A race to the finish line for a special day
As I write this blog from a very hot August day here in Tuscany, I can’t quite fathom just how much has been achieved since our last update in March. Please forgive the lack of blogging during this time - the days have been filled with so much planning, organising and frantic preparation that there never seemed a good opportunity to relax and collect our thoughts!
Since our last update, we got to host the most magical wedding, completed the majority of work on the ground floor kitchen/diner and living room, installed new fencing, and a lovely new little pool! Phew, it was a lot of work (and quite a bit of worry at times), but it was so worth it in the end. As I rewind to describe the run up to the big day, I hope you enjoy reading how we got there.
April - Help from family and friends
We are very lucky to have some very skilled carpenters and excellent DIYers in our family, and after many offers of help, we took them up on their offer and flew them over to Italy in early May to help us with our fencing and new patio area. Our dynamic team, nicknamed ‘The Italian Job’ on our whatsapp chat was comprised of our brother-in-law Michael, nephew Stu and soon to be groom and nephew, Justin.
They arrived super early on Saturday, on the first flight out from London Stansted to Pisa, arriving off the plane with just underseat luggage, but plenty of enthusiam and what seemed like superhuman energy levels! To help them be as productive as possible, we arranged with our friend Paolo to get all the materials ready and waiting, sourcing the fencing wood from our local agraria (a type of local shop that specialises in all things agricultural), and a local stonemason for the patio slabs. As soon as they arrived from Pisa, they got to work, levelling the ground for the patio in the morning, then laying hardcore, using some of the excavated rubble from the house, then mixing the concrete to begin laying the slabs. In just over a day, they’d completed the bulk of it and we couldn’t believe our eyes at what they achieved so quickly.
At the same time, Nick and Paolo started work on the fencing. We bought a mechanical auger to drill the holes for the uprights, then used screws to create the 'Croce di Andrea’ / St. Andrews cross that is a common sight in farm-style fencing in Tuscany. In what was just a long weekend (Saturday-Monday), the team built practically all of the fencing which ran down the back of the house, around the patio and above the cave cantina. The finished patio and fencing really gives the house a beautiful surround, in keeping with its history. As part of our appreciation to our fantastic helpers, we provided plenty of Italian pastries, hearty lunches and took everyone out for some nice meals. One of the most memorable, was to Marina di Pisa for some seafood by the sea - they all now have a new found appreciation for a ‘fritto misto!’ (fried mixed seafood.)
As everyone left us after that weekend, we turned our focus back to the house. At this time, the building team shrank to one person, and progress seemed to slow. At the end of every building day, we’d run downstairs to see what had been completed, and some days it seemed very little, although refinements were being made, it just wasn’t that noticeable compared to the early work.
As we reminised about the productive weekend we had with our family, my sister Karen told me how much Michael had enjoyed his trip. He even raised the possibility of coming out again for the late May holiday weekend. In the UK, this was the weekend of King Charles’ coronation. In what you might think of as a crazy idea at that time, we decided to embark on another long-held plan - building a pool!
May - The pool project
We had already completed a geologist survey and had agreement that it was good to build the pool just under the house at the top of the hill. We’d originally earmarked the pool project for 2024-2025, and was scoping for a natural pool. This is something that we would still like to do, but in the meantime, we thought an interim above-ground pool would be wonderful to have to get us through the hot summers and keep us cool, and even better if we could get ready for when everyone comes to stay for the wedding.
To get underway, our builders carried out the excavation work, using a digger to carve out the flat surface needed for the pool. There were some hiccups along the way with preparing the ground, so it wasn’t until Sunday that the erection of the pool could happen. That all went pretty smoothly and it started to take shape fast, so that on the Monday work could begin on the decking supports. A bit more excavation work was needed to make enough room to lay wide enough decking for sun loungers, so it wasn’t until the following weekend that Nick and Paolo could complete that and a timber retaining wall.
During the digging work two huge piles of earth were left at the top of the hillside, right where the wedding vows would be taken in just over 3 weeks. The digger had to leave for another job, leaving no one but me (Fran) to try and make the best of it as Nick was back at work. In what seemed like an uphill task (pardon the pun), I was able to sift out all the bad rubble and drag back down the earth to make terraces to start planting on. It took around 6 hours, but through determination (and a lot of sweat!), the hillside down to the pool was ready for planting . This project was a real demonstration of team work and again showed just how so much can be achieved in a short space of time. All together, it took a little over a week to complete.
As late May crept in, we placed orders for kitchen appliances and ground floor furniture, not knowing if they could be comfortably put in place before the wedding. Again, blind faith and optimism drove us forward. It had to happen.
June - last minute building work and the big day arrives
As June presented herself, time was now running out fast (the wedding was on the 24th June!) and the house building work was still behind. The delay now was down to the underfloor heating work. We waited patiently for the parts to arrive, but it wasn’t until mid June that this work could begin. During this time we saw incredible skills and speed from the builders - as they say, there’s nothing like a deadline! The underfloor heating was like a piece of artwork in itself - a maze of piping across the whole ground floor, then a screed was applied over that, then the floor tiling, then plastering, the painting of the exterior all happened within the last 9 days of work. Again, another demonstration of what can be achieved in such a short space of time.
As Jenna and Justin (the bride and groom) arrived with their young girls that last week, 4 of those days were still taken up with the builders on site, which wasn’t ideal to say the least. Inside the house, the kitchen/diner and living room was almost there as we got the appliances, furnishing, electrics and lighting in place. Our Facebook marketplace finds of a large ‘bancone’ sideboard that we sanded back and repainted and new old marble sink were put in place and looked like they’d always been there.
Outside, we planted up the garden space with lots of white blossomed plants and flowers perfect for the wedding - hydrangeas, oleanders, and jasmine. Our own bougainvillea was in full bloom and a beautiful purple/pink. Then the wedding decorations came - amazing festoon lighting and tables arranged and built by Justin, decorations and table settings by Jenna, white bunting and hay bales for extra seating were brought in - everyone mucked in and all the plans finally came together. If we’d had the nerve to film any of this, it might have been one of the most nail-biting transformation shows you’d ever watched!
As the big day arrived, we made final preparations and got all the food and drink ready. Guests then arrived, taxied in from their apartments and hotels in the surrounding area. Family and friends waited in eager anticipation. After 3 failed attempts, this wedding was finally happening!
Jenna arrived for the wedding with her dad Michael, looking so beautiful at the top of the farmhouse’s staircase, walking down it to be greeted by her little girl and bridesmaid, Violet. The service was held overlooking the valley with Justin’s uncle performing a blessing, and our nephew Harrison singing a beautiful rendition of ‘Can’t help falling in love’. The service was perfect and there wasn’t a dry eye to be found!
For the wedding meal, us and our family prepared canapes and starters - big platters of Caprese salad, foccaccia and olives. It was lovely to be able to supply our own olive oil for the tables, too. For the main course, it was pizza! Six different varieties chosen by Jenna and Justin. This was made possible by a great mobile pizza service supplied from one of our local pasticcerias Jole in Terriciola. As if it couldn’t be any better they also provided a mobile gelato van too with eight flavours, again chosen by the bride and groom - and to top it off, they also supplied the wedding cake!
The day went perfectly and we couldn’t have been happier for the bride and groom. Their big day was wonderful and we felt so privileged to host it for them.
In summary, this period of time, was some of the most stressful we’ve ever been through since buying the house, but the end result was something we could only ever have dreamed of at the beginning. To see such a beautiful wedding between two such special people to us was an honour. This period of time has been a big lesson in keeping calm ‘tranquillo’ and trusting in people - those we get to select (such as the builders) and those who keep their trust in us (our family and friends).
As we look to re-commence building work in September, we feel so lucky to be able to live in such a beautiful place and to be able to host future gatherings with those we love.
