2nd May 2007
It was rather a difficult decision to put a pair of gates at the front of the house, because we blend into the landscape and that, in itself, is a wonderful thing. But, having lived in cities and suburbs all my life, I also feel the need to establish boundaries; not to keep people out, or to keep the children in, just to mark the place.
In fact I imagine the gates will probably remain open all the time which makes them seem like a peculiar way to spend our money but, nevertheless, the other day I found myself in this blacksmith’s workshop, a huge place full of people who clearly had to know what they were doing.
Sparks flying everywhere, an old Alsatian sniffing suspiciously at my trouser leg, I managed to make myself look like I too knew what I was doing and strode purposefully into the office. Unfortunately all gates made in Italy are unique and so you have to make loads of really important decisions whilst trying to remain credible. I desperately looked around the room searching for inspiration (I imagine rather like Kaiser Soze must have done in The Usual Suspects) until I saw a picture of one that looked about right, casually pointed to it, and now we have ordered it to be made for us.
They didn’t want a deposit, they didn’t tell me how long they would take, and I’m not even sure if I left my phone number, but they seemed like remarkably cool young lads so I’ll just keep driving by their workshop slowly in the hope of catching their eye and finding an excuse to check on progress.
The stupidest thing I did the other day (at the blacksmith’s);
I asked them if I could take photographs of some fantastic rusty metal things in their yard, which seemed to instantly destroy my credibility, just when I thought I’d got away with it!
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