Chores this Fall 2020...
It’s Fall now…
days are getting noticeably shorter. Sunrise & sunset are now more like it ought to be. I am not a fan of Springing forward and Falling back. Let’s just stay put with Time as Time wants to be. Before those time-change gymnastics… near to Halloween… mornings were dull & dark and evenings were brighter later. I want to eat, but cannot do supper when the sun is shinning with full force. Imagine what hour we eat in June. You loves the late hour. Italians. No breakfast and dinner at bed-time. I HATE it. Hungry at 6PM, on the dot and in the dark. Now, at 7AM it’s light and at 5PM it’s dark. Good. The Cocktail Hour. Supper’s on the table at 6pm.
A bad patch of days and days and days of heavy do-nothing clouds… the time spent with this grim scenario was equal to that spent with anxiety-attacks anticipating an acceptable outcome with the American Election on the 3rd of November… the nights are now cold and the days are sunny & warm.
Trees’ leaves have turned about as much as they ever will, and though not rivalling the Fall Colour in the US & Canada, there is still great beauty to Italy’s show. Softer, subtler, a more intriguing beauty. And so it goes.
But, let’s go back to that bad patch…
nothing could be done with the garden at il Poggiolo. The grey, misty weather brought a sodden, muggy mess. And occurred when the days’ length warranted warm & sunny afternoons to work in the garden. Now, the terraces hardly see the sun but for a couple of hours, from 2PM until the sun slips gently behind the chestnut grove covered hills to the West of Codiponte at 4:30PM. Grass is too wet to cut, leaves are too wet to rake AND/OR blow and, transplanting roses and other flora may have to be put off until Spring. About all I can do is amble around il Poggiolo’s mushy garden delicately watching out wherefore I tread, so as not to disturb The Croesus-person’s well-laid and abundant bio-donations, coupled with the risk of bringing along some unwanted trace thereof.
In the interim, I had to retreat to the cover of the Loggia to scrape, sand, treat for rust… and paint, for cryin’ out loud, various ornaments of our aia…. or, courtyard… and garden. Chairs, tables, benches. An exception was the 19th Century pergola in dire need of first-aid. We have been lax with up-keep, a noted Italian Tradition. I administered a stop-rust, an anti-rust, and then, painted it in our delightful Signature Outdoor Pale Green, on the few days the misty rain withheld its visit. And, I now know why re-painted outdoor furniture, railings, pergolas and stuff always look so lumpy. Tons of anti-rust cures underneath the last layers of paint. Much like You looks with his multi-layers of clothing against any suspected cold of Fall. A sever chill is due in at the end of the week. I feel a Plant Moving Day coming upon me in the next 48 hours. All which remains are to treat & paint four garden chairs… one of the photos below… and two benches off a ferry boat, both bought at a mega-antiques fair in Parma. Then, I am going to have to deal with the garden. So, mush I will!
Right before the Italian Government put Italy into a colour-coded Lockdown, You and a niece’s boy-friend… sporting Little Lord Fauntleroy long hair… erected a balustrade with pieces from the villa in Genova which used to belong to You’s family before WWII. Pretty, no? Heavy, for sure. Unfortunately not permanently fixed. I sent an iPhone picture to Our Builder to entice him into giving us a date to come and put secure the marble villa compilation and other chores needing his attention. No such luck. He did reply admiring You’s hutzpah of impatience. He can skip a meal, if he must but when it comes to stuff, he’s right on it.
