What a night.Guarding done. Time for a doze.

A huge hail storm blew up in the small hours of the morning,roaring through the olive groves, rattling the shutters and causing Digby to retire under the bed for security - he spent the night there snoring away happily (and loudly). The noise of the marble sized hail stones pounding on the roof was so loud that even top dog Wilf eventually came up the stairs to sleep on the floor next to the bed. When dawn broke we did a quick tour of inspection to see what damage had been done. It appears that most of the newly planted trees have survived and the only major damage seems to have been to the walnuts which have suffered dreadfully from the cold winds. After a storm and rain the two boyz seem to find a whole host of fresh scents and smells in the fields to keep them happily occupied. They went out after breakfast at six and have been contentedly barking at rooks and foraging in the woods for the better part of two hours. They have now retired to the courtyard for their customary sun soaking morning doze. After last nights storm and the earth termors of a couple of months ago I now understand why the Bible speaks of the terrors of 'earthquake,wind and fire' - sat on top of a little hill in the middle of the Italian countryside civilization can seem a long way away and the links to our past very strong.