After this “honeymoon phase” it was time to realise our project: the idea was to open an agriturismo with 4 holiday apartments and to become lavender farmers.
Why lavender? There’s no big romantic story about Nicolas who asked me to marry him in a lavenderfield or a family history of farming lavender or something like that. Very simply put: the “presidente” of the local consortium of farmers came, looked at our fields and said “lavender”. I read a bit about it, it seemed easy enough … and so, lavender it was.
![](https://usercontent.one/wp/www.verdita.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/1-terrein.jpg?media=1681852253)
Next step: the renovations. Until now we concentrated on making nice drawings about our future apartments, but to get all the necessary permissions we had to go through a geometra (if you renovate in Italy, this has to become your new best friend).
I remember our first meeting in september, we were so happy to finally be able to start, because suddenly we realised: Winter is coming … which means hell in a house with no heating (only a small, cracked wooden stove) and an outdoor shower with 1.5 minutes of hot water.
![](https://usercontent.one/wp/www.verdita.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/3-1024x768.jpg?media=1681852253)
I know, I know … how stupid can you be, thinking that starting with the paperwork for a complete renovation in Italy will get you functioning heating and a bathroom before the winter.
So, when the geometra told me no way that was possible, I really had to fight my tears. I must confess: more than a few fell on the way home. But you have to understand: I really, really hate the cold ! I’ve always said that the blood of my Sicilian ancestors is not made for this, and the cold climate was one of the reasons I’ve always wanted to leave Belgium.
![](https://usercontent.one/wp/www.verdita.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMGP2680-1024x768.jpg?media=1681852253)
Luckily, we had a lot we could do to keep us warm and it also helped to channel my frustration about not being able to take a long bath or even shower decently. We’re not very handy, but tearing down walls became our specialty 😀
![](https://usercontent.one/wp/www.verdita.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMGP2746-1024x768.jpg?media=1681852253)