We have been enjoying Mondello beach as promised. Every day is hot with blue skies, so hot that you need lots of sun tan lotion and a large brolly. The Tyrrhenian sea is a welcome respite from the scorching sun and crystal clear, it is also very salty. For €4 you can use a communal sun bathing area that provides an open marquee, changing rooms and showers. As we are staying in the city centre we take the bus to the beach, which is sometimes so full it goes ...

We finished our time with Laura and Rosaria last Saturday, and headed for Palermo for a bit of break! A holiday apart from all the travelling to recharge our batteries. We intend to laze on the beach and see the sites of Palermo. Our apartment is in an old Italian building that has seen better days, however that goes for most of Palermo. As the guidebook says it is "charmingly unkempt". We are located in the heart of this city in the old town near the cathed...

We have now finished our cane structure that will support all the lovely plants as they grow, underneath it are pumpkins, courgettes, cuecumbers, aubergines, tomatoes, lettuce, chillies, onions, basil and some plants that I don't recognise that climbs over the canes - I think they eat the leaves. At meal times Laura is always popping into the garden to pick herbs and produce that end up on our plate in some form or another. Last night we were invited to a barbe...

Just starting our second week. The weather has cooled and the wind dropped to normal levels. Temperature is a nice 22 degrees this morning. It has been a quiet weekend for us but not so for the Sicilians who go at everything with great gusto and varying levels of disagreement between family members. As we don't understand Italian it comes across as varying levels of noise as each person tries to get their point across. It can be quite exciting at times!

HOT, HOT, HOT... not that we are complaining! We are staying in the hills of Palermo in the area called Suvarelli with Laura and Rosario. Their projects are working towards being self sufficient and growing plants in 'synergy' so everything is eco friendly. We are creating a network of canes around a spiral of vegetable plants. However the last couple days temperatures have risen to 40+ with ' hurrican force winds. This hot mediterranean wind, we are told, o...