Wilf out for a brief exploration in the sun

The day has been the scorcher that it promised to be on our morning walk. Faced with the heat the two boyz have sensibly spent much of the day asleep on the stone floors of the hallway. One of the big differences between Scotland and Italy is the internal furnishings of the house. In Scotland every room was carpeted, wallpapered and curtained. Here we have stone or terracotta floors, wooden shutters and painted or stone walls. The reason for the absence of all those trappings deemed essential in the north is of course the temperature - it would be a rare day in the Scottish summer when the mercury rose above twenty degrees. Here in Italy we've seen the thermometer register forty-two in the summer and it's usually in the mid to high teens at dawn. That's why the boyz activity sessions are restricted to before eleven in the morning and then after six at night - in other words they are allowed out when the sun is past its hottest.

Today we've used the tractor to cut a strip of grass around all the fences to keep snakes and porcupines from getting into the area round the house. As you'll see from the photo taken this afternoon everything in the valley is still beautifully lush and green after the heavy rainfall we had over the winter - in fact it looks more like Ireland than Italy. This emerald colouring won't last if the heat experienced today continues. Within a fortnight the fields will likely segue from green into the first yellows and ochres of the wheat harvest.