Into every life...

Ian Webster
Mar 2, 2024
3 min read

3rd March 2024

Whether it was the effect of judicial rationing of the goodies Stephen brought back from Bologna or that there was nothing to trouble my equilibrium, the past week has been a sea of calmness at LCDDB - if you don’t count the weather.

After Stephen’s sojourn, normal service was resumed, including the usual Tuesday morning shopping with breakfast at Pina beforehand, where we came across an alternative way to float through the day. As we were waiting to pay, Amalia behind the counter was filling a tumbler (and we are talking high ball size) with white wine for an old colleague of Stephen’s from RemRom days, now retired. Just to make sure it had the desired effect, she topped it up with a splash of bitters. I guess that is the sort of thing you can do when you no longer have to go to work, though from the frequency with which the men of the village knock back a spot of alcohol whilst we are knocking back a cappuccino, he’s not the only one.

Thursday was notable for two reasons. The first was saying ciao to Rudy, my morning student fond of getting on his bike. He had been with me since last autumn, and when he started he said it was with the aim of improving his English before setting off on his grand tour. That time had come, or would do in a couple of weeks (as long as he manages to sell his car) when he throws his leg over the crossbar and heads to Uzbekistan, where no doubt English can be heard on every street corner.

Whilst Rudy was off to foreign climes, foreign climes (or at least a smattering from them) came calling, courtesy of the rain that set for a couple of days early Thursday morning. I’m unaware, unsurprisingly, of where this particular front originated but it was one of those that brought with it a copious amount of sand so it was unlikely to have picked it up from Porto San Giorgio beach. It kindly deposited this on the cars and the railings and the outside boot box that masquerades as a bench. On the positive side, at least the tops of the distant Sibillini mountains are snow-capped, so hopefully we won’t be short of water come the summer, preferably sand free.

The weekend got off to a good start, despite the rain continuing, with burger, chips and beer at the pub. As seems now to be the case we opted for birra rossa. This time it was a new brew since our last visit but as ever it was served in a particular glass, though we did have the feeling that the gnome theme smacked a little of Christmas, which is now long past.

The rain eventually stopped properly by midday yesterday, but not before it had had an adverse effect on the almond tree, our harbinger of spring blossoming, as it does, at the end of February. It is always a delightful sight and usually lasts a good week or so from buds opening to petals being shed and festooning the terrazzo, even if we have strong winds. It’s not, unfortunately, quite so able to withstand the rain, and while it looked much to advantage against Wednesday’s blue skies, by Saturday it was looking distinctly skeletal.

The sun returned in force today and we were treated to another fine day, which was just as well as we didn’t need to alter our plans for a visit to Fermo, a.m., for one of their not infrequent markets. Actually, the real reason we wanted to go out was because we needed to fill up with petrol and as the best price is at the garage the other side of Campiglione, we threw in breakfast at Funari and a wander round Piazza del Popolo (buying some spices from the stall that is a perennial presence), to make a morning of it.

With a little forethought we could have done with getting a bit of extra petrol. Stephen had hoped that by the afternoon the grass around LCDDB would have been dry enough to give it the first cut of the year. Whether or not it was, proved immaterial when he realised that he had nothing to make the mower go. As advised, after last year’s final trim he made sure the tank was empty, and with no fuel lurking in any container (another safety measure) it meant that idea had to be shelved. Not for too long, we hope, as with another run of changeable weather forecast for next week if the grass doesn’t get cut soon we might have to start sending out search parties whenever Bella and Harry venture downstairs.