultivated parts of the land have left no time for it. At least the work on the vines is now over, after at least twelve hours of back-breaking work; here there are about 30 rows @ 40 vines per row to prune.  This involves BENDING DOWN (or practising squats) to scrutinize each plant to decide how to train its growth – taking into account a series of factors – some of which you have to guess at – such as the weather. You aim to end up with 2 to 3 shoots per plant.

One of our salads. Mostly wild  greens.

My brother was out with his rotavator (motozappa) preparing for the planting of potatoes and generally making the place look more like a garden (his words). Lesley has been busy looking after peas and broad bean plants, weeding and providing support to the plants.

Around the area there is a lot of activity and both young and old people come every day to work the land or to look after their flocks of sheep. Near to us a couple of girls still studying are working with their flock of sheep and today we had a delivery of their own cheese.  It is curious and creates a strange pastoral idyll hearing the shepherd(-ess) calling out to and swearing at the sheep.  You hear the sheep bells constantly, and the shepherds move their flocks in groups from one field to another as they graze.  Nothing like Scotland at all!  Every now and then the dogs which my brother keeps here to guard the land bark excitedly and you are aware that the sheep are on their travels again! Oh, and they look more like goats than sheep to me [Lesley] plus they have huge udders since they are a milk-supplying flock of course.

Risotto with wild greens

Almond trees are in flower, beautiful, as are the fields all around with orchids, vetches, all sorts of yellow flowers (!), poppies, wild lupins and every day someone reminds us how good some weed or other is to eat (lightly boiled, dressed with olive oil and salt and maybe mixed with potatoes, rice, pasta or cheese). Bees are busy pollinating and – very encouraging - many ladybirds have been spotted on the vineyard.

Flowers on the almond tree

Bread making day

After a couple of days in our seaside home, walking, cleaning, collecting some wild stuff and having a couple of spells lazing on the beach, we are back to the country home (please don’t confuse with Balmoral). Earlier than we thought as we were engaged to take part in a Sardinian bread making session in Oliena on Wednesday. Many pictures here. It was a very interesting day and we made lots of types of bread and salty cheese quiche-style ‘formaggelle’ for Easter. Weather is predicted to be cold and rainy again for the next 2 or 3 weeks, so this will affect the planned work on the extension and the work in the land. Finishing pruning the vines will be paramount, then potato planting and earthing up the broad beans. We will see if the good weather will return to Sardinia….

The beginning of the bread

making the start

bread sheets in numbered wrapped container

Cooking the bread

The end product. Very thin flat bread which can last months if kept right. In Italy the y called "carta da musica", music paper as when you eat it makes a noise.

Other bread. soft one.

Formagelle before been cooked

In Sardinia

We  arrived in Sardinia thinking that we never left Scotland...it was cold and it rained for the first 3 days. We must admit that the rain here was very welcome as it was much needed. The first two nights we stayed in Oliena  as we still had a few practical things to organize before moving to  Locoe where we planned to stay.

We found that a good job had been done in providing the little one-roomed house there  with a new window, new door, new floor - all expertly organized and carried out by my brothers in their spare time. Also walls have been re-plastered and painted. In addition to this an Aga style cooking stove has been installed and is working really well keeping our place warm in the evening and through the night.

The mornings are still very cold and wet with dew. But when we slept the first night in Locoe, the comfort of the room was a nice welcome to the place and the next morning the birds were singing around 6.30 am and the sun was sneaking through the shutters of the newly-installed window. It was a  magnificent first day.

The early sun from our window

I spent some time starting the vine-pruning  on the river side of the land and weeding around emerging pea plants in front of the house. Cleaning took place on the other parts of the house shared by our relatives and some time was spent collecting wild asparagus.

Wild asparagus

Plenty of wild flowers are already going mad at this time of the year and the place is as green as Ireland. This won't  last for very long as come May everything will dry out and rain will be a thing of the past for possibly another 5 months.

Saturday: We are now in our 'seaside' house and as we went to the beach for a walk we collected more asparagus and wild fennel which we will probably be using tonight for a (probably) pasta dish.

It is warmer here and lying on the beach was a pleasant change (albeit fully clothed).

We will be back in Oliena a day earlier than planned as my brother and aunties have decided to make the Sardinian bread, so we will go back in time to try to help.

Some pictures for this event will be posted around next week end.

a wild Orchid

The " Aga " stove recycled from my brother Antony.

Postscript from the Spellchecker:

Sometimes I may want to add a bit of - probably totally superfluous - punctuation to Battistino's account.... the occasional exclamation mark, the odd set of brackets expressing a thought which is more akin to my own experience of this adventure. I can't help it - I'm a stranger to this land, its language and its customs and, unlike Battistino when he decided to just 'go for it' in Scotland at the age of 36, I first of all need to rekindle a desire for  adventure and fight the temptation to look for security....at the age of 63.

That being said...........this is an amazing place...and I will be trying to give names to some of the plants we come across....not having any local knowledge whatsoever, I rely entirely on books, so I guess our orchid was a.............well,...er.....some kind of Ofride......!  Anyway, who cares?  It was just amazing finding orchids all over the place..... oh, and what I swear were wild Freesias today on the way to the beach. 
As to Locoe....so far, my thoughts have revolved around my experiences of camping.  This one is more akin to a 'private' campsite, i.e. you don't have to stumble/tiptoe past other campers' constructions and obstacles to reach the toilet block, but you do, nevertheless, have to make that decision - often in the middle of the night, whether to ignore your insistent bladder or enjoy a blast of night air, and make the trip to the loo.
I don't mind not washing - either myself or my clothes.....as we are both in the same state ...but then I did really luxuriate in the hot shower I enjoyed this afternoon after our walk to the beach.
Batti forgot to mention the donkeys.....beautifully lush with enormous eyes and ears, surrounded by wonderful home-grown thistles and lush verdant grass....yet still trotting over to entreat us for titbits.