A New Year's Eve to remember

Whether it is a subtle reminder of the task ahead or not, life became difficult today. Not quite the anticipated New Year's Eve, but a memorable one all the same. In the middle of the night the power went. Nothing. Not even the two fuse boxes gave any clues. When we awoke, the situation was not any better, still no power, no water as the pump wouldn't work and there is no gravity feed, no oven and no heating. On top of this, there were no lights either, which in the trullo which we are in, despite it's beauty, it has limited apertures with which to let the light in. An opening of the front door the revealed the next problem. Snow. Proper snow. 40cm deep snow plus some drifting. A real smothering of the land around us.

Quite fantastic, which is the way we needed to view it, otherwise, negative thoughts may have compounded the lack of electricity. We embraced it with some snow madness, which lasted between 10min for Maya, and 30mins for me and Jasper.

Now is the problem though. It is 3pm, it is very cold, light will start to go and we only have a handful of tea lights. Logs are being whipped through as I speak. Resourcing is a problem shall we say! 

Unless there is an immediate remedy to the power situation, our New Year's Eve will be thus:

1. Supper at 4:30 so we will be able to see what we eat!

2. Champagne at 5:30 for the same reason. Party poppers and crackers!

3. Bed at 6pm whilst the remaining tea lights burn their way down.

4. Sit there in our sleeping bags and suffer the tortures of darkness whilst wide awake.

6:30pm

And that has pretty much been how it is. Tea was cooked by the light of 2 night light candles. It was therefore quite a guessing game constructing it and eating it. And now bedtime stories are happening in front of the fire. A vaguely remembered retelling of a book we have not brought, 'The Gruffalo', is happening with embellishments at the moment whilst all sit in their sleeping bags.

We will never forget this though, and when we are home in a few weeks, this will be a memory that we will look back fondly on!

.....I hope.

Ed

2014 - putting the adventure back into life.....2015-?

There will be a mild quaffing of some well travelled Champagne courtesy of the Drayton Donaldsons on New Year's Eve. A signal, at an early and child appropriate time, that 2014 has passed and the arrival  of 2015 is upon us. This time last year, we were planning our scheme for a life 'hiatus', and great excitement was being had as my car was put up for sale on this day exactly one year ago.

Since that time, life has moved around somewhat in the last year, much of which doesn't need to be shared as it's all in the blog. I suppose, we never knew how far our adventure would take us, or how long we would last. But, that said, we have done it! And it is a pleasing thing to say that in 2014, we did it!

Onwards then to the posts that are yet to be written of 2015. We can only hope, that as we begin our journey onwards from the beautiful surroundings we have been accustomed to over December, that the adventures continue in whatever form they come, be they positive or negative. Regardless of the length of time we now spend away, one thing that will happen in 2015  will be our return to our lovely cosy home (that's how we feel about it as the temperatures plummet here), a return to school for Jasper and Maya, and a return to a normal static sort of life. What is uncertain, is what employment either of us will be involved in. That will be the 2015 part of the adventure that follows in the wake of this travelling about. 

That's enough of us though. A glass will be raised to all the people we miss, the life that we miss and a "Cheers" will be merrily said to wish everyone a super 2015. 

Happy New Year! 

Italian Nativities

Last night we had the pleasure of attending a 'Presepe Vivente', or 'live Nativity' in a neighbouring town called Casalini. We had been told all about this Italian custom on Boxing Day, when we had met Bob and Helga during lunch. Bob was adamant that the Casalini Presepe was the best locally, so we checked online for dates and times (although that hasn't always helped us!) and set off at 5pm last night for a 5.30pm start. On arrival, we parked with ease, and looked for signs. Fortunately we also found 'La Terraza Quadrifoglia', a restaurant where Pino works, so we popped in to say, "Bouna Sera" and book a table for pizzas after visiting the Presepe.

Pino kindly gave us directions to the old town, and we found, by the smell of open fires and the sound of live music, what can only be described as a village that had transported itself back in time. The whole community had opened it's doors, quite literally for what had become a traditional open house evening where old skills, crafts and traditions were showcased for any visitor to see. The main Piazza, picturesque in it's own right, was surrounded by twig bundles, hay bales, and wooden carts, donkeys and huts/houses constructed out of temporary materials. I suppose it was like a market really. We were ushered into someone's house, a downstairs room of a trullo which had been transformed into the scenario of a Potter's workshop.

From then on, the evening got slightly more surreal. Word was spreading that an English family were in town, and so at every room in every open house, we were greeted like celebrities! Everyone wanted to show us what their traditional skill/talent was, and so we watched ladies making dough, rolling dough shapes, deep frying them, and of course we then had to do the taste test! We saw children splitting almonds, whilst their mother coated them in sugar and warmed them gently, causing them to become sticky, sweet, and delicious. Yes, we had to taste them too! Whilst this was happening, in the same room quite often there was live music, singing and dancing. It really was an attack on the senses!

The most fun however was had in a makeshift hairdressers!

As you will know, none of us have had a proper haircut since we left England in July, and in my opinion Ed is the one who needs it the most! So, when the 'barber' called him in to sit in the chair, of course he played along...and then the huge antique scissors and rusty razors came out! All in good humour, and the men playing the barbers certainly had a laugh as did the gathering crowd of Italians!!! I didn't fare much better as pliers were found to tweak my eyebrows!!! And then the barber's granddaughter appeared to polish my nails!

Our favourite scene, or scenario was the bar! A wonderful smell of cooking filled the air, and we got near to the open fire we were shown a huge pan of a stew, and also a pan of boiling 'Vino Rosso', which we understood to be a type of mulled wine. And of course, we sampled that! Overall, we had a fun evening, and the memories will be held forever. The spirit of Christmas and community lives on, and we loved both!

Techno shepherd to Feuerzangenbowle and everything in between

Some days are just an eclectic mix, that rather than explain in great detail, it is sometimes just fun to hint at what the day was and let the imagination fill the gaps. Today was one of those, a lovely Boxing Day, with lots of hidden extras that made it memorable.

We had been invited to our neighbours Sue and Klaus's for a Boxing Day lunch. Despite the increasing cold, we dressed to keep warm, loaded the children up with their own entertainment in their rucksacks (who wants to listen to loads of adults bumble on about nothing in particular when you can play your own games!), and set off walking down the drive. There was however a near sounding clinkle (made up words enhance the sound I think) of many an agricultural animal passing our way. As we got to the end of the drive, about 50 m to our left was a techno shepherd walking his sheep either to or from somewhere for some reason.

The bells around the necks of the sheep made a beautiful localised orchestra of similarly pitched bells. The floppy eared sheep of varying degrees of quality were proceeding in an orderly lined fashion behind the hoodied shepherd who was trying to make a phone call on his mobile. I'm not quite sure how well this worked as the bells were quite an incessant noise, and he was within 1m of it!

Anyhow, then we arrived at Sue and Klaus's for what turned out to be a lovely afternoon meeting lots of expats who now live in Trullos around the area. The food was glorious, the company was excellent and the warmth and kindness with which we were greeted was super. We spent most of our time talking to a delightful couple originally from Belgium called Bob and Helga. Bob, who introduced himself as Bob Van Drums, is a  web based drum tutor. Our conversation went completely round the houses and ended on the endangered Martina Franca donkey, which is the largest breed of donkey in Italy.

This particular photo I found does however make the 'assino' look not only massive, but also quite like a plausible pantomime donkey. Those front legs look awfully man-like!

It was however time for us to leave. We sadly missed Klaus's Feuerzangenbowle. This needs a good "googling", but in essence it was a mulled wine affair, being warmed in a small cauldron on the table, over which a 'zucker hut' (sugar hat) was placed, and I think rum was poured over the whole thing. I believe that the whole zucker hut was a warm affair and I think the overall effect was quite a warming drink according to Klaus, as well as probably making your eyeballs spin in their sockets.
After leaving in the bitter cold and dark, we came home and prepared to leave for the Putignano Carnival. A confusing web page we explored lead us to believe we would see the carnival, which is apparently the oldest carnival in Europe. As it was due to be something like the 620th running of the event, we were reasonably inclined to agree. Anyhow, we arrived, and there was a lack of carnival atmosphere and a lack of people. The signs were not good. However, we have become accustomed to just carrying on and making the most of a situation that may not be what we thought. This behaviour has served us well, and we stumbled upon the opening festival of the Putignano carnival season. This is not a one nighter, no, no, no, it goes on until March. Another thing to google though, as it looks quite amazing, but sadly something we shall miss.
The opening ceremony was odd for a non-Italian speaking tourist. A small town square with  stage and sound system. The hundreds of thronging masses stood dead still as satirical political sketches were apparently played out. Let it be said it was not exactly 'Have I got News for You..'

Once again though, it was the community aspect that we enjoyed most. We stood watched, listened to a couple of the mad songs that accompanied the men in drag and the other costumes on the stage and then left. Not exactly what we'd intended, but fun all the same.
So a curious day then, lots done, lots learnt, and lots experienced!

Taking to breaking the law?

Italy is not really the country for someone like me. I panic at the supermarket if I have 11 items in the 10 items or less checkout. I feel guilty if library books are a day overdue
Italy however is beginning to have an effect. From our 2 months in the country we have worked out that essentially rules are there to be broken. If the rule is broken by enough people then the powers that be will never follow up a crime or an issue. This collective undermining of laws seems to work. The country functions at a level that keeps the wheels turning, to an extent.
I have improved therefore at my ability to break the law in a 'safe and appropriate Clements like way.' Most of this has happened on the roads to be honest. Indicating in our little hire car has matched the local level. I drive looking forward only (as Klaus recommended) and this has served us well, a forthright driving style is definitely required when over here.
However, this new streak of tentatively breaking the law confused me today. We visited the Grotte de Castellano, one of the largest underground cave systems in the country. A fantastic array of cathedral like spaces underground with infinite colours of stalagtites and stalagmites, rock formations etc. The issue was though, you were not allowed to take photos. Lo and behold, everyone conformed. It threw me; we were expecting to get some good photos! This post may well be my last though. I am posting the sneaky photos I took whilst in the caves. The Grotte police may come and follow me and hunt me down.

Okay the photos aren't great, but the point I was trying to make is that, on the roads, where life and death can be a whim apart, nobody seems to give a damn. Whereas, taking a photo in a damp space underground could be an imprisonable offence. Ha ha, watch this space, Clare may be returning alone!

Christmas cracker jokes!

Q: Where does a sick bee go to get better?

A: a waspital!

AND

Q: What do you call a load of professors on an underground train?

A: a tube of smarties!

From Jasper and Maya

Xx

Mystery present!

Well, the present itself isn't a mystery, we know what it is, and we enjoyed making beetles yesterday, but we don't know who it came from! So if you recognise the wrapping paper and are the mystery donor/s, please accept our thanks, and name yourself!!!

Christmas Day

Every December I gather all of the Christmas themed stories that I/we possess and each night in the run up to the "big day" we read one before bedtime. Obviously we end with the traditional rendition of 'Night Before Christmas' poem by Clement Moore. Jasper and Maya are fans of one particular book called 'Jingle Bells' by Nick Butterworth which starts, "Christmas Eve. A happy time, or so it should be. Why then, on this Christmas Eve, did two small mice look so unhappy?".  Well, we felt a bit like this last night knowing that our usual Christmas Day with family and friends wouldn't be happening today. I was a little apprehensive as we wanted to make it special for the children but obviously it's been a watered down affair compared to last year when we spent all day opening gifts and sat down to our lunch rather late in the afternoon!

I don't know what I was so worried about! Today we have had a lovely day (which started at a very respectable time - 8.20am!) and it has been ALL about family and friends! Ed's Mother Mary rang first, then we had a FaceTime call from his brother Adrian and wife Liz, plus our lovely nieces Harriet and Daisy so that was very thoughtful and exciting too. We haven't seen them for ages now! Shortly after that my sister Lesley rang, and then I spoke to my Mum and Dad before they went off to spend time with family for Christmas lunch. Whilst it has been very hard not seeing these dear people for so long, we do think about them often and I dare say we have thought more about them this year than last. Absence does makes the heart grow fonder!

All day long we have had texts, emails, and messages on Facebook wishing us all a Happy Christmas. And honestly it has been! We have had thoughtful gifts and presents galore (thankyou family!), and our lovely children have hand made a gift each for Ed and I. Maya has completed a lovely painting of our home in Somerset, and Jasper had carved from a plank of wood a wooden souvenir of the Pont D'Avignon, something we had in fact seen in miniature in the gift shop when we went there in October. For Ed, each of them had been working on a series of drawings/colourings of all the famous monuments we have seen so far, and Jasper had stuck his together in some sort of order. It was a bit of a guessing game at first, but Ed soon got the gist of what was what and loved the Monaco montage!

My gift from my lovely husband Ed was an expensive bottle of bubble bath from L'Occitane. We visited the museum and factory in Provence in November. He must be going mad to pay that much for a bottle of bubble bath!!! What a treat! So tonight, I'm going to enjoy a bath, with MY very special bubble bath! And a glass of wine from St Emilion. Happy days!

Clare 

X

Ps My gift to Ed was a load of hand drawn home made vouchers for special treats, such as a theatre trip, dinner out, visit to a Motorsport event, and even ... A HAIRCUT!!!

Sunny the van not forgotten at Christmas

Thanks to Anne Mead here, our other van 'Sunny',  the second member of the Clements fleet,  happily photo bombs a delightful Christmas window shot! Made us all smile here.

Working hard for Christmas part 2

Obviously after mentioning Jasper's efforts of arts and crafts hard work, it is only fair that I mention the ideas and work that has gone into Maya's bit of artwork. She watched me do a little bit of painting and decided that she too wanted to do some art. She decided what the idea was and with a little help, over 2 painting sessions, managed to create a picture of home for Mummy. 

Things to note about this. Firstly, Maya has included Sunny the van on the drive waiting for our return. Secondly, she is to be named bin bag modeller of the year 2014!

Special gifts, with much thought and care been put into them with limited resourcing!

Ed

Seasonal quizzes answers

How did you do?

Seasonal quizzes

It is the time for seasonal quizzes. Having looked at a collection of ours that we started, here is a simple quiz to be tried. No submission of answers required, just for fun. If you wish to submit your answers then please do, it would please Jasper and Maya to see who knows what! 

Here we go then. Below are 12 Euro coins we have collected from 12 different nations. The back of the euro coins are all different according to their nation of origin. 

Good luck.

Answers in the following post!

Ed

All I want for Christmas is.....

Water!

This little minor drama in our personal bubble started 2 nights ago. The trullo here is gorgeous and lovely, but as with most of the places round here, is a summer holiday residence. That said, the winter here is still rich blue skies atop these plentiful white Trullos. I digress though, 2 nights ago our water ran out. Our 'cisterno' which fills from collected rain water ran dry! Given the volume of rain that we suffered on our entry to Italy, it seemed a shock to see that we had run dry, but I guess that the volume of rain down here was less so.

The following day we sought help from Klaus and Sue once again, and then also turned towards our nearest neighbour Antonio who apparently sorts the water out. After knocking on his trullo we found that he was out, we came back to our trullo and waited before going back over. However, like some sort of Italian Paul Daniels, he appeared magically from behind our trullo. 

Antonio is a wonderfully helpful chap, but I have not quite worked him out yet. We have had some good conversations with him, but also the awkward type where messages are mixed and misunderstood. Yesterday, he was set on helping us. There were lots of mumblings and grumblings though about it being a festival but he still helped us out for which we are very grateful. Prior to this, Klaus had very kindly come over to offer assistance and advice and we had noticed a huge black pipe with a diameter of about 5 inches. We thought that Antonio would just drop that in the cisterno and it would gush in quickly. However, the reality was that Antonio found a disappointingly hose sized piece of pipe and pumped in a few hours worth just to keep us going. Despite still grumbling about the festival (Sunday we guess), he then offered to help us get our water sorted with a delivery of water (yes, it really is quite a different system to get used to). In fact, he was quite adamant that after he had been to the hospital the following day, he would come with us to negotiate the water delivery from the next village, where a tanker would deliver a few bath tubs full for us! We weren't that convinced that this would happen the following day, but given Antonio's support and help thus far, we agreed that we would wait for him to return from hospital in the afternoon and then go to haggle out a delivery. At least we had water for a couple of days if needed!

Onto this morning. A gentle start was going to happen as we had a bit of waiting to do.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Initially this woke me up, it sounded like the front door, but I was still asleep.

(Next bit spoken as if in the next room) "Hello, hello, I is Antonio. I talk with you!" He was right outside our bedroom door which has an outside opening door onto the patio area.

The time was 8:37 so not a disrespectful time, but I was fast asleep. The next bit is a bit of a blur. I jumped up rather quickly, and proceeded from our room in the trullo to the front door. I opened the door and having got thus far was still trying to a) wake up rapidly, b) make sense of what was happening and, c) look smart and look like I had been up for hours. I failed on all of these. Added to that, as I opened the door, the morning sun glared brightly into my eyes and I couldn't see. It was a full head melt down. I couldn't see the chap, but I could make out that he was talking and my beard and hair was all over the place. A fine moment! 

Anyway, bless him, Antonio had organised a water delivery for 10am. He had done this before he went to the hospital. A very kind thing to have done. The laughable thing is, it is now 10am, and we wait now for our localised deluge to arrive. We are living in the hope!

**STOP PRESS**

It is now 10:22 and what seems like the Santa Lucia reserve fire fighters, have been and delivered a big slosh of water (not entirely sure if there is a collective noun for a pile of water, but a 'slosh' would be acceptable I think). An exciting moment in our house. Never thought water could be this exciting?

Good news then. Having a bath tonight! Thanks once again Sue and Klaus, and now Antonio!

Ed

Alberobello - a view over a few days

Alberobello, a UNESCO world heritage site is a unique and beautiful place. A monumental trullo village from the 1400's, it's been listed since 1996 and isn't the first UNESCO site that we have visited, and it probably won't be the last! We are fortunate enough to have been able to visit the town out of season, and in winter time, which has meant that we have seen the place at its quietest and most exciting! The trullo is an ancient building design, a stone built square store house made of limestone with a conical shaped roof. Throughout the local area, the countryside is littered with these whitewashed buildings, sometimes clustered and sometimes isolated. The cones have decorative tops, and some of the rooves have designs painted on them, which are religious mythical, or just decorative!

We first went to Alberobello to have a look at the Trullo village and see the delights we had read about for ourselves. It didn't disappoint! We parked up (2€ an hour!!!) and meandered our way through the cobbled streets up and down the hills between the Trullos. The town is divided into two trullo districts, Monti and Aia Piccola. We were pretty clueless at first, but soon saw signposts and followed them up to the top of the hill where we found the lovely Trullo church.

We also saw posters advertising the Alberobello light festival, which coincidentally was that night! Without making any promises to Jasper and Maya, we thought about returning, and then after supper with nothing to lose, we ventured out into the cold night air, the first time that Ed had driven a left handed car AND in the dark!!! This time we parked on a little side street for free, and then wrapped up warm in our full winter gear. We headed off to Via Monte, the Main Street that we had found in the morning where a transformation had taken place. The road was closed off, and some Christmas lights were lit in the newer part of the town, but the Trullos were mainly in darkness. We gathered around a live band who were playing jolly Christmas music, and we started to enjoy tunes such as "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Santa Claus is coming to Town". At 8pm, or thereabouts, a man on top of a ladder was urged to press the switch, and suddenly lots of lights illuminated the Trullos and their conical rooves. The band made it's way up Via Monte and we duly followed. The walls of the buildings, usually white, were a deep blue colour and stars appeared to be falling down like rain on the sides. A light show it was, and it was very effective! Walls of other buildings were also lit, and so red walls with small white stars falling down, blue walls with large stars, red walls, blue cobbles, and of course the band made it a magical night to remember.

When we told our neighbours Sue and Klaus where we had been they informed us that the best day to visit Alberobello was Thursday morning as it was market day. So we decided to go again on the following Thursday. We had no idea that there would be such a great market! The night before I had run out of embroidery thread whilst sewing my Cath Kidston tree decorations. I casually took the DMC branded thread numbers with me, just in case, and when we saw the market I doubted that we would find any stall suitable. There were stall selling shoes, boots, slippers, bags, carpets, rugs, cushions, tablecloths, sheets, bed linen, towels, coffee makers, pots, pans, kitchen utensils, scarfs, clothes, and more shoes! Then the next section was at least 20 different fruit and veg stalls, all selling similar products including one or two types of fruit and veg that we've never seen before, and which still remain unknown to us! We wandered through the stalls and bought a large carrier bag of fruits and a sack of potatoes for 5€. An absolute bargain!

Coffee was calling us, so we found a lovely coffee shop, then visited the Trullos on Via Monte again before finding a pizza restaurant that was actually serving pizzas. A lot of the restaurants don't serve pizzas at lunchtime (which in Italy is strictly 1pm) as the ovens simply haven't had time to warm enough. The one we found was open AND had a great selection of red and white pizzas to choose from. We were also served complimentary bruschetta and olives, so top marks to the waitress! On the way to the restaurant I had spotted a busy looking stall with all sorts of homewares on display. And as we got closer, Maya noticed some trays of threads! I casually handed over the DMC numbers to the stall holder, who then started to chat away in Italian. Presumably he was telling me that the numbers didn't mean anything to him. He urged me to look in the trays and so I asked for rosso/red, marrone/brown, and crema/cream. Imagine my delight when we got home and somehow I'd successfully matched by sight the three colours!!! 

The fourth time we visited Alberobello was with Ed's mum. We had told her all about it, and Jasper and  Maya buzzed with enthusiasm about the Trullos and the traditional hand made clay whistles that are on sale there. We'd previously met a lovely craftsman who told us all about the tradition, and we'd been in a shop with over 9,000 different whistles on sale. They really do like their whistles in Puglia!!! Apparently they are given as a good luck charm, so we'd bought some for our nieces for Christmas gifts, and Maya was keen to show her Granny where the shop was. So off we went, on a Monday afternoon. Mary was thrilled and enjoyed the tourist route through the old town.

Today, Christmas Eve, we've been to Alberobello again for probably our last time! We wanted to buy some olive oil, and also a jug for serving red wine, something that we have noted as customary in this region. So we set off, not expecting to see anything other than Trullos and pretty Christmas lights. Once again, the little town did not disappoint. We looked in several shops and eventually found a lovely family run business. We chose a lovely olive oil decanter full of locally produced oil, a wine jug, and also a small dish that we will use for olives. The family were extremely kind and allowed us a visit to the roof top so that we could see the "panoramica" of Alberobello. 

And then, their little girl, about the same age as Jasper took a real shine to Maya and started talking in English to her. She asked what Maya's name was, and then told us hers. She then gave Maya and Jasper an Alberobello Trullo magnet each, and a pencil topped with a Trullo whilst announcing "Buon Natale". Whilst she may have delved into todays profits, she certainly made a memorable impression on all of us and gave us a lasting impression of what has become one of our favourite places. Grazie Annalicia! Buon Natale!

Clare

X

Working hard for Christmas

As Clare has hinted at, this Christmas is a very much reduced Christmas as compared with the normal festivities. We have had to make all our own decorations, make our own Christmas tree and generally try and create a festive air in this beautiful location. This has worked well so far. 

We have also had to give consideration about not gaining too much weight, by this I am not doffing the cap to the overload of Turkey and wine etc, but more an accumulation of Christmas items that will add weight to Hugo who will at some point have to drag us over the Alps. Therefore, present giving is a reduced programme this year, but probably more the richer for it. 

The title of this post is so, because Jasper has really worked hard at something he planned a few weeks back. He has had to resource this little project himself and had to provide the appropriate tooling for the job. A suitable plank was found, and armed with nothing more than ambition, determination and a pen knife he set about a) creating a Christmas gift for Clare and b) giving himself a very sore hand.

The plank he had found for this item was a bit thick, so the going has been heavy at times, but the finish line is in sight.

We may never have a Christmas like this again, but initially our destination was hard earnt, and now the presents given will be hard earnt. A shoestring Christmas, but a satisfying one. 

No prizes on offer here, but can anyone work out which famous landmark that we have seen is Jasper carving out?

Christmas 2014

In the words of Johnny Mathis, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!". It seems to us that the Italians have a different approach to Christmas, it seems to be a more low key affair here than in England. Christmas hasn't started for us until round about now, so there have been no OTT shopping centres, no over-commercialised adverts, no mad shopping days, no crazy build ups, none of your "Black Friday" deals whatever they are, and we certainly feel more like we are going to enjoy the day for what it is because of this!

We are however going to miss our family, which goes without saying, and it will be odd having a phone conversation on Christmas Day rather than face to face contact with my dear old Mum and Dad who usually stay in Ilminster for the festive period. Of course, they join us with the local Minster celebrations, our own traditional Boxing Day soup, and walk on Herne Hill, and also family days out at the south coast seasides such as Lyme Regis and Charmouth. I'll miss my sister Lesley too, and our usual trip to the sales shopping, though we rarely buy anything as we spend most of our time in the coffee shop! And sales shopping with my sister in law Liz! Again, we usually see the "Devon Clements" over the holiday, so we will miss out on seeing our nieces and enjoying family time together with cousins sharing new toys and games.

Here in the Trullo we have been busy making decorations for our tree, which is in fact a collection of dead branches that we have gathered on our walks around the local area.

Ed sprayed them all gold, (thanks to Sue for the spray!) and once they had dried we added a few bought purple baubles and gold stars, then one by one, the decorations that I have been madly sewing for the last few weeks! The lights make it all look rather pretty, again, thanks to Sue for those, and in fact I think overall it looks rather good! Minimalist, but effective all the same! 

Jasper and Maya have been sewing too; a parcel arrived from Auntie Lesley which included "Sew your Own Christmas Felt Ornaments" so the planets project has been set aside whilst gingerbread men have been made.

(Maya's neatly stitched gingerbread man)

Lesley also sent some paper chains, so they are also adorning the tree and photos on the walls. 

All in all, it IS beginning to look a lot like Christmas. It's just that it's a reduced version of Christmas, and it's actually rather nice.

Clare 

X

Captain Caveman

This fine chap was a cartoon character from whenever....Captain Caveman! A caveman thrown into a modern world and managing to survive with help from other characters. I can't quite remember how it worked so don't question me on the specifics. 

Today however, we visited Matera. A place that has become synonymous with Mel Gibsons 'Passion of Christ' film which was filmed there, but which has a much richer history. I need to read up on the details now that we have been, but essentially, up until the 1950s, people lived in caves there. Real cavemen in a modern world. Caves that were part hewn from the rock itself, and part built of some and brick. A quite amazing place that following the 1950s, when it was deemed not good for Italians to be still living in caves by the powers that be, the people were forcibly evicted to concrete flats built above an area of the town. Understandably, this became a mess with political and physical battles ongoing. 

The good points though are that this place was a fantastic place to visit. Built around a spectacular gorge, the town clings to the top and the sides and is a network of cobbled streets and cave dwellings. There was quite a 'WOW' moment for us all as we first looked out onto the view of the town. Sadly, the negative aspect was still apparent. Cave buildings that now are 'vendisi' (for sale), and will be scooped up by wealthy people hoping to have their bit of an amazing landscape, whilst the generations that would've inherited them now look down from their concrete flats which are apparently a better place to live. An amazing place to have been, but tinged with sadness for the 'real' people of this town.

Looking for a forest, found formaggio

Sunday, a day of rest. Not that we have much to rest from, but we made it a Sunday. We picked up Granny, and returned to the Trullo for a roast dinner. A real treat, which we acknowledge is a treat. This all happened after sitting out in the morning sun under the pergola 'chewing the fat.'

The post lunch wind down was followed by the need to make the most of the remaining sun, which was already well into its afternoon descent. We readied ourselves in coats, hats, gloves etc and set off for Selva di Fasano to go and look for the 'selva' (wood) to have a mooch around. After a struggling 10 minutes bumbling around between the rather posh houses, we found a patch of land that looked walkable and aimed for it. Cars were parked, which was a good sign that other people were about too.  A very moderate bimble along a track, past a ruined but for sale trullo, and into a forest came to a disappointing end as the path petered out. Jasper even said that it wasn't much of a walk. Upon turning round though, our fortunes changed. Not in a massive way that a beautiful forest walk might have changed it. But things came our way that were less than expected. Initially, as we turned and left the little part of the wood, a camouflaged man with a gun and dog came past us. Maya was slightly concerned that he didn't have a helmet and that should he have shot at a house and the bullet bounced off back towards his head he wouldn't have any protection. I allayed her fears by making sure she was aware that people generally don't go shooting at houses. 

As we walked back in the sun and along the track, we picked endless pine cones for part of our winter fuel. We then stopped at the ruined trullo and went to have a nosey. A potentially beautiful building, all the rooms were open and we could all imagine what a fantastic place this could be.

As we went further along the track we came across some parascenders all flying around in the sky. A beautiful way to spend the afternoon. We followed one as she walked through some delapidated farm buildings, through a field, through gaps in stone walls, up and down and around a little wooded track to a clearing on a hill. The people  were quite happy for us to watch. It was lovely to just sit and watch with our post-roast dinner tummies needing a rest. It looked a really peaceful way to spend an afternoon. As the last man left, the chief of proceedings, a man named Lino, came and said bye bye to us and wished us well. He then started bumbling on about Italian cheese and proceeded to pass on to us, the remains of two types of cheese that he had obviously had for his lunch. A slightly odd way to end the day, but a lovely way nonetheless, as people generally continue to welcome us as English holidaymakers. So, cheese in hand, we trudged back and enjoyed the moment that was roast, walk, men with kites and cheese in a bag!

Ed

The blog drops off....but things are still happening!

Having a beautiful home for the time, and making all the essential changes to living in a home has had quite an effect. Non more so than on the blog. When travelling, the blog became an easy way to record and relive the key moments of the day, whilst remaining quiet and hushed to allow the children to get off to sleep. However, home life has changed that. We now have the dishwasher to load and unload, the fire to keep going, the bath to run etc. and the quiet time that was once really needed is not quite the same now. Therefore, the blog has taken a little back seat as other distractions have taken over. It shall return in full glory I'm quite sure once back on the road in January!

In the meantime, things still have been happening. Jasper and Maya have continued with school at times, much work has gone into prepping Christmas here; I think that will require a separate post. In addition to all the normal stuff, we now have a hire car and are able to trounce about in that. We have clocked up nearly 700km already in our little Corsa! Granny has arrived from Axminster via her marathon train journey to spend a week with us.

She is in a beautiful hotel in the old town of Monopoli, which is a town that has a wonderful heritage to it. It has caused much excitement here having a 'known' person in the ranks. Therefore there has been a full on session of 'show and tell' and I have a feeling it could last for most of the week. 

There has been daily walking, lots of card games, with Jasper and Maya learning and playing well a family card game called Racing Demon (essentially a game of patience where you can build on other peoples' decks of cards). There have been trips to Alberobello again to the markets, Ostuni to see the white city on the hill, the Roman ruins outside Monopoli visited twice, more painting done, lots of clumsy Italian spoken, a bit of cycling done, a bit of running done (Monopoli half marathon completed), and much digesting of what is a truly beautiful part of the country. 

True to our word though, the blog will continue to fall silent over the Christmas period as we wind up to get our return journey going again in the new year.

Ed

Italian post offices

I sit here in the Italian post office. I have cards and a parcel or two to post. I do however have no idea how this place works. It's the second time I have been in an Italian post office and this only serves to confirm my initial findings. I appear to be the only one who has something to post. Everyone else either seems to have come for a social time or to do some sort of money exchange. The queue is non existent. The guy behind the till is working quickly. I have no idea what he is doing, but it takes an age to sort everyone out...about 10 mins per person. Whatever is going on in here, it all just seems woefully inefficient. People have money which they seem to be paying in, I feel like I should be holding a wodge of cash to try and blend in. I also feel that whenever I leave my chair to eventually be lucky enough to be served, that the guy will be surprised that I actually want to post something. 
The guy being served now has been there for 10mins, no words have been exchanged between him and the bloke on the other side of the steel caging. At least everyone seems happy.  I think some people are here just because it's warm.
The Italian post office.... Slow and seemingly a glorious waste of time!
I give up! Not got a clue. Still here an hour later. I don't understand!!!
****STOP PRESS****
I have been served. ..I only embarrassed myself when returning to my hire car and tried to get in the wrong side!
The amusing queue inside of flat capped men and track suited ladies was only topped by the amusing queue of Piaggio's outside! The vehicle of choice!

The Washing Machine (a story by Jasper)

Once upon a time there lived two friends called Jelly and Bun. Jelly was grey with a long trunk and a 10cm long tail. Bun was white with a pompom on her tail, not like an ankylosaurus tail which is long and has a boulder on, I mean a pompom actually on her bottom! Bun is a rabbit and Jelly is an elephant. 

One day they went into a washing machine which was HUGE. They went in it and got locked in and said, "Arghhhhhhhh" as if they were at the dentist. They went round and round very fast with water and washing powder. Then they came out with a sense of relief but then they got pegged out on the washing line by their ears! It was very blowy! They got blown about like a football player in fast motion. The wind blew them back and forth, back and forth. 

They went to sit by the fire where it was nice and warm.

Then they got moved into a dark and gloomy room where someone was sleeping. Then in the room someone hugged them tight for the rest of the night.

By Jasper 

Bunny's Day Out (a story by Maya)

 One sunny morning there was one toy rabbit called Bunny. Bunny was a girl. Bunny was wearing a little pink dress with little flowers on it. She had long floppy ears and flappy long legs. She had black eyes, a black nose and a lovely black smile. 

One morning Bunny the rabbit got put in the washing machine! Bunny did not like...water! After 5 minutes, they were off. "Ahhhhhhhh!" Shouted Bunny! Suddenly Bunny got pegged on the washing line. She was hanging by her ears!

When she was dry a bit she got even more dry by getting to sit by the fire with her friends Jelly and Bun. The fire was very hot and glowed orange and red. 

Smoke came out of the chimney. Then they were cuddled for ever by Jasper and Maya. 

The End

Maya

Leonardo da Painti

It's been a while, approximately 18 years or so, but I tried to do a spot of painting again. I was inspired by the Lidl prices for paint and canvas. Armed with cheap acrylic paints (only 5 colours, red, blue, yellow, black and white) I gave it a go to paint an image of where we are at the moment. To be honest, it was a nice quiet time as Clare and the children were sewing, so I just sat at the table and had a go at painting. I really enjoyed it actually. A calming pleasurable activity. I didn't use brushes, just bits of ripped cardboard off the paint and canvas packaging to drag the paint around. As I said, the colours were a bit limiting, but for a smidge of personal contentment, it worked very well. 

Whatever the results, I had a bit of fun.

Ed

Roast dinner

Our first for four and a half months, made possible by a good oven. 

There would've been a picture, but the food was demolished rather swiftly by all. 

Roast dinner....enough said.....MAGIC!

Alberobello Light Festival

We may have missed the Ilminster lights switch on, we may not be able to go to Blackpool, we can't afford to see the Northern Lights, so instead we went to visit the inaugural switching on of the Alberobello lights. No ordinary lights though. Lighted Trullos. There was a lovely community atmosphere to this event, with a live marching band warming everything up. After the lighting up, which rather amusingly was a man on top of a ladder throwing a switch and having an absence of countdown, everybody ambled around the Trullos marvelling at the lights. 

To be honest, the lights were rather mediocre, but created an ambience that at least felt quite festive, which thus far has been quite lacking in Italy. Quite a contrast to life back home!

In addition, piped music helped create a seasonal theme. 

After a 'trullo' magnificent evening, we took two tired children, back to the car, where they flaked out upon arrival at our very own unlit trullo. 

However, a festive spirit had been kindled and our homemade Christmas began in the trullo with earnest. As I sit here typing, Clare continues to stitch decorations for the tree, which happens to be some locally 'harvested' branches, painted gold by spray from our neighbour Sue, and decorated thus far in lights also donated from Sue.

It's a start, which I'm sure will lead to a lovely Christmas in a fantastic location with some fantastic people around.

Ed