Taking liberties

As trailed in my last blog, Monday saw the start of Phase 2 of Italy’s lockdown with a degree more freedom of movement, though as I suspected it had no effect on me personally as I didn’t fit into any of the categories.

It did, however, affect Stephen, who for the first time in several weeks set off masked and gloved for his meeting with the Carellis. I’m not sure how much was actually decided, but I do know that Stephen again returned laden with fresh broad beans and chard, the white variety this time, as well as a few extras from stopping off at the supermarket on the way home. This meant another afternoon in the kitchen of separating stalks and leaves and blanching for the freezer while I was in the other room taking my Monday lesson with Marzia and Diego. The good news here was that the pdf files I had sent had worked and been printed out, so I didn’t need to call on my vast experience and deliver a scintillating lesson on the hoof.

Also on the good news front, following the now confirmed rumour that Pina was offering a takeaway menu, on Tuesday there was a post on Facebook from the McIntosh that they too would be starting up a service from Thursday. Being Italy there was, needless to say, no actual menu or indication of what would be on offer. We had to wait two days for that to appear but it was very much as we suspected: a greatest hits of the pub menu, and quite comprehensive at that. To add to the wealth of choice, Maria Teresa pasta shop also got in on the act offering, strangely enough, pasta dishes, as well as their wonderful selection of fritti on Sunday. We have not, as yet, tried any of these as we were holding out for news from the pizzeria, but as all is quiet on that front it was home-assembled pizze again this week. We fear the worst.

Having spent two days at home, it was shopping time again for Stephen on Thursday, but before that on Wednesday he eventually capitulated follicly when he decided his hair was just too unkempt to be seen in public and shaved it all off. Consequently, when he went to Sigma for the weekly bulk buy the next day, he was complete with obligatory mask and gloves but not a cap. Unlike last week he was back in double-quick time, including stopping to get cash from the machine in the centre and to pay the water bill at the Post Office, as everywhere was very quiet – which meant he had free time to finally finish my wardrobe change over and sort out my lightweight, summer shoes.

Lightweight shoes are not anything that I need for walking Bella and Harry, as rain or shine my preferred footwear is wellies. Their use in winter goes without saying, but in summer their use is two-fold: one to cross the water level, which continues at least squelchy throughout the year, and two to protect my ankles both from morning dew and from nibbling insects when walking down the bottom part of the lane. The grass here has, over the past couple of weeks, grown thick and high but this was kindly sorted out also on Thursday when Luigi and his tractor, with Mario in attendance, trimmed the sides of the upper part of the lane leading to our house and then cut a swathe down to the quince tree. This showed remarkable resilience when it emerged unscathed from Luigi backing into it twice when turning round, which is more than can be said for the wild flowers that were conspicuous by their absence on our Friday morning walk.

It was also while the brothers Mogliani were giving the lane a short back and sides that we received confirmation summer had definitely arrived as Mario was seen in shorts for the first time this year. This was all the encouragement I needed; I followed his example on Friday and it was very good to get some warm air to my knees as I moved into pantaloni corti for the duration. Elsewhere, Stephen made his second visit to the factory of the week, as well as stopping off at the bread shop for the first time in months on his way back and treating to us to a selection of their finest chocolate dipped biscuits by way of celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary.

And that was about as exciting as it got for the weekend, if you discount trying out a new Diana Henry recipe for sausages and lentils yesterday and whipping up some rock buns today; oh, and Stephen chatting with Computer Luca as he needed some help in sorting out the new replacement iPhone that had arrived on Friday.

Apart from helping Stephen out with his phone, he was singing the praises of his new car, which he was only two months late in taking ownership of now the official paperwork has been able to be completed, though the thing he was most excited about was that it talks to you in dialect. He had also been out and about, within the Phase 2 travel restrictions, and we were most interested to learn that he had not only been to walk on the beach and to shop at Acqua e Sapone but had bought pizza on the way home, This sounds to us like an ideal triple whammy for a post-lockdown maiden voyage; as they say, have mask and hand sanitizer, will travel.