A saharan sunset.

Last night, in the absence of the font of all knowledge, the boyz sat with me down by the pool watching a most glorious sunset - we stayed out until well past midnight playing ball and enjoying the cool air. At this time of the year the winds from the Sahara bring masses of fine red sand which coats everything it comes into contact with. As the sun goes down the light reflects off these dust particles in the air and turns the sky a deep,deep orange colour.Quite spectacular.

Despite the late night we were all up and out by 4.45 this morning to play ball, check on the olives and water the lavender.The rich scent from the lavender as it comes into bloom is worth all the time and effort. We will harvest so much of it this year that serious consideration must be given to getting it sold off to a perfume maker. The large factory in Perugia that used to take the lavender cuttings for scent has just closed down - a sad victim of the recession. This morning for the first time I noticed swarms of light blue butterflies feasting on the fresh lavender flowers.

Wilf has just finished off my breakfast time strawberry yoghurt - there is nothing he likes more than to sprawl out indecorously on the ground and settle down for some serious and concentrated licking of the inside of the carton. Living with two Polish Lowland Sheepdogs is like living with two clowns - their ungainly antics from dawn to dusk make me constantly laugh out loud. The two of them are now on the grass outside with a stuffed toy hoping for some playtime excitement before I head off to the village bar to catch up on the latest gossip.

With the temperatures still rising some more fur was trimmed off them yesterday and attempts were made to give them a thorough grooming which met with varying degree of success - Digby is perfect on the grooming table ( he loves the attention ) but Wilf is a constant fidget and is always trying to get down . The end result is they may not look like pedigree PON's with their hair cut short but at least they are cool in this most un-Scottish heat.