Siamo a casa!

...and it's glorious - sunny, warm, and Tuscany is looking remarkably green considering what a dry summer it has been. Montevettolini is heading into the throes of the harvest. Neighbours are harvesting grapes - two weeks early, the tomato plants are looking tired but still producing sweet juicy tomatoes, the zucchinis are jurassicly huge, and the pear tree is so laden with massive pears that it's in danger of disappearing down the bank.

Wild boar have put paid to our plans of wine making this year, having pushed over the vines and chewed the new shoots into tiny pieces. The bunches of grapes that have escaped are tightly packed and juicy though and are not going to waste. Giovanni who has put all the work into bringing the old vineyard back to life has taken the setback on the chin and has extracted promised to build a sturdy fence around his precious vines.

And the olives? Well, that's for the next post.