Birthday present

I was persuaded to buy the more expensive 'professional' grade Bertolini cultivator - motozappa (literally motorised ground hoe - zappa).

The woman in the shop, a true emporium of top class gear and a huge park of machines awaiting servicing, said she had thought I was much younger than my 61 years. Which was a fillip. 

But they couldn't deliver because it was raining. Part of a quaint Italian custom of waiting for the rain to stop before going out in it, if at all possible.

Although the rain has been unusually persistent of late.