Darker nights

The clocks going back an hour really make a big difference here – particularly when combined with the extreme speed of sunset. I was sat outside on our bench at 4pm watching the dogs play on the gravel drive; 30 minutes later it was pitch black.

My wife grumbles at the expense of the driveway lights. I had a dozen put up with 6 of them being double-headed. I realise that this uses a lot of electricity (although they all have saver bulbs) when you run them from sunset to 11pm but it does send out a message to hunters and other trespassers to keep off. It also goes some way towards scaring off wild animals until at least well into the night.

I’m very conscious of how isolated we are out here.  Although this part of Italy is quiet on the lawbreaking front (well as quiet as anywhere is, these days), we are a fair way away from anyone else and I remember what it was like when I had my house in England broken into by a gang of junkies. It was my then girlfriend’s birthday and I copped a brick in the face breaking my nose. The dogs scare off most Italians so that helps.

As I think I put in other posts, I could happily play my saxophone here at 2am and I doubt anyone would hear me.

The dogs made a racket last night chasing some animal down the drive. We couldn’t see or be certain of what it was but my guess is that it was a porcupine. There is a hollow down in the lower orchard where one sleeps at night so it could well be him. Pascal, the dog that died, had a run-in with one. He came back to us with a spine just below his eye. Apparently when cornered, the porcupine can fire off his quills and woe-betide you if you are in range (as Pascal found out).

Yes, it’s great fun dog-hunting at 3am when all you know of their location is a distant growling and woofing. We try not to let them out that late but it’s hard to separate a ‘call of nature’ from a desire for a moonlight adventure.

I often lie in bed listening to the owls hooting, often closely-followed by some poor creature’s shriek of surprise as it is swept up by the bird’s talons. Sentimentality is to be avoided, though – the last thing we need is to be over-run by voles and mice. Let the owls, buzzards and snakes have them.

Modern Languages

I’ve decided to start work revamping the modern languages section of our website – www.anysubject.com/modern-languages.asp and have already done www.anysubject.com/afrikaans.asp and www.anysubject.com/french.asp

At the speed I am moving, I anticipate this taking several weeks but I hope that the end result will bring in a reasonable amount of revenue that will make the effort worthwhile.

We had an excellent plug from The Times – http://www.timesonline.co.uk:80/tol/life_and_style/education/student/article4962966.ece

Work on the websites

I’ve been busy working on a joint site with a colleague – www.pals.co.uk – as well as my own sites. I’ve gone back to www.aaa-interiors.com and added a few new pages on interior design.

I’ve also added www.anysubject.com/tuition-fees.asp www.anysubject.com/english-school.asp www.anysubject.com/private-tuition.asp to attempt to increase traffic to my main earner. We had a good mention in the Timesonline – http://www.timesonline.co.uk:80/tol/life_and_style/education/student/article4962966.ece

Let’s hope that brings in some business.

Swimming Pool Ladder

The blacksmith arrived with the steel ladder for our outside swimming pool today. It was a trial fit so that he could see if any adjustments were needed before galvanising next week.

When I tried it, it felt very strong but with only one handrail (on the right), it was a bit difficult to negotiate. With that in mind, I’ve asked for the left one to be fitted as well and then we can get it erected. I dread to think what it’s costing but if we are to use this above-ground pool then it needs to be fully-accessible.