Summer is well and truly here. It's seven o'clock in the morning Italian time and the heat is building up. Wilf and Digby have had their morning constitutional and have now contentedly settled down in the shade of the porch to await the arrival of the gardeners. For some reason the woodland around is full of cuckoos this year and their distinctive call has been echoing around the hills since first light. Why they should be so prolific this year is another of those rural Italian mysteries .There is something about the cuckoos call that makes sleep absolutely impossible.In our quest for an environmentally friendly life style we have been busy planting trees. In addition to the standard fare of oaks, olives and pines we have also added walnuts and to us, wildly exotic pomegranates and lemons. For shade we've put in a huge plane tree to cast its shadow over the front of the house. All of this has required the return of the gardeners to make sure that everything is well staked and irrigated before the dry winds from the Sahara start to blow in June.
