HOW MANY PICKERS DOES IT TAKE.....

To strip an olive tree?







Quite a few, actually- since the trees yield a surprising amount of fruit. Men are vital (especially when precarious ladders are involved!).
You spread nets beneath the trees.....



Which then catch the yield.

















And leave you with crates of beautifully-hued fruit which you can then take off to be pressed into oil.













Umbria is somewhere I've only visited in spring or summer but going there in November was wonderful. Grey, misty mornings - with the growing light illuminating the brilliant autumn colours of the leaves. Nearby we could hear the barking of the hunters' dogs as they searched for wild boar. Evenings were warmed by enormous log fires, toasted chestnuts and delicious stews. We sang (badly) to a beautifully-played piano, slept soundly after so much fresh air and exercise and found the entire experience inspirational. It was one of those times which gives meaning to the term "life-enhancing".