A Bad Dream in Pisticci......

I haven't written here for several  months now and a big part of the reason is that people have bought the apartment above me and are having it done up and it's driving me to distraction.
there is no soundproofing and so drilling, hammering, banging, scraping etc etc sound at worst like they are in my house and at best like my ceiling may fall down. (I have gone to look on numerous occasions because that is what it sounded like.) And to add to this there is now scaffolding right across the front of my house- so my nice little garden of plant pots had to be moved and there are large planks of wood resting on the other part of my house which builders use to stand on to fix the end wall of the apartment.  So far they only made one tiny hole in my roof (which they fixed as soon as I pointed it out.) but  trying to work while people are walking about virtually on my roof ( 2 layers of tiles between them and me) is actually a bit scary.
They began work after some false starts in november.  It was supposed to be finished by end of December, then end of January........
Most days work starts around 8am. They dont normally work at weekends, but they did one sunday. So since work started there is no chance of a lie in, no siestas, no peace to dream up new ideas and since mid january an ugly great big bit of scaffolding is the first thing I see when I go out my door.
Sometimes they have a day off - and even a week once - but as no one told me - I still got up really early so I could at least have my breakfast in peace. (
If I didn't work from home then it would be better- but I do work from home. So to make matters worse I am finding it very difficult to concentrate and am already late with several commissions. I had a lot of plans for new work to start in January as I really need to earn more. I have not had the space to start anything new.
Not having my creative/safe space is the most difficult thing to cope with.  I can do practical stuff but my imagination seems mostly to be concentrated on revenge fantasies and arguments in my head with various people. I am used to thinking that I am relatively tough and can generally find something  or some way to get round a problem but this is too close to home.
My home/studio was my safe place where I could retreat to and relax and create. It was where I felt secure. When I got a bit down I could paint or draw something and that always made me feel better.
I suppose this work upstairs will end sometime - though it doesn't look like it will be soon. And the people who ordered the work will have a lovely apartment, and the builders will get paid and I will get my house back just the same as it was before and  have to work twice as hard to make up for all the time that I couldn't work.
(I have tried- earphones - doesn't work, considered plein air painting- I hate painting outside - writing in cafes- that was a bit better- deciding to not work - got enormous bills from dentist, etc, etc so that was no good

- decided I will ignore noise- expended so much energy ignoring it that there was little left for work- decided to stay up all night and work, then realised I couldn't sleep through the day- move to another country- not enough money.)
I am not happy.
Well., having said  all that, the rest of life in Pisticci is still pretty good. The weather has been on the whole lovely- I can sit outside and read. I managed to get my scooter started again after 3 weeks off the road- and discovering that my driving licence had expired. ( and my ID card) I am still trying to pay my house tax which I went to pay on the first of december. I am going to a play in Italian on friday night which I expect miraculously to somehow understand and I expect by the summer this  horrible time will just feel like a bad dream.......