Secret Garden in Venice First Harvest!!

First crop of the season!!!  We picked- and immediately ate- these first two cherry tomatoes this evening. Delicious!!!

Looks like we'll have a decent crop of zucchini also. Not ready to pick just yet, we're going to let this one fatten up a bit.

And... our very first olive tree is going to have a nice crop also. We'll never have enough to press our own olive oil,but I think we definitely will be eating a few olives in early fall. Something  else for us to look forward to!

Leopold strikes again!

While we had our first lunch of the season out in the garden, Leopold, our Corgi, decided to keep himself busy--digging! Yes, he is completely enjoying his life in Venice!!

Leaping Lizards!!! -- well, almost leaping

A few years ago we spent a few days in a small fishing village near Sorrento, Marina del Cantone. I remember it being very sunny, and as we walked down to the waterfront every day we'd see tons of lizards just lounging in the sun. I loved seeing them, often bright blue or green with a streak of yellow or orange on them. I'm not a huge fan of snakes, but I can handle lizards, and there is something I just can't describe about lizards. These Italian ones would just be soaking up sun, then dart away quickly if they caught sight of you.

I'd forgotten about them, until recently when they've been discovered in our garden here in Venice. They certainly aren't as easy to spot as those ones in Southern Italy, they are in between rocks in the garden, or darting across the grassy lawn. One little baby one somehow made it up the wall of the house and found his little 2 inch self in our kitchen one day! He was gingerly scooted back out the door with the broom, back to Momma Lizard! I've tried sneaking a photo of one, but they are gone before I can get a good shot. One of these days I hope I'm successful, in the meantime, I'm having fun with Lizard sightings!