Hot and humid

Over recent weeks the intense heat of summer has continued, although we are now in a more changeable phase - hot weather but with regular thunderstorms, that sometimes bring torrential rain and other times just bang and crash and rumble but without so much as a drop of rain. The storms we've been having of late haven't been the sort that bring any relief from the intense temperature, but rather just make the air hot and damp - a bit like being in a sauna.

The intense heat has almost entirely put a halt on our work around the property. Every morning when it's a pleasant 21C I think "right, this afternoon I will do XYZ", but as the afternoon rolls around and the temperature is a searing 34C or similar, the will to even be outside for more than a couple of minutes completely disappears, let alone the motivation to do anything constructive. The sun doesn't start to disappear from our patio area until around 6.30pm, so until then we find ourselves hiding in the shade and even questioning the wisdom of our decision to buy a west-facing house!!

But of course, once the intensity of the heat is dialled down, the evenings here are perfect - a lovely temperature, not too hot but definitely not cold either - and as we sit in our comfy garden sofa-chairs taking in the view, we are often treated to amazing aerial displays by swifts that swoop low over the garden picking up the evening insects then high up into the sky, somehow managing to avoid crashing into each other. And once the light starts to fade, the swifts are replaced by bats that flit across the dusky sky doing the same thing. Once darkness proper has fallen we are often entertained by the various different owls we hear screeching, hooting and tu-whit tu-whoo-ing (we sometimes even wonder if someone is standing in the trees taking us for a ride doing an impression of an owl, such is the totally classic sound of some of the "tu-whit tu-whoo"s). Naturally, Reggie is not quite as enamoured with the owl noises, and it's never long before his bark overrides all other animal noises!

Summer evening sky.

So, all this is a long-winded way of saying that we haven't done much to report.

We've been busy socially - a Greek meal at our local circolo in celebration of Emanuele's birthday (along with our lovely apartment guests, Jenny and Gordon, and our friends Paul & Kathy and Andrea); a fabulously fun evening at the annual summer Sagra at the circolo in Vellano with our friends Paul & Kathy, Ludmila & James and later in the evening David & Sarah and Donatella too, complete with Irish music and dancing; a long-awaited catch up with our friends Samatha & Mario over dinner under the stars on their roof terrace; dinner followed by a dip in the hot (well, cold) tub at our friends Andrea & Begona's; a curry dinner at our house for our friends Serena & Gianni, as well as various other catch-ups with other friends. A busy time on the social front - somewhat tiring but in a most enjoyable way!

Hmm, the less said the better.

I also had a lovely birthday...

... a delicious fish meal with my lovely husband, the day off work, and an evening sharing a drink or two with our guests - perfect!

We haven't shirked work entirely, in fact quite the opposite - I've been busy at my computer, this being the busiest time of year for my work, spending around 7 hours a day at my desk. And Stuart has worked on our friend Dave's new website and both re-built a set of stairs and laid a new kitchen floor for our lovely friend Sue. While he slaved over the set of stairs on his own (a back-breaking job made harder by trying to do it during the biggest holiday week in Italy when all builders' merchants were closed and he had to trek to Obi and back many times over for materials), he knew from the outset that the kitchen floor would be a job that required some extra muscle. Ever ready for a challenge, I took the day off my office work so that I could join our friend David as a labourer on the project (David and me being the brawn), while Stuart (the brains) worked his magic laying and levelling the floor. By the end of a hard, hot, dusty, dirty days' work, David and I had mixed and carried 70 bags of concrete (a little under 2 tonnes), and Stuart had laid a perfect floor - a thing of beauty even before tiles have been laid! A tough day, but the change of scene, the great company and the finishing of a project by the end of the day all made it incredibly enjoyable and satisfying!

The master at work.

A thing of beauty!

"Team Kitchen Floor".

Sadly, the orto has really suffered this year, and over recent weeks the weeds have really taken hold - after Potato Gate (porcupines having eaten every single last one that we put in the ground) and Fennel/Onion Gate (voles having eaten 90% of the fennels and 60% of the onions), we rather lost our way in terms of motivation to keep things going. Not only that, but the very unseasonally cool and wet weather in May stunted the growth of a lot of the plants. As such, weeding hasn't been done, tomatoes haven't been tied up, and an overall air of neglect has taken its toll. It's all a bit disappointing but we are still harvesting tomatoes and have had amazing crops of beetroot and aubergine, both grown from seed. Encouragingly, the raised bed trial that Stuart set up a few months back has been a huge success and everything that he planted in it (he threw a bit of everything in, just to see how it fared: parsnips, kohlrabi, tomatoes, beetroot, spinach, basil, rocket, aubergines...) has seemed to thrive and do really well. So the plan for the winter is to create several more raised beds, which can't be reached by porcupines or voles! (We just have to hope that the deer don't become the next big problem!)

Rain drops on the sunflowers.

The sunflowers are loving the "wild" treatment of the orto!

The chickens have been suffering somewhat in the heat - while they are still laying routinely, there have been days when I've spotted them sitting under the olive tree with their beaks open and wings spread trying hard to keep cool. We decided to treat them to a chicken-spa in a bid to help them cope with the hot weather. We installed a mini-pergola for an added spot of shade in their enclosure, as well as a cooling mist-spray (a hose attached to the water pipe that sprays water into the air). They seemed a bit confused about the water spray at first, but soon started pecking around in the wet soil - whether they enjoy the cooling effects of the spray or just the bugs it brings up from the ground we're not sure, but they seem to like it either way!

Mini pergola for shade

..and a mist-er.

Complete with rainbow.

We are about to welcome Sheila (Stuart's Mum) and Yvonne (her - and our - friend) back again for another week here - Yvonne's second visit this year and Sheila's third. So amongst office work and other chores there will no doubt be time made to catch up with them over a drink or two in the coming days - days which we hope will bring a little bit of respite in the temperature and start to see the beginnings of what we hope will be a fine autumn!