Seven days ago Mrs Sensible and I moved house, it was not the first time I have moved house, in fact I have moved house seven times, so you would think I would be organised and remember to write the contents on each box as I pack them. One would think that after seven moves I would remember to pack the kettle with its power cord and tie the screws for the wardrobe to one of the doors so that I could reassemble the wardrobe at the new house.
Where is my hairdryer?
Unfortunately our new house resembles an explosion at an Ikea warehouse. There are bits of wardrobe in one room and bits in another, the important screws are still missing. My office had to be quickly assembled in the garden so that I could earn some pennies. I even installed a light in case the moon didn’t come out.
office up and ready
And how is Mrs Sensible I hear you ask, well a tad stressed, her office kitchen cabinets currently share the floor in the dining room with the sofa and lots of boxes. The cooker won’t cook and the fridge won’t freeze. Mrs Sensible is creating some wonderful meals using a microwave, her ingenuity and some spoons that miraculously were packed in a box marked kitchen.
Mrs Sensible can cook all this with just her microwave
A week before we moved I received an invitation to join a group called C.O.S.I Crazy Observations by Stranieri in Italy. C.O.S.I Someone who shall remain nameless put my name forward because he ‘sensibly’ realised he was too busy to participate in the group. I on the other hand have never been particularly sensible; as my long-suffering wife will tell you. On Friday I was supposed to upload a post regarding “trying to learn the Italian language”. Fridays’ dead line came and went; I think I was struggling up stairs with two suitcases of clothes at the time. Besides in the past seven years, I have never managed to learn more than a few Italian words, so I am probably not the best person to blog about this particular subject.
So here are my apologies.
To Cosi: sorry mates I will try harder next time.
To Mrs Sensible: sorry I lost the kettle lead, wardrobe screws, tooth-brush chargers, my underwear, your shoes, the washer hose and you are right I did only remember our wedding anniversary when I was at the supermarket checkout and that is why you only ended up with a scabby box of chocolates.
Links to the C.O.S.I group.
‘An American speaking Italian is like a dancer having two left feet.‘ – Married to Italy- ‘Italian the Hard Way‘ – Surviving in Italy
- ‘Speaking Italian has ruined my English‘ – Rick’s Rome
- ‘How I almost lost my native language‘ – Girl in Florence
- Learning Italian in Florence – The Florence Diaries
- unwillingexpat.wordpress.com/2014/07/04/tongue-tied-in-italy/ – Unwilling Expat
Englishman in Italy 
No words… Ahahah!
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Thank you for your kind word, my crazy Italian cousin.
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You are such a winner!!! Where did you pack the cat?
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I put it in the van, but Mrs Sensible wasn’t happy with me catnapping the cat, so we left it with Luigina and a supply of food. Later today we will go and see how he is, if he is struggling I will catnap him, with or without Mrs Sensible’s permission.
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I wait, with bated breath, for the sequel. And, with fingers crossed.
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I have a great picture of the cat sat under the van, I am sure he knew we were going and didn’t want to be left behind
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Good – that cat is a legend
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Welcome! In any case, I haven’t noticed that punctuality is terribly important in Italy. And never worry about sticking to the theme, either…your post is hilarious, and that trumps the deadline every time!
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I will try to be a good boy and make sure the post is on topic and on time, honest 😉
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Love your office. The lamp really adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the decor. 🙂
No worries about the “deadline”… that sounds so much more official than our little group is capable of I think! Whenever you get around to writing about language, just give us the link and we’ll pop it in. For now, I’ve linked to here. Good luck with the moving!!
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I give English lessons in the evening, and a student turned up just as I had put the finishing touches to the desk. I hope she doesn’t expect me to create an outside office for every lesson.
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Oh you are a black sheep!!! You lost Mrs Sensible’s shoes!!!!! I think that there maybe a trip to the shoe shop on the way!!!
If you ever come to the Prov of Salerno, let me know!!
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How is it possible to lose three bags of shoes????
I hope when I find them, my shoes are with them, at the moment I have the option of bare feet or flip flops.
Salerno!! We drive past Salerno in August on our way to Sicily.
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You have my sympathies. I hate moving house too, and my good intentions of labelling boxes usually fall by the wayside. I’m sure you’ll find everything eventually. 🙂
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Hi Sarah,
We probably will, just about the time we are ready to move again.
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Glad to see that you didn’t forget where to find the wine. An essential supply after any move. Chin, chin.
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I carefully put the cork screw in my pocket before I packed anything. There are certain things one must never lose.
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Ahaha! I’m sure mrs sensible appreciated it! 😉
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Sit down, drink wine and stay calm alternatively hide at the bottom of the garden.
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Who needs shoes or the lead for the kettle when you have a corkscrew! It will all come right in the end!
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Hi Selina, I hope it does, I look out of the window and I can see the rolling hills of Monferrato, if I turn around and look around me I can see a mountain of boxes.
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is that little wad under your outdoor office space Scooby Do?? Please tell me that you did not forget to “pack” the cat??!!
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I was told it was a criminal offence to kidnap the cat…. and it would be suspicious if he disappeared the same day we did; So I will go back and take him next week and hopefully the neighbours will put 2 and 2 together and make none.
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how does one kidnap what is theirs—as in I’m pretty sure Scooby Do is yours–and I think the neighbors are pretty, and even thankfully, aware of it as well—no sly excuses—the entire family must make the move—for better or for worse!!
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Hi. Cookie.
Mrs S is going to the old house today to check on Scooby. Meanwhile I am still looking for my trainers.
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Remind me not to enlist your ‘help’ for my move to Berlin 🙂 Still, I’m sure it will all work itself out in the end – with all the time Mrs Sensible must be saving by microwaving dinners, she’ll have it all sorted in no time! (Again, as long as she doesn’t let you help) 😉 LOVE your office by the way!
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Mrs Sensible is living on food nuked in the microwave, I am living on wine that is chilling in the wine cellar.
When do you move to Berlin?? I have been out of the loop because the move has driven me loopy.
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Not until September – I’m sure it will be even more chaotic than yours – if that’s possible! I prefer your diet 🙂
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I am thinking of writing a diet book, Wine Diet by Pecora Nera. The diet that makes you smile and giggle
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And put on weight 😉 ‘Diet’ book might be a stretch!
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The research will be good fun
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You could call it ‘The fast approach to getting killed by your wife’ by Pecora Nera 🙂
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Do you think so? It is a catchy title.
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I think so 🙂 See what Mrs Sensible thinks 😉
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Maybe not today 😉 Maybe another day, after I have had a glass or two
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You like playing with fire, don’t you? 😉
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Asbestos hands
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If Scooby Doo can’t make the trip maybe another cat will take up residence.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to find you though.
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Oh I think he will disappear and then reappear here. I think I miss him, just a little bit
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I knew it! Closet cat person! Just like my neighbor with the cocker spaniel who claims not to like cats but put out a bowl and a jug of water (we pour the water in the bowl) for our little cat colony. He even offered to loan me his dog last month when my cat passed away for comfort. What a guy.
The cat colony is keeping me company on my patio and several are auditioning for the vacancy so do not under any circumstances send Scooby to Seattle. You “need” him there.
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Scooby Do
C / O
Mvaden
Seattle
Ok just a little bit more address please, and then he is on his way
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Nope! Not going to happen.
As I said….you NEED him. He contributes much joy to your life and additional fodder for your blog.
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Ha! The little figure with his head in his hands… am I seeing that correctly, or is it just my imagination? Sums it all up! Your office is like The Italian Job, all covered in Union flags and a Mini in the background. I thought that you were going to flog that for something more reliable? If the Scots beggar off in September, you’re going to have to Tipex out their part of the flags, or that Salmond bloke’ll be round with his skirt and hairy legs to upbraid ye.
Feeling very jealous of your decadent, capitalist, Western life-style in the sun. 😉
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I asked a world famous sculptor to create a likeness of me and he created that!!! What a waste of £4.50
I will need a big bottle of tipex to get rid of the Scottish bits on the flag.
I have been looking at a Willys Jeep. Watch this space.
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I think that might possibly be the best office I have seen for a long time. Hopefully you will have sorted out your proper office by the time the cooler weather/darker nights come in… 🙂
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You should have seen the garden after we had assembled the TV sofa and double bed. Mrs S had always wanted to sleep under the stars.
Hopefully we will soon find some room in the house for the furniture
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Brings a whole new meaning to ‘outdoor’ living. 🙂
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Or Glamping (glamour camping). 🙂
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🙂
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well, you are in. that is good. let’s go from there…..)
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Hi Ksbeth
Sort of in and sort of in the garden. 😉
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okay, well how about, at least you are on the property…..and, there are many friendly creatures in the garden. )
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Spiders, slugs, snails and lizards that drop their tails. Yuk
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Erm… sorry?! I reckon you;ll be a good fit for the group though, just so long as you meet those deadlines (I was scared at the very thought of a deadline, that’s why I ran away and volunteered you instead)! Congratulations on the new house!
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🙂 They are a nice group, I think I should start my next post today, because who knows what will happen here to delay me again.
It is chaos here, I stopped leaking pipe from flooding the bathroom, only for one of the other bathrooms to develop a leak. I am tired of moving boxes from one room to another.
The good news is we now have 2 functioning bathrooms, and 5 livable rooms.
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Wow, I’m impressed, I wouldn’t have a clue how to fix a rapidly flooding bathroom! I’m sure you’ll settle in soon enough…
We’re moving back down next week (finally!) so it would be great to catch up for a beer and maybe even some crisps!!
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That sounds like a great idea. I fixed the leak myself because the Italian plumber said ” I think the pipe in the wall is leaking so you need to get a builder to make a hole in the wall, I can then fix the leak and the builder can then repair the wall,
WHAT!!!!
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You did that really fast. When I moved here I had boxes piled in my living room for at least two months. It didn’t help that the moving company piled dish packs higher than my head and I had to wait till a tall, strong man (don’t get any ideas….he’s my son) came over to help lift them down.
Having at least one functioning bathroom is good and five whole rooms! Wow!
And with all that progress you now have time to go over and get that cat.
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We went to see the cat on Wednesday. Luigina is feeding him and he has settled down with Gilda the short legged but incredible fat dog.
We will go back and check on him until we are satisfied that he is ok.
I hate moving….. never again … except maybe to Sicily
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Hey, I’m a part of the group too! You left my post off the list, sniff!
It’s Unwilling Expat the post is titled: ‘Tongue tied in Sicily’
http://unwillingexpat.wordpress.com/2014/07/04/tongue-tied-in-italy/
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Oops, I will add it now, if not sooner.. 😦
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