around and about

Work is about to start (again) in the cantina, this time putting down the flooring now that I am content that I understand as much as I can about where any damp is coming from, and how much there is likely to be over a wet winter.

Buying such materials is a mission, so I go with my "minders". They are a delight, one big and burly who dents a car when he leans on it, the other as thin as a rake, with broken teeth and scruffy hair, earrings and tattoos, but a fantastic worker. I feel very protected as, when prices quoted are too high, they simply turn to me and say "andiamo" and off we go, on to the next place. This morning the bigger guy took the wheel of my little car, and we splashed and bumped our way along the back roads. The other protested at the treatment of my car. For a moment I was young and carefree again...

I can explain my needs well enough, and they understand everything I say. But when they fire back at me ideas and arguments in rapid dialect I am completely lost. Thank goodness for hands and facial expressions, pen and paper and quick sketches!

Today I am also grateful for protective friends.