Here are some shots of our olive picking efforts a couple of seasons ago at our place in Italy. Our good friends and neighbours, John & Christine, Fred & Barbara, very kindly turned up and helped us enormously that day and we collected a couple of cwt of olives which was turned to beautiful olive oil by the end of the day. Happy memories.
Now it’s olive season again. Fred called the other evening to see how I was and whether we might be getting out there for the picking. With my chemo only just resumed I’m not sure if I’ll get the opportunity to be honest and it’s making me feel a little blue. Undertaking the olive picking in the lovely autumn weather and celebrating the new season’s oil with some great food and wine with our friends is one of our great loves about Italy. It’s as near as we’ve ever got to the dolce vita. Today I took a picture of the few olives which have grown on one of the two young olive trees on our balcony here in SW London. They have turned purple and are ready for picking but we’d get less than a tea-spoon of oil from them unlike our usual dozens of litres. Ah well it might just be the nearest I’ll get to the olio factory this year – here’s the picture of the extensive harvest and the factory ‘lads’ back in Italy waiting out for the olivi di Paulo and the finished product we might not have sigh…
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Pasta Paulie 
Oh indeed, what glorious days, and what super olive oil. C and I hope to get out to Italy in November (in between hospital appointments and moving house). We may be able to pick your olives for you if we make it. Hope things are looking up for you now and that the infamous chemo hasn’t caused any more hair loss. Thinking about you always. J and C. PS who is the good looking guy pushing the wheelbarrow??
Hey hi John
Great to hear from you. So you’re moving house? Must catch up; would be great to do it in Italy. Couldn’t expect you to do the olives – the garden will be like a jungle mate. I’m on a new regime as from Monday which I hope will be less problematic. Too late to save the hair though I’m afraid J. Sorry to hear you’re also keeping the NHS fully occupied; it’s such a dispiriting process eh. Much love to Christine and as for that guy with the wheelbarrow, he’s un uomo buono!
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Come stai questo giorno ? Great photos Paul, thanks for sharing them
Hi Lorraine
Thanks for stopping by as ever. Io non troppo male. Just realised that that looks like ‘one stroppy bloke’ in Italian which isn’t a million miles off the mark!
pp