The current baltic weather here in Umbria, and covering of snow put us here at Bellaugello Gay b&b in mind of taking a sauna.

Last year we created a panoramic deck and imported direct (well actually via France ‘cos they do not sell them here in Italy) from Finland a wooden building in which there is a sauna, heat being provided by a log burning stove.  The sauna arrived on a humungous pantechnicon and took four of us four days to construct.  Being Finnish the kit was perfect, once we understood the instructions it was simple to construct and every piece was precise and well engineered.  Soon we were enjoying sweating in the dry heat of the sauna.

Well now we have snow and the sauna is THE place to be!

Yesterday afternoon once again the stove was filled with wood and lit and we waited for it to come to temperature..

And then the delight of running through the snow covered garden down from the house stripping off, and getting into the intense dry heat of the sauna,  pouring fragrant water on the hot rocks, working up a real good sweat, and then…… well it HAD to be done…. a quick dash outside and rolling in the snow….

Luckily there is no photographic evidence of this foolishness, yes it is something I have often talked about, indeed something I have long thought about experiencing, but I discovered it is something I am just not cut out to repeat, In no way am I Russian or Finnish or Scandinavian at all, I now even doubt my northern european antecedents ….  Yes rolling naked in the snow is invigorating, yes there is a rush, yes it certainly cools you down, yes the snow was soft and dry on my skin, yes it must be done on exiting a sauna when there is snow on the ground, but boy oh boy is it cold brrrr….

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I couldn’t get out! there was no way the car would make it through a meter of snow up on the hill above Bellaugello Gay Guesthouse, here in snow bound Umbria, central Italy.  Although the snow is not particularly thick it has been wind-blown and as you can see from my last post the road has impassable.   A phone call to Francesco, a good friend and neighbour with a pioneering spirit and rugged tractor and he soon made away with the snow allowing me to head for the nearby town of Gubbio. I am so lucky here in Valdichiascio, I have wonderful friends who look out for me and in a crisis are always keen to help.

I hardly remember seeing the shops so devoid of produce, it was like late on Christmas eve, shelves empty, no choice whatsoever.  Hardly surprising when you consider Rome has experienced its biggest snowfall in 27 years, the capital is under a blanket of snow, temperatures in Torino and Trento reaching minus 30˚ autostrade and airports are closed, trains if running are all desperately behind schedule, it is an unbelievable amount of snow.  We have been putting crumbs and seeds out for the wild birds.  Unlike wild birds in Scotland they have not touched the string of peanuts, locals inform me that they are more used to being given dried pasta, so the windowsills each have a liberal sprinkling of grattini 113, the tiny pasta I sometimes use for broth, let’s see what happens.  I have been keeping the pumps running on the swimming pool, thin sheet of ice form, but is easily broken, and when the pumps run the water expels the ice, I have drained all the pipes in the garden, come the thaw it will be interesting to see which one I forgot!

But today I woke to blue sky and sunshine, yes there is still snow, and it is beautiful, very beautiful, and as it melts it will help us with our summer water supply, six months from now I will doubtless be writing about drought!

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Here at Bellaugello Gay Guesthouse in Umbria, Italy  the fires are lit, the heating is on, there is food in the larder, the sauna stove is burning merrily and there is yet more snow.

I did think to go shopping this afternoon, sort of planned to be one step ahead in case we got blocked in here over the weekend, well it seems I have left it too late, the road is buried under nearly a meter of drifting snow!

Jenny and Milo are having such fun, they simply adore the snow, as indeed do I, and let’s face it the wine cellar still has some decent bottles of Sagrantino di Montefalco, there is dry wood for the fires, so perhaps it is time to stay at home and diet, however I have called Francesco my neighbour who has a snow plough and he is on his way so I will be off to discover what if anything remains in the shops in Gubbio!

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Warm and cozy all night, we awoke a blanket of snow covering the Umbrian hillsides

All of a sudden winter is upon us at Bellaugello Gay Guest House.  The dogs are in paradise, Milo and Jenny love the snow and they will be begging us to wrap up warm to take them for a snowy walk in the valley.  We will compensate with a lazy afternoon in front of a roaring fire, and tonight a hearty dinner, maybe hand-cut pasta with a ragù of cinghiale (wild boar sauce), and just perhaps before dinner, as the light fades a trip down into the garden for a sauna, but will we be nordic and roll in the snow?  Hmm……

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This afternoon snow arrived, Bellaugello Gay Guest House is blanketed in white, an excuse to light the fires and open a decent bottle of the exceptional local wine, Sagrantino di Montefalco, and snuggle up for a romantic evening

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In blogging I have an unwritten rule that I should be always cheery and positive, but then why? life is not always cheery and positive and when sometimes I really do not feel that way I need to let off steam so here goes with another rant.

I do not like paperwork at the best of times, let’s face it who does?  However it has to be done.  Here at Bellaugello Gay Guest House it is like any other business, forms to fill in and returns to make and statistics to email.

I spent the day on the computer.  In amongst frustration of work, aimlessly wandering between Skype and Facebook, where one Italian friend commented on the chilly weather now coming into central Italy “Ma un muro tra la siberia e l’europa no eh?…” which made me chuckle, especially when a friend of his accused him jokingly of being a racist

What did not make me chuckle is the waste of time in sending off statistics for yet another government department.  I fill in a form of my own design, (for there is no standard issue form) and send the form off to the relevant office where they manually transcribe the data onto another ‘master’ form, which is probably then transcribed again at head office. What a waste of time, and talk about jobs for the taking…..

I suppose my lack of sense of humour results from being let down very badly by someone who I trusted, inevitable I guess, I can be a bad judge of character, and I HURT  and that is not the best thing to happen when cold winter is fast approaching and yucky paperwork is mounting up.

Thank goodness tomorrow is another day…..

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Today at Bellaugello Gay Guest House it was yet another glorious day.  An overnight frost soon lifted and the sun has shone brightly all day.

After a couple of days at the computer I took the opportunity to work outdoors and, although wrapped up warmly, felt the restorative heat of the sun.  Later this afternoon the dogs were nagging me for a walk.  Inevitably they win, so off we set on one of the delightful dirt roads that weave their way along the valley through beautiful Umbrian countryside.

Naturally neighbours and friends on their way home from work or shopping in nearby Gubbio passed in their cars, some stopped for a chat.  One was a local estate manager who was decrying the lack of rain.  Indeed, the spring here at Bellaugello Gay B&B has all but dried up, not normal for this time of year.  Looking back on photo records I see that this time last year the river Chiascio had burst its banks and the fields below in the valley were flooded.  Tito is right, it has been unusually dry this past 14 months we desperately need rain.  Odd to think coming as I do from Scotland that I could be wishing for rain, but the thought has crossed my mind.

In reality I much prefer the prospect of a month of snow, then the Sauna will be perfect!

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Last week I was invited by my dear friend Sabrina to visit a new spa and wellness centre in Gubbio.  Many of the guests at Bellaugello Gay Guest House  will know Sabrina the former owner and delighful host of Bargello restaurant in Gubbio (-the one that serves those divine pizzas).  Anyway she is now in charge of the hairdressing salon in the new wellness centre.

The great news is that the centre is fabulous, and we are working together on a series of wellness, relax, spa packages exclusively for guests here at Bellaugello Gay B&B.

In addition to a package of private use of the Hammam, dry Sauna, Jacuzzi and Relaxation room our intention is to offer guests the option to add on a selection of treatments; facials, massage, waxing, shiatsu and aerobics to tailor make a pampering time for our guests.

I am going for a trial session next week and waiting on photographs, and still putting the final details of our wellness packages together, but thought to give you advance notice, so in the meantime drop me an email and I will put you on the mailing list and tailor make a wellness package for you and your man!

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In the end the lemon dinner here at Bellaugello Gay Guest House in Italy, last Saturday evening also featured other fruit; a creative artist decided to extend the fruit theme with designer fruit place cards, using green apples bought that morning from the farmers’ market in Gubbio.  They looked so chic,  (if somewhat messy in the preparation) with the chocolate writing, and we had such fun deciding the seating plan.

Definitely to be repeated!!

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A spectacular sunrise this morning in Umbria, Italy as seen from my bedroom window at Bellaugello Gay Guest House

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