Pre-Christmas Bufera...

A stormy grey overhead il Poggiolo this morning. If I were a Clever Person with my new SONY digital camera, I would have taken a video, so you could see just how fast that stormy grey was moving. By the noise the clouds were making, I would hazard to say nearly Hurricane Speed. Shortly after this shot was taken, the Torrential Rains came. The Dog & I then spent the rest of the day inside La Casetta by the fire, naturalmente!!! The electricity went out a couple of times too. The Dog let out a HARRUMPH! and went on with his nap.

Frankly, I had rather expected this storm to hit, just not so hard. The Euro-news in the days past was filled with visions of England lacerated by high winds & rain. It was only a matter of time for it to do the same in Italy. It is the first time I have experienced a Bad Storm... or, tempesta!!!... at il Poggiolo. Thank God, I was well provisioned with food & drink, a battery-powered mega-flash-light for power-outages, ample wood in the bins to burn through the day & night of howling & whistling wind & rain and, most importantly, I had the comfort of My Dog snoring. So much for the Feel-good during adverse weather...

there was a Collateral-Effect of the storm... practically everyone I still owe money on the Upstairs Apartment's construction called to be paid. Killed any charm of being inside, dry & warm & content. However, it's like this every year at about Ol' Saint-Nick Time. And, they all call with a tone of voice which says... I would let this roll-over to next year but, you know... I can hear the Voice of Reason of Dr. You-know-who saying... Well!!! We had to wait on them to finish their work, they can wait a awhile for their money. Yet, knowing how I am, I'll play Santa Claus. I'd prefer to... Leave Toys & Things for all the Girls & Boys... but, bucks would be better appreciated, I am sure. Gads.

Vacation Rental...

Would you want to rent this place for a week's vacation? Hard to believe il Poggiolo was ever so scuzzy. Gazing at this photo taken back in the Winter of 2009, I can't decide which looks the most forlorn & decrepit... the what-we-call-it-now Loggia, long since knocked down & re-built to New Rules of Construction... or, the shabby shutters of the Upstairs Apartment.

Anyway...

I have been furiously working on my let's-rent-the-apartments website AND... more annoying, thanks to my lack of grit where Information Systems are concerned, on aligning this Vacation Rental Initiative... VRI, for short... to the myriad vacation rental sites inhabiting the Web these days. May this posting be a kind reminder to you that Apartment Rental Information on La Casetta & Apt. Azzurro can be found either at...

www.ilpoggiolocacodiponte.com

and...

www.housetrip.com

This last location requires you to punch inside the appropriate window... Codiponte, Italy... to get anywhere near to the specific Info on La Casetta & Apt. Azzurro. Hopefully, very soon, I'll be able to furnish the direct link. Why look at the other places for rent in Italy when, obviously, il Poggiolo is the place to be. Or, be square. Gads.

Praying For Fire...

Thought I'd check on the state of the fireplace during my morning's Inspection Tour of il Poggiolo. Opened the door to the Upstairs Apartment and there, in all its unfinished Glory, sat the fireplace. Could be an art-installation with the broom propped against the blue wall. Very tidy are the builder's workmen these days. Big meeting tomorrow, Friday, with the builder & Our Geometra to discuss unspoken concerns of the builder's before proceeding with the work on the fire-box. Two weeks to have us three together in the same spot.

And then, I poked my nose around the open door panel and discovered Bernadette, ardently praying on her stoney perch. Fat lot of HELP her praying has done!!! Gads.

Real-estate Reflections...

Came down from Genoa last night to pass another long pre-Christmas weekend at il Poggiolo. It was already dark by the time I had unloaded The Dog & bags from the car to wander around, take a look at il Poggiolo. I had to wait until this morning.

It's about 8:45AM. If we were in Summer, the Upstairs Apartment would be ablaze in stunning sunlight. It ain't. It's a short day-hop to Winter. Rain clouds are building between us and the Mediterranean Sea. Colonel RAI Weather-man says rain for today AND tomorrow. Fine. The Dog & I will be inside by the fire. But, you know, despite the weather, I am very proud... thrilled... always... to see my house. My 2000 sqm of territorio italiano!!! Gads.

I just made an appointment with Our Geometra to meet the builder at il Poggiolo about the fireplace in the Upstairs Apartment.

Yes, temporarily, I have gone back to the old name. L'Appartamento Azzurro is too long & futzy.

This latest appointment for Friday morning at 11AM is the ninth arranged to discuss the construction of the fireplace. I cannot imagine what could be delaying the work. Unless, of course, after the builder's Big Blow-out of September 23rd, he needs some hand-holding, worried that I might break his balls on the fireplace by revolutionizing the program. Frankly, it ought to be the other way around. I broke no-one's balls. Instead, mine were crushed by four months worth of absurd delays on re-constructing a simple open-plan apartment. Since we ARE in Italy, where victims have NO RIGHTS, I would like to Post for Posterity that I have not changed... altered... modified... revamped... or, tweaked, for cryin' out loud... the fireplace design in the Upstairs Apartment. And, I won't. All I have ever wanted is a simple box faced with marble from the old stairs in La Casetta and a new Carrara marble made for the top where the metal smoke stack will pop-out on its way up to & through the roof where a simple copper chimney piece will sprout. The builder has heard this from the first appointment. I suppose victims are condemned in repeating themselves ad infinitum. We shall see on Friday.

In the meantime, I was wondering if, say, King Louis XIV of France spent a good deal of his time away from The Chase to discuss with his builder the program for the 352 fireplaces in Versailles? I doubt it. And, I have a hunch they were knocked off in less time too!!! Gads.

As Far As This...

Three weeks to work on the fireplace and this is as far as the builder got? Gads.

Mysteries...

Kind of wintry looking day. The orange of the persimmons are a great contrast against the grey stones of the Azzurro Apartment. Yes, Dr. You & I are back at il Poggiolo. We came down for the long Immaculata holiday. This little Catholic holiday celebrates the moment Mary learnt she was going to give birth to the Messiah!!! It turned out to be one of the shortest pregnancy on record... 17 days!!! A miracle. No such luck for our Azzurro Apartment's fireplace. Do you suppose this is the price I have to pay for being a Episcopalian in a Catholic country? Gads.