The season of mellow fruitfulness has passed, the picklings, jams, preserves and chutneys have been made from the abundance of figs, pepperoni and passion fruit flowers. Squashes and pumpkins were used for toothy masks for Halloween, and also baked or cooked into pies. The grapes have been crushed and the must is well fermented. There is still snow on the Apennines that we can see in the distance, and in the early mornings the mists combine with the smell of woodsmoke to cover the lower valleys in ‘cotton wool’. We have just had two chocolate festivals, in Perugia and also Gubbio, four festivals of the woodlands, funghi, autumn and chestnuts at Preggio, Morra, Montone and Gubbio again. Despite all these diversions we are still concentrating on the houses that we are continuing to restore for our clients and also for ourselves. Customers are now starting to arrive and although the price of properties is continuing to increase, as it has for the last twenty two years at some 10 or 12 percent, year on year, there are always proprietors who are still holding last year's prices. www.propertiesumbria.com So it might just be the moment to come, choose, and slap in an offer before the annual increase which always arrives with Easter.

We’ve also now finished our house, and have done most of the work on the swimming pool. Only the mud and mess remains to be cleared away. From Christmas we will be welcoming friends that we haven’t yet met to share our home and our lifestyle here in the green countryside of the Upper Tiber Valley in Umbria at www.lapreghiera.com.