The builders are getting on really quickly. Now we need to make all our final decisions for lights, tiles, etc. and order everything. (The header image is “lunchtime in Via Manni”. Worryingly, they had left the mixer full of wet cement while they went off for lunch!)
We were really pleased when we went around to the house and the builders had removed all the dodgy 70’s tiles from the floors. They have excavated the kitchen floor and built a new aerated floor (to avoid damp).
There used to be a step up from the hall to the stairs and then a step down again to (what will be) the kitchen. This was a bit odd but necessary as otherwise the bottom step would have been too deep. We have decided to redo the steps in terracotta and when the builder started ripping up the old marble steps, he realised we could add an extra step on the half-landing and so get rid of the raised area on the ground floor. Brilliant.
This may sound like nothing, but it will open up the downstairs corridor and entrance and make it seem more spacious. In fact do we even need bannisters? That could make it feel even more open.
The not so good news is that the soil pipes in the bathrooms are cracked and need replacing. But as all the rest of the plumbing is being replaced, it is good to make a clean start there too. Very pleased to se that all the new water pipes are insulated, as well.
The builders didn’t like the bathroom layout and have suggested an alternative. This allows for decent sized washbasins rather than teeny-weeny cloakroom sized ones. Which is good. The showers, though, have to be smaller which is ‘The Compromise’. This is something we are getting used to and we are thinking of naming the house ‘Il Compromesso‘.
But how are we ever going to break the news to the super-patient Deborah at Poggiani, the bathroom supplier, that we are changing things yet again? She took it well and is rushing through an order for the bits that we must have as soon as possible.
The staircase had already been rebuilt when we got back to the house in the evening. (Can’t try them out yet as the cement is still wet.) Tomorrow we are discussing lighting with the electrician so we have to finalise what we want…
To end the day, it’s dinner upstairs at Coppetta’s, as they have a live music event on Friday evenings. We had dinner at 9pm of an antipasto of their own parma ham and salami with flat bread and beans in tomato sauce. I then had little spinach gnocchi in a parmesan, ham and sage sauce while Jamie had home-made goats cheese ravioli with a fresh tomato and basil sauce. All accompanied by a slightly more expensive than usual bottle of Umbrian wine. After two lemon ice creams, coffee and digestivi we staggered home after a fun evening of music by a guy with a guitar, including songs from Ramazotti, Boccelli and traditional Neapolitan to The Pretenders, Robbie Williams and Elton John.
It’s one in the morning and we have to be up early…….
Sunflowers and Saffron 