I was knitting honest

Despite taking enough yarn to open a shop with me to Italy I did very little knitting, even during the three days of travelling I hardly picked up the double pins. So it is embarrassing to admit that during the 10 weeks we were away I produced only these, three pairs of socks, the top two in patterns I have used before the lower is new to me Hedgerow by Jane Cochran. This pattern was very pleasing, easy to memorise and I particularly like the way the rib continues down the heel. I'm putting the variation of colour in the photographs down to the fact one was taken in Italy one in Scotland.Since being home I've made another little wrap cardigan, this one to take back to Lazio for Giulia, new daughter of Angelo and Francesca. It's knitted in an Opal sock yarn white with flecks of colour.
Since I left the massive stock of yarn in our house in Italy along with my favourite KnitPro needles and as I'm only taking out one pair of socks when we fly back tomorrow there is a big incentive to make more for the drive home which may not be till the end of November. Who knows what the weather will be like then.

Happy Birthday Amelia

Amelia is two today, Happy Birthday darling girl. We loved having you with us in Italy, as much as you loved pasta, helping to keep the place tidy, more pasta with your great uncle, chilling out with Daddy, the media attention at our local bar, staying up late to eat pizza in the restaurant, cafe society, beach life, getting into the freezer to cool down and thank you so much for wearing your little flip flop dress for me.

Love those cupcakes

Liz of the above named blog had a giveaway recently that I read whilst in Italy and it really made me miss proper cakes. We have a well used teapot in the house with a regular supply of Yorkshire teabags and while we enjoy various pastries, croissants, little choux buns or panettone with our coffee a good cup of tea calls for a decent sponge with butter icing. I was fortunate enough to be selected in the draw and yesterday this lovely book and card arrived. Lots of deliciousness, I intend setting myself up with the right equipment, which is listed for each recipe, to take out to Italy with the book so that I never again have cupcake withdrawal.
Thank you Liz, this could be a life saver, we can probably stay even longer next time.

At last a few snaps

Obviously I have lots of photographs to show you but I wont bombard you with them all at once, for now here are three that I call the good the bad and the ugly, in that orderLiving the dream with varnish from Nails Inc. I don't remember the colour and I left the bottle in Italy
A wild fire that raged for a week on the hillside behind our house. Helicopters with water buckets and planes that scoop from the sea were a constant presence and did a brilliant job in a very tricky location
Our second bedroom, carpet up, several layers of wallpaper and one of paint being stripped, we didn't leave it like this honest.

We did have a set back when we returned to Scotland, found our wood burner was smoking badly when we tried to light it. I am already the colour of a kipper, for a day or so I smelt like one too. Yesterday we managed to clear a blockage in the flue accessed through the inside of the stove, getting filthy in the process but it fixed the problem. Home three days now, Mr FF almost has the boiler installed and I've done a little tidying in the garden, which has been overtaken by weeds over the last 10 weeks. I suppose its not possible to have a transient lifestyle and a beautiful garden but please don't make me choose just yet.

Its not over

Remember me, I'm the one who used to blog quite regularly and often about my dream of long trips to Italy. Well the dream came true, we've been here for almost 10 weeks, it has been wonderful but I have totally neglected my blog, probably because it is such a pain typing on the iPad and far to complex for me to load photographs.
Well I should be able to put that right soon as we fly home on Wednesday, we are leaving our car in Lazio and will return in a couple of weeks to do some decorating and drive it back. The weather is still exceptionally lovely, we both had a post lunch snooze on the terrace earlier. Mr FF is now upstairs knocking hell out of the soon to to be replastered -allegedly while we are in Scotland but I wont hold my breath-bedroom walls. He is cutting out channels for the conduit so the room can be rewired when we return, again allegedly.
Lots things have happened, our lovely week in Puglia, a completely unexpected tax bill that was supposed to be sorted today, we have heard nothing, an equally unexpected storm that destroyed our tv and our neighbour's computer before any plugs could be pulled, only 3 days that have had rain, maybe a but much pasta, a Judith Chalmers shade of tan, I won't go on.
So I'm trying to find warm clothes for the journey home, we left early August and didn't expect to stay so long. Of course as far as the locals are concerned the temperatures may still be in the 20s but summer is over, the beach bars and rows of sunbeds disappeared weeks ago, ice cream stocks are being run down and in some places gone completely and the dress code is fleeces, winter coats and scarves except for us because we still find it warm and we dont have any of those items here. These people need to go to Scotland with me, then they'd know what cold is I am not going to like it.

Still living the flip flop dream

We are still here in Lazio although on Saturday we will drive down to Puglia for a week, I'm looking forward to renting someone else's house while ours is occupied by paying guests. We've had great times with our various visitors, nice to be out and about doing touristy things, but now we have settled down to domestic duties, Mr FF is cracking on with his log store and i have so much work to do to restore this house from our personal domain back to a holiday let.
We hope to visit our trullo next week and make some sort of decision about its future, I rather hope we don't fall in love with the ruin and Puglia all over again.
We had a terrific storm here that woke us about 4 on Monday morning, sheet lighting that illuminated most of southern Lazio, scary fork lightning, thunder that rattled the windows and then heavy rain. Usually I enjoy a good storm but being halfway up the mountain made me quite worried. The next couple of days were cooler and fresher but the blue sky and sun are back now and i think I've worn my flip flops for almost 7 weeks none stop, how will I ever fit into proper shoes again. Not something I plan to worry about for a while, when we return from Puglia we will stay here for another 10 days or so because we want to strip the 2 main bedrooms of wallpaper, take up the carpets and get the walls replastered. Then we might leave our car here, fly home for a couple of weeks hopefully to finish off the boiler installation (which I'd almost forgotten about), then fly back here to decorate the bedrooms and drive the car home. I have to say Mr FF has taken very well to retirement, he seems to be keeping us both occupied.

Lazing

I havent posted for ages, been far too busy being lazy.
We had a fantastic time with Amelia and her parents, they were all delightful company and we did lots of happy things together like spending a day on the beach, being invited to friends for lunch, going out in the evening for pizza and eating lots of ice cream on a daily basis. Amelia was totally accommodating, as long as she got a good breakfast nice and early she fitted in with our plans and charmed every italian man she met, both with her gorgeous eyes and her huge appetite for pasta. You will have to wait to wait for the photos.
The house seemed very empty when they left last Friday, we expected our friends Roger and Christine to arrive the following Tuesday and got all prepared only for them to have their flight cancelled with 12 hours notice when Italy called a general strike. No airport workers, no public transport, no refuse collection, the country fell silent for a day. Fortunately R and C have rebooked for next week so fingers crossed.
So we havent done much since a garden visit to Ninfa last Sunday. I usually doris the house in the mornings, take it easy during th heat of the day and then potter in the garden early evening. Ive weeded a whole border that was very overgrown and done some pruning. Mr FF has made progress with his log store and this afternoon got out his beloved concrete mixer to lay the foundations, this is no slap dash construction I can tell you.
The weather is still wonderful though not the fierce heat we experienced when we arrived so sleeping is easier. Its hard to believe we have been here almost a month, still havent had enough of Lazio but I might admit to the odd craving for fish and chips. We went down to the local pescheria this morning and bought 2 unknown creatures for dinmer, lets hope they do the trick.