A night of rain drumming on the coppi, those enigmatic terracotta tiles that make the roofs of our houses here in Umbria. Constant, repetitive, un-ceasing, rain tapping, clattering, pattering on the roof of Bellaugello Gay Guest House meant that I awoke – did I really sleep much? I dunno, anyway I got out of bed to a very soggy world
The river Chiascio in the valley below the house was running a creamy toffee colour, full from bank to bank, carving away yet more of those flat alluvial fields that form it’s margins

So, yes it was to be a morning of drain cleaning, no not sewers, but roadside ditches and drains. On with the wet weather gear, stout boots and out with the Ape, and trundle along the road which had suffered badly from the deluge

Having cleared most of the channels and encouraged the water or run along the side of the road, not over the top washing the surface away, I set off out of curiosity to see how the landslide beyond the house was, whether the rain had made the lower road once again totally impassable. Fifty meters beyond Bellaugello, changing gear, the clutch cable broke, the handle flapping limply like a broken tree branch in the wind. No gears, no forwards, no backwards… No option but to get put and push! Luckily an Apetto is light and I am strong, so now it sits, forlorn, waiting a bit of sun for me to get underneath and replace the cable. As a contadino I discover there is always some little job to do and a new skill to learn.