Some alarming discoveries... and a train journey.

When one starts poking around in a building that may be about 800 years old, there are inevitably surprises. It is like being on an archaeological dig. One finds the remnants of centuries of changes to the building, in layers upon layers, in changes upon changes. That is what makes walking around Siena so fascinating: seeing the mysterious archways  that succeed each other as one has supplanted the other, making way for new doorways and entrances during the centuries. I didn't realize that my flat too would have these mysteries to reveal... 

However, the other day Piero told me that all the plaster needed to come off the walls, because it would be falling off of its own accord otherwise... It has something to do with the fact that we have lightened the floor of all its centuries of paving tiles, which has made the whole structure move and change slightly, thus making everything unstable. Nevertheless we thought that we would be able to keep at least some of the ceilings, and Paolo was certain that we would find some lovely affrescati- those painted ceilings so often found in Siena's great buildings. 

That may well have been so. In the  picture above we see part of a ceiling which may have been hiding who knows what marvellous masterpieces. Alas, a third of the plaster on the ceiling above fell down during the night after this picture was taken, so the rest obviously had to come down too. We are now left with absolutely the bare bones of this flat, and those bones are extremely fragile: so much so that our engineer may tell us tomorrow that we need to reinforce all the walls with metal structures like the one below, between my bedroom and the bathroom, on top of which will be applied concrete. I dare not even think of the cost this might add to what has already become significantly more expensive than we planned for. 

It hardly bears thinking about... so let's not.  Let's move on instead to the pleasant journey last Sunday with the Treno Natura, an old steam train that took me, Bonnie and Antonella through the sunny Tuscan countryside to the little village of San Giovanni  d'Asso where the White Truffle (and other goodies) Christmas Market was in full swing. 

I had wanted to treat Antonella to something nice- she is my first and most faithful friend of all those I have met in Siena, and she has introduced me to many of my new activities- my trekking group, my Gospel choir, the Lions Club and I can't remember it all...She was due a treat. We had 4 course lunch and there was even some jolly entertainment on the train!

Bonnie was, as usual, being her lovely but demanding self ( impegnativa) jumping around in excitement at everything and wanting to lick everyone. Nevertheless, Italians really like dogs, at least as much as the English do, so no real problem there.

 A lovely day!

Autumnal pursuits

In the two weeks since I last wrote, autumn has finally settled in here, and today, rather than sitting at my favourite place under the tree with the lovely view, (occupied below by Hettie and her Labrador Bonnie)

                                                   

I have moved inside, the heating is finally switched on, and cold winds sweep around the narrow streets of Siena, while  rain is drumming on the window panes. Hettie has gone to the States for Thanks giving, so I am 'dog and cat sitting' , a task that is proving quite demanding- Bonnie is a young dog, very strong, and, like all labradors, (I am led to believe) very emotional, and in possession of an almost excessively loving heart. 

This predicament has caused her great distress in the last couple of days, when she has mourned Hettie  with the most heart breaking howls and sobs in the evening when I have gone to bed... she is also very intelligent, it seems, and last night, before I retired, I sat down with her and had a good chat, stroking her and reassuring her that she was not left alone; that Hettie would be back and also that I would take her for walkis in the morning. And this actually calmed her down, and she trusted me...!

So, apart from becoming, rather late in life, for the first time, a dog whisperer and dog walker , I have continued some traditional autumnal pursuits, like my oil painting course, where we are taught by a lady who is giving us a very classical introduction to oil painting according to the methods of the renaissance masters- i.e. underpainting with earth colours etc. Here below I am depicted, to the right in the painting by a fellow pupil,  carrying out my task, and in the next picture my 'work-in-progress' effort at trying to make some painterly sense of a rather uninteresting still life:

                            

Have also continued my  fraternization with the ONDA Contrada since I hope to become one of their number. When pondering how I could be of some use, it became clear that the best place for me at this point would be the Bandieraie, or the embroiderers. So I have been taken on by the sewing ladies, and here I am, mending ONDA flags, a Wednesday afternoon pursuit.

And yes, there is some progress at the flat too! This afternoon a geometra (surveyor) from IKEA is coming to measure up for my new kitchen!