TV TAX, ETC
I found out a couple of things...#1, you CAN pay your TV tax at the post office, which I did yesterday. I also tried to recharge my Postal phone card, but of course Fabio couldn't seem to get it to work. Is it me, or him? Or am I just unlucky? Every time I go into that office I seem to be there three times longer than is necessary, all because there's some unexpected problem, and of course he can't seem to explain it to me in simple, basic Italian....he has to go on and on and on, and I usually have no clue. I THINK we were in agreemnt yesterday that yes, the card is SUPPOSED to be rechargeable, but for whatever reason, it wouldn't work. So I just bought another card...with a different PIN, of course, and I'll try to recharge the card another day.
I also discovered that the TV tax is supposed to help fund the "public television" channels, but apparently there has been a lot of discussion about this...seems the public channels used to have fewer commercials, but now there are more and more commercials, and people are getting upset. And these channels aren't the ones owned by Berlusconi. He'll find other ways to stay rich, I'm sure.
And in desparation, we asked Wendy how she buys her airfare when she goes to the states, and she told us about her friend who is a travel agent, and this travel agent got us round trip tickets, Rome to Louisville, for 415 Euro!!! We were practically dancing around the house! Even with a bad exchange rate, this is MUCH less than we expected to pay! So my advice is: call a travel agent for a good deal!
ODDS AND ENDS
First a few odds and ends before I start into the details of the “Grease” dinner dance….
It’s been raining a lot here lately. I don’t know much about the situation, but I do know there was a drought here last summer, so from that aspect, I’m happy to see it. Of course the cloudy, gloomy days are hard to take, just like they were in Kentucky. But, I keep telling myself that all this rain must mean that spring is just around the corner. Keep repeating to self…“spring is just around the corner, spring is just around the corner…”
For the last two days our water has been brown, and the water pressure has been very low. Apparently this is common when we have a lot of rain, I just haven’t quite figured out why. Since we don’t drink the water because of all the salt necessary to soften it, we did have plenty of water on hand for drinking, making coffee, and brushing our teeth. And luckily we also had enough pressure to flush the toilets, so that I didn’t have to use bottled water for that. I did have a load of clothes waiting to be washed, but that was nothing urgent.
This afternoon when we returned home from school, the pressure was back to normal, and the water looked normal, i.e., clear. Our neighbor had told us that the situation might go on for a few days, so we were glad to see things return to normal so quickly. I washed a load of clothes, but when I filled a pot with water to boil for pasta, it seemed to have a film on top, so for now, I’m still using bottled water for anything that goes into my mouth!
My other news is that I have a new hairdresser. Art plans to try one of the barber shops here in San Venanzo, but I was hesitant for myself. I decided to ask one of my teachers at school what she thought. In my best, albeit broken, Italian, I told her that we lived in a very small town, and although we have three beauty shops, I was afraid that they would only do “old lady” hair. And, good news, bad news: she agreed with me. The good news part of this is that her parents live in or close to Marsciano, and she was able to recommend someone for me to try. “Valter”, she told me…spelled Walter, but pronounced Valter. She told me where he was located…just around the corner from the Coop, the hardware store, etc…right in the center of town. Great!
I had made an appointment at the Jean Louis David place in Marsciano, but decided to try Walter instead. I needed a haircut, and wanted to have it done before the party on Saturday night. As we were cruising through Marsciano past Walter’s shop the other day, it looked pretty slow in there, so I decided to see if he could cut my hair right then and there…and he said yes!
The shop was unusual, in that Walter was the only one working. There were four stations, but whether or not anyone else works for him, I don’t know. There was a girl, Nicoletta, who was helping Walter with the lady who was before me. And the good news…Walter uses scissors!!! I was afraid that it was normal in Italy to use only the electric clippers like they used at Jean Louis David. Apparently not. Anyway, Nicoletta was handing Walter the brush, the blow drier, etc, as he was working on this woman’s hair. Now this makes some sense if you understand that most Italian women have the thickest, longest, curliest hair you have ever seen. I can’t imagine how long it must take some of them to dry their hair! So, in order to expedite the process, Nicoletta was definitely a plus. For me, I didn’t think she would be necessary!
My hair is short in self defense. It’s fine, has no body, no curl, no wave. It’s fairly thin, and I have absolutely zero talent in fixing it. For me, the shorter the better…before I had my face lift I used to say I would just as soon shave my head, but now that’s not even an option. So…a good haircut is VERY important.
As I sat there waiting, I began to think…Here’s Walter, obviously the owner of this shop, and he has a girl who hands him his brushes, for crying out loud! How much is this going to cost me? Should I say I just remembered a previous appointment and run out the door? Or should I just suck it up this one time, and plan to never return? But wait a minute…Roberta recommended Walter to me…she goes to him…she’s a teacher, and I know she buys her clothes at the consignment shop, so…maybe it will be okay.
Once it’s my turn, I explain in my terrible Italian to both of them that Roberta sent me, that she’s my teacher...oh wait…my terrible Italian might be taken as a reflection of her teaching skills…gosh, I hope not! And Walter cuts my hair VERY short, and when he’s finished, it looks great. And then, I wait for the bill, and it’s 23 euro, which is LESS than the chain salon. I’ve found my guy!
The TV Tax bill arrived the other day. We had heard that they only ones who pay it are the expats. So…should we pay it or ignore it? This bill is generated when you buy a TV…apparently the electronics stores are the stooges of the government and supply the names and addresses of everyone who buys a TV…what a crappy set up! Anyway, we knew the bill would arrive eventually, and we knew it would be 100 Euro for one year. Can’t you say it broke after a y ear or two and stop paying? If you have satellite TV, they probably track you too…I think all these companies are owned by Berlusconi, and he probably has some way to siphon off the tax money, making him even richer (and more corrupt)!
Okay, so we start asking around,,,to pay or not to pay? After all, it’s only 100 Euro. But then what have you opened yourself up for…years of being chained to a tax that could go up…way up, I mean, who knows? Maybe TV tax will be like cigaret tax and eventually be more than the cost of the actual product. Anyway, I guess we’re going to go ahead and pay it, trying to be the good citizens, as if that will carry any weight should we have some other type of “official” problems. Well, let’s just hope that never happens. But next week I guess we’ll go to the Tabacchi store and pay it…unless we find out that it can be paid at the Post Office.
Okay, I think that’s all…now I can start to write about the Grease dinner!
GREASE IS THE WORD…or, NOW WE KNOW WHERE MARGE SIMPSON LIVES
Last night was the dinner/dance in San Venanzo. Because Lent starts next week, this week is Carnivale. Not just in New Orleans, not just in Rio, not just in Venice, but in most small towns throughout Italy, Carnivale is celebrated in some form. Several weeks ago we noticed that the stores were filled with costumes for kids, just like we see in the states before Halloween. We saw lots of princess costumes, and outfits for American Indians. Super Heroes are popular in Italy too, so we saw Spiderman and Batman. Basically, the same sort of assorted characters you would see in the states, except these costumes are a bit more elaborate, more on the order of “dress up” costumes, not the cheap Halloween crap you usually see.
As Mauro had told us, the theme of this dance was Grease. So, Art put on a white tee shirt, blue jeans, and penny loafers with white socks. His leather jacket completed the ensemble, except for the pack of cigarets he was going to roll up in his sleeve. We had invited Wendy and her friend to come with us, and Wendy was bringing an extra pack of cigarets for Art. I didn’t want to be cold, so I wore a long sleeved hot pink shirt underneath my white button down shirt. I rolled up my blue jeans, wore white socks and white tennis shoes, then turned up my collar and added my leather jacket. That was it…we were as close to “costume” as we were going to get!
We had been told that the dinner started at eight, but since this is Italy, and since the dinner was a buffet, we weren’t in any hurry. I guess we got there about 8:45 or so. There were quite a few people in the main hall. The stage (bandstand) was at one end and the food at the other. In between, there was a space for dancing, then two long rows of tables. Most of the people there had finished eating, and were just talking and watching the kids play.
Every kid there was in costume of some sort, even the babies. We had witches and fairy princesses. We had super heroes and ninjas. We had hunters, and Zorro and Minnie Mouse. We had hula girls and more guys in drag than would seem normal for a town our size! Robin Hood was there, and an American Indian. Sylvester the Cat. Sleeping Beauty. But…most of the adults seemed to be dressed in street clothes…hmmm.
The dinner itself was fabulous. One long table filled with lots and lots of things that I will never know the names of! More meats and sausages than a butcher shop...but then we later found out that the butcher and his wife were the ones who prepared the food! Pasta with cream sauce, pasta with tomato sauce. Porchetta…a whole roasted pig…one of our all time favorites! And breads with different toppings, and cheeses. And more breads. More cheeses. More meats! I tried to keep my plate small so that when I walked past everyone, they wouldn’t think I was an American pig! But after all, I wanted to try everything, and it was WAY past my (American) dinnertime!
There were more tables set up in the entry hall, and we decided to eat in there. All the tables had bottles of wine, bottles of water, and cups on them. The wine was available in red or white, and the water was naturale or with gas. Caffe was available for after dinner. Nice set up! And, best of all, our table was near the table with the extra wine, water AND the desserts! Italian Cream Cake is wonderful, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in Italy. Italians aren’t big on desserts, or sweets in general. A lot of the pastries/biscuits/cookies are dry, except of course for the ones that are make of the phyllo dough! The tiramisu is always wonderful, but I would REALLY rather have chocolate WITHOUT coffee!!! Oh well, the dessert we had was some sort of fried dough, not bad, dusted with sugar…it was sweet and it was fried, so for us it worked!
After another trip (or two) back to the food table, we heard the band start up. The kids were playing around, running and sliding on the confetti that had been tossed all around. The other three had after dinner coffee, and while we talked, we were all sort of wondering what would happen….so far it seemed pretty quiet. We hadn’t seen anyone we knew, not even Mauro. But, we did know that it was possible to buy a ticket for the dance only, and by Italian standards, the night was still very young.
And then it happened…Mauro and his friends arrived. All twenty three of them. All dressed in their best Grease attire…men with painted on sideburns, tee shirts, rolled up blue jeans. The women had scarves tied around their necks, with matching headbands. They had white blouses and full, bias cut skirts that matched their scarves. And of course matching tennis shoes with white socks. Some of the men where dressed as women, complete with wigs. Some of the women where dressed like men…the macho “biker” look. And they lined up in the large entry hall where we were sitting, two by two, each with an unlit cigaret in their hand. The band started to play something from “Grease”, I don’t even know what, and the group made a grand entrance. They “performed” to several numbers, while most of us watched in amazement. The party had definitely begun!!!
We later found out that Mauro and his wife take dance lessons once a week, in San Venanzo, and that this was the dance class. Apparently they’re the ones who decided on the “Grease” theme to begin with, and they had learned a LOT of line dances for the songs of this period! Watching them was a blast…they were having so much fun, especially the men who were dressed as women! It was obvious who the teachers of the class were…the cute young couple who looked like stand-ins for John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John! While the group was dancing, the kids were joining in, running through the tunnel created by the up-reaching hands of the adults! The change in the atmosphere was amazing!
The band consisted of two people and I’m guessing a karaoke machine. The man was pretty hyper, and the girl just sang back up. They did a good job of keeping the energy level up, and we danced to songs in Italian as well as “I Will Survive”, “Saturday Night Fever”, and of course, “YMCA”! The dance group seemed to know tons of line dances, something I was never any good at, and it was so much fun to watch them.
Of course we did our share of dancing too…it’s been quite a while since Art and I have danced! When we weren’t dancing, I was taking pictures…a lot of them didn’t turn out because I was clicking faster than the flash could recharge! I did manage to get some good shots, and with the help of Photoshop, I made a CD-Rom, actually two; one for me and one for Mauro.
As the evening went on, we started seeing other people we knew…Elvio, our electrician was there, and we found out that the adorable little Zorro we had been watching all night was his son! And Fabio, our plumber was there, as well as the man who made our garden door. And we even saw a few familiar faces from around the neighborhood!
The party started to slow down as the kids ran out of gas. Two by two, we would see couples leaving with sleeping or very tired children in their arms. And about 1 am, we decided to leave too. I had thought the band was playing its last song several times. When they actually stopped, I don’t know. We walked back to the house in a light rain, had a digestivo (the olive liqueur we bought at Christmas time), and went to bed! We set the alarm so we didn’t sleep until noon! And we just kept saying to each other what a fun night it had been, and how glad we were that we had decided to go!
On Tuesday afternoon when Art started to tell Gioberto about the party, Gioberto said, yes, he had heard we were dancing! Guess there are no secrets in this town! Gioberto wasn’t there because he went out of town, and his brother doesn’t live in San Venanzo, so that’s why he wasn’t there. We took the CD-Rom to Mauro’s office and showed the pictures to him and the two guys who work for him. Mauro told us there’s a place in Marsciano where I can have digital prints made…I’m sure it’s much cheaper in the states, but I’ll check it out. Before we go back in April I’ll just put everything onto one CD and have them printed at WalMart…they keep lowering the price…I think it was 24 cents when we were there at Christmas.
On Sunday there was a parade in Marsciano, but we didn’t know about it until it was tool late. We only found out about it when Wendy called to say that she was lost. We thought that was a pretty strange phone call for two reasons: #1, Wendy has lived here for eleven years now, so for her to be lost is pretty unusual, and #2, why would ANYONE call US for directions?!!!! As it turned out, Wendy had to take some detours around Marsciano due to the streets being closed for the parade. She was on the smaller side streets, and amazingly, we had been in the area where she was, and knew a little bit about the area. Whether our directions actually helped her, I’m not sure, but she did eventually arrive in San Venanzo, and told us about the parade. She had come back to get more boxes and bubble wrap from us, since she will be moving soon. What a good deal for both of us! She said her knees were really sore from all the dancing the night before, but that she had really enjoyed the party too.
GREASE was DEFINITELY the WORD! (and now we know where Marge simpson lives!)
Report to follow when I have the time to remember EVERY detail!!! For now, let's just say we had a BLAST!!!!
The dance group performed to songs from "Grease". Our geometra Mauro and his wife go to two different dance classes right here in San Venanzo!
THE SAN VENANZO TOWN DINNER, or, JUST CALL ME OLIVIA!
On Saturday night we’re going to the town dinner and dance. As mentioned previously, Mauro, our geometra, had told us about this event last week, and had said we would need to make reservations down at the macelleria. Art stopped in there the other night to give them our money, but found out they are only taking names, and you pay at the door. He was also told that it cost 20 euro per person!!! Ouch! We thought it was 10 euro, so that means dinner will cost us 40 euro which is, right now, a lot of money for dinner!
After a lot of thought, we both decided that we just HAVE to go. First of all, Mauro practically invited us personally, although he certainly never offered to pay our way. But, we have been living here since September, and haven’t really gotten involved in the community. We don’t go to church on Sunday, and that could certainly be a missed social opportunity. And we haven’t really done a lot of shopping here, just the odd piece of meat, loaf of bread, or kitchen gadget. The purpose of moving to a small-ish town was to get to know the people. This would help us to feel more at home, and also to learn Italian faster. So, now is the time!
When Mauro stopped by again yesterday (they are still trying to figure out how to stop the humidity caused by the hot and cold pipes of the termostifone from seeping through the kitchen wall above the cook top), I thought it was a good opportunity to ask how I should dress. There was always the danger that Mauro would answer in explicit detail and that I wouldn’t understand one single word, but it was a chance I had to take.
So I asked simply, “per la cena a Sabato, per la donna, que vestito?” More or less, “for the dinner on Saturday, for a woman, what should I wear?” And his answer was one word…which is NEVER the case with Mauro! Trouble was, I couldn’t understand the word! Finally, after several repetitions, I got it.…“GREASE”! “GREASE”? For added emphasis, Gioberto told Mauro “John Travolta”. “And I left my poodle skirt in the states!” I muttered to Art! Who’d a believed that our dinner in San Venanzo would be a THEMED event, and with a late 50’s, early 60’s theme?! (When exactly IS “Grease” set? Anyway, Mauro proceeded to say that yes, I could wear jeans, and also “bianco e bianco”, pointing to my feet. Meaning white shoes and white socks. Okay, I can do that! Art has penny loafers, and will do the white socks, penny loafer look. Whether this will seem “retro” to the Italians remains to be seen.
Tomorrow afternoon we have a wine tasting in Perugia, so we’ll just stay in the area. We can get some lunch and maybe stop in Obi to get the brackets I need to hang the two wall hangings we have. We decided to hang a piece from Greece in the living room. The other piece is a quilt my mom made for us to use as a tablecloth on the small kitchen table we had in our previous house. I was so glad I brought some stitch witchery back with me…I made a rod pocket out the fabric I cut off the sheers in the bedroom, and brought an extra café rod, so I can hang it as soon as I get the brackets. The quilt has green in it, and lots of apples, so we decided it would be perfect for the kitchen, but where? Then Art suggested we hang it over, as in to cover, the small wooden door that houses our electric meter, assorted connections and the large key we use to turn off the water when we leave for long periods of time. Perfect! For the few times we need to access this space, we can simply lift up the quilt! The rest of the time, we can enjoy a piece of art that reminds us of my mom.
The wine tasting is organized through the language school…we were afraid it might get cancelled…it required a minimum of eight people, and until two days ago, we only had seven. Luckily, a few new people started in school this week, and we now have nine people signed up. Should fun, and hopefully productive, as long as the wines we like are reasonably priced!
SPRING IS IN THE AIR!
Spring is definitely in the air. Although nothing is blooming yet, fields are being plowed and new plastic is being put on the greenhouses. As with spring in Kentucky, the temperature still has its mood swings, and we are still more cold than warm. The days are mostly cloudy, but when the sun does manage to pop through, it’s much warmer than it has been. The birds are singing like crazy, and the cats are in heat. Spring is definitely in the air!
Last week was our first week back in school. We signed up for three weeks this time, skipping the first week of the month. I feel much more comfortable this time. Of course I am still learning many, many new words and rules, but, this time I don’t feel like the dummy of the class. My class this session includes two sisters from the states, a guy from Libya, a woman from Germany, a girl from Belgium, and a woman about my age who is also living in Italy now. Adding to my comfort level this time is the fact that I have the same teachers as before.
This session is doing a lot of reinforcing of the things I learned last fall. At least this time I have a better grip on the basic verbs essere (to be), and avere (to have). Many of the verbs are used differently in Italian, and this has been my biggest challenge. In Italian, you don’t say you are hungry, you say you have hunger. You don’t take a walk, you make a walk. And the hardest one for me to understand was the word piacere, which means to please. When you meet someone, you say “piacere”, which means, “it’s a pleasure (to meet you)”, more or less. In trying to memorize the conjugation of the verb, I couldn’t understand why “mi piace la bira” was correct, and not “piaco”, the first person conjugation. Then it was explained to me that the beer was doing the action! “The beer, it is pleasing to me.” Okay, now I get it!
And as you can see with the above example, there are many words that are close enough to English to help me along: bira = beer, televisione = television, lampada = lamp, etc. So, it’s a slow process, but I am moving forward. Last fall I felt as if I were going backwards, getting more and more confused as time went on. I wanted to scream “WAIT! I still don’t understand the stuff we had the first day!”, but of course I couldn’t! Now, sometimes I know something that the others don’t. Not that it happens very often, but it does happen once in a while, but when I do know the correct verb, or a word or phrase from before, it boosts my confidence and keeps me from getting as discouraged as I was in the fall.
Once we complete this session, we won’t be able to afford to return until later in the summer. Hopefully living here day to day will keep me from forgetting what I have learned. We plan to return to Kentucky for about three weeks in May, and being gone three weeks instead of six should help too. We try to watch Italian TV, but it really wears you out, trying to understand what they are saying! I pick up odd words here and there, but never understand enough to make any sense of what’s being said.
We have decided to get the Italian satellite TV system, but won’t have that installed until we return from the states in mid May. As an alternative, it’s also possible to get satellite TV from England, but we decided that the cost is just too high. The prices, in English pounds, are as follows: 33-36 per month for the service. 18 per month service fee…this is, I think, to pay for the company to supply you with an address in Britain, which is the only legal way to get this service. And then there is the cost of the converter box, maybe 300, used. And of course the cost for the installation. And I thought there was some sort of annual fee as well, but when we started to do the math, and with the dollar at its weakest ever, we were looking at $90-100 per month! And we won’t even watch that much of it! All Art really wants is CNN, the American version, which he won’t get here anyway, and I would like The Discovery Channel, The Travel Channel and HGTV. But, for now, until we win the lottery, we’ll just have to get our fix of American TV when we’re in America!
I’ll be happy if we can get the TV/DVD/VCR/speakers hooked up and working, and IF we can understand the set up well enough to perform basic operations like watch a DVD or record a program! And then I also have to get my computer hooked up to my printer…man, do I hate not having my printer! Our friends in Atlanta sent us a list of wines to look for, and it would be so nice if I could just print out a copy of that list!!! I’m hoping to find a computer nerd who speaks English and can hook everything up, including my fax line, and can then explain the set-up to me. Right now, we have a dial up modem, but ADSL is supposed to be coming to San Venanzo this summer. Apparently the geometra has requested it…hopefully his name has a little pull, and will ensure that we get it.
On Friday we took two pictures to Marsciano to have them framed. One of the pictures was a Derby poster, and I wanted to have it matted in order to be able to see the entire poster when it was framed. Well, apparently that’s not the way it’s done in Italy…the man told me it would be too expensive, and it was only a poster, so it should be done simply. Since the money aspect was definitely a factor, I agreed to let him frame it as he suggested. Since the poster was free, I felt like I could take a chance. I apologized for not knowing how things were normally done in Italy. When I framed pictures in the states, I usually played around for a while with different mats and different frames. I don’t know if it was just this guy, or if this is normal, but he seemed to expect me to know how I wanted to frame the pictures, with no choices given. And the only mat he offered was white, which was definitely NOT what I would have used. I’m sure they have mats in different colors here. Next time I want something framed, I’ll shop around a bit first…there’s a frame shop in Collestrada, although I’m sure they’re more expensive. There’s also a frame shop across from Gran Casa. At least I can see what my options are before making a final decision.
The other picture that I had framed was a still life in chalk, done by our grandson Nicholas, who is ten. He has a fair amount of talent, although he doesn’t seem very interested in art right now. He was given a scholarship to an art class last year, and this picture was done in that class. I think it will look great in our kitchen, and I was very pleased with the suggestion that was made for framing it…each of the four sides will be a different color…I can’t wait to see the finished product! We pick them up next Saturday.
Speaking of next Saturday, Mauro told us about a dinner and dance that is being held by the commune. It will be held in the building where the city offices are…which is a very old and very elegant villa that used to belong to the people who originally owned all the land in San Venanzo. The ceilings and walls of the rooms we have seen are covered with paintings, so I’m hoping that the hall where the dinner/dance is held will be equally as grand. The cost is twenty euro per couple. We have no idea what will be served, what kind of music will be played…wonder if it will be recorded music, or the town band? And of course, the biggest problem: what to wear? Not jeans, for sure. But, dressy slacks? A skirt? And just how dressy? It’s times like this when I wish my Italian was better! I could ask Mauro’s wife, or the neighbor lady who always says hello.
I guess we’ll survive, one way or another, but we really must attend this function. The whole point of us choosing to live in a small town was so that we could get to know the people. So far, the only people we know are the workers for our house, and of course, the postmaster. Between being in school, shopping, and getting our paperwork in order, we really haven’t had much free time to just hang out in San Venanzo. Art plans to get his hair cut at the local barbershop the next time he needs a trim, and I guess I should take a chance and get my hair cut at one of the two shops for women. For haircuts as well as shopping, it’s usually just been more convenient to do these things in Marsciano or in Collestrada.
When we are in school, we can leave Perugia at 1:10, and head to Collestrada. There we can shop at the IperCoop, which doesn’t close between 1:00 and 3:30 like all the other stores do. We can get all our groceries, as well as basic household stuff there, and the shopping center also has an electronics store we frequent. Most of the clothing shops and other shops are too expensive, but Collestrada also has a “food court” with several restaurants to choose from, including a McDonalds, just in case we need a diet coke! So, this becomes our “one stop shopping” place…by the time we arrive home in San Venanzo, all the shops there are closed for the afternoon “pausa”, and don’t re-open until 3:30 or 4:00. Maybe once we get settled and are here all day, we’ll start to shop in San Venanzo on a more regular basis.
Yesterday we hung a bunch of pictures, and we’ll try to hang some more today…if the drill holds out, of course. I’m having a hard time making some of the final decisions until we get the two pictures back that are being framed. But even with the pictures that are hung, it made a big difference…it made this house feel more like home, a process which is coming along very nicely. So far, we are both very pleased with how things have turned out, and with the furniture we have bought.
Once the cabinet for the television is in place, (in about a month), all we’ll really need is an armadio for our bedroom, and there’s no big rush on that, the clothes that are out of season are just being stored in those vacuum bags and shoved under the bed. Once we have the additional armadio, we won’t have to put quite as much under the bed, and will have room to store the bed linens, blankets, etc.
Another project that still awaits us in the spring is the re-varnishing of all the shutters on the house…something that must be done…they are in terrible shape! We would also like to replace the windows in the kitchen, our bedroom, and the blue bathroom. Right now, those are the ones that need replacing the most, and later, if necessary, we’ll replace the doors and the hall window upstairs. The advantage of replacing all the windows is that we will have insulated glass instead of the single pane we now have…warmer in the winter and cooer in the summer. At some point we would also like to replace our front door…neither one of us like it, but at least it’s in good shape, so for now, it stays.
All the concrete work in the garage has been completed, I think. I guess all we are waiting on now is the arrival of the door. It will be nice to be able to park the car IN the garage instead of outside all the time.
KITCHEN PICTURES
We continue to decorate the kitchen and fine tune. We've started to hang pictures, and that's a long, slow process with these old walls. Art usually has to drill 4 or 5 five holes, starting with a very small bit and slowly working his way up. the reason I'm not doing this job is becuase we (Art) bought a cordless drill, which I think is a total piece of shit. It's a Black and Decker, and was reasonably priced..in fact, the reason Art bought it was because it was on sale for the same price as a corded drill, and he liked the idea of being able to move around with it. But...the stupid thing just can't hold a chrge long enough to hang many pictures, since each picture requires so much drilling. Eventually, I'll buy a "real" dril for me.
Also, we got the estimates for the TV cabinet, and WOW! what a difference. The guys who built our kitchen shelving were 60% MORE than the furniture store, so, we'll be using the furniture store for this piece of furniture. For now, we did take the TV out of the box, simply to get it out of the hall. We have it sitting on the coffee table, and with the antennae hooked up, the picture is pretty good. The bad news is the DVD player we got for one euro when we bought the TV will NOT play our zone 1 DVD's. The only DVD we had before our stuff arrived was one of the Rick Steve's travel videos, and apparently they are zone free. The good news is, the sound system we're looking at has a DVD player built in...this seems to be a pretty standard feature now. anyway, the guy at the furniture store said the cabinet would be ready in thirty days. Until then, a lot of our stuff will have to stay in boxes in the hall or in our bedroom. Since we can't afford to have the armadio for our bedroom made until this summer, that's not a problem.
SHELVING UNITS FOR THE KITCHEN
The three shelving units we had built for the kitchen were delivered yesterday, and the look fabulous! Since we are in school until 1 o'clock, we only have the afternoon to work on stuff now, and last night and today I was busy putting away china, and putting pictureson the shelves. We hung a few more pictures too, but I haven't had the time to take any pictures of the (almost) finished results! We're working on it!
THE CONCERT FOR GEORGE
For Christmas I received a DVD of “The Concert for George”, which was a concert honoring George Harrison. It occurred in November, 2002, and somehow I never got around to buying either the CD or the DVD. Kelly bought it for me, and I need to say BIG thank you to her! We watched it for the first time last night, and it was wonderful! I want to tell you a little about it.
Although I was never a major George fan, I have remained a die-hard Beatles fan for forty years. Tomorrow, February 9, will be the 40th anniversary of their first appearance on Ed Sullivan. Some of you will realize what that means. The world was changed forever on that day…and I do mean the world. Although their impact on music is undeniable and huge, the Beatles changed the way we dressed, the way we looked, and the way we saw the world. As my friend Sherry said the other day, theirs is the only music that can instantly bring a smile to my face, or a tear. No matter how loud the din or soft the music, I can always recognize a Beatles song on the radio, in a passing car, or from a distant window.
For this reason, George Harrison will always hold a special place in my heart. He was the “quiet Beatle”, the baby of the group. When you look at those pictures from the early 60’s, it’s amazing to see how young they all were, but especially George. Barely 21 when they first appeared on Ed Sullivan, he looks so shy and innocent…and so adorably cute. He was one of those spiritual people who managed to be spiritual without being annoyingly in your face about it. He lived a good and simple life, was never very comfortable in the spotlight, and described himself as “just a gardener.”
The DVD of the tribute concert, organized by Eric Clapton, is a two disc set. Disc One contains the complete concert, straight through…about 2 ½ hours. Disc Two contains an edited version of the concert, and bonus material…interviews, rehearsals, and photos. Last night we watched Disc Two first, because I wanted to see as many different things as possible. I love rehearsals and out-takes better than the finished product, and really wanted to see those as well as the concert it self.
Performing at this concert are people whose names are household words among my generation, and in the music world. Clapton, McCartney, Starr, Tom Petty, Jim Keltner, Ray Cooper, Klaus Voorman, Jeff Lynne, Billy Preston, Ravi Shankar. What a lineup!
The concert begins with a song that Ravi Shankar composed especially for the occasion. George loved the sitar, and first played it on “Norwegian Wood” with the Beatles. The added benefit of watching Disc Two first was that we learned a little about Eastern music, and the difference between it and Western music. The difficulties of having both cultures perform within the same piece were quite interesting. Violins and cellos, as well as guitars played along with the traditional Eastern instruments such as the sitar…I have no idea what any of the other instruments are called. Luckily for me, I LOVE sitar music. The odd rhythms and strange sounds are hypnotic and beautiful. This piece was a perfect melding of the two cultures.
Part Two of the concert began with Monty Python. I LOVE Monty Python, especially Eric Idle. Their weird, warped, and very British sense of humor is just my cup of tea. Their first song, “(Sit on my face and) Tell Me That You Love Me” is Python at its best…until the end, when it gets even better! And then they perform “The Lumberjack Song”… I had no idea how much I missed Monty Python until now!
After that, I think all the songs are “George” songs, with the exception of “Honey Don’t” by Carl Perkins. “Taxman”, “If I Needed Someone”, “Here Comes the Sun” and “Something” are some of his earlier, songs. Each brought back special memories for me, and each artist seemed to have a very personal connection to the song. In the interviews, the artists all talked about wanting to honor George, and how important it was to make each song special. I think they succeeded.
I think the most amazing song of the show was “Isn’t It a Pity”…it was just a very emotional and touching rendition, yet full of energy and life. Jules Holland did a fantastic job with “Horse to the Water”, and Paul’s version of “Something” on the ukulele was quite touching, and his emotions were very much on his sleeve.
As an added bonus to this great lineup of talent, George’s son Dhani also plays guitar throughout the concert, and his resemblance to his dad is amazing. He has the same shy look that George had on the Ed Sullivan Show that first time. Disc Two features several comments by Dhani, and he seems to be an intelligent, talented man. I started to say “boy”, but I think that would be unfair to Dhani…he’s only a “boy” because I’m old enough to be his mother!
Art and I were both just blown away by this concert. Maybe the energy and love that went into it had something to do with it, but for whatever reason, this is just one great concert. If you don’t know much about George Harrison, this concert would be the perfect introduction. And if you’re already familiar with George’s work, and maybe haven’t listened to his stuff for a while, I highly recommend this concert for you too…my guess is that you’ll have your old Beatles or Harrison albums back out of retirement in no time!
NEW KITCHEN SHELVES AND A DESIGN FOR THE LIVING ROOM
We stopped at the furniture place in Marsciano the other day to see when our kitchen shelves would be ready. We had discussed the design with them in December before we left for the states. At that time we asked if they wanted a deposit, but were told no. Since they knew we were going to the states for six weeks, I figured they wouldn’t start work on the cabinets until we returned, and that we would probably need to make a deposit then.
We stopped by to let them know we were back a day or two after our return, but were again told no deposit was necessary. Since the two brothers speak only Italian, we kept our conversation to a minimum, and in our rush forgot to ask when the shelves would be ready. This is why we decided to stop in the other day. It had been two weeks since our return, and we really weren’t expecting the shelves to be ready, but thought that by now they would have some idea of a due date.
The brother in the store didn’t know the answer to our question, so he called the factory to ask his brother. When we were told the cabinets would be delivered next Monday, we were both amazed! Either they did start on the shelves before we returned or they work very fast!
Earlier in the day we had been to see the fabbro, the iron maker. We dropped off the barrel and the iron band that Gioberto had given us, and then asked if he could make us a wine rack. He told us we could buy one already make, but we told him we couldn’t find anything we liked, and that everything we had seen so far was in wood. My son and his wife had an iron wine rack made while they lived in Formia, and it was beautiful. Since we have a few iron accents in our kitchen (overhead light and stair railing) we thought this would tie in nicely.
The fabbro said that he could make us one, but that he wouldn’t be able to get to it for a while because he was so busy. He told us we would need to supply our measurements, and suggested that we look around, and if we didn’t find anything, to come back. We assured him that we would, and thanked him for his time.
We still need to talk to Gioberto about finding another iron ring, since the one he found for us is not large enough to make the two new ones we need. The fabbro said that the barrel would be ready much sooner if we could supply a pre-hammered, already round piece of iron. This way he wouldn’t have to take the time to beat the iron round and tapered. This would also make the cost less, I guess.
As luck would have it, that same afternoon, while leaving the furniture store in Marsciano, I spotted a wine rack, but of course it was in wood. But, it was VERY attractive, and I showed it to Art. He liked it too, and we asked if the had any other designs. Yes, they did! The first one we saw held 16 bottles of wine. They also made a larger rack that held 30 bottles and a smaller one that held 12. Art immediately wanted the 30 bottle rack. I, being the frugal, practical one, said “There’s no way we need to have 30 bottles of wine!” Of course Art thought that more was better…after all, he IS a man.
Anyway, we decided to think about it, and while the guy was writing down the measurements of all three, we took another look at the first rack. I like the fact that the top had a more finished look…it had picture frame moulding around the top, which gave it a dressed up look. When the man handed us the measurements, he showed us WHY the top had the moulding…it was a lift off tray! Nice touch. Okay, well take that one!
Now all we have to do is decide where to put it. Originally our idea was to sit it in the pantry, in the corner that is visible from the kitchen. That way, we would see something that was attractive, the wine would be in a cooler, darker place, and it would be out of the way. Now, because it’s so cool looking, Art is campaigning to put it next to the oven, directly in the kitchen. He thinks it’s too nice to hide away. I’m still thinking it would be better in the pantry…but I don’t really know what I want to put next to the oven. We saw a small baker’s rack made out of wrought iron in Emmelunga, but thought it was too expensive. We both thought the baker’s rack would look good next to the oven. But…I’m just not sure what I want to do yet! Some decisions come easily, other just take longer. I just can’t rush myself. For now, once we get the wine rack, we can try it in both places and live with it for a while.
And here are a few pictures of the living room in progress. At first my idea was to put the entertainment center on the wall where the couch now sits. I wanted to float the couch, with it facing the entertainment center, and have room to walk behind it. That way, I planned to put my desk with computer on the short wall to the left of the outside window/door. (It looks like a door, but is really a full length window.
Since my computer is a laptop, the space I need for it is minimal. The problem is that my all-in-one printer/scanner/fax needs a certain amount of room. This presents a problem. We are still discussing the merits, or lack thereof, for my plan. Art hates the idea of the couch “in the middle of the room.” He says it makes the room look to small and feel too crowded. He may have a point. My main objective was to have a separate “office” area and a separate “living room area”. With my plan, you wouldn’t even see the desk when you were sitting on the couch. It’s a good plan, but one that just may not be right for this particular room. I hate it when that happens!
We are going to another furniture store this weekend to talk with someone about designing us a combined entertainment/work center. We want to see if we can incorporate the all-in-one and the laptop into the same unit. The store we are going to had a really cool computer desk advertised, and we got to see it in person when we went to the Expo Ragallo at Christmas time. Basically it looks like a piece of furniture. It’s tall, like a dresser, and has a drop down section the middle, which is where the monitor and keyboard sit. The bottom section, which looks like two large drawers, is really a great idea. The drawers are false fronts, and inside this area is one large compartment that slides out, to the left or to the right….it’s basically a large slide out tray for your printer! The unit we saw also had the same type of sliding tray at the top, with a smaller area for a separate scanner. We are hoping that these people can give us some good ideas of how to maximize our space, and have it look attractive.
Maximizing our space is a top priority. Although I got rid of a LOT of stuff, I still have a lot to display. I have many, many books, lots of family pictures, and many, many knick-knacks. I may end up having to buy some shelves for the walls, but that will be later on. For now, I just want to be able to unpack all the boxes and have a place for everything. BTW, if anyone is traveling through Umbria, we have LOTS of large cardboard boxes, and plenty of bubble wrap and foam peanuts. Since we aren’t that far away from Deruta, which is a BIG ceramics center, I thought maybe I could set up a roadside stand this summer to sell some of this packing material! After all I spent on these packing materials, I hate the thought of just throwing it away. So, if you’re ever in the area and need packing material, give us a call.
THE NEW PANTRY
Art stained the wood for the pantry shelves in the garage with the space heater for warmth. It took him several hours, but he did save some time because we bought a stain/varnish, so there was just one step. Since these shelves are out of sight, a perfect finish wasn’t necessary.
Art brought the wood in the house after a couple of days so that it would completely dry, then we put them together, added some feet…just in case the water softener acts up again…and voila! We now have storage space! I moved a lot of things out of the kitchen cabinets, and I’m sure I'll rearrange even more once we get the new shelves. We need to stop in Marsciano and ask when they will be ready. I shipped some of my Mom’s crystal, and haven’t unpacked it yet…it’s a lot safer in boxes surrounded by bubble wrap and foam peanuts for now. Eventually some of that will be displayed in the new shelving...one of the sections has glass doors just for that reason.
Speaking of Marsciano, they have a new piece of statuary in a small grassy section where the road makes a ‘Y’. At first glance I thought it was a mermaid, because on either side of the statue are wave-like sections, but upon closer inspection, it’s just a woman. A terra cotta woman. With long flowing hair. Lying on her side. Naked. There must be a story, but so far we haven’t heard about it. Maybe I’ll ask Marco, or stop by to see Donatella.
Yesterday was a good day, cooking-wise. I read on one brand of flour that “00” is the all purpose flour, while “0” is bread flour. I know I have that information written somewhere, but it sure was helpful to have it printed right on the bag. So…I decided to make an apple pie. Mauro is supposed to come for a meeting this morning, although Wendy has the flu and won’t be able to come. I thought it would be polite to have something to offer, so what could be more American than apple pie? Since it will be just us and Mauro, the meeting may not last as long, and we may not sit at the table to discuss things, so I’m not sure if the pie will be served this morning or not. Wait, let me rephrase that…I’m not sure if the pie will be served during the meeting…Art is warming it up in the oven right now, and I know for a fact that he’ll have some sooner or later. Probably sooner.
I also made rice and pork chops yesterday. When I was growing up, this was a regular time at our house. Since my mom was German by heritage, she never cooked a lot of rice…the only time I remember us having rice was with this dish. Anyway, it’s a simple dish, great for a cold winter’s night.
I wasn’t sure if the rice in Italy would work. All I know is long grain, medium grain, and minute rice. Risotto is very popular in Italy, and is usually made with Arborio rice. It is served with the rice cooked “al dente”, instead of the soft and fluffy rice that is typically served in the U.S. For this reason, I wasn’t sure if the Arborio rice would work in rice and pork chops…I wasn’t sure if the rice would absorb enough moisture to cook through. I did find some rice in the Coop that was labeled “long grain”, although it looks more like medium grain to me. And although the bag said it was to be used for risotto, I thought it was worth a try.
Here’s the recipe, just in case you’re interested: For a 2 qt casserole dish, brown 3 or 4 pork chops. I like to use the ones with the bone in, for more flavor. After the chops are brown, put them in the bottom of the casserole dish. Pour one cup of uncooked, long grain rice over the pork chops. To the skillet add 2 cups of water, some salt and pepper, and bring the water to a boil, scraping up the stuff left in the skillet. Once the water comes to a boil, carefully pour it into the casserole dish. Cover with aluminum foil and a lid…you want to keep the liquid/steam in the dish. Bake at 275 degrees for about 2 hours. You can vary the oven temperature...a little higher and it will be ready faster, which is handy if you are baking other things.
The good news for us was that it turned out just fine using the Italian rice! A touch of the old home in our new one. I am curious to see how the pie crust turned out using the Italian flour…I brought a can of shortening with me, for pie crusts, and also for biscuits. I haven’t made biscuits yet, but when I do, I’ll also use another secret ingredient, mayonnaise. Just a dollop of mayo to the regular biscuit dough really makes a difference. Give it a try sometime.
I plan to make a Derby pie to take to Ternana's...I know they won't be able to try it while we're there, but I would love to see and hear how they react to such a sweet and gooey desert! Mauro just left, and altho I don't think my pie crust turned out as flaky as it does in the U.S., it was pretty good...nothing I'm ashamed to serve to a guest or give as a gift.
A NEW GARGAGE DOOR AND AN OLD BARREL
The work on the garage door is coming along nicely. Of course this project has involved the use of jackhammers…even from around the corner, we can always tell when Gioberto has arrived! Although we initiated this project before we left for the states in December, Wendy was the one to sign the actual contract, and when we got back to Italy in January, we were shocked to hear how much it was going to cost! For me, the price was about twice what I had expected it to be, but now, seeing the amount of work involved, we’re beginning to understand why it’s so expensive!
Gioberto and one of the other guys have worked many days for many hours to chip away at our three feet thick walls. I took some pictures…the guys always laugh at me when I’m recording each step for posterity, saying “Prima, prima”…”before, before.” They pointed out the wooden beam that still remains in the wall…a remnant of a time when there was a much smaller door, a time when this room was just used as a cantina for storage. Later, Gioberto pointed out the place where an iron ring used to be mounted in the brick…a ring used to tie up horses, he said.
Previously we had asked how old our house is, and today Gioberto said he thought at least three hundred years old! We were shocked! Apparently I have gotten a little closer to my dream house than I realized!
Tomorrow we will meet with Mauro to go over the things that remain to be done. The bathroom will be renovated in the spring. The small…no, tiny shower stall will be enlarged. This means that the bidet will have to go, and the small window that’s in there now will only be used for a vent. Mauro wants to change the way the bathroom door opens, which would involve moving the sink, and we don’t think it’s worth the expense.
The lamp pole in the backyard will be replaced with a different one, closer to the house. I’m not exactly sure what Mauro has in mind for that yet. The thing I’m most anxious for with the backyard is spring, so I can start to work in the garden!!! I hope to find out when the commune will begin their work in the park behind us. Dead trees will be removed, and maybe with the thinning, I just might be able to find a sunny spot for a tomato plant or two! It’s hard to believe that our garden actually faces south because it so shady back there…a fact that I’m sure will be most appreciated in the dog days of summer!
Oh, going through my pictures, I just remembered another thing. Mauro has two additional projects just up the street from us. While on our way to the recycle bins the other day, we were able to take a peek inside one of the buildings while Gioberto was there.
This building looks even older that ours…the ceiling has exposed beams, and the fireplace is big enough for me to stand in! There’s a cellar BELOW the cellar, carved out of venanzite, the volcanic rock upon which this town is built. There was some sort of wine-making operation here…I don’t know if it was 30 years ago or 300 hundred years ago.
Mauro told us that he got funds from the Umbrian government to renovate this building, and I think Gioberto said it will eventually be an apartment. From the looks of this place, no one has lived here or used this space for quite some time. The room that is not being renovated yet is full of junk…old doors and windows, pieces of wood, and a barrel, about three feet high. Art and I both commented on the barrel, and Gioberto promised to ask if we could have it.
Later the next day, the doorbell rang, and there was Gioberto with the barrel. He gave us detailed instructions on how to clean it…scrub it with a brush, but not too hard, because it might “explode”…it only has two of the original four metal bands…are those called staves? Anyway, he said we should scrub off the dirt, use just a little water to remove the rest of the dirt, the rub oil into it to finish it. He also told us to take it to the iron maker for new metal bands, and brought us a larger metal band to use for that purpose…I guess the larger band is old too. Art took it outside today to begin the cleaning process, and once that’s finished, we’ll take it to the same guy who built our stairs and banister. Not sure where we’ll put it, but it will definitely find a home somewhere in the house!
This is our garage on the left. the other garage door belongs to the person who owns the other half of our house. The upper right window is our bedroom...the only window on this side of the house that is ours, due to the way the two brothers divided up the house.
LIFE IN ITALY CONTINUES
Winter in Umbria doesn’t look a lot different than winter in Louisville…dreary. The sky is gray and cloudy. If only the sun would shine for a few hours, the difference in the temperature would be amazing. But still, it’s Italy, so it’s better to have dreary gray skies in Italy than to have dreary gray skies in Louisville, right?
We had a major snowstorm on Thursday night. We had been to the IperCoop to load up on groceries, and it started to snow the second we arrived home in San Venanzo. The snow was very heavy, and it accumulated quickly. I guess it snowed for about three, maybe fours hours at the most, and we ended up with a good eight inches of snow. The snowplow (a bulldozer with chains) came down the street twice during the snowstorm, and all things considered, the roads weren’t too bad the next morning. We didn’t venture out in the car until Friday, and by then we had no problems at all. From the looks of things, we must have been at the edge of the storm, because Marsciano only got a dusting, and heading north towards Deruta we saw no snow at all. The mountain tops were covered, and Art said he felt like he was live in Colorado.
We had seen Mauro, and told him that Rolando had painted our living room the wrong color. Mauro said he would call Rolando and see when the room could be repainted. We are anxious to get this done so that we can move the furniture out of the hall and into the living room. We aren’t sure which wall we want to put the TV on, and for me, the only way to be sure is to move the furniture around and live with it for a while.
We found a surround sound system that has a receiver and a VCR with it, and all for a price we want to pay. I hesitated at first, not wanting an “all-in-one” system, afraid of what would happen if one thing broke, but the cost of buying individual components changed my mind in a hurry. Right now things are a tight, and we are trying to watch our pennies but still make progress.
We bought some dishes in Deruta the other day, and then found some glasses we liked at Gran Casa. And believe it or not, Gran Casa is having a month long sale, and EVERYTHING is 15% off! January seems to be the month for sales in Italy, but in general, you don’t see things on sale like you do in the U.S. I am now hoping that I don’t have a problem when I go back to Gran Casa…I pick up the display box for my glasses, and am missing one….the one that is on display! Since the box has “expo” written on it, I am hoping that they will believe me and let me have my other glass!
We spent our first day back from the states doing laundry and putting stuff away. Art got hit hard by jet lag this time, and took a nap on Wednesday afternoon. We had made a quick trip to the Coop in Marsciano on Tuesday afternoon to get bread and milk, so we weren’t in dire need of anything. On Thursday we went to the IperCoop for groceries, stopped in MediaWorld to see if our replacement freezer door had arrived (it hadn’t) and then went to Ternana’s for dinner.
Pino told me that he had been checking his email every other day to see if we had written to him while we were in the states! He knows how little Italian I speak, and how bad it is when I do, so I’m not sure what he thought I was going to write to him, but I was still sorry I hadn’t send him at least a “hello” form the U.S. Who knew? While we were there, we noticed a sign on the door…”For Sale or Rent”….They’re selling our pizzeria! Where will we eat when we’re on our way home and it’s too late to cook dinner? We realize that for Pino and Rita, retirement is probably well deserved and long overdue, but what about Marco and Verushka? Don’t they have to earn a living too? Needless to say, this was the low point of our evening, and probably our month!
MORE SHOPPING
More shopping today. Since Gran Casa is having their 15% off everything sale, we went ahead and bought a few things we needed/wanted. Art splurged on an automatic coffee maker, and I bought a food processor, some tea and water glasses, a mezzaluna, and a few other household related goodies. We also bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner with a beater bar brush. I haven’t used it yet, but it comes highly recommended (Thanks, Cristina!) As for the cost, all I can say at this point is OUCH! Since we paid a whole lot more for our Rainbow in the states and absolutely loved it, I am hopeful that this story will turn out the same way.
We ordered a small cabinet for the bathroom downstairs, and a lighted mirror. We hate the medicine chest that we originally put in that bathroom, and plan to move it upstairs in the spring. We also got some towel rods, toilet paper holder etc. At Emmelunga we ordered the chrome tubing that mounts on the backsplash and has “S” hooks and accessory baskets that hang from it. A great counter space saving idea. Now if I could just remember where I saw the knife block that hangs from this tubing. So far, I’ve checked with Rebecca’s favorite, Genevieve Lethieu, GiorGetti, Obi, Emmelunga and Gran Casa. I KNOW I saw it somewhere before we left for the states...should have bought it then! They expect the ordered goods to arrive around the first of March. It’s Italy.
Rolando finished painting the living room today. So we finally got a chance to move the furniture around to see how we want to arrange the room. We need to buy/order an entertainment center, but the problem is the computer. Well. Not really the computer, since I now have a laptop, but rather the all-in-one, copier/scanner/fax/printer. It’s not exactly small, and we have to figure out where it will go and how it will not look so ugly. Decisions, decisions.
We hung our first picture today! Last night we started to unwrap and empty boxes…boy will the recycle guy be happy when he see what we left for him! Anyway, we unwrapped a bunch of stuff, including all our bigger pictures. I think I’m going to put the Switzerland/Matterhorn pictures in the blue bathroom, and we knew we wanted to put the “Effect of Good Government” above our bed, so it’s a start! I think most of the pictures will have to wait until things are more settled before I make final decisions. The craziest thing is that I have not one but TWO pictures that I need to have framed here! One is the Peter Max Derby poster I won last spring with my Derby pin. I had always wanted that particular poster, and hope I can find the right place for it. The other picture that needs framing is a still life that Nicholas did last summer during his art class. I think it’s a fabulous picture, and others must think he has talent too because he went to this particular art class on a scholarship. That picture will go in the kitchen…at first I was thinking about putting it over the frig, since that is the first thing you see when you come in the door, but now I’m thinking of putting up a border, so the picture might not work there. Also, as narrow as our refrigerator is, the picture might not fit there once we have it framed. More projects.
That’s it for now. I’ve got more stuff in the works, but couldn’t post due to the incredible s.l.o.w.n.e.s.s. of the internet this weekend. I’ll have to go back my writings and see where I was.
Tomorrow I’m going to call the language school to see about starting back next week.
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Spina Bifida
