The countdown to Christmas has begun twinkling lights peeping through windows. Christmas trees, baubles, tinsel, colourfully decorate shop fronts and snow – lots of it. Our fir trees are covered with fine snow which looks like they have been dusted with icing sugar, the lower branches brushing against the ground. Everything is white and black, the covering of snow so strong that it over powers the surrounding colours.
Our first fall was predicted by the kids, we, as usual thinking it was wishful thinking, awoke with a shock to 3 foot of snow, luckily the bright light pouring in through the bathroom window alerted us to a no school day so we let the kids sleep on. We dug the cars out ready for school on Monday morning, and then it snowed again. So the boys went back to bed whilst we settled by the fire with a cup of coffee. Then came an unexpected knock at the door – our builders had arrived – and quickly launched into their version of International Rescue, firing up the cingolo (caterpillar-tracked tractor) from its hibernation deep in the barn, and ploughing away to clear the whole drive and both car parking areas. Satisfied, they then went home for lunch – and didn’t come back until the next morning!
Last year, whilst the snow lay, the air was misty and the light fairly dull, but this year we have had some brilliant sunshine, so we have been able to capture the effect and you can see the results in our Winter Snow photogallery. The air is crisp and clear and we are treated to the fabulous views of the snow covered Alps, which, with the sun shining on them seem so close you could almost touch them.
Our builders duly returned and completed the tiling of the floor and wall areas in our new kitchen and utility areas in our farmhouse, and the new windows and doors have now been installed. Time next week for the plumber and electrician to return as the kitchen units and equipment are due for delivery on December 15, and hopefully all will be ready in time for Christmas (see below!). Unfortunately due to the snow we were unable to attend the local Christmas market where it is fun to browse through the stalls and collect new decorations for the tree or house, unusual presents and small stocking fillers.
After the roads were cleared we drove over to Wisteria Cottage to check all was well and to keep our appointment with Telecom Italia for the installation of broadband internet. After some initial confusion about the location of the nearest telegraph pole (and whether another one was needed) the wiring was successfully installed and the cottage is now online. We hope this additional service will enable those of our guests who want to remain connected to be able to do so. The service is hard-wired, not WiFi, there will be no additional cost, but you will have to bring your own laptop.
We found the cottage in excellent shape. A daytime thaw and night-time freeze had formed a firm crust on the virgin snow between the road and the front door, which had made it substantially weight-bearing and an interesting experience to walk on. The persimmon tree in the front garden is hung with bright orange fruit and quite decorous against the now-bare bark of the trunk and branches.
With most of our Christmas planning sorted, our thoughts are turning to 2009. Bob has enjoyed researching the dates of the various major festas and events for the forthcoming year, and updating where possible our Calendar of Events on the website. There is always a lot to look forward to, the re-enactment of the Canelli Assedio (siege) once again being the event not to miss locally.
Turin continues to benefit from a most successful winter Olympics in 2006, having been awarded an International Chess tournament in 2007 and the International City of Design this year. In 2009, between June 6th and 13th it will host the inaugural ‘World Air Games’. These games comprise ten disciplines, three of which are hot air ballooning (Mondovi) and the para-gliding and hang-gliding (Avigliana) which will take place in these nearby towns, with the rest based on Turin airport. Meanwhile in September the city of Bra, in the province of Cuneo, hosts an International Cheese Festival an extremely enjoyable event which only takes place every second year.
This last year seems to have flown past, the major event being the marriage of our eldest son Robert to Rachel which took place in August. We all had a wonderful day which unfortunately passed all too quickly, but we have some superb photographs with which to remember it.
During the autumn we were kept busy in the vineyards. Our new planned vineyard behind the farmhouse, and the smaller one just along the road, have undergone the major earth shifting required to remove all the vegetation and roots from deep within the ground. The snow will be very helpful now in further breaking up the ground, and then next year in the early Spring it will be ready to be finely ploughed, in preparation for planting the new vines during March. Whilst the heavy digger was here, we also took the opportunity to renew the drainage ditches which run around the perimeter of the chardonnay vineyard, as these are vital for carrying water away when we have a storm.
We continue to enjoy our exploration of Piedmontese wines. As we approach our third anniversary here, the diversity of choice continues to amaze us. In September at the Acqui Terme “Festa of Festas”, in the cellars of the enoteca, we discovered albarosso, a powerful and complex red wine. It is a fairly common practice for winemakers to blend wine from different grape varieties together to obtain a particular effect, with albarosso the ‘blend’ is fixed genetically as this grape is a cross between the nebbiolo and barbera varieties.
More recently, we were introduced by one of our wine-making friends to timorasso. This is a local Piemontese white grape from the hills around Tortona in the province of Alessandria. At one time the limited extent of its growth almost led to its extinction, but in a similar way that the arneis grape has recovered popularity in the Langhe District, timorasso has now found several exponents of its charms and seems secure. Although hard to find, timorasso is a full-flavoured medium-dry white which, unusually, improves with a little ageing.
William is gradually developing his web design interests, working now not just with us but for a local property start-up, a holiday villa rental site and a firm of accountants in Birmingham. He has more work coming in the near future from a venture capital business in Cambridge and an international architect.
School life continues for Edward and Oliver, subject as always to Saints’ days – there is another one next Monday. As I write this Edward is recovering, no doubt, at a sleepover following the “scuola discotecca” held in a local night club and is more of a rave with bouncers and no teachers, a far cry from our school disco’s. This term he visited the northern boundaries of Piedmont and amongst other places, the fantastic Fenestrelle fort.
Football has not been as successful this year as last, due to a change in coach and he is now thinking about returning to playing rugby locally which could be interesting.
Oliver’s trip will take place in March when he will visit Urbino in Le Marche (which we love). Last March he had his first taste of skiing which he showed great promise at, and we hope the opportunity will present itself again this coming year. This Autumn Oliver has also found another hobby, taking bicycles to bits and reconfiguring them, and with a little help and advice from our builders at some of the tricky points he has managed to build a mountain bike.
As for the two of us this year we have continued to learn new skills from felling trees and the best place to store logs (facing south to catch all the sun, so that they burn well after two years), to planting new vines and the fact that bamboo is a worse weed than the dandelion. Next year we will need to learn how to drive the cingolo, plough a field and spray the vines, as they say “all in a day’s work”.
We end this letter and this year by saying thank you for visiting our website, have a tremendous Christmas and a prosperous New Year, and we hope some of you will be able to come and see us in 2009.
