Valley of the mists

My Sunday - my once-in-seven-days opportunity to have a bit of a lie-in - started abruptly at 6.40am when I was roused from my slumber by the unmistakable 'Let me out, I need the toilet' whines and barks from downstairs. Approximately one hour earlier than usual even for a weekday. At this point, it was still dark, so I flung on Stuart's fluffy dressing gown and a pair of wellies and quickly took Reggie outside without letting the cats escape. One we were on the lawn, I soon snapped out of my sleepiness when it became abundantly clear that the poor pooch had an upset tummy. I won't go into too much detail here, suffice it to say that I got through several poop bags and it was touch and go as to whether I felt it would be safe to take the poor dog back indoors again.

He did come in willingly though, and while I got back into bed and lay, holding my breath, waiting to hear him call out again, he must have dropped back off to sleep straight away, and the next time I heard him was after 8am. On looking out the window as I hurriedly dressed, I couldn't help but nudge Stuart and tell him to do the same - there was a blanket of white outside. No, not snow, but thick, thick fog.

Once dressed, I dashed downstairs to let Reggie out for his urgent business. I then fed him, and then Stuart and I both went to see the geese, taking them some of their new grain and replacing their broken washing-up bowl/water bowl (which had disintegrated when Stuart attempted to empty the block of ice from it over new year) with a new bucket of fresh water.

After we'd done a few more chores - putting washing out to dry in the drying room, putting washing away, and other such mundane things - I put a pan of porridge on the stove and we sat down to a warming breakfast before getting togged up in our waterproofs and venturing out to take Reggie for a walk. We decided to walk him along the quiet lane at the back of the San Lorenzo hotel - with his digestive system in its current state, we wanted to steer clear of streets and pavements, just in case. By the time we headed out with him, the wet cloud had turned into proper rain, and we all got very soggy. Nevertheless, it wasn't too cold and it was a very enjoyable walk. This time we walked from the San Lorenzo hotel right the way as far as the bins near to Chris and Sue's house and then back again. Reggie seemed to enjoy himself - regardless of his upset tummy, he still seemed to have plenty of energy, and his little ears got soggier and soggier and his fur spikier and spikier as we walked.

After we got home and had towelled Reggie down, I lit the fire then Stuart settled down to some reading and I did a bit of work on our website before a late lunch of warm Tuscan bean soup, followed by a mug of hot cocoa with a dash of home-made chestnut rum.

By the time we'd finished lunch it had reached crunch point of the day - it was getting on for 3pm and I felt as if I was in danger of squandering the whole day. In the end, after a frustrating period of indecision on my part (which was far more frustrating for Stuart, who was happy just to sit on the sofa and read and really didn't need me getting wound up about wasting the day), I changed into work clothes, grabbed the hedge trimmers, safety gear and rakes, and headed down to the terrace below the house. By this time, it was still misty in the valley, but it was drier, and there were even brief moments of sunshine.

At first, as I battled against tangled brambles, I wasn't sure I would achieve anything that would satisfy my need to feel as if I'd done something productive with the day, but after a short while, I had cleared enough to uncover an obstacle which looked like it might be the missing-in-action septic tank, and by the time I'd finished nearly 2 hours worth of work, I had cleared a very respectable section of terrace and uncovered ground that we have never seen before. Stuart came down to inspect my work and confirmed that the mysterious object was indeed the septic tank, and gave his seal of approval to my work.

Almost a whole terrace cleared below the house - septic tank included.

Meanwhile, Stuart played with Reggie in the garden for a while, and went over to talk to the cats who had sought refuge on the wood pile. Reggie showed his usual boundless energy and his usual displeasure on seeing Stuart stroking Lucca while he himself was stuck behind a gate that he can't - quite - jump (yet?!):

Hold on, where's Dad going?

Let me out!!!

I can almost jump it...

Poor Lucca feels safest on the wood pile. 

Evening mists.

As the light began to fade, it was time for me to pack up my tools and lure the cats indoors while Stuart collected wood for the fire, washed up and put the geese away. Having satisfied my need to do something with the day, I now feel ready for an evening relaxing by the fire, and that's exactly what I plan to do.