A FRENZY OF ACTIVITY

After months of work at a rather leisurely pace, this past week has been a whirl of activity. Yesterday the ironworkers finished up the short section of fencing that sits atop the perimeter wall, Elvio and his crew assembled and installed the (ugly, ultra-modern) lamp posts, Dino and others got the water fountain installed and working, men planted the rest of the trees and shrubs, and finally, last night about 6:30, the concrete truck arrived to pour the ramp into the park!!!


In true Italian fashion, Luciano talked on the phone while pouring concrete...As the concrete was being poured the lights were turned on for a test. Voila! They all worked, and the three lamps that were installed in the ground under the magnificent old pine tree uplit it dramatically.

Elvio told us that from now on the park lights will stay on all night, every night. This really won’t affect us, other than in a good way. The lights are yellowish, so they won’t attract insects, and other than the one light that’s directly behind our garden, they’re really not too offensive. I’m thinking of waiting till all the excitement dies down then taking a ladder and a roll of duct tape or electrical tape and covering the side of the light that faces our garden. I’m sure no one will even notice.

If it were up to me, I’d have all the pole lights go off at a certain time, leaving only the three uplights on the pine tree for full effect, but apparently my opinion doesn’t count for much!

One of the trees planted is a pomegranate, and others are almonds, so eventually we might even reap some fruits from ‘our’ garden. Today the last of the plants will go in….several rosebushes and jasmine!

I’m expecting some picnic tables to be delivered today, and hopefully some more gravel for ground cover. Dino is laying bricks at the edge of the concrete ramp down by our garage, and hopefully the iron gates will be here soon.

Our friend Nedra arrived yesterday just in time to see the final touches and we’re so happy that she’ll be here tonight for the celebration! I guess I’ll bake some chocolate chip cookies to contribute to the celebration…..something nice and American!