Rapid acceleration

Panic has definitely set in as far as our contractors are concerned. Already past the July 7 deadline, when financial penalties technically set in, they are also staring down the barrel of Ferragosto. While only really a one-day holiday, just about everything shuts down during most of the month of August because people typically take a two-week minimum holiday to go to the beach. This means that our contractors are finally realizing that if they don't do it before August, then there will be no work done (and financial penalties!) for the space of an entire month. This probably doesn't look so great for them.

Today, we have electricians in the top two floors doing the finish wiring: switches and outlets. Light fixtures are considered furnishings and will likely be done later. We also have Luca continuing to paint away. He has completed the kitchen/dining room, and has been doing prep work for the living room and guest room. He has also moved upstairs to take care of the final painting there, to allow flooring installation starting tomorrow. Marco the plumber is installing toilets and other bathroom plumbing in the upstairs (once the hardwoods go in, the geometra doesn't want the workers traipsing through with dirty feet, with good reason). We also have Alessandro and side kick installing the interior steps (finally). Alviero (Enrico's side kick) made an appearance this morning.

Here are some current photos with notes:

Instead of teflon tape, Marco uses hemp
(see the pile of what looks like a wig just above the case?)
wrapped around the plumbing joints.

He gets some fibers, aligns them, and wraps the threads

A grease-based putty and it's ready to go! If there were any
water leak in the joint, the hemp would absorb it, swelling, and
this would plug the leak.

Sink mounts in the master bath

Toilets plumbed in kids' bath

The electricians run individual wires, not cables,
 through the previously-installed conduit

Color! We have the darker shade of blue (which is also seen
below, more true to life), then the lighter shade on the same
card in the small corridor, then the purple of the kids' bathroom

Interior steps going in!

It was not all happiness when they had to pull out the belt sander

They're putting in soundproofing
strips and doing a nice job wedging to prevent squeaks

Tongue-in-groove joinery between treads and risers

I realize I have no photos of the dining room/kitchen space finished; I'll take some tomorrow and post with an update on the flooring!

Love,

Alexandra

A Wedding to Plan!

Last week, we were all absolutely thrilled to hear that Eleanor and Matthew are going to be married! It’s a delight because they’re such a lovely couple together.

Obviously, the bunnies shared in our enthusiasm, and wanted to start practicing right away for their roles in the ceremony.

Love,

Alexandra

A word about carpenters

We continue to be impressed with the quality of workmanship here. We have three official carpentry teams working on the job: Enrico, who mainly deals with windows and doors with other projects thrown in; Alessandro, who is working on the library bookcase and its associated stairs along with his pal Roberto (a well-known wood carving artist here in Todi); and Maurizio, who is in charge of the kitchen and other furniture/cupboards in the house.

Since a picture's worth a thousand words, I thought you'd enjoy some of the photos I was able to get of their workshops. The first is Maurizio's, for the kitchen:

Maurizio is using slabs of wood

Next, we have Alessandro and Roberto:

Roberto is carving these details to
match the same details on the wood
mantel in the library

Handcarved capitals courtesy of Roberto

Alessandro bookmatched the burled sections beautifully 

This thing is enormous!

The bookcase backs up against these stairs

Love,

Alexandra

While we were gone...more house happenings

While we were gone, we didn't want to miss a thing at the house! I begged all the workers to send photos as they could. An overview:

Travertine landing in library

The staircase has been removed and a railing installed

The gutter includes a wall penetration to reduce water on the terrace

Copper gutter on the terrace

Hardwoods in the boxroom

Hardwood in Michael's office

Working on refinishing the beams

attic painted

Many windows installed

New window installed

Kids' bathroom painted

Library painted

Girls' room painted (also boys', but no photo)

Window opening reconstructed (it has now been plastered and is ready for painting)

While the house is (as usual) behind schedule, we're very impressed with everything they've done, and it's coming together nicely.

Love,

Alexandra

A Week at the Beach

It's been Michael's long-term goal to visit Sardinia, and after seven years we were finally able to make it happen. Although we didn't get to include Eleanor and Matthew or Jim, the rest of us (plus Sharon) went for a week at the beach to celebrate Florence's 21st birthday.

Leo took us to Civitavecchia, the port town just northwest of Rome, from whence we took the 5 1/2-hour ferry to Olbia. From Olbia, we had a further 3-hour drive. Door to door was about 12 hours: not a trip to be undertaken for only three days!

The ferry was the largest I'd ever been on. You had the possibility of booking berths (tiny, as in a cruise ship or small train compartment) or seats (attached, like in a movie theatre). Otherwise, it was open seating in the interior lounges (air conditioned) or up on the deck (shaded and unshaded benches without tables) or in the restaurants and pubs. There was a very small decktop pool that they filled mid-trip with sea water, and of course the (unused for its purpose) helicopter pad for the best ocean views.

Dog kennels

Bar below, restaurant above

Interior lounge

Corridors for the berths

The sea color was amazing

Up on the deck

Looking down from the deck

The wake looked like polished marble

We enjoyed the Looney Tunes theme

Once in Olbia, our NCC driver picked us up and shuttled us directly to Torre dei Corsari. This appeared to be a purpose-built settlement dating to the 1980s that never really took off as a tourist destination. It consisted of a town piazza that held two bars, a gift shop, two pastry shops, and a pizzeria. Otherwise, there was one small grocery story and an attached restaurant and bar. There were gated residential communities made up of small efficiency apartments near this booming city center.

Sights from the road

On our way

Quite a variety of landscape! We also saw cane and cornfields

One day we saw an incredible lifesaving procedure using this boat and a LONG rope

Fall protection from the raised patio? Nah.

The landscape next to the beach was unearthly

The locals were very welcoming, and the beach was fabulous: a coarse sand with completely translucent water, with a rocky point where we could observe fish, sea urchins, crabs, and the like.

All in all, the routine was sleep, eat, lie out, swim, lie out, eat, sleep. It made for a delightful week!

Love,

Alexandra