I'm H A P P Y

Before you rush off to check your calendars, yes there is something slightly out of kilter with this entry. Not only is it up on a Saturday but it also covers almost two weeks. The reason for these anomalies? Taking the second one first, that is because I’m catching the train tomorrow lunchtime to Bologna ready to start my weeklong course at Madrelingua in an attempt to put all the stuff in my head together in reasonable spoken Italian. As for the first, the reason for that is simple: the past two weeks have been so quiet that there was not enough in either one to make an entry worthy of your time – even with my undeniable powers of waffling.

Having said that, things did get off to a dramatic start, albeit it in a rather minor way, when Bella, being somewhat inquisitive about a gecko hanging around on the terrazzo, somehow managed to nudge it over the threshold and into the house. I suppose we should have been grateful that she didn’t chomp it in half, but a small green reptile whipping about is not really what we wanted in our lives. After shutting Bella and Harry out, we did manage to corner it in the bedroom but failed to trap it in a plastic container as it skittered round it and hid under the tallboy. We gave up at this point, there being no way we were going to get at it. Instead, we opened the window and closed the bedroom door and hoped it would recover sufficiently to find its own way out. We’re assuming it did, as there has been no indication of it since then, either in movement or smell.

As ever food has played a recent role. We gathered our first cherries of the season a week past Tuesday, then on Wednesday we met Marco and Maddalena for dinner at the pub, eating outside for the first time this year. Saturday I tried a new recipe out (despite the heat), making some dolcetti al Marsala – like small rock buns but of a smoother texture with an aromatic hint of alcohol. This proved fortuitous, as on Monday we were invited by Stephen’s BFF, Manuel, to have dinner with him, his children and his mother at her house, where we again ate outside under, the awning over her terrazzo, so we took a selection of the dolcetti as a contribution.

It was just as well that the awning was in place as, after a period of hot, sunny days this week has turned somewhat wet – in fact, very wet on Tuesday when the heavens opened and rain came down in a torrent. This is not, as you know by now, unusual, and we have entered a period when the weather continues to be hot and the mornings sunny only for clouds to gather and to bless us with their contents for half an hour or so in the middle to late afternoon. Whilst it would, all things considered, be preferable to have uninterrupted sunshine, at least the rain gives Stephen time off from watering the garden.

It seems slightly ironic that the weather should become so unpredictable just as my lessons are tailing off due to the start of the beach season. Rocco and Laura stopped for the interim last week and this week saw the last lessons for both my small Monday children’s group and Arianna on a Wednesday. Italian schools closed for the summer yesterday so no doubt they have much better things to do, which is fine as it opens up the (hopefully) sunny mornings for Stephen and I to reinstate our walks on Porto San Giorgio beach. We made a start on these last Sunday, and whilst it was fairly quite when we set off towards Lido di Fermo shortly before 9 a.m., there was no shortage of people buzzing around the various chalets and public areas on our return journey.

Changing subjects, I know I led you to believe that our dealings with TIM had come to an end, but there were two matters remaining that we thought were better handled face-to-face. This is why, last Friday, we combined a big shop at Iper with a trip to the TIM concession in Cuore Adriatico. The first matter was my mobile phone, which, as it no longer fell under the defunct total house package, had suddenly become due to a €4 daily flat charge. Fortunately, as I am very bad at keeping credit on my ‘phone, they had only managed to take two days’ charges from me and the nice lady at the desk (yes, there are some that work for the company) put me on a new tariff of €8 a month. Now I just need to decide what to do with all that money I’m saving.

The other matter was returning our TIM Vision box. TIM Vision is their streaming service, which was part of the package at a nominal sum, and which we have never, ever used. It was time, we thought, that we should cancel the service and return the box, for which the nice lady gave us the requisite forms as well as a piece of advice. Remember to get proof of posting, she told us, as the boxes often get lost in transit. I’ll leave it for you to decide whether this is due to the efficiency of TIM, Poste Italiane or the average Italian. Tough call, that one.

And that would have been it for the past thirteen days if not for Stephen, who returned home on Thursday afternoon as ebullient as Eyeore after a bumper jar of extract of malt. The reason – and I do issue a warning for those of a delicate disposition – for this? He had, and after seeking my blessing a couple of weeks ago, fulfilled a long held wish to have his nipples pierced. Following intense research he opted for Venom Art Tattoo in Rapagnano where, on a Thursday afternoon, Mr Rabbit Body Piercing (honestly) sets up his stall. Despite the name, the establishment in question was lush with gold furniture, velvet and brocade, and scored ten out of ten for customer service. Stephen’s joy was obvious to all, especially to my mum who wanted to know, while we were FaceTiming, why he was bouncing around behind me. When I told her, she said the she was very happy for him and that I should be happy that he is so happy. So now you know, if you want to spread joy and gladness and make the world a better place, just get a couple of holes shot through random parts of your anatomy.

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P.S. I have just read this to Stephen who is complaining bitterly. He is aggrieved that I have not mentioned the shedload of work he has been doing, creating a trend book for 2019/20 and an interaction presentation and designing two fabulous new soles. So now you know

and I hope you are suitably impressed. I am.