Cherry harvest in Tuscany

Everyone lends a hand when its harvest time in Tuscany. A bed-sheet is placed beneath the tree and cherries flung down, to be sorted by hand later. The ladders we used couldn't reach the top branches of the tree...so the birds will have their share.

This was Friday; by Sunday the cherries not already made into jam were beginning to turn. How fast they rot without preservatives- it does make me wonder exactly which chemicals the supermarkets use to prolong their shelf life.

Another great day

On a day like today...there's nowhere I'd rather be. The first small green tomatoes have appeared on the balcony plants and those at the orto (allotment) and with this heat they should be ripe in no time at all. Everything so full of promise...

Slow Food Restaurant of the day - Taverna Del Guerrino - Not only some of the best traditional Tuscan dishes, but a view of hills, vineyards and olive groves beyond compare.

A stop for the view.

On the road in Chianti we decided to stop and take in the view. It's magical, no matter how many times you've been here. In the last few weeks the vines have gone from gnarled stumps to vibrant greens with new life bursting out everywhere.

It certainly makes a break from Florence.