Rain-dance!

Let's face it one of the main reasons we all love Italy is the weather! Close your eyes and picture yourself on one of those lovely balmy summer evenings when the weather in Tuscany is just perfect, relaxing outside, the heady perfume of jasmine hanging in the air, glass of good wine in the hand, mesmerised by the sheer spectacle that is a Tuscan sunset.

But, back to the reality of this late September night… today I had some difficulties to stand this never ending heat.

Maybe some people are wondering now what daily life in Italy is like in summer.

Well, once the warm weather hits this country, the routine does change a little.

You just have to go slow…very slow…everybody in slow motion!

Again I can invite you to the image of reading a lovely book under a olive tree…

For me however, its still quit difficult to get used on the 30°C+ heat with can become oppressive and potentiallyin June, July and August.

Maybe because in my mind I have always millions of things to do…and going in slow-motion seems to be impossible.

Since June no rain came down anymore.

We had just 2 showers in a hot afternoon in august, but it wasn’t enough to even water a lawn, with generally all are complete yellow.

Having no rainfalls makes that the soils undergo a period of dryness during the long summer until late august.

We are in September and still no rain!

As a original Dutch rain lover I'm longing for rain but also Fabio as a real Italian starts to get uncomfortable with this long dry and never ending summer…

Wells starts to run dry and irrigation get more and more difficult.

For your garden you have to minimize the water to avoid wasting of water.

We have spent the spring ( because of heavy clay under your shoes during rainy days hi ) and summer wishing that our patch of dirt land were a blanket of soft blades.

Next spring could be a whole other story if we seed this fall—the perfect time to start a new lawn.

Fall’s cooler temperatures prevent the seeds from drying out, but there’s still enough sun and rain to help them germinate before going into hibernation for the winter, without the competition of crabgrass and other weeds that die off this time of year.

What we just need is….

a little soil preparation, the right mix of seed, and lots of watering!!!!

I think the only thing then what rest me to do is:

rain-dancing!!!!!

painting by Ken Schilling