2006 Spring - Viewing
My sister and mother carried out the first viewing, sending various photos back to the UK. We were interested in the potential of the property and organised a trip to view ourselves. It was exactly the sort of thing we were looking for, original stone farmhouse, in the countryside but not too far from local towns. Downsides were the rough white road leading to the property and maybe too much renovation required. Not enough to put us off though, so we proceeded with the purchase.
2006 August - Just purchased
After a lots of form filling, organising Italian mortgages, opening bank accounts etc.etc. we were finally in a position to complete the purchase in August 2006. All parties had to meet to sign the relevant documents at the offices in Pesaro, once completed we were handed the keys and away we went. Thank you to my sister and the full Fabbri clan for help moving in. Some furniture had been left and we had a few other bits ourselves to enable us to move in.
2006 August - First holiday
Laura, Sarah and her friend joined us for our first holiday in the property. I still can't believe they slept on those crappy old beds. At least they had some luxury at the local Agriturismo with pool.
2007 August - The Big Wedding
Sally and I had visited the property a couple of times earlier in the year but most of our time was taken up getting official documents and organising our wedding. We really only had time to smarten the place a little bit and put some new furniture in. Our August visit was mainly taken up with the wedding itself, ensuring our guests were organised and had a good time and then some rest and relaxation on our honeymoon in Sicily.
2008 April - First contractors
Our first contractors began work in April 2008. They were contracted to plaster the internal walls throughout the house, box in support columns/pipes and create some feature areas where the bare stonework is exposed. My sister Maria was a great help supervising the work, especially explaining how the feature areas should be irregular and interesting, rather than simple rectangular cut-outs. We also decided to open up a doorway upstairs which had inexplicably been poorly converted to window. Thank you to the contractors and Maria, we were very pleased with the results.
2008 May - Kitchen Tour
This was the first test of my powers of persuasion and the attraction of a free (working) holiday in Italy. I managed to persuade two friends, Andy and Eddie, that we would have a great adventure in Italy whilst fitting a new kitchen. A third friend Ash had to pull out at the last minute but still let us drive there in his van, what a star. The van was crammed full of stuff for the house including, two sofa beds, a shower cubicle, wood burning stove and the all important MFI flat packed kitchen. There was barely enough room for suitcases and the three of us, especially as the front cab only had two and a half seats. There were numerous complaints when due to seat rotation someone had to seat in the half (gimp) seat. During the working holiday itself I believe we all had a great time mixing work and pleasure. A couple of slap up meals at the Belvedere restaurant seemed to keep the workforce happy. The lads did a great job and we are very grateful for their help.
2008 June - Feste del Pane and painting
June saw us visiting Italy for a long weekend incorporating the Feste del Pane in Maiolo. This was Sally's first chance to see and use the new kitchen and also gave me an opportunity to paint all our fresh new plaster. Good mixture of work and play.
2008 July - Wedding anniversary
For our first anniversary we invited friends and family back to Italy to help us celebrate. Everyone had such a great time the previous year so we had plenty of takers. It also allowed Sally's brother Ken and his wife Patricia to join us as they unfortunately could not make the wedding. Once again the Belvedere and Villa Labor restaurants did us proud with a couple of great meals and nights out. Villa Labor also gave us the moth as big as your hand, a frightening experience for some.
2008 October - Pool first steps
A long weekend in October brought us a nice surprise. During the summer we had discussed how bad our road was with some of the locals, one of which was the mayor's brother. We obviously don't know if it was connected but during our visit in October we found workmen regrading the "white" road to our house. We had been considering creating a flat area in the garden for an above ground pool and this gave us a perfect opportunity. Using my best Italian we managed to negotiate with them to create a flat area in the garden after they had finished the road. Now all we needed was a pool.
