nonnaB

Dogs are wonderful but unless you are prepared to sacrifice something they can be a burden . We have 3 of our own plus when my daughter is working we look after her dog. My husband doesn’t tolerate anything said about dogs or any animal and is forever telling them he loves them and tells me how beautiful they. I know but I don’t want to hear it a thousand times a day. Next door one side they have a 3 yr old child plus a small dog. Ok we thought great for the child to grow up with animals but from the moment it was able to bark it has rarely stopped. They open the balcony door at 5.30-6am and l

When I went out this morning , I thought I’m in heaven. We had a storm last night and the temperature has dropped. It was a real pleasure to walk round the market although only veg and fruit stalls there. I told you in August the towns , villages and cities go into hibernation there’s no one around. Anyway hearing from a cousin in Sicily it’s 44 degrees in Palermo and here passing the local chemist we see that the temperature was 20 degrees. It’s not going to last unfortunately as the mercury is going back up where it was. It has been raining all day so far. We really need it as we all do but

BK I’ve got a few photos for you that I took this morning but they aren’t spectacular but they are our local views. Don’t know if they’re any good for you . Problem is in this heat to take some beautiful views I have to walk around because when I see something worth taking I can’t park anywhere the roads are so narrow and besides there’s a heat haze spoiling the view of Monviso that when it’s clear we see from the end of the road. I’ll keep looking though.

When we came to live in this house in 2000 we had an earthquake that damaged the centre of the house. It wasn’t severe but in the hallway it left a crack which every year in the summer stops the front door from closing on its own. No problem in the winter. The tiles eventually started cracking so when we had the floors retiled we adjusted the hallway but it still does it . It seems that underneath the soil expands and shrinks in the winter. Very weird.

August, like it is here, is when everyone and his relations are going somewhere but never get anywhere . Yesterday as practically every Sunday we meet up with family and have breakfast at the bar. We have 5 bars in the centre of the village and only one was open. It was the one that we had years ago but it’s mainly a man’s bar. The men meet there while the wives are at home ironing or cooking. But we ended up there having a quick coffee and started to go home. On the way through the old part of the village where It’s been renovated there’s a little bar with just a few tables outside, as we pas

Today I sat outside as the weather was a bit cooler and after some time I felt something tickling my knee. I kept touching and scratching but it kept on irritating. So indoors I went and examined my leg and trousers, nothing was there so back outside and it started again this time on my shin. Rolling the trouser leg up I saw something sticking out of the seam . It was a baby lizard. We have loads of them at the moment and they get in everywhere….but not up trouser legs.

How sad, she suffered with the same things years ago and i thought she was finally clear. Finally at peace , my condolences.

Yes PP there are a lot of inconsiderate cyclists. Here there are many cycling events and as usual there is the odd few that absolutely refuse to go in single file. On some of out narrowest and hilly roads they either get in line or they go in the ditches or send the car rolling down the hill. I think the course here is challanging for them and think while i'm struggling the motorist must get out of the way.

Lucky you Phil we have to move a few steps as the tree is outside our front door. the 2nd crop is well on its way but not picking any amount as yet, still figs for breakfast cant be too bad.

Think sometimes insects and animals are more entertaining than humans. Only sometimes though.

A couple of hours ago my Bil phoned to ask us to go to his house to have lunch. Everyone bring something and we’ll all eat together. This was at 11 am. Sunday isn’t a day typically of roast but whatever we have and how we feel. Ok let’s see what we can do in a couple of hours. My husband started the cook 2 kg of mussels that we bought frozen yesterday. Not one was good so being packed up cooked for the shop to see them. However one sister did pizza , another marinated meat, another stuffed peppers. We took 2 bottles of wine others beer and salame. In some way we all ate in company all 12 of us

Things CAN be done in a hurry. Glad to hear that.

Rob apart from having my tonsils out and have stitches in my chin when I fell off my bike, I’d never been in a hospital until I came to live in Italy. I seemed to have everything wrong with me from knee op to major ops . But I’m here to tell the story so don’t worry it’ll be ok.

Mimosa here around march. As Jill says fruit trees are laden . Our fig produced its first crop and I wish I’d kept a count of how many kg we picked. Now the tree has been resting a bit and we now have our second crop on its way . We’ve already picked about a couple of dozen and it’s still loaded but the odd yellow leaf shows itself. The acer has been a sorry site for ages but it was the same last year but it starts it’s new leaves early. All our border plants are slowly drying out and flowers I’ve just let them fade away , I couldn’t keep up with watering them 2-3 times a day. The only ones su

Rob I know the feeling. It seems we go to the moon and back when all is going well then you’re taken back to earth with news you weren’t expecting. Hope you soon get an appointment with cardiologist to be able to carry on with your op. I wish you all the best.

My boss had a caravan at Trusthorpe and I sometimes went with her on our closing day.

I never went to Skeggy until I was about 18 and belonged to a hiking group. In my life I’ve only been twice. Have I missed anything?

It’s so simple , boil potatoes and onions in their skins, when cooked skin them whilst they are hot ( I like skin on potatoes) and add a good dollop of olive oil and a splash or two of vinegar then mix together add origano and buon appetito.

No actually it’s Valledolmo Sicily roots. ( patate e cipolle) My mother in law used to make it. Very tasty economic meal.

Today didn’t know what to eat. Did some shopping this morning but keeping some things back because I have plans for them . So out with the potatoes and onions in skins and voila’ onion and potato hot salad.

Strange about wasps , we’ve had quite a few in the house and we’ve never had them apart from if I was making jam. Ants too , we usually have a lot of all sizes but this year I think all their relations have been invited and they are tunneling under the door step . Before long I expect the house to collapse( fingers crossed)

Think you mean feeling

Yesterday I received a phone call from my niece who has a dog grooming business and where I take my chihuahuas. Apparently she had a customer through many problems cannot keep her chihuahua and she asked me if I wanted to adopt her . I hesitated before answering her when common sense kicked in. We already have 4 dogs including my daughters dog we have when she’s working. We have plenty of room for them to run around but I had to say no and it was with regret. This lady will not let the dog go to anyone so Fabiana is vetting those people she knows well and first of all she thought of me. The do

Ayup I have a dear friend ( pen friend actually) who lives in Kentucky and I’ve spent nearly all day trying to contact her. Finally managed to contact her daughter and she told me that she was quite away from the floods. Thank goodness. I still can’t phone her so I sent an email to which she replied. Visited her in ‘66 and she visited in Nottingham a year after, a friendship which has lasted since we were 13 at school , we are both almost 80.

He is contemplating whether I did the right thing or not. He started life as an old woman but he became a modern wizard in love with a mouse.