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Another busy month - do I always say that?!! All of our new garden furniture has bedded in nicely and the guests are enjoying it. The weather has been lovely and we don't have any guests this week because of a cancellation due to ill health. We advertised the week with a large discount but the flights were so expensive (being a last-minute thing) no-one decided to book in the end despite a mound of enquiries. So Leigh and I moved in to Casa Leana which has been a real treat especially as it was my birthday on Sunday. We had a great meal in one of our favourite little restaurants in Monterchi and spent the afternoon by the pool - I felt very spoilt I must say. The Wednesday night markets in our local town of Anghiari have been lovely, as always, this year - we have attended all but one of them. We love having pizza and Prosecco then wandering around checking out the stalls on the way to the gelateria for an ice cream to top off the night. I think it is one of our favourite things to do in the warm summer evenings in Tuscany watching the children running around late into the night, live music and good food, what's not to love?! We also went to the annual Vintage Festival in another town a little bit further afield (Castiglion Fiorentina). It is our second time going to this festival and it didn't disappoint. Lots of people dressed up in vintage clothes, several live bands dotted around the town makes for such a wonderful atmosphere. We took a couple of friends along and they loved it too - I'm always a bit worried introducing people to events we enjoy, I worry they will not be as excited about the whole thing as we are but they were (or at least said they were!) and it was a lovely evening. And you never guess what? The leather jacket that I saw last year and tried on was still for sale! I nearly bought it for the second year running and even had the cash in my hand but when I tried it on it was really heavy (being a biker jacket) and if I'm honest it didn't fit around my chest so I decided against it AGAIN! I've opted for a more sensible approach and am planning on getting a more lightweight leather jacket that actually fits me (!?) either here or in the UK the next time we visit. It was hard fought off purchase as it has been floating around my little brain for 365 days! So ever since, we have been shopping for said leather jacket and a day trip to Cortona, one of my favourite places to visit, was in order. We had such a nice day but couldn't find the perfect item so we have been looking around the immediate area but no luck. We're planning a trip to Montepulciano where I am hoping to find a lovely super cool Italian beauty. Even if I don't find anything we love Montepulciano and it is only an hour away. We haven't been for a while so I am looking forward to that and as the weather has cooled a bit it is a great time of year for shopping. Guests have been lovely as always. Last week one of our group left us a bottle of champagne and a card thanking us for a lovely holiday which unfortunately her father took away mistakenly believing it to belong to his wife whose birthday it was! So we didn't get to see it (or drink it!) but the guest very kindly gave us a tip instead, asking us to take it out of the security deposit she had left with us. What a wonderful gesture, we were so touched! We never tire of hearing that our guests are having lovely holidays. Many of our friends say that's why our business is successful, because we care so much about people's holidays and I think there is a lot of truth in that! We spent a wonderful Sunday afternoon at our friends' house this month for their annual games day. It is a fun thing for a few expats in the area (there's ten of us that are bonkers enough to join in!) and we always have a laugh. Leigh won which I don't think I will ever hear the end of! Especially as our friends who run the games day are moving away in October so they won't be hosting any more which means, much to his delight, Leigh will remain the reigning champion. Ha ha.. We are organising a photo shoot as we haven't had one done for a while and we have added quite a few new things to the house and gardens over the last few years. It takes a while to get everything ready as it has to be done on a Saturday when all the beds are made etc. So watch this space for, hopefully, some beautiful new photographs of the house and gardens. Anyway, I think that's it this month. We are moving out of Casa Leana tomorrow and getting ready for our next group to arrive on Saturday. We received another booking for next year last week and we sold a week for later on this year which means we have had another record-breaking year! Phew... Have a lovely weekend. D I A N A xxx    
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It's been another warm month... most probably a bit too hot for a few days if I'm honest (as seen in the news all over the world!). But we're back to more manageable temperatures now so all good. We've been busy at Casa Leana, the plants and grass have stopped growing to some degree so most of our time now is spent watering trying to keep everything alive! The garden still looks lovely and we bought some new garden furniture in the sales for the top patio - it really sets off that area and we're delighted with the result and our guests love it too. We had a group arrive this month for their fourth visit. We've been watching their familes expand over the years adding some gorgeous kids into the mix. We love repeat bookings, it's great to see them back year after year, this group in particular feel like old friends rather than guests! So much so that we were invited to dinner at the house and we got to sit on our new garden furniture for pre dinner cocktails! I christened it by spilling my drink on one of the cushions! Doh. No permanent damage done thank goodness. We finally went to the spa pools just outside Siena - the ones I've been banging on about since the beginning of the season! It was well worth the wait and the place is so much nicer than I remember. We had a great day and felt suitably relaxed when we got back. Such a lovely day out and we're definitely planning another one or two trips there before the end of the year. We had so many apricots on our tree again this year , I felt compelled to go and get the ingredients to make some jam. As I said last year it’s a very sticky business but someone has to do it! The night markets in Anghiari have started again - they happen weekly throughout July and August and we try to attend every one - it is such a nice thing to do. Great for kids (even though it doesn't really get going until around 9.30pm which is obviously an Italian thing!). Pizza and wine followed by ice cream. What's not to like!? Our guests have, of course, been visiting some of the lovely restaurants out here - one that springs immediately to mind is Pieve Vecchia which is always gorgeous at this time of year. If you visit around 7pm you can watch the sun go down over the hilltop town of Monterchi - one of the group that left last week said "it was like being on a film set". You can't get much better praise than that eh?!! We've had some great reviews too this month so that always makes us happy. One in particular from a lovely family who were spending their first holiday together abroad and it was their little boy's first trip on a plane. They had the best time - seeing them on the day they left, telling us all about their trip is just the greatest feeling, knowing that we had some small part to play in that! D I A N A xxx       We had the best day in Siena, what a sight to behold in the famous Piazza del Campo, hundreds of the most beautiful cars using the piazza as a car park! We had a prime spot in one of the balconies overlooking the square, sipping spritzers. I was in my own little heaven. One of our friends joined us for his first Mille Miglia which made it even more of a special day. Before the parade began we ventured into one of the towers, the tiny circular staircase was a challenge for my claustrophobic tendencies but when we got to the top it was definitely worth it for the amazing views. I had a very large ice cream afterwards to congratulate myself! And then lunch in the piazza, such a great experience with the cars and drivers milling about. Our wonderful CL guests have been coming and going, enjoying good food and entertainment, this week in the form of the Anghiari Palio commemorating the Battle of Anghiari. The locals love getting dressed up for the occasion - it makes me happy to see all ages joining in, so proud of their history. The guys running up the hill afterwards are truly phenomenal ! They push and shove each other all the way up the (very) steep hill in an official race to the piazza. Legends. One of our favourite little hilltop towns over here is Citerna and we've been up there a lot this summer for coffee, lunch or evening aperitivi - so much so we're almost on first name terms with the bar and restaurant owners! Anghiari Wednesday night markets start next week so that's another one of our regular haunts - it's an old fashioned affair with jewellery stalls etc., candy floss, crepes, live music and something going on for children. It's definitely worth a visit with the kids although it doesn't normally get going until about 8.30pm but I really wouldn't let that deter you from going as it's a great evening. We've been watching the Ashes cricket, it's like having a little bit of England in our front room. Leigh loves the game. I have to admit, for me it does go on a bit - hours of nothing but there are always some great highlights - this year the Bairstow debacle has been something that made the air go a little bit blue over here! The Tour de France starts soon - another one of our favourite annual sporting events. It's difficult to get ourselves out in the sunshine sometimes! 😂 We're hopefully off to the thermal pools just outside Siena next week. We haven't been for ages and it's only an hour away from Casa Leana. I don't know why we don't go more often but life gets in the way and I often forget some of the wonderful days out that are on our doorstep. There are treatments available but we normally just chill out in the pools which are great for all the aches and pains we get from gardening these days (are we are officially getting old?!) followed by lunch. I'm really looking forward to a great day out. Watch this space for photos. Well that's it from me I think. I haven't mentioned all the mowing and strimming but suffice to say it's been a busy month on that front. Oh and I'm still cycling so all good on the keeping fit regime. Having said that, I have to cycle more at this time of year to counteract the excessive consumption of Prosecco and ice cream! Have a great weekend everyone. D I A N A xxx        This month has been pretty full on with more lovely CL guests plus we had some friends (and their five year old daughter) staying with us for a few days. We had such a lovely time with them, it's great showing kids around, they are always in awe of the medieval towns, not to mention Italian ice cream and pizza! Ha ha. She also enjoyed the Battle of Anghiari story and loved going into the churches. Five year olds are so inquisitive! Leigh and I had a day trip to Rome which was a tad emotional! We decided to take the slow train which we have never done before - we usually get the fast train which leaves from Arezzo at 7am and takes an hour. The slow train takes over two hours but there was some maintenance on the line so we had to get a bus for the latter part of the journey from Orte and then a taxi to the Vatican. It felt like it took days to arrive! Because we usually get to the Vatican at around 8.30am there are never any crowds but obviously having taken the slow train the place was absolutely packed (with tourists would you believe! Ha ha). As we were in Rome to watch the Giro di Italia (a cycling event) we decided to forget the Vatican and walk to the Colosseum where the main event was taking place - we usually take this walk really slowly and relaxed, visiting coffee shops and ice cream parlours on the way, taking in the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and Panthean etc. Hmmm. But we were now running late then I needed a loo break. It was one of those days that we spent wandering around quite a lot (18000 steps!) with me whinging quite a lot! Ha ha, I think everyone must have those days, where you feel like you're swimming against the tide. And if you're reading this and you know me, you would know that I definitely had, what Leigh calls, my grumpy face on! It was hot and I just wanted to sit down and have a glass of wine to be honest and forget the blimin' bike event! It was a lovely day eventually. I got my glass of wine and a pizza and we saw the cyclists come through. And to make it even more special an English guy won (Mark Cavendish) so all was well in the world. Having said that we almost missed the train home - we had to run 800m as it was just about to leave and our platform was at the other end of the station and at the end of a very long platform! I think that would have broken us... Ha ha The CL guests have been taking yoga sessions down by the pool and wine tastings at the local vineyard. This week there are more yoga sessions booked, a couple of massages and plans are afoot to play golf at a beautiful course (Antognolla) just outside Corciano - about a 40 minute drive from CL. We took another trip to Passignano sul Trasimeno with our friends, I never tire of that place. It was half term in the UK and we were the only ones in the swimming pool overlooking the lake and the beach was relatively empty too. Such a great day with our friends and their little girl. Strawberries in the CL veggie patch have arrived - they are delicious. Guests have been helping themselves and there have been plenty for us too! Yum. Oh my goodness... I almost forgot - I've been on my bike this month, FINALLY! 100km over three rides. Well done me. Also I took a couple of trips out on my moped which I love because it's red and it's just the prettiest thing although I do get a bit nervous for the first few rides - the Vespa is my first ever motorized two wheeled vehicle so it takes a bit of getting used to every year (I should be more proficient to be honest as we bought it over five years ago now!). Ooh and I found a lovely book that one our guests must've left in the library - it's called Still Life by Sarah Winman. It's about expats in Italy after the Second World War. It's such a beautiful story, I would thoroughly recommend or if you plan visit CL you should be able to find it in the library. I think that's it. Mowing and strimming continues this time of year and I think we're planning on trimming the hedges soon - that pesky Mother Nature always finds something for us to do! Have a great week. D I A N A xxx      We've had a lovely month, Leigh's mum was over on her first visit of the year (so great to see her) and we've been working in the garden (surprise surprise). I cleared out the strawberry patch, planted the tomatoes and we erected Steve the Scarecrow who has yet another new outfit. Mowing and strimming is ongoing of course... and with my new battery run strimmer I am wizzing around the garden like a mad thing! Our guests have all been lovely as usual, getting out and about in the Tuscan sunshine. Almost all of them have been enjoying our neighbour's cooking (a four course meal made from scratch by our very own Italian nonna!) and some of them have visited the local olive farm, one of my favourite things to do out here. The owner, if available, will ferry our guests back and forth so that everyone is free to have a few glasses of wine and for the more hardcore, homemade grappa. The bikes are always popular with guests at this time of year which has made me feel a bit guilty as I still haven't managed to do one ride in 2023! We have a special birthday group this week and they are pushing the boat out for their mum... yoga and a local wine and olive oil tasting and we organised a beautiful cake from one of the local bakeries so hopefully their holiday will be one to remember. What better way to celebrate a special birthday with family and friends than in this beautiful part of the world? The annual Anghiari craft fair has been happening this month, lots of lovely stalls - great atmosphere. However we didn't have any guests staying this week to enjoy it which is a shame. It was nice for us though, to spend a few days around the Casa Leana pool although I have to say it's very difficult to relax in your own place, all I keep seeing are jobs to do, flower beds to weed, lawns to cut etc. etc. urgh. We have got a few things done. I varnished the garden handrails and Leigh finished off a staircase leading to the veggie patch. Exciting stuff. I tell you, it's not all sunshine and Prosecco here in Tuscany! Ha ha.. I have more exciting plans for next couple of months. I really want to visit some thermal pools, the place I like is just outside Siena. We have been there several times but not for a long time so I have been nagging Leigh about it for a while now and we have a trip planned for May or June. The annual vintage car race (Mille Miglia) is going through a microstate called San Marino this year. I really love this event and San Marino is such a unique place. It's a couple of hours away (a very pretty route) and we are going to make the trip with a couple of friends. Watch this space for updates Oh and we are also planning a trip to the Palio in Arezzo - it's a jousting tournament which, again, we saw several years ago and loved, so another visit is well overdue. It all happens in June and September every year. I think that's it for the month. We're both quite tired from keeping on top of the Casa Leana gardens but the end result is lovely so all worth it I think. I love seeing the families who come to stay enjoying the gardens especially the children running around, playing with the garden games (boules, butterfly hunt, badminton etc.). It makes all our hard work worthwhile. Have a great month. D I A N A xxx      It's been a busy month at Casa Leana which is quite normal for this time of year, added to which we received a last minute booking, a group of really lovely Italians arrived on Sunday (19 March). And this is a first, they gave us two bottles of Prosecco as a gift, how lovely and what a great start to the season. If any future guests are reading this... take note! Ha ha. When we took said early booking we thought "what a breeze, there's not that much left to do". We soon realised that extra week really makes a big difference. In our wisdom we decided to get replacement stones for the CL parking area a few days before our guests' arrival, which the delivery guy left in a big pile in the middle of the drive so we had to rake them into place, that was hard going and took a few days to do, raking stones is not easy I can tell you! There were still hedges to be cut, plants to be pruned, the pergola at the bottom of the garden hadn't been erected as it took over three months to arrive (don't ask!), not to mention Spring cleaning, mowing and strimming and trying to fit the new dishwasher through the utility room door (again don't ask!). The list goes on but we got there, if a little worse for wear! At least I lost that extra few pounds I put on over Christmas! Every cloud.. The garden and the house both look great and the Casa Leana guests are happy which is the main thing - in fact they were drinking beer and playing cards down by the pool this morning at 8am. They offered us a beer when we finished mowing but it was still only 9.30am - I was tempted I have to admit! The weather has been lovely and sunny so early morning swims in the heated pool has been the order of the day with evenings spent lighting the fires and snuggling up in the kitchen with a wonderful hot meal and wine from our cellar, what's not to like?! Other than working in the garden, not much to report really. Oh, we did have a couple of sneaky days off (!), Leigh went ski-ing and I had a lie in both days, a lovely long hot bath and lunch with friends (a bit less energetic than ski-ing!). Looking forward to more of those long lunches this year. Our pride and joy, the little vintage Fiat 500 (otherwise known as 'Piglet'), is out of hibernation so we have had a couple of trips out with her - it's a bit of a change from the luxury of the Volvo but great fun. I spend most of the time wondering why everyone is looking at me and then remember that the car is so pretty, people are actually looking at the car, not me! Our next group arrive on Saturday, two families, one from the US and the other travelling down from Switzerland - holiday season is well and truly here, woo hoo! I think that's it. Have a lovely weekend everyone. D I A N A xxx      Well hello again! What a wonderful time we had in the UK seeing our family and friends. And after a record 2022 season at CL (29 weeks, phew!) we took ourselves off for a special trip to the Caribbean, what a treat. And we even bumped into a couple of Casa Leana guests (would you believe?!) who stayed at the house in 2016. What a small world! We're now fully refreshed and flew into Italy at the beginning of the month. So it's back to work! Something I don't think I will ever tire of is getting the house and gardens ready for the season - I love every moment even though I sometimes lie awake worrying about whether everything will be ready in time (it always is of course!). A couple of our friends here gave us a ton of books for the CL library so Leigh has spent a couple of mornings putting them away while I've been tidying and spring cleaning the play room ready for the season. We're starting on the rest of the house today so it's all go here. It's quite chilly this week so it's good to keep busy otherwise I'll end up in front of the TV with the fire on for longer than I care to record! Once the weather warms up (next week we're told) we will be out in the garden again. I think I mentioned before, I have a new battery-operated strimmer so I'm quite excited about using that (weird I know). The garden is a never-ending task but we love getting it ready, it's so rewarding but tiring at the same time. I have a lot of New Year resolutions, one of which is to get a bit more cycling done. Last year was a disaster on that front! I think because we had so many bookings after the Covid years, the extra work was a bit of a shock to the system. We have around the same amount of weeks sold this year but I'm going to make a concerted effort to get out on that bike more as is Leigh. So watch this space! We're off out today to buy a few things for Casa Leana (of course). We've got some new pool towels already and a beautiful new lamp shade for the lounge, the two mirrors that I mentioned before plus a pergola and new garden furniture (Leigh's job is to put all that together). That's it so far but I'm sure there'll be more. As you may have noticed, I am a bit of a shopaholic especially when it comes to Casa Leana! It was Valentines Day recently so we took a few hours off and popped into Arezzo for a little bit of end of sale shopping. I was looking for black jumpers but ended up with another pair of check trousers! We had a lunch sitting outside one of the lovely restaurants on that glorious sunny day.. spring is almost upon us which means alfresco coffees with the girls, long lunches mmmmm.. And bike rides of course (forgot about those again, oops!). Have a great week. D I A N A xxx       I must say I love ALL the months here in Italy... but November is special because it's the start of our down time (or is it?!). To be perfectly honest there's still quite a bit to do before we can completely relax. At the beginning of the month we closed off the pool and covered the outdoor furniture, took the swings and badminton net down and tidied the pool toy box. Chopped back some dead plants and mowed and strimmed for the last time this year, phew. A few years ago we discovered a brilliant shop very close to us - it has a huge array of tractors outside. For many years we thought it specialised in heavy farming equipment and we called it "the tractor shop"! When we finally ventured in there (can't remember why) we discovered that it sold every kind of garden equipment you can imagine and we've been there many times since. Last week we were very excited to add two more items to our gardening arsenal - a Stihl battery operated tree trimmer and strimmer (scintillating stuff!). The strimmer is for me as it's lightweight, so yey (sort of!). I love sitting in the bottom of the Casa Leana garden, it overlooks a beautiful little vineyard and we often sit there with a cuppa in the spring in between gardening - it is so tranquil. The pergola down there got broken at the end of the year when a branch fell on it so at the end of last month we bought a lovely new one together with a coffee table set which Leigh put together yesterday, can't wait to see it all in place next year. I forgot to mention, we were given two huge antique frames a few months ago, they are really beautiful so we decided to make them into mirrors. I cleaned them up and we took them to a wonderful place in one of the local towns close to us and they inserted some fabulous antique mirrors which have really brought them back to life. They are really heavy now so moving them from one place to another was a bit scary but Leigh finally managed to hang them in two of the Casa Leana bedrooms. I love them and I'm sure the guests will too! You may remember I painted the beams white in our little play room at the beginning of the year. The wood colour has started to come through again, urgh. Honestly, who would have thought that beams would use up so much paint? I've put three more coats on and got myself in a painty mess again but it looks really good now. We also gave the room a tidy up and some of the toys may have to go to the toy hospital or maybe to the "nice man at the toy farm!" 😬 I'm sure there will be more things added to our never ending TO DO list but for now that's it. Our lovely neighbour gave us a basketful of chestnuts a couple of weeks back so we've spent quite a few evenings roasting them over the log fire. Yum. Another equally lovely neighbour has two enormous olive groves and in return for helping with the harvest they are going to produce Casa Leana olive oil for our guests next year so watch this space to see the finished article. We've tasted it already and, honestly, it's so good. On Sunday we had another magical evening out at the Arezzo Christmas market. We got there at around 2.30pm and the parking angel was kind. The flag throwers started at 3pm so we spent a while walking around the stalls first of all wishing we hadn't had lunch as there were some amazing cheese filled giant pretzels on offer that looked particularly yummy. We decided to get cakes instead - a giant ring doughnut for me and a relatively titchy blueberry muffin for himself. Obviously a bit later on there was a stop off at one of our favourite bars for a cheeky glass of red! As dusk fell the coloured lights were switched on and bounced off the beautiful buildings in the main piazza. The kids were queueing to see Father Christmas and we were happy soaking in the Christmassy atmosphere. Although I must say I did try to get a peak of the big man himself but he was hidden away in his grotto! We spent Sunday at a birthday lunch with some of our friends here in Italy. The expats often go back to different parts of the world for Christmas so it is great to get together as we won't be seeing them for a while. Food and company was perfect as always! I think it's safe to say we have immersed ourselves in the festive spirit now and cannot wait to see our family and friends in the UK to celebrate this special time of the year! Happy holidays! D I A N A xxx        |
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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August 2023
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