On Arrival....

  After spending a night in Rome and having the best pizza ever (see previous post), we hopped a train to the station near us in Umbria, picked up our rental car, and drove the twenty minutes to our beloved "Nut". Our home away from home...

  We were greeted by our two furry pals, Nemo and Tiger Lily. 

  They watched as Johnny brought our bag up. 

  These stairs do get easier. 

Silly kitties.

  Below: 

  The view we dream about when we are not actually sitting here on our terrace enjoying it. 

  It's perfect for coffee at sunrise, lunch in the afternoon, wine at aperitivo time, and especially late at night when there is lightening way across the valley, like last night. Bats, too.

  I love to watch the train crawl through at night, too...like a caterpillar all lit up.

  After unpacking and doing some freshening up, we went to visit a very wonderful pal who had planned a little 'do' in her garden to celebrate Johnny and Gudi's birthdays yesterday.

  Lots of proseco, wonderful food, amazing cake. Fun was had by all, and we stayed way past our bedtime.

  It was perfect.

Watching the sunset from one of our favorite spots.

  Still jet lagged, we woke up this morning at 4am. All good. 

  Got to watch the sun come up, and later took this early morning shot from the front door...

We are blown away by all the growth on the trees and bushes.
The olive trees are massive!

 We popped down to a seasonally open fruit and veg farm stand that we normally don't get to enjoy in early spring. Picked up these goodies, below:

Looking forward to using the garlic, especially.

  Lunch fixings include the local tomatoes from the farm stand, arugula, focaccia and a fabulous baked ricotta we brought up from Rome. Oh my god, it's so good. Worth carrying with ice on the train!

I think this will add up to a pretty good sandwich.

Lunch is ready!

Our usual 'lunch with a view' that we so look forward to.

  So what's next?
  Well, after that lunch, it was nap time.
  It's a couple of hours later, and I think we'll go check out the local nursery to see what plants are around this time of year.
  And later...first night of the Panicale Wine Festival. Hmmm.....?