A Well Deserved Break...

I cleaned the apartments. I shut up the shutters. I said my good-byes. I packed The Dog into the AUDI and we made tracks back to Genoa. On Tuesday, I will climb aboard Lufthansa for Thanksgiving in North Carolina. Codiponte, il Poggiolo, Our Geometra, the builder, the electricians & others will be temporarily replaced with becoming a couch-potato on Turkey-day... and, Thank God, that it lasts only a day... going out to dinner & movie with My Mom... I got all excited about Meryl Streep's new flick, The Iron Lady, only to discover that I will have to wait until 2012 to see it!!! Maybe later since I'm in Italy... and, basically, kicking around to forget the dreadful events of Phase III. I need healing. I need to re-charge my batteries. I need something else to do!!!... please. Gads.

Progress Measured In...

...milimeters...
The builder cameth, he worketh and then, he lefteth for another day.

Ditto for the electricians only THEY arrived four days late. This artful installation of grey plastic tubes signifies that l'Appartamento Azzurro... and, again, I am so hoping one of you will provide a brand NEW! NEW!! NEW!!! name... is connected to the central electical box... here shown. My bills will surely manifest this connection. Gads.

Trash...

This photographic view of an out-of-sight corner of Codiponte confirms an awful AND universal Truth...

White Trash is global!!! Why do spots like this seem to always involve a chicken-coop? Gads.

Unwanted Marmalade...

Lovely Fall colors, no? It's Kaki Pickin' Time. Persimmons to us English-speaking Folk. 

And, if I don't start harvesting what looks more to be Christmas Tree ornaments than fruit... they have a dreadful soapy taste too... I'll have marmalade on my wonderful grassy terrace!!! Yes... God, in His Infinite Wisdom, designed said fruit to be pre-mushy before falling to the ground... SPLAT!!!... well ripe enough for spreading. Euw, ick!!! Gads.

The Marble Marks the Spot...

Ecco!... the Marble Spot. Glued down for all Eternity. Gads.

He Cometh...

... and he goeth! Would wentith be a better word to use?...

The builder arrived on this frosty Saturday morning, glued down the marble for the floor of the fireplace, took a gander at my drawing of what I want for the nth time... AND, I can tell you, it will not look like this...

...gave me a cheery Ciao! and left. progress with a small p. Gads.

Something To Remember...

Alarming picture, no? 

So far, I have had five meetings... the longest was yesterday's. It lasted for all of about 3 minutes... with the builder about building the fireplace in l'Appartamento Azzurro...

HATE this name!!! The title of Upstairs Apartment, though lacking atmosphere & fantasy, perfectly distinguishes the 60 square meters from the rest of il Poggiolo. Perhaps, I should conduct a contest? I second the motion. So, I ask my readers to suggest a new AND acceptable name for the apartment. Go to it, please. Thanks.

Supposedly, the builder's Game Plan is tomorrow... Saturday... to glue the marble base & put a hole through the sub-flooring to feed the pre-fabricated fireplace with O2, followed on Monday to begin the actual construction of the brick structure to hold the pre-fab fireplace in place. Hopefully, the immediate days after, the marble facings, top & the flue will be built. Might I dare hope to knock this item off the To-do List before I leave for the US for Turkey Day? Let's cross our fingers together.

Meanwhile, as I write this posting, I am waiting for the electricians to arrive... they are two and a half hours late!!!... AND FINISH the darn electrical plant. Personally, I am praying that someone, somewhere, somehow has already invented... to absolute PERFECTION... an electrical system REQUIRING NO WIRES so... when I flick a switch... the chosen electrical instrument... like, maybe, A LAMP!!!... will light up. I dream to knock-off the electricians off the same List. Hope is my middle name, if not now my last!!!

So, thankfully, I came upon this photo of il Poggiolo taken in 2009. Muddy mess. I am heartened that we have made Progress and have moved on since then. But, we ain't there yet!!! Gads.