Flowers and champagne!

I promised this post a couple of weeks ago, and its been in the pipeline forever (hey, fermentation requires patience) but this morning I curiously popped a cork, and we have bubbles!

So it started years ago after seeing a spring episode of River cottage, a funny british show about living in the country and growing your own. They made it, so I filled this away to try myself- Elderflower champagne.

It took me a little while to work out that Elderflower is sambucca in Italy, and yes, that black alcohol that I threw up everywhere on my 20th birthday comes from this plant.

We have it in abundance down near the river, looks like this:

There's a terribly creepy wooden shed down there that I hate to walk past, it makes me remember all the slasher/supernatural/vampire movies I've ever seen. Even in a big group of people it gives me chills. I half expected the photo to turn out with some ghostly shadow across it. Didn't happen.

So I took the flowers home and followed the recipe, soaking them in a (very clean) bucket with water, sugar and lemon juice. The flowers, it seems, bring their own yeast.

After a week I strained it, a week later bottled it, and then... nothing. Alas there was no fizz, which meant no champagne and therefore no blog post.
My four bottles of fizzlessness sat around for a couple more weeks, until this morning. I got bubbles!
So heres my elderflower champagne:

Problem now is, I can't stand the taste, after smelling it ferment for weeks. Aperitivo, anyone?

Walking

I was walking near home the other day and snapped this picture of the stream at the bottom of the hill.

Since, though, we've had only thunderstorms, hailstorms and buckets of rain. The river in Florence looks set to flood, and this little stream is probably an impassable and trecherous raging torrent.
See what I'm doing here? Baby steps.

Monday flowers

no use pretending, I have totally fallen off this wagon. Somewhere in February I said I would post 3 times a week (!) and that I would do what I said I would do (rubbish!)

Truth is, I've started working with the lovely Sophie at the 500 Touring Club, www.500touringclub.com, running our own wine excursions into the Chianti Classico area, and keeping on top of 3 beehives, among other things, and it seems in February i lost sight of how hectic May can be. I would probably had skipped this week altogether if not for Giulia asking where the flowers were. Thanks Giulia. It's nice to be missed.

Enough excuses, I do have flowers for you, these are a wild hyacinth growing down amoungst the olives, paired here with some wild fennel fronds.

With everything going on, I have found time to put together some elderflower champagne, so, other work permittting, and depending on how the champagne (using the term very loosely) turns out, next week I'll do flowers and recipe. (And there I go overcommitting again)

Friday Flowers

I confess that I have completely fallen off the wagon with the whole blogging thing.
Internet problems, stolen computers, too much real work, all very good excuses.

Today i've a couple of pictures that I snapped down the back field, where the poppies have taken over with all their glorious colour.

Aren't they pretty? There have been many exciting and blogworthy things going on lately- wine excursions! Vintage car driving! New bee queens! Hives full of honey! Elderflower champagne! There's also been some relaxing in the spring sunshine and thats not too bad either.

I'll find my blog mojo around here soon and share more of these things with you. Maybe. if you leave me a message.

Friday Flowers- Roses for my Mum.

Hello!
After last week's debacle I'm pleased to be posting Friday Flowers on a Friday and not a Tuesday. And I'll totally let myself off the hook for not posting anything except friday flowers for a while. It's a busy time here!

Sunday is Mother's day in Australia, not here in Italy though, and so today's flowers are dedicated to my Mum.

Sandra bought this rose last year and it's taken off, somewhere between a climbing rose and a carpet rose it seems. I never was much of a rose person, but that's changed. I love their colours, particularly yellow roses, and their perfume.

Did you know bees don't care less about roses, actually, when it comes to red roses like this one they can't even physically see them! There you go, you've learnt something new. And you thought you were just wasting time on the internet.

My Mum has a lovely rose garden, when they're not being eaten by the kangaroos. I have the idea that their are almost constantly in bloom there, which can't be true, but she's always had great roses.

There you are- today's flower is roses. Love you Mum.

Tuesday Flowers (Whoops!)

I really let things get away from me this week. You know how it happens, you let one day slide, and then missing a second day doesn't change much, and who really reads it anyway....

I started blogging not just for people to read it (if you do, leave me a message!) but also to document my own passing of the time, the seasons and the changes that happen around my house.

Such a big week in the world too! Who really cares if the Acacia is in bloom? My bees do, thats for sure.
Acacia is about the biggest event on their annual calendar, and these super sweet flowers are everywhere and overpowering the air with their drowsy perfume.

The species is invasive, originating from America, and can be found along waterways throughout Italy. It yields a really high volume of nectar. You know why? Because it evolved without bees.

Species that evolved along with bees only had to give the bees a small amount of nectar to lure them to provide the service of pollination. Acacia, like Australian gum trees, had to provide more nectare to lure ants and other insects to visit, who were less efficient pollinators. Isn't nature grand?

Spring in the beehive

With all these fantastic spring flowers, things have been really active in the beehive too.
I had one family (from two) survive from last year, and that family has been going strong. A couple of weeks ago i put the melario on (aka the honey super)

Sadly though it hasn't seen any action yet, and I was concerned about a lack of bees in it. opening up the hive it looks as though the queen isn't around, I can't see any sign of her. I can't tell though if bee numbers are down, indicating a swarm, or if she's died. There was a good size queen cell, so she'll be replaced soon enough, but not great for honey production.

Then my two new families arrived, thousands of new pointy little babies!

Lulu helping with the new bees

The families arrive in these white styrafoam travelling boxes and after a couple of days settling in they get transferred to their permanent wooden homes.

A travelling box next to the other beehives

The smoker helps keep them calm

The wooden hive must be in exactly the same position as the travelling box was, or the bees get confused about which house is theirs.

settling in

see how they stick their butts in the air and beat their wings? This spreads the message to their sisters that this is their new home. 

Here they are, all home and hopefully happy.

I'm hoping for a decent honey haul this year, the new families need to fill the hive with baby bees first, then they get their melario. They should be happy. They have a lovely view of the valley and are surrounded by flowers. It's hard to hug a bee, but these are my pets!