At 7:30am we are awakened by a thunder storm, the likes of which I’ve never heard or seen! Huge lightning! Incredible thunder! I think this cancels our lunch at a restaurant on a nearby mountaintop.
Poor Lucien is frightened by the thunder and lightning which goes on throughout the morning; I give him a tranquilizer. It is raining so hard the visibility is near zero. It’s nice and cool–we were afraid it would get really muggy. Since we have not been to the grocery store since we arrived here we take stock of our meager provisions: 7 bottles of wine (I guess were OK for today!); a couple of loaves of bread that I threw out yesterday (they are still OK in the plastic bags and we have a toaster); lots of pasta (that is a good thing); a tin of tuna in oil and a tin of sardines; a half lemon; an onion; 2 pears; nice olive oil from the grove here; wine vinegar; cheese (but maybe not great cheese; it’s a bit old and beginning to smell like ammonia); a hand-full of good olives; 4 eggs; cooked chicken from 6 days ago (??); one avocado; enough coffee for 3 days (perfect); enough blood orange juice for 2 days (one day short of perfect); and a good amount of butter. There’s dog food but I guess that does not count. So I guess we won’t starve…or get sober.
I do some wash. Last night I was unable to get the washing machine (located in the downstairs bathroom) started. Massimo tells me by email this morning that I need to plug in the washing machine in the little storage room next to the bathroom; the plug passes through the wall. (Not unusual in these very old homes.) So washing is in progress.
The bird calls and songs here are so sweet. In between downpours you can hear the birds. The storm lasts until about 11am. (There are supposed to be thunderstorms and/or rain the next 2 days.)
Nice lunch of oil packed tuna and lots of pasta. Surprisingly, ripe pears and avocados are great together for a salad!!