No prizes for guessing which of the two brothers is the smartest.

The marvellous cleaning lady is due to arrive in quarter of an hour. In readiness the boyz beds have been collected up from the floor of the hallway and piled at the front door to be taken down to the laundry room for some heavy duty steam cleaning. On my way out to the bar to pick up copies of the Corriere and Herald Tribune I happened to note that Digby has managed to make himself supremely comfortable and is sitting on top of the piled up beds directing the households coming and goings. This is the canine worlds Roman emperor approach to life. Wilf seems happy to stretch out on the terracotta floors - not that he has any option. No prizes for guessing which of these two boyz is the most intelligent. Brain over brawn.

Autumn has arrived. It's not cold (24 degrees at seven am ) but a wind has sprung up and the blue skies have given way to grey cloud. The rain which I forecast failed to arrive yesterday so I confidently predict that it will come today!