March 2009 Work Done!

Between 3 and 12 March we returned to settle accounts with the workers and check out the work done.

We especially want to thank Giussy and Phillip Carleton for all their help: Giussy for helping us find the property and set up all the details for the signing & sealing. And Phillip for all his help in translating, organising the work and letting the workers in, go-between, moral support, getting telephone numbers for restaurants, and even weather reports. Phillip and Giussy, you are worth your weight in gold!

Our beautiful view, where you can just see the snow-capped mountains!

The kitchen:

The new lamps and ceiling...

The new cupboard:

We even used the fireplace! It was nice and cozy.

The faucet that allows you to open the window: see how it bends?

The living room all painted and ready to relax!

We found this old cabinet in the shed. It only needed some TLC -cleaned and painted - it was just like new.

This is the lamp we bought in Guardiaregele - the town famous for their wrought-iron craftsmanship:

The Cantina: you can see now that it totally opens up the space here. Someday it will be our summer-time living room, where it will be nice to have a glass of wine during the hot summer days.

We have a washing machine now (we have the technology). We ordered new couches and they should arrive at the end of March - again, Thanx to Phillip for opening up!

All in all, we accomplished our mission! Now we can relax this summer!

Work in progress!

Finally we have pictures of the work in progress!

Now we can have the kitchen installed; the walls are finished (except for painting-which we will do in March).


They opened up the wall between the two rooms in the Cantina with an archway...

We have a toilet and washing machine connection!

And a new window!


Here is the new water heater for the toilet in the Cantina and for the kitchen.

This is the cave where we will have our wine cellar! The electricity has been updated and light switches installed throughout the entire house.

Hopefully the kitchen will be installed before we fly to Fara San Martino on 3 March. Then we can start painting and decorating. Can't wait!

Nashoba

1 September 1995
to
19 December 2008

I Remember

Little fluffball with tattoo green ears
We laughed so hard it brought us to tears.
You played and you ran
As fast as you can!

On the carpet you peed
Not such a bad deed.
So excited you were
You could not deter.

I Remember

Your fur changed one part at a time
First your back then the rest, what a crime!
You looked like a raggedy-man
But we were still your biggest fan.

For teething you used our remote.
You ate some gloves and other things of note.
We had muddy floors and muddy doors.
We had a muddy house – you used all fours!

I Remember

Teaching you to sit and to stay
To heel and to come – you would always obey.
For our daily walks you were always close-by.
Never far away – such a good guy!

Everyday to work - I gave you a treat
So you wouldn’t notice me leaving – that was the feat.
I’d say “Bye Nashoba – be a good boy”
And when I’d come home you were jumping with joy.

I Remember

For 13 years you were our PuppyBoy
But at the end you couldn’t play with a toy.
We loved you so much that we took such good care
But of course you had pain and it just wasn’t fair.

We saw you one last time on the table.
You were stiff and cold but we were still able
To give you one last hug and kiss for so long.
One last “Bye Nashoba – be a good boy” – then you were gone.

So now you are gone and we miss you so
But of course we had to let you go.
So watch over us from the Rainbow Bridge up there
And someday we’ll meet you again at the end of Heaven’s stair

I Remember

16 September-3 October 2008

Welcome to Via San Pietro 3 in Fara San Martino: from Nashoba - Lupo

View of Fara San Martino from the Majella National Park

We started our project during the rainstorms in the first two weeks. It made the work easier looking out the window at the rain!

Kitchen ceiling before and after.

Peeling the years from the walls was much more difficult than we had anticipated and in the end we could not get all the paint from the walls. In some places there was concrete underneath which was impossible to scrape off. So now the builders will equalise the walls and as it turns out, they will also tile the kitchen (it was included in the quotes). So Rudi concentrated on the ceiling and we like the end result: colour-washed.

This is the plan for the kitchen. It should be in place before our next trip!

We did take time to stop and enjoy the view....

Some of us had time for a coffee break!

Rudi's mother Sien

We took some time off and hiked into the National Park to see the gorge. What a beautiful walk!

Back on Via San Pietro.

We didn't spend all our time working. We did some sightseeing (Sulmona, Chieti and a drive along the coast) and went to the markets for our groceries and even did some retail therapy in Chieti (there is a shopping mall)! Not to mention going out for dinner and cafe (capuccinos & espressos only 1 euro!)... and of course aperitivo! It was harvest time for the grapes in Abruzzo and our neighbours started making their wine in their cantina.

Well we managed to finish the tasks we set for ourselves. The kitchen is ready for the builders to start. They can begin digging the garden to place the sewage pipes next month. We spoke to the geometra and agreed on what we can afford to do this year; the rest can be done later. He will apply to the Commune for the building permits (we can take up to 5 years to complete the project before having to apply again). We spoke to the electrician about rewiring the kitchen and the cantina, plus possibly the spare bedroom. We picked out the tiles for the kitchen and toilet and bought the suspended toilet and sink for the cantina.

But now we have to say goodbye to Villa van de Putte. Nashoba had a wonderful time in his new garden.

Until next year in April!

August 6-15

The goal was to fix-up the 2 bedrooms so we could use them in our September holdiday.

First stop after my arival in Rome was Ikea with a shopping list for household utilities. Knifes and forks, pans, bowls etc so i would be able to fix dinner. Ikea wasn't that difficult to find (my TomTom did ) and also in the direction i had to go anyway. With a carload of stuff i arived at Fara San Martino just before midnight.

Next day up early to buy a small refrigiator in Chieti about 45 minutes from the house. It was pretty hot 30-35 degrees (95 F ) so I realy needed one to keep food and drinks cold. The plan is to put it later in the cantina when the kitchen in installed. After carrying the refrigiator into the house I found out that we have about 3 kind of electric outlets in the house I couldnt find one in the kitchen to fit the plug so ended up putting it into the livingroom next to the bed. The perfect setup ofcourse cold beer and wine next to the bed!

We picked out a coulor for the bedrooms in Holland already so that afternoon i drove to Pescara to pick up the deed for the house at the airport office of the realestate company and to buy paint for the bedroom walls and ceiling. Both bedrooms will have a real light yellow sandy coulor.

The masterbedroom wasn't in a too bad condition the plaster was cracked in some places on the ceiling and the walls needed some reparing. Luckily the former owner of the house came by with a friend who turned out to be living in Pensylvania but was over in Fara San Martino for the holidays. His house, the one he was born in, was just about 4 houses down the road. Later that week he introduced me to some more relatives who were are all living in the same street. My italian is still limited to some words so it was handy to have him around. He told the former owner, Vincenzo, what I needed who took me to the local hardware store to buy the wallfiller and also to the ciyt hall to fill in some papers. Vincenzo has been a great help everytime we have seen him.

Because we dont have a kitchen yet I made the dinners on the campinggas they left and did the dishes in the barn in the garden in which we have a sink and water.

In september when we will be there for 3 weeks we will move the campinggas into the barn next to the sink and will do our cooking in there.

Table for one with a view !

After the masterbedroom was all fixed painted and cleaned up I drove by the furniture store to have them deliver the beds and wardrobe.

The second bedroom took some work. The paint was peeling of in a lot of places and it had some big holes in the plaster. Sanding down the whole room would have taken me a couple of days so I decided, since the floor was already what they call rustic, to show some of the plaster and the former layers of paint they had put on the walls over the years. Under the white I found blue and green and the plaster underneath was a real light sandy coulor.

After about 2 days this bedroom was also finished. For the time being I put in the 2 glass cupboards ,left in the house , in the room so we have at least a place to put in clothes when we are there in september.

The woodwork of the shutters and doors still need to be repainted but we will do that next month. The curtains they left turned out to be real nice, all washed and ironed they were ready to put up.

As planned the bedrooms are both ready.

A couple of evenings I started taking of some of the layers of paint in the kitchen, Thick layers of paint, probably from the last 50 years, are hanging loose and come of pretty easy. Underneath I found a real nice stucco, the colour will go real nice with vanilla kitchen we picked out.

This will be our september job. Taking off the layers of paint from the walls and ceiling and putting up tiles where the sink and the cooker will go.

So far all goes as planned, spending time out there and living in the village you realize how stressed our lives are. Its a different world, just going to the hardware store or the bank takes time! Everyone is very helpfull and if that means that the one behind you have to wait 10 minutes thats ok with them nobody gets iritated! Just sit down and enjoy the sun.

Just 3 weeks to go and our italian adventure will continue.