Villa San Rocco

Dog Days Soon Over

November 2009 — Updates

“Thick wooden lattices over the windows and a massive wall around the garden made our seclusion more impenetrable and secure. But the gate was always open, so that those who needed comfort or purification from sin could enter.”
Death And The Dervish Mesa Selimovic

The winter - like oxen - can be slow, yet the house is patient...

After the party, the team drew breath and, with fond arriverderci's, went their separate ways. Commissions needed chasing to keep a bare minimum of lining in private coffers, while back in ol' Blighty a new publishing company needed some attention. (This is a shameless plug: www.guerillabooks.com - thank you for reading) As the autumnal rain pelted the mountainside, San Rocco therefore closed her eyes and took a break for a few weeks to let the dust settle.

She did not have to wait long. In early-mid November, the worker ants returned. Sloughing of the usual seasonal chills and flus with the rest of the northern hemisphere, it's now down to us almost in entirety. The main work is done - the plumbing looks like something from the engine room of a 19th Century steamer (may it be more efficient). The kitchen, on the other hand, is currently struggling with the issue of not existing. Likewise the dining room and adjacent salotto. It is time, therefore, to once again get "i mani in la pasta", as is said or, in approximate English: "Get on." The stove is lit and the pitchers are brimming: all ye who would valiant workers be - else in need of purification - come hither...