ADSL wireless wins!

Hi there!

IF you've been following the ADSL thread, you will be surprised to learn that this very post is being produced through ADSL via microwave! There were a few more telephone calls, but yesterday, the boys were here, and last night, it worked!

Also, we got an e-mail from the telephone wire type ADSL people telling us that they would be contacting us in 10-15 days for the installation of their ADSL. We will have two systems, mainly for security of supply, just like the power plant about 7-8km (5 miles) away. They're installing a new gas pipeline (underground) to be able to receive gas from the eastern grid as well as the southern one. Different suppliers, bargaining power, mor secure supply in case of emergency!

Us, too!

Ciao for now (via ADSL @ home!)...

Craig

P.S. If you're local to our neighbourhood, drop me an e-mail or call, and we can talk about the company and how you can contat them.

P.P.S. Stay tuned for the development of our ADSL connection into a complete LAN/WLAN/VoIP system for all the guest rooms! We should be doing this within the next month or so.

The Morning Group changes...

As you may remember, we had a morning group that was designed to take Blondie for a walk each morning somewhere around 6-7 am. That group self-activated to include Delta, our dark grey 10-year-old cat who came with us from France, and Prada, the youngest member of the animal crackers.

After we went through the experience with Prada going up a tree and needing rescue, we had a second similar experience, but this time, Yvette was able to talk her down without a ladder. The cause of the second tree experience was the neighbours’ dog Giulietta, a small, black, terrier-type. This little bitch (excuse the apparent language, but that is an accurate biological description in addition to a social comment) was coming into our house at night via the cat-flap, and eating all the cats’ food. We stopped that by putting the cat food outside on a shelf that the dog cannot reach.

The appearance of Mami and Prada on our scene about four weeks ago also helped solve the situation. Originally Mami had no fear of Giulietta, and in fact has faced her down a number of times. Last week, Blondie and I went for her evening walk, and Prada decided to join us. I was concerned, because I suspected that if Giulietta charged Prada, Prada would turn, run, and probably climb a tree. Again. The first night, I noticed that we were joined by Mami and Delta, the protection committee! And no Giulietta. A few nights later, it was just Blondie, Prada, and I. When we passed the neighbours’ house, Giulietta came out of the house at full tilt! My nightmares of tree climbing in the dark were about to come true! But no! Prada stood there with a stiff straight-up tail, and dared Giulietta to come all the way! Well, I suppose you can guess the rest, but just in case, here’s what happened: Giulietta came to within about 1 meter (a little more than 3 feet), stopped, turned tail, and ran back to the house yipping all the way like she had been severely scratched! With no contact!

A few days later (on the weekend), I was playing with Prada, when I noticed a potentially significant development: “Prada” was becoming “Prado”! What a surprise! Well, we were going to have Mami and Prada sterilised anyway. And it’s less expensive for boys than for girls!

Will keep you informed as “things” develop!

Ciao for now…

Craig

More ADSL stories

Hi there!

Well, the ADSL stories continue...

Last week, we got notification by post from the telephone-type ADLS provider that we would hear from them for installation within two weeks (nothing yet, but it's only been one week more or less).

We also got a phone call from the wireless-type ADSL provider that the antennas had arrived, but that they were swamped, and they would call us the end of last week. Surprise, they did! They now are going to call us again next week - our choice of Thursday or Friday (we said Thursday) - to install! But they will call first. Wow! NOBODY in Italy returns calls and calls voluntarily!

Will report next week, when we will see what happens!

Ciao for now...

Craig

New Website!

Hi there!

There is a new version of our website (Tenuta.info) on-line now! If you know the old website, you will see some of the changes, others are less visible. The most important thing is that the new version will have real-time on-line reservations and payment capability. This is not yet functional, but it should be within a week or so. Stand by for developments! It will (eventually) also be extended to Italian, German, and French versions. We wanted to do this now, but we just had too many problems with the translations.

IF you find something wrong on the website, PLEASE let us know! The email is TenutaCollicello@gmail.com. Thanks for your help!

Ciao for now...

Craig

Summer summer summer!!

Hi there!

Well, we're working into the so-called "dog-days" of summer. Why are they called that? I don't know, but I know that our dog, Blondie, is really not interested in the hot weather. On the other hand, she has never had the opportunity to learn what water (for swimming) is all about. That, for a Labrador, is unusual! Maybe when she learns about water, she'll like summer more? My other retrievers all liked water, regardless of the time of year, as long as it wasn't frozen solid! I hope that we will be able to organise something for Blondie soon; she's missing out on her natural inheritance!

Ciao for now...

Craig

Farming in Umbria

Hi there!

Since we are in the countryside, surrounded by fields in crops, I do pay some attention to what the farmers are doing. It’s interesting to me that nearly all the crops are in now (first week of August) except for the corn (“maize” in UK English), sorghum (“milo” in US English), sunflowers, and tobacco. Not only that, the majority of the fields that have been harvested are now also ploughed under, so we are surrounded by freshly ploughed fields.

And talking about ploughing, the Umbrians go really deep when they plough – between 50cm and 75cm deep (about 1½-2½ feet). To do this, they mostly use tracked tractors (“Caterpillar” is a brand name but is also a pretty widely recognised generic term world-wide, I think that Lamborghini is the second most popular brand around here) instead of the more conventional 4-wheeled type, even with 4-wheel drive. Also, they seem to ignore the practice I’m familiar with in ploughing with the land elevation contours to minimise soil erosion. The fields tend to be ploughed in straight lines and up and down the hills! Have I missed something or are they missing something?






Ciao for now…

Craig

It's BLACKBERRY time!

F L A S H !!!

The blackberries are ripe! Yes! It’s true! The wild blackberries around Tenuta Collicello are ripe! The local Umbrian people (can’t talk for the rest of the Italians) don’t think much of blackberries. They use the same name for blackberries (that grow on vines with thorns) and mulberries (that grow on trees), but otherwise look similar and taste similar. The difference is that the blackberries have much more taste (and you don’t have to knock them out of trees to eat).

Gone blackberry eatin’!

Craig

Progress!

Hi there! Yes, back again. Work is really progressing on the B&B area these days. I’m surprised, because Italy tends to be like France, where the whole country goes on vacation in August. What’s happening this week is really significant: the pool will receive it’s internal lining and the fill around the outside, and the landscaping should be finished – well, not the landscaping is not done but the earth-moving is complete. Then, we’ll get to the gardening to finish things off (well, sort-of, a garden is never finished).

I expect next week to be a disaster; it’s a mid-summer holiday season called ”ferragosto” that runs from the 11th to the 19th of August (at least this year). EVERYBODY is on vacation during ferragosto, even the vacationers! However, the neighboring village of Villanova is having their 20th “Sagra dello Macedonia” from the 15th to the 26th. For those of you who don’t know, “macedonia” is fruit cocktail. I scanned the advertisement for the Sagra; see below. There was one in July in Sciavo, a suburb of Marsciano, for beer (that was great; my beer shop was ignored, no wonder I'm closing it!), and one the same time as Villanova for "primi piatti" or first plates = pasta dishes in Ammeto, a neighborhood in Marsciano. The flyer is attractive and I scaned it also to add it to the entry.

Ciao for now…

Craig

Saturday excitement

Hi there!

Last Saturday, Blondie and I went for our morning 1,5 km (mile) stroll. The main purpose for the “stroll” is to have Blondie (our golden Labrador, almost 2 years old) get some exercise (me too!), and take care of necessary business. Since I’ve been back from my Bulgarian trip, the composition of the stroll group has changed. Now, instead of just Blondie and me, the group has grown to four: Delta, our 10-year-old large (6kg = 13lb) grey cat (whom we brought with us from France) and Prada (a new kitten “orphaned” with her mother on the steps of our shop while I was in Belgium buying beer in June – “Prada” as in “The Devil Wears Prada” – about 3 months old) have joined us on a daily basis! This does slow us down some, because four are always interested in more things than two!

The morning crew at Tenuta Collicello

Saturday morning, Delta was feeling aggressive even before we left. Along the way, we met up with David, our 7-year-old Siamese-style cat, also from France. Delta was unhappy about this, which he decided to take out on David. David, being a good middle-level manager, passed the grief on to Prada. Prada went up a handy oak tree to escape the heat, but David was also forced up the same tree by Delta! David stopped at about 3m (10ft), but Prada made it up to about 10m (33ft)! David, being an experienced tree-climber, made it back down under his own power after about 30 minutes “cool-off time.” Prada was never up a tree before (as far as I know), and didn’t have the foggiest idea how to come back down. After trying to climb the tree myself (branches too small) and to coax her down for another 15-20 minutes, I gave up. I went back to the Tenuta (about 300m = 330yards) to get an extension ladder and bring it in the van because (1) it’s heavy, and (2) since we had a thunderstorm Friday afternoon, it was still quite muddy. I managed to organise this all and got the little one down without additional serious problems. That shot about 70-80 minutes of my day, but created conversation and blog material!

Unfortunately, Blondie missed some of her stroll, but the back-and-forth probably made up for that.

This morning (Monday), it was just Blondie and me again. The end of an “era?”

Ciao for now…

Craig

ADSL again...

Hi there!

We were supposed to hear from the wireless ADSL people on Monday. No contact (surprise?). We called on Wednesday (Tuesday was really busy), and they told us that they were waiting for the receiving antenas to arrive, and it didn't make any sense to spend time making contact if they couldn't install the antenna. Also, since we are next to another client, they knew that we had excellent line-of-sight contact with their emitter. They will contact us when the antennas arrive...

Mmmm... that makes nine (my wife only counts 6 but she ignores the unanswered calls).

Ciao for now...

Craig

ADSL etc. continued...

Hi there!

I don't believe it! Today, we got two phone calls from the wireless ADSL provider (different people) within five minutes of each other. We are supposed to have contact next Monday (that's the only day we have relatively free)! Is there light at the end of the ADSL tunnel?

Ciao for now...

Craig