Dog heaven

After their morning walk the boyz were still full of energy and followed me round the garden as I watered the increasingly parched looking plants. The tactic of keeping them up until midnight paid off and Wilf slept solidly without constantly licking his paws. The paw biting must be an allergic reaction as it only occurs in high summer and will disappear again when the weather cools down. My guess is that it's the canine equivalent of hayfever. They are both in the courtyard sprawled out on the cool grass and soaking up some early morning sun.

We went to buy a new lawn mower yesterday. Shopping here is different in one basic respect from the rest of the world. In the UK or the US the shopkeeper is delighted to welcome you into his store and help you in order to make a sale. Here in Italy the store owner will sit behind his desk and glare at you in silence annoyed that his sanctuary is being invaded. In the first store we waited for ten minutes while the assistant was on the phone.When he finished he ignored us. Finally I went up to him and asked if they sold petrol powered lawn movers."No!" came the reply. Would it be possible to order one I asked. "No!". What the service lacked in charm it made up for in succinctness. In the second store we waited for twenty minutes while the staff studiously managed to do everything other than catch our eye. Everytime I tried to ask a question I was told they were busy. In the end we gave up, came home and ordered on Amazon.