On the ledge of glory

30th June 2024

With things on the slow news side at LCDDB, it has been left to the natural world to provide much of the interest this past week. There were the sparrow hawk chicks, of course, but they were not the only creatures to pop their heads above the parapet.

Following on from a sighting of our local snake (if there is just the one) before it slithered under the boot box as Stephen went to water one evening during the previous week, when I pulled it away from the wall for a quick wipe over on Monday morning, I managed to disturb one of our many geckos. This was not in itself anything unusual, but that it had a small scorpion locked between its jaws was. I tentatively replaced the storage box and let them get on with it. An altogether more pleasing sight was when a hare came springing down our drive early on Tuesday, stopping every now and again to sit up and take stock of his surroundings. He made it all the way down before turning back to bound across the field, showing, like the chicks before him, contempt for Harry barking.

Returning to those young birds, it was also on Monday morning that they ventured out of the dovecote and onto the ledge, shuffling around under their mother’s attentive gaze. By Thursday they had taken to the skies; at first, they seemed to keep close to home, making it into the branches of the nearby trees before returning, but that small taste of freedom was enough to give them confidence. They have been conspicuous by their absence this weekend, at least around the dovecote. While we have had the occasional site of them silhouetted against the sky, any return visits are few and far between, if at all, and not when we are around.

As for the weather, that went into one of its periodic unsettled phases at the beginning of the week, with some rain and a bit of thunder in the evenings. We have, though, been back to sunny and hot since Thursday, again breaking the 30° barrier in the afternoons – including today, which seems just the temperature to turn on the oven and cook up a couple of batches of food for the freezer. My excuse: a couple of hours discomfort in return for nice things to have with salads seems a fair exchange.

Stephen scanned and emailed the various documents relating to the house for Irene on Tuesday, now she is back at work having got all that wedding business out of the way. She thanked him and said she would be in touch when she had heard back from the geologist. It was also on Tuesday that Stephen made it home early from work to do some work in the garden. I wish I could give you good news on that front, but things are again disappointing this year. The onions he planted on Mr C’s advice haven’t really delivered and he is struggling to get a decent return on his tomato investment. The plants are about half the height the ones achieved a couple of years ago, and so far he has harvested not much more than a handful of fruit.

Having abandoned Pomod’oro recently in favour of the new kids on the block, we again graced it with our presence on Friday evening when we went for dinner with Marco and Maddalena for our summer meal out. There had been a couple of other suggested venues during Stephen and Maddalena’s messaging, but CarloCarla was discounted as, being Dutch, it was felt they’d rigorously apply the no dogs rule even outside, unlike the laissez-faire Italians, and Mia their Jack Russell would have to be left at home. Pina was also mooted, but this early in the season we didn’t feel confident the rooftop dining could be guaranteed. Hence Pomod’oro, and when Marco phoned to make the booking, he asked if we could have a table in the gazebo on the lawn, which we shared with another table of a dozen or so celebrating a 40th birthday. It was all very civilised, made even pleasanter by being able to catch whatever breeze was available.

Our beach walk this morning was subject to a bit of a change prompted by the work done to the lungomare at Porto San Giorgio and the closure of the car park we’ve used for the past few years. The last two times, the car has had to be left on the road the other side of the apartment buildings on the front, meaning a ten-minute walk to the beach.  OK, if we were spending all day there, it might not be so bad, but for a morning walk it seemed a bit out of proportion and so we have done an about-face.

Stephen was very brave and took a different route, on a road I don’t think I had ever been on, to park in a large grassy area at the north end of the promenade rather than the south. This meant starting at the opposite end, and whilst this should not really be an issue, being creatures of habit it just felt wrong to be doing the walk the opposite way round. What’s more, there are no facilities for washing our feet at the spot where we have to leave the beach which could be a dealbreaker. On the positive side, it is a bit quicker - but what are five minutes gained if you have to spend the other thirty-odd with scratchy feet?