Washing the Kitchen Floor

A few days ago I mentioned to Lucy that I needed a mop to wash the tile floors in the house.  She has loweder the price of the rent in exchange for me doing the housework rather than having a woman come in once a week.  There is a broom in the house and a stiff scrub brush with a long broken handle, but no mop. 

The next day Lucy brought me another stiff brush on the end of a a broom handle, this is what she thought was a mop. (sigh)  The bathrooms here have showers coming out from the walls but nothing to contain the water except that the  floor below the shower slopes towards a floor drain.  In theory this should work, but in fact the floor drain is very slow and the tile floor is not even so water goes everywhere and makes the tile floor very slippery.The shower head in the downstairs bathroom has some issues and sprays water in all directions.  After my shower, I tried using the scrub brush to direct the water to the drain but it did not work well at all.  I had to use a towel to mop up the water and wring it out into the bidet several times.  I went to the coop looking for a mop and all they had was the same scrub brush on a broom handle.  Yesterday Sylvia found a proper mophead at the coop.  Who knew I could get so excited about cleaning utensils?

Today is laundry day at Casa di Lucia.  The washing machine is in a bottom cupboard in the kitchen and is a modern front loader.  The various cycles of the washing machine are a mystery and there does not seem to be an option for washing with cold water.  In addition, the water draining from the washing machine comes up into the kitchen sink.  Sylvia and I were up early this morning and Syl aleady had a load of laundry going by the time I made it to the kitchen.  We took our coffee and tea to the rooftop deck to enjoy the sun before it got too hot.  About 15 minutes later we hear Ina yelling that there was water everywhere.  We ran down the stairs with towels and mop in hand to discover the kitchen sink had overflowed all over the countertops and onto the floor.  We paused the washing machine and proceeded to try to clean up the mess.  Syl bailed the sink with a pail and dumped the water out the kitchen window onto the street below.  I used towels to sop up the mess on the floor and counters.  I sent a text message to Lucy and asked her to get it fixed.  In the meantime, Chris, Sylvia's husband proceeded to check the plumbing under the sink and discovered a plastic diverter seemed to be blocking the drain for the sink.  He removed it and everything seemed to function better. Lucy did send a plumber but everything was working fine by the time he arrived.  We don't know what will happen the next time we try to use the dishwasher however, maybe the drained water will go into the washing machine???

So the kitchen floor has been cleaned and mopped, the laundry is almost finished and I taken a leap of faith by leaving to come to the hotel to use the internet.

Yesterday we went to Sant'Antimo which is a beautiful Romanesque - Lombard church where the monks still practice the Gregorian Chant seven times a day.  We listened to the chants and were completely amazed buy the harmonies and quality of the sound within the church, it was a very spiritual experience. The landscapers surrounding the abby and  in the area are full of vineyards and olive groves and cypress trees.  The area is very famous for B|runello wine, known  around the world. After visiting the abby we stopped in Montilcino for a late lunch and to visit the fort there.  We sampled some Brunello wine and enjoyed it.  Today my friends are off on their own to visit Bagno Vignoni, and Montisi.  I am trying to find out more information about the garage I have to bring my car to for an assessment of the damage, but I guess it will have to wait as we are all going to the Cinque Terre tomorrow and will not return until Friday.  Having everything close up for the afternoon is a real pain!

Perhaps I will wash the other floors today and try to resume my painting I started days ago....or if its too hot I may just take a nap, a la dolce vita!!!