Che Peccato

I am afraid that I won’t be able to let you have news of how the Wiltshire Winkers trip to Italy went as they have not been able to get here, due to the Icelandic volcano.

It’s a real shame as the house and grounds have never looked so clean, neat  and tidy – frankly we’re knackered – and I doubt they will be again.

But wait, good news. They have rebooked and will be over – everything willing – four weeks tomorrow. So, we’ll have longer daylight, warmer weather and there will be more things on to give us some more choice of what-to-do-when-on-holiday-in-Italy. So, all is not lost. They are off to Devon to their caravan on the South coast. That sounds great.

Bertie’s hair

Continuing on the volcano front for a moment, Bertie is moulting at the moment. I have never encountered so much dead hair coming off a dog as that coming off the Bert. He’s like a mini natural disaster whenever he shakes himself. He almost disappears in a mist of very fine white hair. The hair swirls around him and up into the air. The hair is so fine that even the slightest breeze sends it into something akin to a snow flurry. We comb him everyday and it just keeps coming out in handfuls. We don’t really understand why he is not bald. Hopefully we are nearing the end.

Chicken update

Roxie and Velma are settling in OK. They do tend to stay in the coop a lot. In fact so much so that we have taken to putting them out in the morning and shutting the coop door so they have to wander about a bit. But, it’s early days yet. La D said that they do look quite a bit older than the other hens we have bought and she wonders if they have got used more to being in cages and therefore are taking longer to acclimatise to more “freedom”. She could be right. Smart bird La D, you know.

A nightingale sang at Casa Grotta

During the last few nights we have been hearing a wonderful nightingale singing just outside the house. It really is a wonderful sound. How do we know it’s a nightingale when it’s pitch black outside? I referred to a some birdsong CDs we obtained from The Independent newspaper some years. Mind you this is the first time IO have ever listened to them, but I knew they would come in handy one of these days. A bit like having a man-drawer in the house! Have a look at this, it’s brilliant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grRI-m-Nr2U

Ciao, mantenere la fede