A bit of a late start to the blog this year. One of the main reasons being that we stayed in the UK for slightly longer as it was my son's special birthday so obviously a party was the order of the day. In fact several parties! We had a wonderful time during our off season, not only the celebrations for my son's birthday, a visit to London with lunch at the Savoy (no less!), seeing friends and family in the UK and Ireland but we also managed to get away for some winter sun. So, we got back to Italy in March, feeling super chilled. With only a few weeks to go before our first group arrived it was all hands on deck to get the house and gardens ready. We had completed quite a few projects at Casa Leana before we left for the UK but there were a couple still to do and that pesky garden, as we all know, keeps us on our toes! One of our projects this winter was to replace two shower doors. It sounds like a simple job I know but we're in Italy so things never seem to go as easily as one would wish. First of all we were told that the shower doors were'nt quite ready for installation (I have a funny feeling the doors weren't ordered even though we had booked this work to be done way back in July 23!). The shiplap surrounds had already been removed so there was no going back and we were a tad concerned the new doors might not arrive in time for the start of the season! Anyway, the doors finally arrived which was great and the workmen came and started to remove the old doors and in doing so broke some of our tiles so downed tools until the tiles could be replaced. To cut a very long story short, the tiler took a few days to arrive, the guys installing the doors returned later than expected and the carpenter, who put back all the surrounds to complete the job, finished the work only a few days before our first group arrived! Urgh. I said to Leigh "we are never going to get any more third party work like that done again". I seem to remember saying that exact same sentence many times over the years! We've also had one of our sofas re-covered and our local upholsterer has done a wonderful job, on time as well! We ordered new scatter cushions too so this work has completely transformed the main lounge here at Casa Leana. I love love love it. We've been avidly watching a programme called Salvage Hunters and I must admit I am addicted! We have always loved visiting antique markets and bric-a-brac shops looking for bargains and there are a few really good ones around here. I nearly injured myself last week trying to get past tables and chairs to have a look at a picture that I could see from a distance! I eventually squeezed past an upturned chest of drawers and got to my hidden treasure which we ended up buying. I'm not sure Drew and Tee from Salvage Hunters would approve but we like it and it now has pride of place in the Casa Leana lounge. We've been gardening of course. Oh, I forgot to say, we also got some garden furniture from one of the bric-a-brac shops (I told you I was addicted!). We spent a couple of days out in sunshine rubbing it down, bringing it back to its former glory. This lovely set has now found its place at the bottom tier of the CL garden overlooking the vineyard and we really love it. Although the furniture is so heavy, we both had to carry one end of each piece individually to get it down there! I tell you that table and chairs is never ever moving again. Our first two weeks of guests this year have had a wonderful time. One group had been before so knew what to expect although apparently they didn't replicate anything from their last visit as there is so much to do here. They found a newly opened rafting place about half an hour away from CL which is apparently excellent so I contacted the company and we've got all the information for future groups. Our second group were celebrating a special birthday so we ordered a cake for them and booked an olive oil and wine tasting, a meal cooked by our local nonna and a yoga session. They gave us the most amazing five star review, such a lovely group. Not because of the five star review (of course!). The garden here at CL is our pride and joy but entails oodles of work. Having said that, it is so worth the effort. It looks beautiful at this time of year even though I do say so myself! We've just spent the morning mowing the lawns and doing a bit of strimming so it basically looks like it's had a nice haircut. We went to the antiques market in Arezzo (first Sunday of the month) recently and had such a lovely time. Weather was gorgeous and it really felt like summer was upon us. We had lunch and a glass of wine in the piazza. Simple pleasures but one of my favourite things to do on a Sunday or any day actually! We never bought anything but the city buzz was wonderful as always. We have a few things planned this month and next. Many years ago we went on a steam train just outside Siena, it was a magical experience and we are planning on doing it again this year. There is one trip that includes a wine tasting - that definitely piqued my interest as you can imagine so watch this space for piccies and info. Well, I think that's it. I'm sure I've missed off something but I will add it to the next blog. Have a great weekend. D I A N A xxx
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Welcome to my blog...Just a little insight into our lives here. After eleven years of living in Tuscany I thought it was about time to have a go at blogging when one of my lovely friends said she had received (what she thought!) was an extremely funny text from me, hmmm.. How difficult can it be?!
D I A N A xxx
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October 2024
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