Another hot day.

Looking out through the sitting room door, it is hot, dry, and airless. The grass is drying, and there is that unmistakable warm scent of Summer in the air.

Indoors it is cool, dark, and comfortable. The thick stone walls and quarry tiled floors give us some respite from the relentless heat of mid-July.  

The pool is hardly ever without someone splashing about, Billy sleeps on the ancient cooling flagstones in front of the big fireplace, where no doubt generations of dogs before him have found relief, and after all our tasks are finished, we sit reading books until it's time for an aperitif at about 5.30 pm.

We feel guilty of our laziness, even though I mowed most of the grass earlier in the day.

It's only 30 C in the shade, but it feels like much more. I have a feeling that Billy really doesn't like the heat of Summer.