Is it or is it not--finished, that is?

May 23, 2008--It has taken me awhile to get this blog out--sorry. It's not because of all the work that has been done, or that I've been too busy, or even that I couldn't be bothered--it is because Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day, and Easter have come and gone and our house is still not finished! Let me show you what has been done!


Our gas tank for heating the house and the water was delivered, buried, and a trench dug for the pipes.










We spent a few weeks painting. We only painted the rooms that had a wall where a radiator would go--which still leaves 2 bathrooms, the garage, and the closets.



















































Hopefully, the installation of the garage door will keep out the birds we keep finding!










We have trenches all over the yard for the septic and drainage systems.






















Months ago the plumber had suggested we would need a water tank with a pump and autoclaver during the summer months when water was hard to come by. We found out during our painting days the water barely ran now, so we are even more grateful for this!














Toilets, bidets, and sinks all delivered and installed!





























Just one of many travi (beams) that need to be cleaned.











Our friend, Primo, came up and installed our sink, scolapiatti (cupboard above the sink that you can put wet dishes in so that they drain into the sink), and several lights.
























































Scorpion picture alert!!



Here are two of the scorpions I found while cleaning up after painting the bathroom. Over the course of a few days, I found 3 in this bathroom alone!






























Larry decided the shutters needed to be cleaned as they have been open since they were installed. His idea of safety and mine are obviously different!












































After thinking we would need to sleep on just a mattress and a frame our friends offered to sell us their bedroom set--a little fancier than I would have picked, but it grows on you!




























Miss Kitty enjoys a few minutes outside everyday--thanks to Larry. I would prefer she stay a totally indoor cat. Isn't she cute?














Larry caught this rainbow early in the morning.















So, the answer to the question is--più o meno! Probably it will never be finished, but piano piano. We had our priest bless the house on Tuesday afternoon (May 13th--with 13 being a lucky number to boot!) and we started sleeping here that night. We have moved almost everything up here except for the pellet stove and the wash machine. We are still using the phone and internet at the apartment and will do so until they rent the apartment to someone else!

As to why we need to use the phone at the apartment............We had asked our geometra to arrange for Telecom to come see what it would cost to have phone lines installed back in November as we knew it would take a long time. He never called them. We called about 2 weeks ago so who knows when they will come. Oh, this is too funny--while I am writing this Telecom just called! He said he will be coming out to survey for the lines. Of course, he didn't say when so again--chi sa?

Ciao!

Work, Work, Work!

February 15, 2008 I have been meaning to get this blog out for a couple of weeks, but just can't seem to get around to it! There are a few important changes in the house that I know you are just dying to see!

We finally have steps going into the house--yea! It is so much easier to get in the front door when you don't have to walk the plank or be pulled up by someone! I was a little worried when they were working on them because it seemed that the top two steps were further apart than the next two. In the end, they are perfectly matched!































At the same time that the steps were being made Claver and Dominico were building our fireplace. It is the most awesome fireplace ever! It looks like it could be in a ski resort somewhere, but it is in our living room. The inside is a monoblock (prefab) and it has a fan that forces out the hot air. We have had a few fires, but can't use the fan because we still don't have electricity!






























I almost forgot to tell you that we now have doors. There is even a door to the "control room" where all of the electrical stuff is--and we have keys! Our house is almost secure except there is no garage door yet.
















One day when the electrician was there we asked how much he would charge to hang the chandeliers. We had 3 chandeliers and 2 wall lamps. He hung them all for 50 euro. He had to drill a hole through the beams for the wires so we thought that was a good deal.

















We have been painting, scraping, and sanding for a week or so now. We can't have the radiators put in until we get the walls painted, but it is a lot of work! We have finished the main kitchen and hallway. We still need to paint 3 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 livingrooms, another kitchen, and the garage!!!!

An interesting and scarey thing about the paint is that it washes off your clothes and the floor even hours after you have finished! I'm not sure what that says for its durability, but apparently that is what they use here.

The fuel tank has been delivered and buried and the trenches dug for the gas lines. Hopefully, they will start the septic system soon.

Our move in date has been moved from Christmas, to New Year's, to Valentine's, and now maybe to Easter! Hopefully it won't be moved again. Ciao!

PS--I'm sure you think I put a LOT of pictures in our blog, but really this is nothing! We are now at over 3,100 pictures of just the restoration work!

Quasi finito!

January 19, 2008–We are down to the final weeks on the house–or maybe the final months! Chi sa? Work stopped on the house for the Christmas break and resumed on January 7th. Since then there has been rain almost daily which has presented a muddy situation! The workers don’t seem to be concerned and just lay down another stretch of cardboard or plastic to walk on!

On the wall going down the stairs to the piano terra there were three holes that we asked to be left. Dominico suggested we enlarge them a little so they could be used to put something on. This is what he ended up doing with the center hole. It is now a real “buca particulare” (distinctive hole).














Most of the windows and now the window sills have been installed. Most of the window sills are made of wood.















But in some of the windows downstairs they used old bricks to make the sills. Very rustic looking.















The bathroom downstairs has a wide window sill that is tiled and quite a distance from the actual window. We wondered what they would do about that and this is the finished look!
















Here is another window sill–this one is in our bathroom upstairs. Notice the authentic Italian marble imported all the way from Italy–oh wait, we are in Italy!!!!















Today when we arrived we were excited to see they were installing the shutters! We could see them working from the other side of the cemetery as we walked up the road. Larry had the biggest grin on his face and had the camera out as we rounded the corner! They are beautiful and make all the difference in the world in the appearance of the house! We had asked for shutters of aluminum because they are cheaper and easier to maintain. When they were delivered they were made of wood and so beautiful we wanted to keep them. When we mentioned that they were wood instead of aluminum, Claver told us they would look better on our house! We said, true, but they cost more and he said it didn’t matter we only had to pay what the preventivo said!


Installing the shutters.















The finished look!
















As a comparison, this is what the house looked like before the previous owners started restoring the outside walls and roof!














And what it looked like when they were finished!
















We also found the workers finishing up the inside stairs. Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to walk up them! Next week, if the weather stays dry long enough, they will put in the outside stairs–which will hopefully mean, no more falls for me!

















We were also please to see that they had started the final chimney on the roof! This will be for the pellet stove that we are using now and will move into our bedroom at our new old house. As far as Larry is concerned you can’t have too many pictures of the castle and you can’t have too many chimneys!
















They also delivered the monobloc fireplace! Claver has been stressing about how to make this work as they were unable to put the chimney exactly in the middle of the wall where we had hoped to put the fireplace. But, I didn’t want the fireplace off to one side. Between Claver and Larry they have figured out how to make it work. Today Claver told us he had been thinking of how to finish it (which was not part of the preventivo because they had forgotten to put it in so told us they would install it, but not finish it for free!) and showed us his idea–it was great! They will start working on that next week!
















Dominico also decided to add rocks above the archway on the kitchen side. I hate to brag–but, it looks beautiful!
















We have also arranged for the gas tank to be installed–well, we think so anyway! The construction company called to tell us some one would be coming to their office about the gas tank. When we went over there it was an actual company and he showed us which one would work and had us sign a contract! It was kind of funny and we probably should have looked around, but we are just happy to be done with one more obstacle to our moving in that we don’t care!

I also called the electric company and struggled through explaining that we needed service and that there was not a meter box there and that I wanted 4.5 watts (or something, don’t really know what it is for, but I know I want that number so we don’t blow a fuse all the time). She said something about 10 days and we hung up. The next day I thought maybe I should have someone call for me to see if I actually ordered service and not an air conditioner or something when the service man showed up at our house! That was so cool–and I did order 4.5 whatevers! (I just found out that it is KW that I ordered!)

We should be receiving a preventivo for the septic system soon. The construction company will be doing that so hopefully they will do it soon as that is the last obstacle to moving in!