Well, at least there's furniture...

Yes, the furniture. 

Naturally, Mr. He-who-wants-to-be-anonymous would like to switch a couple of pieces... nearly the heaviest of the lot too... from one room to another. It's easy for him to dictate. He wasn't the one who worked with the two mover-guys to get the pieces to their current homes in the first place.

Here is our first item... a 16th Century Piedmontese "stirpa" armoire... beautifully situated in the Downstairs Bedroom of Mr. H-w-w-t-b-a... but, which now needs to go up stairs into My Bedroom.

Mr. H-w-w-t-b-a can FORGET even thinking to move this 9-foot-long & definitely one-piece Chesterfield sofa. Besides being extremely long, it is also abominally heavy too. I know. I had to help lift it up the narrow stairs.

Ditto for this Piemontese 18th Century cherry armoire. I made sure that the dimensions of this disimpegno would allow it to fit perfectly. My word to Mr. H-w-w-t-b-a is... DON'T DICKER!!!

But, that 19th Century walnut desk... admittedly, way too big for where it is... now must go to the Downstairs Bedroom. Fine. So be it.

But, may I say? The person who originally commanded that said "stirpa" armoire & said walnut desk be where they currently are is The Very Same Person who now wants them moved. Gads. 

Local religion...

I find these expressions of Catholicism quite charming. So too does The Dog. However, he is PROHIBITED from showing his reverence. Why can't Weimaraners just kneel over lifting a leg? Neither one of us cares for that BLUE of The Cross. The Dog, not expecting such a vision, barked at it until I told him to cool-it. Good Grief. 

The Dog & I went to the local religious grotto of Codiponte during a lull with the torrential rains a week ago to pray for a let-up. We need to get the last roofs finished. And, you know? It worked!!! We have had sunny & warm weather ever since AND we are destined for more of the same through till the end of the the Very Merry Month of May!!!... maybe beyond.

Amazing the Power of Prayer. The Virgin at work. The work-guys arrive next Monday. Gads.

Our many legged friends...

Yes, our many legged friends who have come to greet us & participate in our recent occupation of La Casetta.

Oh, I can handle this fellow. He is pretty benign & stays perched on the transom of a window. Doing what, I have no idea. Perhaps, biding his Time for Better Days outside... torrential rains were di rigore until a few days ago... grooving on the vibes of new painted wood, in the meantime, I suppose. 

And, I have no problem with odd cloud of microscopic air-borne creatures... hovering pin-dots... in the corner of My Bedroom above a floor lamp. There they cavort until lights out. Where they go afterwards I care not to know. And yet, no sooner do I flick the switch to the corner light than they punctually appear for another go.

Neither am I much bothered by small Volkswagen-like bugs slowly trudging from one upper wall to another... like mini-robots surveying the upper premises. Thank God, they don't leave a trail of ook like snails do!!! There's something with their altimeter that the one or two of these bugs... I have never spied more than that... which keeps them up towards the ceiling. More to eat? Licking the new paint is better up there? Chissa?

However, there is one of God's ambulatory visitors which I have An Extreme Displeasure in ever encountering. How about a furry, more-than-multi-long-legged, shitty-brown, scurrying insect... with long waving antlers!!!... and of not less than 2 & 3/4s inches in length? Totally outsized, in my mind, to crawl out of crack.  May I say? I DO NOT NEED TO SEE one of these creatures at 3:27 AM on my way to the Bathroom!!!  You may add the screeching violin music from Psycho Bathroom Scene to capture My Shock & Horror. Well, I just have to grab whatever... never the latest copy of the Italian ELLE Decor however... to KILL! KILL!! KILL!!! It then takes me several minutes of deep-breathing to gather-up the courage to scoop the smushed invader up with several layers of toilette paper to FLUSH HIM DOWN THE TOILETTE!!! This is follow by a stiff drink... I never seem to have the right sorts of drugs for crisis such as these... and a terrible night's sleep, fearing the worse... another will come out AND crawl all over me for KILLING his baby-brother!!! Gads.    

What's behind Codiponte...

This is the view of the Apuane Mountains behind Codiponte. Gads.

A fine day in May...

Codiponte, nestled in the valley of the Aullela River & the Apuane Mountains behind...

Il Poggiolo, the houses & garden dominating the lower borgo of the village...

Good Grief! It sure is big and there is still much work to be done!!! Gads. 

Our front door...

Yes... the new front door to La Casetta. Behind it are all our furniture & belongings. Two separate days of movers arriving and both done under a constant & torrential rain. I had to do The Dance of the 7 Plastic Sheets. Artfully accomplished, I must say, even with the strong west-wind blowing, to aide the movers with protecting our fine antiques, our luscious objets d'art & our stuff in general, etc.
I am proud to say, one, a 9 foot long black leather Chesterfield sofa, was successfully shoved up past the narrow staircase & into the Salotto above with both mover guys & myself to push & grunt & heave it up there. Ditto for the atrociouly heavy & unwieldy blanket chest. It required an extra exclamation to our collective physical effort of an ... Oh! Madonna!!! At one point, pinned underneath the chest, I felt the irresistible need to blurt out a... Porca troia!!!... but, the decisive choice was to yell an obscenity or shove harder. I chose the later. Some one else let out the... Oh! Madonna!!!

Mr. Anonymous requested that I leave the placement of what-all for him to busy with last Sunday. He puttered for most of the day. This left me to lug away to the local dump the detritus of a recent attack on the hedges above the stone wall running around the garden. Now, i vigilli... guys in uniforms, who write out tickets for infractions against the public weal. They never get my name correctly either. So, I have to print it for them on their 12 copy forms. Talk about pressing down hard!!!... will have nothing to Bitch & Complain about. The little path around our property is clear of debris. When the word GO! has been given by Mr. A, I will skip into La Casetta & take some new After Photos. Very exciting, no?

In the meantime... and may I say?... it is a Godsend to sleep in a bed over camping-out on a matterass dumped on a cold floor. Gads.

Another plan...

Yes, somehow, in between bouts this past weekend of me imitating Roberto Downey Jr. as Garden Iron Man.... I had just bought a super-dooper $800 ECHO weed-whacker to fell crotch high grass with each sweep of the mighty Japanese machine's blades. Admittedly, I did let the stuff get to a bit too tall but, eest beeen rayning aye lowt hereh... while The Anonymous Person attempted his rendition of Tom Cruise with a samarai-esque hedge trimmer down at... where else? The Hedge and where The Dog fears to tread. By the way, The Canine slept & sunbathed... we came to A Collective & Definitive Understanding of just how the Upstairs Apartment should be come this Christmas 2010. Oddly, it required little argument. I said Yes to every suggestion emanating out of Mr. Anonymous' mouth. For I know, as a fact, The Real Big Battle will be over where the Kitchen goes in the downstairs Main House and, it ain't goin' t' be where Mr. Anonymous thinks it is going. Tech problems. Ha! And, Ha! again. I have...finally... learned to Pick & Choose My Crucial Skirmishes et al. So now, let's get on with Our Tour...
a vine-covered pergola will run across this side of the Upstairs Apartment. Naturally, all that construction paraphernalia will be gone, gone, gone by July!!! 

the Terrace above the Portico will be fitted with floor tiles and a wrought-iron railing will be installed. Then, a glicine vine will scale up the facade... probably when I am DEAD... dammit...

the Kitchen will be at the old fireplace on the right in the photo. In that niche next to the window has a stone trogolo, which will be the Kitchen's sink. The rest of the area in front of the simple kitchen counter will be the Sala da Pranzo. And, in front of the main door, on the left in the photo, will be a wood burning fireplace...  kind of box with a metal flue... for the Salotto...

you won't see that window because, there will be a wall to cordon-off a Bathroom. There will be a Sleeping Loft above. The niche in the corner on the left will be for the sink. The shower will be against the wall to the right of the window in its own niche created by another wall to guide folk right into...

the Bedroom and to the Terrace beyond.  That dropped-ceiling is already gone, gone, gone!!!

Wood floors, stuccoed walls painted either a PETROLIO  or OCHRE. I had threatened PINK but, why annoy Mr. Anonymous? He was so ruthless with that Hedge. Anyway, he might have really gone for PINK.
Now, let's see if we can maintain Our Agreement without further changes. Gads.