26 Comments
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Cool Beans Expat Club's avatar

I love the way you write, it's all exciting and cannot stop reading!

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Jan Peppler's avatar

Awww grazie!! Sei gentile!!

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RenoQueen's avatar

A house is always many decisions and you just learn to figure it out as you did. Lemon trees will be cheerful. Thanks for the link to the book. I am sure there are many others but Lance Armstrong 's house in Austin was at some point using over 300 thousand gallons a month.

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Jan Peppler's avatar

Hey thanks for your comment! Apologies that I missed it until now. 300,000 gallons of water a month?? That’s insane!!

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RenoQueen's avatar

Np. I don't expect people to see every comment. It's too much.

The funny part about the usage was that he wasn't even home.

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Jan Peppler's avatar

😳 that is some CRAZY fucking landscaping!!! And that’s the nicest way I can say that

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Francine Casalino Laura's avatar

Whole house filtration systems are the way to go. My brother, who lives in Tuscany, has one for his house. They are very slowly being adopted in Sicily. There’s a store that sells all kinds of water filtration systems near my apartment in Palermo. You minimally want to have the under-the -sink kitchen unit for fresh drinking water. That is critical!

Get those lemon trees planted and I will share with you my families limoncello recipe. I also make a mean lemon pasta! 🍋

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Francine Casalino Laura's avatar

I will also teach you my family’s Padre Pepe recipe. It’s Pugliese and made with green walnuts.

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Jan Peppler's avatar

You’re the best!! 💛

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Renee Hills's avatar

Those trees are dangerous and those roots will never give up trying to find your water! Just sayin'...as an Aussie!

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Jan Peppler's avatar

THANK YOU!!! Seriously, I really appreciate your confirmation!!

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Renee Hills's avatar

Yes, we had to cut down a strangler fig (which attaches to another tree and eventually strangles it). This one was only small, but its roots were getting into our grey water treatment system ( we live on acreage and do not have town sewerage services). We cut it down, but after lots of rain a month ago, I see it is shooting profusely, so we'll have to attack it again.

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Jan Peppler's avatar

Oh my goodness! It’s coming back to life after a bunch of rain? OK, that just scares me. Is there any way to keep that from happening?

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Renee Hills's avatar

Cut it again and paint poison on the exposed cuts. Unfortunately. We don't like using poison, but it will be necessary. When you cut yours down, they will probably do something like that too. The roots take up an amazing amount of water apparently. Good luck with it all.

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Jan Peppler's avatar

My husband wants to try salt. He says that’s how Romans conquered the land and salt works just as well as poison. No idea if he’s right but I let you know!

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Renee Hills's avatar

Good luck with it all. You need something to absorb through the root system. Salt certainly has had a big role in Italy's history, so it would be amazing if it worked to conquer this species invader! Like our eucalypt trees - they grow amazing well in other parts of the world and create huge problems!

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Ann H's avatar

I love the idea of the lemon tree.

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Jan Peppler's avatar

Thanks! Or maybe even three! 🍋

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Andrea M Slominski's avatar

Such a puzzle you are putting together and untangling. You are doing an amazing job. Yes, to the lemon trees, and the other one will have to go. Maybe you can have a local woodworker make something for your home from the wood of its trunk to honor its place. Perhaps an outdoor cafe table? xoxo

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Jan Peppler's avatar

OH!! I hadn't even thought of saving the wood! Thank you, what a great idea! The trunk isn't that thick, so probably not enough there to make even a small table but... maybe we can make a bench that goes over the stump. A nice place to sit and enjoy the yard from a different perspective. I'll think on it some more. Thanks for the suggestion!

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Switter’s World's avatar

“Every drop is a gift.”

Everything is a gift. I remember watching a a Hawasir grandfather using a straw to rescue a few seeds he accidentally dropped into a crack in the soil in the Sudanese desert. Every seed was precious to him.

Everything is a gift except for those buried in over abundance.

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Jan Peppler's avatar

Truth. Absolute truth.

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Peggy Weaver's avatar

Goodness. I’ll be thinking more abt every drop of water I use today…

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Jan Peppler's avatar

in the States, it's REALLY easy to take water for granted. You turn on the tap and clean water comes out! In the States, I often times absentmindedly keep the water running while brushing my teeth. We may complain about the "high cost" of our water bill but really... we are so incredibly fortunate. You've traveled, camped, and cabined enough that you have faced this countless times, I know. And then we get home and forget!

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