When the cats (well Lucca, to be more accurate) started scratching at the bottom of the bed asking for their breakfast this cold, cold morning, closely followed by Reggie starting up his whining song from downstairs, I dearly wished that they had been blessed with opposable thumbs and could open up their own packets of food, take themselves out for toilet trips and even open up the goose house. But, since evolution hadn't sped forward overnight, there was nothing else for it than to jump out of bed and pull on as many clothes as I could lay my hands on as quickly as possible. This was made slightly more difficult by the fact that Florence was happily snuggled up on the pile of clothes I had discarded before climbing into bed last night, so I frantically scoured the room for alternatives and ended up wearing a gym top and fleece together with Stuart's jogging bottoms and fluffy pink and orange socks (lovely and warm, courtesy of my generous friend Mary) - a very attractive ensemble.
After feeding the cats, taking Reggie to the garden and feeding him, I headed to see the geese. I opened up their house and was about to make my way out of their enclosure when the thought suddenly crossed my mind to check their water bowl. Although most of the snow and ice had disappeared, it was incredibly cold and the ground was as hard as rock. Sure enough, on inspecting both their water bowl and their swimming pool I found both frozen solid. A hard tap with the plastic pooper scooper we use for clearing the muck out of their house did nothing - the ice was a good inch thick. I hurried back to the house to see if I could find something more effective. A quick look in the man-cave-come-office-cave came up trumps and I was soon heading back outside with a hammer from Stuart's toolbox. After a good few whacks I managed to break the surface of both drinking water and swimming pool, and made a mental note to always do an ice check in the mornings when it's cold!
Ice breaking done with, it was time for a quick shower and even quicker breakfast before heading into town first to the bank, then Andrea's. Reggie waited patiently in the car while we popped into the bank (as much as you can 'pop quickly' into anywhere that has a one-in-one-out sealed fingerprint recognition pod as an entrance) and saw smiley Gianguido at the counter, where we asked to withdraw a not inconsiderable sum of money in order to pay Andrea. That was all quite straightforward, although we almost spent the rest of the morning in the bank waiting to get out as there was suddenly a stream of people coming in through the fingerprint pod.
Next, we drove to Andrea's, where he showed us the geologist's report (and furnished us with our very own copy, showing all sorts of figures and measurements and geological maps and diagrams) and got us to sign yet more plans for submission to the comune. Since we are now just a couple of days away from the end of the year, and still no decision has yet been made as to whether or not the region will extend the special dispensation for extending houses by 20% in 2015 (the lack of quick decision making is nothing unusual, according to Andrea), the plans for our extension must be submitted to the comune by this Wednesday in order to ensure they fall within 2014 - while the special dispensation is still in place. He then presented us with no fewer than four bills that we needed to pay at the post office and return to him with proof of payment, and asked us if we could also come back again tomorrow at 9am to sign yet more forms and plans once the engineer had sent him some more information.
We bade a quick 'ciao' to Andrea and headed straight for the post office. At least it wouldn't be as busy at it had been the last time I went in there to pay one of Andrea's bills before Christmas... or so I thought. Just as before, the place was heaving and the crazy deli-counter-style ticket system seemed to defy all logic, but after a wait of around 15 minutes, our turn finally came and we handed over our bundle of bills. Once the lady had relieved us of the €290-odd that the bills totted up to, we headed back to Andrea's and while Stuart popped the receipts in to him, I went to get Reggie out of the car.
The day didn't yet feel any warmer, so we buttoned up our coats and headed towards the river to give Reggie's legs a stretch. We included a quick circuit of town in order to pick up some more cat biscuits, then went straight back to the car for some warmth.
By the time we got home it was nearing 12pm and we both felt hungry and since we were due to go out this afternoon, we decided on an early lunch: turkey sandwiches! Yes, despite not having cooked a traditional Christmas lunch, and therefore not having the traditional leftover turkey pieces, we did find some turkey escalopes in the freezer, which we had cooked last night. There was still a scraping of cranberry sauce left in the jar that Paul and Marie had brought with them, so we ate delicious turkey and cranberry sandwiches.
Not long after lunch, just as I was wondering how long I could cope in the unheated house - which we were about to abandon the animals in for the afternoon - Alex and Donatella (whom we were planning to visit) put the suggestion to us that we postpone meeting up until next week, when temperatures are due to be warmer, so that we could both keep our fire going through the afternoon (well, it would be a case of lighting it first!) and avoid having to drive up the potentially slippery roads further up the valley. After some consideration we thanked them for the suggestion and decided that it would be sensible and more comfortable for the whole household if we did indeed postpone. Once that decision had been made, there was no time to waste - Stuart headed straight to the woodpile to collect yet more basketfuls of wood (we are going through the woodpile like wood is going out of fashion - more chopping and collecting for us next week I think!) and to get a fire going.
Before long, the fire was roaring into life and the house started to feel more comfortable. It never really reached more than 14C in the bedroom/bathroom/office, but the living room was at least cosy and comfortable.
To make the most of the afternoon, we then brought both of our PCs into the warmth of the living room, sat opposite each other at the dining room table behind our respective PCs (it was just like being in the office again - except Stuart wasn't quite so willing to talk about Strictly Come Dancing as Allison used to be) and set about doing some work on our website and setting up a profile for ourselves on the Owners Direct holiday rentals website. Surprisingly time-consuming stuff, but by 6.30pm we were ready to down tools, cook some dinner and finally settle on the sofa with a glass of wine and the crackling fire to keep the cold at bay.
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