Here we are in Tuscany!

Starting a blog can be so intimidating. Maybe I've already said everything there is to say. I've launched an avalanche of emails since we arrived; fired off in all directions in the first flush of excitement of actually being here. But a blog was promised and here it is.

Snowy & Dermott arrived on July 17. Flying all the way from Sydney by themselves and then confronting a big holdup in Milan, finally clearing customs and then travelling for five hours in a delivery van all the way from Milan to Castiglion Fiorentino. It was traumatic. Tony, their driver, shared his cheese sandwich with Snowy along the way. Dermott was too distressed to eat. They were both starving, filthy, skinny and exhausted by the time we met them at the town gates at midnight. It didn't take them long to realise we were in buy-back mode and they have been exploiting the situation ever since.




















After breakfast in our garden we were soon all out and about exploring.

Most people here haven't seen an Old English Sheepdog before so the first response is usually shock followed quickly by a smile. Dermott is so outgoing he's made more friends than any of us. Seems to have a fine grasp of Italian too!


Twice a day we take them up to the old tower Torre del Cassero at the top of the hill. We usually stop by the wall to enjoy the view out over the Val di Chio. Eventually Dermott's curiosity got the better of him and he hopped up for a look too.















Back home it's usually time for an Italian lesson and then a siesta. Sometimes simultaneously.