Separation Anxiety...

The Christmas Holidays have dictated our stay in Genoa until Epiphany on January 6th... 17 days from now. That is the longest period I have ever been away from il Poggiolo!!! I am suffering Separation Anxiety.

I am wondering about how the house is bearing up with night-time lows of -7... that's a bone chilling 19F!!! I have images of huge patches of humidity at the stairs in La Casetta, a consequence of a closed-up house with seals around all the windows & doors, trapping the moisture & cold inside. How are the plants doing in the Garden? With so little sun passing overhead towards the shortest day of the year, are they perpetually underneath a thin veneer of ice? And... how's the builder getting along with building AND finishing the fireplace in a space with no heat?

We had our Big Meeting about it right before all HELL broke loose from the Big Storm last Friday. In fact, no sooner had Our Geometra & builder escaped out the back entrance to il Poggiolo up to the parking area next to the defunct Castle of Codiponte did the terrific rains & winds hit. Good that we met. There were some serious construction questions to resolve.

First & foremost was what kind of chimney piece to build on top of the roof. Listening to the approaching hurricane outside, we elected to construct one out of bricks, mortar & stucco securely anchored by iron rods to the flue hidden inside. I had my heart set upon a simple copper piece. It wouldn't have lasted a minute in Friday's tempest.

Then, up at the ceiling inside, there was the question of how to anchor the flue to it without too much stuff. We agreed on a simple iron box, like the open-ended ones holding the beams in place, to guide the flue through the opening of the roof to the chimney piece above. Another issue was how to insert vents to let warm air out to better heat the apartment over letting it fly right out the 5 meter tall flue. The pre-fab fireplace has huge 16 cm ducts for the residual hot air to be vented out the sides of the box constructed around the pre-fab fireplace. However, the actual box would end up being too high, out of proportion to the rest of the width & depth dimensions. Amazingly, the thing takes up little floor space. This is a boon. We might just get a small sofa placed in front to enjoy a fire... glass protected, mind you. The builder... graciously, I believe... offered to have special ducts made. Done.

Hands were shaken and off the two speed away. I grabbed The Dog for a pell-mell Pee-pee Tour. It lasted all of about five seconds. Hard to pee when pelted by icy rain. Gads.