So after yesterday's drama, everyone was absolutely shattered - dinner wasn't until 10.30pm (I only arrived home with the weary travellers at 10.15pm), so when midnight rolled around eyes were rolling all around.
Everyone slept soundly despite the thunder and rain, except for Helen who has been battling with headaches for the last few days - she STILL went outside at 7am to exercise mind, although she didn't look too enthusiastic.
I got up at 8am, shortly followed by Mom, and we sat out on the patio drinking tea and drinking in the view - it was pitch black on her arrival yesterday, so this was the first she'd seen of it. It was a very fresh and damp morning, courtesy of all the thunder and rain that went on throughout the night.
We were all up by 9am, although Kerys needed a nudge, and while Helen set to work in her office the rest of us had a pleasantly slow morning, with our guests suitably impressed by the view.
All good things must come to an end though, and the rest of us set about work as well. Kerys and Ben built the Ikea drawers and sink drainer, while Mom put the Dutch hoe to good use weeding. We all cracked on all morning in the baking heat and working up a good sweat - the washing up has even been done for us twice today!
By midday, Mom, Kerys and Ben were all at the end of the driveway painting the gates! By the time I called them back for lunch at 1.40pm, the gates had received a complete coat of fresh green paint. The ticking off of jobs on our to-do list was going very well indeed.
We have Sue at the Tuscan Farm to thank for the delicious tomatoes which made up a large part of said lunch - a nice lazy sharing lunch, served on chopping boards (thanks Q) consisting of tomatoes, cucumber, mozzarella, focaccia-style bread, a selection of cured meats and boiled eggs.
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| Lunch break. |
I think we could all have happily called it a day at that point, but a shopping trip to town was calling and with the guests not having seen anything of the local area in daylight, they were only too happy to come along with me. Helen, of course was holed up in the bedroom (her temporary office) again.
First was a stop at the bins to dispose of a boot load of Ikea cardboard, then it was into the centre of town to park and walk to the hardware shop and then the computer shop. Of course, they were both closed and didn't open until 3.30pm, so we went for a little walk around to see the river then retraced our steps to the computer shop in time for it to open. They didn't have the replacement printer (the one that we should have been able to collect last Saturday, that is). Thursday is our new collection date for that - something to do with a problem with not having the guarantee, supposedly. I'm not sure how the whole PC retail system works here, but it certainly seems more thorough than in the UK - we'll see!
On the way to the hardware shop I made a detour to introduce the family to La Brachina, the little ice cream hut/shop by the river that makes its own ice cream and has been in business since 1946. Small cups of gelato dispatched, it was off to the hardware store. We only needed a 16 amp plug in here, so it was nice and easy and within minutes we were on our way with two plugs (one spare) wrapped in brown paper for the princely sum of €3.60. Mom commented on what a lovely old-fashioned establishment it was, and it is - think the shop from the The Two Ronnies 'four candles' sketch.
After that, it was time to introduce the family to Esselunga - just a quick trolley dash though, to pick up fruit and the bits I missed yesterday having shopped without a list.
By the time we got home it was nearly 5pm - what had happened to the day?! I still needed to attempt to buy some bottled gas, as without it I couldn't connect and test the hob in the apartment, and until I'd done that I couldn't fit the oven below. Mom and Kerys opted to stay in the cool of the house this time, while Ben and I went on a hunt for gas bottles. We had empties here (which wouldn't fit in the boot on the previous excursion), but I'd not yet given the whole gas-buying a second thought - we'd seen a shop on the main road in Pescia advertising gas, and as Frateschi's is still closed that was our nearest option.
We pulled over and lugged the empties across the road to find the door shut (why am I not surprised?!) Just before cursing the air though, I noticed a sign in the door saying something which I thought could have been 'ring the bell'. Sure enough, there was a door bell on the right. I rang it, and someone appeared - he didn't seem in the best of moods, but when I showed him the bottles and asked for new ones he simply asked 'large or small?'. Once I'd established that the small were €20 and the large €30, I relieved him of two grande bottiglie, and he relived me of €60. Very happy, we loaded the car and went back up the hill to get the hob connected. A bit more tinkering later, it was in and working - a real milestone in the kitchen fit process is when you have actual working bits in it. Buoyed by the progress, I pressed on to get the oven in too - by the time I finally got this in and working it was 7.30pm and time to call it a day.
By this time Helen had finished work on her day job and switched computers to work on the guest information pack - another job that needs finishing before Saturday.
So come 7.30pm it was drinks and crisps on the patio while the kids' pizza dough was proving in the bread maker in readiness to test the new oven out (we discovered last night that the oven in our house doesn't stay lit, so is not usable!).
Darkness fell and while I blogged, the kids made pizzas, Mom caught up on Facebook and Helen made a quinoa salad. Mom and I watched the bats circle around in the dark so at 9.30pm and dinner nearly ready I'll sign off and return to being sociable with my family.
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