Yesterday we rolled out 15 metric tons of new gravel in Poggiosole's parking area and driveway.
The work followed an even more significant effort: a 20-meter long trench dug along the length of the driveway and the installation of a manhole at the property's perimeter.
Plastic conduits laid within will connect with other underground pipes installed 20 years ago and finally permit us to take down the poles and aerial phone line that cross the property in front of Le Rose and behind the pool. When that happens (timing is now up to the phone company), we'll throw a party.
Postscript, May 13: last night in Florence my partner and I felt the strongest of a series of tremors that have rocked central Tuscany over the past 10 days. Based in Impruneta, a town midway between metropolitan Florence and Poggiosole, the 3.7 magnitude temblor lasted only a few seconds at 23:12 local time. No damage occurred in our Florence home or at Poggiosole, but the shake did shake us. In the hours afterwards, as I lay awake, I associated this very uncharacteristic series of tremors to the shelling and bombing 2000 km due east of us. There's likely no geophysical basis to my thinking, but the thought stayed with me.