Sunflowers, Sprinklers and Spuds...

I haven't written on this blog for a while as I have only just recovered from the Euro finals and in case you've been living on a different planet, England lost The Final (against Italy of all countries!).  The evening wasn't helped by the fact that we spent it with one of our Italian friends, hmmm...  An amazing few weeks as a football fan with quite a bit of socialising and Prosecco. 

Now, back to normality.  July continues to be beautiful here in Tuscany as always and we spent a few mornings trying to get the perfect sunflower photo.  It’s a bit of an obsession and I never do get that perfect shot but I like to give it a go every year much to Leigh's amusement.  Pictures (with my iphone) never really show just how beautiful it is here at this time of year and the fields in the valley below Casa Leana are just a sea of yellow at the moment, I never get tired of "ooohing and ahhing" at this spectacle!

The watering at CL is never ending during the summer months.  It’s like having hundreds of baby birds who need constant attention and the worry when a brown or yellow leaf appears is madness but I can’t help it.  So the most exciting thing that happened this week was the purchase of a new fancy hose and sprinklers!  It will hopefully transform our lives on the watering front.  

Oh, and another really exciting event at this time of year are the sales - amazing in this part of Italy I think.  Everything seems to be half price or less and we have already been into Arezzo twice this week to go to the same shop.  Ha ha.  I have grabbed a few bargains, having not purchased anything for what seems like an eternity due to Covid.  And I do like to shop in person rather than online so it was a lovely treat to go out and buy some new clothes and have a spot of lunch in beautiful Arezzo.

I forgot about the potatoes!  Leigh's stepmum lives in beautiful Bantry Bay, Ireland and she suggested we grow potatoes in one of our raised beds.  What a great success - who would have thought, potatoes from a potato?!  Ha ha.  We're very proud of our haul so far - just dig a few cm down and you come up with a handful of potatoes.  We hope the CL guests will enjoy digging for them as much as we do.  Little things and all that... 

Well, that's it for now.  We have a group from Denmark arriving soon so we are giving Casa Leana yet another spring clean.  

D I A N A   xxx