On Days Like These

From reading my favourite bloggers, it seems that its officially a 'slow blog season', perhaps its due to the crazy weather we are having across Europe, or else I can blame the 'day job', and a hectic few days in Moscow last week, but I have finally succumbed to Mrs J's sustained pressure to write a new post.....

The movie buffs amongst you will recognise that today's blog takes it's title from the theme tune to the Italian Job (that's the classic 1960's version not the modern re-make), and I see the title sequence to be an allegory to our current situation, why? well you may recall that as the credits role, we see the driver of a fantastic car (a Lambo Miura), winding his way thro' some spectacular Italian scenery, and whilst his attention is distracted he is ambushed by a bunch of locals, driving a digger! If you can't quite remember, check it out out here watch clip.

And so it has been over that last few weeks at Chicken House, as what should have taken a few days, has now turned into a long-running saga, with seemingly no end in sight.  However, at last, Alberto's last set of photo's show some light at the end of the tunnel, with the terracing done, the LPG tank buried upto its neck, and the terrace walls all but completed, built from a pile of massive blocks of stone.  Since my last visit to Toscana, it has become apparent (at least for a stranieri-project), that the most important person in the project is not the architect, or the builder, but the translator, and our key expert on this job has just given birth to a beautiful bouncing baby girl!  So, for our not-so-regular interchanges with Alberto, we are reliant on Mrs J's Italian teacher.  Whilst this is less than perfect, I am trying to reconcile myself that Alberto (and Chiasserini) know exactly what they have to do, and whilst they seem unable to do any of the handful of jobs in parallel, completing the job will take just as long as it takes.  This is not a project management maxim, but whilst these last steps drag out, at least it allows the piggy-bank to fill back up again to pay for it all.

So, what are these last steps? as already stated, the terracing is done, and the walls, and the gas tank.  This means that as the digger retreats off site, that the septic tank can be fitted (allegedly it was supposed to have been done last week), that will then allow the boys to re-point the front and side of the house.  Inside the plumber couldn't get on, as he was waiting for the painter to paint the walls, but then the painter had to stain the beams first!.  Again, photo evidence that the painter is on-site, so we could assume that the plumber has been able to hang the radiators, and further, if the septic tank is installed, then all the loo's can be fitted and connected up too.  Hurrah.

This all means that we are planning our moving in trip, sometime mid-July, and have been out this weekend on a last minute spending spree, buying all the duplicate items such as kitchen utensils, that you need when you run two households, this of course is on top of the boxes and boxes of stuff we have been hoarding for years on the expectation of our first house.  So, despite the changeable weather, all is rosy, and as Charlie Croker might say 'we are the self preservation society'.  Ciao 

Comments

[Suzie]

Ciao there,

I posted for you some wrought iron grids for windows... I was collecting some over the last months and finally (yes, slow blogging also here) I posted them.

I could get jalous about your progress!!!

Saluti
Suzie