I can happily inform you that there have been no snakes sighted in the area! One of our jobs over the past three weeks has been to tackle the garden and as you are aware - I am no gardener...well its not really gardening, more strimming and clearing but a hectare of land is still hard work in the blistering heat! Steve has been building walls with Andrea a polish bricky after receiving some very strange quotes from builders! I mentioned last time that the estate agent was bringing a builder over to give us a quote for building walls, plumbing, central heating, electrics...etc well after a 15 minute stroll around the house he sent through a quote for 60,000 euro (this was just materials and labour, no fittings!) Buyers beware! Luckily after four years of visiting here we have many friends who all know someone who can help! So if you do buy a home abroad, take the time to get to know the area, the people and where the nearest DIY shop is! We also met a project manager in Ostuni last week called Alfonso Capone...or 'Al Capone' to his friends! (No joke!!)

Some good news...'The furniture arrived!!!' Our removals man finally delivered it all which turned into be another nightmare but we were rescued by a friends father and uncle. The truck arrived but John (the removals man) refused to drive down the lane to our house saying that it was too narrow...the truck is 20ft and our friends turned up in a van no bigger than an 'ape' (three wheeler small truck) so after five trips back and forth and two hours later, everything is finally here including the crate of Magners cider which didn't take long to be opened!

Since we last wrote, we have been back to England, bought a car and driven it back...a little excessive you may think but believe me, Italian laws are strange...you can buy a house but you can't buy a car, not until you are residents! We plan on becoming residents here as tax is a lot less if you do (for example you pay 10% tax when you buy a house if you plan on using it as a holiday home and only 3% if you become a resident and live here more than 183 days a year, you also get a discount on council tax and utility bills. The process to become a resident can take up to four months to do and you have 18 months to do it or get a fine!)

On Sunday we went to see our friend Giuseppe who owns a bar in Villa Nova, whilst there we told him that we needed to buy a new bathroom suite and tiles etc...he was straight on the phone to his friend who then arranged for us to meet him at 6pm at his showroom. After five hours discussing our best options which included a visit to a bar, coming to our house to measure up and then insisting on taking us to a restaurant for a meal...he presented us with the quote (which was very good) and then paid for the meal!!! Do you think you would get this if you went to B&Q on a Sunday (or any other day for that matter!!!)

We have had to move into our house as the prices for renting here have sky rocketed! So we are now in our little trullo, surrounded by boxes and spiders, cooking on a campfire and BBQ (as we have no kitchen) but it is beautiful (even if it looks like a builders yard at the moment!)Some good news is we have a job with a hotel, they want us to take some pictures for their new brochure...anyway speak to you all soon, drop us a line...capturelavista@hotmail.com