A Mass of Odds and Ends

As tomorrow is a national holiday the schools have today off as well, known as Il Ponte. We’ve swung from one extreme to the other, last week the beach chalets were caught unaware by people flooding to the seaside to bask in the sun, a month earlier than usual, and today it feels as though we’ve been plunged straight into autumn, with the pool glinting at us ironically through the sodden olive trees.  It’s definitely not the weather to have everyone languishing at home, drawn inexorably to their different screens.

The treatment of our olive trees has started and with it the necessity to press gang some labour. Jasper said in deeply regretful tone that he doubted he could be much help as he had a sporting injury from rug of war. Once I’d worked out he meant tug of war I trod the difficult maternal path of giving his right arm some attention whilst insisting that it wasn’t serious enough to keep him indoors, until his brother turned up and shouted “Outside!”