At last some seasonal snow, albeit a fleeting glance, as the forecast promises arctic temperatures minus - 5° centigrade, but precious little snow. We awoke to the noise of the snow ploughs crunching growl as it steadily parted the drifted deposits of last nights blizzard. The snow fall deemed "moderato" is by previous years experience, a mere cosmetic veneer, nut non the less very pretty, and against the back drop of parting clouds there shone the sun against a backdrop of blue...bellissimo! Today is market day in Stresa, so it was a bit of a scramble to clear the driveway,and also Penny's car which was entombed in thick ice. It's typical my car is in the garage snug dry but it's not 4 wheel drive, Penny's petrified Suzuki is like a mountain goat with sure footed traction.Below are a few scenes to savour before the melt! Finalmenteun po 'di nevedi stagione,anche seuno sguardofugace,comelaprevisionepromettetemperature artichemeno-5°centigradi,maben pocodi neve.
Ci siamo svegliatial rumoredeglispazzanevescricchiolareringhioquantocostantementeseparòi depositiallontanatidello scorsonottiblizzard.Laneve cadutaconsiderato"moderato"èdaprecedentianni di esperienza,un semplicerivestimentoestetico,il dadononilmenomolto carina,econtrola caduta di schienadiseparazionenuvolelìsplendevail solesu uno sfondo diblu...bellissimo!
Oggiè giorno di mercatoa Stresa,quindi è stato unpo 'diuna corsaper cancellare ilvialetto,eanchel'auto diPennyche è statosepoltonelghiaccio.E 'tipicomia autoèin garageaderenteasciutto, ma non èa 4ruote motrici,pietrificataSuzukidiPennyè come unacapra di montagnaconsicurotraction.Belowfootedsonoalcune sceneper assaporareprima dellafusione!
How many men and hours does it take to change a light bulb ? This used to be a popular feminist jibe at man's bungling and inadequacies, and is certainly appropriate to my electrical fiasco when I attempted the simple task of replacing a light bulb in the oven. To cut a very long story short 6 hours me and a thousand curses, followed by a more competent electrician. I blame it on the ovens bad design, requiring one to bend double to remove the glass light cover. The light cover hasn't been touched in maybe 8 years so there was a certain reluctance to twist off. Man hours taken a generous 1hour. Replacing the bulb and embarrassing 5 hours, over a two day duration. Stuck rigid, so much so I put holes in my marigold rubber gloves with all the twisting and tweaking. On day one I accomplished the removal of the light bulb, minus it's collar, or neck which remained firmly embedded. Now like all males at this stage I phoned a friend or in this case Mr Google !!!! help..It's amazing how many pages where devoted to idiots like myself offering some incredible and ingenious solutions. One very popular technique involved pushing a potato into the bulbs orifice, or a bar of soap, another worthy suggestion required an empty plastic water bottle, having stuffed it's neck hard onto the broken fitting you then struck a match and applied heat to the area to make a snug fit, you wait to cool then twist. Or you do like I did, or should have done initially, and phoned a man that can, an electrician. You are probably wondering what is the significance of Massino Viconti is and all of the photo's. Well electricians need paying and our nearest cash machine is in the said village, I intended a brief stroll to relieve my utter frustration and got rather carried away in the process. Anyway..alora! The oven is brightly lit up this evening, but even the electrician did have to remove the whole cooker from it's housing, and unscrew the top panels to attack the offending light fitting from the rear. a clever tactic but rather time consuming.
Quanti uominie oreci vogliono percambiare una lampadina?
Questousato per essereun popolarestrambatafemministaapasticcieinadeguatezzedell'uomo,ed è certamenteopportunomiofiascoelettricaquando ho tentatoil semplicecompito di sostituireuna lampadinain forno.Per tagliareuna lungastoria breve6 oremee millemaledizioni,seguiti daun elettricistapiù competente.
Do la colpasulfornicattiva progettazione,che richiedeunopiegaredoppioper rimuovere il coperchiodi lucein vetro.Il coperchiodella lucenon è stato toccatoinforse 8anni, quindic'erauna certariluttanza atwist off.Oreuomo presoungeneroso1 ora.Sostituzione dellalampadina eimbarazzantecinque ore,per una duratadi due giorni.Bloccatorigida,tanto che homessobuchinei mieiguanti di gommacalendulacon tuttala torsioneetweaking.Ungiorno hocompiutola rimozione dellalampadina,menoessoècollare,o al colloche è rimastosaldamenteradicata.Oracometutti i maschiin questa fase,ho telefonatoa un amicoo in questo casoil signorGoogle!!!!sorprendenteil numero di paginedelhelp..Itdovededicati aidioti comemeche offronoalcune soluzioniincredibilieingegnose.Una tecnicamolto popolarecoinvoltospingendouna patatanel forolampadine,oun pezzo di sapone,un altro suggerimentodegnorichiestouna bottiglia vuotadi acqua di plastica,dopo averfarcitosuo collodurosulraccordopoiaccese un fiammiferoeapplicatocalore allazonadirottafareuna perfetta aderenza,attendereraffreddarepoitorsione.Oppurefatecome ho fatto io,odovuto fareinizialmente,etelefonatoun uomochepuò,un ellettricista.
Probabilmente ti starai chiedendoqual è il significatodiMassinoVicontièe tutte lefotodi.Behelettricistidevonopagaree il nostrobancomatpiù vicinoèin dettopaese,volevouna brevepasseggiataper alleviarela mia frustrazioneassoluta, ma houn po 'portato vianel processo.Anyway..alora!Il fornoèilluminatoquestasera,maanchel'elettricistaha dovutorimuovere l'interacucinadal suoalloggiamento,e svitarei pannellisuperioriad attaccare ilraccordodal retroluceincriminato.una tattica intelligente, mapiuttostoin termini di tempo.
The silence was deafening as Pepper and I made our way homewards through the forest trails above Stropino. Normality has returned, a respite, albeit temporary from the "army of chain saws" cutting swathes of forest that verged on or approaching the highways. This is long overdue maintenance, but it's severity appears brutal.Apart from the stark vista whose ugliness is exaggerated by January's gloom, my main concern is for the stability of the retaining soil without roots to bind I fear further erosion is unavoidable until new growth takes hold. Il silenzioera assordante, comePepee ho fattoil nostro modoverso casaattraversoi sentieri della forestasopraStropino.La normalitàè tornata,una tregua,seppurtemporaneadal"esercito dimotoseghe"tagliodistese diforesta cheinclinavano versoo di avvicinarsi alleautostrade.Questaèla manutenzioneattesa da tempo,madigravitàsembrabrutal.Apartdallavistanettola cuibruttezzaèesageratodalbuiodelmese di gennaio,la mia preoccupazioneprincipale è perla stabilità delterrenotratteneresenza radicidi legaretemoulteriore erosioneèinevitabilefino a quandouna nuova crescitaprendetenere.
A winters scene observing the antics of geese by the barn Una scenainverniosservandole buffonatedi ochedallagranaio. Painting by David Whitwam 2015 collection.
There is an English expression that says that "the early bird catches the worm " Using this same analogy I think I have been rewarded by these early morning photo's that capture a heavenly blue sky above the mysty clouds.
C'èun'espressioneingleseche diceche "l'uccello prestol'oro in bocca" Usando questastessa analogiapenso chesono statoricompensatoda queste primefotomattinache catturanoun cieloblu come il cielosopra lenuvole di nebbia.Avereuna bellaDomenica!
An uplifting Monday morning!..once again a day with bright sunshine and no snow! either side of the Alps there are metres of snow and even in the south of Italy but nothing around the lake..how strange. The festivities are all but over so my shop was for household basics, plus a visit to the chemist for aspirin for a the winter sniffles, and the garage for a replacement headlight, they always seem to go in January, it must be the cold and the damp.Also a fill of diesel at very cheap prices, let's hope this trend continues. On my way up the mountain I stopped to take a few photo's peering over the terracotta roofs of Brisino, en route to Magognino..I never cease to be amazed not just at the view, but at all the little and large properties "begging for a make over " a little bit of sympathetic restoration. Anywhere else in the world they would be bought by some property developer revamped and sold for vast profits as holiday homes,but so far this state of events seems only to appeal to foreigners. It does seem odd though with a strong underlying demand for new property that building continues at a pace, leaving so many older neglected houses in disarray. I can only assume that complicated legal matters, such as inheritance tax, or sharing the assets in a large family make progress so cumbersome, just another quirky trait of life in Italy. Un incoraggianteLunedi mattina! ..Ancora una voltaal giorno, con sole splendenteesenza neve! entrambi i latidelle Alpicisonometri di nevee anchenel sudItalia, maniente ditutto illake..howstrano. I festeggiamentisonotutti, mapiù dicosì il mionegozio eraper le cose essenzialiper la casa, oltre a una visita allafarmaciaperl'aspirinaperil raffreddored'inverno, eilgarage perun farosostituzione, sembrasempredi andarea gennaio, deve esserefreddo eildamp.Alsoun riempimentodi gasolioa prezzi molto economici, speriamoquesta tendenza continua. Sulla mia stradasu per la montagnami sono fermato aprendereun paio dipeeringdifotosui tettidi terracotta diBrisino, in rotta versoMagognino..Imai cessare diessere stupitononsolola vista,ma atutte le proprietàpiccolie grandi"implorando un makeover "un po 'direstaurosimpatico. In qualsiasi altra partedelmondosarebberoacquistati daqualchepromotorerinnovatoe vendutoperenormi profitti, come case vacanza, ma finoraquesto stato dieventisembrasolofare appelloagli stranieri. Sembrastrano peròcon unaforte domandadi fondo pernuova proprietàcheedificiocontinuaad un ritmo, lasciandotantianzianicasetrascuratiin disordine. Posso solo supporrequestioni legalichecomplicate, come l'impostadi successione, o la condivisionedeibeniinuna famiglia numerosafare progressicosì ingombrante, solo un altrotrattoeccentricodellavita in Italia.