Forward planning

After a couple of days of haughtily ignoring the new dog bed, Harry and Bella decided, eventually, that they might give it a proper try and, come Thursday morning took up their habitual positions on it: Bella lounging and Harry alert to ward off any perceived potential invaders onto LCDDB soil. And that was about as exciting as it got this last week, as the Italian holiday period moved towards a close and our thoughts turned towards preparations for the coming autumn.

Tuesday saw Stephen gather all the bunches of grapes from the two vines by the side of the garage, a crop that more or less filled the wheelbarrow. These had started to shed over the grass, and as Bella is an inveterate hoover-upper of anything edible (and not so edible) she manages to find, we thought it better to remove the grapes entirely before they did her any harm. The odd walnut or almond the falls from the trees is one thing, but as grapes are toxic for dogs, it was better if they were removed altogether. It did seem a shame to add them to the compost bin, but there were far too many for us to eat or to give away – though next year we may consider once again the idea of turning them into wine as several people seem to think that the advice we were given (see last week) was erroneous. After all, if you can make wine from dandelion flowers surely our grapes would make something that finishes up this side of paint stripper.

Wednesday was duvet day. No, not a grace-and-favour supplementary day off work – what with it still being vacation time and besides, being quasi-self-employed, there is no one to grant us that privilege – but a time to wash the quilts while they were still on a sabbatical from bed duties pending the arrival of cooler nights. Stephen had dictated that we had to be at the launderette ahead of the crush in order to bag the only two machines big enough to accommodate the duvets. Being a sunny day, and holiday season, we needn’t have worried as the place was deserted when we arrived shortly before 8am, and remained so for an hour until a woman came to use one of the driers (maybe it was just too hot outside). In the intervening time we washed, slipped out for breakfast and did a couple of drying cycles before returning home to finish the drying process by casting the quilts over the terrazzo railings, Mediterranean style.

It was also on Wednesday that another species was added to the list of animals spotted in and around LCDDB. These particular specimens, being birds, were actually inside the garden and the three of them had a high old time playing with each other and making quite a racket in doing so. Stephen spent some time watching their antics before hastening to Google to find out what these long-beaked, crested creatures were, the search turning up that they were hoopoes. In my ignorance, I had some vague idea that hoopoes were only found in North Africa, probably based on some distant recollection that they were sacred to the Ancient Egyptians, but I now know, thanks to Stephen’s research, that there is a Eurasian Hoopoe that can be found in a wide band running through central and southern Europe and central Asia.

Friday our attention turned, after sorting the duvets, to other means of keeping warm. Earlier in the week, Stephen had phoned the gas man, who promised he would be with his tanker sometime during the next few days when he was in the area. He had also phoned the wood man, who gave a longer lead-in time of two to three weeks. This was more than acceptable, as it will (hopefully) be late October or November before a fire is needed – though, no doubt Bella would appreciate one much earlier.

The gas man proved true to his word and phoned on Friday to say that he would be with us before 9am. He arrived, parked up his tanker, filled our tank and was away again up the road in less time than it takes to rub two boy scouts together and start a fire. His early arrival fitted in nicely with our plans for the day, as not only was it shopping day but due to Rocco’s inconsideration, we also had to make sure we were in his barber’s chair before the mid-morning rush, what with him going away the following day on holiday. There are some things that the well-dressed man around MSP might just about tolerate, but tonsorial inelegance is not one of them.

I don’t want you to think that it has been all work and no play as we have managed to slip in one or two diversions during the week. On Thursday we took Computer Luca and Sauro, he of the withering telephone manner, to dinner at L’Oasi on Lungamare Sud in Civitanova as a way of thanking them both for their help in dealing with various official bodies. Stephen, to his great delight, was able to feast on an array of sea creatures whilst I, being less adventurous, stuck with salmon and baked sea bass. Afterwards, Luca treated us all to ice cream from a shop in the town square, and I can highly recommend the pistachio and fig.

Our weekend plans took a bit of a blow, however, despite our joy at the pizzeria reopening yesterday, which caused us changing pizza night from Friday to Saturday for one week only. This morning’s walk on PSG beach had to be called of due to the weather. Not only was there rain forecast for around 10am, when we would be on our return leg, but also the temperature had dropped to a remarkably unseasonal 18C – this is my fourth summer here and never has a day been so chilly. Added to this, the authorities had also, yesterday, decided to close 45 kilometres of the southbound lanes of the superstrada from Civitanova to beyond Grottamare. Consequently, the resulting knock-on effect meant that not only were the main and arterial roads in all the coastal towns along the way jammed, but the side roads around the apartments and beach fronts were also gridlocked. Having no great faith that the same wouldn’t happen again today, we decided to stay at home. Walking on a windswept, chilly beach with a spot of rain holds little fear for the average Briton, but being stuck for hours in a stationary vehicle is no fun for anyone.

To make up for our missed outing, we headed in the opposite direction this afternoon for a trip to Macerata, where we enjoyed a glass of wine in a café in Piazza della Libertà followed by a wander round the streets. Macerata still holds to the idea of Sunday closing, so any shopping was of the window variety, but there were still plenty of people out for an evening passeggiata as the sun made a reappearance. Thanks to the unusual weather it was easy to differentiate between tourist and local: while we had opted for the layering approach, most other people seemed divided between those who stuck manfully to t-shirts and shorts and those insulated in leather or padded jackets. I will leave you to decide which was which.