We're making progress but we're slowing down...

Since Monday we have made lots of progress but I must admit we are slowing down. Yesterday we found the "dump" (aka staziona ecologica) and we disposed of a number of things that were superfluous including the old trellises from the balcony, a large fake fern and a bag of plastic wrap from moving. We went again today and took all of the boxes that we emptied and broke down plus the old toilet tank. Tomorrow we plan to take the old washing machine. It is really great having a place to take all this.  When we bought the house in Partigliano one had to wait for the return to the village every other month of the giant dumpster. Sometimes we weren't there at the right time. Luckily we had the old barn in which to store stuff, not an option here in the apartment.

Here is evidence of our efforts:

The kitchen is pretty well set. (Cherie-note your picture propped on top of the marble backsplash. It's a perfect match!)

The new shower screen.

The new toilet tank and repaired shut-off valve.

The secretary is reassembled.

This morning we woke up and discovered the weekly market had snuck in while we were sleeping. It is open from 8 am to 1 pm every Friday. We actually did not go but it will be back next week. It attracts a lot of people to the piazza.

Now for a little relaxation!

It's a Mess!

Day Two of moving in was somewhat less wearying than Day One.  We went out first thing in the morning and ran errands.  First stop was the bar downstairs for cappucini and pasty.  Then we were off to Mercatone Uno where we bought a small microwave.  True fans of Abbastanza Buono will recall that just before we moved out of our Partigliano house, a lightening strike blitzed our microwave as well as a few other things (hot water heater, satellite dish, modem, etc.).  I think it is just the perfect size--large enough to warm Dom's milk for coffee in the morning and cook veggies for two at dinner time.  That is about all we use it for plus the occasional defrosting of meat.

Our next stop was the Condominium Administrator's office.  We were looking for a key to the old furnace room because we thought we might be able to store bikes there.  The administor did not have a key but she called our neighbor who loaned us one to copy.  The old furnace room is pretty full so not sure if we will be able to get bikes in there.  However, there is loads of vertical space and we might just put hooks on the wall.

Then we stopped at Brico Center (sort of like Home Depot or Lowe's) for another round of miscellaneous items--tub mat, tv antenna cable, etc.

Back at the apartment Dom went back to installing lights while I went over the the garbage office to figure out what we were supposed to do.  When I arrived I was number 65 and they were only on number 45! However, a few minutes later I saw that someone had left number 60 on the ticket machine so I traded my number for it.  Lots of numbers were skipped (as the people just could not wait) so it was only about 15-20 minutes before 60 was called.  The gentleman I spoke with was very nice and I learned that I needed to go to another location to pick up the requisite bins and bags.

Here I will explain that Capannori has raccolta differenziata porta-a-porta (door-to-door garbage and recycling pick-up). What this means is that they have taken garbage and recycling to a new level. There is pick-up Mon-Sat of a different type of waste--multimaterials (bottles, cans, plastic), food waste of all types, non-recylables and paper.  Food waste and multimaterials are each picked up twice a week.  It is very confusing and there is a different bin and/or colored plastic bag (biodegradable of course) for each type of waste.  It's a good thing we have a pantry and a patio because we will need all the space for the different bins.  Tonight we took down a bunch of paper/cardboard and we will see if they collect it all.  It's actually a great system but it will take a while not to have to think quite hard about the whole thing.

After that I picked up some bread at the bakery plus focaccia that made great sandwiches and two tiny nutella cannoli. After lunch I decided to do a load of wash but the washing machine that came with the apartment decided not to work.  So, I switched it out for the one we already had.  It turned out to be a bigger project than I anticipated but not too onerous.  I even cleaned out under the sink next to the washer and made sure all the connectors are not leaking.  Then I put contact paper under the bathroom sink. The surfaces under the sinks were not looking to good but the contact paper hides all those flaws.

Later in the afternoon I went off to pick up the bins and sacks, got some more keys made and made a major grocery store stop. When I got home I reorganized a few things (aka stacked boxes), hung laundry and then made dinner.  I got the garbage bins organized and then decided to take a few more pictures. Here they are:

Eventually this will be the main guest room. However, we are using it now as it has the only dresser and armoire in the apartment.

New light in the hallway!

This will eventually be our bedroom but right now it is laundry and storage.  We actually have a guest coming this weekend!

This is the small bedroom/office.  Tomorrow I am going to put together the secretary and maybe the daybed. That will provide some storage and allow us to get rid of a few more boxes.

The new toilet tank waiting to be installed.

The bathroom had one overhead light installed. Tomorrow Dom plans to put in the new shower screen.

Our decorative shelving is being used as a catch-all. We LOVE the blue glass vase that we got as a "prize" from our walking group.

The living area still needs some work!

Primo Maggio 2011

Striking the "tents" at the Capannori market on May 1st. This was taken about 7:30 pm and I love the sunshine on the campanile (bell tower)

We sat on the steps of the Piazza Communale (City Hall) for a while and listed to the music.

This was the view of the piazza at about 10 pm with the concert in full swing. The bass was so loud you could feel the vibration through walls and floor of our apartment.

Moving Day-Finally!

The movers brought our stuff from storage today.  They used a cute little lift contraption to "elevate" everything from the lawn in front of our building to our terrace.  Here are some pictures.

The little lift contraption is on a trailer and they rolled it into position on planks across the lawn.

Once it was in position they extended the ladder portion. It did not look much heftier than a sturdy extension ladder.

Here is Giorgio positioning the lift against the balustrade. He and his wife bought our house in Partigliano and they are expecting their first child in the fall.

Here are a few things heading up on the lift. They never put too much on it but it brought everything up including our hefty granite topped buffet.

This is the current view from the kitchen into the living/dining area. Note Dom in the far corner.

We are both really tired this evening but nearly all the boxes are unpacked and Dom put together the armadio so we have someplace to hang clothes.  It is all coming along quite nicely.

Moving Day is Coming!

Tomorrow (Monday, May 2) the movers bring our things to the apartment and we will spend our first night there.  In the meantime we have been taking care of the deferred maintenance.  Dom replaced all the rubber bumpers on the roll shutters and bought the parts to fix the one that is not working properly.  One of the toilets is cranky and leaking so the entire tank will be replaced.  It is a plastic tank (common here) and it is easier to do that than just replace the guts.  We have purchased all but one light that is needed in the apartment.  Those will be installed after Dom has his drill.

 

In spite of all the work we are doing here we still have quite a bit of free time.

 

Yesterday we drove to the race track at Mugello north of Florence for a mostra scambio (swap meet). It was an interesting visit because they were also having a track day.  Wannabe racers were running their cars around the track at high speed but not exactly racing.  A track day is really an opportunity for boys (and girls) with toys to really see what they will do.  There was everything from a couple of Lamborghini Galardos to Renault Clios. There were a lot of Porches so probably a local club was involved in the track day. The swap meet itself was a little disappointing as it was mostly motorcycle parts.  However, we had a good walk around and enjoyed our visit.

 

Afterwards we stopped at the Barbarino outlet mall for lunch.  Neither of us felt much like shopping so we just ate panini (sandwiches) and headed back to Partigliano.  We did stop at the apartment as we had left the notebook pc there the night before.  Dom puttered a little while I checked email and then it was back to Partigliano and a quiet evening.

 

This morning we met Mary Caselli and we all went to the marcia podistica (non-competitive organized walk) in Camigliano.  It is a rather intense walk--a steep uphill walk for a couple of kilometers and then a steep, gravel downhill portion. It was a nice morning--broken clouds and not too warm.  However, by the time we were finished with our 5 kilometers we were all sweating heavily. 

 

Back at Partigliano Dom and I puttered around until mid-afternoon.  We packed everything except our big suitcases (including all the food and the bag and box we have been leaving here), showered, had lunch and even had time to read and watch TV.  I went to Mass at 4 pm after which there was a joint procession with the parish from Valdottavo down in the valley.  It was a three priest mass complete with incense and afterwards all the parishioners walked up the hill behind the priests and the parish banners, crucifixes and icons while singing and praying. At the chiesetta (small chapel-like shrine) near Erina's house there was a blessing and then everyone headed back down to the church.

 

I skipped out on the walk back down the hill and Dom and I loaded up the car with everything we had packed. In Capannori the May 1st (a holiday here--labor day) was already getting started.  The stage for the bands had been up for several days but now there were barricades and a number of trucks with vendors selling various kinds of food. We unloaded our stuff and then walked to the old town where there was a market just closing up.  Lots of people were strolling around and the weather was perfect.  We worked our way back to the pizzeria behind our apartment and put in an order that would be ready in 45 minutes.  Then we went to the piazza and found a place to sit and listen to the music. 

 

The music has been VERY loud but not obnoxiously so.  Our terrace provides a bird's eye view of the party but it was fun to sit down in the thick of things for a while.

 

Eventually we went back for our pizzas and some gelato, returned to the apartment and ate dinner.  The main act--Modena City Ramblers--started playing about 9:30.  They are a Celtic-Italian band and quite good.  However, we are both tired and plan to head back to Partigliano shortly for our last night there.

 

We will be back early in the morning to meet the movers. Yeah!

Empty Rooms--Mostly

As promised, here are some photos.  I will send more after the furniture arrives on Monday. We are sooo busy that getting any blog posts done is a little tricky.  Luckily, our internet access at the apartment is considerably better than it is in Partigliano.  Our little internet key works great here.

The kitchen-thankfully the seller left the bar stools.  We have made good use of them.



This is taken from the corner of the living room. You can see the front door and behind the french door is the kitchen.




This is taken from near the kitchen looking into the living area. Our dining area will be the foreground area.



This is the storeroom. Dom is going to make a little workshop in here.

This is the main bedroom although the guest room is the same size.

This is the half bath. The toilet tank needs replacing, just one of the many repairs we are undertaking.

This is the full bath.  It looks dim at the back but that is because there are only a few lights left in the place.

The view from the terrace of the piazza and the hills and mountains beyond.

This is the view from the bedrooms, taken through the screen. You can see the bell tower of the church in the old town.

Dom fixing one of the roll shutters.  The place is in good shape but we are finding a number of deferred maintenance issues. Nothing serious but there is plenty to keep us busy until the furniture arrives on Monday.

It's ours! It's ours!

Everything went swimmingly last night, except for the fact that it all took an incredibly long time. 

 

We met with our agent, Marcella, and the seller at the apartment at 5 pm.  The seller showed us how things worked, where things were and we were able to see that everything was as promised.  The place was very clean which pleased me no end.

 

At 6 pm we went to the Notaio's office.  It was the same one we used last year when we sold our house.  The notaio acts like a cross between an escrow office and an attorney.  It is his job to see that all the i's are dotted and t's crossed.  Everyone involved in the transaction sits down together and the contract is read and amended right then and there.  We had the geometra (another role specific to Italy--it is his job to see that all the technical and legal data is the same as is registered at the land use office), our real estate agent, the seller, our interpreter Dom and I plus the notaio.  We started about 7 pm and finished at 9 pm.  At the end we were all just sitting around chatting (mostly the notaio and the seller (an architect) about architecture and land use in Lucca) and most of us were quite antsy to get going.

 

After we left the notaio's office it was too late to go back to the apartment so we headed off for dinner.  We went to La Terrazza, one of our favorites, and ran into two sets of people we know.  It was a good, enjoyable dinner but we finally made it home just after 11 pm.

 

This morning we were up early and over here for a quick stop.  Then we went to Marcella's office and she helped us transfer the utility bills to our name.  Hopefully it will all work as promised.

 

After that we returned to the apartment where we made a list of things we needed and went off to the home improvement store.  We bought lights and some plumbing supplies (one of the toilets is not working quite right) and came back to the apartment for lunch.  I found some spots that needed to be wiped out (under sinks and on some shelves) and took down the horrible trellis with fake ivy on the patio.  We have to get do some more pigeon proofing of the patio tomorrow among a myriad other things.

 

In a short while, Mary and Orlando are coming by to be our first guests.  They are loaning us a ladder so tomorrow will be a light installation day.  After that we still need more lights and there are a few other repairs to undertake.  The exciting event will be Monday when the movers come.

 

Tomorrow I will post some pictures.  I do not have the cable to download from the camera with me today.  Our internet connection works a lot better here in Capannori.

 

Buona Pasqua!

Yesterday we joined a group of ex-pats for a traditional Easter lunch at a restaurant just south of Lucca.  Dom and I did this for the first time last year at a different restaurant.  We learned that one really has to pace oneself because the food just keeps on coming.  Here is the menu (as best I can remember it):

All the water (fizzy and still) and wine (red and white) one can drink!

All the bread one can eat

Slices of prosciutto and salami

Three types of Crostini - liver spread, mushrooms and tomatoes

Seafood cream in a scallop shell

Fish mousse

Puff pastry packets with fish

White beans with prawns

Bowls of mussels, clams and calamari

Risotto with calamari

Tordelli alla Lucchesi (meat filled ravioli with meat and tomato sauce)

Grilled beefsteak with arugula

Breaded and fried lamb with deep fried vegetables

Deep fried prawns and calamari and french fries

Columba (a fluffy type of cake with candied fruit) covered in chocolate syrup and whipped cream (served with sweet or dry Asti Spumante)

All that for Euros 40 per person.  I must say I still don't feel much like eating.

It was a lively group of about twenty and Sandy, the organizer, had al ittle raffle prepared with the prize being one of the large, hollow chocolate ggs that are traditional Easter gifts here.  Often they come with some sort of "prize" in the center. You can even have personalized ones made up.  She held the drawing just before dessert and the winner was the gentleman sitting next to me.  Claudio asked if he should open it up and share it and Sandy said sure.  My pocket knife helped free the ribbon and string around the wrapping. The masses of orange paper was peeled back to show a decorated cardboard egg. He opened it up and found eight small cans of cat food!

At first everyone thought it was a joke Sandy was playing but it turned out she was trying to "regift" something she had been given.  Thinking it was a giant chocolate egg a friend gave her, having the Easter lunch  raffle seemed a good way to pass it along to someone else.  Instead, the joke was sort of on Sandy.  I think everyone except her thought it was incredibly funny. The friend obviously knew she and Ray have five cats so it was really a rather thoughtful gift.  If just proves that passing along an unopened gift might not be a good idea.

After eating all afternoon (from 1 to nearly 6 pm) Dom and I waddled our way back to Partigliano and sat around the rest of the evening.  This morning we got up early and went to a marcia podistica at S. Pietro in Campo north of Barga.  The weather cooperated and we had a healthy 5 kilometer jaunt under partly sunny skies.

Tomorrow we have a few errands to run and in the afternoon we inspect the apartment and then meet at 6 pm to sign the final contract.  We really hope everything goes smoothly.   

 

The Bathroom Remodel



Medecine cabinets will have pedestal sinks below and eventually a cabinet around the base of the pedestal sinks. The window is new and still needs to be trimmed.



The shower area--hard to take good photos here because the tile is so glossy.

The toilet room is to the right of the shower and behind is the walk-in closet.

This shows the bedroom with the new carpet that was installed the Friday before we left. The same carpet is in the walk-in closet.

Dom says I need to post pictures just to prove to everyone that we were actually doing something all winter.  We certainly used the bathroom remodel often enough as an excuse to not do other things.  The few weeks before we left we were working REALLY hard on the project.  One day my mother called to chat and then announced she was planning to visit the next day.  My reaction was "No! You can't come! I have too much work to do!!" I immediately felt badly at being so abrupt and apologized. However, it really was true. There just was no time for guests.  A day or two before we left we did have my parents over to see the progress and we went out to dinner.  By that time Dom and I had stopped working, cleaned up and were getting ready to leave.  It was a much more relaxed and fun visit with them than it would have been ten days earlier.

People keep asking if the bathroom is finished.  No, but the really big, messy parts are done.  When we get back we still have a few weeks work and then it truly will be complete.  These pictures don't actually show things as far along as they are.  I just forgot to take pictures right before we left.  The toilet is actually installed in the toilet room and Dom set up one of the pedestal sinks for my parents visit.  When we get it all done I promise to (eventually) post pictures again.

 

Waiting

The days continue to be beautiful--cool mornings, warm afternoons and just a hint of a nip in the breeze.  Even though we try to stay busy, our days are mostly spent waiting.  Waiting to get possession of the apartment.  We have visited a number of stores to get an idea of what is out there.  There are things we need for the new place (especially lights which are something Italians take with them) and so we are doing our research. 

 

Today we bagged research and have been quite lazy.  There will not be much time to relax after next Tuesday so now is the time to truly vacation.  After a late breakfast we drove to Capannori where on Fridays there is a weekly market in the piazza in front of our new place.  We wandered the stalls looking at things. I bought a new blouse. Then we went to the bar in "our" building and had cappucinos.

 

Afterwards we did a meandering drive.  To give it purpose we went searching for the restaurant where we are having Easter lunch--one of those eight or nine course extravaganzas over four hours.  We were there once before several years ago so we had an idea where it was.  After finding it and plugging it into the GPS as a favorite we meandered back to Partigliano. 

 

Lunch and reading on the patio has been the order of the day ever since. 

 

At 6 pm there is a Good Friday service in the village church. Tomorrow we plan a longer excursion off to Calci in the Provincia di Pisa.

 

Sending photos via email did not work well.  I have not forgotten about posting some pictures of our bathroom remodel.  It will happen...

Lunch at Marina di Pisa

Since I now know how to post to the blog via email, I am now trying to see if I can include pictures.

Yesterday we ended up driving to Marina di Pisa.  It all started as a jaunt to retrieve Dom's fleece jacket from the barber's. After we did that we decided to see how easy it was to go to the Pisa Airport via Pontedera, a town south of Capannori (our new location) and east of Pisa.  It was another beautiful day so driving through the spring countryside was interesting in itself.  There are a hundred shades of green in the grass, leaves and flowers.  Along the roadsides red poppies and purple iris are mixed into the grassy verge.  The breeze is still fresh so it is never too hot and without the heat haze of summer the views are spectacular.  Everything looks new and fresh.

Once we reached the Pisa Airport we actually parked briefly and did some research using the built-in Tom Tom GPS in the car.  Using toll roads (the Autostrada) it is about 35 minutes from the airport to Capannori and avoiding toll roads it is about 45 minutes.  Neither route suggested was the one we had just taken.  Now we know. :-)

After that we decided to drive to the beach, buy some sandwiches and find a spot to picnic on the shore.  Most of the beach areas along the coast in this area are leased to concessionaires who then charge a useage fee to the public.  Of course, for the use fee one has the convenience of changing rooms, restrooms, a bar and/or restaurant, lounge chairs and beach umbrellas.  After stopping at a bar for food and water, we drove along until we came to a spot that really was free to access.  There was no sand but we did find smooth white rocks (marble) which I think was much neater and cleaner.  There were a few other people on the shore a few of them sunbathing.  We actually stayed rather bundled up because in spite of the sunshine the breeze off the water was chill. 

Here are some pictures of our picnic spot:

Price of Diesel in Italy

Today we went off and did research for some purchases for the new apartment.  We stopped at a Home Depot like DIY store called Leroy Merlin.  It is located in a mall near Prato which is close to Florence.  After we checked out Leroy Merlin we also checked out the rest of the mall including the huge Media World (think Best Buy). 

Then it was off to IKEA for lunch and a look around.  We know we need some bedroom furniture so we looked at dressers and wardrobes.  However, one cannot go to IKEA without looking at everything and we did get a few ideas for other items. On our way home we stopped at the Conte of Florence outlet store but it was all golf clothese.  Both of us have found nice things there before but it did not take us long today to decide there was nothing we wanted.

We needed to fill up the car today.  Our little Renault Clio has about a 12 gallon tank and takes diesel fuel.  Dom paid Euros 66 to fill it up and it was darn near empty.  So that meant we are paying approximately $8 a gallon for fuel.  We are lucky to have a diesel car as gasoline is even more expensive.  It makes $4 per gallon gasoline seem pretty reasonable.  We are even luckier to probably get about 40 miles to the gallon although we have not calculated the exact figure yet for this car.  Given the price of fuel here and the better mileage we are actually paying about the same here as we do in the U.S. on a per mile basis. 

The weather has been great the past few days and when we got home at about 5 pm it was warm enough to open the doors and windows and try to get some heat into the house.  It is still very cold at night so the combination of that and the house we are staying in having been empty most of the winter means it is tough to keep it warm.  Still the heat works and it does not take long to warm it up when it is turned on.

I think I have figured out how to email posts to the blog.  If you are reading this it worked.  Given our current lack of an on demand internet connection being able to do that is a real help.  It would certainly make it easier to do daily posts.  Unfortunately I don't think pictures are in the cards for a while. 

An Interesting Trip to Italy

As is usual, the past few days have flown by. We left Seattle on Wednesday and are now settled into our temporary accommodations in Partigliano.


Instead of the usual dull, uneventful trip from there to here, our journey was a mix of highs and lows. We started with a few lows. When we checked our bags at SeaTac they said they were over weight. This was strange as we have a travel scale and weighed them before we left home. As we switched bags on and off Dom saw that the scale was not going to zero. It read 5 lbs. He pointed that out to the woman and got that straightened out--our bags were just under the 50 lb. limit. Then, when we got to our gate they were making about half the passengers get new boarding passes at the desk. This involved waiting in a long line with a considerable number of our fellow passengers. We were initially told they needed to check our passports but they never even looked at them so no idea what was really going on.

When we got onboard and to our seats we found people already in them--parents who wanted to sit by their daughter and grandchild in the next two center seats. So, we traded with them for a their window seats. That seemed pretty good to us but I asked the flight attendant who was overseeing all this to tell Michelle (the flight purser and a friend of our neighbor and fellow flight attendant ) we had changed seats. The flight attendant came back right away and asked for our boarding passes. When she came back again she asked us to follow her and we were reseated in row 4--Business Elite! It was a great experience and we really appreciate our neighbor’s effort on our behalf. Michelle and all the rest of the staff were really nice to us. One of the things I noticed about the front of the plane was how much quieter it is. Darn near everyone there seriously tried to sleep after dinner--very peaceful. Of course now we are spoiled for steerage class but it was fun while it lasted.

We had a very short connection in Amsterdam and although we made the plane to Nice, France our luggage did not. Dealing with delayed baggage with jet lag was not fun. Initially we were told that it was possible our bags would be on the afternoon flight. So we went and picked up our Renault lease car, drove it to the airport parking garage and slept in it for a few hours. At four thirty we went back to the baggage people and found out it would be the next morning before all our bags would catch up with us. This was a bit of a pain (although of course it could have been worse as they might never have shown up at all) as we had a reservation for the night in Sanremo, Italy, about an hour drive away. We decided to go stay in Sanremo and return to Nice the next morning.

This worked out pretty well as we arrived at our hotel in time to have a nice walk through the town and an early dinner. On Friday morning we checked out of our hotel and headed back to Nice. Because the flight with the last bag would not arrive until about 11:15 we stopped at Hanbury Botanical Gardens right on the French/Italian boarder. The gardens are huge and very interesting. I will write a more detailed post about them later and for now will just say we had a nice walk, a perfect cappuccino in the sunshine and I ran down the battery in the camera.

Once in Nice we picked up the bags and made it out of the parking garage within the 20 minute free window. Then we were on our way to Partigliano.

We arrived there at about 6 pm. Erina and Bruno were pleased to see us and we quickly settled into their rental house. At about 7:30 we decided to go out for a bite to eat before heading to bed early. Unfortunately, being rather rummy, we walked out of the house without either of the two house keys and one of them left in the lock on the inside. The latter means no other key will work in the lock. Erina and Bruno were not pleased but after some scrambling around she got her brother Antonio to bring his ladder. He climbed up on the roof and then went through the skylight up there and came through to open the door. At the same time her son-in-law Vito was showing her how, when the door is not double locked, it is possible to use a stiff piece of plastic (he used a hunk of a black flower pot) to get it open. In the end I think she was rather more displeased by Vito’s demonstration than by our locking ourselves out.
Yesterday we had a rather leisurely day. With nothing in the house to eat we went off to the supermarket and stopped on the way for cappuccino and pastry. The store, as is normal here, was an absolute zoo on Saturday morning but I managed to wend my way through it and come home with most of what we need for the next few days. After lunch we took short naps and then went to Mary and Orlando’s to pick up some things we left there last fall. We had a nice visit with them, made plans for this morning and came back to the house for a quick dinner.
This morning I went on the annual Marcia delle Ville (Walk of the Villas) in Marlia with Mary Caselli and Dom went to their house and watched the Formula 1 race with Orlando. Mary and I walked 10 km while the guys feasted on eggs and bacon. Mary and I arrived back there in time to watch the end of the race and for some further visiting. It was after noon before we arrived back here at the house.

Later today we plan to go into Lucca for a little walk. It is the monthly antique fair yesterday and today so there should be lots of people out and about.

Tomorrow we will start our search for lights (Italians usually take all of them with them when they move) and other things we will need for the new apartment.



Posting photos is difficult with the internet connection we have right now so those might come separately or not at all for a while.

Catching Up - Winter 2011

I have gotten a bit of flack lately because I have not posted since November.  I am a baaaad blogger when we are not in Italy.

Time seems to be flying by. We have been incredibly busy with all sorts of activities since we returned to Whidbey Island.

The first incident of note occurred the night we arrived home.  We were in bed and asleep at about 7 pm on Monday, November 15 and at 9 pm an incredibly fierce storm blew through.  Our neighbors were amazed we slept through it but jet lag will do that.  I woke up at 2 am a bit disoriented not least because the power was out.  Fortunately, we have a small generator so, later in the morning, I was able to get on the computer and do some work.  The wood stove in our family room kept that part of the house toasty warm.  Periodically we hooked up the refrigerator to the generator. Tuesday night we even hooked up the TV, satellite box and one lamp. It was not bad except we had no water.  Our well pump is 220 power and the generator is only 110.  We were extremely thankful when the power came back on Wednesday at about noon.  Hot showers have never felt sooo good.

 

Ski season arrived early and we were on the slopes in early December.  This photo of Dom at the top of Alpental ski area was taken last Saturday with my new Iphone.  The early snow took a holiday about January 1st and the conditions have been mixed since then.  We were surprised how good it was last weekend.  This week there has been a couple of feet of new snow in the mountains (and up to a foot in the lowland areas--we have about 2 inches here) so we are excited to get up there this coming weekend.  It should be superb and sun is forecast again for Saturday. The sloping peak behind Dom is Mt. Snoqualmie.

This is a photo of Denny Mountain from the base area at Alpental.  I think it was taken in early January.  We had a number of very cold, clear days early last month followed by quite bit of rain.  It was taken with my Iphone as part of an app I have been using that records my ski day--number of runs, speed, elevation, time--all sorts of interesting information.



The social circuit at Alpental has been in full swing most weekends.  This photo and the next were taken at a party we had the last weekend in January.  It was the annual joint January birthday party and we had about 25 people at my parents' "cabin.".  It was a fondue party with two types of cheese fondue, meat and vegetable fondue, chocolate and caramel dessert fondues.  Red wine was spilled at least three times and a lot of chocolate cake ended up in the carpet as well.

This is the party "mosh pit."  They swore they were just tickling people.  Right!  The post party reviews were great.

Winter on Whidbey Island can be spectacularly beautiful.  I caught this incident of ships passing at midday in December.  It is the Victoria Clipper roaring by a U.S. Navy vessel on its way to the base at Bremerton or Everett.  The Olympic Mountains usually don't photograph very well but this shot was taken about 9 am with the rising sun shining on them from the east. I know the time because the Clipper goes by every day at 9:05 am.

We had a great Christmas.  Our celebration was at my parents' at Alpental and we were joined by my sister, her family and my brother, Charlie.  Even though we were away for Christmas Day I still like to decorate our house.  We found a small artifical tree that a former tenant left at our commercial building in Issaquah and I decided I was done with real trees.  After setting it up on a small table it was just big enough to hold all my favorite ornaments.  It was sooo much simpler than getting a real tree.  The artificial one even fit in the storage cubby where we keep the ornaments and other decorations.

Along with a welding helmet for the welding class we took this winter (I was a welding star!), Dom gave me an electric pasta machine for Christmas.  Here I am making authentic Tordelli Lucchesi--traditional meat filled pasta.  The recipe I have makes loads so I froze the finished product and we have enjoyed tordelli about once a week since early January. It is almost gone now so I will soon start craving the real thing.

I joined a group called Ladies of the Beach.  The ladies walk every Monday morning.  The routes are mostly along the shoreline of Whidbey Island.  There are about 35 numbered walks and doing all of them means you have circumnavigated the island.  So far I have done four numbered walks but this time of year about half the walks are in the woods somewhere on the island because the weather and tides made beach walks difficult.  This picture was taken from Rocky Point just south of Oak Harbor last Monday.  It was chilly but no rain.

The majority of our time (or at least Dom's) has been spent working on our master bathroom remodel. It might not look like it but a lot of progress has been made.  The above photo shows the new window with the double vanity area to the left of it.  To the right of the window is a 3 ft. x 4 ft. shower alcove.  On the far left you can see out the door and into the bedroom area.  On the far right you can just see into the toilet room.  I am taking the photo from what will be the walk-in closet area. I hope to begin taping and mudding next week.

This photo is taken from the bedroom door and shows the work area.  We moved into the guest bedroom on the other side of the house and converted the master bedroom into the staging area with a makeshift work bench and a lot of tools.  We hope to have the project substantially done before we leave for Italy.

In the midst of all of this we are trying to keep things moving towards the purchase of our new condominium in Capannori near Lucca. It has been frustrating because we were assured in October that the one thing that needed to happen before we close would be done by the end of the year.  Here we are at the end of February and it is still not done.  The building was originally built on leased land and the condominium owners are in the process of buying the land from the owner.  That has to happen before we close. We had some positive news last week so we hope things move along so that we can complete our purchase in mid-April.  Our tentative plan is to go back about April 11th and stay for six weeks.  However, we have hesitated to make travel arrangements before we have a firm date for closing.  We will see how things work out.

In the meantime, there is lots of work to do around here, more skiing and more fun with friends.