Since I have to check in for work, I thought I’d stop by here too.

San Clemente is beautiful right now – warm and sunny and I can’t help but feel very happy we got the right week to not be in the UK. I hope everyone’s sheds and various bits and pieces have survived the storms and the rain…

Small Child went trick or treating with her cousins yesterday and is delirious at her haul of ‘candy’ (trying hard not to shout ‘it’s SWEETS, you’re not American!). Today is a trip up to the mountains, followed by an afternoon swim in the sea. Happy days!

I managed to wangle a trip to a garden centre and have come out with 2 more types of leaf chicory, some chard (a mistake! must get better at Italian!) and some more squash seeds: Tonda Padana and Berrettina Piacentina. We saw an amazing Arbutus Unedo (strawberry tree), and tried the fruit, so I’ve bought a small one, and somehow it will be packed into the suitcase…

Off now to harvest all the bay leaves I need for another year or so (they taste fantastic here) and to pick some of Paolo’s pomegranates for breakfast juice.

Edit: Now home, and 2 baby bay leaf trees plus a pomegranate seedling also snuck into my luggage, together with a large jar of fresh olives and some wild fennel for preserving them with. And more bay leaves than I could hope to eat in a year or even 2!