Wednesday 21 August 2013

It's all so déjà vu

Not only did we have the repeat problem with horrible guests this visit but once again I've broken a tooth here in Italy with no plans to return to Scotland.  After the last episode when I had terrible tooth ache, I've been persuaded by a friend in Rome, where we came for lunch, to visit his dentist, he has promised to come with me to help communicate.  The dental studio is closed for holidays but an emergency dentist will see me at 8.45 this evening, it's like waiting to be hung.  I am worried I might make matters worse, I'm not in pain at the moment but that could change, Mr FF is worried about how much it will cost and what time we will get home as we are leaving early in the morning for an overnight trip to the Adriatic coast and its a couple of hours drive back to our house after I've had any treatment.      I must stop cooking the pasta so al dente, my teeth are fine back in the UK.

Tuesday 13 August 2013

Dear House Guests

What a pleasure it was to rise at 3.30 am for our early flight back to Rome and arrive to find our house just as you had left it that morning - disgusting.  Some holiday renters amaze me, I wonder if your total lack of respect applies only to other people's property or equally to your own, I have no idea how your minds work.  Lets go over a few points.
I have never seen such a filthy bathroom as the en suite.  Even when Mr FF has been working outside all day amongst dust and dirt, the bath has never been that colour.  When I lifted out the non slip mat there was a perfect negative image of it in grease and dirt on the bottom of the bath.  The toilets are beyond discussion.
It was interesting how you had re-arranged all the crockery, stupid of me to keep the same items in the same place, much easier for you to stick things anywhere and who needs say 12 white plates together and next to 12 white bowls etc.  Always a good idea too to put some things away dirty, ensures that everything had to be checked and keeps us on out toes.
We do ask for the tv to be unplugged and soft furnishings from the terrace moved under cover in stormy weather, obviously we don't mean this.  It was pouring down and thundering when we arrived and the terrace looked like a badly arranged furniture showroom.
I did mention it would be helpful if you could keep an eye on my pots of plants which you said would be no problem.  Obviously walking past them every day as they turned brown and died wasn't a problem for you, its heart breaking for me to grown flowers from seed and try to make the the house look better, a large display of brown stalks is equally welcoming and so much easier.
i know the village refuse and recycling system is a pain, you need 5 different bags which you put out on 6 days for door to door collection.  I have made a chart of what goes when and there are containers in the garage to keep your sorted stuff in.    I can understand you didn't want to enter into this so leaving a weeks rubbish in the kitchen, including a large oozing bag of rotting food was the best option.  It will be a week before some of your rubbish is removed but you are miles away now what do you care.
You certainly didn't get the hang of the shutter catches did you.  You open the shutters push them back and the catch springs up to hold them in place, you got that far.  To release them you simply press the little knob at the bottom of the catch, you don't actually need to unscrew the catches from the wall though its an interesting idea if a little labour intensive.
I've also considered your idea of splattering flies on the wall and leaving them there, particularly effective in the bedroom above the bed.  I've never been a fan of rag rolling or distressing so I probably won't take this forward.
So I am getting through the cleaning and still laundering.  I do feel 12 bath towels for 5 people in a week is excessive but it looks like you used some of the white ones for sunbathing, they have already been washed twice, so perhaps you did need them all.  I know you discovered the washing machine but you must have thought this was for your ouse only.  I worked out from the detergent level that in the past 28 letting days there have been 40 washes, presumably no one does laundry when they arrive or the day they leave, so this works out at almost 2 washes per day, couldn't you fit it a towel or two., they do dry really quickly.  Mr FF blames Ryanair for not allowing us to bring much luggage.
The website where we advertise our property has come up with the idea of including guest reviews.  I am not at all interested but thinking of starting my own site similar to trip advisor where holiday home owners can black list the renting slobs, Dirt Alert I might call it or Guests who are Pests.  We have had horrible people here in the past but recent renters you are now no 1 in the charts and the jury is out about continuing to let.  A pity as most people are careful and appreciative and we prefer the village to have an occupied house and some tourist income.  You awful people spoil things for everyone else and you don't give a toss.

Tuesday 6 August 2013

Samples of colour

While the painter was here, he left a quotation and a colour chart for me to pass to my friend Pam who is going to have her kitchen redecorated. The colour chart is truly inspired, named Liquid Imagination by Vallti (whose paint of a different range we used on the outside of our house).   This is a selection of real samples, hand painted (I know this because our decorator had been involved in the production) onto card and mounted in the fold out brochure.


Sorry you can't read the names here, iPad let down
Lovely in itself but the names of the shades are inspirational, who wouldn't want a room coloured 
Pale Marmoset
Empty Wine Glass 
Pompeiin Bather
1950s Mist 
Blind Girl's Shawl
Edinburgh Shadows
The Screaming Sky


I am so envious of Pam having this heart lifting concertina of colour to browse through, I'd likely make my decision based 50:50 on name and shade.   I'll never pick up a printed shade card again.
Years ago before we bought our yarn online, I used to get mail order supplies from Texere in Bradford and one of the first things I did was buy their sample catalogue, which is still available for a small charge.  All those little fringes of thread, it was delightful to thumb through the samples and I still have my folder now.  It's always difficult selecting yarn on line which I do because its easier than driving 40+ miles to my nearest yarn shop.   I usually do a Ravelry search for finished items before I decide and often the colour when it arrives it a surprise.  
There's nothing like seeing and handling the real thing.   Sadly I don't think we will ever have a sock yarn chart made up of tiny knitted squares with glorious names but I hope some of you hand spinners will in future get creative naming your yarns, may I suggest
Mountain Top Restaurant
Rustic Gate
Bright Mementos
Dusty Library