WE ARRIVE AT IL MOLINO DI BORDONE ON SEPTEMBER 17TH

 We arrived early afternoon to IL Molino on September 17, 2013.  We were greeted by Caroline and Pino just in front of the lemon trees you see in this picture.  This is our home until around October 22nd.  IL Molino is a restored 17th century farm house and flour mill.  Caroline and Pino have done an excellent job over the past 12 years or so in bringing the property back to its 17th century grandeur.  Most of the original features have been painstakingly maintained.  kitchens and bathrooms through the property have been updated but most everything else remains original. Upon our arrival, Pino's mother (who is 81 and lives on her own about 1 km away) and Caroline prepared a lunch of pasta, chicken and fresh salad.  Here they eat their main meal at noon and have a light meal at night.  We haven't done that yet, but who know maybe we will get indoctrinated before we head back home.  Perhaps that's why everyone here is slim and fit.  I guess they work off the big meal during the afternoon.  The picture above is the entrance to our living accommodations.  There are more pictures of the interior and surrounding property included here.  More will follow in future blogs.

 This is the olive grove to the south of the property.  Later in October we will be picking olives from these trees.  The olives are then sent out to be processed into olive oil.  We are now enjoying last years finished product.  You just can't get this at home.  This is where the second night we were here a guest came to our door and said there is a fire in the grove.  It looked big.  I made an attempt to call the fire department but they did not speak English and never showed up.  It turns out that it was Marco, the hired part time person burning the branches trimmed off the trees.  He later came to the door and apologized for not letting me know he was up there.  Calling the fire department in Italy is interesting.  The man on the other end of the phone thought it was the house on fire but I was trying to tell him it was the woods.  I kept asking Brenda "how do you say woods in Italian".  It was frustrating and funny at the same time.  Just one of many experiences we have had so for here in Italy.  I'll tell you more when we get home.

This is one of the piazza's in Cortona.  Cortona is a hill town with many narrow streets and alleys.  It is also a tourist mecca.  We walked around, no driving there, believe me.  Did the tourist thing and paid much too much money for truffles, truffle oil and a package of ingredients to make Tuscan Bread Soup, one of Brenda's favorites. 

A view of the countryside from Cortona.  The lake you see in the background is Lago Traisemeno.  It's the third largest lake in Italy.  The lake is very shallow and thus the water is quite warm.

 Our living room.  The television is on satellite and gets hundreds of stations, most of which you have to pay for.  The only program we can watch is international CNN and an English news station.  Everything else is in Italian.  I guess we will have to wait to get home to see Jeopardy  and Wheel.

 Dinning room.  We usually eat in the kitchen.  The stairs you see there lead up to Caroline and Pino's apartment.  It's pretty interesting up there.  They have three bedrooms and two baths.  I know because I have to go up there to water the planters outside the windows.  They have geraniums in them: hello, you are in Italy.  There are eight of them in windows through out the house that need watering about every two days.

 This is where it all happens here in Italy.  THE CUCINA. (kitchen)  As you can see it has what you need to cook great meals.  The door with the white paper on it is the refrigerator.  It's small and too cold most of the time.  The freezer is below.  I am making ice in a Tupperware container as ice cube trays are rare in Italy.  Come to think of it so is ice.  I chop it up and put in a plastic bag and use it for drinks and water.  The stove top is one step above a Coleman stove.  It has four burners all hot and hotter.

 This is the porch outside our door.  It is all stone and tile and a nice place to sit, except for the plastic chairs. Out there also is a repeater.  This is an electronic device that boosts the cell signal so we can use our phone.  All the guest come here to use their cell phones.  That blue object you see mid right in the picture is, yes, a cat feeding dish.  We have two cats to feed daily along with the dogs and fish.  In my next blog I have a picture of the dogs.  I feed them twice a day also, and the fish too.

Even though the kitchen is not as adequate as we are used to at home, you can still cook a great meal there.  This is one of our meals prepared by chief chef Brenda.  It consists of fresh sausage from the Coop, peppers, potatoes and mushrooms.  It was done with homemade olive oil and white wine and several spices.  Also a salad with fresh lettuce and tomatoes, again with the olive oil and a small amount of balsamic vinegar.  The bread is delivered to us by a bread man in a bread truck.  He comes three times a week and when he opens the door to the truck, WOW.  Of course the wine is vino locale. I know this is a long blog but I hope you enjoy it.  I'll have more pictures around the house and pool in my next blog along with pictures of Molly and Bianca, my newest girl friends.