Thursday:
Thursday may have started out slightly better than Wednesday, but regrettably it didn't end up that way.
It was an early start for me, feeding and watering all the animals so that we would be ready to head into town just after 8.30am - we were due to meet with Andrea, the geometra, at 9am to discuss plans for the extension, and after that we had a string of other errands, including getting Stuart's blood test done and going to Sue's check on her chickens.
At the last minute, we decided to take Reggie with us - we decided that he could stay in the car while we were at Andrea's and then go for a nice walk by the river afterwards, so the three of us hopped in the car and headed down the hill into town.
We arrived at Andrea's office at 8.55am, but there was no sign of his car outside, so we sat and waited until just after 9am he turned up. We gave him a minute to open up the office then headed in, giving Reggie instructions to be good while we were busy. In the past, all of our meetings with Andrea have lasted about 15 minutes maximum, but this one way exceeded all previous visits and we were in his office for over an hour. The entire meeting was conducted in Italian, and we were really pleased to find that we were able to follow pretty much everything Andrea was saying. Having said that, there were moments when my brain tuned out as I started to fret about poor Reggie being left in the car on his own.
The discussions with Andrea were both positive and frustrating. On the positive side, he said it would be fine for us to brick up the doorway in the kitchen that leads to the man cave. It was actually Sue who suggested this - bricking up the doorway would both solve the issue of cold air coming in from that space AND give us more wall space for kitchen storage - a brilliant idea, so we were pleased that Andrea didn't think there would be any problem with doing that.
We also asked him whether it would be possible to move the large pillar that stands in the kitchen in a very awkward position. In its current position, it creates dead-space as there isn't enough room to move between it and the stairs, and it's generally a giant pain. Andrea had to think a bit more carefully about this. In the end, he came to the conclusion that moving it all depended on the position of three wooden and two metal beams in the ceiling of the apartment below. As long as the pillar would still be standing directly above one of these beams, it would be OK, but under no circumstances should it be moved unless it was still over one of these supporting beam. Well, that could be a bit more difficult that we hoped, but we understood the reasoning.
Next, we talked about the plans Andrea has drawn up for the possible extension, as well as the visit from the Man from Florence (and visits from a geologist and an engineer). We learned that, besides the fact that the goose house, the man cave & wood shed, the canopy over the apartment door and the satellite dish all need to be dismantled prior to the visit from the Man from Florence, we will also have to pay a fine of over €2000 in order to 'make good' the fact that the previous owners: 1. added a small window in the apartment bathroom, 2. made a small window in the upstairs bathroom larger, and 3. painted the house yellow, all 'outside of regulations'. This fine needs to be settled before the visit from the Man from Florence.
Andrea told us a horror story about the Man from Florence - to illustrate his pernickity-ness: another couple who own a house in Sorana had a temporary car port type of construction over an area on which they had planned to build an extension. The car port (merely some posts supporting a temporary roof) was CLEARLY going to be taken down, as it was on the exact spot on which the extension was to be built, but on seeing it, the Man from Florence insisted it be taken down, then photographs taken to prove that it had been taken down, and those photographs submitted to him in Florence (in person) before he would even give consideration to the plans submitted for the extension.
Furthermore, we learned that, while the comune will allow us to have solar panels for hot water, there are three conditions: 1. we can only have two (at 1m x 2m each), 2. they must be fitted so that they are flush with the roof tiles, rather than simply fitting them on top of the roof, and 3. (the sting) they must be red. Andrea wasn't even sure if red solar panels existed, so while we were in his office, he called his friend at a solar panel reseller nearby. His friend didn't know of any either. While apparently photovoltaic panels do come in red, solar panels for water heating do not. There is, in fact, a very good scientific reason for this. In order to draw the maximum amount of energy from the sun to heat water, solar water heating panels are black - which (think back to your physics lessons at school) absorbs the most amount of heat. Red panels will absorb just 70% of the amount that black ones do. That came as a bit of a blow, but Andrea said he would write to the comune to tell them it is a ridiculous rule (in polite terms, I guess) and meanwhile his friend will check all his catalogues to see if he can find any red-coloured solar panels...
Andrea showed us lots of photographs of extensions he has done for various other people that are very similar to what he envisages for us. They did all look beautiful, but the more he talked about the process and the requirements, the more and more expensive it all sounded. Even the simple process of getting planning permission before we can even get quotes for the cost of the building work is likely to cost us thousands of euros - we have the €2k fine to pay for starters, plus fees for the geologist, the engineer, Andrea's fees, fees to pay to the comune ... and so the list goes on. Hmm.
Anyway, after all the discussion and even a bit of chit-chat (all in Italian), we finally got out of Andrea's office and sprinted to the car to reassure Reggie that we hadn't, in fact, abandoned him. We decided that, since we'd been so long, we would take him out now and take him around town with us. First, we walked to the CUP, where Stuart went in with his pink form from the doctor to find out how to pay for his blood test. After a bit of a wait in there, he was told he simply needed to take it with him to the misericordia or public assistenza. So, next stop was the public assistenza opposite the bus terminus. We'd only ever seen ambulance staff hanging around outside this building, so weren't really sure where to go, but Stuart eventually found the right door... only to be told that blood tests are only done between 7.30am and 9.30am (by the time we'd got out of Andrea's office it was well past 10am. Next, we tried the misericordia in the main square. This place is also an ambulance station (we have yet to work out the difference between the two) and also, it seems, take blood for blood tests. However, we found out (thanks to a lady standing outside on the street) that they also only do the blood test service between 7.30am and 9.30am.
Frustrated, we decided to retire to Franco's bar for a cappucino outdoors, with Reggie sitting nice and quietly with us (that is, quietly until each time a dog walked past). Reggie was pretty good with other dogs today. He would growl and lunge at them initially, but if we gradually let him closer, he would calm down and simply sniff noses. He even gave one little dog a couple of friendly licks. He also met a 4-month-old puppy who was roughly a quarter of the size of Reggie - a cross between something and a Yorkshire terrier, apparently.
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| As we sipped our cappucinos, workmen finished decorating the Christmas tree in the main square. |
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| Also on our walk around town, we passed a nativity scene outside the San Francesco church. |
Anyway, coffees dispatched, we next walked to Chris and Sue's in order to see to their chickens - Chris and Sue are currently away, so have asked us to check up on the chickens and top up their food and water accordingly.
When we got there, we tied Reggie up to a tree at a safe distance from the chicken coop and went in to check the chickens' water bowls etc. No sooner had we opened the door to the chicken house than a little familiar face was peering at us - hello Reggie!! WHOOOAH, hold on a minute - Reggie??? How had THAT happened?! Somehow, the little Houdini had managed to wriggle out of his harness, had left harness and lead tied to the tree and come bounding over to see what we were doing. We executed a quick retrieval of the lead and tied him up again, this time attaching the lead to his collar, while we went in to top up the chicken's water and feed and to collect 11 (yes, 11!) eggs. Stuart carefully placed the eggs in the pouch of his hoodie before we finally retraced our way back to the car at Andrea's office and headed home.
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| Chickens all present and correct. |
By the time we got home it was almost lunch time, so guess what we had? Yes, DELICIOUS scrambled eggs. They really do taste better when fresh and free range.
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| Delicious fresh scrambled eggs. |
It was after lunch that the internet decided to stop working again, and didn't flicker back into life after a few re-boots of the modem, so I ploughed on with some offline office work for a few hours.
As the afternoon wore on, Stuart's well-being seemed to take a nosedive - he hadn't been feeling brilliant all day, but by late afternoon he was clearly feeling awful both physically and mentally. I'm sure his mood wasn't helped at all by the geese giving him the run-around. Having been absorbed in my work - and happy in the knowledge that the cats were already safely indoors - the geese had completely slipped my mind until 5pm, by which time it was properly dark. Once I realised that Stuart had given up trying to get them in, I headed outside in the dark to see if I would fare any better. I think there were a couple of problems - first, the geese were spooked by the torch, and secondly, they were spooked by the darkness of their house. In the end, I resorted to placing a torch in the back of the house, on top of their hay, so that there was some light in there, and after 30 minutes of standing outside in the cold making encouraging noises (in amongst threats including cooking them for Christmas or simply leaving them for the fox overnight), they eventually (on about the 8th attempt) waddled far enough into their house for me to close the hatch and lock them in. Note to self: DON'T LEAVE THE GEESE UNTIL AFTER DARK again.
By the time I came back in, it was 6pm, so I cooked a mushroom risotto - one of Stuart's favourites - in the hopes it might lift his spirits, but of course what he's dealing with is nowhere near as simple as that. It's very hard not to take it personally, especially when there is literally nobody else here to turn to, but I know that he has no control over how this horrible affliction makes him feel, and this time around the extreme exhaustion really has brought with it some extreme dark moods. I hope the doctor will be able to shed some light on things and help get the right medication sorted out quickly.
So, after yet another evening sans Internet (not helpful when you're feeling isolated and in need of support from the outside world), with Stuart retiring to bed at 8pm, I finally turned in after a late-night toilet trip for Reggie at about 11pm.
Friday:
This morning started with the usual rounds of the animals. I took Reggie with me to see to the geese and down to the apartment to empty the dehumidifier, then for a walk up the drive and then a short play in the garden. When I ventured up to the bedroom at 8am, Stuart was stirring, but looking miserable. Thankfully, he reluctantly agreed to go into town to get his blood test done, so after he'd struggled out of bed and pulled some shoes on, both of which looked like it was taking him a monumental effort, we both got into the car and drove into town.
We parked up in the main square and went straight to the misericordia. There, the lady on reception took Stuart's pink referral slip then printed out a document for us to take over to the hospital on the other side of town in order to pay the fee for the test, telling us to come back once we'd done that. So we traipsed over to the main hospital building and used one of the self-service machines for paying for treatments. The blood tests Stuart is having done cost €32. In Italy, you pay a nominal fee for various treatments - which must help enormously with cutting down on time wasters and on people not turning up for hospital appointments.
Once we'd retrieved the receipt for the payment from the machine, we headed back across to the square and back to the misericordia where, after checking that everything was in order with the payment, we were directed to the blood-taking room. I sat on a chair outside while Stuart went in and was seen by a very friendly older chap. As we'd arrived, I'd spied this chap tweaking the arrangement of the figures in a nativity scene on top of a microwave. I don't know why, but I immediately warmed to him! In a matter of minutes, the blood had been taken and Stuart was being sent on his way after being told that the results would be available between 9.30am and 12.30pm on Monday.
Job done, we got back in the car and headed back up the hill towards home.
Once we were home, I booted up the computer (still no internet) to do some work, while Stuart tinkered with a few jobs outside before announcing that he didn't think he would make it to his day's work in Lanciole today, as had been his original intention. I was shocked that he had still even been considering it, and therefore relieved that he had come to that decision.
The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful - the internet stayed firmly off, I ploughed on with some offline work, and Stuart tried to occupy himself as best he could with no internet and little energy.
After yesterday's shennanigans with the geese, I left my desk at 4.45pm to make sure I got to them well before dark today. Unfortunately, the geese didn't seem to have any plans for an early night, and bluntly refused to go into (and stay in) their house again. It was pretty chilly, and my patience was in shorter supply than it had been yesterday, so after having told them that they would make a nice dinner for Mr Fox, and shouted various threats at them such as 'cranberry sauce', I told them they could have it their own way and left them to it. When I got back into the house though, Stuart offered to come out and help put the geese to bed the 'old fashioned way' - with the two of us herding them with poles. So I did an about turn while Stuart pulled some boots on and we headed back to the goose enclosure where, without even a hesitation, the geese went straight into their house and let me close the door.
Once the geese were locked down for the night, we decided to take Reggie for a walk in town, so put him in the car and drove to Pescia. We had a good walk around the streets, bought Reggie some more chew sticks, met a few other dogs and admired the twinkly Christmas lights before heading back home.
Once home, we opened a bottle of wine and heated up some of our home-made ragu from the freezer - good comfort food with a minimum of effort - before relaxing on the sofa for the evening.
Saturday:
Saturday started with the usual early morning animal rounds: breakfast for the cats, toilet trip for Reggie, opening the geese house, breakfast for Reggie and a play in the garden for Reggie.
I did try getting back into bed for another half hour's doze after all that, but it wasn't to be, and both Stuart and I were getting up by 8am. Stuart said that, while he still felt exhausted and couldn't seem to shake the tired feeling, he did actually feel in a slightly better frame of mind than he had done for the last few days, which was encouraging.
After we had each had breakfast and showered and dressed, we got Reggie ready and put him in the car. First, we headed to Montecatini: first stop there was ArcaPlanet, the pet shop, where we bought Reggie a range of new toys to add variety to his play time, as well as a new extendable lead and some more chews. Next, we headed to the ipercoop complex, where we left Reggie in his travel crate with a couple of new toys and a chew stick while we dashed in to have a coffee while we made use of the free WiFi there. We had been told by Brad, supplier of our internet "service" (or lack thereof, as it seems to have been recently) that the problem might be that the satellite dish had moved in the wind and might need repositioning. His solution to the problem was to email Stuart a set of instructions as to how to do reposition the satellite dish. Great. Only without any internet connection, we would have to go somewhere else in order to download the email. Hence the trip to Montecatini.
Anyway, we each had a cappuccino, and watched with wonderment as the Internet sprang into life on Stuart's tablet computer. It was tempting to stay there all day, checking emails, uploading blogs, getting back in touch with the outside world, but we had a puppy waiting in the car and other things to do, so we just downloaded the relevant email, then headed back to the car.
Next stop was Pescia to take Reggie for his walk. He'd been very good waiting for us while we made our dash into ipercoop, so he was due a good walk and a run by the river. We test drove his new lead which, at 5m long is a lot longer than his other lead and he seemed to enjoy the freedom. This time, we took him off the lead altogether to try out some whistle training, which he did superbly, as always.
After a good run and walk by the river, we headed back to the car and went to Sue's again to check on the chickens and collect eggs. There were 9 eggs today - a little less productive than Thursday's collection, but still fantastic (from 6 chickens).
After that, it was finally time to head home, to cook up some poached eggs on toast for lunch, and then for Stuart to attempt to follow Brad's instructions to reposition the satellite. This proved considerably easier said than done, and led to a lot of frustration. After well over an hour of fiddling with the satellite dish and going back and forth with Brad by text message, the internet was up, but not functioning as it should - so don't be surprised if you don't hear from us again for a few days as this may only be a temporary fix. SIGH.
We had been planning to meet up with Claudia - the lady who had come to Lucca with us to collect Reggie (or Jeremy as he was then known!) - this afternoon, but in the end we postponed the meeting as, by around lunch time, Stuart felt both his mood and energy levels plummeting once again (after such a promising start to the day, it seems that he is right back to square one with this 'thyroid storm'). I can tell just by looking at him when he's feeling bad, it's like all the light goes out of his eyes, sometimes he can barely make eye contact, and conversation is monosyllabic, if not non-existent. I know he desperately struggles to fight the feeling, and that he hates not feeling in control of his mood and hates feeling so utterly exhausted all the time, regardless of how much sleep he gets. I just wish that there was something I could do to make things better. Roll on next week, blood test results and a return to the doctor.
Anyway, it's long overdue time for me to go and warm up next to the fire, as I'm shivering at my computer in the office - hopefully we'll be back to a normal blogging schedule from now, but we remain at the mercy of the internet/satellite gods...
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