Open for business

13th August 2023

Having survived the week with full power, I need to show my gratitude to the fates that control our lives by starting with a confession and asking their and your forgiveness for misleading you about a small matter. In my defence, I will say that not being a competent – or even incompetent for that matter – naturalist it was an honest mistake.

A couple of weeks ago I shared with you about the ants building a nest on the path by the side of the house. I noted their progress every time we passed on our walks, making sure not to step on either it or the troops of ants indefatigably marching back and forth with seeds, as it grew in size. And then it started to get smaller. After a couple of puzzling days when I thought that maybe I had misremembered the size, I had to accept that it was indeed decreasing, and continued to do so. Eventually, when it dwindled to the size of a dinner plate, I shifted myself enough to have a closer look, and what I thought was a nest must have been a sort of halfway house. Around the remaining seeds were cracks in the earth through which ants were coming and going, presumably to take the seeds to their nest which was, presumably, below ground. If I am again mistaken, then maybe someone can enlighten me, but if there is not an underground formic metropolis, then it is an even bigger mystery than I thought.

As for our week, after a little bit of an unsettled weekend, Monday was generally better, but there was still a spot of rain. Tuesday, however, was dry and sunny and refreshingly fresh, so much so that when we had another early call due to work commitments, the alarm having been set to six for Monday as well, we woke to a temperature of 16.5°. It managed to warm up nicely during the day, which set the pattern for the rest of the week, delivering a very pleasant spell of weather more like August should be.

Thursday Stephen was at home all day, which might have been a bit of a warmup for his summer break, but really the reason was the arrival in the morning of bff Manuel with a lady, resplendent in a pink jumpsuit, from the company that pumps resin under your house to stabilize it. They were here for almost an hour, during which time she had a good look around the ground floor, inside and out, and she, Stephen and Manuel chewed a lot of fat on the matter. The upshot was that she did say the situation wasn’t tragic (that’s a relief) and that the older part of the house was in a better state than the newer part, mainly because it was built using proper bricks. She said that before any decision was taken, it would be best if she returned in September (because everything stops for August, as we know) with an engineer (her father), who would make a thorough examination. Based on his findings, we will then be in a position to choose the best option for us – and our pockets.

And so we come to the weekend and the start of the really peak holiday period in Italy, that kicked off with dire warnings on the radio to keep away from the autostrade as they were jampacked already with people heading to the coast. We were not in need of that particular heads-up, though our plans were a bit prone to last minute alterations, thanks to the Italian inability to plan ahead. Let me explain.

Maddalena had suggested to Stephen during one of their WhatsApp exchanges that we go out for dinner before they went on holiday, and today, Sunday seemed an agreeable choice, as was Pina’s terrazzo, it being such an agreeable spot when we did the same thing at the same time last year. Stephen duly called in at Pina on his way home from work (yes, he had to do one more day before being released) on Friday to book a table only to told they were sorry but the terrazzo wasn’t open over the weekend as no one had booked in for dinner, and it wasn’t feasible for them to open it up and get in a waiter for just four people. However, if things changed, they would let him know.

That seemed fair enough, and while Sunday night was still in the balance, we had decided that as Stephen was soon to run out of washing liquid, we needed a visit to Risparmio Casa. In a radical change, as Sunday morning was beach walk time, we would do the shopping Saturday in the early evening and eat at Diverxo afterwards. That though had to change when Stephen received a message just after lunch saying that the terrazzo was open that night. Fortunately, Maddalena was available when Stephen contacted her, and it was agreed we would dine a day earlier than we had anticipated.

I’m happy to say it was as pleasant an evening as we expected, the weather was balmy (Maddalena only needed to put on a lightweight jacket over her top) and the food plentiful – and we still had time beforehand to shoot to Corridomnia to do our shopping at Risparmio Casa, as well as buy two new dog beds from Arc Planet for Bella and Harry when they go on their weekend away. We were, however, a little surprised when, after climbing the stairs and emerging onto the rooftop, to see the terrazzo full and all tables occupied. Where they managed to drum up the other 15 adults and a smattering of accompanying children is anyone’s guess, but we are glad they did.

We are also glad as it allowed us to complete our secret mission, begun a couple of weeks ago on our first trip to the Fermo market when we came across a stall, Mamma&Figlia Art Attack, that was selling a range of crocheted bibelots. Usually, these strike us as a bit naff, but these ones were as winning as the young woman fronting the business. Particularly charming were her dog’s head keyrings, and we became more than a little excited (because that’s the sort of people we are) when we discovered she made ones to order of your own pet. We didn’t think that we really needed one of Bella and of Harry, (because that’s not the sort of people we are), but as an excuse to be able to order one, we thought Maddalena would love one of Mia.

Having concocted a bizarre reason why we needed a picture of Mia, when we made our second trip to the market, we returned to the stall, handed over the picture, that I had cropped and laminated, because if you are going to do something you need to do it properly, and ordered two keyrings, one each for Marco and Maddalena as we didn’t want anyone to feel left out. With wonderful timing the keyrings were ready for me to rendezvous with the fibre artist, who came over from Monte San Giusto yesterday afternoon, meaning we could present them in the evening. Marco, it has to be said, did his best to sound enthusiastic, though I think secretly he was a little perplexed about it all. Maddalena, however, was absolutely delighted, and spent a good ten minutes saying how lovely they were and trying to decide what to do with them, maybe hang one in her car. Obviously not keep keys on them (because that’s the sort of person she is).