Yesterday...

Yesterday, the temperature recorded in the shade on a south-facing terrazza in Carmine Superiore was 25°C. Warm enough for a sleeveless T-shirt. Warm enough for the children to decide it was time to go under the garden hose in the altogether. Sunny enough for strap marks and sunscreen.

And talking of yesterday, many thanks to everyone who turned up at our beautiful little church in yesterday morning's glorious sunshine to help lift outside all the wooden furniture and give it a healthy dose of anti-woodworm medicine. With so many hands, the job was done in a jiffy, and everything put back shipshape and Bristol fashion in time for a quick aperitivo before we all went our ways for lunch.

After lunch, this family hotfooted it into the garden where we cut the grass (on a slope of one-in-two that's a major operation), planted tomatoes, chilli peppers and cucumbers. Oh yes, and basil, which AJ calls pesto-plant.

And today? Well, today I'll be endeavouring to find a sensible place to plant three zucchini, six strawberries (in a garden already packed with strawberries) and some parsley (in a garden where this year the parsley seeds have germinated where they never before did). And I'm hoping the weather's warm enough again for more sunscreen and two happily naked bottoms.