Good news and sad news

We arrived at our house around 6 last night and despite calling her and checking the garden until we went to bed there was no sign of our cat Grigio.  It was such a beautiful sunny morning that both of us were out tidying the garden after breakfast, ignoring the dust and unpacking in the house.  Around 11 Grigio arrived, a little thin but healthy and delighted to see is,  she hasn’t stopped chattering all day, except when she’s been eating.
Just before lunch Mario arrived and we thanked him lots for caring for Grigio but he had to tell us that her sister Crema had been killed on the road outside his house.  We’d worried for months about Grigio and whether we’d see her again, we never imagined Crema was at risk.  Mario told us he’d brought her back to our house where she was born and buried her in our orchard among the olive trees.
So while we are overjoyed to have Grigio here we are so sad for Crema and also as Mario told us his elderly ginger cat, who sometimes used to walk up to us and stay a day or so, had also died.
It was last year while we were in the UK that Crema decided to move down to Marios and she was well cared for there,  We used to see her quite often last summer, stopping for a cuddle if we were out walking past the house,  we will miss her as will Mario and his family.  She was a beautiful cat.
Grigio is beside me now on the sofa, it’s like we’ve never been apart though she hardly let’s me out of her sight,  don’t worry we are here for at least three months Brexit or not, and hopefully until the end of the year.

Good morning from switzerland

This is the view from our room, or should I say suite.  We got upgraded at our hotel from the economy room we booked to a suite with two balconies and a beautiful lounge.  I stayed up late last night it was so beautiful watching the lights in the town and on the mountains.  Mr FF had to go and lie down as our two course dinner, with one beer and one glass of wine, cost twice as much as we paid for the room.  He’s tried to recoup some of the expense by swimming a lot in the indoor pool.

Today it’s a long drive to our house but we are within spitting distance of Italy if not Lazio.

Why did we imagine it would be simple

A while back we made the application to our comune in Lazio to be allowed to stay long term in Italy and advised them when we intended to be in our house for the police to visit and check us out, part of the process.  We then delayed our departure by a few days and advised them of the new eta.  OK, good, everything in order ready to be finalised when we arrive.
This morning we got an email to say the police had been to visit us at the house there was no one there so they have scraped out application.
Give me strength.  Life is hard enough when we are preparing to change residences, all that packing and preparation, hotels to find, without this extra and totally unnecessary hassle.  Don't they read emails, do they enjoy the extra admin, they obviously relish winding us up.
Its dire outside today, after torrential rain we have major flooding in the town, the water was over the top of my boots when I crossed the main street and the ceiling in the chemist was about to fall in from roof leaks.  Now the road out of town is closed, the river has burst its banks.
Life just gets better and better and of course we are all much clearer now on what is happening with Brexit, not. At least we may still have time to reapply to stay before we leave the EU but Italy you are on a warning, sometimes you push me too far.

Who knows

Like many hundreds of people with property on the continent, Mr FF and I would like to be at our house in Italy before Brexit.  Not that we are deserting Yorkshire of course but if we are to leave the EU on 29 March it would make things easier for us to organise permission for long stays if were were still citizens of the EU when we did this.  We won't be any wiser about our situation than we are now until the parliamentary votes that are due to take place next week but we have tentative plans to leave for Italy next weekend.  Mr FF has organised the possibly necessary green card and international driving licence.  It could all be a waste of time but like others we are making provision.  Goodness knows what businesses are doing, the ports and customs, exporters, importers, we are all in the dark all hedging our bets and playing a waiting game.  
We hope to stay in Italy for about 3 months and then come back to Yorkshire for a few weeks depending on the political situation.  2.5 years since we voted to leave the EU and its down to the wire.  No doubt the country will make its feelings clear about this madness when we have our next general election.
Nothing is booked but boxes of essentials are packed and clogging up the spare bedroom. I don't feel we have been back in Yorkshire very long but I know a little grey cat who might think otherwise.  We haven't had any news of Grigio for a while and the weather in Lazio has been awful, lets just hope she is still around and her sister Crema is still living with Mario.  Here they are as little kitties, bless their hearts.

My Funny Valentine

This is how Valentine's day works in Gods own country.
I buy myself a pretty bouquet of flowers on 15 February, they are reduced by 75%, whats a day late with that great saving.
I am happy that they brighten up the penthouse, Mr FF is happy that he didn't have to do anything, I have spent very little and we have marked the day appropriately.
Romance Yorkshire style, you have to be born here.

More reductions

This week we have mainly been downsizing.  Yes it continues, whilst I think we are living a reasonably pared down life in the penthouse there is always room for improvement.

So Mr FF with my permission, I haven't used them for years, put my cross country skis, complete with sticks and boots on eBay and sold them to a nice lady in Cumbria.  He advertised them as collection only but the lady wanted them couriered which turned out to be expensive but acceptable to the buyer.  I don't know if you've ever tried to wrap skis etc, its not easy but the engineer was not defeated (although he did moan a lot during the process).  They are now in our hall awaiting courier collection.

Selling Mr FF's skis will be a different matter a they are definitely too long to be couriered.  

I've been doing my bit knitting up leftovers from the stash.  I made fingerless gloves, cowls, scarves and a couple of pairs of baby socks.  All labelled up I delivered them to a local charity shop and since I'm registered there I should receive notification of how much they raise.  I shall be interested to see how they sell and probably call by next week to check if they are out on display, so not completely letting go yet. 

This pair of gloves however had to stay home, taupe goes with everything.

When we lived in Scotland I had three stash locations, two chests and the bottom of the airing cupboard, now I can see that by the end of the year I could be down to just one, unless you count the stash in Italy but why would you.

Fired up for February

As every I am delighted that January is over, I’m calling last month dry cough January because of the awful virus that laid me low for 3 weeks and the fact that as a result I stopped drinking alcohol on 02 January. So far so dry, it’s not a life changing decision, I shall in moderation be knocking back the local vino in Italy but for now I’m not missing the hard stuff at all.
Much as I wanted January to be over I was rather apprehensive as on 01 February I had an appointment at the dentist for 3 new crowns,  I had agreed to get these all done at once, two at the back on the right one up one down and one at the back on the lower left.
It was an uncomfortable and lengthy experience but my dentist and his nurse were so kind and thoughtful, the worst is over.  I go back in 2 weeks to have my permanent crowns fitted and will be almost £2,000 lighter.  I may also be lighter myself as I am more or less on a soft food diet and its taking me so long to carefully chew anything I am eating less.    
This morning Mr FF and I went to the Industrial Museum in Bradford which apart from being very interesting in itself was having a wool event with stalls, demonstrations, even some alpacas. 

Delightful as the yarns were I resisted bringing any home but I was totally inspired by the beautiful knits on display and enthused to knit with British yarn.  Fortunately the wonderful West Yorkshire Spinners are not so far away and produce yarns reared sheared and spun within spitting distance of the penthouse.

On one stall I found myself standing beside a lady admiring some colourful and lacy fingerless gloves.  'I'd love to be able to make these' she said, I replied that I was sure she would be able to do so, they didn't look that difficult.  'But I can't knit' she replied, 'I'm cack handed'.  Such a wonderful and bluntly northern expression that means clumsy. 
The museum has a vast collection of old machinery from the days when West Yorkshire was the centre of the wool industry, some of it still operational through not productive.

You really got an impression of what it must have been like to be employed in the mills, children started around the age of 12, in dusty, noisy and dangerous conditions working long hours to hand over most of their wages at the end of the week to support the family.

Much of the equipment was manufactured at local foundries, so much industry and employment now all gone.  Note the yarn bombing, it was everywhere.

And it wouldn't have been a Yorkshire event without a brass band.  All this for free though we were more than happy to make a donation to this brilliant museum.