Monday 12 May 2014

Another day, another toy!

So today is/was Monday, our first official day at work here in Tuscany. Despite that, we stayed up quite late Sunday night AND drank too much wine - neither of which we would dream of doing back in Abingdon in our 'normal' routine. Not sure how long it will be before anything feels 'normal' again let alone having any kind of routine, but hey...adventures aren't supposed to be easy...right?!
We planned to try our damnedest to get up this morning in a 9 to 5 frame of mind to make a start at something vaguely like routine. Helen got up bright and early and I saw her through one squinted eye disappear in Lycra, obviously off for the run she threatened to go for yesterday - seems some of us made a better job of the work day mindset than others, I on the other hand went back to sleep until she came back.
 
Breakfast ensued shortly afterwards and then Helen fired up the computer that we'd lugged from Abingdon, to Birmingham, to Bristol, through France and into Italy.
 
I headed out with new strimmer with the aim of clearing/finding some space to A) put compost bins and B) plant veg at some point.
 
We decided that the next tier down in front of the house was probably the most sensible area, so I clambered down and started the strimmer. I soon realised that beneath the 5ft brambles and weeds were offcuts of tree, lumps of stone and other detritus in the shape of old garden furniture and other rubbish. The strimmer proved not so good at cutting any of these items and soon the blade was knocked loose and in slow motion, off fell the blade, along with the bolt holding it on and the two metal washers, right into the scrub I was trying to cut! I can tell you that my patience was tested at this point as I'd been cutting in the heat for some time by now and was sweating so much I couldn't keep hydrated...I counted to ten and headed back to house to acquire permission to buy another petrol-powered tool. Permission was immediately granted from a somewhat downtrodden wife who was finding working from home with a sometimes agonisingly slow internet connection and in a chilly, dingy office room nothing short of soul destroying - all this compounded by the fact that I was out in the sun 'enjoying' myself.
 

More detritus.


The 'office' really is quite dingy... Especially compared with the sunny garden.
 
 
So, leaving Helen home alone for the first time, I headed back to OBI to buy a hedge trimmer and some hand tools for cutting/raking.
 
Upon my return I found Helen working outside having had an 'episode' involving some kind of temporary vision impairment caused we think by the darkness of the office and the brightness of the window next to the PC screen. Hmm, may have to rethink the office layout!
 
So, after lunch on the patio I set to work with the hedge cutter, the sound of which I think soon sent Helen back indoors.
 
You'll be pleased to hear that the new toy made light work of the brambles and greenery, and the rakes helped hugely to clear things - although the more I cleared, the larger the whole job seemed to get.
 
Getting slightly clearer.
 
An old rabbit or chicken hutch and run was uncovered.
 
 
Somewhat disheartened after a hard day's toil and only being about a quarter of the way there, I retired to the coolness of the house with a large bottle of cold water and passed the baton to Helen who had just clocked off the day job and wanted to burn some extra calories out in the last of the day's sun.
 
While I moved furniture around upstairs and hoovered all the spiders up so that we could swap to sleeping in the larger bedroom, Helen set to work with yet more weeding. After a walk around in the house she decided the area as you approach the house where the old lean-to fell down (and where the new extension is eventually planned to go) most needed her attention. Very surprised was I when I went out a while later to see the whole lot weed-free! It's looking another notch better now, and definitely improves the kerb appeal.
 
 
Weed-free area. Still not exactly attractive, but better than it was.
 
During her clean-up, she found evidence of a porcupine lying on the ground in the shape of a discarded quill. We've yet to see much wildlife (guess they're all out partying while we're asleep), although I did see a snake in the very place I was rummaging around for the strimmer blade and washers earlier, as well as a slug of about 9inches!
 
 
Porcupine's calling card.
 
This whole place really is a mammoth step up from what we had in Abingdon, but I'm sure we'll get to grips with it and when we do, there will be no way we'll let it get out of control - this tidying process isn't something we want to repeat again in a hurry! It is definitely a long-term project, and we somehow have to get to grips with the idea of slowing down a little and not trying to get to the end of everything we start by the end of that same day - it's just not possible on this scale. A life-long work-in-progress is what this is, so after a chat over a cold beer we have decided to take a day off this weekend for something more fun. The weekend still seems a long way off yet though!

1 comment:

  1. Good work, team. I sense that progress is being made. (Can I make a bid for the TV and film rights, please?) :-) Keep going. Is the guest bedroom ship-shape yet?

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