saved again by the wonderful Silvia

The two very nice guys who made our floor in the atrio, and who made me change my mind about italian contractors because they arrived exactly when they said they would have now made me change my mind again. After many visits and promises they would get our floors done before our departure 4 October, on Monday late evening one of them called Silvia to say they won't come after all. Won't do the job. Silvia got hold of me on Wednesday cause on Tuesday we were on our trip to Valcasotto and I had left my phone at home. I was

Luckily she knew another guy who has a construction business and he came by in the evening, gave us a fair price yesterday and is scheduled to arrive Monday morning, finishing Tuesday. Fingers crossed!!!

Meanwhile I am working on the 'save the vines' project, harvest walnuts, prune the fig tree, clean up the garden for winter but also enjoy the last days of sun before heading back to the cold swedish winter in a weeks time.. Oh and I made some killer tomato sauce from the box of tomatoes that Silvias mom gave me as a present. She was taking pity on me because my 50 tomato plants fared so badly in the rainy summer. Also tested a variation of the knead-free bread which turned out quite well if I may say so myself.

donkey milk and the most fantastic cheeses not so far away

 Boel is a returning visitor to Casario and the Tanaro Valley. She is still house hunting, but this week did a study trip to get a good feeling for the different villages and parts of cities so she can do the internet house search from Sweden. She helped me saw the planks from the old terrace, now there is a nice staple of wood for getting warm in the winter.

Today we made an excursion to celebrate her birthday. We went to the local castle, which unfortunately is closed even though it was renovated with tax money for four years. Beautiful beautiful building. The castles 'stable buildings' just below is now used as a donkey farm, so we stopped by to buy some donkey milk. First time I ever tasted it. A little sweeter than cow milk, and much less fat, without any of that 'side taste' that you get from goat milk.

We took a walk to Valcasotto, a sweet little village that has been restored by a cheese producer who now uses some of the fantastic cellars to ripen his cheeses. Had lunch in a  lovely place where I ate the best ever polenta, made from corn that was milled in the village - of course I got myself a big bag of polenta flour and also some cheese from the local store. Definitely a place to recommend and come back to.

floors

after sunshine comes rain.. I was expecting the two brothers william and davide today to start on the floors. I had a hunch on friday that they would not arrive today, cause last time we spoke on the phone they said they wanted to come by again (for what was not clear but maybe checking we had done the insulation ok) and confirm the date. So they did not confirm, they did not arrive. This is not a disaster, we are expecting them to  be done in say three days max. So they can start any day this week or even do the job next week. After that, it is crisis, cause the departure day is nearing!!!
Niklas did a great job with the electricity, together we insulated all the floors and I put up the metal net for the 'sottofondo' (underfloor) to be even more stable. All is ready for the boys. Lets hope they arrive soon.

first big summer project check!

and finally the day came, the happy day. Happy because we could say a grateful good-bye to the two brothers who have worked on the plastering for the last two weeks. Happy because we now have time even for the floors. Happy because they were such great artists. Happy that a milestone has been reached. And look at the result!