Friday at last! It's felt like a long week.

Well, last night's sleep didn't go according to plan!

I was thoroughly wiped out by the time bedtime approached. I'd had a bit of a tired lull on Wednesday and yesterday, so I was expecting a good night's sleep. Instead, what happened was that I woke at 02:30am for some unknown reason, felt a weight on my legs and noticed Lucca was still in the same place he had been when the lights went out - his sleep was going to plan for sure. I tried to get comfortable without kicking him, but that gave just enough time for my brain to engage and start thinking about the bills we'd sorted out that evening and whether we were going to see any of the money repaid to us. With my brain busily whirring away, all I could do was watch the clock as the hours passed by. I entertained the idea of getting up to do some admin, but knew it would disturb everyone and the cats would expect breakfast and then want to go out, so I opted to lie there. I must have finally started to doze off again at around half past four - until a mosquito attempted to enter my ear canal, gave me a start, and then I was wide awake again. The little blighter had another couple of attempts over the next hour, and then all I could think about was switching the lights on and squishing it with my fly swat (I also resisted this for the greater good).

I don't remember the last time I looked at the clock, but it wasn't long before Helen's alarm started telling her to get up. By now Lucca had moved, and when Helen went outside to exercise I drifted into a fitful slumber until just after 8am. It wasn't restful sleep though, and there was a to-do list the size of my arm waiting downstairs for me so I got up, reluctantly.

My first job was to email Andrea, as a couple of queries about the bills had occurred to us in the bar last night. I couldn't put my hands on the one bill I needed, and I was so exhausted my fuse blew and had a bit of a grump in Helen's direction. I've NEVER done that before, and it took me by surprise. I apologised quickly but the damage was done and I'd upset her. I think she could have done with someone else to talk to right then other than me, but there was only us on this hill (and the cats of course, but they rarely listen to us and then it's only if there's food involved).

We sorted ourselves out after a chat and both went back to work, me racked with guilt all morning for having taken out my tiredness on my best friend, and Helen a bit upset that the only person she has to talk to is so often tired and lacking in conversation and occasionally grumpy with it. We'll both be glad once we've got everything sorted that we need to in the next few weeks and can find a bit more of a routine again.

After picking up some more benzina (unleaded fuel) in jerry cans, I got stuck into the lower terrace again to see if I could find this septic tank of ours. We're pretty sure the previous owners haven't looked at it since it was installed, and we're keen to get it checked and maybe pumped.

The lower terraces are much, much more overgrown than the ones above the house were - I don't think the one I'm trying to clear has seen daylight for a few years, and the terraces beneath that probably not for decades. Some of the brambles were 10ft high in places, and the backpack trimmers really came into their own. 

I made good ground until just before lunchtime, when I had to stop to take a phone call - some potentially exciting news, which cheered me up, but I dare not utter a word until tomorrow when we know for sure, so you'll just have to wait.

While Helen made lunch, I called the previous owners who assured me that as soon as they get a decent Wi-Fi connection they will transfer the money we've forked out for having the car taken away. Good news. So now it's just the bills to sort out, but we're almost there with all of that after last night's meeting with Andrea, so hopefully we will soon be able to finally draw a line under it all.

While we were having lunch a couple of birds of prey circled above, couldn't make my mind up as to what they were. I managed to take a photo and have posted it onto a forum (yes, a twitchers' forum, I'm now a registered twitcher!) for ID, so we'll see if anyone is feeling helpful.

Very vocal bird of prey.

After lunch, a bit more organising was required in the man cave to accommodate my new equipment. That done, I made a temporary adjustment to the steps leading up to the man cave door, so that hopefully the cats will be able to use the external (incoming) catflap as well as the inner one (the door was too high for little Florence in particular to be able to get through).

Five o'clock rolled around quickly, and Helen clocked off work a bit early as it was Friday. We needed not only to go to the supermarket, but also to try and acquire a laser printer (the inkjet is hæmorrhaging ink with all of Helen's work printing and a laser printer will be more efficient in that respect) and then head back to the stationery shop to collect the suspension files we'd ordered earlier in the week.

The computer shop didn't have any laser printers, but the guy told us that if we came back in the morning, he would have one for us for around €70 euros - so that's a job for tomorrow. We then collected the suspension files from the stationery shop near the flower market, did our supermarket shop at Esselunga, and returned home.

After unpacking the shopping we let the cats play outside while we drank a beer and perused a new guide book of the area that I'd bought at the petrol station this morning, then retired inside for dinner and maybe not one but two stages of the Tour de France - the weather seems settled enough to allow us uninterrupted viewing tonight.

A busy weekend lies ahead, with lots of jobs to do, but hopefully there will at least be a little bit of time for some relaxation as well.