That's smashing

16th March 2025

I shouldn’t have been so jubilant about having a bumper week last week, as what goes up must come down and this week it’s been back down to earth in a big way. Seven days of really nothing much means you’ll have to bear with me as I try to make the most of the mundane minutiae of domestic life, though leaving out breakfasts at Pina and Bar del Borgo, shopping and Friday’s haircut (Stephen’s turn), leaves very little to go at.

After last weekend’s tree pruning, Stephen’s horticultural efforts were less impressive (and precarious) but equally necessary. A couple of early finishes gave him time to cut the grass on Tuesday and, on Thursday, to sort out the devil bushes (his words) near the top of the road. These are the thorny ones that have renegade branches stretching out, making it seem like the car’s negotiating a chicane as we try to avoid them scratching the side on our way past. Friday he was home at more or less his usual time, or what should be his usual time if organising UPS consignments doesn’t get in the way, and a welcome sight he was too. He’d found time during his travels to call in at Totò for one of their large sourdough loaves with walnuts (not quite big enough for the 5,000 but enough to split into four for the freezer), and a cherry crostata as a weekend treat.

As for this weekend, it’s been spent at home as we conserve our energies, and our finances, for our jaunt to Bologna, only a fortnight away now. At least if nothing else Stephen was able to have a word with Luigi yesterday morning when he saw him, accompanied by Billy, walking down towards the house. Irene had sent a message, with a bit of a curt edge, asking if Stephen had checked with the Mogliani two about putting a prism thing on their house, so he took his opportunity. Luigi said that it would be fine, and surprised Stephen not a little by saying that the foundations were very deep – contrary to the received wisdom of everyone who has looked at the house recently.

I could go on but I don’t think you need to know that we had a smashing time yesterday morning when I dropped our precious jar of molasses on the floor taking it out of the cupboard for the Boston baked beans I was making (not the easiest of things to get off of marble adjacent tiles) and a water glass broke, apparently all by itself, when Stephen was washing up after lunch (and unless Conad has another stamp-based promotion on them we will be hard pressed to find a replacement). Nor do you really need to know that Harry hasn’t been a happy boy today thanks to it being very windy. Not only does it upset him but it also makes him reluctant to go out onto the terrazzo – though spending most of the afternoon on the settee in the back room seemed, for some reason, to make him feel happier.