The last specks of snow are disappearing here on the very day that winter makes its appearance in the Netherlands and we are treated from all sides to those old-fashioned beautiful Dutch pictures of ice on ponds and canals, sledding people and snowmen in the making. But spring has arrived here and frankly, after a fairly harsh winter and months of snow, we were ready for it. What a treat sitting here under the portico in the warm sunshine with a cup of coffee and that beautiful view of budding nature. That's what we do it for!

However, the nice weather also means that pruning season is upon us and I suspect the grass wants to be cut again soon. Anyway, there is work to be done and Sander prunes and I drag and more and more piles of branches appear in the field. But what a luxury compared to a year ago when our only wheelbarrow got a puncture and so we dragged all the branches piece by piece under our arms or behind us because we couldn't buy anything with only an open supermarket and pharmacy available. Now we have access to several wheelbarrows (with anti-puncture tyres!), a chainsaw, a motor mower and a lawnmower! That I would be happy with such equipment again. It makes our work a lot easier. And we need it because the plan was and is to transform Pian del Nasso into an organic Agriturismo!

Which also brings me to the following; today, thanks in part to you, we were finally able to place an order for trees, shrubs and plants!!! The list includes several fruit trees, such as cherry trees, pear trees, apple trees, almond trees, an Acer, plane trees, tulip trees, as well as lavender, skimmia, lager stroemia, wisteria, viburnum, laurel (too many to mention). What a treat. It gives enormous energy to finally be able to start planting! Incredible, by the way, that tomorrow, 28 February, is already a year since our farewell party in Baarn. How much we enjoyed that day and how nice that we saw and hugged you all back then! Who could have imagined then that we would all be facing such a year.

Since two weeks, the contractor has also been hard at work here again. We are now rebuilding in several places at once. In our own house, for instance, half of the covered terrace, the portico, is being converted into a conservatory. We were missing a space in this house with direct contact with the beautiful back garden. From the bright conservatory, we will soon be able to enjoy the beautiful views and have a place to enjoy the sunshine already in the colder seasons behind glass. The Cascina, the house next to us, will be additionally insulated and also completely repainted by Sander. There will be a new kitchen in the apartment upstairs and the bedroom and bathroom downstairs will be completely adapted, so that disabled people and people in wheelchairs will be able to stay there comfortably. All in all, this means that around 1 April the Cascina will also be ready to be rented out, so for now we only have the Rustico and later the hay barn to go.

After a year of trying, we regret to say that we have not managed to tame the then two abandoned cats. They look so sweet, but despite all our attempts at rapprochement (even the cat whisperers among our friends are unsuccessful), they remain ‘selvatico‘, or wild, unattractive and uncatchable. The latter is especially annoying, as it means we cannot treat them against fleas or diseases. And now if it was just for ourselves, that wouldn't matter. But for our guests, we find that just can't be done. Because the ladies (they can also be gentlemen, by the way: non lo so) together manage to occupy the whole of Pian del Nasso. To paint a picture: their ritual in the morning is to stretch and stretch from the hay barn towards the pizza house for their morning meal. When we put the food in front of them, they don't hesitate to lash out (really no kittens to do without ...). Next, their way is ‘diretto‘ towards the portico to take a nap there, preferably on the cushion of one of our chairs, in the sun. Around coffee time, the ladies (totally ignoring us) walk towards the swimming pool to drink from the water on the cover and then continue sleeping on top of the table in the sun. When the garden furniture at the Mulino is outside, they continue sleeping there. It's cute to see, but because we can't treat them against fleas, etc., anything but desirable when there are guests. How nice it would be if they had a life like this somewhere else, where it doesn't matter where they sit. Fortunately, Nadia knows a good address for them. And with that in mind, a catch cage appears in the pizza house in the place of the food....

Immediately the next morning it hits. We hear a bang and moments later we find the instigator of that sound and I get a flashback from the episodes of Tita Wizard, as there is a totally different cat in the cage. That gets off to a good start. I message Nadia, who does not recover with laughter, but bravely picks up this cat and takes it to a shelter for cats. In good spirits, we start again. We install the cage and again in the early morning a bang sounds! This time there is another strange cat inside. Things are going well! This cat too, thanks to Nadia, ends up in a good place (but I wonder heatedly how many times we have to let Nadia take cats away). The cage is reinstalled, but now nothing happens for days. My guess is that the unknown cats are up and ours are too intelligent. We come up with wilder artillery in the form of tuna and chicken and then, after almost a week, it hits and we have caught our own spotted cat and a few more days later, il gatto bianco. At first, it's pretty quiet without those two. It's now just me, Sander and Dasti. But Sander and I have always said, when we emigrate to Pian del Nasso, we will get a second dog. The fact that travelling to the Netherlands would then become more difficult stopped me at first, but now that travelling is difficult anyway, we decide to go for it. So nice, because Sander and I are now on a list for a Bernese Mountain puppy (hear in April if it worked out) and! for a Norwegian forest cat whose litter is expected in March.’Speriamo‘! Until then, just cuddling goats with the neighbours.