Time flies....

When you are having fun right? Well, I am finding this to be true.  It turns out that I haven't posted in 2 weeks again!  So much for trying to be consistent in my updates on progress.

It has been a busy two weeks or I would have posted sooner.  First, we now have the utilities in our name. That was an ordeal!  The gas and electric company that was previously used was closed or they moved or something so we went with a different company.  Now while it may take only a few minutes to hook up these utilities in the States over the phone, it took us all morning.  Why?  Only one person working in the shop.  There was a line when we arrived, but it didn't take too long to deal with those.  My problem was drawing up 4 contracts.  One for gas and three for electric in the castle. The girl doing the work very loudly told people she was drawing up 4 contracts and everyone in the shop left.  I guess they are used to this sort of thing.  I'm not kidding now, 4 hours later we left.  Thank goodness we had a coffee and croissant a bit earlier. 

The same day, I had the GPS emergency button installed in the car.  It looks like a nipple on the dash and I've been told to not touch it unless I have real problems.  Warning taken.  This is one button I cannot push. I guess it's like AAA in the States.  Push the button and someone comes.  Hopefully I'll never need it, but for only €250 with the start of the insurance, it's worth it.  

We also got the water hooked up for the hotel and got it put into our name for the castle.  This was another 3 contracts.  The first 2 were signed with great confusion and consternation on the part of the Acque Umbra lady.  She insisted that it was only one hookup in the castle and that was that.  Thank god for Antonio! I'd have never been able to explain that to her in a million years. People seem to be unable to grasp the concept of living in a castle.  I wonder what they would do if we lived in a really big one.  We'd never have utilities.

Anyway, there was another lady in the office who happened to know exactly where we live because the previous owner had an excessive water bill for a few months.  As it turned out, when we became owners we told Antonio to fix broken things.  The first thing he fixed was the water valve on the water softener.  Excessive usage problem solved. Anyway, we were unable to get the third contract signed by the first lady because we only made two appointments.  The second lady was very nice and helped us start the contract but we had to finish it later in the week when we made 3 more appointments.

Now the next three appointments were interesting.  These were held via a teleprompter. We waited until the light turned green and were buzzed into a room.  Every 15 minutes I had to open the door and close it again to indicate we were still in the appointment even though there was no one there but us. The teleprompter was not loud and Antonio cannot hear very well.  To solve this problem, I called her on the phone and put it on the loudest speaker volume possible.  The feedback every now and again was worth getting the water sorted.  But was it. Just as she was about to hit the contract button, the power went out and she lost all the data.  Thankfully she had it written down and would have to reenter it all.  Oh, did I forget to mention that we had one mother of a storm going on? Anyway, we returned home and I managed to sign the documents in the afternoon when the storm ended.  

And now I understand why there was an armed guard at the first water company.  I can imagine that people would go postal on the workers. 

This storm was another of those river situations.  When it rains here, it really rains.  The roads were rivers, the sides of the olive groves were washing away, and many a dirt driveway is now down the hill.  I'm glad I wasn't driving.  I would have sat in the cafe at the bottom of the mountain and waited it out.  

We had a glass toped table delivered to the library and the work goes on deworming the biblioteca (library case) that I purchased a few weeks ago.  Until that is done, it lives in the stables.  It's funny how wormwood puzzles fetch a high price and here we want all of the worms gone.  Each piece has to be fumigated, then each hole filled and then the entire piece restained. It is a long process.

It was Antonio's saints day last week and they treated us to a lovely meal in Chiusi.  We went to an Etruscan place that was simply amazing! I had the best rabbit I've ever eaten.  George opted for a salad and I bet he'll not do that again.  Although I was a good wife and shared with him.  Elena and I ordered a nut desert and nuts we got.  We both took a look into the meal and fell into some childish laughter over the plating.  It was a very pleasant evening for all.  And again, these are the best Italian lessons.  Those taken with friends. 

I managed to find snails at the grocery in town. Delicious.  I'm in snail heaven this week.  

In other news, we had guests this past week. Richard and Liz came out from the UK. It was a nice visit.  I'm so sorry that there were not more puzzles out, but I'm loath to unbox until we have storage space put up.  We had a nice dinner at our favorite restaurant (food photos for Bill) and I made a gargantuan meal that no one could finish.  We spent a lot of time just chatting and Rich did get to put together a few burrs that we had laying around.  They were here for 2 nights only as they had a early morning flight on Sunday. I do hope they weren't so disappointed in the lack of puzzles to not come back. 

I visited with the architect so we can get the work started on the passageway and the elevator.  Another major expense.  but it will be worth it in the end. I found the warehouse to pick up the last of the hall lights, hung a number of prints up (boring I know), managed to set up a deal with our favorite restaurant to purchase George's bread each week (freshly baked on Monday's), and finished up the IPP puzzles.  I helped pull the wood through the machine and only after we finished did I realize that we forgot to hook up the vacuum. 

The owner of Gallo gave us a welcome to Panicale gift of flowers.  It is such a lovely gesture.  We had to place it in the main room. It is so nice to feel welcomed here.

Finally, the cabinets we bought two weeks back were delivered yesterday.  5 cabinets, 2 tables, 6 chairs all for €1200, including delivery and assembly!  I couldn't even buy chairs for that price back in Boca.  To say we are thrilled is an understatement.  But it leaves us with a problem and a solution at the same time.  The castle is a cultural and historic building. It is registered with the antiquities department (tax break I think). If we want to make any changes we need permission.  That includes installing shelves.  George loves the vetrini (display cabinets) and the credenza e mobile (sideboard cabinet) idea so much that we have decided to not use the shelving in the castle, thus saving us the requirement to get permission to install the shelves, and use antique furniture instead.  It will be a real hodgepodge of furniture. All beautiful though.  Now to clean them up and start to place some puzzles.  This is where the fun begins.

Al prossimo post, arrivederci e continuate a scervellarvi.  I'm off to shop for more vetrini.

Another long week

Well, it's more like 2 weeks, but the time flies so fast when there is a lot to do.  

We had another appointment to get an appointment but that is just the way things work here. I'm getting used to it now.  

It has been a time of deliveries. We are starting to settle in.  The previous owners of the castle removed everything.  All the lights, the appliances.  Everything.  We've been slowly buying pieces of furniture that appeal to us but that also fit with the puzzles and the castle theme.  We can't have modern glass and steel furniture in a 14th century building.  We had originally ordered 2 sofas from Ikea that were to be delivered before Brian and Leigh arrived.  Sadly, they didn't show up on time.  They came in after they left.  Typical.  We put them together and set them up in the salon so we would have a place to entertain.  Now, I didn't like the feel of the covers.  They were comfortable, but rough.  

A week or so back we went to a local place and ordered sofa sleepers. 8 of them in fact. I wanted 12 but we are only allowed to order 4 each.  Apparently there is a black market in sofas.  Anyway, they arrived this week. We swapped out the Ikea sofas to an upstairs bedroom, and brought two of these into the main room.  The rest are populating the upper floors of the hotel waiting for our furniture from Boca to come in and fill out the remaining rooms.  

We also ordered a kitchen table that is very similar to the puzzle table we purchased for the museum in Boca.  In addition we ordered a dozen small end tables of the same design. These too have been distributed between the castle and the hotel. Sadly the kitchen table is too big for the kitchen so it has been banished to the apartment downstairs.  This is not a terrible disaster, if we have longer staying guests, they will have a place to eat.  Now to finish that apartment. 

The best purchase was a small one.  It is simply for our comfort.  I ordered a memory foam mattress topper for the bed. What a difference that makes. We sleep well and wake without pain. It's the little things that are making this a home for us.

I showed a sneak peak of the mirror room last week, and I've continued to fill it with mirrors.  Recently I purchased a very ornate gold framed piece from the late 1700's.  It will be delivered this week.  But more importantly, we have light! 

I've been on a used market kick and have had great fun looking for unique pieces for our new home.  This week I found a chandelier for the mirror room. It has 10 lamps which in itself is rather unusual.  The light is crystal of course and has a beautiful shine to it.  Our Antonio fixed it right up when he saw it and now we shine brightly.  

We purchased a nice marble table for the library as well as a biblioteca.  This is a fancy Italian word for library book shelves.  The piece is from the early 1900's and cost over 1 million Lire when it was originally purchased.  This is worth about US$2.50 today.  In hindsight,I think I over paid.  It's beautiful. I don't care about the cost.  But boy does it need cleaning! I'm sure once it is dewormed, cleaned and polished it will look amazing.  There was also a coat hanger, 7 chairs, a small cupboard and a library table all included in the deal.  I'm still in need of chairs for the tables, but those will happen in the future.  

I managed to find some bolster pillows that I could use on the mirror room daybed.  I'm beginning to think the only way I'll find a new mattress is to make one myself.  Does anyone have any spare horsehair they could loan me?

I hung a few Berrocals and George has removed the ugly light strip from the salon.  The room looks so much better without that ugly thing hanging there.  

And!  We now have Optic Fiber!  The internet is so much better here than it was in Boca.  I can't believe that we can get good service through 13 foot thick walls without the need for boosters. In Boca we had 4 in the big house and 2 in the museum.  Amazing!

There is a house 3 doors down (um....2 football fields) that is in terrible disrepair.  We looked at it to purchase, but with the $ being low, and their asking price, it would cost more to remove the pigeon poop than the building.  You see, they put up plastic curtains in the windows that broke, and the pigeons saw through that cheap trick and have moved in.  The upper floor is covered in shit.  It's a real health hazard. Anyway, we don't like the birds for obvious reasons, and they drive me mad as they sit on the window sills.  Some of the windows have bird stakes, but most do not.  One day on a silly whim I hung a monkey in the window and discovered that it keeps the birds away!  Now all of the windows have hanging monkeys. I can only imagine what the neighbors think. 

We have had some amazing weather here lately as well.  There was a wonderful hail storm.  It looked as though  it were snowing.  I can only imagine how beautiful winter will be if hail is like that.  The rains have been coming in fast and furious and we've now got a long list of leaking windows.  It is everyone of them.  When we first noticed it, I though the monkeys were wetting the floors but since there are stuffed toys, I knew that was not possible.  As it turns out, the previous owner of the castle did not believe in maintenance and we have been going full tilt restoring and repairing everything he let go to pot.  Buildings this old, while they have lasted the test of time, do not self heal.  They need a lot of work.  

The beams have all been dewormed, the roof has been waterproofed, new gutters have been put in, the old broken plastic windows have been replaced with heavy duty flexible plastic while we wait for a bit more work to be finished on the upper floor.  The giant crack in the tower has been repaired, and another will be tackled when we next go on a long trip.  We've engaged an engineer to repair the ceiling that is slowly caving in above the door of the dead cat room, to open the connections between the two buildings, to open up the wall between the master bedroom and to be made master bath, and to instal an elevator in the museum. There are many electrical issues that need fixing and a few minor repairs in the castle, but those can all wait.  I'm getting used to seeing cracks and no longer panic when I spot one I hadn't seen before.  This building has many stories to tell, and I'm very sure those cracks hold some great ones.

We finally changed the utilities to our name.  I'm very curious to see the cost of them.  I'm afraid to get the first bill.  I've just received a bill for the elevator maintenance that was from last May.  It turns out that the previous owner not only didn't repair the castle, he didn't pay his bills.  It's bad enough they took EVERYTHING out of here, but it is really very nasty of them to leave debt to us as well.  I hope we can find some recourse with this.  Only time will tell.

Oh, and in other important news, we now own the dead cat room. this was only 124 signatures and 3 hours time.  The translator this time gave me a reduced cost because I paid in cash.  I'm beginning to see how Italy works.  

Last weekend we went to an antiques market in Arezzo.

It is supposed to be the largest in Europe.  It is big. I think it took up 3 city plazas and the roads in between. George and I went up and stayed for the weekend. I thought it would take 3 days to go through the market. It didn't.  But that is because I knew what I wanted to look for and how much I was willing to pay.  The prices there were just crazy.  As an example, I did purchase a mirror.  The man wanted €1000 for it, but I managed to talk him down to 550 plus delivery after quite a bit of talking.  

My Italian is coming along nicely.  No one there spoke any English so I was thrown into the deep end and came out swimming.  The weekend prior we went south to a different antiques fair that had closed down.  On the way home we stopped in Orvieto for a wander around. It's a beautiful city.  

We also purchased a five new armadios and 2 more tables for the castle.  I'm really enjoying "thrifting" here. I hated it in the states, but everything I saw there was rubbish.  Here the antique furniture can be bought for a song.  It's amazing really. 

George has completed my exchange puzzle and works diligently on his.  I believe he is getting into a rhythm with it now and will be finished soon.  Thank heavens!  The laser cutter doesn't belong in the salon. Once he has finished, it will be moved over to his workshop in the hotel. He has power there, and ventilation.   I know he's going to love that room. 

Our Antonio has cracked his ribs so most of the work has stopped until he is feeling better.  He continues with simple things that don't cause him pain, but I've put him on 1/2 days until he has healed.  The man never stops but I don't want a completely broken man on my hands.  All work would cone to a grinding halt.  

Fino alla prossima settimana, arrivaderci e continua rompicapo.