All tied up

After being cocky on Tuesday about wearing a t-shirt while the nesh locals were wrapping up in fleeces, I did a quick volte-face on Wednesday when the temperature turned a bit chilly. Whether it really was cold enough to warrant a scarf or whether I was just looking for the first opportunity to wear my Fermo market find who can say – I only know that when we went to the pub for a post-dinner coffee, I felt very Italian with it tied elegantly round my neck. Well, I hope it was elegant, and I’m sure it went very perfectoy my M&S hoodie.

But what else transpired on Wednesday? Heading back up the autostrada to Tolentino, that’s what, with print outs of the specifications for the windows and doors clutched in our sweaty hands. It came as no surprise that it took another good 90 minutes to go through everything with Sabina, including several trips from her office to the showroom for colour matching and handle choosing but in the end everything was settled to mutual satisfaction. Well, not quite everything – it seems that the doors and windows won’t be ready till the end of October. That was a bit of a blow, but not really a surprising one. We still, though, intend to move in after our furniture has arrived and when the bathroom, painting and floor cleaning has been completed.

Stephen spent a good part of the day on Thursday popping backwards and forwards to the house from the factory to check on progress. Franco had made a start on the downstairs office, knocking out the old window and doors and putting in a windowsill and doorstep ready for the new ones. We did wonder about refurbishing the existing doors as they had a certain rustic charm, but decided that new double-glazed ones would keep the room warmer in the winter and allow much needed light to find its way inside – the window being relatively small and placed high in the wall. Moreover, the glass doors will also stop me feeling I am incarcerated for crimes against English as we know it. Don’t worry, though, that we are destroying a piece of Italian rural heritage in doing away with the old ones: they are just ordinary, heavy wooden farm doors of some age but not vintage and are by no means a gothic style statement.

Which brings us to today and another visit by Alessandro the electrician to sort out the lights inside the glass-doored kitchen cabinets and under all the cabinets for illuminating the work surfaces. This involved moving some wires and doing something else that I really have no idea about but which, I am told, will make far easier access in the future. Sounds good to me. He also connected the extractor fan to the electrics, but it is still awaiting the fitting of the exhaust tube – because that can only be done by a plumber. Why?

I suppose that is yet another mystery of the arcane world of DIY; but there again, I do have better things to do with my time – like trying out new ways to wear my scarf.