Summer breeze, makes me feel fine...

Summer is here and we have happy guests, lots of bookings for 2023 and 2024, not to mention more great reviews, so our little business seems to be back on track, phew.
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The CL garden is looking lovely, roses are out and so are some little pink flowers that open up when the sun comes out  - I only planted a few but they've spread and some of the bulbs I planted are coming out too, I can't remember what they are but I'm sure I'll recognise them when they flower.  You may have noticed that I'm no Alan Titchmarsh (!). Strawberries are ready and our guests seem to be enjoying them, tomatoes and potatoes are on their way.   

We caught up with some friends a couple of weekends ago to watch the footy.  It was a fun night with the usual Prosecco and pizza.  I was a tinsy bit worse for wear the next day so no alcohol for me for a few weeks!  We've been on a couple of bike rides, I seem to have more energy now that there isn't as much mowing to do at Casa Leana.  

We had a busy weekend so decided to pop out for pizza on Monday last week only to be reminded that our usual haunt in Anghiari is closed on Mondays.  Change of plan, off to another favourite in Sansepolcro, gorgeous pizza and a huge dish of chips, naughty but nice. 

Our guests this week and last were celebrating special birthdays so we ordered birthday cakes on their behalf from a couple of the local bakeries, we are so lucky to have such lovely family run businesses here. The cakes always look beautiful but more importantly, taste fantastic!  Another local business runs olive oil and wine tastings which we arranged for our guests last week.  Fran, the owner, collected the whole group so everyone was able to have a glass or two of wine with lunch.  

We've also had lots of positive feedback from guests about the local family run restaurants - many of our guests pop into Anghiari for lunch before we meet them which I must say is a nice idea and a great start to their holidays.  

This week has made me remember how much I love this place and the people that live here.  We were sitting out in the garden having an ice cream when a farmer passed by..  We gave him a friendly wave as usual and on his way back he stopped and called us over.  To be honest we thought he'd lost his dog but no, he handed over three quite large truffles that his dog had dug up from the field next to us.  How lovely!  We gave them a quick clean before coarsely grating them into extra virgin olive oil to infuse overnight for dinner this evening. One of my favourite things.  

We're looking forward to our annual trip to watch the Mille Miglia next week.  This year it's travelling through Passignano, a village on Lake Trasimeno.  We post the pictures of this event every year on Facebook and I often think it's a bit repetitive but honestly, even though I'm not really a car enthusiast, many of the cars are truly beautiful.  And an added bonus is a trip to Lake Trasimeno so hopefully we'll get to go on the ferry and visit some of the other little towns lakeside.

Oooh..  I forgot to mention the sunflowers are on the way!  I saw just one little flower in a huge field recently.   So excited!  Little things and all that... 
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Have a fab week. 

D I A N A   xxx