The plan for the morning was to cycle into town for breakfast, so we slowly got ourselves ready. I think both of us could very easily have been persuaded not to bother - I had woken up with a headache threatening and felt rather limp and lifeless, and Stuart was equally ambivalent about the idea of getting on his bike, but thankfully, neither of us voiced the way we were feeling to the other, and as a result we both pulled ourselves together and got on our bikes. We didn't regret it!
As autumn draws ever nearer, the mornings have become quite cool - and even when we left the house at gone 10am, with blue skies and the sun shining brightly, I had to grab an extra layer for the downhill cycle into town (it soon came off once we got going though).
We arrived in the main square to find it packed with all sorts of activities. This weekend was some sort of sports festa in Pescia, and all the local sporting clubs and groups were showcasing what they do and what they have to offer. In the main square there was a girls' volleyball match in progress, as well as some sort of football match, a stand for the local archery club, a stand that seemed to be trying to recruit members for a shooting club, and various other sporty activities.
It all made me feel rather bad about the fact that the whole reason we had come into town was to sit down, drink coffee and eat cake....
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| Volleyball! |
It has to be said that breakfast was delicious though. We would be in trouble if we did the same for breakfast every day, but every once in a while it's a real treat (especially when we've cycled there for it - and, more to the point, have to cycle back up the hill to get home again!).
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| Breakfast! |
After two coffees we wandered up the square to buy a loaf of bread, then walked down into the bus station square to have a look at what else was going on as part of the sports festa. In that square, there was a kids' karate club "Karate Ninja Club Pescia" putting on a display (reminded us of Tiny Tigers back in Abingdon, although the kids' outfits weren't anywhere near as good), a kick boxing display, an inflatable roller-balding rink... plus an ambulance on display ("have a look at what the inside of an ambulance looks like"), a load of Vespas, and a collection of vintage cars! Not quite sure how the cars and Vespas fit into the whole sports theme, but there you go!
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| Hopefully, you would never otherwise get to see the inside of an ambulance... |
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| Vespas. |
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| Classic cars... |
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| More classic cars... |
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| More cars... |
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| ... and kick boxing. |
On our way back to getting our bikes, we walked through the tiny square that is home to the fresh produce market every Saturday. In that square was a sight that tugged at my heart strings - the local gym was showcasing its offerings. There was some sort of yoga demo in progress (which seemed to have been set up dangerously close to the tae kwon do demonstration that was also in full swing), and we saw Reebok steps all set out for a step class and... a circle of spin bikes. It did make me miss the whole gym scene. Maybe one day I'll pluck up enough courage and a good enough grasp of the language to rock up at the local gym and do a spin class or two. Both courage and language skills still seem a long way out of reach at the moment, but I hope they will come eventually.
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| Steps and spin bikes... Sigh. |
After that, we picked up our bikes and headed across to the other side of the river.
We planned to take the back route most of the way home, stopping off at Chris and Sue's to drop off a belated birthday card for Erik. We knew that the Phillipses had been heading out for a day at the lake today, but thought we'd drop the card off on our way home anyway.
As we rounded the corner to their house, though, we saw the familiar little green Fiat Panda still sitting there - they were clearly still in! We climbed up the path to the house to deliver the card and told them not to let us get in their way of getting ready to head out, but ever the kind, welcoming hosts, they made us stay for a cold drink and a chat. About 40 minutes or so later (with poor Henry and Erik wondering if they were ever actually going to get their promised trip to the lake), we decided we really ought to get out of their hair and let them get on their way. What a lovely, unexpected interlude that had been!
We cycled off towards San Lorenzo and then re-joined the road for the hard slog back up the hill - by this time, the sun had reached its full strength, and the temperature must have been in the mid if not high 20s.
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| The back road to San Lorenzo. |
I'm not sure The Hill is actually getting any easier, but I think we are starting to get a little more used to it. It somehow seems a little shorter in distance to me now - but I still arrive at our gates struggling to catch my breath, and we were both still drenched in sweat long after we'd reached the house, put the bikes away and retreated inside!
After a quick lunch of bread and cheese under the shade of the umbrella, we headed for an afternoon's work on Goose Island.
While I went from post to post, tidying up the overlapping fencing, tucking bits in where they overlapped and adding more nails to the fence posts that were missing them, Stuart started work on constructing a gate. By the time I'd got all around the perimeter, banging nails in and twisting bits of wire around, Stuart had made and hung the gate and put the first coat of wood stain on it.
I then took over with the paintbrush to put the second coat of wood stain on the gate, while Stuart started work on constructing a set of steps to go from one terrace to the next.
I then turned my attention to the acacias - which, like triffids, had all sprouted up again since we cleared the terraces for Goose Island, so I went around with a pair of loppers cutting the new growth off each of them, and once that was done, headed up to the uppermost terraces to start to re-clear them of much more significant acacia growth (again with the loppers) in the hopes that at some point we will be able to re-strim them before the winter (all depending on having a working strimmer, of course).
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| One finished gate! |
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| Construction of steps. |
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| We're quite proud of how Goose Island is shaping up. |
We eventually called time on the day's work at about 5.45pm. We were both hot, sweaty, tired, and at least one of us was bloodied, courtesy of those darned acacia trees. After putting tools away, we collapsed on the patio with a drink to enjoy the last of the evening's sunshine.
We both agreed what a satisfying day it had turned out to be - fun and relaxation in the morning, and some productive work in the afternoon. The perfect balance.
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