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May has arrived but you wouldn’t guess it from the weather, as I sit here damp cold and pretty fed up. Liz has just reminded me it is not actually that cold, so it must just be me being my usual self “a wimp” but I will still stay inside and wait for some sunshine. Most probably one of the best days during the past month was the  24th of April, which for Sara our neighbours daughter was a god send, as this was her wedding day and one of the biggest events that will happen in our village this year. The sun shone down all day which has been rare lately; there was not a breeze, and the temperatures were warm and kind, in fact a bit like some of my ideas on life here straight out of a story book.
The fairy tale continued for them as the families gathered at her family home, they do have a large extended group on both sides so the total number of people gathered was in excess of 300. There was a pre-wedding drink and snack laid on while everyone waited for the bride to appear, and when she made her entrance with her father they must have been proud parents to walk to the church with such a beautiful daughter and bride.
The church was just a few step s away which helped as it is only small and most of the guests had to stand outside and pass the next hour in the pleasant sunshine until the ceremony was over. After pictures and endless congratulations, we then walked back to the house for yet more drinks and food, followed by a giant procession of cars to the main reception at a large banqueting suite close to the coast.
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After our arrival at the reception following a slight detour when we attached ourselves to a group with no sense of direction, in fact we remarked about another wedding party going the other way, they WERE our group going the right way. That wasn’t the end of the day or surprises for us, we went into the hall looked at the  plan and headed for the guest seating area and settled down. Not for long though as we were immediately gathered up and told we were not in the right area, we were escorted to the family table and treated as family for the rest of the day. Now I have to say we now feel as though we do belong in our adopted Italian lifestyle, and even if the weather is not as warm as it should be our adoptive ” family” certainly are. Finally if you want to see a wedding the way it should be almost a giant family gathering, a party, and two people in love taking their vows all on the same day this is the way it should be done.
There is one other really important event to come this year, in fact it is only two weeks away on the 15th and 16th May this is our local festival. Let’s just hope the weather is as kind for this event, as all money raised is for the church and village upkeep. So if you find yourselves anywhere near San Venanzo that weekend please do come along you will enjoy great food and on the Saturday evening some good music, we have been asked to invite as many people as possible because we need your cash. If you can’t make it, I will fill you in the day with pictures and news in my next update in June.
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Among the guests who stayed with us during the past month were four Americans nice people and one of them “Dick” had come to search for his roots. No one knew until he arrived but they were staying in our house which had at one time belonged to one of his ancestors, and the first Italian he met was “Pepe” who carried the same name as another of his ancestors. When they left he had acquired a good number of names and birth certificates, so a pretty good trip for him.
The weather has given us more than our fair share of rain, but that has had a plus as Liz’s Broad beans, and Peas have come on beyond all expectations and we can almost feed the third world with them but instead we will just freeze them for future use. Liz is also trying out a few ”English?” vegetables such as Turnip, Swede, Sprouts, and Parsnips, not sure how they will do or what our Italian neighbours will make of them but it would be good if it works but not the end of the world if it doesn’t. Another plus has been the green and colour this Early Summer, you just could not find anywhere greener or more colourful and the Poppies have a red that the camera just can’t capture and in the past two evenings we have seen our first Firefly’s of the season. 