½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

Morning S&JWe are in pretty much the same position, with about 20 vines, and I have been making grape juice, wash and put in a large pot, bring to the boil, simmer for 10mins, allow to cool and then bottle and put in the fridge. Keeps for about 5days, though never lasts that long.Use diluted or with a fizzy wine.PS. that little kitten is very lively and we may call her Houdini!A

The reason that many restaurants in Italy and by the same token in Marche are closed at present is because the owners themselves have gone on holiday after the big August holidays. They will  be opening again within the next week or so, especially those around us which are not dependant on the tourist trade. But most exhibitions museums etc are open, the festas are going strong, and the "season" goes on really until the end of October. Of course this area is not one of mass tourist attraction, so you wont see the crowds or the tourist buses, rather you will be able to experience some historic and beautiful places away from the masses.A

Hello and welcome to the community, where in Italy would you like to visit if you had the chance?A

Plain cards are the norm Sarah when I was looking, but in Servigliano in the old square there is a shop (from the main front entrance tucked back on the left hand side) which does cards with no greeting, which are hand made with pressed flowers and just about do the job for you.A

All interesting stuff, but some big generalisations, not sure about "most" ½ûÂþÌìÌÃs living in awful flats and certainly in our area of Marche the ½ûÂþÌìÌà health service is fantastic. I could not praise them enough. It is very difficult to compare and contrast the two countries. There are areas in the UK as well as in Italy that suffer from poor local services, crime,ghettoised housing. I guess if you are not living in those areas then life is easier. I would suggest though from my experience that it is better to live with less money in this part of Italy than it would have been in England.We were talking to our guests last night who come from a pretty rural village in Suffolk, but are becoming increasingly concerned re the rise in crime, and do not go into the local town at night due to drunks and the violence that comes from heavy drinking.Its not a country I would be happy to return to.A

I think we have gone totally off thread but sounds delicious, perhaps Jean can give me the recipe, mine always used to turn out like burnt biscuits. Tonight I have cauliflower cheese and mashed potato , with rabbit (the ½ûÂþÌìÌà touch) and veg (all local). Comfort food after a day of pouring rain and thunder...better tomorrow?A 

Perhaps people thought you were being enigmatic michael by leaving it blank?A

Brilliant  Andrew, a good laugh on a wet and stormy afternoon.A

We never had any problems with Fermo when we registered for health cover over 3 years ago. We both have Tesseras for a 5 year period which were dated from the old PDS. What happens after that remains to be seen, hopefully by then they will have unified and corrected their interpretation of the regulations. Well done to Penny for taking this up.A

I just remember his terrible rages when I got it wrong (as ever) happy days!A