A new facade

The big summer job that was postponed. Now it is done. We had the plastering expert give us an estimate while we were still in Italy and then one of the wonderful Bianco brothers had an eye on the works development and sent us updates via pictures and whatsapp. Modern communication has reached the remote italian village after all, at least the pioneers. It will be interesting to see for ourselves what it looks like up close. Another milestone reached.

the ugly facade

job starting

window detail

door frame

window frames

colour added

final result

still showing the old stones where possible

we got an entrance

The door was already put in last year, but it was not so very very convenient to get in  because the stairs were lacking. This year we got a bit of work done to hopefully keep a bit of humidity from the outside wall on the north side and as a bonus we got entrance stairs. We re-used the old stones that were there before, a bit rough at the edges and one is broken, but we decided it will be better looking than new stuff. It is very comfortable now to enter in the 'guest' section!

Our neighbour construction workers got so appaled by the behaviour of the guy who let us down with the facade, that one of them took action and got in touch with another contractor who is apparently very good and has time to do our facade in September. We will oversee the job via whatsapp and mail. Lets see how that chapter evolves!!

still wet cement, the end result will be light

Room with a (new) view

about three years into the project we noticed that we wanted a window in the kitchen, additional to the existing big door that we were converting into a glass door. We asked our project director to help us with the construction permit, but according to him the commune said no. Two years later we tried again, now with the help of a little networking (friends of friends of friends) and voila! the permit was not a problem. We don't know how hard the director tried of course..

So this was the summer of demolition man going at it again. With a big borrowed machine Niklas made the hole in one day, the remains filled the back of a little tractor, and we got all sentimental over the times when we filled all those containers with construction trash to be driven away and make room for new sand and cement to fill the void.

With a little help from our neighbour construction workers both door and window was put into place, and then Niklas spent a few days on a wingly scaffolding and now we have the result: a view but most importantly a lot more light in the kitchen. It will be so great when it is all done.. :-)

new glass door, the old metal door on the outside is kept

demolition starts

before the project

the full disaster

a full truckload of debris

hard working in the heat

working area outside

 

finished result!

Pergola saved

Yes the Pergola. We had a few attempts to save it, over the summer with Uta and Stefan and my Mom we made a start, we looked at it over the new year but left it as it was.


But this summer was the summer of the rescue of the Pergola, at least for now.. It is standing there in its glory and as I type, the grapes are getting some colour..

hopefully standing a while

looking good

new glory

the winter situation .. still collapsed

summer excitement

Ok, I will start with the complaining and then it is out of the system and I can report about all the good stuff that happened this summer.

One of our big projects for this summer was the north facade that we wanted to have fixed. We made an agreement with the two muratores last year, they had estimated it will take about two weeks and we agreed the job would be started when we come to Italy about mid July in 2015. 4 weeks before we left Sweden, we confirmed that we indeed will be arriving in mid July. So far so good.

When we called the muratore upon our arrival, he unfortunately had booked himself so much that he could not do the job!! What is wrong with this country...

so now I have complained.. next post is going to be positive again.

light therapy over xmas holidays

Since we had left Italy beginning of October, it felt as if the sun was making only very short appearances in Stockholm, and in November we got the statistical evidence: 5 hours of sunshine for the whole of the month of November. So we got super lucky when we arrived for the xmas and new years holidays and the sun was shining for the whole time except for one day! We spent the days making wood, pruning in the garden, cleaning a bit more of the vines in what is supposed to become the vineyard, harvesting the last vegetables for the year, cooking good food, buying and drinking good wine, visiting some new restaurants and revisiting some that we have been to before. We have also been painting in the bathroom and our future bedroom and been making plans for next summer renovation projects. The cats have been making a few expeditions outside, but were mostly content to lie in front of the fireplace. Travelling with them was easier than ever.

Niklas pruning the fig tree

hot air balloon festival in Mondovi

assessing the pruning needs

watching Niklas work

enjoying the sun

blue skies

lazy

sun therapy

paint job in the bedroom

fresh tomatoes from our own garden in January!