What we did today

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Pizzo weather today:
20 degrees Celsius (in the shadow), calm sea, Stromboli view

This was a beautiful moment:
Seeing our son playing with his friend from the neighbourhood - on our terrace for the first time - it felt like we finally live here ! Although it is not the case yet. So, while kids were playing, others were working...

Inside CC was grinding the beams (travi) to prepare them for the paint job

I was making sure to order the right quantity - and the right size of tiles (6,5 cm x 25 cm) by drawing the pattern with crayons on the wall (I opted against 12,5 cm x 25 cm, which looked too much like bricks).
And : I decided on the hight: 1,20 on the wall with the sink and max. 1,30 on the wall with the toilet flush push botton. (for internal use: 6,45 m2, Ricordi, bianco Capri, finitura lucida, d'Agostino)

Outside, others tried to clean the facade from some spots with a high-pressure cleaner.

Some minor kids scribbles were scratched away and Angelo wanted to repair it with colored plaster

Angelo at work.

I discovered that this time a I have a wide angle camera to shot the entire house in one picture ! And while making more pictures I scented some lovely fresh and sweet fragrance in the air....

 
... I looked up and saw this orange in neighbours garden right above me. The flower of the orange tree does not only look like Jasmine it also scented similar to Jasmine. What a lovely surprise this morning !

More oranges in neighbour's garden

See, while others were working I was taking pictures.

In the afternoon, we drove to Vibo to place the orders for the first bathroom - finally. And when arriving in the shop, CC stumbled over a Bisazza mosaic sample - that we added to our order spontanously (just to have some colour over the sink) - and CC almost ordered a tourquis colour because he liked the first picture in my flickr set (see last post) that much ! (I sent him the link last night) I am pretty lucky with CC's taste !

I do not want my bathroom tiled like a slaughterhouse

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This afternoon my son and I met some friends who live in the neighbourhood.

When we returned to the house, CC and Angelo were measuring the walls in the bathroom of the mansard to calculate the amount of tiles we need.

When I came in and saw the green crayon marks up high close to the ceiling, I said:  "NO NO NO !!!"

Because I cannot speak Italian anymore when getting too excited (or mad) and Angelo was not willing to understand why a bathroom should not have four walls tiled up til the ceiling I asked back wheather men would piss up that high or why should we have the walls tiled til the ceiling behind the toilet? Still no understanding or support from CC. My bathroom should not look like a butcher's shop!, I added. We are not going to have blood splashed all over....

Was I too harsh?

Angelo said that in Italy they do it like that. And I said in France they do half hight.

Well, I hope I made my point clear.

Anyway, no matter how many tiles we need to order, we still have not decided on the kind of tiles. I still like the white rectangular ones, that are often used in French country houses (see samples in my Flickr file). Although I like the mosaic tiles by SICIS (or Bisazza), I think they do for the shower area - and after I was told the price, I think I do not need them at all. Also CC and I still like the water resistent lacquer (smalto) that could be used for all the rest of walls that do not get tiled.

I will keep you posted.

Pictures from Pizzo

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Pizzo at the marina on Sunday

stromy weather in Pizzo

another building site, below the house

the building site from high above
(our architect is also responsibl for the new port contruction)

the dark 'whole' below in the rock will be the 'blue grotto'
What an amazing view from our balcony we will have !

While the adults are checking and discussing over and over the things to do inside, our boy plays football outside - so far the best of his holiday that he considers boring (it is too cold for for the beach!).

Popular in Italy: the pellet heater - it keeps the soggiorno warm during the day and is cheaper than gas.


It's orange season - 1 kilo = 1 Euro

It's evening in Pizzo with Stromboli in the distance

I am glad to have managed to download, compress and upload pictures with Angelo's laptop. And I hope you enjoy this potpurri of impressions from Pizzo.

weather: sunny and cloudy, chilly whistling wind, temperature felt app. 10 degrees Celsius

update from Pizzo

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Buongiorno,

today I woke up and the sky was grey. Very windy and chilly outside - and it is not much warmer inside.

Sleeping with hot-water bottles makes the nights cosier. During the days I am wearing wool sweaters - sometimes two layers.

However, the good news is, that the wind here at the seaside blows away always the clowds quiet quickly and we have sunshine everyday. The weather forecast (the link is on my blogroll) is surprisingly reliable.

We have been to the house daily since our arrival on Sunday. Yesterday we ordered the following material to continue and finish the attic (mansard) :
  • material to insolate the roof (it also absorbs noise, smell and humidity)
  • white paint for the beams under the roof
  • and the parquet flooring (white painted oak panels)
And we have been looking into tiles (again) for the bathroom. We are very close to make a decision ;-)
We also bought some spare paint for the main facade to paint over some spots and kids scrawl.

I have made lots of picures yet - not many from the house as there is nothing new - except some more mould in the basement (well, we need to speed up to finish) - but pictures from the area. The other night we saw Stromboli at sunset. But so far I have not figured out why I am not able to upload picures to my blog (and even to my emails). I am here at Angelo's laptop, all different and in Ialian.

I will be back soon with pics. Also from the inside of the house as CC and Angelo are right now there to prepare the wooden beams for the paint job.

Saluti della Calabria
S.