The scourge of southern Europe

No not Mrs Merkel in this instance but wildfires. This is smoke hanging in the valley just the other day. Nothing like as serious as those in Portugal, Spain and Greece but the first time I have seen this here.

Do I not like that

We've had a summer heatwave now for about a month with temperatures in the high 30°c. This on top of a winter where we had only about 40% of the normal rainfall means that the olives, whilst very hardy are starting to let some of the fruit go. They dry up and are dropped from the tree. Not a good sight.

The forecast has some very heavy rain forecast over the next week which may halt this process.

Don't publish in summer

Obsessing as I am about the Casa Margherita cookbook - Cuoco I finished off the ISBN application today. For those who don't know the ISBN is the bar code on the back of a book. Each country has it's own body that issues these numbers. The Italian one is closing down for holidays soon which means that any application for an ISBN received after the 25th July will not be worked on until they return on the 27th August. You relax guys take the weight off................

Gerard Depardieu

Feel a bit like his character in Jean de Florette at the moment as the pump for the water tank that supplies all the outside taps is broken so we are having to siphon water from the house water tank and water the garden and veg patch by hand. It's blistering hot as well.

Life on the land eh.

We are nearly there...

It's getting very very close. Can you feel it?

The recipes have been cooked and eaten. Cooked and eaten. Cooked and eaten again. The text has come together and the photos all taken. The design been designed. and now it's at the printer............

Adopt a cockney accent and ...

Onions. Lovely onions. Look at these lovely onions. I bet you know your onions missus. What do think of these lovely beauties. Plump and lovely. C'mon what you gonna offer me for these.

Roveja 2

These are the roveja or wild peas that I sowed back in February which are now fully dried. They have a very earthy dense flavour which I really like especially in a vegetarian chilli.