Cones, stones, pinnacles - and balls

The last few weeks have been quiet ones in trullo land: we've had a few photos but six or so weeks have passed since our last site visit and there's a limit to the level of WhatsApp harassment/questions I can send to our wonderful builder, Mimmo (the trullo magician) without worrying that he will brand me a stalker - or worse!

The reality is that restoring is a nerve wracking process at the best of times, let alone when you are  rebuilding what was ostensibly a pile of rocks and doing it long distance. Decisions are made via photo, problems discussed via email or phone and most of the time, you just close your eyes and hope for the best (for your mental health and bank balance). During this period, we have simply clung to the 'no news is good news' credo although I had to ban Robert from his morning "any photos from Mimmo" request because it sent my pulse racing with anxiety!)

Just as a quick reminder, this is what we bought and began work on just six months ago...

And so it was with some trepidation that we set off last weekend on our now familiar trek by train to Liverpool Street to Stansted airport and our Ryanair (blecch) flights to Bari to see our baby in progress.

As an aside Ryanair is cheap, cheap, cheap (London to Bari and return can be as low as £29 in the middle of winter and rises to around £100 or more in high summer. However it is also, almost always, late, late, late and experience has now taught us to just go with the flow, relax, read a book (a.k.a scrolling incessantly on Facebook etc) and studiously ignore the rising blood pressure of fellow passengers. Airport delays always make for great people watching and this time, we had a coterie of pumped up bodybuilders flying to a competition  in Bari as our own pre-flight entertainment. We happened to end up in the same hotel overnight and it was hilarious watching the pec testing and bicep posing in the one-way mirrored windows at breakfast. The fact they all smoked like chimneys outside while popping all sorts of vitamins and protein powders gave an insight into a very odd sport indeed.


Okay, I just can't help myself, here's another 'before' pic...

But back to the site visit. Our meeting was on Monday and for me, it always feels like Christmas morning when you're a kid: up bright and early, full of excitement and a little frisson of trepidation that that lovely red bike you wanted so desperately isn't wrapped up and under the tree.

I love it that driving there, I now know our little 'hood (butcher, grocer, tiny chapel, even smaller piazza) and the lie of the labyrinth of country lanes and avenues which are all so tight that just one car  can fit between the stone walls in single file and you feel obliged to breathe in as you inch past. I love it too that very time we visit, the seasons throw up something new and beautiful.

This time, it was long, wavy grasses going to seed and wild poppies, everywhere. I missed the usual welcome from the dog pack but it turns out they belong to the property up the road and it felt good to know they actually do have a home and someone who feeds and loves them.

I must admit that the carpet of soft, gentle, self seeded lawn which sprouts in the winter months is rather prettier and photogenic than the waving jungle we arrived to this time. But then....

WOW THE CONES!!!

And wow wow wow, the lamia has three rooms now. And even more wow, the trulli themselves are water proof, safe, have electricity and water pipes in and ready and the first of the undercoat lime wash is on.

The little fireplace that we didn't even know existed is now secure and in situ - lining of the flu is underway - and a gorgeous round-stone chimney on the roof is being built too.
Meanwhile, a first lime wash has gone on, inside and the raw stone domes that will be our ceilings are secure and visible.

All the reverse cycle air/heating points are set and ready to be connected and we have met with the metalsmith who will fashion the shutters and windows ... and chosen a colour. In the hills windows and shutters are traditionally either green or brown while in the lower plans toward the sea, they are blue.

After much angst, I've decided to go green but it still haunts me that I've done the wrong thing....yeek! The lamia will not have shutters, just glass doors so ultimately, it's not such a big deal but still...

The one thing I didn't like was the shape of the cone pinnacles ... easy to change said Mimmo and so, we will enlarge the, er, balls and hopefully place them on an inverted cone for greater elegance/grace.

I had imagined them more elongated, like these although there are many, many versions and the ones they have built are very traditional too. What do you think?

It is all getting terribly exciting even though there is something about the joy of delaying gratification that makes me want it to go on (but in a good way, not in a planners' bottleneck/disaster type of way!)

Indeed, the very best part is that our Magician Mimmo (here he is below avec moi) gave us an estimated finish date.....mid July and we should be habitable!