Francesco
is back from Italy and has put new steam into our daily effort to renovate the
property. One of ‘Mr. Wizard’s’ talents is doing minor electrical stuff like
rewiring lamps and installing antique lighting fixtures we’ve found and bought
at flea markets. In a kind of parody of Raise
the Red Lantern – the interesting 1990s Chinese film – we’ve repainted and
hung three old metal lanterns and one modern one, painted grey like the rest to
mask its newness. We’ve also cleaned and installed three antique carriage lamps
on the back porch that now add a romantic gleam over the al fresco dinner
table.
We
are now ensconced in the new house, which I moved into while he was away. The
biggest treat has been finally to be able to house our books properly, rescuing
them from long exile in the barn and shelving them on new bookcases we’ve
placed in the little studio on the rear of the house, and in another old unit
that belonged to Francesco’s grandmother that we yanked from probable ruin in a
shed at Francesco’s dad’s castle in Umbria. It now graces one wall of the long
corridor on the ground floor. The studio room, a former unfinished storage
space, is turning into a cozy retreat, replete with TV and DVD player, stereo,
computer, and comfortable seating.
Since
Francesco is an indefatigable neatnik, a man who hates disorder and has a keen
eye for spotting the slightest hint of it, he launches daily attacks to tidy up
and refine every unkempt detail of the place. Floors are waxed, tiles polished,
windows cleaned, dust vacuumed, wooden surfaces buffed, everything relentlessly
shined. If I didn’t finally stamp my feet and order him in to dinner, he’d work
well into the night.
The
garden is also a target. He has weed-whipped and mown, pulled and sown, so that
the very weeds tremble at his approach. In every direction the yard looks tidy
and kempt – not that I didn’t do my best with it during the long weeks when he
was away. But four hands are better than two, two heads better than one, and it
is good to have my ally and workmate back.
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