It is mid September and summer is still with us at Casal dei Fichi. It has been fantastic to finally have some paying customers and we want to say a big thank you to everyone who has come to visit us this summer both as customers and as friends. First of all it has been a great relief to see a revenue stream start to flow and we are certainly grateful to have an income emerging. We also want to thank you for your patience in putting up with the ongoing work and various stages of incompletion; be it semi-open-plan bathrooms, drawbridges across the irrigation trenches or the assault course which constituted the route across the deck-in-construction to the pool! Commensurate with which we really appreciate the feedback relating to how we can improve your holiday experience, many of the suggestions were already on our (extensive but slowly shrinking) list of things to do, which is a reassurance, and others have been inspirational. Most of all, however, it has been such a delight to share the pleasure that so many people have had in enjoying this very special part of the world and we are delighted that you have found it such a lovely place to spend your holiday.

So, are we finished? Well that would depend on  your definition of finished but, to most commentators, the answer would probably be: "not quite". We do have 3 apartments which have fully fitted and professionally equipped kitchens, luxury bathrooms and comfortably furnished living rooms with their own outdoor space. The other three are not far behind, the odd bathroom mirror, bathroom door, shower cubicle, door handle etc. will see them done (oh yes and a bedroom in the case of Bramante). And once that's all done we'll finish off our luxury loft (mansarda) abode. But we are absolutely adamant that our grand opening WILL be at Easter 2007, a mere 2 years later than our original proposal, but whatever, we will be able to proudly exhibit our product.

As usual we have had to compromise work at the house with building our social network in town. This year we held the inaugural joint event between the local restaurant "Madre Tierra" and ourselves "Casal dei Fichi." A food, wine, music and football get together in the grounds of a beautiful local church. Since we were charged with cooking traditional British food we decided to do curry, at least one Italian had it for lunch and dinner so it can't have been too badly received? And we were determined to ensure that enough Brits turned up to ensure that we didn't have to go on the pitch - another thank you to all who played.

We have been delighted with the work of our gardeners, each apartment now has its inside and outside space, their work, incorporating the old beams and features of the house, has really transformed the gardens. This coupled with Roger's work on building the deck has given us an exterior perspective of which we are truly proud. This year we have managed to keep the pool sparkling and it has been enjoyed all summer long. Last weekend's harvesting of the sunflowers however did create a lot of dust and spores in the air so we must now put the winter cover on as a matter of urgency.

Covering the pool is a sad event as it marks the end of summer (we're considering having it solar heated next year to extend its use for a few months). Another end of season event is the 'Lu Vurgu fa Cantina' festival when the historic centre of Francavilla becomes a giant party with live music, bars and food stalls and a huge kitchen area. In the 6 years this has been running it has become a huge success, this year was our third and we were asked to help out on the bars which was an honour and good fun.