Merry Chriſtmas!

SOGQ JMWY OVJQ FEOR RFEN QJSO FTZE JTJT JMYO HZOT IUTZ JZIZ JNMJ ZNNB VIHE ZGNI UQLZ NKNG BOGN IMSV OMFK NGST JMNI GPNH OUIQ OGFF NIGT ZNNJ ZEJM BOMF KOFU OHBZ NKEO ZJKO TTOF JMWK EJHE EOTM NZEJ MWZN SNKJ ZEZE OZAI JRJZ JTGJ SJHI QNIT QFSJ YYJH IQZZ NOPN JSKE OZJT BMNK MOTO HNVV NMTF VUNQ JMKG JZJM WZEJ TSJY YJHI QZFJ TEJW EZNT ZOGZ NYYK JZEO MSEO TOMJ MYQO ZJNM NKJM WZNV FQOU NGJN ITRI GTIJ ZNYK GJZJ MWOU NIZT OJST FVUN QOTS JYYJ HIQZ OTZE JTJT YNGF NIGO IZEN GJOV MNZY NGQN GMJM VFRI GTIJ ZNYH NVVI MJHO ZJNM OPNJ SJMW OTJM WIQO GIMH JOQO SJHZ JNMO GFYN GVOZ HEJM WKNG STJT HGIH JOQK EJQT ZOJV JMWZ NROS ZEJT JMYN GVOZ JNMJ MTIH EOKO FOTZ NUNN TZJZ TMJW ENMM JQRG NUOU JQJZ FNYH GOHB JMWS IGJM WFNI GKNG BJOV YJGV JMVF HNMP JHZJ NMZE OZZE JTJT OHJM HEZN IMYN QSJY FNIB MNKZ EOZO TFVU NQJT NIZN YHNV VJTT JNMK EJQT ZTZJ QQNM OZNR JHTI HEOT NIZN YHNV VJTT JNMS JSFN IBMN KZEO ZOKN GSTI HEOT VJGG NGEO TMZW NZOM FNYV FNIZ NYHN VVJT TJNM TFVU NQAF NIVJ WEZK OMZZ NWNY JMST IHEO MZEJ MWOV OCJW TOQI ZOZJ NMTZ KNYN QSEO XOGS

Word of the Day: Putrella

The other day, Bogdon was doing demolition in the boys' room (to expand the bathroom) and discovered that the wall he was smashing was also a partition wall in the upstairs property. As in, not our house. How did he discover this, you ask? Well, the exposed rear section of baseboard was a clue.

If you look in the upper center portion,
 that's baseboard

Yikes. This meant that we needed a system to keep the upper 40 cm of wall supported while removing everything underneath. Answer: a "putrella," otherwise known as an iron girder.

The remains of the wall have been held up by a jacking system

Winch installation

Today was the day the girder arrived, and of course we were agog to see how it would be installed in the upper story of the house. We were happy to see it on Umberto's truck parked in the space across from the portone, but it was obvious that he would not be able to navigate the vehicle-cum-girder assemblage into the courtyard.

Putrella!

The bathroom has officially been gutted

Fill-in materials

I called him (he was nowhere in sight, nor at Pianegiani...our first suspected location for him) to ask when he'd be unloading the girder because we wanted to spectate. He promised to call me at the correct time.

Sure enough!

Florence and I bolted over to have a look. The putrella had already been moved (by hand, Umberto told me) into the courtyard, and the winch was installed.

Strapped carefully, it was time to pull it up!

Girder all strapped up

Ready to go!

There was some serious grunting at this point

Note that they are on the delicate subfloor

Much effort, and it was inside the house, but not in position. We cringed as we watched them tramp all over the exposed subflooring (that we've been told not to walk on at all because of its fragility) bearing a heavy load, but they did it without falling into the kitchen (also not ours) below!

That upper slot is the destination

Love,

Alexandra

Alexandra Down the Rabbit Hole

Last week, Sr. Zoppini asked if I would go to Marsciano to do some shopping on his behalf. Apparently, his wife wants him to retire and would get angry if he were to go. So he sent Raffaele with me for company. Raffaele is a pal of his who is in his 70s. When he was 11, he left school and went to work in a shoe factory, hammering in the "pins" (the tiny nails used to hold the leather onto the forms during construction). However, at the age of 17, he decided that the pay was precarious and he went into a steadier line of business: construction. However, having worked in the shoe factory so many years ago, he still counts as an "expert" for Sr. Zoppini's shopping list.

The beauty of this is that it gave me the chance to enjoy the store further, as well as to take some photographs to share!

Some of his stock of buckles

This is his general display technique.
It helps to have a list, but browsing is certainly fun!

From a different wall of buckles

The stuff hanging out from the shelves in the rear
is leather of all different colors and quality.
He has another room like that, as well.

This is the rack of purse feet, grommets, etc.

Brass door knobs

Rubber boot heels next to grommets

Keys! Just a few types on display...

This is a sampling of the keys on offer, but he has all types

This row is dyes and polishes

Apart from these few photos, he has a room of shoe heels, another room of cleaning products (seriously harsh chemicals, not just your ordinary glass cleaner), aisles of waxes, and more! He also sells car tires, cheapo furniture, premade belts, and hooks.

If you're going to browse, be prepared to spend money, because you'll find all those little things you've been needing that you've never found elsewhere!

Love,

Alexandra

House Progress!

When you contract with a builder, it's very common to have a "clausola" which has a penalty for work that is not completed in a timely manner. When we signed the work order, I asked about an incentive for early work completion and was told it was "unheard of." I brightly asked if there was any way we could "hear of" this concept, and obviously our builder wasn't going to quibble over the possibility of making more money on the deal.

Window?

All this to say that when the builder didn't show up for a whole week, I was able to keep perspective and not get annoyed. After all, he needs the autonomy to manage his own work flow, right?

Girls' bedroom...losing privacy

Window from outside..
.not a lot of view, but light!

The good news is that they're back at work! This time, we've found a happy surprise: window framing in the upper hallway! This gives us the possibility of opening up a window to allow morning light. It is high enough that there won't be any view, but light is always welcome. Obviously, an exploratory hole will have to be made, but here's hoping.

Ugly pipes gone! Large hole instead...

First-floor removal

We now have a 2-story tube!

Other news is that all the flooring is out on the first floor. We've had to decide how to handle the lack of subfloor (this means that embedding the utilities without raising the floor is impossible), which we're doing by the simple expedient of a step up in various locations. Such is life in a 500-year-old house.

On the upper floor, they're making great progress! All the radiators have been disconnected, and they're busily tearing down walls! I told them if they got bored, they'd be welcome to remove the ugly satellite dish that blocks the view from the terrace. However, it's unlikely that boredom will set in for them.

Love,

Alexandra

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New Shoes!

I finally finished my new shoes! That is, I still need to put in the insoles. But Sr. Zoppini sort of forgot about that part when he stated that they were done and I didn't inspect too closely. So that can wait until the next lesson! I'm on hiatus until after Christmas, though, or no one will get presents around here.

Here they are! I have yet to try them on because I'm wearing thick wool socks today. But since we used my special form (previously created by him), we're fairly confident that they'll fit well

They are tri-color black, blue, and grey. Funny note: when he was talking about polishing them, he aroused my suspicions somehow...it seemed as though he expected them to be all black when they were finished? I reminded him that I WANTED them those colors, and he acted rather surprised.

This explains why my favorite (made by him) shoes have blue scratches on the toe-cap: clearly, he uses any old scraps of leather that will work for a project, and then puts thick black paint on them!

Love,

Alexandra


 P.S. When I explained my next project to him, he declared it to be "geniale" and positively giggled! Stay tuned...

We wiſh you a merry Chriſtmas...

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More walls down!

Today's update:

The bathroom block on the main floor is down, but they're still working on removing the flooring. That will be finished late this afternoon or tomorrow; they were hard at it when we went over there at 4 today, but it's nearly quitting time!

The puddles that accumulated from upper pipes have been stopped up and mopped up, so we don't have to worry about the downstairs neighbors.

The doorway to the guest room has been re-opened.


The upstairs bathroom is being gutted (slowly).













And the wall to our bedroom has been attacked!

Looking into the bedroom from the bathroom

View from the bedroom into the bathroom

What's still there, you ask? The view.

 And the truck with the waste funnel

Love,

Alexandra