Italian Capers

The four twelve hour days are long for all of us....and the four days off are great!

We have driven past this one restaurant, almost daily, since we arrived. It is a wooden building with a large porch and an inviting curb appeal. We stopped once- when we thought for certain they would be open. They were not. Our timing remains a little off kilter. There is an italian "typical kitchen" on the left side, an Indian restaurant on the right side, and a four-wheeler dirt track to the far left. What more could we ask for, really? (I have only seen the track open once, too.) The sign says "Cucina Tipica, Pizzeria." Sounds great, no? Finally, the chance arrived for me to see what this place was all about. I had gone with the world travellers to Nove- which is a town known for it's pottery (details later). My Man stayed home with the little people as they would have been completely crazed with boredom. I quickly remembered this place when we were in need of some dinner on the way home. It was about 9 p.m.- not too late to grab a bite, we hoped. We walked...

Kids come up with the funniest names....this is "Uncle Crunchy" as H has dubbed him. I call him Uncle Crusty and pretend like I just can't quite remember his new moniker. We went to Barcis, which is a short drive from home. I didn't take too many lake pics as we have been there before. Barcis is that lake that is REALLY blue, kind of in a bizarre way. There may be more photos on Aunt D's camera, which is currently with her on her travels. That could be part of my lack of posting excuse, no, really, it could. The weather has been a bit rainy lately. We packed our lunch and set out anyway. After a short walk around the lake, we sat down to have our picnic. The rain came down. We were under a pine tree and I was getting outright wet. My Man kept insisting that it would "let up." All the while, there was a perfectly good TENT- the kind that covers you, but is open on 4 sides...not too far away. I did realize that we had just sat down AND that it wouldn'...

Our landlord (Perryangelo- PA)has told us to make ourselves at home in their yard. The property is lush and vast. There are fruit trees and grapevines and lots of lawn on which to play. (Not to mention the dirty pond which I am told wouldn't make a good swimming hole for the children- no kidding!) There's a wooded section near the end of the property. It's like a little grove, and it has the sunbathing bench for My Man. A little while back, we headed across the street to see what adventures were waiting for us. PA enthusiastically greeted us and handed us a metal pail, a hook and a ladder and forced, I mean encouraged us to pick some cherries. The girls had a blast and the four-footed-ugly baby had a chance to run willy nilly, leash-free. It was a refreshing and relaxing afternoon, and we got home before the rain. I love this next picture as I think it captures the enthusiasm of the day, although it's a bit blurry. It can be hard to focus on such a whirlwind of fun. I t...

Well, as my mother, the girls' "Nanny," is heading our way very soon, I thought I would give her the heads up that she has a PR problem with this one. Here she is with a granola bar from Mimi. So, here's the story. The other day while I was making dinner, the girls were digging around in the canned goods cabinet- which used to be a microwave cart. They were pulling out cans, singing some little ditty and putting them back. Now, don't get me wrong, some where in the back of my mind was the thought that this was not a good idea, but hey, it was getting me a few minutes to finish up before My Man was due home. Then, the littlest girl started walking around carrying a can and saying, "Nanny, Nanny." I thought, "hmmm, that's veird." She continued on like this for 3 minutes or so before I finally gave her my full attention to try and figure out what she was going on about. I looked closely at the can and saw this: Tee hee, the tiny one thinks tha...

Okay, I was so flabbergasted by the haircut yesterday that I forgot to add how long it took. When Mrs. Perryangelo was done cutting my hair, she explained that she was going to make coffee and her assistant was going to dry my hair. Honestly, she took 30-40 minutes to blow dry my hair. When she was about half way through, Mrs. Perryangelo appeared with little espressos on a tray for all three of us. I wasn't sure about the proper etiquette, whether I should sip it while her assistant was yanking on my head and all. I snuck in a sip. It was strong and delish. Mrs. Perryangelo was busy chatting loudly and gesturing - all the while, she was spilling her coffee on the floor where it was mixing with my hair. I have since decided that maybe it's not Joan Jett at all, but rather Pinky's little sister Leather. I think my eye squint makes me look a little more like her evil twin- all I need is a leather jumpsuit. Perhaps a fine Italian leather jumpsuit- I'll bet I can find one. ...

but now I am not so sure. I sauntered into the hair salon across the street feeling like my long unkempt locks made me look like an aging western singer who hadn't had a hit in a very long time, and came out feeling more like..... I do love rock and roll, but I can't say the same for this haircut. Perryangelo's mom strikes again. This is how the conversation (in french) went, "I like it long, the ends are damaged, and I just need a trim." The next thing I know, she is twisting the hair on the top of my head, and gnawing away at the twists with a pair of dull scissors, her lips pursed with concentration. "This is a very modern cut," she explains. "I went to Milan to learn this technique. Milan is a very beautiful city." I had that sinking feeling in my stomach that this isn't exactly what I had asked for. I quickly decided, just to go with it and see where it took me. What can you do? Once that first chunk was gone out of the center of my he...

We celebrated my man's birthday with the usual chocolate cake with white icing. This year my handy helper was happy to get involved. She really does a great job mixing. Since I didn't hook up my stand mixer for fear of shorting out the entire neighborhood, she was quite helpful. We celebrated with some friends who are heading back to the states in a week or so. They have 4 kids, so this place was packed. It was a blast to have all the chaos. (Note: the weather here is conducive to the ever-popular and stylish cabana wear.) Gordon's favorite part was eating the cake- of course : ) Percy was....well, she's just Percy. She did pretty well with the company despite being a bit "timido." The celebration in my heart was about gratitude; I have been fortunate to have him in my life another year.

I might have mentioned that our kitchen is a little small. This fact is exacerbated by the large "American style" refrigerator- which we have no problem filling. We went to Semeraro's (kind of like an Italian ikea) looking for some ideas. We think this would work- maybe put the girls in those chairs- that would really help to keep them from getting under our feet. This was the display right as you walk in the door. It's a very modern, chic store- yet practical too : )