Good food, good weather, good wine

Now I'm writing from Florence. We're here to pick up the next set of guests who are arriving at the villa today--Todd & Marge Evans. Faith & John Burgess left today, somewhat reluctantly, I think. They grew used to the relaxed pace of life in a villa.
The other night we had a special treat. The house next door to our villa is a winery. A very small winery that only puts out about 1,000 bottles a year. But what a great production it is. We tasted all the wines that they make; one white and two reds. They also make a vin santo which is particular to Tuscany, but he didn't have enough bottles left for us to taste that. They also press olive oil at the winery and we had a taste of that too. Riccardo, the winemaker, is quite passionate about his winemaking and it shows. The wines were excellent.
We've visited a few more markets too. The best so far has been in Tavernelle, the town right next to us. It wasn't crowded and had a fair number of sellers. But it was the usual stuff they were selling: food, clothes, housewares, etc.
The weather has turned really nice. We're lucky--sunny skies,warm temperatures, etc. It's beautiful.
We also had a special treat last night. Lucia, a local cook, came and cooked a several course meal for us. And she did a cooking class that three of us took, including me. It was very fun. We made beef in chianti sauce, sweet & sour onions, mushroom pate and chicken liver pate, homemade tagliatelle and sauce and panna cotta for dessert. The panna cotta, which is a gelled cream dessert, was extraordinary! Everyone loved it.
I've adjusted to the time change really well, though not everyone has. Marilyn's son and daughter-in-law are here and are having a terrible time adjusting. I guess I'm just lucky. I got into my schedule right away. Maybe when I return I'll pay for it.
Thanks for reading.
Gerry