Saturday December 24th 2022

I love the rural aspect of those photos.

When we decided to leave London and move to Italy (my partner is Italian, from Puglia), we toured around Toscana and Unbria first before realizing we could afford neither!! Also, Unbria is landlocked. So we stumbled on the Le Marche region, (there was a lot of publicity in the UK around 2002 about the region, "the next Toscana", which has yet to happen, thank God), equally as beautiful, in my opinion, but less touristy and much less expensive, great food and good wine. So we bought a derelict old water mill and restored it, pure madness but it worked out. Our nearest town is Cupramontana, about 50 mins from the Adriatic coast.

Can you generate your own power with the millrace?

Buongiorno Tom, no we cannot generate our own power, unfortunately. The mill, which dates back to at least the 1860's (unification), was powered by water diverted from a river (Esinante) at the end of our property. As with many other rivers, the water level has reduced significantly over time.

Buon Santo Stefano!

I see we tipped 5 of the 10 runners in the 13.50 at Pau and couldn’t find the winner. I guess it’s best to get this out of our systems before Boxing Day!