You'll be pleased to hear it's not the latter but something of a surprise after my seemingly never-ending tunnel of an apartment refurbishment.
We had a VERY nice evening on the guest patio with the BBQ alight last night (so that I could keep working on the kitchen), 80s music playing in the apartment, fat Tuscan sausages sizzling on the grill and candles alight and wine flowing. I wheeled the BBQ close to the table after cooking as a source of heat for those who were starting to feel the chill, and enjoyed joviality until after midnight. I actually felt like I was on holiday for a few hours, it was lovely and one of those moments that reminded me why we're here.
After the evening's efforts and a surprisingly early start (for me at least), the apartment was in great shape. I had oiled the worktops, fixed a shelf to the wall next to sink and made a dent in clearing out the room ready for the big clean this afternoon.
I ran into something of an obstacle when I realised I didn't own a 10mm HSS drill bit for metal - meaning I had no way of fitting the tap to the sink as I couldn't cut the hole, so late morning I ventured into a rainy Pescia with Ben to acquire a drill bit and while there finally collect the printer and also see if I could buy a new circular saw blade.
So my first stop was the hardware store - being on the same road as the computer shop AND the new tool shop from which I purchased my new Makita angle grinder yesterday, I had hopes of killing three birds with one road, or some similar metaphor.
The hardware shop supplied a drill bit without a problem, but laughed when I thunked my blade-less circular saw on the counter, so we quickly went back out into the deluge with our umbrella that was wide enough for the two of us but too wide for the pavement we were using.
When we entered the small computer shop there was a queue of three people in front of us, so we had to wait while the first two of the other customers were seen to, but the third insisted we went first. The young guy, who recognised me, picked the phone up immediately - not a good sign, I thought, surely just handing me the new printer would have been the ideal scenario here?
While on the phone he asked for my name, for the guarantee I think, they really seem to value guarantees/warranties here. I told him, using my best Italian accent, and he put the phone down, the other gentleman in the queue asked me if I spelled my name with a 'w' (doppio voo), so I spelled it out for him, much to his surprise (all in Italian, I hasten to add). The shop guy then promptly chimed in and told me that there was a problem replacing it with the same model and that a new similar model would be delivered with guarantee Monda, which would then be tested and ready for collection ANYTIME on Tuesday (presumably not at lunch time though), so it was back into the rain to get the car and head to the tool shop. This time we entered through the correct door and stood on the correct side of the counter, unlike yesterday when I eventually realised that we had gone into the serving side of the shop rather than the buying side! Once again I 'thunked' my well used and blade-less saw on the counter, the man inspected it thoroughly and went off in search of a blade or 'disco' as he called it. He returned with a slightly tired looking disk and fitted it. He blurted something at me which I didn't understand, and then handed me the saw. When I reached for my wallet and asked how much he said there was no charge - it was a used blade and he wouldn't charge a penny for it. I couldn't quite believe it! I'm sure had I not been in there yesterday spending €90 it would have been a different story, but that's fine by me, that is NOT the kind of thing that would happen in any work associated store in the UK.
As we drove north back up the valley through the heavy rain, I commented to Ben that it looked like the rain was here for the day and said that I was sorry that we were working in the apartment when it would have been a perfect excuse for a board game bonanza.
Having returned and unloaded, Helen asked if I'd bought any bread - she had messaged me while I was out to remind me to get some but I hadn't got the message so she hopped in the car (her first trip outside the house in four days) and we paid Amanda a visit in Pietrabuona where we bought a huge lump of fresh white bread, and a large chunk of Pecorino cheese.
By the time we got home the rain had stopped and the blue patches were returning to the sky. Lunch outside? After the morning we'd had? Weather really does turn quickly here.
After lunch, Ben took all my tools back up to the man cave and Mom and Kerys set to work in the apartment to work their magic.
As Ben and I were effectively banished, there was nothing else to do (there were, of course, a million things to do, just not apartment-related) but head to Montecatini to collect the new mattress. We got lost, of course. I knew that the shop was on the same road as the train station, but hey, why bother to signpost you train station?
After a while, Ben navigated us to the right place with the sat nav on my phone, and we were soon heading back towards Pescia with the mattress on board. I made a couple more stops to collect some money from the Albanians - who had managed so far to sell the fridge and some shelves we gave them - and then to purchase some more compost for the re-potting of the plants we bought yesterday.
The rest of the afternoon was a bit of a blur of activity, the apartment was looking amazing after Mom and Kerys had vacuumed, mopped twice, dusted every surface, and washed every cup, saucer and plate in the place!
Plants were re-potted and worktops got a second coat of oil, before we all collapsed on the patio for a drink and some nibbles - during which time a new visitor paid us a visit (as far the terraces behind the house at least) and didn't seem too worried by us to disappear too quickly either. It was very amusing watching Florence's interest in it - it seemed as if she couldn't make her mind up whether to be scared of it or whether it looked like a tasty dinner.
After another late dinner it was time for us all to retire to bed.
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