Early guests, Spring sunshine and work work work...

It's been a busy month at Casa Leana which is quite normal for this time of year, added to which we received a last minute booking, a group of really lovely Italians arrived on Sunday (19 March).  And this is a first, they gave us two bottles of Prosecco as a gift, how lovely and what a great start to the season.  If any future guests are reading this...  take note!  Ha ha.  

When we took said early booking  we thought "what a breeze, there's not that much left to do".  We soon realised that extra week really makes a big difference.  In our wisdom we decided to get replacement stones for the CL parking area a few days before our guests' arrival, which the delivery guy left in a big pile in the middle of the drive so we had to rake them into place, that was hard going and took a few days to do, raking stones is not easy I can tell you!   

There were still hedges to be cut, plants to be pruned, the pergola at the bottom of the garden hadn't been erected as it took over three months to arrive (don't ask!), not to mention Spring cleaning, mowing and strimming and trying to fit the new dishwasher through the utility room door (again don't ask!).  The list goes on but we got there, if a little worse for wear!   At least I lost that extra few pounds I put on over Christmas!  Every cloud..

The garden and the house both look great and the Casa Leana guests are happy which is the main thing - in fact they were drinking beer and playing cards down by the pool this morning at 8am. They offered us a beer when we finished mowing but it was still only 9.30am - I was tempted I have to admit! 

The weather has been lovely and sunny so early morning swims in the heated pool has been the order of the day with evenings spent lighting the fires and snuggling up in the kitchen with a wonderful hot meal and wine from our cellar, what's not to like?!

Other than working in the garden, not much to report really.  Oh, we did have a couple of sneaky days off (!), Leigh went ski-ing and I had a lie in both days, a lovely long hot bath and lunch with friends (a bit less energetic than ski-ing!).  Looking forward to more of those long lunches this year.   Our pride and joy, the little vintage Fiat 500 (otherwise known as 'Piglet'), is out of hibernation so we have had a couple of trips out with her - it's a bit of a change from the luxury of the Volvo but great fun.  I spend most of the time wondering why everyone is looking at me and then remember that the car is so pretty,  people are actually looking at the car, not me!  

Our next group arrive on Saturday, two families, one from the US and the other travelling down from Switzerland - holiday season is well and truly here, woo hoo! 

I think that's it.  Have a lovely weekend everyone. 

D I A N A   xxx