I finally managed to take some time to write this article, because we too have our children at home from school with online lessons and all the things we never lack to do at home, it is more difficult than before to organize ourselves with our own commitments. So now I want to tell you how we spent these two months and more of lockdown.

At the end of February I began to understand that the situation in Italy was getting worse and in fact I started to have cancellations for the month of March. On Sunday, March 8th I said goodbye to the last two guests coming from Germany, who told me that when they came back they had to stay for 14 days in domestic quarantine because they had chosen to take a few days of vacation in Italy. This led me to decide to close for the month of March, which I then extended for April and also May.

Initially, I was dedicated to the house, we whitewashed our apartment, I washed all the curtains in the rooms, rearranged furniture, wardrobes and with the steam cleaner I had fun… Obviously all this with a constant undertone of “Mamma, mamma” and interruptions to help Camilla with her homework… a great effort! Luckily, we have a lot of outdoor space so the girls could blow off steam in the garden, but after a few weeks they desire to go back to school and kindergarten, to see their friends again. For those who don’t know us, the girls are very gregarious and are used to being always in company (exactly like their mother), in fact they play with our little guests in the garden or in our living room, where the door is always open.

Hermann, during all this time, continued to work the plantations without ever stopping. Every now and then the girls and I went to help him… one afternoon to plant new apple trees, then other simple tasks such as preparing the irrigation system. At the beginning of April Hermann was very busy trying to limit the damage from the cold to the cherry trees, so for six nights he slept very little because he had to light the paraffin candles. Unfortunately, however, despite his efforts, the cold did its damage… but on the other hand these are the risks of a farmer, it all depends on nature and the weather.

I do not deny that it was a time of ups and downs for me, and it still is. So many things happened: at the end of March my beloved grandmother left us, the social distancing, not being able to be free, seeing the girls who were struggling to accept the situation, being under pressure because Giulia and Elisa wanted certain attentions, while Camilla, being older, has other needs.

I never stopped asking myself, “When can I open the doors to the farmhouse again?” “What am I gonna do?” I’ve continued to keep myself informed, reading often conflicting articles, but I still don’t know the answer. I’m very pleased to receive requests from people who want to enjoy their holidays with us, but I can’t confirm at the moment.  It’s not because I don’t want to open, on the contrary I’d like to be able to do it soon with all my heart, also because in these years we have invested in bringing news like our Natural Spa.

Distancing is not for us, in fact we might have a structural problem, since my family and I live right inside the farmhouse. The front door of our apartment is next to the reception and the girls walk around freely and entertain the guests with me. The same goes for the outdoor space, our garden and veranda is shared with everyone.

I have not yet given up, let it be clear, but there are many thoughts and in the meantime we still have to take care of our farm, which at the end of June sees us busy with the thinning out of apples and in July with the harvesting of cherries. So we must evaluate everything very well and not open hastily.

We are still waiting for the protocol with the guidelines and from there we will decide and understand how to work. We ask for a little patience and understanding! We send you a big hug. Take care!