Grape Harvest

We have four grape vines in our yard and even though we were not home over the summer months to care for and prune them, the fruit is abundant.  The grapes have a marvelous flavor, but unfortunately the skins are bitter and they are filled with too many seeds for anyone in the family to really enjoy.  Each day the smell of ripened grapes filters through our window and I feel bad that they are seeming to go to waste.  Thanks to my dad--who is ever full of agricultural advice, motivated me to try to at least make grape juice.  Since the kids had no school today (in celebration of our city's patron Saint) I figured it would make for a good productive project on this gorgeous fall day.

We seemed to barely make a dent in our grape collection, but three hefty bowls of grapes were harvested and enough to get started with...

Thankful to have a large wash basin in our laundry room, we made sure to give the grapes a good washing to remove bugs and dirt...

Then with a gentle pulling the grapes basically fell off their stems with greater ease than I expected...

Another rinse...Then off to crush with a potato masher to release the juices...

After bringing to a boil, they gently simmered for 10 minutes...

Straining came next...

The fresh grapes yielded 7+ liters of white grape juice...

Best of all, the taste was approved by everyone!

We have five days or so to drink the juice or I better start to learn how to make and can grape jelly or juice.  If anyone has any recipes or tips on either, let me know because there are a whole lot more grapes left on the vines!

First Day of School

                           

And we're off on another academic year of adventure here in Italy! We are so very proud of our now THIRD, FIFTH and PRIMA MEDIA (6th) graders in the family.  There were a bit of nerves running through the two older kids over the weekend in anticipation of their first day.  However, we are thankful for a good night's rest and stomachs that could handle breakfast this morning.  And now that the first day is over with, they are all feeling so much better and excited to report that their first day was "AWESOME!"

Luca had no arguments or worries about heading back to school.  He of course led the pack on our walk to school, as is normal.  He was non-stop chatter all the way home about his morning...telling us how he talked about his vacation in America and that his friend Nati saved him a seat and that he didn't get in trouble.  We are so proud and encouraged to see how much Luca has been speaking in Italian since we got back.  The quote of the day from Luca was: "this was the awesomest day of my life!"

                                          

Emma also had a good morning and much relieved that there were no interrogations!  The academics can be tough here, but thankfully they kick off the school year gradually with half days for the entire first week.

                            

Samuel started middle school today and of course they began the assembly to parents and incoming 6th graders by saying that middle school lasts 3-5 years as you can only fail twice.  No wonder these kids get all freaked out before they even begin middle school.  The pressure is on!  Just take a look at the stack of books Samuel has...and he is still missing 2 or 3!  Oh, and here we start to pay for books in middle school with the price tag of what you would expect for college academics.  Crazy, huh?!

Samuel was happy to have three other classmates from 5th grade in his section and is feeling much better having the first day under his belt.  Now off to start his French homework for the night!

Home Again

We returned to Italian soil on Saturday safe and sound. After a scare we might not make it back as scheduled due to an Italian air traffic control strike in Rome, we were so thankful that for us it only meant a 2 hour delay. I doubt others were so lucky at the look of this monitor...

We are home. We are tired. We are grateful. We are happy. We are ready to continue God's work by his grace and strength.