We are back to the island

 Back in Sardinia after an adventurous journey, arriving on Monday 18th September. This time we decided to take the train from Edinburgh to Portsmouth and then the boat to Saint Malo with Brittany Ferries. First time with them. It was a good trip. we spent the morning in Saint Malo which was again  new to us and worth exploring if we had more time there. It reminded us of Nairn...or at least the beaches did.

     

                                Saint Malo beach and visitors...in the distance the national Fort

Later the same day we took the train to Rennes where we stayed for two nights. Nice town with a mixture of interesting architecture especially  near the station. The modern buildings there were all different. in contrast to the old part of the town which had wooden framed building, quirky and attractive at the same time. Interesting pubs there to be revisited. 

    

                                                   Old and new buildings in Rennes

     

                                 Street artists at work in Rennes and ...we just missed the food market

     

                                       The Vilaine river in Rennes  and the modern futuristic train station

We then proceeded to Toulon via Marseille where our Sardinia Corsica ferry was delayed for 7 hours It was a long  - and hot - wait but in the end we discovered a  bar  offering good beers. We never saw this pub before even though we have now been to Toulon several times. So next time we have time to kill in Toulon we can try not only discovering another of its many fountains, but also locating  new craft beer pubs!

On the ferry we discovered that our 'deluxe' cabin was actually a very mediocre one and even the bed was not made as sheets and pillow cases had not been provided. A steward was called upon who reluctantly provided a sheet, but we were disappointed to the point of writing an official complaint to the company, which was quick to respond and has since refunded us half of the fare.

Arriving later than planned, my brother Graziano came to pick us up at the port and then we proceeded to our seaside house in the north east. Graziano left on Thursday and myself on Saturday leaving Lesley at the house for a bit longer.  (With temperatures still reaching 30 degrees, why miss out on the seaside? L.)

Harvest of grapes was already done as this year extreme prolonged heat and the downy mildew has damaged many vineyards in the area. The result is that we are probably going to produce only 60 litres of wine instead of 800 to 1000 this year. This is not under our control so we need to forget and look forward for next year.

   

vineyard looks Ok from the distance but a close up reveals the damaged done by the intense heat. Grapes are burned. Here is an interesting article about the problem.

https://www.vinitaly.com/en/magazine/peronospora-alarm-assoenologi-ismea-and-unione-italiana-vini-uiv-observatory/

On the other hand this year seems to be, so far, a fantastic year for olives. I have already inspected the trees here in Locoe and I have never seen so many olives....and basically every single tree has produced an abundance of them. Fingers crossed on this one. We will keep an update on this .

     

                                                            Our olive trees with an abundance of fruit

Sunday 24th we were invited by my cousin Pietro to his land near Oniferi for a get-together. Oniferi is  a small village about 40 minutes by car from where my brothers live in Oliena. The land was bought  a few years back so his sons could cultivate it. They have chickens, ducks, two donkeys a horse, several pigs, fruit tress, olive trees, almond trees and a patch for vegetables. Cristian also makes cheeses and they are learning how to make hams, sausages and so on. 

We had a good day there  and what we ate was all produced by them except for the water melon and the coffee. There were 35 of us, all related one way or another.

      

                                           Oniferi in the distance from the land. At the table

       

Learning to ride and a few of us posing for a souvenir photo

Here we are nearly into the end of  the month and the weather has changed to rain. We have finished some work on the vineyard and planted a few dozen vegetables. potatoes have been weeded and are looking good. The first courgettes  have appeared and we are happy to see many almonds on the trees again as well as an  abundance  of olive  flowers. Flowers are still closed so we hope the rain will not affect the potential crop of olives.

                                                  first courgette and olive flowers

Weeds on the Vermentino vineyard. After weeding, the job was to cut off excess growth. Lesley and Chris busy doing just that.

  In the other vineyard (Dule) where we worked together

Meanwhile, we have been gradually preparing and planting up the main vegetable garden as the early spring crops are more or less finished.  These are the trenches for the long, flat runner beans which are popular here.  They need a strong structure to support them and we use bamboo canes from the riverside to build it each year.

                                

                                                        Preparing the ground for the beans.

                 

                  Other vegetables we are growing including different variety of lettuce (trying not to plant too many all at once this year...), beet, aubergines, peppers, chilli peppers, cucumbers, celery, onions, spinach, cabbage and, of course, potatoes.  Next will be the tomatoes, both to make a supply of sauce for the year, and to eat as salad.

                                          
                                   Potatoes ( above)  and flat runner beans with their bamboo supports.

 


Flooded vegetables and vineyard. Torrential rain during the weekend has created serious problems and 15 people died in North East of Italy. Events that now are frequent and very disruptive. We had lots of rain but we think we managed to escape the worst of it. In a week or so we will be checking the olive trees as they are ready to  open their flowers and start self pollination. Rain is not good but most of the flowers were still closed before the rain started, so, fingers crossed....

Mountain excursion - 14th May

Following the success of previous years' excursions in the local area, this year, owing to the uncertain weather conditions,  we decided to attempt something less ambitious, yet still new to us.  

After lunch, the three of us met up with our guide, Davide, together with  Tonino and Andrea.  It is quite a slog to walk the initial 500 m up the windy road from Oliena to our starting point at an area known as Daddana, so we drove there instead, left the vehicles and set out on a secluded stoney track which picks its way through the oak forests that flank the mountainside, even at 860m from which we began. 

We reached the top of the ridge at 1260m, where the strong winds just allowed us time to gawp at the stupendous panoramic view - out to the coast and the sea to the east, across the limestone ridges and spectacular rock formations that form the biggest mountain range in Sardegna, then south and west where we identified various hill-top towns in the regions.  These days the various tracks are being signposted for easier access by climbers and walkers.

  

Wild cyclamen

  

At the top. Spot Davide!

  

Oak growing in the rocks and the view of Lanaittu (on the way to Tiscali), Gorroppu canyon, the sea in the distance.

  

Davide and Lesley; and the whole group

  

At the sea side. Our last 10 days are spent here at the house in Marazzino. The first two days were rainy but now the sun is out and we are walking to the beach in the afternoons for a dip. The mornings are spent doing some house maintenance. Several little jobs to be done. 

We will be back to Locoe on the 29th but Lesley will be heading back to the UK the same day.

 Christopher and myself will take a tour of Italy leaving Cagliari to Naples on the 1st of June, Two nights there,  then going to Perugia via Rome. One day in Perugia then heading east to the Adriatic seaside town of Pesaro where I spent 6 years in college. I will revisit the place with interest. After one day in Pesaro will be heading to Bologna for a two days exploration then via Milan toward Paris. Then back to the UK and work.

Still not fully spring

 

April is going fast but spring has not fully arrived yet, or better, the stable warm weather we would expect at this time of the year. We still have fluctuating temperatures, going up to 20 degrees and dropping next day to 10. 

Having said that, the country side is  like an open garden in bloom.

                                                              poppies under the olives

At the beginning of the month some of the first developing flowers of the vines were burned by the frost, but it seems that the second lot are now looking good. First and second pruning is now completed (vines)and the next step is to start taking off the excess growth at the bottom of the plants and then tie them securely to the wiring. 

On the vegetable side, potatoes are developing well and new lettuces, cabbages, onions are also growing. Courgettes planted at the front of the house have now a few new leaves which is a good sign of healthy growth. Tonino has bought more vegetables today (19/4) and with Lesley we also planted more peas and French beans which are already appearing out of the ground.

                                                 New vegetables to be planted. 176of them.

 Not all,  but  a few almond trees have plenty of almonds on them already at a good stage of development. This year we will finally be able collect them having had none in the previous three.

                                                           new almonds. still green

                                            Fig trees have also started to show  new fruit.

                                                                       Figs starting

On the 12th we went to the seaside house at Marazzino to do  3 days' work in one of the bedrooms as we are changing a window, and previous works were poorly done by the builder at the time. 

                                               preparing the opening for the new window

This Saturday we are going to help my brother to prune some olive trees in his wife's land. It will be a day of work between 4 or 5 of us. The place is in Esporlatu, a small village in the Goceano area.

I am keeping cutting excess growth from olive trees and preparing big piles to be burned as soon as possible. Also we still have lots of old vines to be cleaned and cut to size for the stove in Oliena. This is a tedious job but needs to be done now as the vines and roots are now dry.

The 4 meter long root of an old vine. Vines are a very strong plant and roots can go very deep.

More work has been done between my brother Graziano and my Aunt Cicita's  land. We opened a dry wall section to facilitate the passage between the two pieces of land.

                                                                          Job Done

        

First broad beans and Lesley meditating under the olive tree in front of the house (encouraging the zucchini).

Sunset on our mountain Corrasi and Aunties Maria and Cicita preparing a king size meal for Easter day