Splish splash, I was takin' a bath....

 Sooooo...we moved.  And, as far as we could tell, there was only one "working" bathroom.  We originally saw this place on a chilly, rainy day and since no one had lived here for about a year, there was no water, no electricity..nothing.  We were "shown" the bathroom, conveniently across from the bedroom...and it looked "normal" albeit with a bathtub that was somewhat small, but this is Europe.  These things happen.  And we didn't have a flashlight.

Sooooo, turns out, after we moved in, we discovered that said "bathtub" had TWO levels.  An upper level that would have been fine as a seat.....IF it had even been remotely possible to STAND in the lower level.  BUT the lower level is cupped, like a fucking tulip.  Seriously.  Who?  How?  What????

Sooooo, the era of sponge baths ensued.  

Finally, we were able to have a guy come over who owns a contracting company.  Young guy, very nice, personable.  And he speaks English as well as Italian.  Turns out he lived in the US for some years!! His father moved the family there from South America. 

After discussing, it was decided that the SECOND bathroom in the back would be better suited to an immediately working shower.  First a large and heavy (and ugly) dry sink had to be removed (and is still sitting in the back) but that provided the water source.  On the other side there is a toilet and bidet and the bidet could have been removed, but this is another room with a curved ceiling, so a shower would be impossible.  

They took out the sink, put in the shower, fixed up the wall and we also replaced the double door to a small balcony, so there are no drafts, leaks or bugs.  

The work has stopped next door, there is no one there.  I love taking a shower midday, when the sun is shining in.  It almost feels like a spa.  Those doors, even when shut, will tilt in on the right, just enough to get a breeze, some fresh air.  

Yes, we have a curtain, and when it starts getting dark, or if and when someone is ever next door, of course, it will be closed, for the most part.  But right now I am loving this feeling of being bathed in sunshine with all the greenery outside while showering.  It reminds me of the years that I would take my daughter to the water park in Michigan.  We could rent a tube for the day, there was an area to sit under umbrella and have lunch or a snack.  There was a wave pool and a water slide.  She loved it, I loved it.  

Eventually we will remove the bidet and put in a sink, hang a mirror and voila!  

Eventually we will rehab the stupid bilevel tub.  Eventually......  hopefully within a year.  Eventually every room, other than the bedroom which is done, needs to be painted.  But, hallelujah, I am clean.  Yippee!!

Tell someone to meet me, I'm coming home

The cats were freaked out by moving.  We had to bring them in shifts.  And none of us were familiar with the terrain, as it were.  

Scruffy was one of the most severely traumatized.  He disappeared for about a week, even though they were confined to one room, said room had once been a kitchen and he found a way to wiggle into the cabinet below the sink.  I was beside myself because if he wouldn't come out, clearly he wasn't eating or getting his asthma medication.  AGGHH!!

Notte wasn't too happy either.

The BIG surprise was Calzini.  Calzini, the one we weren't going to adopt, but he made himself so at home after he was neutered we decided he would stay.  Nevertheless, Zini was somewhat standoffish.  He never made a sound and you could not touch him. 

Gradually, over the course of some time, he allowed himself to be pet.  He snuggled with his buddies in their usual spots.  Eventually, he started asking for attention.  "Hey!  I'd like a scratch, please!!"  And after sweet, lopey Lupo came along, he really came out of his shell.  They were play buddies.  And Lupo is VERY affectionate and vocal.  Zini learned.

So, by the time we moved, Zini would sit on the arms of chairs or the sofa and allow himself the attention.  But what surprised me was, after the move, HE was the great explorer.  Once we were settled in and the cats were given the run of the place, it was Zini who looked in every room, every nook, every corner.  He jumped in the windows!  "Whats goin on out there?"  

Now he talks regularly, DEMANDS affection...by either shoving his face into yours or patting you with his paws.  He still hasn't ventured into a lap, but he comes close.  He might put one or both front paws down in your lap.

I don't know, but I think the light bulb went on in his little head....and he realized he was not going to be abandoned in the street again, that he was "home" and home was with us and his companions.  

The Light of the Silvery Moon

 It's been a long time.  Things have....happened.  

So, there was a small (about 50 cars worth) parking lot below us....down the hill.  We really couldn't see it in the summer, only after the leaves fell in Autumn.  The lot led to an elevator that rose about 8-10 stories to the main piazza here.

Well, said lot was expanded.  A lot.  I would say 3 times larger, although maybe a bit more.  Why?  I have no idea...no one was filling all that space.  During the construction, land, plants, trees were moved.  Lots of them. And for no apparent reason, all the vegetation next to our balcony, near the TOP of the hill, was also removed.  Trees, bushes, a magnificent elderberry.  

We lost the birds.  The only stragglers were some crows and an occasional sparrow.  What we did get was a whole lot of sun.  So much so that I had to buy a blackout curtain for the bedroom because it was getting ridiculously hot.  The other result?  I could no longer enjoy the balcony.  Too much sun, too much heat, too many bugs.

  But then...ah, then....the back wall of the entire apartment...which included the dining room and the kitchen, where the caldaia (water heater) was mounted on the wall, where we had the refrigerator, and of course, where the balcony was located outside, began to crack.  Seriously crack, as in it looked like it was falling down or off.  If it was windy, you could feel it.  Bricks were exposed.  Not only unsightly but potentially dangerous.  We had to move.

We had to move, and saddled with a place we could not sell. (We are hoping that the Comune or Italy or something, will decide to reimburse us something.  Maybe.) 

I'll make it short.  We found an affordable place on the other side of town, up a hill.  We moved at the end of March and I haven't even attempted to walk down the hill yet.  I'm beginning to feel isolated.  Also because my husband had a fall and hurt his hip and will need surgery to scrape arthritis from said hip in the very near future.  

On the bright side, the place doesn't have outdoor space, but it is considerably larger.  We have a large storage room (which is still a wreck) and two baths, sort of....agggh.  There were surprises in store after we moved.  What looked like a regular little bathtub is some weird thing with 2 levels and the bottom is curved like a tulip, so it is impossible to stand.  We had to have a shower installed in the OTHER bathroom.  

Also, the colors are...for me, anyway, mortifying.  Only the bedroom has been painted, a creamy off white.  (It was what I lovingly referred to as "hospital blue")  The rest of the place is YELLOW.  Like a freaking egg yolk.  

The oven wasn't "new"...it was filthy and didn't work.  The stove had a gas leak.  So, I got a new stove/oven.  The window in the bedroom had to be replaced, and the double door in the shower room.  The one in the laundry/cat room will need to be replaced before winter.

But, little by little, it is...improving.  Our upstairs neighbors are wonderful.  She is a nurse in Pescara and just so helpful its embarrassing.  She gives us peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers and EGGS,  fresh from her cousin's yard.  She has taken me, or my husband, to the supermarket, to the bank...I hate to impose, but she always asks.  

And one other nice thing.  Out the back windows the mountains are visible, and a small garden that belongs to the place next door, which is vacant, so the thing is getting unruly and overgrown.  But I can see THE MOON!!!  I haven't seen the moon in 6 years!  I was so excited the first time I woke in the night and saw the light shining in.  What is that?  And this month, the moon has been nothing short of spectacular.  Yippee, something that males me happy.  

We have to visit the Questura this year to renew our permits.  Needless to say, it is rather nerve wracking, considering what is going on across the pond.  Should all go well, we can then think about getting the rest of place painted in the Spring.  And also installing another shower in the bath with the strange little tub.  

The clowns (cats) have adjusted.  Moving was hard on them, except Calzini, who, after 5 years must have finally decided that we aren't getting rid of him.  He made himself right at home.  Scruffy took awhile.  Our former neighbor is taking care of feeding the "colony" now, while we supply the food.

Lastly, I am gradually feeling better with a new rheumatologist and new medicine regimen.  I hope to be able to walk down this hill at some point and join the living once again.  Fingers crossed.

It's the Holiday Season...

 

Help me get my feet back on the ground...

 It is Thanksgiving in the US.  What used to be my very favorite holiday.  First of all, it was a four day weekend...yay!  And, there was really no reason to "dress up" although I know some people did.  Sometimes we did, but not usually.

Then there was the parade...hours and hours of TV, watching giant balloons and various performers (often struggling in the cold) and the school bands.  My task was to make the "hard sauce" that was used on pumpkin pie.  It was just creamed butter and confectioners sugar plus a little vanilla.  I hated pumpkin pie, but I would eat the sauce by the spoonful.  

No school, no tests, no errands.  Time to read for fun, or watch old movies on TV or actually go to the movies...maybe.  Most everything would be closed so there were few places to go.  I loved it. 

Thanksgiving changed for me personally because my family fell apart.  After that it was never the same and of course, as a adult, the "holiday" morphed into an awkward time where for a while people felt sorry for me and invited me to their homes.  I did it a few times but it just accentuated the awkward aspect for me.  I preferred to just stay home.

With my own small family, it became a chore and more so when I had to work on the holiday (although the double time was nice.)  I do recall a couple of really nice years when just the three of us went out to dinner.  THAT was nice, even if I had to work.

Still, I saw what was once a nice, laid back time off change over the years to all this "Black Friday" nonsense.  SALE!  LOWEST PRICES EVER!  DON'T MISS IT!  Get a "jump" on Christmas and go shopping!!  Ugh.  Nothing quite like rampant capitalism.

Now, we don't do anything.  This year, particularly, since I am surrounded by out of place furniture and packed and not yet packed boxes.  I have a nice, clean oven and its going to stay that way.  Here, in Italy, Thanksgiving is just....Thursday.  

So, I was so pleasantly surprised when our neighbor came by last night and dropped off two fresh from the oven "bagels."  Well, that's what I call them...even though I know they're not, they may as well be.  With my favorite...sesame seeds! Instead of the planned fish cakes, we will have tuna melts!  Accompanied by some macaroni (penne) and cheese (provolone.) It doesn't get more "American" than that, does it?

My deepest thanks to my dear neighbor who is talking like we will be thousands of miles away.  Its just a few blocks. And my husband will be here often in order to take care of our outside cats, our protected colony.  

I don't know how I would manage in NJ.  My shock, dismay, disappointment, anger and fear is somewhat consuming as it is.  Although I am not religious, I am going to say God HELP  America.

It's too hot....too hot, baby...

 How is everyone?  Are you able to cope with the present heat wave?  

I've said before, the first three years we were here, the weather was glorious.  Yes, it got hot in the summer, of course.  There were, perhaps, three or four days throughout the entire summer where the temperature went about 90 degrees.  And, the humidity was low.  So....it was hot, but not awful, not unbearable.

Needless to say, that has changed.  I was hoping we might be in a little pocket that got through this mess without terrible consequences, but that was just wishful thinking.  

We are now stuck in a "heat dome" and the wind is coming from Africa.  Hot wind.  And we are in a drought situation, so the water is turned off every night at 10 pm and returns at 6 am.  Before 10pm the pressure diminishes.  A reminder?  Or is that just the way it has to be?  

Since our building is very old, we cannot have an air conditioner installed.  There is nowhere to put it where it can work properly.  We have a portable air conditioner in the kitchen (again, the only place it can be) which is okay because it sends cool air down the main hallway to the bedroom and living room.  

We have fans everywhere else.  And we just put up a cabana curtain outside the kitchen, which is the double glass door to the balcony.  No view, but the sun is blocked.  The SUN!!!!  Yes, of course!  The idiots last year who tore down all the trees and greenery outside our bedroom window....the idiots who exposed the whole side of our place and the balcony to total sun!  Whoever those stupid bastards were, they made the place MUCH hotter.  They made the balcony sunnier which is actually scorching some of the plants and also makes it impossible for us to be out there at the height of the day.  And that is not to mention how we lost the birds.  We had chickadees and several varieties of finches and sparrows, and the pigeons and crows.  Now there are only pigeons and crows.  I don't care for the pigeons.  I like the crows.

Crows are smart and they take care of each other.  They have community.  On these hot mornings, fresh water is put out in the bath while they watch from a tree down on the passeggiata.  Then, one by one, they come for a drink.  Not one of them bathes or splashes around.  No water waste.  Each one drinks and leaves and another one swoops in.  They have a system.  

Funny, when I was a kid and even well into adulthood, summer was my favorite season.  Now I dread it.  It seems to be morphing into a nightmare everywhere.  

The poor cats are limp.  They just sleep after their breakfast....no playing in the tubes, no "mousey" for Scruff.  

Dinner is pasta or potato salad with something on a roll, be it tuna or turkey, cheese or maybe egg salad.....uninspired but cool and easy.  

There might be some rain heading here in a day or two.  Hopefully.  Maybe.  Meanwhile, this misery drags on.  Glad there are things to watch on the computer and books to read.  But it is difficult to pull out of the lethargy these temperatures induce.  

Back in high school we used to have "field day" every year.  A whole day outside taking part in various activities.  I fainted.  I can't remember what it was I was doing at the time, I just remember being in the nurse's office, on a cot with a cold compress on my head.  I had to wait for my mother to drive me home.  I imagine "field days" now must be downright dangerous and it's horrible to read about moronic parents leaving kids in hot cars, or football playing kids passing out during practices.  

I hope people are learning to adjust to the present situation.  I, myself, have little confidence...none, really, that anything is going to get better.  **sigh**  But we soldier on.  What choice is there?

The second time around....

When I lived in New Jersey, I eventually found "Mr. Bill's."  Not the hapless little claymation Mr. Bill from Saturday Night Live, but a real, live Mr. Bill.  He owned a gym.  Since Maywood was one of those few still walkable towns...an actual "town" although it was really only one main street, I passed Mr. Bill's often.

We had a hardware store that smelled like a hardware store, with plungers and keys, paint and toilet seats, nails, screws, the works.  At Christmas they filled their front and side windows with a spectacular display including, of course, trains, stores, homes, ice skaters, hills, trees and lots of twinkling lights.

There was a small supermarket whose deli section included lots of already cooked meals, like chicken piccata or cordon bleu, stew beef in gravy, green beans, potatoes, pasta salads...everything for the harried commuter who needed a decent dinner.

On top of that, there was a fantastic pizza place, the best Chinese food I believe I have ever had (next to one place in Manhattan that I adored) and another "fusion" storefront that sold Chinese and Mexican food.  Their quesadillas were wonderful!  But if you didn't feel like take-out, there were two (TWO!) actual restaurants that weren't blaring with multiple TVs, both of which had a quieter seating area and a less formal bar area.  Both had great food and nice people.  

It wasn't until I had to cut back my working hours because of rheumatoid arthritis that I slowed down enough to actually notice Mr. Bill's.  Eventually, I worked up the courage to go inside.  This, however, was only because I noticed quite a few "older" people inside.  You know, ones with GRAY hair, and saggy buttocks and stringy arms.  And a dog.  Mr. Bill took his dog to work.  Ok, ok, I can do this.

And I did.  I was a member for three years, following this "program," and meeting people, feeling better, "expanding my horizons."  I went on the occasional hike, which included stops along the way at member's homes for rest and refreshment.  Mr. Bill also gave an annual party at his house.  He celebrated "Cinco di Mayo" and we all chipped in bringing dishes while he provided the beer.  

However, I learned that Mr. Bill was not actually celebrating "Cinco di Mayo" because it was a great holiday or he had Latino roots (He was about as Irish as one can be) but that this was his "second birthday."  He had been out jogging one morning (happened to be the fifth of May) when he was struck by a car.  The car kept going and as he laid there on the side of the road.  

Somehow he wound up in a hospital....alive.  Ergo, his "second birthday" that he celebrated every year.

My actual birthday was just a couple of weeks ago, but today, June 30th, is my second birthday.  After having a botched surgery, followed by pneumonia, followed by lethargy, inability to eat, walk...anything....I was taken to the hospital on June 30th...a large, teaching hospital with state of the art equipment, and my life was saved with a major open surgery and repair of a bile leak and intestinal perforation.  I had lost 50 pounds in those few months. My hair was falling out.  Weak and tired hardly covers it.  But I lived.

  I won't be having a party, only home made chicken tarragon salad and pasta salad with peas and eggs. But there will be a large bottle of prosecco and gratitude to my friend and neighbor who drove me to the hospital and, of course, the doctors who saved my life.  I may never be quite the same again, but I am eating and cooking, walking, getting outside, feeding the cats, folding laundry, reading and exercising as per the instructions of the lady who treats me with shiatsu.  Yes, shiatsu.  More on that later, it's time now for prosecco!!