we are still alive ;-)

first some flowers from today (yes in november!) for the readers of this blog, not finding anything new - for months - sorry, no clue how it happened to be already in november, but i better put a new post up here before someone thinks we left to a new shore.

the summer was very dry, all i remember is watering, watering, i had days with 4 hours standing holding a hose in my hand. the flimsy water pressure is not helping with this chores. the garden went from green spring into dessert. what did not make it out of the seeds in time got baked - like the moonflowers/datura. they germinated after the fall rain and i have NOW! 30 cm tall seedlings.....who knows, maybe i get them to flower.

Jon played at our german neighbors road party, that was still with the old computer.

the veggies this year were also sparse, because we still have the tomatoes from 2 years ago in the freezer. but than there was Jon's dead computer and long days and nights fixing, ordering parts and building a new one and get the music back onto it. the little casa had to wait for all that to get in order.

 here is our major, praising the foreigners in his beautiful town Gualdo in italiano,

we went to several festas, especially to Gualdo, it had it's first big august filled with festas. Valentina, our neighbor, getting so many different events organized - including a day for the stranieries / strangers with different food, poetry, Jon and Flavia playing/singing and even me selling some of the stuff i collected over my life.

 

the buy of the summer : my complete suit sandfly proved - here helpful to get a hornet nest out of the shutter box in the livingroom

 a wonderful event in Gualdo with dance music - and a brother handy to make me something like dancing, big fun

San Ginesio is the best place for a late pizza on the piazza without cars, but dogs and kids playing at midnight  

i had 2 more ladies asking me to help to find renters for their unused houses. i gave it a try and was VERY busy especially on one saturday - i cannot remember 16 dogs and 8 people, that was an interesting experience: who are these people calling and which house did they rent. actually it went totally smooth just my stomach got totally twisted. so no more of that. after all we are in this gorgeous place, to increase our happiness, calmness and peace. the money part is absolute secondary.

another warm summer night in gualdo with loud music and good food.

 

 here we are in the neighbor town Sant Angelo in Pontano with a big band performing 

that was just a wonderful event : a duck-race in a tiny village just 3 km away.

 

the wine harvest this year in our little road was with perfect weather and lots of helping hands

 

 the grapes got squeezed and into the cellar right away

 

 this is a very special event we planned many months ago: a 10 day meditation 300 km away from here. it was a classic retreat with silence, no meals after lunch and minimum 10 hours sitting meditation. we got instructed by videos from Guenka, the founder of this vipassana meditation centers. the course is completely free. everything is based on donation ! after you went through the course and want the next ones have the same possibility you can give money. the food was vegetarian and excellent. Jon got his meditation much more deepend and i got my mind slowed down enough to forget to think for 10 minutes - that is a big accomplishment, even i have much more to go to reach Jon.

 with new power Jon started to work on the roof. he put up the last row of terracotta tiles on the edge.

the upper row of new bricks in the upstairs bedroom are already mortared over - looks like a real wall ;-)

 

these are still photos from the downstairs ceiling the last patch get mortared over 

after that my job was to get the beams painted. 

the chimney blocks are already stacked and  Jon cuts the exact fitting hole into the roof - kinda strange thing - a hole in this perfect ceiling

 there it is,-  a piece of the roof cut out...

and here is a photo of the new porcelain pieces for the  tiny bathroom - extra short and compact.

and the place where they will hang, already strongly connected to the wall. the new window sill is also in place

 

last weekend was the castagnata in Gualdo many people came to munch the hot maroni and the vino brule, hot wine with spices like the german glühwein. very good

lots of flowers

it is my favored poppytime! this tower will get restored and maybe turned in a B&B and i can find the guests for it YEAHHH
to see what actually happened the last weeks, i am referring to my photos - that is my memory. much better than that brain, it is getting kinda unpredictable, means: how often can you look for the special reading glasses? i need them to do the re-pointing so they move around and they are than at the strangest places - IF i find them.

we got invited for a meal at our dear neighbor Nello and his wife - LOTS to eat and talk. these old lady's reach from 73  to 97 (the one on the  left - her brother is 106 ! )you get old in le marche.

of course we more listening and making hand signals ;-)

fresh fava beans with homemade

pecorino and yes! white and red wine 

in the bottles in the back

 

  

one fantastic view in another hilltop town-
no words with that

this gorgeous place is for sale just 230000 Euro just the walls and the grounds unbelievable view!!!!!

Gualdo's big festa in the spring : all about cheese and food:

 

Dietmar was a week here for enjoying the sweet weather, he helped on the house :-)  !!!

and we visited the gran piane / Castelluccio and found the pastures covered with tulips and narcisses. no poppies at that time.

 

icecream and cappuccino in the little town Visso on the way from the mountains

catch up

i don't know who is actually reading this blog? and realized that i did not write for 2 month? comments are welcome;-). the other concert got canceled too: MUCH MORE SNOW. there was another 60 cm. we and anybody else had to stay home and be patient until someone scooped the road clear. all the snow on the roof started melting and froze while dripping down. the icicles were huge (doh no insulation in the roof - i know) and the thin coat of mortar underneath the gutter froze off. the ceiling in the kitchen got also water stained - a bit more... 

the concert got rescheduled to the 14. of april and we had the theater half full and the performing artist and the audience were happy. a success! after the concert we went to a restaurant with the major, who has a big interest for art in his little town, our art-director (also owns the 'edilnuovo' where we get all the building supply with all the family. it was lots of fun, even we stayed up until 2 in the morning.  

 
last year a couple asked me when i was at casa cuculo if i could help them to get renters for there house just around the corner. they started to renovate it, some parts completely - with an architect and lots of money to spend. so i agreed to make a website and try to find tourists for their place. so far, maybe because of the unfinished website - not much respond. it can also be that apartments (it has 3 units) are not that appealing. will see when i can make new photos if it gets more respond.

Jon found after all the practicing some time to work on the little house. we decided that the back wall in the kitchen needs a concrete foundation support. that took lots of time and material. but it is now definitely a solid support for the whole structure.

after already working there he made a hole in the upper wall for the so much wished for, window over the counter. later - after the the wall was opened we realized it is an easy walk in for all the little friends. the cat and  the chicken are living in the house already - they don't care about missing tiles and windows. we will need something to keep them from jumping into the sink...

the spring brought all the beauty back into the garden. it just goes so fast, in just a week all turned green and lush. the cherries and plums had a special performance this year - white clouds all through the valley, not enough bees i'm afraid to make it into fruits.

we're snowed in

 

it is snowing since 2 days and is not stopping. on wednesday  we tested to drive to the paved road. it worked nicely, some sliding. at the sheep barn the road was cleared by the comune. Alfredo thought they would have plowed to us. DooHH, on the way back - hills! Jon had to put the chains on. so that was the test run to get to the dentist the next day. the appointment was a week LATER!  me and understanding italiana on the phone (but she had no time to listen to my repeating). so instead of drilling into me we went to the tire guy. a father/son business. the temperature on the fancy pellet stove standing in the middle of that huge warehouse was 7 degrees. it was warm, while turning like a chicken right next to this wonder of heater, made for a small living-room. we bought the tires he found somewhere (he had to drive away to get them) and got them onto the car. with new car-shoes and filled with good pasta from a new restaurant close to casa cuculo we made it home. we were so pleased how the car just pulled us through the snow back into the woods.

i was so happy about the missing out on dental torture that i built a BIG snowlady. the final touch up i saved for the next day.

she changed dramatically with another 20 cm snow on her. the eyes were closed and the pretty hair-due disappeared. the drive to the neighbors to get their house frost save showed: the tire do it - barely. since than we got more snow, 

when something like this snow happened in woodward our amazing neighbor from down the road just drove his tractor into the driveway and cleared it all. DAVE !!! where are you???????. but this is too long of a stretch- at least 1 km.the forecast says it will be warmer next week . . .

with too much snow Jon's solo concert at the pub mirage down in the big valley might be canceled. who is shoveling themselves out to see Jon at 22.30? but he is practicing lots in the basement.

the other gig together with Flavia is in the old theater in Sant' Angelo in Pontano. that is on carneval saturday - should be much better weather.

daumen drücken!!!!!!!!!

 

more from the roof

the new year started very nice for us. first we thought, staying home - but sarnano is just 25 minutes away. so we gave it a try. and we did well. on the piazza was the ice-ring built, drawing kids and the once who do not care to fall on their bud. a dj created some total new music what even got some break-dancers going. under some big umbrellas were tables with champagne and panetone. for free... so we had some glasses to cheer into the new year. after the countdown - a good way to learn counting backwards in italian, the italian private pyrotechnics had the once in the year chance to scare everybody around them ;-) it was lOUd. no police in sight to keep it controlled. sweet italian lady's offered red plastic plates with ..... lentil soup and some sausage rings swimming in that delicious soup. in spain you have to eat a huge amount of grapes in the last minute of the last year to get the new one lucky - here you spoon wonderful lentil soup and the new year will be great.!!!!!!!.