This morning I cooked up our tomato harvest and made a pasta sauce. The market on Saturday also provided the usual supply of seasonal goodies. The fruit and vegetable stall was overflowing with tiny courgettes, at least four different kinds of spinach, seven kinds of tomatoes, fresh borlotti beans in their pink and white spotted pods, lush green lettuces, peaches, apricots, tiny green figs, and large juicy purple plums, to name but a few. Our other favourite stall has the fresh ricotta, local salami and home-made yogurt.
Before we staggered home with our purchases we stopped for a coffee at Bar Marconi and made a start on a new to-do list for the final jobs needed in the house. It is so easy to settle into a life lived out of plastic boxes and suitcases and holdalls but we need to get things finished. So once we were home and the purchases safely stored in the fridge, we went to our friend’s garage where much of our bulky items have been in storage. We brought back the mahogany guest bed and assembled it, in case of visitors. It looks rather good on the new wooden floor and now we need to get a mattress to fit so a trip to Perugia is on the cards.
Next to come from the garage are the fitted units for the utility room. More much-needed storage and Jamie has been busy inserting tab A into slot B etc etc. In the meantime I have made a start on painting the staircase and the risers of the steps, which were very stained after the terracotta tiles were treated. This is a very tricky and fiddly job but thank goodness for the invention of masking tape. With five flights of stairs and the landings, I will be kept occupied for a few more days I think.
A trip to Perugia later in the afternoon sorted out a possible mattress, and the remaining lights for the stairwell, thanks to Michele at IdeaLuce who will also supply another Monkey light for the garden. We checked on our order for the new kitchen dining table. Because the month of August is generally considered a holiday month for the whole country, we still have a couple of weeks to wait for its arrival, despite ordering it at the beginning of July.
Quite a successful day overall and although the list is still long, we have had some satisfaction in crossing off a few tasks, and we can enjoy a supper of tagliatelle with tomato sauce, garnished with basil from the garden, and maybe a slice or two of our own home-grown melon.
Sunflowers and Saffron 