Lily Penvose C M

Lily was born to Paul and Cristy on March 14 at 10.08 weighing 3.4 kgs - another beautiful great grandchild for Phil - #6. The photos are self explanatory and show that she is already adjusting well to her LARGE extended family.

No more photos - PLEEEEEASE!!

Annabelle Branka J

We went to vist Amanda and Annabelle this afternoon. Another beautiful great- grandchild for Phil. She was born yesterday weighing 3.6 kgs


Amanda is in great shape and says that Annabelle is a very contented peaceful baby - she certainly looks it.

Alan is delighted with his new daughter - a typical proud Dad.

Great Grandpa Phil enjoyed cuddling #5 great-grandchild.

Climbing Sydney Harbour Bridge

Phil was given the most wonderful gift from his family for his 80th birthday - a climb over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Even better, I was able to go too. It was a fabulous evening - warm with no wind and visibility around 80kms - just perfect. We were the only Australians on the climb -all the others were from the UK. One couple were married in Cambridge the previous Saturday; another couple from Chester were celebrating their Silver Wedding.







We spent just over half an hour at the top of the bridge and watched the sun set over the Blue Mts far in the distance. Just spectacular. Then all the lights of the city came on as we were climbing down. What a wonderful gift. Thank you everyone for such a memorable treat. You've now got ten years to think up something to top that for Phil's 90th.

Madeline Clare S - Our newest family member

Madeline Clare was born on Sunday September 17 - a beatuiful little girl - 7 lb 12 oz. Jeff is very happy to show her to the world.

Grandpa and Noah don't look too interested in the new baby. This photo was taken when Madeline was just 12 hours old and already home.
The two birthday girls together - Great Aunt Margaret ( what a title!!) shares Madeline's birthday.

The spring has sprung in Canberra

We love travelling but after three months away from home it's lovely to come home. WE got home friday after very easy flights and checkins - in spite of all the problems at Heathrow we got through without any problems although Phil's lip balm was confiscated by security - what they thought an 80 year old man could do to endanger a 747 in flight I really can't imagine but I'm sure they had our best interests at heart. Canberra is in the grip of an early spring - having said that it was -5 deg overnight but the last couple of days have had cloudless blus skies at around 16 deg and the blossoms look stunning - heaps of wattle blooming everywhere.


On the way home we had 2 nights is Hong Kong and really enjoyed it. Back in May we had a ghastly 2 days there - it scarcely stopped raining the whole time and the pollution and mist were so thick that we never saw The Peak once.

May 2006

Last week couldn't have been more different - the monsoon ended about a week ago and the skies were clear and bright. We went up to the Peak one day and took the circular walk around the top - just delightful.

August 2006








But now we are home and catching up with family and friends as well as tidying the garden ready to plant spring crops. Should be lots of fun.

Andy in India and Bhutan

It didn't take Andy long to get into the swing of things and tie a fairly mean turban. His sister is getting married in a couple of weeks and maybe he'll try to outshine the mother-of-the-bride in headgear.

He brought home some wonderful fabrics and I've been busy making a dress from one of them for Christy to wear to a wedding on September 3.























Andy was fascinated by the people of Bhutan - they are very gentle and friendly. We wonder where the tartan patterns come from - was there scottish influence at some point? All the school uniforms are tartan as well as many of the skirts worn by adults.











Quite a few nights on the treks were spent under canvas. Fortunately they had a good back up team who erected all the tents. It still meant some challenging experiences especially since 2 of their group were wheelchair bound.









No visit to India would be complete without a visit to the Taj Mahal. Andy was disappointed that there was no water in the pool - he couldn't get any of those reflection photos.


It was a wonderful experience for all those who took part - the young people and their leaders. Andy has been asked to accompany their next trip in 2 years time to Namibia - he said 'Yes' without hesitation.

Leaving on Monday - we hope!!

Hopefully Heathrow will be back to normal by Monday night when we are scheduled to fly out. Everything is so tranquil here at Seaford that it's hard to get your mind around the chaos at Gatwick ( 50 kms away) and Heathrow ( 80kms away) over the last few days.

Today is Christy and Andy's 11th wedding anniversary - Happy Anniversary to you both. Their plans for this morning are up in the air - Christy's shift which should have ended at 10pm last night didn't finish till about 2am this morning so she might think that a lie in is preferrable to almost anything else.

Still at Seaford

This is the view from our bedroom window this morning - the sun is shining, the sea is calm and the ferry is on its way from Newhaven just along the bay to Dieppe in France. We took the trip across last summer to visit some friends in Normandy but the sea couldn't have been more different - it was blowing a gale and very rough and I was VERY ill. After church yesterday, Christy and Phil went for a swim while I got lunch ready. I noticed thatthe water temp at the lifesavers hut showed 16deg - a bit nippy!!




Phil wanted to prove that he can take photos too. On Saturday we walked a section of the Ouse Valley Way which begins in Seaford and goes along the river bank for 42 miles. We just did about 8 miles but will do another couple of sections this week.

For the past couple of weeks there have been shoals of mackeral coming into our bay each morning and evening and the local fishermen have been having a field day. They have a trace with about 6 hooks on it and some red feathers instead of bait. Every time they cast out they haul in 4 to 6 fish. This chap came down for about 10 minutes on Saturday and then left with a full bucket. Even Keith Knox would enjoy this sort of fishing - no smelly bait and success on every cast.

Seaford was a hive of activity on Sunday afternoon. The local brass band marched past on its way to the Martello ( a fortification from the days of Napoleon just 200 metres along the bay) where there was a market. We had a look around there then headed off for the recreation ground for a game of Boules. Olive was giving Phil a bit of coaching - she looked quite frail but was quite a shrewd boules player - I was hopeless - too much speed and not enough accuracy. Also at the Rec Ground was the regional finals of Stoolball - a game we have never ever heard of - there were 4 games going on simultaneously- all the players were women, mostly in their 30s and 40s - its a cross between cricket and softball - quite strange.

Then it was time for Christy to go to Heathrow to pick up Andy - he has been in Northern India and Bhutan for the last month with a group of 24 diadvantaged or disabled young people - many of them have significant physical and emotional problems including 2 who are wheel chair bound - their website is at www.jolttrust.org.uk. We have only spoken to him briefly twice and he seems to have had a wonderful time inspite of a few tummy bugs. Christy has had me making clothes while I've been here - she's wearing one of the dresses to meet Andy.

Breakfast at Bill's

A bit of a ritual when we come to Christy and Andy's - the BIG BREAKFAST at Bill's in Lewes. Please don't tell Phil's cardiologist.

Yesterday in Brighton we had lunch at Carluccio's new restaurant - delightful ambience and wonderful food - a gorgeous girl from Dublin waited on us - her first day - she was lovely and so was the food.

Seven Sisters

These beautiful chalk cliffs are just a 30minute walk from Seaford - Kofi Annan walked along them on holiday last month. At their highest point they are about 200m above sea level - absolutely spectacular. Now that I've finally masterd blogging photos I'll do some more.

Bliss - at Christy and Andy's in a heat wave

We've been here at Seaford for a week now. Andy is actually in Bhutan and northern India for a month accompanying a group of disadvantaged teenagers. Apart from altitude sickness and a tummy bug he's having a brilliant time. Weather here has been so hot - over 30 degrees in London for the past week but thankfully cooler here. C & A live right on the waterfront about the middle of the bay on this photo. Most days we have a swim in the afternoon. The water is cold but with the mercury hitting the high notes it's a welcome relief. We've done heaps of long walks but early in the day before it gets hot.

About Iona - from Phil

Iona and more,

Getting to Iona was quite a task. In actual distance on the map the separation is not great but the route is involved. We caught the 8.20 am train from Glasgow to Oban, a really lovely journey, first along the Clyde and then near Loch Lomond and into the Highlands with water beside or near us most of the way as the lochs go far inland, making the route to Oban very indirect. We arrived at Oban at 11.30 after a noisy trip in a carriage with a group of young Glaswegians, happy enough but very boisterous and absorbing great quantities of crisps, chocolates and sweet drinks. We thought they were temporary company only we were wrong. At Oban we trailed our cases about 100 yards to the ferry, with our young companions, sailing to Mull at 11.45. Quite a big ferry with several decks and saloons and it was a delightful journey to Craignure on Mull. A calm sea, islands in many directions, bright sun and our Glaswegians with fresh supplies of crisps, cordial, chocolates and energy. As we approached Mull we could see Duart Castle, the home of the Macleans, built in the13th Century and restored early in the 20th. Craignure was a small, pretty village and two large buses waited for us. A very dour driver shepherded us on board, together with our Glaswegian companions, who produced more fizzy drinks and sweet supplies and more energy output. A 70 minute journey by single track road from Craignure to Fionnphort – a beautiful drive with steep green hills on either side and occasional views of inlets from the sea. The Iona ferry was much smaller, just two levels, one mostly for cars and the other for all the passengers, crowded along the rails, including our Glasgow companions, still eating, drinking and chatting in broad Glaswegian. Just 10 minutes from Mull to Iona. As we came near, the Abbey stood out on the foreshore, a large tower, shrouded in a metal and canvas cover and obviously under repair and a large church plus residential buildings. We were met by Lotty who shepherded our luggage onto a truck and us by foot to the abbey. Our young companions diverged from us but only to the Macleod Centre, an arm of the Iona community. They were to be our companions for the week.

The Abbey itself is substantial, with the Abbey Church and tower, the large cloisters, a Common Room with various papers and magazines, the Chapter House where most of our discussion sessions were held, the large Refectory where we had our meals and a set of rooms. Kelli and I were lucky to have a bedroom to ourselves, many others were four or more to a room. The building is incredibly creaky so that every step, by those above us, beside us or beneath us, sounded like an army on the move.

The Iona experience was worth the travel and time it took us to get there. The setting is magnificent, the restored Abbey on a small island, no more than four miles long, with its history dating from the original settlement in 536 by St. Columba and the restoration by George Macleod early in the 20th century, followed by the founding and extension of the Iona Community. However, in spite of the beauty and traditions of the setting it was the current people of the Community who impressed us most, both the staff and the volunteers. It has attracted some remarkable people who seem able to encompass hospitality, cooking, entertainment, music and worship with equal enthusiasm and capacity.

It took us some time to adjust to the program. It was called Where Three Streams Meet which had no meaning for us at that stage. Our interest was in the Iona concern for peace and social justice, both areas which were of particular concern to us and on which we had worked over the past several years, including our work with UNESCO. We were surprised in the beginning that the emphasis was very strongly on Gaelic culture. The early sessions focussed strongly on the Gaelic language and its current spread and usage. The religious aspect did not emerge early although we learned the origin of the title Where Three Streams Meet. This refers to the old Highland custom where a person seeking justice could go to a place where three streams meet and declare the nature of the perceived injustice. What emerged clearly to us was the extent of the feeling that exists still about the history of Scotland including particularly the harsh process in the 19th Century by which many people were forcibly removed from the land where their families had lived for generations. The presentations themselves were good. What surprised the outside visitors was the depth of the feeling that exists over what had seemed to us to be ancient wrongs. Our initial interest in social justice was more immediate and obvious, in Palestine, Zimbabwe and Dafur for example. The displacement that occurred 140 years ago did not seem in the same league. However, as the week progressed it was possible to make connections with wider interests and the religious aspect of Gaelic culture emerged. As in all countries there are issues from the past which affect the present deeply and as Australians we are affected by issues which bear some similar characteristics. When we left it was with a feeling that the week had been very meaningful.

The sessions we appreciated most were those in the Abbey church itself, twice a day with a mixture of music, prayer, quietness and thoughtful comment which was very moving. The church was full for most services with our Abbey group, the young people from the Macleod Centre together with many visitors to the island. The pilgrimage, a five hour walk around the island was excellent as was the boat trip to the Isle of Staffa, an even smaller island, deserted except for puffins, seals and many birds and the locale for Fingal’s cave, a dramatic sight which had inspired some of Mendelson’s music.

Benfactors' garden party at Wadham - Phil's old college at Oxford. There were several of his buddies from his student days on the 40's - it was lovely for him to catch up with them.

Fingal's cave on the island of Staffa just an hour's boat ride from Iona - it inspired Mendelssohn to write the wonderful Hebridean Suite. The day we visited, there was a lone piper in the cave playing scottish folk music.

Photos - I hope!!!!!

The Abbey at Iona. Phil is writing a blog to tell you about the wonderful week we spent here at the beginning of July.

Italy to England – from Phil

Quite a gap. From Italy to Coventry, then to Newcastle-on-Tyne, then Glasgow, leading to Iona, back to Glasgow, on to Luton, then Oxford which we leave tomorrow. That little description covers a lot of travel, some of it messy but all turning out well.

Colloritto to Pisa was the first step – very straightforward on the map but in practice winding through minor roads and small towns which all had their own traffic lights to make sure everyone took the longest time to transit. On to the autostrada from Florence to Pisa where traffic whizzed along at 70+ mph and to Pisa Airport where we were congratulating ourselves for arriving in good time. Too soon for congratulations. We entered the airport behind a large bus which had to halt because some people had left cars parked in the roadway. Streams of traffic bunched up behind us, waiting patiently at first for the cars to move, then increasingly annoyed as the minutes passed and no-one appeared. After 15 minutes- seeming like hours – sitting immediately behind the bus, with hundreds of horns blasting behind us – Kelli took drastic action, driving up onto the footpath beside the bus and squeezing past with about 1 cm to spare. Others followed that route but progress was very slow and when we last passed that area the blockage still applied and the horns still blasted, with only a few of the small cars able to squeeze through the gap that Kelli had pioneered. After that, Pisa to Coventry by plane was a breeze, although clouds blocked our view until almost there when we could see the hedgerows and the varying outlines of the green fields of midland England.

Coventry

Highlights of Coventry? A service at the Cathedral, a beautiful modern building which is alongside the ruins of the original, destroyed by bombs during the war.




Lovely modern stained glass and an almost empty church. Why? England were playing in round three of the World Cup and 99.9% of England were glued to the TV. The noisiest part of them emerged after the game ( narrowly won), waving flags, shouting and wandering all over the roads- so we bought a takeaway meal and retired quietly and safely to our room. Next morning we discovered that there were other pests as we both had pretty but uncomfortable patterns of bites from bed-bugs. On to Newcastle, via Harrogate where we stopped for a cream tea at Betty’s – justly famous.

Newcastle on Tyne.

We stayed in South Shields with Stephanie ( an old workmate of Kelli’s from London) and husband Peter. Their house was on the seafront and our third floor room had a fantastic outlook over the gardens and coastline, together with a telescope to focus on the many ships coming in to port, including ferries from Norway and Holland. A really good place to stay as we enjoyed some long walks along the coast – very rugged and dotted with places of past shipwrecks – and exploration of Newcastle which is developing through a revitalization of the city centre and the riverfront, including a pedestrian Millennium Bridge, with a dramatic arch which can tilt to allow river traffic to pass underneath.

Our next saga takes us from Newcastle to Lindisfarne or Holy Island, on to Glasgow were we parted from the car, by train to Oban, ferry to the Isle of Mull, bus across Mull, ferry from Mull to Iona, and by foot to our lodgings in the rebuilt abbey, first begun in 563 AD! Iona was fascinating. But my time is up so that will have to wait for the next installment.

Last blog from Italy

La Speranza
The name of our nearest restaurant ( which has become our regular Friday night haunt for the past 5 weeks) means ‘Hope’. I think it refers to ‘I hope I’ll be able to get a booking’. Had our hosts not recommended it we would never have darkened its doors. It is basically a truckie stop built right on the edge of a fairly busy road – the façade is bland in the extreme and covered in dust. We first planned to eat there on our second night in Italy. The four of us turned up at 7pm ( my sister and niece were staying at that time) only to discover that it didn’t open till 7.30. There’s a little grocery store and bar next door so we sat there having a drink waiting for La Speranza to open. As soon as it did, we sauntered in and asked for a table for 4. They asked if we had a booking. We said “no” but didn’t expect that to be a problem because there were at least 200 seats in the place. But they were fully booked. We tried to tell them we would eat quickly and vacate our table for the next lot but no luck. We made a booking for the next night and have eaten there every Friday night since. It is a really interesting place with very good home style cooking, pleasant service, immaculately clean, fresh table cloths for every new diner and very cheap. We always start with the platter of antipasti misto – a mixture of crostini, bruschetta, salami, olives, artichokes etc. Then we share a bowl of pasta (made fresh on the premises so it is very tender) – we are working our way through the range of sauces but will have to come back again if we want to try them all. Then we share a grill with some veges. The grilled meat is probably the best part of the meal. Outside the restaurant is a huge pile of firewood which is brought into the kitchen in a wheelbarrow – the meat is cooked straight over the coals and tastes wonderful. Phil said last night’s steak was the best he had ever eaten. Then it’s time for dessert – forget it!! Not only do you not have room for dessert but they are horrible cheap shop bought cakes. I don’t know why they bother. Everything else is just so good. The whole meal for the 2 of us including a bottle of wine, a bottle of water and coffees comes to less than 30 euros ($50 Aus) - it’s hardly worth cooking at home for that. On top of a great meal, the clientele are fascinating. There are clearly truck drivers who usually sit at a table on their own. There are heaps of families. There are farm workers who arrive with mud still on their boots. There are very well-to-do groups of middle aged locals. There are tables of a dozen or so young men who have a good time without being disruptive. There is even the occasional tourist but not many. La Speranza is open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week and rarely has an empty seat – it’s amazing.

Siena again
On Wednesday we back to Siena again. Phil was keen to climb the tower on the Campo and go to see the art again in the Palazzo Pubblico. And there were a couple of churches he hadn’t been into. We are at the Campo before 9.00 only to discover that it doesn’t open till 10.00. What a shame, we’ll have to go to Nannini’s for coffee and a pastry. YUM!! Back at La Torre at 9.50 – Phil is a bit disappointed that we are second in the queue (he needn’t have worried – they are 20-somethings – we pass them after about 200 steps while they are taking a breather ). It is certainly worth the 400+ narrow steps – the views are superb. We feel sure there must be another set of stairs to go down – the staircase is so narrow but, no, we just have to squeeze past each other. Fortunately the advertising makes it very clear that there are over 400 steps and this obviously deters the big fat tourists one sees from time to time.

After a swig from our water bottles we go into the Palazzo Pubblico. We were last here about 8 years ago and have often reflected on the major art work in this building. The building continues to be the Town Hall but they open their fabulously decorated medieval sate rooms to tourists. The one we find most interesting is the ‘Sala della Pace’ – room of peace. Back in the early 14the century the “members of the government wanted art work in the room to emphasise the political convictions that motivated and inspired their activity”. Ambrogio Lorenzetti completed his ‘Allegory of Good and Bad Government’ in 1338 – almost 700 years ago. It depicts Good Government based on Justice for all, Peace, Fortitude, Prudence, Temperance and Magnanimata – something like generosity, compassion. There is then a massive landscape next to this depicting the results of well founded government - productive fields tended, farmers bringing their goods into the town to be sold, in the town there are all sorts of trades – builders, potters, weavers, bakers and also musicians and dancers. On the opposite wall is a much deteriorated landscape representing bad government who is shown as “a tyrant with devil like features protecting his own interests rather than seeking the common good. He is aided by Vice and has bound up Justice.” You can still make out rubbish strewn streets, buildings in disrepair, murder, rape and fields lying idle and overgrown with weeds. It is a very powerful message. We have talked about it many times since we first saw these paintings – mankind has known for so long the implications of good and bad government but even in our democracies there is not always the will for our leaders to put what we known for centuries into practice.

Two other art works in the Palazzo Pubblico stand out – Martini’s Guidoriccio da Fogliano of 1328 which is said include ‘the oldest realistic representation of landscape in the history of art’ I can’t think who was painting on England France or the Netherlands at that time so will add that to my list of things to follow up when I get home. The other is Lorenzetti’s Mappmondo – the map of his then known world with Siena at the centre – a springboard for all sorts of thoughts about the centres of people’s worlds.

I won’t bore you with details of another yummy meal at Trattoria del Torre – a classic Phil found in one of his guide books.

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things
Two other articles from last weekend’s English papers have set me thinking. One is about a young family with 3 preschool children who are volunteers for the charity ‘Care for the Elderly’. The father is a finance exec who became a driver for the charity when he was 19 and has been involved for the past 20 years. One of the things his family does is have 6 old ladies who live alone for tea one Sunday a month. It seemed like a really useful and easy thing to do but for these ladies it was a highlight of their lives. A second article was about a postman in a former mining town in west Yorkshire badly affected by mine closures. Nick, the postman, loves books and decided to set up a second hand bookshop when he heard that a shop in the south was closing down and selling off their 100,000 books cheaply. He and his wife spent every weekend for three months bringing the books north. There are lovely quotes from locals who buy from the shop about how much it means to them to be able to buy books inexpensively. Nick still works as a postman from 5 – 12am each day then takes over at the shop from his mother-in-law. We sent them a postcard to let them know we admire what they are doing. The minister from our home church has been reminding us all to be encouragers, so, Jim, that was our bit for Tuesday.

Arezzo

Yesterday we drove across to Arezzo – it takes about and hour an a half from our villa. There is a fabulous fresco cycle in the Basilica by Piero della Francesca. When we were here about 4 years ago it was under restoration so we had to content ourselves with scouring the countryside for his other works at San Sepolcro, Montrechi and Urbino. Our guide book told us that we needed to prebook because they only allow 25 people in at a time. Noone on the phone number given spoke English so I went online. Fabulous website – I chose the English option and all went well till the booking pages which were only in Italian. We decided to chance it and got another early start – we were there at 9.00 when the doors opened and were the only people in the first group at 9.30. One other person arrived about 9.45. Maybe everyone’s too exhausted from sitting up half the night watching soccer. However, we had Piero to ourselves and it was great. The story depicted in the paintings is fanciful beyond words but the art is wonderful (Paddy, there is a postcard on its way to you now). His women have beautiful faces which remind me of Phil’s granddaughter Hannah and detailed landscapes of the area around Arezzo which has hardly changed in 600 years.

Heaps of walking

With all this wonderful food you might imagine that we are fat as pigs. Fortunately one of our other passions is walking so the two counterbalance each other fairly well. Andy, we finally took your advice this week and bought a CAI ( Commission Alpino Italiano) map for our area. We should have bought it 4 weeks earlier because we have discovered some great walks right on our doorstep. This morning we started off from Scorgiano (about 10mins by car from home) at about 9am. It’s a tiny town of about a dozen houses + a palazzo. We wandered around the massive palazzo for a bit – part of it was clearly lived in but other parts in poor repair. Phil said that he could imagine it as a film set. Twenty paces on, around a bend, we did in fact come across a film being shot. There were hundreds of people on the edge of one of the vineyards. We watched a couple of ‘takes’ of a scene with young men driving through the vineyards singing lustily before starting our walk. A gentle 4 hour hike today. It is pretty hot in the afternoons – 35+ so we try not to be out walking after about 1.00

June 20 - Happy Birthday Christy

We went into Siena early on Sunday morning – but not early enough. Just as we arrived at the Duomo at 8.45am we noticed the congregation departing. The next services were at 11.00 and 12.00. Never mind, we’ll have coffee and a pastry while we wait. Actually, Siena is quite delightful at this time on a Sunday morning – almost deserted so we can stroll about and take in the architecture and streetscapes that are often unnoticed when you’re weaving in and out of tourist traffic.

Getting into the Duomo just before 11.00 isn’t all that straightforward. I do understand that they need to keep the marauding tourists out for a time so that worshipers are not disturbed but they are a little more zealous in their task than I would like. It is always interesting worshipping when you understand very little of the language. It throws the responsibility back onto you to worship God regardless – it takes some effort but it can be inspiring. So often in these ancient churches in Europe, the sense of worshippers meeting in this place for centuries is tangible and so it was for me on Sunday.

Then in the evening it was the medieval banquet in our local town of Colle Val d’Elsa. The square outside the main church was set up for a served dinner for about 250 people. It was fabulous. White linen table cloths, fresh flowers and ivy decorating the tables, all the tableware was terracotta including the wine beakers. The day had been around 32deg and the evening was balmy. It was a fabulous menu of about 10 courses – beautiful food. There was one other non-italian speaker – an American whose fiancée comes from Colle but otherwise it was a very local celebration – albeit of success in a battle in 1269 – some people clearly have longer memories than I – I can scarcely remember what happened last week!! We did manage to find out from our companions at dinner that Australia had just lost their match against Brazil but the consensus was that they had played surprisingly well – maybe expectations were surprisingly low.

Everytime we come to Italy I find a ruin I would love to restore. There is a farm house across the road and up a track from our house that has clearly been empty for quite some time – maybe 50 years. Most of the roof is still in place. The ground floor of the main house is open plan with arches right through. Would make a fabulous kitchen/dining/living space. Phil is not entirely convinced. On another walk we come across a palazzo (large house) about 2kms from here which has recently been bought by an American. She clearly has the support of her husband because she is restoring the whole property which includes stables, workers’ cottages and gardens and plans to sell it off as timeshares. She is restoring the chapel and the adjacent buildings for functions(??) I wish her luck. It is a fabulous property but she had about 5 blokes working on it the day we walked through and at the rate they were working it’ll take about 100 years before the first person can move in. They were very nice blokes – just not in any hurry.

There is just one type of poisonous snake in the whole of Italy and we have seen 5 of them in the past month – more than I have seen in Oz in a whole lifetime even though we have 20 of the world’s 25 most deadly creatures. As a precaution I am pulling my socks up higher when we go walking. Christy/Andy, is there any research evidence to indicate that Italian snakes can’t bite through hiking sox?

I have an ongoing love affair with English newspapers. The best of their writers are tops. A weekend Times has enough reading to last me the whole week – although this week it has been the Guardian. An article that caught my attention was titled – The Prison Trick – you can probably read it online – 17 June. It described the formation of ‘Circles of Support” for ex- offenders on release. It is a Canadian concept which has been operating in the UK for the past 4 years. Basically, an ex- prisoner is supported by 6 people. One of them meets him/her each day of the week to check how they are doing and give whatever help is needed. Then on the 7th day they all get together for a meal. For many ex- prisoners, this is the first time in their lives they have been part of a caring community. The research on the effects of this program are extremely impressive – the rates of re-offending are very low even though they are high risk, high need offenders – and all the members of the Circle of Support are volunteers. Do we have something like this in Oz?? I must find out.

Tomorrow we are back Siena – Phil has discovered there are a couple of churches we haven’t visited + a gallery and a tower to climb. He is tempting me with coffee and a pastry at Nannini’s and lunch at Papei’s so how can I refuse. We’ll have to have an early start – it was 37 deg at 3pm today.

It is also my Christy’s 32nd birthday today. She is a very special lady. Have a happy day honeybunch.

Real Pilgrims

The ancient pilgrim path from Rome to Santiago di Compostela in Spain, Via Francigena, runs close to our villa and this week we have walked 2 sections of it. It has taken us through beautiful countryside but more interestingly, the path is still paved with huge worn rocks and you find yourself thinking about the other feet that have passed this way over the centuries. There are also some fascinating churches, monasteries and abbeys on the route.

We spent a day at Volterra which has an extensive Etruscan museum. Everything I’ve ever read about them starts off with “Little is known about the Etruscans …….” But the museum seemed to provide quite a lot of information. They were in this part of Italy between about 900 BC and 400BC and the museum pieces indicate a very sophisticated society. The carvings on their burial urns depict well constructed boats, chariots and wagons, musicians playing a variety of instruments, a range of clothing styles and women reading. There were examples of beautiful gold jewelry made with fine precision and delicacy. On a number of our walks we have come upon small excavations in the middle of nowhere with signs to indicate they are Etruscan villages or houses. It seems strange to find something so ancient unattended and crudely signed. I guess there is just so much like this in Italy that they don’t have the resources to care for everything.

Last Saturday we went to a Festa del Vino in a neighbouring town. It was held at the local wine and olive cooperative – this is a place where small growers can bring their grapes and olives for processing – it looked as if they all go in together because there were HUGE vats of wine and olive oil everywhere in this building the size of an aircraft hanger. As soon as a barrel looked like running out, it was refilled using a petrol pump –style nozzle. There was no charge for entry or for any of the wine and it was refreshing to see no-one drinking to excess. I don’t think that would have been the case in Australia or England. We noticed that the locals go very easy on alcohol – when we’ve been to Sagra’s we’ve noticed that people drink more water than wine, often mixing them in a glass. It is the tourists that seem to overdo it at times. This week there was a terrible caraccident with 4 english holiday makers killed – the English driver survived – he was double the legal limit.

We spent another day in Siena – this time to take in a few of the main galleries and churches. We got an early start and were waiting on the steps of Museo dell ‘Opera del Duomo opened. It houses many of the statues that used to be on the exterior of the Cathedral and have been brought indoors to halt erosion – they have been replaced with replicas – many of them were carved by Pisano in the C13 and are amazingly detailed and lifelike. Best of all we enjoyed sitting and looking at Duccio’s Maesta – his Madonna and Child which used to be at the high altar in the Cathedral. On the other side are his scenes from the life of Christ – they are wonderful pieces of art and have an amazing effect on those who come to view them. In the midst of a busy tourist city, this gallery is hushed – 700 years on, Duccio’s work still has the power to create reverence and awe.

After the mandatory coffee and pastry, we went into the Cathedral – so many people that it was hard to get the sense of a working church. Tourist guides everywhere with their flocks. It is a majestic building but we’ll try to go there for a service before we leave to see it in a different light.

Following lunch we went in to the Baptistry then a hike across town to the Oratorio San Bernardino where there were a couple of small Duccio works. It was 6pm by then and we were museumed/churched out for the day.

Yesterday we had a lazy day – we need one every 4 or 5 days. We drove up to a small town in the hills about 15 minutes from home and wandered around and had coffee. So many beautiful little towns around here – once you get away from the main tourist drawcards, it is very tranquil. People manage to squeeze a vegetable garden, a few vines and some fruit trees into most unpromising looking places but they seem to thrive. We were talking today about the way that farming practices here must have been sustainable for thousands of years – the agricultural landscape had changed little. We wonder whether this will continue to be the case with mechanization, pesticides and fertilizers. We hope so. They have developed a system of Agritourism which is an attempt to keep farmers on the land. It is basically providing B&B accommodation during the tourist season on working farms. It gives the farmer an additional income stream while requiring him/her to continue farming the land.

I’ve been typing this with one eye on the TV where Tim Henman has just won a match at Queen’s and Nadal is now on court. We watched some of the French Open – it was on Europsport which is all in german and neither of us have enough of the language to make sense of it – hence with watch with the sound off.

Lunch with Sue

About 4 years ago a friend from Canberra bought some houses about 45 minutes drive from our villa. We drove down for lunch on Thursday to her tiny village of Iesa. She has restored the stables of the big house and made a beautiful 2 bedroom 2 bathroom house where she now spends 6 months of the year. Her Italian is very good and she loves village life. She has just cleared her 5 acres of land and is working hard to restore the olive grove which was badly overgrown. Then her challenge is to decide what to do with the big house – a massive 3 storey building which has been unoccupied for a long time and has no plumbing or electricity. I think the restoration of the stables was more demanding of her energy and bank balance than she had anticipated. If you have read Peter Mayle or Frances Mayes’ books of restoring old houses in France and Italy you will have a good idea of the tenor of our lunch conversation on Tuesday – it was delightful to hear of all her little successes in turning a derelict building into a beautiful home.

A couple of long walks

Last weekend we joined a local guided walk just a few kms from here. The first people we met were from Buderim in Queensland who are staying in the next village for 6 weeks. The rest of the group of about 40 were all local Italians and we had a great day. The walk was fairly challenging – down a steep mountainside to a river where we stopped for lunch then back up the other side in the afternoon. It was a warm day and after lunch we had the customary 2 hour siesta – the 4 Aussies stood out in the crowd – we were the ones sitting under the trees in the shade while the Italians stripped off and lay in the sun.

Another day we did one of our walks from our book “Walking and Eating in Tuscany and Umbria”. Over the years we have done about 15 of the walks in this book with varying degrees of success. It was written over 10 years ago and we are finding that some things have changed and the directions are not as reliable as they were. But this week’s walk was great. We started with coffee and pastries ( is there any better way to start a long walk) in the medieval hilltop village of Montereggione and walked through olive groves and forest for a couple of hours. At the top of a rise we came across a memorial to 19 men who were resistance fighters killed in 1945. We walked back through lush farmland of aubergines and peppers and hillsides of vines. It was a beautiful walk and in the six hours we only got lost once which is a pretty good result for us.

Tomorrow we are off to San Galgano a Cisterian abbey – In the 14th century the lead off the roof was stolen by an Englishman Sir john Hawkwood and as a result the whole roof is now missing. Our guidebook says is being restored for an Olivetan order of nuns. We’ll let you know how its progressing in our next blog. Then back to Colle for another Sagra in the evening and the Festa del Vino at nearby Poggibonsi on Sunday evening.