Category: Uncategorized
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The Alchemist
Having a still and producing our own flower waters and essential oils has been a longterm goal. We first wanted to plant and develop lavender when in Te Horo (New Zealand) some 30 years ago. Now that our lavender plants here in Tuscany are more mature it is time to master the skills needed. This…
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Spring 2026 – an evolving floral landscape
Early February The first spring flowers have started to come through, probably helped by the milder weather we’ve had thus far. Yellow is predominant with dandelions (Taraxacum) and buttercups (Ficaria verna). The prurple of the anemones (Anemone hortensis) across the field are starting to develop and the road edges are have daisies and dead nettles…
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Autumn 2025
Year end, and three years going on four in Tuscany. Autumn is coming to an end but you’d not think that we’re approaching winter. The grass and wild plants are still growing as though its’s spring. Autumn usually becomes greener following the heat of summer but this year growth is phenomenal. Fields have grass knee…
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Summer 2025
Unbelievably it is August. A year with some challenges but we’re still progressing with Cincina albeit at a much reduced pace. Nick’s health has not been the best so we have not been able to get alot of the physical work progressed as we wanted to. It has been so good to have Jemimah here…
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A Scandinavian mini tour.
The Aurora Borealis Part of everyone’s ‘bucket list’ is the northern lights so that was our March adventure. We had thought of December/January but the prospects of 24 hours of darkness was off-putting. And mid March has proven to be a good choice. Decided to base ourselves in Tromso. Well into the Arctic circle but…
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Winter 2025
Wet ,warm and then cold It might be the end of February and with the days lengthening, everything is starting to grow. Early part of winter we had little rain, but the last few weeks we’ve had some heavy rains again. The ground is soaked, the cistern and well are full. With the level of…
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Menton
Although our blog is “Tuscan Adventure” we do venture further afield. Switzerland and France especially the Cote Azur are only round the corner, up past Genova and keep heading west. Last week we decided to visit Menton, just along the coast from the Italian border. And with good cause as they currently have their “Fête…
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Autumn 2024 – Unseasonably wet
A belated post at the end of our third year at Cincina. Almost too hard to comprehend how quickly time has passed and how settled we feel here. Progress has been slow this year as Nick has not been able to be as active as he’d want to be, nevertheless we are moving forward with…
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Mid Summer 2024 – and it’s hot.
Heading towards the end of summer now but out there it has been hot and dry. The month is punctuated by the noise of cicadas that start at first light and go all day. The earlier part of the month this was complimented by the buzz of two stroke engines across the valley but now…
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The start of Summer 2024
Summer and a very different June than we’ve had to date. Whereas in the prior years the weather had already become hot and dry, this year has been cooler and wetter. Well, actually more like the historical average temperature ( only 2 days above 30C). As a consequence the land looks very different this year. …