Saturday morning was the beginning of a beautiful warm spring day. Not a cloud in the sky, a chorus of birdsong, lucertole (lizards) scuttling about over the terrazza and  darting into shady cracks in the old stone walls.

"Stavo pensando" dice mio marito "perché non invitiamo Claudio e Annalisa a fare un picnic su da noi?

"I was thinking" said my husband "why don’t we invite Claudio and Annalisa up for a picnic?"

"Sì, oggi ci devono essere anche Giovanni e Gabriella" ho risposto

"Yes, Giovanni and Gabriella should be there today as well" I replied

"Vabbè, adesso gli do un colpo di telefono"

"O.K, I’ll give them a ring now"

Claudio, Annalisa, Gabriella and Giovanni were contentissimi (really pleased) to be invited.

"Ma cosa dobbiamo portare?" fa Claudio

"But what should we bring?" asked Claudio

"Non lo so, magari un po’ di focaccia, un po’ di formaggio, e dell’insalata. Poi per il resto ci pensiamo noi"

"I don’t know, perhaps a bit of focaccia, a bit of cheese and salad. Then we’ll sort out the rest"

Gabriella, who lives near La Spezia, went round to the fornaio and bought some tasty focaccia, then to the supermercato for il formaggio.

Annalisa and Claudio sorted out l’insalata and Giovanni le bibite (the drinks).

Geoff, in the meantime, realized that the aia (the old stone threshing area that we use as a patio), where we wanted to picnic, was a macello (mess), and spent a couple of hours moving building materials, tools, rocks, etc. to make it presentable. Then out with the table and chairs that had been stored in the ripostiglio (store room) for the winter.

Ecco tutto pronto! (That’s everything ready!)

Come è bello sedersi fuori sotto il sole di aprile con gli amici a mangiare. C’era persino Mimì la gatta a tenerci compagnia.

How lovely it is to sit out under the April sun eating with friends. There was even Mimì the cat keeping us company.

gli iris nel nostro giardino

Sulla tavola c’era: (on the table there was:)

focaccia

focaccia integrale (wholemeal focaccia)

pane cotto nel forno a legna  (bread cooked in a wood fired oven)

gorgonzola

pecorino stagionato (mature sheep’s cheese)

pecorino fresco (fresh sheep’s cheese)

insalata di lattuga, carote e mele (lettuce, carrot and apple salad)

olio di oliva (olive oil)

aceto balsamico (balsamic vinigar)

due bottiglie di vino rosso (two bottles of red wine)

acqua dalla fontana (water from the fountain)

arance (oranges)

banane (bananas)

mele (apples)

il paesaggio da noi in aprile

…ma l’ingrediente più importante? la compagnia di buoni amici!

…but the most important ingredient? the company of good friends!