August 27 & 28

Finally rain.

Jim painting

After the rain on Sunday night we have had two beautiful days. The temperature is creeping back up and it will be over 30 the rest of the week. Anything under 30 is great. The sky has been so blue and we were TEMPTED to wear long sleeve shirts in the morning. Other people are wearing sweaters and this morning I saw one woman in polar fleece zipped up to her chin. 

We started a funny little project of painting a fake surround around the doors. Lots of people have them. Since we weren’t planning on painting our house any time soon, we thought painting the bottom of the balcony and a border around the doors might make it look like the scruffy color is intentional. It did not do any good, probably no one even notices and if they do they are not fooled. I am pretty sure no one who walked by had ever seen a woman on a ladder with the man holding it. So at least that was a score.

After that we did absolutely nothing. We were able to sit on our terrace, because it was not too hot. When we first got here the sun shone in about two feet. Now it shines in about ten. Time has certainly passed. We were getting quite Italian in our dinner habits: eating at nine, but now that the sun is setting at 7:30 we find ourselves going back to our old midwestern ways. Early darkness is another reason to have the internet at our house.

A cause for quite a bit of excitement was the acquisition of an electric hot water heater. It looked so great in our bathroom. Really jazzed up the place. We got it from some friends who had bought a bigger one. It turned out the tank was cracked inside so we have had no hot water since Friday. Tomorrow we are getting a new one that is 30 liters instead of 10. Our gas hot water heater did not pass inspection. If we ever plan to heat the house we will need a new one, but for now, with as little hot water as we use, an electric one is fine. This will make it much easy for people to use our house, if anyone ever does, when we are not here. All one will have to do is turn on the one breaker switch and the water under the sink. Good to go.

Local vendor.

Today we went to market and I took some pictures of clothing venders. The t-shirts here are amazing. If there is writing on them, and almost all have writing, it is in English. Some examples: I am glamour. Glamour very. Find your voice own. American gangster. Words that make no sense in front of the word, “jeans”. Lots of shirts about California. Sometimes I read people’s shirts to them and they don’t have a clue what I am doing. Personally, I do not want to wear a shirt with a woman’s picture on it who is way more glam than me, but lots of women do.

Suddenly there are formals for sale

Material, table clothes and pillows

Would you like to try these on?

The usual

Castelvecchio has cleared out and Gagliano is empty. The Romans are gone. They came, they saw, they annoyed. I was the only person in the pizza store today. She told me it was because it was so cold. Usually I wait 20 - 30 minutes. While at the market, I got a phone call for a shopping opportunity. Some friends were going to the COOP. That has been one of our favorite groceries stores since we came to Italy. No longer. This COOP is at the end of a mall.

At least there were Alphas at the mall

Maple syrup from Canada 8E.

This says it all.

The only entrance, besides emergency, is at the opposite end of the mall. You have to walk through the entire thing, about the size of the Berlin Mall. I was in culture shock. It was so loud, so vacuous, so filled with expensive things that no one needs. It was, gasp, so American! Only worse. The tarting up of little girls is endemic and boys all wear action hero shirts. Even little boys can do the strut. Even in Castelvecchio I wish I could see kids being more like kids, especially the girls. America is way ahead in girls being tough and playing sports. 

Last pastel this summer.

I’ve said this before, but I have to say it again, “Danes are coming for dinner, so I have to go.”