Molti conquiste!

After yesterday's frustrations, we decided last night that in order to make the most of the day today we would sacrifice our Saturday morning lie-in and get up early to head to Ikea in time for it to open its doors. That was until we searched online for the opening times of Ikea Pisa and found out that it doesn't open (any day of the week) until 10am. So it wasn't quite as early a start to the day as we'd imagined.

I still got up at 7.20am to do a short workout session (although my heart really wasn't in it today). The weather was humid, cloudy and the sky looked threatening - I kicked myself for having put the washing machine on before checking outside to see what the weather was doing! Needless to say, before long, it started to rain - but by the time we left the house just after 9am it had stopped, and felt much fresher.

We arrived at Ikea at 10.10am and were shocked to see the car park already busy. Thankfully, having armed ourselves with product codes beforehand, we didn't have to traipse all the way through the shop, but just did a sneaky shortcut through the warehouse to the marketplace where we needed to find cushions and some items suitable for dressing the garden furniture that we were planning to buy, in order to do a photo shoot for our website.

Two cushions, a table runner and a vase in the bag, we headed for the warehouse, where we picked up the 8(!) boxes we needed for a TV unit and the one, very large box containing a set of garden furniture. It was touch and go as to whether it would all fit in the car (I told Stuart that I would not be happy with getting the bus back home!), but thankfully, by taking the garden furniture out of its packaging we were able to squeeze everything in.

We made a quick pit stop on our way home at the tiny bar just down the road from us. We always see a group of older men sitting outside playing cards, and there's a sign outside advertising fresh bread and panini. Michelle had also mentioned that she likes to pop in there for her morning coffee - saying that it's the best coffee around - although she did say that the proprietor is not the cheeriest of people. We went in to find two counters at right angles to each other. Facing you as you walk in is a proper bar, with wines, spirits and coffee machine behind it. To the side of it is a counter with meats, cheese and other ingredients on display. An odd, but charming combination. Michelle was right about the proprietor's demeanour. We asked for some bread - unsmiling, he picked up an enormous loaf and went to to cut it in half. We agreed to take the half, paid and left - I'm fairly certain I detected a faint glimmer of a smile from him as we said our goodbyes.

By the time we got home it was 12.30pm and lunch time. It was also time for the cats to go outside again, so we ate a lunch of bread, cheese and salami on the patio while the cats wandered around, not quite being able to believe their luck that they had been freed for a second time.

Lunch dispatched, it was time to get down to work. I should mention that by this time, the morning's clouds and rain had vanished. It was a breezy afternoon, but the sky was blue and the sun clear and bright.

We unpacked everything from the car onto the guest patio, and began the afternoon's construction work with assembling the garden table and four chairs. I then headed indoors to collect together an assortment of plates, cutlery, wine glasses and the all-important wine bottle (plus corkscrew to lend credence), and set about dressing the table for its photoshoot. We were pretty pleased with the results:

Spot the feline.

Tempting?

Once all of the props had been cleared away, I brought the laptop out to do some work on the website from the outdoor 'office', while Stuart began work on the construction of the TV unit. (I think he realises that garden furniture is about the limit of my flat-pack assembly skills.)

While we worked, the cats flitted around - putting the fear of god into me when they disappeared every now and then, only to reappear with cobwebs and all sorts all over their heads. Florence spent quite a lot of time on the guest patio with us (and features in our website pics!), before charging off to explore somewhere new.

We also spotted this intriguing little critter walking around all over the table. No more than 3mm in length:

Any clues?!

Before I knew it, the TV cabinet had been assembled and I was being asked to help carry it into the apartment.

Of course, the floor will need a good clean, and buckets and tools clearing up - but that will have to wait until the kitchen has been fitted.

Next on the list was assembling the BBQ - which we are hoping to try out at some point this weekend. You'll have to overlook the messiness of the 'BBQ patio', as we need to get rid of the old concrete one and do some SERIOUS weeding! (I can't quite believe that only a couple of weeks ago I spent hours getting rid of ALL of the weeds in the cracks between the paving slabs, and now it looks like this!):

Two felines, a brand, spanking new BBQ and *SO MANY* weeds.

This is what it looked like a few weeks ago!

By the time that was done, it was getting on for 6.30pm, so we both sat at the new table and chairs on the guest patio, enjoying the shade of the fir tree and enjoying the view from a different angle for a change. We both agreed that this makes a very nice spot to spend an afternoon/evening. Stuart remarked how pleased he was to have achieved so much today (2x cushions, 1x set of garden furniture, 1x set of photos, 1x TV cabinet and 1x BBQ). PHEW!

While we were sitting on the guest patio, we witnessed Florence's first (to our knowledge) hunting success since arriving here. A lizard took her by surprise and ran out in front of her. Quick as a flash she chased it, caught it, and then looked VERY confused as (squeamish people look away now) she held it in her mouth, but its tail continued wriggling around on the ground (the technical term for this, I have discovered, is caudal autotomy - the lizard sheds its tail, with the wriggly tail an attempt to create a distraction so it can get away). She couldn't quite decide whether to drop the lizard and chase after its wriggly tail, or to continue with what she'd already got. In the end she walked off with the lizard in her mouth. I have no idea what they taste like, but she seemed quite pleased, and Lucca looked on with a look of envy. I just hope that it hasn't spoiled her appetite, as dinner is the only way we are likely to be able to entice them into the house for the night!