Still ill...

Day 43.

Despite feeling awful I dragged myself out of bed this morning and got to work at 9:15. I finished attaching springs to the valves from yesterday, before Claudio asked me to quickly put some wax along the back of a reed block. I may be ill, but I'm still the master of the wax! Next was a fun & interesting job - replacing the valve felts on the bass mechanism of an accordion. With most accordions this would be a long job because I'd have to dismantle the bass mechanism. However, I was in luck because in this Scandalli accordion the bass mechanism was in one removable block. All I had to do was flick two switches and the whole thing slid out. I had to remove the valves of the buttons, remove the old felts, clean the valves, cut new felts, glue them on, trim them to size and put it all back together. Phew! I got half of that done before lunch.
I was invited next door for lunch because Ivana's sister and nephew (Matteo) were over in their lunch break. We had pasta followed by breaded fish and various salads. When we finished I went for a nap in the hope I might start to feel better. I woke up and half 3 and was back at work by 4, an hour late! That wasn't a problem though. I felt more groggy after the nap than I did before!
I finished the bass mechanism work before applying more springs to valves. Matteo was in the shop when he finished school at 5 and we had good fun pulling pranks and messing around with Claudio. I also scanned in my accommodation forms and sent them to Mum. 
At 20 to 8 we finally got home, where I quickly made a tuna pizza atop a ready made pizza base. After I'd eaten I spoke to Mum and Dad on Skype, which was lovely because I hadn't spoken to them for a while. A mug of hot water with lemon and honey followed and now it's time for bed.

Ciao x

p.s I attach, as promised, the finished photo of yesterday's work.
p.p.s That is glue hanging from Claudio's nose. Honest!