The wisteria have come now into all their voluptuous gorgeousness. The arbor has a roof made of them and a wall made of a hillside of wildflowers. The light underneath flickers and there is a constant drone of very fat and lazy bees.

The little lizards have come back now that it is warm again. They are sunning themselves on the walkways and on the grape arbor, which is just beginning to have leaves, and they flick away when we get near. They are charming as long as they stay out of my bed.

The old men at the pub have mostly moved outside again now, under the big leafy tree that shades most of the front terrace. In the afternoons, from up here under the wisteria, I can hear them laughing down there, adding another note to the riotous birdsong.

The red poppies are out in great swathes all along the Via Capriglia. They started slowly, only a few down in town, but every day we see that more have bloomed and that they have come higher up the hillside. They have made it all the way into Capriglia itself now, but are not yet here on our property. I am waiting for them.

In the meantime, I have have discovered white wisteria down by the gate and deep purple irises in the woods.