This is also supposed to be about gardening

Wait. That’s not France. Not the Alps.

No. It’s one of those weeks in my life when I get to go on not one, but two holidays.

An evasion. An evade of the garden chores.

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A sumptuous three days on a wine estate in the hills above….

Recognise it?

Siena.

Italy.

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And half an hour outside the city was this amazing wine estate Castello di Fonterutoli. Link to ogle.

https://www.mazzei.it/en/The-estates/Castello-di-Fonterutoli/The-estate/

We were the very spoilt guests of our friends Stephen and Alison who had taken over the estate for the most amazing 60th birthday party bash.

Three days of feasting and fun. That’s Stephen with his wonderful mum Margaret.

I have removed all the 30 guests in most of the shots. But I do seem to have taken an inordinate number of photos of this beauty.

I positively chased the poor cat around the terrace of one of the houses on the estate.

Sadly, he was of the wild cranky Tom rather than the biddable Artur. I had quite a pang of nostalgia every time I came across him in the late afternoon snooze zone.

And in between a walking tour with a private guide in Siena, meals, meals, more meals, walking to the pool, chatting with dear friends and partying… a cooking lesson.

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And a spot of this:

So naturally all I was really thinking was… can’t wait to get back to the weeds.

Err.