We were making gingerbread. I walked out of the room for one second.
Saturday, 3 May 2008
It doesn't stop raining
Rain, Rain, go away, come again some other day. I can't tell you how much it has rained. Even Jacqueline lamented, "I wish it would stop raining." My rain boots, I must say, have been the best shoe purchase I have ever made.
We haven't done much of anything due to the immense amount of rain. Now, I wish I had a rain gauge! I can't even get our playground put together. We did have a few pockets of sunshine. Jacqueline and I planted sunflowers along our fence. You must have sunflowers if you live in Italy, right? We'll see how they do! We did discover the biggest earthworm I have ever seen and can't believe exists. I wish I had taken a picture, but we were so entranced by it. It was at least a foot and a half long and about as wide as two of my fingers.
You also must have geraniums. Supposedly, they repel mosquitoes, but with all this rain, we'll see about that!
We've discovered how superstitious the Italians are. And furthermore, it really isn't superstition, it's just they follow the moon. A friend of mine's husband explained to me, if I get a green tomato, it's b/c it was planted at the wrong time (according to the lunar calendar). You want to plant certain things while the moon is rising, not going down. It is why my neighbor, Angelo, told me not to plant my tomatoes until the 5th of May. You also couldn't put out your geraniums until a certain day. And supposedly, you must bring them in on All Saints Day. I am enjoying learning the rhythms of Italian life and discovering there is a little more reason behind their choices.
I also found out two more interesting factoids. The mountains behind us were all "skinned" not too long ago. It was farmland, but when the farms weren't being productive, they turned the mountain back to itself and it became forested.
I can see the beautiful town lights of Mezzamonte from my bedroom (well, in the winter). I met someone who grew up in this town and he told me the true story (and not the American version). During WWII, the Nazi's were getting raided by a group of people whose name starts with a "P." They would bomb the Nazi's in the flatlands, then run into the mountains. The Nazi's thought the town of Mezzamonte was hiding the people so they went to the town and gathered the people up (Including this friends parents) and took them the cemetery. They had their truck full of guns to execute them, but a lone captain came forward and said that "these people had nothing to do with the group and weren't hiding them." The Nazi's released the people. This event is frescoed on the ceiling of the church. I can't wait to go see it.
As I said, yesterday it did stop raining. We were over at Amy's as the girls didn't go to school. Gabby had slammed her fingers in the car door and Jacqueline didn't want to go to school w/o Gabby. Of course, this has to happen as we are leaving. Jacqueline takes her final run around the house and slams into an open shutter. Their son was a hero yelling for us. She came around the corner bleeding from her head profusely. I just stopped as it looked horrible. Luckily, Amy has been through this a time or two, including the previous day, so she gave me good direction. I seriously got down on my knees for a long time last night thanking God that this happened at her house b/c she called one of their friends who came over to look at it (his daughter went to school with Jacqueline). He took her up to the hospital on base and stitched her up. She was so brave. I would have had to have driven her to Pordenone ER and waited for who knows how long and had to wait for a translator. Plus they wouldn't have stitched it up as well as he did. He was very concerned about it leaving a scar. Guess who gets to take them out? Yes, me.
The poppies are blooming and the tulips are slowly returning back to earth. Irises are everywhere. Spring is beautiful. I will become a convert here and say spring is my favorite season.
We haven't done much of anything due to the immense amount of rain. Now, I wish I had a rain gauge! I can't even get our playground put together. We did have a few pockets of sunshine. Jacqueline and I planted sunflowers along our fence. You must have sunflowers if you live in Italy, right? We'll see how they do! We did discover the biggest earthworm I have ever seen and can't believe exists. I wish I had taken a picture, but we were so entranced by it. It was at least a foot and a half long and about as wide as two of my fingers.
You also must have geraniums. Supposedly, they repel mosquitoes, but with all this rain, we'll see about that!
We've discovered how superstitious the Italians are. And furthermore, it really isn't superstition, it's just they follow the moon. A friend of mine's husband explained to me, if I get a green tomato, it's b/c it was planted at the wrong time (according to the lunar calendar). You want to plant certain things while the moon is rising, not going down. It is why my neighbor, Angelo, told me not to plant my tomatoes until the 5th of May. You also couldn't put out your geraniums until a certain day. And supposedly, you must bring them in on All Saints Day. I am enjoying learning the rhythms of Italian life and discovering there is a little more reason behind their choices.
I also found out two more interesting factoids. The mountains behind us were all "skinned" not too long ago. It was farmland, but when the farms weren't being productive, they turned the mountain back to itself and it became forested.
I can see the beautiful town lights of Mezzamonte from my bedroom (well, in the winter). I met someone who grew up in this town and he told me the true story (and not the American version). During WWII, the Nazi's were getting raided by a group of people whose name starts with a "P." They would bomb the Nazi's in the flatlands, then run into the mountains. The Nazi's thought the town of Mezzamonte was hiding the people so they went to the town and gathered the people up (Including this friends parents) and took them the cemetery. They had their truck full of guns to execute them, but a lone captain came forward and said that "these people had nothing to do with the group and weren't hiding them." The Nazi's released the people. This event is frescoed on the ceiling of the church. I can't wait to go see it.
As I said, yesterday it did stop raining. We were over at Amy's as the girls didn't go to school. Gabby had slammed her fingers in the car door and Jacqueline didn't want to go to school w/o Gabby. Of course, this has to happen as we are leaving. Jacqueline takes her final run around the house and slams into an open shutter. Their son was a hero yelling for us. She came around the corner bleeding from her head profusely. I just stopped as it looked horrible. Luckily, Amy has been through this a time or two, including the previous day, so she gave me good direction. I seriously got down on my knees for a long time last night thanking God that this happened at her house b/c she called one of their friends who came over to look at it (his daughter went to school with Jacqueline). He took her up to the hospital on base and stitched her up. She was so brave. I would have had to have driven her to Pordenone ER and waited for who knows how long and had to wait for a translator. Plus they wouldn't have stitched it up as well as he did. He was very concerned about it leaving a scar. Guess who gets to take them out? Yes, me.
The poppies are blooming and the tulips are slowly returning back to earth. Irises are everywhere. Spring is beautiful. I will become a convert here and say spring is my favorite season.
Friday, 11 April 2008
Rainy weather, gardening and fun
We haven't had the Internet for 10 days, and I was in serious withdrawal. So much has happened and spring has finally sprung here (still with much rain). And no, I still don't speak Italian.
Highlights:
Jacqueline turned 4!!!! I use to pretend cry when she was 3 saying, "you'll be 4 soon." She would say in return, "but I'm not 4 yet so you can't cry." Well, I did my pretend cry the other day about her turning 4, and she said to me, "it's okay, you can cry all you want now."
My college roommate and dear friend, Jennifer, and her husband and 8 yr.-old came to visit for a week. I hate to tell everyone this, but they have set the bar for visitors insurmountably high. Terrific guests - Drew did the majority of the cooking, they learned the important Italian words, game for anything, loads of fun and my house was so much cleaner than it has been, and much much more. We had a ball and discovered a few gems around here. And Drew, remember it's Grappa not Groppo (which is what Italian men do to women). I'll drink a sgropino and think of our visit and your eventual return. They (Jennifer and Drew and Benjamin) will tell you that you are missing out on not coming (and don't fly into Milan and don't bring travelers checks).
The Easter Bunny here doesn't bring toys per se, he brings big chocolate eggs filled with toys. The chocolate was incredible and the eggs so beautiful.
We went to Lake Garda last weekend for JD's birthday. We take her to an amusement park for her birthday so this time it was Gardaland! I have never walked right into an amusement park, but we did this time and on a Saturday too! It was nice and clean, but my heart still belongs to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. Next year, we may head to Legoland. We certainly enjoyed a terrific dinner at Lake Garda and tasting the Bardolino wine.
My g'friend is leaving soon, and has depleted her wine cellar, so we went wine tasting on Wednesday in the Collio region of Italy (an hour from here on the Slovenian border) to replenish it. It was a fabulous day with some terrific wine! I did Prosecco road with Jennifer and Drew, which was just beautiful. One of the cantinas/wineries this old Italian woman, straight out of the movies was there assisting us. She took care of Benjamin, giving him juice and crackers then, of course, she had to pinch his cheeks. It was so quintessential Italy.
Oh, and when we went to Prosecco Road, in the Veneto region, their culinary specialty is horse. Yes, we all had a bite of horse for lunch. It was okay, a bit tough. Drew's cheese that was made at the restaurant was spectacular as was the risotto with white asparagus. Wednesday, Amy and I picked up white asparagus that had been picked 2 hours previously. I cooked it that night and it was delish!
I met another neighbor this week. Angelo lives near me and has a terrific vegetable garden. We spoke of the delights of minestrone. The next day, he came over with incredible veggies to make minestrone with! He is 75 and spoke English better than I speak Italian! The men here dress so dapper. Angelo was wearing a hat like my g'father wore with a nice shirt, sweater and pants. You rarely see men in jeans or tennis shoes.
My landlord came over the other day to trim the trees. We had a big pantomime act going on b/c the Italians just lop off the trees on top, on the side, and down below. Sometimes, they don't even resemble trees after this massacre. Can you tell I have a thing about trees? I didn't want him to trim too much as a) it looks bad, in my opinion and b) Julia is very fair skinned so I'd like some shade. I "won" on some of the trees, but not the others. He did, however, plant 5 rose bushes!
Oh, and my funny story of the month is that I made cupcakes for Jacqueline's class the day of her birthday. I put them in the front seat of the car. Now, I am not a baker and this is not my thing, but we as moms make certain sacrifices for the love of our children. As I was saying, I put them in my front seat. Well, Jacqueline is so excited to see Gabby on her birthday that she unbuckles herself and climbs into the seat and proceeds to sit on the cupcakes. Gabby's Mom, who has a wonderful Southern accent, asks me if they are salvageable. As my eyes are turning red, I open the door, and she says, "Oh my, I guess not," since the pan is totally demolished. I had to laugh all the way to school b/c of the way it was said in her accent. I gave them to her class anyway, but didn't know how to tell the teacher that Jacqueline sat on them. Probably a good thing.
Highlights:
Jacqueline turned 4!!!! I use to pretend cry when she was 3 saying, "you'll be 4 soon." She would say in return, "but I'm not 4 yet so you can't cry." Well, I did my pretend cry the other day about her turning 4, and she said to me, "it's okay, you can cry all you want now."
My college roommate and dear friend, Jennifer, and her husband and 8 yr.-old came to visit for a week. I hate to tell everyone this, but they have set the bar for visitors insurmountably high. Terrific guests - Drew did the majority of the cooking, they learned the important Italian words, game for anything, loads of fun and my house was so much cleaner than it has been, and much much more. We had a ball and discovered a few gems around here. And Drew, remember it's Grappa not Groppo (which is what Italian men do to women). I'll drink a sgropino and think of our visit and your eventual return. They (Jennifer and Drew and Benjamin) will tell you that you are missing out on not coming (and don't fly into Milan and don't bring travelers checks).
The Easter Bunny here doesn't bring toys per se, he brings big chocolate eggs filled with toys. The chocolate was incredible and the eggs so beautiful.
We went to Lake Garda last weekend for JD's birthday. We take her to an amusement park for her birthday so this time it was Gardaland! I have never walked right into an amusement park, but we did this time and on a Saturday too! It was nice and clean, but my heart still belongs to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. Next year, we may head to Legoland. We certainly enjoyed a terrific dinner at Lake Garda and tasting the Bardolino wine.
My g'friend is leaving soon, and has depleted her wine cellar, so we went wine tasting on Wednesday in the Collio region of Italy (an hour from here on the Slovenian border) to replenish it. It was a fabulous day with some terrific wine! I did Prosecco road with Jennifer and Drew, which was just beautiful. One of the cantinas/wineries this old Italian woman, straight out of the movies was there assisting us. She took care of Benjamin, giving him juice and crackers then, of course, she had to pinch his cheeks. It was so quintessential Italy.
Oh, and when we went to Prosecco Road, in the Veneto region, their culinary specialty is horse. Yes, we all had a bite of horse for lunch. It was okay, a bit tough. Drew's cheese that was made at the restaurant was spectacular as was the risotto with white asparagus. Wednesday, Amy and I picked up white asparagus that had been picked 2 hours previously. I cooked it that night and it was delish!
I met another neighbor this week. Angelo lives near me and has a terrific vegetable garden. We spoke of the delights of minestrone. The next day, he came over with incredible veggies to make minestrone with! He is 75 and spoke English better than I speak Italian! The men here dress so dapper. Angelo was wearing a hat like my g'father wore with a nice shirt, sweater and pants. You rarely see men in jeans or tennis shoes.
My landlord came over the other day to trim the trees. We had a big pantomime act going on b/c the Italians just lop off the trees on top, on the side, and down below. Sometimes, they don't even resemble trees after this massacre. Can you tell I have a thing about trees? I didn't want him to trim too much as a) it looks bad, in my opinion and b) Julia is very fair skinned so I'd like some shade. I "won" on some of the trees, but not the others. He did, however, plant 5 rose bushes!
Oh, and my funny story of the month is that I made cupcakes for Jacqueline's class the day of her birthday. I put them in the front seat of the car. Now, I am not a baker and this is not my thing, but we as moms make certain sacrifices for the love of our children. As I was saying, I put them in my front seat. Well, Jacqueline is so excited to see Gabby on her birthday that she unbuckles herself and climbs into the seat and proceeds to sit on the cupcakes. Gabby's Mom, who has a wonderful Southern accent, asks me if they are salvageable. As my eyes are turning red, I open the door, and she says, "Oh my, I guess not," since the pan is totally demolished. I had to laugh all the way to school b/c of the way it was said in her accent. I gave them to her class anyway, but didn't know how to tell the teacher that Jacqueline sat on them. Probably a good thing.
Saturday, 15 March 2008
Flower show
Last Sunday, Jacqueline and I went to the Pordenone flower show. It was just like a home and garden show back in the states. She had to dress the part including flowery underwear! Thankfully, you won't be seeing that. Note the flower shirt, flower coat, flower shoes and flower skirt!
She sat on tractors, looked in motorhomes, had a butterfly land on her and we got shoved around a bit (the Italians don't like lines). We purchased a lemon tree, some strawberry bushes and a basket.
Yesterday, one of my girlfriends who is leaving this summer took me a on a field trip. We went to a bunch of stores and saw a terrific artist who paints easter egg ornaments and the like. Easter Egg trees are big here. I now have one, thanks to another friend. My other girlfriends took me to a store in Sacile that will stuff a big chocolate easter egg for you! Yum and fun all at the same time.
We also had a fabulous lunch by a stream. The rosemary bread was fresh and tasted just like rosemary bread should (we also had good cheese and eggplant on the sandwich along with a bottle of prosecco). Yummmm.
Friday, 7 March 2008
Friday - snow
The day after our beautiful day on Monday, it snowed. I was out trimming the roses lamenting that the snow on the mountains was gone.
I went to Italian the next morning then to a friend's house. I was only in there 2 hours and when I walked outside it had dropped 10 degrees and it was snowing about 3/4 the way down the mountain. I was just in disbelief and hadn't dressed the kids accordingly. This is what happens when you don't have the weather channel.
Yesterday, my girlfriend Cheryl, who speaks fluent Italian, took me to the big supermercato (grocery store) to show and tell me what to buy. Let's just say at the end of my shopping trip, I had 151 euros worth of groceries in my cart! Julia, pictured above, is enjoying the Nutella, which is available is the states. If you haven't had it, get it. Today. Like Bridget, another friend says, it is like crack for chocoholics. It is made in all sorts of containers here for portability.
My girlfriend Amy came over today and really helped make my house a home. I am going to miss her when she leaves this summer (as many of my terrific friends are). We drank Prosecco and hung pictures - kind of dangerous, but they look straight and no one was injured.
The other day my neighbor's dog got out. He is such a sweetie, but has a really big bark. I was yelling at him to go home etc. for at least 5 minutes then I realized, I was yelling at him in English. Ummm...yeah... he's an Italian dog like that was going to work. I really hope none of my neighbors saw this.
The same night I had taken Jacqueline's headband (hot pink and orange) from her, but I had no where to put it but on my head. Yes, I went around talking to people the rest of this night with the headband on my head.
Where is that Prosecco?
I went to Italian the next morning then to a friend's house. I was only in there 2 hours and when I walked outside it had dropped 10 degrees and it was snowing about 3/4 the way down the mountain. I was just in disbelief and hadn't dressed the kids accordingly. This is what happens when you don't have the weather channel.
Yesterday, my girlfriend Cheryl, who speaks fluent Italian, took me to the big supermercato (grocery store) to show and tell me what to buy. Let's just say at the end of my shopping trip, I had 151 euros worth of groceries in my cart! Julia, pictured above, is enjoying the Nutella, which is available is the states. If you haven't had it, get it. Today. Like Bridget, another friend says, it is like crack for chocoholics. It is made in all sorts of containers here for portability.
My girlfriend Amy came over today and really helped make my house a home. I am going to miss her when she leaves this summer (as many of my terrific friends are). We drank Prosecco and hung pictures - kind of dangerous, but they look straight and no one was injured.
The other day my neighbor's dog got out. He is such a sweetie, but has a really big bark. I was yelling at him to go home etc. for at least 5 minutes then I realized, I was yelling at him in English. Ummm...yeah... he's an Italian dog like that was going to work. I really hope none of my neighbors saw this.
The same night I had taken Jacqueline's headband (hot pink and orange) from her, but I had no where to put it but on my head. Yes, I went around talking to people the rest of this night with the headband on my head.
Where is that Prosecco?
Monday, 3 March 2008
Nothing much - again
It is finally sunny and about 60 degrees! I trimmed my roses today and I've been cleaning out the garage. We've truly been in a fog here for two weeks along with some drizzle. My neighbor told me today that it is suppose to rain tomorrow and get cold (I thankfully understood it - whew!). Well, I'm glad we took the girls to the playground yesterday.
Julia is loving reading. She woke up this morning and did the sign for books and pointed to her shelf. I love love love that is all she wants to do. It's terribly pathetic as she crawls around the house with a book in her hand looking for someone to read it to her. Awww.
Jacqueline has announced that she will never kiss a boy because it is too slobbery. Michael was glad about this pronouncement. She is wrapped up with turning 4 this month. Jacqueline and I love pulling over at the flight line and watch the planes take-off. Last week, we watch a plane take off full of men and women going downrange.
She wears her princess dress G'ma Cercone gave her everywhere. It's now ripped so I must become a seamstress so the princess can wear it again. It's pretty funny watching the Italian's expressions when she goes everywhere (including the pizzeria) in this dress and tiara with matching shoes, of course.
We had a welcome home party for two people in Michael's office who just came back from Iraq. Please remember those who are serving - I can't even begin to tell you how hard it is. Both of these terrific people have kiddos they left behind for four months.
I'm signing up for ItalianIII. I have no reason why I should be doing this since 1/2 the time I can't remember how to ask "How much does this cost?" or I speak in French. Still tutoring, but I must try since I live here and Jacqueline will be fluent soon enough.
Julia is loving reading. She woke up this morning and did the sign for books and pointed to her shelf. I love love love that is all she wants to do. It's terribly pathetic as she crawls around the house with a book in her hand looking for someone to read it to her. Awww.
Jacqueline has announced that she will never kiss a boy because it is too slobbery. Michael was glad about this pronouncement. She is wrapped up with turning 4 this month. Jacqueline and I love pulling over at the flight line and watch the planes take-off. Last week, we watch a plane take off full of men and women going downrange.
She wears her princess dress G'ma Cercone gave her everywhere. It's now ripped so I must become a seamstress so the princess can wear it again. It's pretty funny watching the Italian's expressions when she goes everywhere (including the pizzeria) in this dress and tiara with matching shoes, of course.
We had a welcome home party for two people in Michael's office who just came back from Iraq. Please remember those who are serving - I can't even begin to tell you how hard it is. Both of these terrific people have kiddos they left behind for four months.
I'm signing up for ItalianIII. I have no reason why I should be doing this since 1/2 the time I can't remember how to ask "How much does this cost?" or I speak in French. Still tutoring, but I must try since I live here and Jacqueline will be fluent soon enough.
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