Burns burns in the morning

Another stunning sunrise.

We have a haggis in the fridge that looks like an ancient unexploded bomb. And the last neep in Stockbridge.

In the Italian house front we have now secured a let for three and  a half months from mid-March. We had hoped to get somewhere in Florence but hassles with parking, heat, noise and mosquitoes persuaded us to look further afield. Have gone the opposite into open country behind Fiesole down a gravel track.

We had some costs prepared for a house we were shown in the Casentino hills - lots of wild woodlands between Florence and Arezzo. They came in pretty high and the whole house basically needs gutting from top to bottom. That was something we have been seeking to avoid and so said goodbye to the olive grove and woodlands surrounding it.

Our longer term ambitions are now focussed in the high (ish) (1000ft) hills on the north side of the Apennines (6000ft) between Florence and Bologna where we have seen a house that fits most of our bill. It remains to be seen if it can be sold to us but we are hopeful.