Lazy Day

If you are as addicted to 'the move to Tuscany' blog as I am, you may have been alarmed to hear that Stuart and Helen were going away for a week. Although I can't possibly attempt to enlighten you about the highs and lows of carving out a new life in Italy, I do hope to post something about what it's like staying at Numero 182 over the next few days. Yes, as well as house and cat-sitting, I've become a guest blogger!

Last night was a late one as we sat up with Helen and Stuart until it was time for them to leave for the airport, which was about 1.30am. This morning was, therefore, a rather lazy affair - a long lie-in, followed by tea and toast on the terrace with my book, intermittently joined by either Florence or Lucca. I'm reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - recommended by a friend who read it on holiday last month and she found it so engrossing that she says she resented the slightest interruption. I'm really enjoying it too but, fortunately, haven't quite reached that stage.

I was therefore happy to set out in the early afternoon for Collodi, a town really nearby that I know has been mentioned here before. The writer Carlo Lorenzini visited the town a lot as a child because his uncle lived in the large Villa Garzoni.  Carlo went on to write Pinocchio under the pen name Collodi and now the town has gone Pinocchio-mad, with a children's play park themed around the small wooden character and a large cluster of shops selling versions of him in every shape and size.

The very private Villa Garzoni

Villa Garzoni can be seen from miles away as its impressive, pale yellow facade sits at the base of a hill, from which houses stretch behind, and upwards. We set about stretching our legs (and lungs) by climbing the narrow cobbled lanes behind the Villa. I'm not sure if the gradient can be fully appreciated in a photo but hopefully the size of the blocks on which the downhill legs of this bench are mounted give you an idea how steep the street was.

We enjoyed wonderful views from a bench at the top before heading down, guided by our rumbling tummies. We were soon in the Villa Garzoni restaurant where we instantly felt very much on holiday. The owners were clearly very keen on music from the 1950s. Surrounding the outside seating areas were concealed speakers playing what I can best describe as Dean Martin-meets-Mambo and each of the set menus was named after a singer. I instantly conjured up an image of Audrey Hepburn on her scooter in Roman Holiday as I tapped my foot and awaited my platter of tomato and mozzarella starter. The music moved onto Aretha Franklin and we were fast-forwarded to the '80s as our main courses arrived, putting us in even better moods.

With our now full bellies we took a stroll around the lower parts of the town, which was beginning to wake-up after siesta time, before heading back to Pescia to pick up a few snacks to enjoy back at the lovely Numero 182.

As we came up the driveway we encountered a beautiful pair of deer, reminding us of our proximity to nature - as if the sound of the racing stream enjoyed from wherever you are isn't reminder enough. The cats seems somewhat non-plused to see us and this time didn't join me on the terrace for a few more chapters. However, once the light began to fade and we'd fulfilled our duties on checking the guest apartment, they seemed to instinctively know it was dinner time and came running. Now suitably fed and watered they are taking up their favourite posts for the evening - I say that, but Florence seemed to want a lap but with it already occupied with a laptop as I write this, she has mooched off somewhere, no doubt to return soon.

So, as we settle down to a movie, keeping watch over Helen and Stuart's little slice of Italy, we couldn't be more relaxed. A wonderful escape from the hustle and bustle of city life - I can't recommend it enough!

Finding it hard to tear ourselves away!

The cats were so good last night that they didn't wake us until gone 8am. 

I got up to go and feed them, then make a start on the washing up from last night's dinner. I was soon joined by Stuart, and a little while later by Louise. It was a beautiful morning - a little cloudy, but perfectly warm, with the sun starting to break through. The three of us sat and had a leisurely coffee and toast on the patio, taking in the view.

Dan joined us a little later, and after we'd all freshened up and got ourselves ready, we headed out to show Louise and Dan a bit of the local area.

First, we drove up to Vellano, just to show them the amazing views down the valley, we all hopped out of the car to take in the views, then hopped back into the car again to head down the road into Pescia. We parked up in the square, then took a slow wander all around the town - taking in all four rioni, and popping our heads into both the duomo and the tiny (minuscule compared with the duomo) 14th century church of San Antonio Abate, before decamping to Bar Poulter for some light refreshment and people watching.

After a drink in Pescia, we decided to head to Montecarlo - one of our most favourite nearby mediaeval hilltop towns - and visit the enoteca there, where we were sure to get not only a tasty glass of wine, but plenty of free nibbles to go with it (we had missed lunch by this stage).

The wine in Montecarlo was delicious, the nibbles satisfying, and the company excellent, and we spent a very pleasant hour or two sipping wine and watching the world go by. But you can't drink wine all afternoon, so after the second glass we decided we ought to show Louise and Dan a bit more of the town than just the wine bar.

We wandered around the pretty little town, stopped to take in the views, and even ran into some sort of classic car rally, complete with a police escort and lots of enthusiastic horn beeping:

After completing a circuit of the town, we realised that the town's mediaeval walls/ramparts were open for visitors - they are only open between 4pm and 7pm on Saturday and Sunday, and we've never quite managed to coincide our visits with their opening time, so going in for a look around was a no-brainer! We paid €3 each for the privilege, but it was well worth it - the views were stunning and the historic buildings fascinating:

After we'd toured the ramparts, we finally rolled out of Montecarlo and headed for home - and by the time we got back it was gone 6pm. We sat on the patio until darkness fell, then retreated indoors to cook some mushroom risotto, finish our packing preparations and sit the rest of the evening out. Stuart and I have a long night ahead of us - we have to leave for Bologna at 2am, so think we might be better off not even trying to go to bed. Howeve, the fact that I already feel tired doesn't bode terribly well!

It will be a huge wrench tearing ourselves away from our beautiful corner of Italy and our gorgeous cats, but I keep telling myself that we will be back again a week tomorrow, and that Louise and Dan will take great care of the place and the cats for us while we are away.

So it's arrivederci for now!

House guests!

There isn't a whole lot to report for today - I woke up feeling dreadful again: the headache was back. Thankfully, a sumatriptan tablet and a couple of hours later, it subsided and I felt well enough to face breakfast and the rest of the day.

We spent the day tackling the enormous to-do list - washing, charging laptops, changing towels, putting fresh bed linen on the guest bed, tidying tools and ladders away, raking grass off the terraces, preparing dinner, putting a loaf of bread on in the bread machine, composing a note in case the police make their visit while we are away... We took a break mid-morning to go and empty the bins, fill the car with methane and stop off in Esselunga for some more cat food, but otherwise we were confined to the house and terraces with our list of tasks.

Come 5pm, most of the jobs had been ticked off the list - with a few we decided to leave until Sunday - so we managed to slow down a bit, and just before 6pm - bang on time - there was the sound of gravel crunching and the beep of a horn: Louise and Dan arrived!!

It was great to see them here and to welcome them to our piece of Italy. We were impressed that they had managed the drive from Bristol in two days and even managed to arrive exactly when they said they would!

They came bearing gifts:

Never mind the cider, that's FOUR (yes four!) bottles of Robinsons squash. My heroes!!

We were so pleased to see them, we virtually plonked them straight down at the patio table and made them drink prosecco (they didn't take too much persuading- they had been driving for 6 hours and needed the chance to wind down):

And that's my birthday present on the left - an absolutely gorgeous blanket from Louise, which will be perfect in the office when then weather gets cooler in the winter.

So we all sat and enjoyed the view (our all-new, improved oak-tree-less view, that is) and the last of the evening's sunshine while catching up and drinking prosecco (and then wine), before heading indoors when things got a bit too cool (and dark) to sit outside. We had Tuscan ragu for dinner - which had been simmering on the hob all afternoon, filling the house with delicious smells - and spent the rest of the evening chatting and drinking more wine. Lovely!

Stuart and I need to set off for Bologna at about 2am on Monday morning, so we are considering whether or not we should even try to get to bed on Sunday night! We'll see. Meanwhile, we might take a trip into town to show Louise and Dan around Pescia, maybe stop for a coffee or a glass of wine (depending on the time of day), and have a fairly easy day of it - just leaving enough time to finish packing in the evening, of course.

Now you see them... now you don't!

Or maybe that should be now you don't see it... now you do! All will become clear later on.

The day started after a rainy, thundery night, with me heading outside to exercise and then straight to my computer. We knew there was a lot to get done today, so no time for messing around!

I got straight to my work, while Stuart headed upstairs with the vacuum and a duster to start the mammoth spring (autumn) clean of the house before our guests (our house & cat sitters) arrive.

After about an hour and a half's work, I came to a point at which I could down my office tools for a while and pick up my cleaning tools - I headed to the upstairs bathroom to give it the most thorough clean I think it has seen since we arrived.

After that, I dashed back downstairs to check my email, do a bit more office work, and then headed for the downstairs bathroom, to give that the same treatment as the upstairs one. All the time, Stuart was vacuuming, dusting, tidying, wiping, polishing, hanging pictures, and generally whipping the place into shape.

The whole of the morning and most of the afternoon pretty much went like that - Stuart cleaning solidly, with me doing a bit of cleaning, interspersed with dashing back to my desk to do a bit of work, and then more cleaning again.

By the time 4pm rolled around, the majority of the cleaning was complete and it was time for Stuart to head out - first to Esselunga to pick up some bits and pieces we needed for dinner, and then to collect Chris, Henry and Erik for an afternoon's lumberjacking.

By the time the boys all arrived back at the house, I had just finished everything I needed to do work-wise, so while Chris, Stuart, Henry and Erik headed out with the chainsaw to ponder trees, I made a start on preparations for dinner. I was soon joined by Henry, asking if he could help, and Erik pitched in too.

Sue, who had been tied up with teaching an English lesson, arrived a little later, and we chatted while finalising dinner preparations, before heading outside to see how the boys were getting on.

Stuart had asked Chris if the first job they could tackle could be the sizeable oak trees that are growing on the terrace in front of the house - they block out a lot of the view and are also rather uncomfortably close to the power line going into the house, meaning that when it's very windy the power line gets a bit of a beating.

After some careful consideration, planning and preparation, we all stood well back to watch as Chris chainsawed through the first of the large trunks and it came crashing down! Impressive stuff, and we were stunned by the difference even the first cut had started to make.

Henry took on the role of official photographer for the afternoon's activities, so the following rather brilliant photos are all courtesy of Henry.

Sue and I headed back indoors to continue dinner preparations, Henry, photography now over, asked if he could mow our lawn for us (er... yes!!), and Stuart and Chris carried on with the lumberjacking.

By the time darkness had fallen, Chris had felled all of the oak trees bar one - the one closest to the power line leans towards it and after much consideration, he decided it was too risky to cut that one.

We could already tell that the difference the felling had made was enormous - although as darkness was falling we wouldn't be able to appreciate the full effect until the morning!

After the boys had all come indoors, Chris and Stuart had showered and changed, we settled down to a meal of vegetable chilli with rice and a lovely evening of chatting and catching up. After a rather frantic day of rushing around, finalising bits of work, cleaning and tidying, it was absolutely the perfect tonic.

The Phillipses left at around 10.30pm, and we headed to bed about half an hour after that - excited to see what the morning's view would look like:

Now you see them...

...Now you don't!

Felled!

Look at that view!

Saturday brings another mammoth list of tasks to get done (not least making a start on our packing) before Louise and Dan arrive in the early evening. We're really looking forward to seeing them.