The seasons come and go with different work to be done on the land and in the garden. At this time of the year the vines need pruning, the bushes need trimming and the leaves that have dropped and accumulated have to be cleared from the driveway.
The shepherd and sheep dogs come down the lane and the sheep graze on the grassy plots of land around the area.
Now is the lambing season and we see mothers and lambs on the land above the house.
We know when our neighbour's geese across the way are being fed because of the noise they make when he comes to feed them on his small holding! He has a hut with a covered eating-out area. He and his wife had a trattoria in the area, but now they've retired and potter around the small holding.
More geese further up the lane - most of the following photos were taken in October.
Although we live on the outskirts of the old village we go there to visit DH's oldest sister who lives with her daughter. Some of the old houses have been restored whilst others are now used as buildings to store produce and farming equipment.
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| an open-air washing area where the spring water constantly runs off the mountains into the stone tanks - no longer used (old photo) |
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| a barn
We went to look for my husband's sister as she was not at home and her daughter told us she had gone for a walk which was good to hear as she had a fall just before Christmas 2013 and injured her back. She spent several weeks in a clinic before returning home. Each time we visit her we've seen an improvement with the help of her family as carers. Although frail she was determined to become mobile once more and she reminds me of my MinL who also fell and broke her back whilst she was working on the land around her daughter's house (another one of DH's sisters who lives along our lane near to us). MinL also gained mobility for several years afterwards and it was a privilege to have lived near her in the 1990s. She's much missed. She would walk up to our house to see us as did my sister-in-law before her fall even though it was quite a distance from the old village.
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We went looking for her in the vineyards and found her gathering cicoria leaves that are similar to spinach when cooked.
We accompanied her back home passing some of the old houses and others that are being restored.
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| One of the village bread ovens |
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| This house is being restored, but only gradually as time permits. Below is what it looked like about twenty years ago. |
Back at the house of the niece and her husband we stopped for a chat, met Pedro, a family pet bird, and then left my sister-in-law to sit in the garden in the sunshine and rest.
