This is my eighth trip today down to the boiler. It's been raining almost constantly for four days now and trudging down the stairs in a borrowed pair of wellingtons (boots) has become a routine for me. Even despite the rain, I don't mind tending to the fire that heats the house. I've been a pyro ever since I was a little kid, always sitting in front of my parents wood stove, poking at the fledging flame for hours until it matured to a full fire. On the way down to the small stone room, I grab a few large logs from the "wood room" that Peter works very hard to keep stocked. You can barely walk into this room, about 20' x 10', filled to about the shins with all sorts of sizes of wood, kindling, small sticks and large trunks. Despite being overflowing with fallen trees, this room will be empty in two weeks - that is how quickly the fuel is burned through, literally, out here. On the way, I see the normal suspects and greet each of them by name. Morris and Stanley are twins, but you can tell them apart my the coloring on the end of their tail. Chinqi and Charlie are also twins, black as night, but Charlie is, shall we say, a bit plumper. I know them all now, all 17: Harry, Boris, Bertie, Lily, Monkey, Fred, Ginger, Molly, Tilly, Barney, Sam, George, Pip, Chingi, Charlie, Morris and Stanley. They are all going through quite a change, actually. Lucie has read about how cats aren't meant to be eating dry food all the time and is slowly working through getting them on a raw food diet closer to what they would be eating if they were out in the wild. It makes for some very interesting conversations at the grocery store when she's asking me to find the chicken livers or chicken hearts. "Yum" is all this ex-vegetarian can say. But on this rainy day, all 17 are just happy to have a warm place to call home.
Because of the constant rain and wet conditions, my work has been limited to the house. Lots of dusting, cleaning, dishes and cooking. Lucie took a look at the results of my cleaning and said something very similar to what Keith said the first time he saw me complete a job for them. In an even tone, she advised me, "You know, you really are wasted on this whole management thing. You would be a great housewife." To say I couldn't contain my laughter would be an understatement. Ah, Lucie, if only you knew how bad of an idea that would be.
But none the less, I have produced some fairly decent food: a spinach/kale and cheese quiche, a mish-mash tomato sauce and pasta, three tasty loaves of bread, lentil soup, salad dressing to add to the freshly picked lettuce from the garden and one horribly-gone-wrong funny cake. Tonight though, Lucie is making mushroom risotto in anticipation of the culmination of our week long cinema viewing. Harry Potter has captured her quite intently and she has been downloading and watching each movie in order every night this week. I've been joining in here and there but tonight is the latest one, and we are both eager to see what happens to the wizard next. It may seem trivial, but in this rural town, this is as exciting as it gets - and it suits me just fine. As well as a well cooked meal, other preparations have been made. The living room, which has never been used until recently, has a small TV and two sofas to watch the movie on, but neither sofa has been vacuumed or dusted since, from what I can tell, the dust bowl (or whatever the Italian equivalent is) and the 15" TV has a nice layer of film all over it. This simply will not do. So I attacked the whole room earlier today, washing everything and wiping every surface. Even the wood furniture got polished. Yes sir, this place is sparkling. Now all we need is Mr. Potter. Peter has no interest in any of the movies, so Lucie and I excuse ourselves as soon as we wolf dinner down and settle into the sectional sofa that has been moved around to create a cushy throne wide enough for both of us to fit on and long enough to straighten our legs. The cats take notice of our routine for the past few nights and as soon as we sit down, they start to assemble on the cushions around us. Lights please! It's showtime.
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