Speranza

11 marzo
Hello everyone. I spoke with our planter yesterday who says tomorrow is the day he will begin putting our strange combination of grapevines in the ground. With the exception of the white grape variety-Pecorino-we should be able to have all the other reds planted within 3-4 days. The white goes in the lower part of our terrain, which is still too wet from the recent rains to access.
I hope to plant the 1st barbatella with Raffaele and will duly send along the photos of the newly planted field.
We recently were given a short article in the Slow Food online magazine and for those who want to brush up on their italian, here is the link: http://newsletter.slowfood.com/convivium_update/14/cu_ita.html#item7_1
I am still waiting to hear from all my friends in the US as to the best restaurant to visit while in Chicago. Some research by me has narrowed the list to Alinea (not sure I can afford it), Avec, Boka, Lula Cafe or Scylla. Thanks for any advice.
My friend Terry from Carrollton is helping me decide what tractor to acquire for Nascondiglio di Bacco as that will be a priority come the Spring. They have John Deere here, which has the best "motore", but also costs more and Lamborghini which is the bottom of the barrel, believe it or not... no drag races after dark with that one.
The big news in the last few days was the Baptismal lunch we served for 24 on Sunday. We served antipasta including cheese, prosciutto, olive ascolane, eggplant, zucchini, and olives I cured from our trees. The primo was timbalo and the secondo was roast pork loin with all the spices from our garden and roasted rosemary potatoes. Then a salad and finally my rum pound cake with whipped cream and rum sauce.
We survived! and everyone seemed to enjoy the lunch. I am still not sure how many lunches for 25 my heart can take.
Bacco is starting to outgrow his puppy stage and act more like an adult which will prove challenging! I have to remain pack leader.
Mowed the lawn yesterday, so think about that when you are dreaming of spring! I have included a picture of what mowed grass looks like.
Sounds like several folks are coming to visit this year from the USA and that is exciting for me. I would love to show everyone this hidden gem in the southern Marche.
Other photos are of Nascondiglio from the back where the pool will be, and hopefully by May, you will see a waterfall from the upper pool to the lower pool where now you see the lawn. Also, this morning i snapped a fruit tree in bloom, our land begging for rootstock, but still unclothed, and finally our work in the front where we are trying to make our little flower garden more presentable with rocks we are collecting from the roadside and fields.
By the way, speranza is hope which is what i am feeling right now about our impending planting dds
ps, having trouble posting the photos today. stay tuned. also got my temp. visa today. one small step for man, a giant step for italia!