Photo Credit: BabyClipArt.net
Dear all,
I have something very important to communicate: a new baby is on its way! The birth is due within the next two months. As you can imagine, I am very happy and tired at the same time. Please forgive me if my answers to your e-mails take longer than usual. I will do my best to do as before, but the next few months could be very hectic.
Photo credit: Wikipedia
Hello friends!
As some of you already know, these last months have been pretty busy for my family and I because we finally found another apartment in Florence and had to organize our moving.
We still live among boxes, only my knitting stuff is well deposited in a closet 🙂 I wish I had time for my creations but these weeks are hectic…The most difficult thing is to get Mary to accept this new apartment since she seems disoriented and needs my presence every single minute. I now call her my little koala…
As soon as the situation will be brought back to normal, I’ll be able to create something new. In the meantime I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
1) The monsoon season
has just begun! Many people think that Italy is a sunny country and it is partially true. Here what I call “the monsoon season” has started. It means we will have a lot of clouds and rain till April.
2) Mosquitos
There are mosquitos almost all year round…even during Christmas time! Especially this year, that has been quite humid and warm, it seems the number of these insects has increased.
3) Bad words
and curses. Many Florentines thend to use them daily. It seems they have an obsession for some parts of the human body…I never understood why. I do not like that at all.
4) Bread without salt
According to the tradition, because in Middle Age salt was heavily taxed, people begun to produce bread without this fundamental ingredient. Ok, but…what about now?
5) Black and red address house numbers
In Florence you can find the same house address number twice even if you are not drunk. But if you look well, you will notice they have a different color: red for the shops and businesses, black for private houses. It can be very confusing.
If you have ever been in Florence, did you notice anything strange I missed?
As some of you already know, summer is my favourite season. I wish I could have summer all the year round. Or maybe I would not appreciate this season enough if it was really possible.
Anyway, these two weeks were relaxing and fun at the same time. First, we drove to a farm in Switzerland where my daughter could meet the “real” animals. She was enthusiastic especially about the rabbits. She gave them food, caressed them. One of them tried to eat a piece of her shoe, luckily not her foot. They were lovely!
The nature was so beautiful! We were sorrounded by green, flowers with brilliant colors and big trees.
As for me, being a “City Girl”, I never experienced how fulfilling life can be in the country. Life was simple: we went to bed early (ehem, but got up late…), had breakfast with organic food and took the rest of the day easy.
In this farm there was even the possibility to pick fresh goodies from the vegetable garden and I was proud to conquer potatoes, zucchini and onions all by myself 🙂 The dinner which we prepared with these organic ingredients was yummy.
The rest of our holidays we spent on Mallorca, the biggest of Balearic Islands.
Look out for my next post for details about Mallorca.
Have a nice day!
Pigeons eggs
Hello!
I am so excited to announce you that we have two new special guests living with us for the next few months! They are quite discreet, independent and do not make too much noise…except in the morning when I hear them speaking their guttural and unintelligible language. As you may wonder, they are not humans but birds. We have two parents-to-be pigeons that chose our balcony as the perfect place where to build their nest. What I have always considered a small balcony for these birds is a habitable terrace. The female has already deposited two small white and smooth eggs. According to what I read, the hatch date seems to be close: within 2 weeks.
It is not the first time that a couple of pigeons choose our balcony to build the nest: the last time happened about three years ago. We saw two small and blondish baby birds coming out from the eggs and then started to take flight lessons.
This time it was a real surprise. We did not even notice they were building the nest.
I have to admit that at first I was not so happy to have pigeons living again on our balcony but my husband found a solution that convinced me. He used a board in order to delimit their space from ours. He cut it with a jigsaw to better adapt. Finally, he even decided to use a webcam in order to show our daughter what the pigeons are doing and how their babies will look like.
By the way, during the day (European time zone) you can see them here in streaming:
www.lunaticknitter.com/pigeons
The pigeons are online every day from 8 am till 8 pm.
The pigeons declare that they are aware of the rights under Art. 13 of Italian Law 675/96 and give their permission for their personal data to be used solely in this project nominated “Big Pigeons Brother”.
Come often to check when the eggs hatch!
Photo credit: Wikimedia
That being said, I thought it could be helpful for me to write why I will never find an apartment just to reflect.
Well, let’s see…I am searching for:
Pro: After a whole life living in a flat I think it would be better not to have anybody living above. It is not so nice being waken up on Sunday morning by the noise of someone dragging the chair across the floor.
Con: I do not like heights…
Pro: I could organize amazing outdoor dinners with my friends. I could even put a porch swing!
Con: in this neighborhood there are neither terraces nor habitable balconies.
Pro: I have been living here for several years and I know the pros and cons of this quarter.
Con: in this neighborhood there are mainly buildings with small balconies.
Pro: should I really explain why? Even if we have no skyscrapers in Florence, carring a stroller or supermarket bags up to the fourth or fifth floor can be quite daunting.
Con: buildings in this quarter were built in the 1920’s which means no elevators at all, except for some.
Pro: the possibility to sell it quickly in case my husband get a wonderful job proposal and we have to move abroad.
Con: my husband is not even looking for a job abroad.
In conclusion, to find an apartment here is becoming an operation of titanic proportion. Maybe I’ll remain in this small apartment still for a while…
After all…am I lunatic or not? 😉