Here's the cieling of our kitchen. Well, every room has this cieling, it's tile, mortar and wood, very new with old old tiles and just re-done.
Graham is making a veal ragout in our kitchen.
The farmers all around us have dairy sheep, Tuscany is famous for its pecorino toscana, one of my very favorite cheeses, which they make with sheep milk.
Here are some crossing the road.
This load of rolled hay was being pulled by a very large and very new and very expensive piece of farm machinery. The owners of La Casina told us that years ago, the Italians were trying to move this area back into agricultural production, so they basically gave land in 100 hectare (whatever that is) parcels to Sardinians to farm it. Now the Sardinians have been selling off the ruined stone farmhouses that were on the properties, with 4 or 5 acres around them, to the British and Americans, who are turning them into vacation rentals. Or just moving in. It's a big win-win: The farmers are pretty rich, agriculture happens beautifully, and we get to stay in these gorgeous spots.
Hawk found out why the grape vines have so few grapes on them, and only on the bottom. The farmers trim the leaves carefully to preserve the perfect ratio of leaves to grapes, and the grapes at the bottom are protected a bit from the sun.
We decided to finish off the refrigerator instead of going out. We had salamis and cheeses, Graham's veal ragu with penne and grated parmesan, a salad of lettuce, radicchio, herbs and tomatoes from the garden, and chocolates, peaches and grapes for dessert. This picture is a gift from the sky to us on our last night.