A stifling night

More heat and a stifling night. At least the night-time crickets and cicadas here do not have that shrill, grating, incessant quality of those that live in the Tuscan cypress woods. Here they have softer more drawn out purring tone, almost like a muted distance phone ringing slowly.

It's breathless and flying ants have gotten into the house. Or it feels like they have even if they haven't. My skin is crawling.

A big meeting in Florence on Friday now scheduled with the full panoply of lawyers and estate agents to try and push the house purchase forward.

Although difficult to understand the Italian house buying process has some points to commend it. At the acceptance of the purchase offer document, which becomes a preliminary contract, the buyer makes a confirmatory downpayment (of usually between 20-30% of the purchase price).

This locks both buyer and seller into the contract - unless irregularities later emerge. If the buyer pulls out without very good reason they lose the downpayment to the seller. If the seller pulls out they pay the buyer double the downpayment.

It is all to play for.