OK - Who's a "Dork?"

Question: Who's a Dork?
Answer: I am!!!

Here's a serious sensory perception test for you to try....

I thought I was (absolutely no doubt about it!) very observant, a real 'clever clogs' in fact -
Ha... well how wrong can you get? I was really fooled by some of the questions - or I ran out of time. (any excuse is better than none I s'pose).

OK, OK. My score? Well I managed to score a 'terrific' 8 (out of 20)....

Yeah yeah - well wait 'til YOU try!

CLICK HERE

posted by Carole B @ 9:34 AM 3 comments links to this post

Oops!

Oops - I forgot to say that 'niece Dani' is doing fine. She's slowly on the mend. They did think they might have to operate and 'pin' the shoulder (?), but have decided not to. Luigi bought her up for a few hours last weekend, and it was nice to see her. But I think the hour long journey took it's toll a little bit.

I was just thankful that it wasn't worse than the shoulder and bruised and grazed knees and wrists...

Oh - by the way - there are two new (well nearly new) posts that I've just added below this one!

posted by Carole B @ 8:36 AM 3 comments links to this post

We're all going rusty up here!

Over the last few weeks the weather here has been totally unbelievable. Quite literally we were 'cooking to death' one minute and 'going rusty' the next!

I know the recent rain in the UK was bad too, but because it happened over such a short period of time, the drains, rivers, sewers etc. just couldn't cope with that volume of water, hence the devastation.

But here in Italy - especially in the mountain regions it has been a disastrous month so far. Where I am we have had twelve straight days with from two to five thunder storms every day. A week ago last Thursday there was one that lasted for two hours - stuck at the top of the lake by the mountains. Then there was another short one in the early evening - and then about 9.30pm 'the big one' (or so we thought), which 'seemed' to be directly overhead but it was so huge it must have been everywhere. This one lasted until just before 3am - a total of over FIVE hours!

The advantage that we have here is that over the centuries they have understood where the 'flash points' are for the rain which runs off the mountains and have built storm trenches at the base of all the mountains. There is one right along the side of my house which leads (ultimately) into Lake Como. It is fed by a tiny waterfall on the opposite side of my lane. These are our safety valves, but they are normally dry from April until the winter being used mainly for the snow melt. But here we are in mid June and the one at the side of my house is going mad!!! I actually took a very short film of it (on my camera), but I don't know how to upload it anywhere!

But the storms have caused considerable devastation up here. Just one tiny example in the scheme of things is the state of this beautiful hydrangea in my garden..



But the other evening there was another 'biggie' and it was like a cloudburst.
I took the next two photos with my window closed, so I'm sorry if they are a bit blurry, but you can see the rain and the hailstones literally bouncing off the road and the roof opposite







This final picture I snapped at 4pm yesterday just as the storm was about to break somewhere over Gravedona on the opposite side of the lake. It looked so dramatic I just had to snap it. Needless to say, within 30 minutes it was here - over us again...

posted by Carole B @ 11:16 PM 2 comments links to this post

Shall I 'twiddle my thumbs!'

I have been very remiss for the last two weeks. I started to draft this blog on the 9th June - for some reason, having saved it, I was just overtaken with other things to do.... So now I find myself with a bit more totally mind blowing news to bore everyone to death with and I've not even finished this bit.

So here's your chance to have a quick kip before returning to whatever you were doing before you got here!

9.6.07.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who experiences moments when there's plenty to do, some that isn't important and some that should be done, but despite that I am bored and seem totally unable to motivate myself.

Well this is how I've felt nearly all this last week. Plenty that needs doing and plenty that it would be nice to do - but I almost couldn't be bothered! Though having confessed these thoughts, the past week hasn't been a total disaster!

I completed a difficult translation of a document that was hand written in Italian just over 100 years ago.... and 'Geez' what a task that was. It's one thing understanding a language but quite another to understand the caligraphy styles from past centuries and different countries! But it's finally completed - I've been very naughty and continuously put it 'on the back burner' for ages as it was really hard going at times. But in the end, as it was a labour of love for a very dear genealogist friend's own 'personal' research - I really did need to get it 'done and dusted' for her.
So that was one task completed. One down - loads still to go!

Next there was the mutt...bless him. He was going through the 'doggie' moulting season and I swear to god there was enough of his hair 'wafting around' the place to be able to spin it and make enough wool for a jumper! So he was booked in for a trim, shampoo and set two weeks ago! But the pet shop's hot water boiler went on the blink so it was rebooked. All was completed this week though, so he now looks like a dog again instead of a scruffy urchin..... In addition I bought him a car 'safety harness'. I already had an attachment that would clip into any seat belt anchor and then on to his collar. But I read somewhere that to do this could cause the dog's neck to be broken in the case of an accident! So I explained what I wanted to my pet shop and asked them to order one for me. That has now, without a doubt, made travelling in the car much safer, and more comfortable for him too.

posted by Carole B @ 8:07 AM 0 comments links to this post

Oh dear. Poor Dani!

Bit of bad news yesterday - my niece Daniela fell off her little moped on her way to work in the morning. No other vehicles were involved thank goodness, but even so she did manage to break her shoulder. So now she is strapped up from 'neck to navel' like...like - well like I don't know quite what, suffice to say she only has the use of her right arm and hand (plus her legs - of course...hahaha)!

She's going to be like this for at least 40 days, so at home her two sons - Yuri (25) and Aaron (19) plus her husband Luigi will now have to learn to do all those things they've been used to her doing for them.

I would dearly love to go down to Milano to help her, but their flat is small with only two bedrooms and when they so kindly cared for me following my heart attack and long recovery (I was with them from June to New Year)- the two boys gave up their bedroom for me and slept for all that time on a divan bed in their living room.... But now there is the problem of the 'mutt' too.

I am worried though that Dani will try and do things she shouldn't do, and will prolong the healing process - so I'm trying to convince her to come up and stay with me. I can look after her and there is plenty of room too. She said she wanted to go to her own little place in Colico - near to me, but that really isn't feasible as they have a narrow spiral staircase there and she wouldn't be able to hold on properly to climb it without hurting herself.

She has a control visit to the hospital next Wednesday and I hope that she will consider letting me collect and take care of her after that.

posted by Carole B @ 12:47 AM 3 comments links to this post