A bit frosty here in Central Italy but glorious sunshine makes a winter walk past the olive groves very inviting.
A Winter Walk Past The Olive Groves
The draw of the sunshine and two very excited dogs led to a great walk the other day. After a few dull days with little sunshine, just seeing the sun was heart warming. What was even better, as if often the case with Italian sunshine, it was lovely and warm if you kept out of the shade.
There had been a heavy frost though that had melted where the sun had hit the ground. But several places were still white as if it had snowed.
Not On Our Own
As we walked up the slope outside our house towards the white top road we were going to walk along, we were not alone. Looking behind me, two cats, Lucy and Malteser, had decided to come along with us. It was clear their mates thought they were mad! Scruff, Moonboots, Treacle and Lupino were all spreadeagled in the sunshine, making the most of the warmth. They had no intention of following us.
The dogs, of course, were excited as always. You would think it was their first walk of the day. But in fact this was the third time they had been out. As usual, Spud managed to pee about 20 times on the walk, every time he found something to mark. Ringo wasn’t far behind him, though he has a tendency to shove his head in to sniff while Spud is still urinating – not a good outcome that one. Cue clean up of Ringo’s face.
A Frosty Corner
We were thoroughly enjoying the sunshine. I was just thinking that I was slightly overdressed with two layers of clothing, a thick jacket, gloves and hat. Then we turned out of the sunshine and through the frosty corner at the top of the road. And I was glad I had every single item on! Cold didn’t begin to describe it.
We came out again into the sunshine where we were surrounded by olive groves on all sides. You could see the huge chunks of ground dug out by wild boar in one of the groves. No sign of the boar thank goodness.
Enjoying the View
We stood enjoying the view while waiting for Lucy and Malteser to catch us up. We were able to look back at our house over the top of the olive groves, our nearest neighbor and the mountains beyond. In the distance there was a low lying mist that created quite an atmosphere.
Heading Back Home
Lunch was calling so it was time to head back home. Lucy and Malteser raced ahead of us this time. Spud was still finding a few drops of urine to leave here and there.
We turned a corner and got a lovely view of the frozen pond/reservoir near our house with the old dead oak tree that I have written about before. The building behind the pond is actually a tractor shed full of olive picking equipment.
As we came alongside the tractor shed and looked down we could see our cat Ella sunbathing against the wall in full sunshine. Cats always know how to find the best spots don’t they? At this point Lucy decided she would stop and do some serious washing in the sunshine. That left just Malteser to escort us back to the house.
It had been a wonderful winter walk past the olive groves but it was nice to snuggle up in front of the log stove!
Before you go
My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.
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Thank you for reading!
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