Autumn has arrived

The first of November is a reminder that Autumn  has arrived. This early morning was welcomed by a weak sun rising above the Oliena mountain and wet ground with new grass starting to grow.  This suggests  a  different prospective  for what we are to expect in the last 3 weeks here in Sardinia.

rain was very heavy at times

Temperature has dropped around 10 degrees in the last week.

During the day if the sun is out it is still very pleasant and working outside is more comfortable.

The first rain for months has fallen  and yesterday it was heavy at times. Wet conditions free us from watering plants regularly. Not long ago we were watering every two days, now we will not water them at all or perhaps once every 10 days, except the ones in the green houses.

Planting lentils and chick peas for next summer

Our latest work on the roof seems finally to have made the difference and so far we have not had any leaks. So, in March next year we will be putting up the final touches to complete the job once and for all. This is a big relief and seems like progress.

Our vegetable gardens ( we have two places plus a couple of green houses) are still producing greens and some tomato plants still have fruit on them, but we suspect that with  less day light and less warmth it will be a struggle to get them to mature.  More lettuces and cabbages have been planted and a couple of days ago we also planted a 2 by 30 metre rows of chick peas and lentils.

still producing beans and other greens

With this autumn feeling and dampness we are hoping to collect a few mushrooms from the land over on the river side.

french beans

Halloween here had no visitors as we are pretty isolated, so there was no knocking on doors but only far away barking of shepherd dogs. Our dog Rex  has been quiet in the last couple of weeks as he got an infection on the left back leg but after some medication is now recovering well. Not much disturbance from him during the night

our grapes from the seaside house

First of November here is a festivity day as people celebrate All Saints and pay respect to the people who have died, going to visit their place of rest.

More work was done in our residence in the seaside as more problems had arisen recently (blockage in the Kitchen sink and the sewage system also not functioning due to invasive tree  roots). We started sorting these problems  a couple of weeks back and we are going back there next week to complete the job.

new manhole

Everything else is running as usual and I think work schedules are more settled than our  first visit in this experimental 3 monthly countryside experience.

Olives are ripening and hopefully swelling a bit more with the recent rain