A man turned up on my doorstep earlier today and he asked “is Alessandro home?”
“No, he’s not back yet,” I reply.
“Ok, then I’ll tell you. Your dog has destroyed my vegetable patch. I saw with my own eyes that your dog was at the vineyard this morning and now I come home and find that he has walked all over the patch of land where yesterday I’d sown some beans.”
So, to give some background to this story, this man owns a house which neighbours on one of our vineyards. He actually lives down in the centre of town but has this rural house high up on the hill which he uses for its vegetable patch and for the occasional party.
I say I’m very sorry about the dog, that I’ll tell Alessandro to be more careful and that it won’t happen again.
An hour or so later, Alessandro comes home and I ask him, “Ale, is that man – y’know, probably about 70 years old, full head of white hair, yay high, rather tanned – is he the same man that you had problems with a couple of days ago?”
Oh no, my heart sinks.
This man is the father of the boss of the electrical company that’s been contracted to do our house renovation.
It’s also the same man who had a rather heated dispute with Alessandro’s father just two days ago.
You see, a couple of days ago, Alessandro and his father got a call from their manure guy – yes, it appears that most organic farmers round here have a manure guy – and the guy says that he has a truckload of manure that nobody wants. Would you take it? I’ll leave it, if you like, on that vineyard up on the hill, just as we’ve done in the past, he suggests.
Alessandro and his father accept this kind offer, “yes, we’ll take it.”
“Would you like two truckloads of manure?” the manure guy clearly has a lot of the stinky stuff to shift.
He’s in luck. “Yeah, sure, no problem,” is the reply.
Unfortunately on that same Friday night that the white-haired electrician is preparing to entertain guests at his rustic retreat, what can only be described as a mountain of manure is unloaded right next to his house!!
So not only has my dog damaged his vegetable patch but the poor man has had to have a party with the equivalent of Vesuvius smouldering away right next door. I have a feeling that our electrics might be rather compromised after these two incidents……
The Burnt Cream Blog 