There was a wind getting up in full flow here last night, suggesting that our Indian summer is fading away. Leaves that were floating gently down of their own volition a week ago were blowing about all over the place. Walnuts previously awaiting only the attention of red squirrels are dropping involuntarily to earth. The dominant foliage colours are yellow and brown. After 7 pm, one searches for a light pullover. The hunkering down bit of the year is about to get under way.

There’s been a glut of deciduous fruit, but it’s really only good for the compost heap now. Even the sloes are wrinkly and past it. The vineyards to the north are beginning their recolte – of sweet white Monbazillac dessert wine, or robust campagne reds – and I have to confess I have no idea what the vintage will be like, beyond suspecting that almost all the weather this year happened in the wrong order….and is thus very unlikely to produce much wine of any lasting value.

There was an interesting episode this afternoon when two of the Polish workers encountered some snakes while demolishing the interior walls of my old barn. While 95% of snakes here are harmless, the chaps managed to annoy an unpleasant family of Vipers.

Vipers are not at all harmless. I joined in the action and was, I have to say, oddly fascinated to see the protective spade I pointed at them being attacked by open fangs time after time. This – and the colouration – quickly identified them as Coluber viridiflavus, a venomous but rarely fatal serpent most commonly found in Italy. Naturalists describe it as ‘incredibly aggressive if caught or cornered, biting hard and persistently’ which was a bit of a giveaway in this case. And aggression levels weren’t helped by the Poles having utilised small explosive charges as the medium of negotiation.

It’s all part of life’s rich pageant here. Tonight it is once again chilly enough to require another layer of outerwear. The central heating has been tested and – touch wood – seems so far devoid of leaks. Onward and upwards.