A damp day, but no dampened spirits!

As with all weather forecasts, ours seems to change on a daily basis. The one constant this week, though, has been the prediction that today would definitely be rainy. The forecasters certainly got that one right!

We awoke to the sound of rain pounding on the skylight. I somewhat half-heartedly ventured outside. I had to put a raincoat on to go and release the geese from their overnight lodgings (they came straight out of their house this morning - even while I was still standing there!), then reluctantly took it off again once I was under the 'exercise-area' canopy to swing some kettlebells around. The rain kept coming and going in waves - when it came heavily, it was accompanied by strong gusts of wind, which blew the pool of water that had accumulated on top of the canopy off and onto my mat. It also dripped through the canopy (which isn't actually waterproof) onto the mat, so it was a fairly soggy 40 minutes for me and I was happy to pack my things back up again and go indoors.

After showering and breakfasting, I could hear voices and noises outside the office window - I peered out into the rain to have a look, to see Mum and Dad in their waterproofs, arranging pieces of plastic sheeting over the pile of wood we'd accumulated, and tidying the pile as they went. Talk about making us feel bad! Stuart went straight for his waterproofs and rushed outside to lend a hand. The three of them carried on until the rain got really heavy, when they went to shelter in the woodshed - by that point it was close to 10am though, so I popped out to let them know we should leave in 15 minutes to go and see Chris and Sue for coffee - sending Mum and Dad scurrying off to their apartment to change wet clothes for dry.

It was then time for us all to pile into the car and drive down the road into Pescia. The rain was hammering down, with rivulets gushing down the driveway and down the road. By the time we reached Chris and Sue's the rain had eased - temporarily - allowing us the luxury of walking up the path to their house in the relative dry.

We were greeted by Sue, who was cooking a fresh batch of Welsh cakes in our honour, and Chris, who had been on the roof cleaning out their chimney. We then spent a lovely 2.5 hours sitting around their large kitchen table drinking coffee, eating Welsh cakes and having a good chat and catch up. As always, time flew by (there really does seem to be some sort of time shifting going on in the Phillips house) and before we knew it, Chris was getting ready to go and pick the boys up from school at 1pm. After a quick look at the now one-week-old chicks, we left the Phillipses to the rest of their day.

We headed down the hill a few hundred yards to go and pop our heads into the San Francesco church. The church is home to a very valuable, famous painting of Saint Francis of Assisi. The painting, by Bonaventura Berlighieri, was painted in 1235, just nine years after the death of St Francis, and is the oldest surviving example of this type of picture - which shows the saint surrounded by mini-scenes from his life (until then that format of painting had been reserved only for pictures of the Madonna and Child). So, we went and had a look at the painting, and a quick nose around the rest of the church, before getting back into the car (once again in the pouring rain) and heading for Esselunga.

After quick pitstop in Esselunga it was getting on for 2pm, so we attempted to find somewhere to have a bite to eat. We tried a couple of places we could think of on the edge of town, but they were closed, so we did an about-turn and went to park in the main piazza. We wandered the streets a little, before diving into the Pucci restaurant - one that we've walked past many times before but not yet tried. We had a very pleasant lunch - pizzas for Mum, Dad and me, and a pork steak for Stuart, followed by coffees all round. By the time we left the restaurant the weather was still damp, so we headed straight for the car and home.

We picked up the post on our way into the drive - I had a leaf through the envelopes to see what exciting post we'd got and... there was one marked from the Comune. Could it be THE letter we have been waiting for??? YES! It was the letter to say that they are now satisfied with all of their checks and we can progress to getting our identity cards! Clearly the policeman who visited when Louise and Dan were here got bored of trying to find us at home, and was satisfied enough with our little note (that Louise and Dan gave him) plus the fact that our names are on the letterbox. Phew, what a relief! Going back to the Comune with some passport photos and the letter will be a job for next week now, when hopefully we should come away with proper Italian identity cards - meaning we can get our own (cheaper) car insurance, go onto cheaper rates for electricity/water, sort out our health cards and so on. Brilliant!

Once home we all changed into wet-weather gear to go and do some useful outdoor activities. On arriving home, we had found that the canopy over the exercise area had been ripped from its guy ropes in the strong gusts of wind - so Mum and Dad took it down and used it to cover the rest of the wood pile. It will be back to soggy exercise (or no exercise on wet days) for me for the foreseeable future!

As the rain started to come down heavily yet again, Mum, Dad and Stuart went into the apartment - Stuart and Dad had their eyes on some indoor work: fixing new clothes hooks to the wall and putting some filler in some creepy-crawly-sized gaps that Dad had spotted between the beams and the ceiling.

I was standing outside the door momentarily, when all of a sudden two things happened: I heard an enormous crash, as a tree came tumbling down in the woods the other side of the stream from us, and then realised there was a commotion on the other side of my peripheral vision. I couldn't quite believe my eyes, but there was a goose standing there on the pile of rubble in the extension-to-be area. Yikes!!

I quickly shouted for help and started trying to make sure he (it was the male) didn't wander off up the drive. At this point the rain came pelting down again, so Stuart and I got soaked. Mum and Dad also came to help - after pulling their waterproofs back on - and the four of us shepherded the goose in the direction in which we wanted him. He wasn't really cooperating though, so Stuart lunged for him and managed to grab hold of him. Dad was quick enough thinking to suggest we get a pair of scissors while we had hold of him to clip his wings. He had already had his wings clipped - but obviously not enough to stop him launching himself from the terrace up and over the fence! 

I have to say that, as all of this was going on, both geese found their honks. They seemed rather distraught to have been separated from each other, and made plenty of noise! Once Dad had clipped the wing feathers (with our kitchen scissors), Stuart went to put the goose back in the enclosure. The two geese seemed happy to be reunited and soon settled back down to eating grass and clucking at each other. We may have dull weather days, but the days are never dull here!

After that little excitement, we had all got wet again, so Mum and Dad decided to stay out and cut back some of the acacia and undergrowth from the terrace that's on the same level of the house (despite having strimmed it a few weeks ago, it was getting overgrown again). While they did that, I went up onto the fourth terrace and rediscovered a large pile of wood that I'd found a few weeks ago. I dragged it all out from the undergrowth and moved it down, one terrace at a time, until I reached the first terrace above the house.

By the time we'd done all that, we were all feeling pretty soggy and tired, so Mum and Dad retired to the apartment with Stuart for a cup of tea and some torta crema (which we'd bought from Bar Poulter earlier). Stuart and I put the geese to bed - they actually went in pretty much of their own accord tonight (they'd had a stressful day after all!), then Stuart went to finish off his jobs in the apartment while I went to shower and change.

Tomorrow's weather is meant to be a vast improvement on today. The forecast says there is a 'chance of rain' but says that the amount of rain expected is 0mm (go figure!). We are therefore hoping to be able to get out and stretch our legs again on the last day of Mum and Dad's visit. I can't believe how quickly the week has gone, and I'm dreading having to say goodbye to them on Sunday.

For now, it's time for dinner and a look at the maps to see where we might like to venture tomorrow.