Honestly, that’s all I said! Little did I know that Buffas would gladly interpret this as an invitation to help us with our gardening. I mentioned Mr and Mrs Buffa in a previous post and I cannot stress enough how dear these two have become to us and I believe the feeling is mutual. I remember my Dad telling me the great advantage of not speaking a language that well – people will love you because all you can do is listen and nod politely whereas they can go on and on….
Last year Buffas helped us harvest our olives and now…for the first time we are actually enjoying our very own olives. So cool! Anyway, the last two days Mrs Buffa and I trimmed all the roses and other trees and plants. The previous owner, Signora Fiori (Mrs Flowers) did her name justice and planted flowers and trees everywhere. 
Mrs Buffa really does not like having her picture taken. But anyone who visits Casa Passero on a Thursday will be able to meet her and her husband.
They took care of the house and garden for 20 years so they don’t plan on letting any foreigner ruin their hard work due to lack of knowledge. I guess they still consider it their job and we could not be happier with the help and advice since our fingers are just beginning to turn a pale shade of green. We learned alot so far that’s for sure.
Beppe 70+ years and seldom without a cigarette. But still going strong as you can see and trimming the kiwi.
In the meantime Bert has been working inside the house, or to be more specific, he equipped our first (of three) holiday apartments with a kitchen! We still have some work to do before we actually consider the apartment ready, but alot has been done and we are very happy with the results so far.
We are waiting for hinges in order for Bert to put in the door on the left, behind which the refrigerator will be installed. Gas has been connected by a very nice local guy called Ivan, so now you can cook!
Still not that warm yet but we are getting there. It’s a matter of days now before our bare trees will be unrecognizable.