Time passes so quickly here and I wrote this little article a short while ago, when the blackberries where still in fruit and somewhere along the line I didn’t post it. On the bright side it has enabled me to taste the wonderful Blackberry and Basil Jam made from our pickings.
And yes, that is right. Blackberry and Basil Jam. At first I was a little skeptical and the smell was a little unusual but when I tasted it, it was amazing and I have managed to locate a recipe for it too. Follow the link at the bottom of the page.
For several days Brother Andrew had been dropping me a line asking if the blackberries were ready for picking, and although they could have done with another week or so of sun, there were certainly enough black ones to make the trip to the mountain worthwhile.
So we arranged to meet one Sunday afternoon. We are very fortunate that the majority of blackberry bushes are right near to the road and although I wouldn’t say that picking them was easy it certainly made the job a little easier. Of course the best berries were right at the top, just out of our reach, teasing and tantalising us, never to be reached.
Every undertaking at Sensone is always a bit of an adventure, so first we walked along the old goat track from the church at Renaio to our drive, it was a glorious day, the sun was shining and the views down over the valley to Sommocolonia as always were spectacular, even magical.
Sonny and Ollie the Villa’s dogs were loving every minute of it, they had been up before to visit so even before they arrived they were getting excited, so together with our old “vecchio” Jack and Dolly, ran and played endlessly, they all had a ball, the mountains are such an exciting place for them as they rove and sniff every inch of the walk.
Richard met us at the top of the drive with the Jeep, our Jeep has just been so useful and is used for a variety of tasks, from collecting sand and cement, horse food, pulling wood from the forest, transporting the wood to the house as well as taking us up and down the lane each day to name but a few of its daily tasks.
I remember one day Richard meeting a group of Jeeps out for a play and one of them was the European Managing Director for the company who was really impressed and pleased to see a Jeep doing what it was built to do. He even forgave the few dents and scratches along each side. After the blackberry picking there is now a large dent on the bonnet, thank you Brother Andrew.
Richard had loads of office work to do and couldn’t spare the time to scan the bushes, so he took a gentle stroll down the old goat track back to the house, we would join him later for some home made Elderberry juice and maybe even a glass of wine.
What fun we had, although I was the “Health and Safety” officer so I spent my time clucking like an old Mother Hen. I was driving the Jeep as close as I could get to the bank and the bushes. We then used the Jeep to reach the largest and juiciest berries from the top, precariously balancing on the top roof bars and stretching out over the brambles.
Fortunately for me there were no major issues, although the rampant blackberry bushes do not give up their treasures without a few injuries, all of them minor scratches and scrapes. Although Ashleys legs looked like she had been beaten, they were all scratched and bloody. Luckily I keep some alcohol wash in the house and we cleaned them up in no time.
You should have heard the laughter as we rolled around the road, the smiles on the Brother and Sisters faces as they loaded up the bucket with the bountiful blackberries. I don’t know how long we were, but we slowly moved the Jeep down the track until there were no more bushes to forage.
Ending up at Sensone for a little glass of wine or the preferred drink of the day was my homemade Elderberry cordial. I can’t believe how popular it has been and once again I am down to my last bottle, so I still have to make double the quantity next year.
I am already saving the empty wine bottles, although believe it or not when it is just Richard and I at home we don’t drink much wine, Richard preferring his bottle of lager but I think I can still get enough bottles together for next year and hopefully I will have my new utility room to store all my home made goodies in.
It was another glorious day, we sat under our pergola enjoying the sun, and the conversation as always was entertaining and fun. Sunny and Ollie
sat for most of the duration mesmerised by the cat, or the chickens and there was one stage when Sunny didn’t know which way to look as the cat was in front of him and the chicken coming up from the rear.
As always the time passed really quickly and we were once again saying our goodbyes, but not before we had nine people riding the Jeep back to the top of the road. For all my friends who have ridden this ride you will know just how much fun it can be, eh, Joe?
It is always worthwhile making a trip up into the mountains, at Renaio there is a little restaurant/bar “Il Mostrico”, but take heed if you want to eat during the weekend it is always worth making a reservation because it is extremely popular, and they have on occasions had to turn people away. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday Luca makes just the best pizza’s in the Barga area.
Even further up into the mountains we have the Vetrica a refuge and restaurant, a great get away from the heat of the city, and with the impending “heatwave” (I did say I had written it a little while ago – there is no heatwave at the moment) approaching it could be a great opportunity to visit us and see why we choose to live in these wonderful mountains, and try a little of the living on top of the world.
Recipe for the blackberry and basil Jam here
Article by Sensone -, all of the Sensone articles can be seen here