Sarah and Mark's activity

Questions Asked

Just wondering if there is anyone living in the Amandola/ Sarnano/ Force area who is not in Italy at the moment and has olives which need picking as we are hopefully going to the press next week.

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 03:55

We are just about to have our gas bombolla filled for the winter and were wondering if we could do a quick survey as last time our gas prices seemed much higher than our friends locally. Have just phoned Golden Gas and the price t

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 04:24

Well who could believe that is is a whole year since Karen found those 6 little puppies in a sack at the side of the road. To celebrate their first year, we decided to have a birthday party yesterday at Lago di Ruffino which was great fun.

Mon, 09/28/2009 - 11:28

Does anyone know why the posts are going on twice when I am only adding them once? Not sure what I am doing wrong?

Mon, 09/28/2009 - 10:35

A good Italian friend of ours had just lost her husband - they live in the UK, so we wanted to send them a card. We have been told locally that Italians would usually send a plain white card with a black stripe on the edge along with a flower.

Fri, 09/18/2009 - 09:43

Just wondering if anyone has recently completed a quote online for Direct Line car insurance - getting a bit stuck on a couple of the questions and was wondering if we could phone someone for help please.

Thu, 09/17/2009 - 06:40

At last, some hope for  94 families from the village of Onna. Homes built and bought by money raised by the Red Cross (so hopefully some of our fundraising has gone towards this).

Wed, 09/16/2009 - 04:59

Can anyone help please.

Thu, 09/10/2009 - 10:54

Jessie loves playing stick in the woods, but really not sure where those long legs and huge ears have come from. Hope we can all get together for the pups 1st Birthday Party - will be great fun!

Sat, 08/29/2009 - 12:14

Comments posted

Fri, 07/24/2009 - 10:28

Totally agree Carole - we got our residency finally sorted out a few months ago and guess what turned up in our postbox today - our TV licence reminder! Just been to pay it - €66 for 6 months and we don't even have the TV connected in our house, only in the guests apartments! PS If there is anyone who could help me phone SKY to change my contract I would really apperciate it as I have now phoned 22 times and still not managed to get it sorted! Must remember to get more Itailan lessons!

Answer to: Hot in Le Marche
Fri, 07/24/2009 - 10:01

Well we have just left the thermometer in the conservatory (in the shade) and it says 66.6oC and I'm trying to do the ironing! It's not funny.  In the shade outside it is 38oC - not that we are complaining of course!

Answer to: Hello
Thu, 07/23/2009 - 11:04

Hi Pauline, Welcome to The Community - where abouts in North Yorkshire are you? we sold our pub/ restaurant just south of York 2 years ago to finally move to Le Marche and have never looked back since. Do hope you can sell your business - it took 3 years for us to sell ours, but we stuck to our plans and got there in the end. Good luck. Sarah and Mark

Answer to: cycle hire?
Thu, 07/23/2009 - 04:40

We bought our bikes over on Ryanair and they charged €15 each way, which was 2 years ago, so knowing Mr O'Leary, this may have gone up abit now. They did however take good care of the bikes and they arrived here in good condition!

Wed, 07/22/2009 - 08:51

Being chefs and always liking to experiment, whilst living in Italy we have become adventurous and  found many uses for Italian ingredients in recipes from other 'far away' lands including: Spaghetti - it makes an excellent substitute for noodles in a Thai stir-fry Piadini's - make fantastic Mexican wraps when filled with homemade chilli (using borlotti beans instead of kidney beans of course) Nastro Azzuro Lager - makes a marvelous light beer batter for your fish and chips Tinned peas mixed with a little wild mint from the garden - make great mushy peas (to go with your fish & chips) You can even fry a bit proscuttio cruto if you are desparate for a spot of cripsy bacon. More recipe tips to follow ...............

Answer to: Patate
Wed, 07/22/2009 - 08:40

Russ how come you always manage to find the interesting beetley things? As far as I can remember, the only thing you can do is to keep getting up in the morning and picking off as many as you can. There is probably some kind of spray you can get (we don't like to use that sort of thing round here), but an Italian neighbour just said to keep picking them off like you are doing. Good luck.

Wed, 07/22/2009 - 08:34

Angie - Don't tell too many people about our secret! Don't want to have to queue to get up the Gola di Infernaccio do we now! Welcome MJJ - sure you will love it - we certainly do and have been coming / living here 8 years now. Enjoy your trip and let us know what you think about our little part of Italy. 

Wed, 07/22/2009 - 07:17

We had our original coto tiles restored and  re-laid when our house was renovated and they were 'supposedly' waxed but if you drop a tiny bit of anything oily on them, they stain immediately and it is virtually impossible to get the stains out. Having said this, they are really beautiful and we are so glad we kept them. The only thing I have found (funny how it sounds but it works a bit)  is to rub a small amount of sand really hard into the oil stain as soon as you can and sometime this seems to get the stain out.   I would certainly recommend getting them treated - have a look at your local builders yard - ours in Comunanza sells a large range of products specifically for the job!

Wed, 07/22/2009 - 05:36

Well there is a fantastic kebab shop in Ascoli Piceno for starters Andrew! They even ask if you would like your kebab 'rosso' or 'bianco' so it is definitely authentic.

Wed, 07/22/2009 - 04:17

EMA to Rome  Well I have just had a look for flights from East Midlands to Rome for December for my Mum to come and visit and can not find anything past October. Do hope these have just not been loaded into the system yet (although I fear the worse) as it would be terrible for my Mum  - she only lives 25 mins from EMA and as she is over 80, it would be impossible for her to get to Stanstead. Any news on this would be appreciated.