Ice cold in Monte

This week started as last week ended, with sunshine and increasing temperatures, as demonstrated when my student, Sauro, returned on Monday morning after some time away working. He was back as things had slowed down for the August holiday period and was squeezing in a couple of weeks of lessons before his wife’s factory closed for its annual break.

It was also a week of catching up with domestic matters starting on Tuesday when we returned to the insurance broker in Montegranaro (after our defection when insuring the Freeclimber, and look where that got us…) to part with a substantial amount of our hard-earned cash as the fierce lady behind the counter (back after her absence on our last visit earlier in the year) sorted out the Panda insurance, the road tax, the break-down cover and our additional health insurance. My wallet was somewhat lighter leaving the office than when we went in, but at least that’s all sorted for another year.

It took another hit on Thursday when I returned to see Claudia the dentist. After a somewhat protracted process it was finally time for the false tooth to be fitted. Theoretically, it should have been a short process but with Claudia being the perfectionist that she is, we spent some time as she fine-tuned (if that is the correct expression) the fit of the tooth, making sure it engaged comfortably with the existing ones. And if I thought that was the end of it, I was mistaken, as I have to return next week for her to check that everything is all right.

The good news of the week was that the brake cable arrived via Poste Italiane on Thursday. Stephen wasted no time and took it to the car servicing department at Autopompei as soon as they opened on Friday morning, before we had even had breakfast. In our fantasy we envisaged the mechanic grinning with delight and immediately rushing away to fix the Freeclimber, glowing with satisfaction at a job well done as it was driven away. What Stephen actually got was a non-committal grunt as the part was accepted, and a further one when he asked if it might be ready for that evening. You won’t be surprised to hear that there was no phone call to say the car was fixed and raring to go by the end of the day, so it looks like it will be a little longer before our prodigal returns home.

We were a little surprised earlier in the week, however, when something vaguely mechanical did appear in the vicinity of LCCDDB. It had nothing to do with us, however, but everything to do with Mario and Luigi, who were obviously looking for something to do after the grain had been harvested and the stubble cleared and before the field was ready to be churned over (which started early yesterday morning). I’m not sure where they located it, but on Tuesday afternoon, appropriately enough as the temperatures were climbing into the low 30s, a second-hand commercial freezer unit was parked up and left on a trailer, just at the top of the field next to their outbuildings. And it wasn’t just its size that made it stand out, as the bright blue colour and illustrations of ice lollies hardly blended in with the surrounding countryside.

It remained there over night, with its doors open, presumably to avoid it getting musty, until it was moved the next morning. At first we weren’t sure where it had gone, but were relieved that wasn’t its permanent spot. It then reappeared veiled behind the olive trees at the side of the road and next to the farm’s large workshop, nice and handy for an electricity supply. When Stephen saw the brothers as he was passing in the afternoon they mentioned something about it being for meat. Exactly what, I will leave for you to figure out for yourself, just bear in mind that even though they are arable farmers, like all Italians they have a large extended family and at odd times of the year, such as coming up to Christmas, you can hear a lowing coming from one of their sheds – but not for very long.

To end where we started: with the weather. After a week of steadily rising temperatures and clear, sunny days we woke this morning to grey skies and rain. This persisted well into the afternoon so our usual Sunday morning walk had to be cancelled. This should have made Harry and Bella happy, as it meant they were not left home alone for a change, but somehow it didn’t. I guess it was because, instead of flopping on the cold kitchen floor to escape the heat, they just stood at the open door looking accusingly at first the rain and then at us. There’s just no satisfying some people.