To help you imagine the scene further, our "bedroom" is simply a large room coming off the kitchen, which was chosen to benefit from the warmth of the kitchen fire. Lying in bed with an iced up runny nose and watching my breath coming and going in steaming clouds I'm not sure if this theory is working. In the middle of this room is our bed. Nothing else. Apart, that is, from an old relic of the 70's table, round, veneered and as ugly as sin, a couple of salvaged dining chairs and a lot of space. And achingly cold marble floors, no rugs.
And so there we started our day, chuckling at the comedy opening up in front of us. Both of us sitting up in our sparse bedroom wrapped against the cold in old fleeces and wooly socks.
The day, with the sun streaming in, was far too good to waste, so as soon as the assembling was done KP went outside to try out his new toy. I too made use of the sunshine by keeping up with the washing over my big stone sink and hanging it out to dry in the cold, damp fog. Fog? Where did that come from? What's happened to the sun?
It didn't lift all day.
But, hey, we had fun. Of a sorts. KP strimmed, I raked. All day long. We built a compost area for the mounds of cuttings, decided on locations for vegetable patches, herb gardens and children's wilderness play area. We pictured the tents amongst the olives and we picked the most idyllic spot for Rosemary to spend her semi-retirement earning her keep giving bundles of fun and pleasure. She'll be at the highest point of the land on a southerly spacious spot with a view to die for. She'll have the morning sun as it comes up over the mountains and enjoy it's dappled shady effects as it moves over the fig trees tempering the effects of the stifling afternoon heat.
And then the strimmer started to wind down. No longer did it have it's powerful heavy engine "I'm going to slice through everything" noise. A slow whine was all it could manage. So KP cussed and cursed and tinkered. It came back with a brief return to all it's macho glory, before slowing down to a girlie phut phut once more. Not a happy KP. A very sad and miserable KP. I just wanted to help and make it better. Other than encouraging him with a cup of tea, there was little I could do. So I continued to rake and KP continued to tinker.
Eventually, raking done, tinkering exhausted and the sun getting low we decided to call it a day and go in search of the agricultural store in nearby Scafa. A faulty spark plug being blamed for the source of KP's woes, so a new spark plug we shall find.
We found the agricultural store and what a find! Small, maybe, but it sold everything! I was in heaven wandering amongst the salad plants and seeds, chicken feeders and rabbit cages, rat traps, spades, forks, brooms and fertilisers. I was in my element. KP found his spark plug so home we went, stopping off on the way back to restock on supper supplies.
It was dark, damp and getting very cold by the time we got back so warmth and nourishment were our first priorities. KP got the fire going and I put on a big pot of a hearty lamb and vegetable stew. As the stew was bubbling on the hob and the fire crackling and roaring in the hearth we presented a picture of rural simplicity. An idyllic scene, apart from the strimmer still not working...
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