Turning things over

7th April 2024

Easter Monday, or Pasquetta as some prefer to call it, saw us again spending the day quietly at home – quietly, that is, if we were inside. Bastianelli, our local wine producer, had another of their fun amongst the vines days with food and drink and music which they were kind enough to share with their neighbours across the way. I wondered at one point how the people (and there were obviously a lot judging by the cars stretching along both the road parallel to the river and the one at a tangent that passes the vineyard) put up with it, but I guess they were not there for the conversation. Besides, Stephen said he reckoned that the shape of the valley acted as a natural amplifier and it just seemed louder to us. Right.

The event kicked off at 10.00 am and was due to finish at 8.00 pm, but unfortunately the weather had other ideas with a dramatic change in conditions mid-afternoon. Dark clouds started to gather but it was not so much rain (there was only a smattering of heavy drops dotting the terrazzo) but the fierce wind that sprang up, causing us to close all the shutters and for the people frolicking bucolically to clear the roads of their cars and head if not home to somewhere more protected.

Tuesday was a disappointing day for Stephen; not because he had to go back to work but because he decided to sport his new glasses for the first time. Not only did no one swoon when he walked through the door of Pina for breakfast, but no one at work noticed or commented on them. He consoled himself with the thought that they suited him so well they just blended in with his usual stylish look, and the fact he was home shortly after lunch was because there was nothing pressing to do, not because he was in a huff.

With the days lengthening and the weather warming, it was time for the annual makeover of the orto, which is why I returned on Thursday afternoon to the sight of Stephen and Mirko supervising from the sidelines as Mr Carelli grappled manfully with the rotovator. Fortunately, Stephen told me Nazareno was finding it difficult to turn the soil because the ground was so dry otherwise I might have thought it was because he was being left to struggle all on his own. By the time he had finished, the vegetable patch was once again looking pristine with its neat furrows so the three of them could feel satisfied with a job well done.

In the evening we went round to Marco and Maddalena’s for coffee to catch up with them, or so we thought, after their Easter break visiting Maddalena’s sister near Como. Indeed, we did discover that the weather wasn’t very good and she spent her time cooking, eating and cleaning – which I guess she felt she could have done just as well at home - but with that out of the way, and before we got to the coffee and homemade crostata, the ulterior motive for our invitation surfaced when Maddalena picked my brains about fractions, the next English topic with her class. It proved an enlightening discussion, not so much for Maddalena as for Stephen who expressed great surprise at learning that the two parts of a fraction were called the numerator and the denominator. They never taught him that at school, he said, but I think he was too busy flicking through Vogue.

With the orto primed and ready, Stephen’s thoughts turned to the matter of what to plant. Mr C had said, regarding our ongoing slug and snail problem, that a good idea was to plant onions, which is what Stephen did. He stopped on his way home on Friday evening to buy three different types of onions as well as some garlic, and these he planted yesterday at the far side of the plot to form a barrier against the hordes of gastropods licking their lips and massing Assyrian-like on the banking, ready to come down like the wolf on the fold.  

Also yesterday we were inspired by our quick stop at Totò with Manuel the other week to return for a proper aperitivo and to give Stephen another chance to wear his new glasses. Before that, we had a quick trip to Campiglione to buy a couple of boxes of our preferred coffee from Click Café, which I knew we needed, and a pair of Adidas trainers for me from AW Lab in Girasole, which I didn’t until we spotted them when browsing round the centre.

As for today, the only exciting thing, depending on your point of view, was Harry’s first bath of the year. With the grass getting longer and the weather warmer it’s time for anti-parasite measures to be stepped up, though he didn’t seem overly impressed with his spa treatment. You can’t please everybody, even when it’s for their own good; maybe next time he’ll be happier with new glasses and new footwear, like his dads.