Broken Bones and Broken Hearts

We're baaaack!

After a very prolonged absence, we have finally made it back to our little home in the hills.  It's been so nice to see everyone, and I'm in my usual spot at the bar.  The guys here are so nice and immediately cleaned off a table in the back room for me to set up my computer station.  I'll be depending on them more than usual this year because we're only here for five weeks and it's not really worth it to take out an internet service contract for a month.  My access will be limited to bar time unless we're off to visit with family that have Wi-Fi connections.  I guess we're really roughing it this year!

As in years past, our first activities have involved getting the old place inhabitable again.  While not as bad as last year's mold disaster, this year has seemed to take a lot out of us.  We filled two wheelbarrows with dirt, weeds, sand, and fallen stucco chunks from the courtyard yesterday.  It is amazing this house is still standing with the amount of building material we cart away every year! 

After that clean up we started tackling the inside of the house.  Believe me, it was a yeoman's job!  Cobwebbing the ceilings, wiping a year's worth of grit off of every piece of furniture, sweeping up more grit and sand from every floor....by the fourth hour, I was really hurting.  I'm not one to shy away from tough jobs, and I try not to be a complainer, but by yesterday evening I felt that every bone in my body had been beaten or broken.  The Advil helped, but I was out of commission until well into the evening. Add to that the two runs to the grocery store to restock our larder, and a visit to the hardware store to make some extra keys for our new portone lock and I was ready to crash by 9:00.  I'm getting too old for this!

Today, was two loads of laundry, swabbing out the bathrooms, washing floors and hosing down the courtyard and our beautiful antique stone stairs.  And that is when I saw the broken hearts. 

For years, we have enjoyed a beautiful plant called "cuore del professore" or "teacher's heart".  My husband has no memories of Cervinara without these plants strategically placed in pots by our entry way. Its green foliage is speckled with white spots, the leaves are vaguely heart shaped and lovely to see.  But it is this plant's strength in adversity that gives it its name, I am sure.   They live through bitter cold and dry spells, through neglect and abuse, just the way a teacher's heart survives rejection, abuse and neglect.  We could always count on these plants welcoming us home.  But apparently, this year's record breaking heat and drought proved too much for the hearts.  Every pot we had was filled with desiccated, brown leaves with nary a green sprout to give us hope that something might have survived.  We have usually been able to count on our courtyard families to water things when we are gone, but I'm afraid that the years have taken their toll on our friends and their time here has been very limited to non-existent.  I'm not sure if we will see them at all this year, and that also breaks my heart.

The years catch up to us all, I guess.  I'm not willing to give up the ghost just yet, but I do know that I'm reaching a point where things just get harder and take longer than they used to.  Moderation and 'hired help' are the watch words from now on.  As for our cuore del professore....I have found a couple of survivors in the courtyard garden.  After the weeds were cleared away a single plant appeared.  It seems to be in pretty good health and maybe I'll be able to transplant some cuttings to those empty pots.  Keeping fingers crossed that next year we'll have those hearts back by our door, greeting all who come our way. 

Here is a photo of our lovely plants in happier times!