Working up a sweat!

I was barely aware of Helen getting up out of bed this morning to go and see to the animals then exercise this morning - yesterday's exertions definitely took their toll on me!

When I did finally get up (having already resisted Reggie's numerous attempts to stir me from my sleep), my teeth-cleaning routine was interrupted by the phone ringing. It was 8.30am, and while I continued to brush my teeth, pondering who might be on the other end, it suddenly dawned on me that it was probably Sue. Just before getting into bed last night, she had messaged me to ask if I could give them another tow to the garage this morning - after the elation of having their car back in full working order on Friday, it was now just 4 days later and the car wouldn't start again...

I dashed downstairs - too late to catch the phone, so called her straight back and said I'd be right there. I grabbed the car keys and the dog (to give Helen some peace and quiet) and headed into town. At the Phillipses, Chris and I hooked up the cars and I towed the poorly Panda through Pescia rush hour. Did I just hear gasps of astonishment? Did I actually say rush hour?! I did, but this is rural Italy we're talking about - rush hour here is not very different from any other time of day. In fact, I think we've only suffered with bad traffic twice since being here and one of those occasions was on the autostrada.

Anyway, back to the garage (you'll be disappointed to hear that there were no near misses with pedestrians this time). We parked the cars and went and found the mechanic who came and looked at the car. Chris explained that all he had done was to try and replace the headlight - and after having done that, nothing would work (again). He also said this time there was a ticking when the key was turned, so with Chris at the wheel and the mechanic under the bonnet, the ignition key was turned. Shortly afterwards, the mechanic appeared from under the bonnet holding a small red plastic box with four blade connectors on it - an electronic relay. This was deemed the problem. The mechanic rummaged around for a spare, but could only produce an old one which, when tested, also made odd noises, so we said we'd try taking the old one to the spares shop down the road to see if we could buy a replacement.

We went into the spares shop and handed the relay switch to the guy behind the counter. He simply looked blankly at it. This is a Fiat Panda for heaven's sake! It's not much of an exaggeration to say that every other car over here is a Fiat Panda - so they must have a draw full of these things! Regardless, he was unable to help so sent us on our way with directions to another spares shop around the corner. This time I let Chris run in on his own as I was parked in true Italian style in a bus stop, and I thought it best not to leave Reggie alone in the car under such circumstances.

Moments later, Chris retuned with a similar looking item to our electronic relay but in brown, not red. He asked me how much I thought it was. Knowing that you can buy replacement car bulbs for €1 here, and that this device was neither any bigger nor more complicated, I opted to err on the side of caution and triple the price. "Three euros", I guessed... "Try €25!!" was Chris's reply!

When we returned to the garage with the expensive little brown box, we tried fitting the new relay ourselves, but it too made a strange noise so we unplugged it and took it over to the mechanic. He looked at it with complete disdain, accompanied by the kind of gesticulation only an Italian could pull off. In explanation, he showed us that embossed on one side was a Ford logo! The mechanic suggested that Chris leave the car at the garage so that he can order and fit the correct spare.

So, all in all, the tow took a little longer that expected, but my efforts were rewarded with half a dozen freshly laid eggs from the Phillips chickens - definitely the better part of the bargain in my eyes.

Beautiful fresh eggs!

When I got home at 11am, Helen (who had offered to come and work with me up in Lanciole today) had already clocked up a couple of hours of office work and sorted out our lunch, so once we'd collected up the necessary tools, we were soon on our way up the valley to find out whehter we could access the house through the snow that appeared to still be lingering up at that altitude.

Our progress up the valley road was hindered somewhat by a couple of lorries. The way these lorries tank up and down the narrow, winding road to do make deliveries and pick-ups at the paper factories is impressive, and of course, if you meet one and you're driving a mere car or van, the onus is on you to reverse back along the road until you find a passing space or to squeeze into the side of the road and hold your breath while the enormous lorry trundles past. On this occasion, however, it was lorry vs lorry. Initially, the one we were following seemed to be in pole position and it (and we behind it) sat and waited while the lorry coming in the opposite direction manoeuvred itself backwards and forwards trying to get itself into a position in which 'our' lorry could pass. Well, after several long attempts, it failed. That meant that both we and our lorry had to start reversing back down the road. Reversing down a twisty, turning valley road is challenging enough in a small vehicle, but hats off to those who do it in an articulated lorry. We eventually found a spot where we could pull in and wait for the two lorries to pass, before pulling back out and hurrying on up the road, hoping not to meet any more trucks!

Once we'd reversed far enough to find a waiting point we could watch as one lorry reversed and the other came trundling down towards it. 

We made it to Lanciole without meeting any more trucks and were relieved to find that we only had to negotiate a couple of small icy patches on the track that leads to the house - so once we arrived, we set to work on collecting all the prunings I'd left where they fell on my last visit and burning them on a fire while Reggie amused himself in the small patches of snow still lying around.

It wasn't long before I was in my T-shirt and Helen a gym vest - our weather app tells us that it has been 19°C in Pescia today - and I can well believe that it might have reached 15-16°C at Lanciole. It was truly balmy weather and certainly enough to have us both gasping for water and almost wishing we'd worn shorts.

Of course, the temperature plummeted as soon as the sun disappeared from view, which was about 3.30pm, and by 4.30pm we had piled all of our layers of clothing back on, let the fire burn out, locked up the house, collected up our tools and the dog and set off for home.

By the time we got home it was time to herd the cats indoors, collect the firewood, put the geese away and light the wood burner (despite the day's warm sunshine, the house is still many degrees cooler than comfortable!) before washing up in preparation for dinner - tonight we are going for a second attempt at Dave's artichoke gnocchi recipe, only this time with some aged pancetta too.