Gala Placidia's activity

Hi Swissfi, and welcome to the community. It will be very difficult to advise you without knowing how difficult it would be to connect both mains water and electricity to the mill. My advice would be to contact a local "geometra" and ask for an estimate before you do anything. Check the price you are been asked to pay against the cost of other properties with all services connected.A couple of years ago we purchased a watermill in Bagni di Lucca, but it was partly restored and it had all the services connected. We only had to do the mains gas connection as we did not want to have bottled gas. To have this connection done we paid about 700 euros with a gas metre installed; however, access was already available and our "geometra" took care of organising everything for us.I invite you to join our "Northern Tuscany" group as members are very helpful.Best wishes 

 Hi Francesca, I watched it last night on Spanish TV. Apparently there are more than 250 million euros in damage plus some 20 people injured. One lady needed surgery. If you do a Google search using the words "TREVISO TORNADO", there is a bit of information, mainly in Italian. Also, I found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9vVtx3EK0o

 Thank you, Yvonne, most interesting. A great help for those with olive trees.

ICI has only been abolished for your "prima casa" and place of residence in Italy, providing it is not a "luxury property". For those of us who only have a holiday home, we still have to pay it and it is more of a nuisance because councils do not send us statements with instruction regarding how much and where (I think it is the post office) to pay.We have made arrangements with a commercialista and our bank so that they take care of that on our behalf. I think that it costed us about 100 euros the first time to get it all organised and then about 25 yearly. It simply gives us peace of mind.

 Ever since the introduction of the electronic passports or epassports most consulates are unable to issue them. I think that in an emergency they may be able to issue a kind of "laissez-passer", but a normal passport can only be issued at certain offices which have the necessary equipment. Our Australian passports used to be issued in London, but now I have seen that our daughter's latest document has been issued in Washington. All these special security measures have dramatically increased the cost of passports.I recommend you to get your UK passport as soon as possible and always try to renew it before the date of expiry. 

The French "roux" may not be, after all, as French as we have been lead to believe. It is a basic thickener and binder made from fat (generally butter, but other fats have been used as it is the case in Créole cuisine) and flour. It is also the base of numerous sauces and the thickener of stews and roasts. All this culinary terminology in French comes mainly from the works of Antonin Carême, the first "celebrity" chef, back in the 19th Century who wrote several books on cooking and techniques. Carême was referred to as "The Cook of Kings and the King of Cooks"; however, he recognised that the French cuisine suffered a big "revolution" when Catherine de Medici married Henry II of France, and, horrified by the French cooking of the time, which was totally medieval and unrefined ( read rotten meat and spices to cover up) brought her own Tuscan chefs to the French court. Catherine loved her food and there were already some interesting books written by Italian experts, such as the "Liber de Arte Coquinaria" by Bartolomeo Sacchi and Platina's "De honesta voluptate et valetudine" This first book had been translated into French and Carême himself recognised in his works that the French Cuisine had an enormous debt to those Italian writers and chefs.This is an area of culinary knowledge that fascinates me and I have done quite a lot of research on the matter as I used to lecture on "French Culinary Terminology"..... although, after what I have just said we could call it "Italo-French Culinary Terminology". If you like the subject, we can further discuss it.

Ticks are extremely dangerous for both humans and pets. Do not try to remove the tick unless you really know what you are doing and you are an expert in the use of tweezers. I was quite good at it when I was living in Australia.... Above all, don't try to apply any products to try to kill the tick. It is counterproductive. Go straight to the doctor or the vet. They know how to deal with the problem. 

 That is what I did and it helped... a bit. I also bought some type of ointment that the pharmacist recommended, but I do not have it here with me in Spain as I left it at our home in Bagni di Lucca, so I can't tell you its brand name. Anyway, it did not help much.....

 No worries, Serge. I am very glad that you gave this variation as the "soffritto" as an ancient cooking procedure and you can adapt it to any cuisine. The "sweet and sour" versions are very old as well and not only Oriental. The Romans particularly liked that type of combination and they used plenty of honey in their cooking. What we know nowadays as the French "omelette" has its origins in an old Roman dish called "ova mellita" which was a concoction using honey and eggs and it was not a dessert. I usually bake fish fillets between two sheets of aluminium foil, just using salt, pepper and lemon juice and topping the fillets with a "soffritto" for extra flavour. Very simple and very healthy. Ideal for those who need to control cholesterol levels and calories.We will certainly share many cooking tips.

HI, welcome to the Community. It is normal to be a bit anxious at first; however, having a lawyer looking after you should make things easier.I invite you to join our "Northern Tuscany" group which will have plenty of useful nformation about the area. And if you have any questions, simply ask. I'm sure that there will be quite a few answers.Best wishes with the purchase and please, keep us informed.