Let’s see…where did I leave off? Yes, we have the kitchen coming soon. The furniture from IKEA comes tomorrow and if all goes as planned, it will be assembled Thursday. All good. Yesterday we went back to our antique / junk store, Luigi Filippo di Bastiagnelli. They are scheduled to deliver next week so I wanted to get a couple more pieces from them so I can have everything sent at once. I got two armadio, or wardrobes. These will be all shelves and I will be able to use them for storage. Looking forward to getting my things organized!

Sweet friends brought us the gift of soup and flowers today. How nice is that? They have a beautiful garden. And they had a big crop of parsnips which they just harvested! They are almost non-existent here. All the UK people around here are always looking for them. Anyway, they made parsnip soup, which I have never had. I will be enjoying it tonight for dinner. They also brought me some tulips. They happen to be my favorite flower so I am so very pleased.

I took my friend through our house. She loved the terrace. She said she had everything I need in her own garden to plant and that she would help me with the planting and design. I may also invite my friend in Assisi who is also a plant expert to come and they can work together. I’ve been wanting to get them together for a while anyway.

It has been very cold here. Going down to minus 4 Centigrade this week. That’s about as cold as it gets here. Good for killing the pests of summer so I will deal with it. Speaking of cold, we visited our local stufe dealer. These are stoves that burn either wood or pellets. We are going with another pellet stove. They are scheduled to come check our space and make sure all is well for installation and use.

I also have a house painter recommendation. He came and looked at the space. Said he’d come back and measure and then give me a preventivo, or estimate. If it’s ok, he will paint in March. I hate the thought of painting while we are living here. I guess I’ll have him start upstairs. Perhaps we will do a short trip somewhere while he does the downstairs. We will have to take our cat hair factories along. It will be nice to have walls repaired and freshly painted.

Today we visited a vendor who had replaced screens for us to pay him. He had never billed us. Stupid maybe but we want to be on good terms since they do custom woodworking and all sorts of things. We paid them and asked them to come to see if they could do some custom built in shelving for us. And a cabinet in the kitchen.

We went to Centro after that and had a caffè at bar Mary and visited with our good friend Irene, then emptied our freezer in our apartment and got our ladder. It was our last task there. We also visited our friend Angelo in the alimentari downstairs. I miss having him so nearby. So convenient. He said we are now happy to have the elevator, but we will miss what he says is the best view in Umbertide. He is probably right and I do miss it. The views here in the new place will never be what we had in Centro. But we’ve had some pretty sunsets. Maybe in summer, where the upstairs terrace has good views we might enjoy the view of Monte Acuto, our big mountain.

Our cats have amazingly settled in nicely. Here is Simba a-snooze on the sofa.

I think that is about it for our progress and news. We will get there. It does take time to change house. In fact it takes time no matter where you are so patience is key. And I have that. I am thinking that maybe this weekend we can go somewhere for a wine tasting. Maybe we can even go with some friends. It would be lovely to remember I live in this beautiful country and have beautiful things to do close by. I sometimes lose track of that. Andrà tutto bene!🌈

Well folks, as always in Italy, progress is sketchy. We visited LUBE and he “said” he would come up with a plan. That was Tuesday, and today is Friday. We tried calling and have not gotten through. I am inclined to go elsewhere because I don’t feel he is being responsive. We had an appointment with our Geometra yesterday. But he never showed up. Sigh. So I emailed another Geometra who was recommended to us and am waiting for a reply.

We have managed to get most of the boxes unpacked. That’s not to say the stuff that was IN the boxes has anywhere to go other than the floor. But in another week we should have some places to put stuff if the IKEA delivery is good. I worry about that because they usually dump it at the bottom of the steps. That stuff is HEAVY. And I don’t want to have to get it up here. I’m going to ask them to bring it up with a €20 note in my hand.

Today, we went to a different kitchen store. Called Ronti. They got good reviews on Amazon. I was very impressed. We arrived without an appointment. They were very accommodating and we picked out everything, counters, cabinets, sink and appliances. I think it will be a nice kitchen. And the good news is, we can get it in 20 days! He has already paid a visit to our apartment and checked the space and done measurements. Whew. A load off of my mind. Although, it was an unnecessary expense which we had not counted on.

For the interim, I bought an instant pot. I thought I could make one-pot meals in it. It seems pretty complicated. I am going to try it out this weekend.

For next week, the big IKEA delivery and the next day Task Rabbit to assemble it. We want to buy a pellet stove. We need to pay a bill. It is ridiculous that here, you need to chase people down to pay them. If we ever get a Geometra then maybe we can see about painting the house and then talk about the upstairs kitchen. And I still need to order a table for outside and a sofa for inside the upstairs. It will all happen in time. As they say here, piano, piano. Sorry, no pictures today!

I took pictures a couple days ago of the place. We didn’t yet go to the kitchen place, but we made an appointment. Our firewood came and we are using the stove. Nice and toasty inside, and that’s good since it was -2C last night.

Our eating experiences have been interesting. After eating two nights from the rosticceria we decided to try the Indian take-out place. It is relatively new and we had waited to try it until we moved. I got the rice with chicken and Luther got a kebab. I opted for the picante (hot) sauce they had. It was a creamy sauce, light green. He said it was spicy and boy! Was he right! I think it was the hottest thing I’ve had since vindaloo. But good! We will be regulars. The kebab was huge and cost only €3. 😳 We also bought prepared food from our local supermarket. Luther had baccalla – salt cod. He liked it. I went veggie and had spinach and a fresh salad from the local “Egyptian” veggie market. Tonight we will try the sushi place in town. They deliver and have all sorts of options. Looks very good. We shall see!

Here are some pictures. Miraculously when Luther hooked up the TV, we had Sky TV again. I was happy

Above, is the view. This picture doesn’t really look like it looks! If you get what I mean. Monte Acuto, our biggest mountain is in our view and it is very pretty. I will try to do better in the future.

Tomorrow is our appointment with the kitchen people – LUBE. And, while in Castello, I want to visit SIDEFORM to get the lighting started. Later I want to visit our shop with all the jumble of furniture for a couple more pieces. I keep telling myself I am not in a hurry, but somehow, that never sinks into my head! Andrà tutto bene 🌈.

Where to start! It has been a casino. One of my favorite Italian words. Means a mess. They say ‘che casino!” What a mess. And so it has been. And will be for a while. I am trying to be upbeat. It’s a bit hard though.

We spent our last night at the rental apartment. It was ok, not terribly comfortable. It is an odd property with lots of interesting organic gardening. Since it’s winter you can’t really appreciate the grounds. Alesandressa, the owner met us when we were leaving and she was very nice. It was a bit hectic because a number of items had not been moved by our movers and I had asked if they could move them. The said 8:30am the day we were leaving. I had also organized that Valeria, my cleaning person to come clean the apartment. So Luther and I split the duties, I met the movers, he met Valeria. But we also had a 10 am appointment with the caldaia people to fix the heat at the new house at 10am. It is really cold here. And the first thing we had encountered yesterday was no heat or hot water.

We managed to get the movers moving and Valeria cleaning and lickety split we grabbed all our suitcases and the cats, and the giant litter box and went to the new apartment. In time for the appointment. It was super cold. We were all bundled up. The guy came and much explaining of the Caldaia ensued. We also got the upstairs Caldaia reconnected to the thermostat so it began to work. When they pulled out the old kitchen they disconnected it. Well, all things don’t alway work so easily. The caldaia continued to quit and there was no hot water. Luther downloaded the manual and read some stuff. Changed a couple things and bingo, hot water. But no one knows why the hot water upstairs suddenly started working because the two systems are independent. It is still a mystery. If it keeps working it will be a miracle.

We went to Formica, our family owned appliance store. Super nice folks in there. We ordered a refrigerator and a washer and dryer. They were pretty quick and they were delivered today. I find it is hard to keep in my mind what has happened in any chronological order. Just too many moving parts. It is one reason why I am writing this now. It will help me remember.

The last three days we have both been unpacking. There are so many boxes everywhere. And no place to put the stuff. I decided I needed to start ordering stuff for delivery to get organized! The sellers took all the ceiling light fixtures and sconces. They even took the light bulbs from the light in the hall and in the master bath. I ordered more bulbs. Then I ordered lamps. A bunch of floor lights to scatter about and some table lamps. Next I ordered a bunch of furniture from IKEA. Places to store stuff mostly. A dresser for our room. Night stands for both ours and the guest room, an armadio (armoire) for the guest room. A hall cabinet and a big storage unit for the third bedroom. They will come February 8. I also ordered assembly. So that’s another step.

Today, I completed unpacking the office. I also organized all medicines. One thing that’s nice here are cabinets in the bath that will hold all our vitamins, meds, and supplies. So I got that organized. The kitchen is still a work in progress. Too much stuff. No place to stow it.

Tomorrow we will drive to Citta di castello to a kitchen design store. We need to get that started ASAP. And next week we will probably go to SIDEFORM which is a lighting store there. We got all our nice track lighting done by them at our old house. I counted seven overhead lights that were missing just upstairs! And in the living room we need a chandelier. There are also some built in fluorescent lights in the living room which I hate. They are those tubes you used to see in offices, ugh. I need to replace them with nice track lights. One bath also has no lights. Big job. I hope they will handle installation.

We are super lucky to have a rosticceria literally next to the main entrance to our apartment. The last two nights we have bought our dinners there. The food is pretty good. Now we have a frig we will do a shopping trip for some groceries. We do have a microwave.

Oh, and I ordered a load of firewood from my friend Quinto. He is bringing it tomorrow. We can use the ginormous wood stove in the living room. The thought of the utility bills here is scary. So maybe it will help if we use the stove. It belongs to the sellers but I figure, if they left it here we can use it.

Sorry I have no pictures for this post. I also have found out there is a glitch with my website host that has impacted my email notifications. I will look into that soon. It seems to be pretty random. Some folks are getting the posts, some are not. Ciao a tutti!

Today is the coldest day of our winter so far. -1C. Damn cold. But it will be sunny at least, no snow. Still, it is not a great time to be moving. 🥶

We walked to the apartment. The guys were already there. They had moved the elevator platform trailer into Via Grilli. Stomping their feet with cold they began to work. They filled the platform and lowered it un-filled it and sent it back. I think it will be a long process. The moving truck is in the middle of the Piazza. We decided to camp out in Bar Mary. Irene is sad we are leaving but she knows we will be back. I had a cappuccino and a cornetto, then later a macchiato. Jim showed up with additional papers and the keys and picked up our garage keys. He is taking over our garage.

Here are pictures of the truck and the “elevator” platform.

It was a super hectic and chaotic day. We had to go to the bank and cancel a check and then cut a new one because the selling agent gave us the wrong info for the check, and this is supposed to be a professional real estate agent! Then we returned the corrected check to the agency. We got a call and returned to our house on via Grilli for questions by the movers. Now that we had keys to the new place we decided to go there.

Even though we have been living here for almost 9 years we are still surprised by things. First thing we need to mention is that Italians take – EVERYTHING. We did stipulate they leave the downstairs kitchen and the ceiling fans and lights. Welll….turns out you have to be even more specific in the wording. We were surprised that they left part of the kitchen. The top cabinets, the built in hood, and the lights. But the bottom cabinets, sink, stove, and dishwasher were gone. Sigh. At first it was a shock. But now I realize we can get those cabinets replaced cheaply and (hopefully) easily and new appliances. We need to buy these and soon. Also a refrigerator from our local shop and a washer and dryer.

Even more of a surprise is that they dug up every single plant and bush from the terrazzo. Even a mature olive tree! I had like that tree. Who would have thought! But now I think of it, it is the Italian way. You need to spell out each and every thing you want left. Very specifically. To look on the bright side, I didn’t want all the plants that were there and now I don’t need to dig them out! It is a blank slate for me!

Surprisingly, the movers finished before Pranzo on Via Grilli and arrived at Via Fratta. Moving in was a chore. Our sellers were not completely out. They had a s*&$load of stuff in the cantina still to go and they wanted to keep one garage for 2 months. We want to stay on good terms with them since there is much to know about the house so we are trying to be agreeable. Oh well. It will all work out in the end. Piano, piano as they say.

Pictures. The elevator from above.

The next ones I’ll caption under the pictures.

We have a little more to deal with than we thought because of the mistakes/misunderstandings…but it is not insurmountable at all. We have nice house and over the next year or so we will make it ours. Piano, piano…

Today was a vile day. Snow and rain and cold. But I do admit it was kinda pretty. Not the best day for moving out though!

We got up early to go meet up with the movers. I had a few things to do that I thought of while I was supposed to be sleeping last night — I always do that 😑 They arrived on the dot and began packing. We made ourselves available for any questions they might have and hung around until they were nearly done. Walking back to our rental was disgusting.

Our agent, Jim, will do the closing for us. That is at 3:30 and it usually lasts an hour or two. Then we get the keys. That should be significant! We meet up tomorrow at eight for the removal of the household goods from the apartment which will be Step 3.

Today was very busy. We had to wash linens and try to organize all our electronics and cords. And clean things, throw away trash, etc. We did all that as best we could. Then we packed for ourselves for four nights away from home. All our computers, plugs, wires, clothing, etc. Then we turned to the cats. We packed up all their stuff. Bowls, food, litter, litter box, scratch post, heated pillow… They had more than we did!

We walked over to the apartment/BnB we rented and checked in. Then grabbed the car and went to get all the sundry stuff down our beloved 53 steps. Mission accomplished. Whew. The BnB is cute. Only thing is I think there is only one outlet in the whole place. That’s a complete exaggeration 😁. But there is only one in the downstairs area for sure. These old places are often wiring challenged. Here is a picture of the living room.

The cats have very different personalities. Simba, the smaller, is the alpha and not at all laid back. Rocky, the gentle giant, settles in quickly. They are going through all their rituals. Exploring, eating, Simba is jumping his brother. Much caterwauling. It will take time for them to settle…only to have to do it again on Thursday. Poor boyz.

I am not one to ever let a fireplace go to waste. So I got afire going and it’s quite cozy.

Tonight we are going to order takeout from Osteria del Boccojolo. It is just steps from here and I’m getting a pasta dish.

Tomorrow, at 8am we meet up with our trasloco company who are moving us. They will do the packing. Stay tuned…

Cold and blustery today. Snow predicted for the next few days. We won’t get much here in the valley. All is on track for the move. We move out tomorrow to the agriturismo. Our friend and agent Jim, is going to do our closing. He has been amazing! He seems to be able to get anything done. He probably doesn’t read this but thank you Jim, for everything!

I will post for the next few days little, short posts about how things progress. Wish us luck!