At 8am, you can tell that 'The Hot" is on the way this week. This is the summer weather I am used to here.
After my morning hill walk, I spend some time talking with Massimilliano about the well. Yesterday they put in a new pipe expansion, the well is 200 meters deep. Massi will be working this week to fill it with gravel up to the water level….this should stabilize the water from the old well site and make it accessible from the new.
In the meantime, we are still running on water in the reserve tanks and in the cistern until everything is connected, and with the sun, it's a little dicey for all of our potted plants and flowers. We agree to tough it out. I ask Massi and his assistant Stefano how they know there is water. They take a few rocks, pop it in the top of the well (which is about 5 inches wide), and count softly under their breath. After a while, we hear a "plop". "Of course that's how you would know!", I say. "Certo!"
When I come in for an espresso, I relate the story and everyone laughs and goes "One Mississippi, Two Mississippi". Then we decide that they would have a local name, and come up with "Uno Poggibonsi, Due Poggibonsi". A nice chuckle to begin the day.
In the meantime, that appears to be all that can be done today. The trucks leave, and our peace and quiet returns. I have an appointment in Castellina at my bank and with two real estate agents. My daughter comes with me, and as we are driving up the hill towards Radda a cinghiale (wild boar) runs across the road! So quickly it took me a while to figure out what it was. It crashes into the bushes. It's the first time I have seen one and we are both excited. Not a particularly attractive creature, though.
In the afternoon we drive up to the IKEA near the airport in Firenze (Florence). Here it is pronounced (ee-kay-ah). Always an experience, it is made more challenging by everything being in metric and Italian. I buy pillows for Casi di Sotto, and try to find box springs for the 2 double beds (niente) and look at bedframes (none will fit an American double). But we have fun and buy some needed supplies.
On the way home, the kids want pizza (duh) at Luigi's (Pizzeria Pizza Pie) in Radda. Luigi is waiting for a new grandson any day, and we need to check in. Luigi is always a joy, and they have a great 'Toscana' pizza and nice thin crust, and they are only mildly freaked out that my kids don't like tomato sauce. And killer lasagna. In the winter, his was one of the only restaurants open, and it's my home away from home with I am on my own or with colleagues. He ruffles the childrens' hair and teases them about playing their DS.
Back home to straighten up the house…tomorrow one of the owners of the Keller Williams office in Portland (our broker for Carrara's fractional shares) is coming with her husband to see the house. They will be in Italy for 3 weeks, using Casi di Sotto as a home base. It's a great central location for touring Tuscany and Umbria. And goodness knows, we have plenty of room. I set up the master en suite bedroom downstairs.
Time to turn on the fans tonight. The birds are chirping away, the night is warm and soft.
Ciao for now!
Don't diss the Bonzi. It looks like you have a little furry Boor in your neighborhood..
ReplyDeleteWe did have a Boor, but the motion-sensitive gas canisters they set in the vineyards once the grapes begin to form keep them away from the house. And I was actually honoring the Bonzi, was I not? I managed to avoid Poggibonsi entirely on this trip, but it no longer frightens me. Progress, no?
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