Quilt while you're ahead

Christmas... 'idees'

I don't speak French.  At all.  I can understand it a little because of its similarity to Italian and I'm learning by osmosis through No 1's homework (I'm very good with the days of the week and numbers up to 12!).

This lack of knowledge has never stopped me from religiously buying Marie Claire Idees season after season, and the latest number is brilliant.

Check this out:

those little birds on a branch... and the scrappy ribbons...

Also I'm a firm believer in seasonal wreaths:

felt, buttons, ribbons and little pincushions; what's not to like?

simple, green and with origami paper stars

very sophistiscated... felt leaves and flowers... (gotta find me some decent felt)

of course this is the boys' favourite... but it wouldn't last long, me thinks...

candy canes decorations... genius

and what about a simple hanger full of gorgeous decorations?

I HAVE TO DO THIS!!  how cool is that? a wrapped door? (Mr M is looking at the ceiling wishing time to skip to Dec 26th...)

washing up cloth animals? why didn't I think of it? they're the cutest stocking fillers!

And these are just my favourite pages... seriously if you find this issue, grab it, it's brilliant.  I've been stalking my newsagent for days and even so I just about managed to get my paws on the last copy.

What are you waiting for? get going!!

Rome

Rome is beautiful.

We were guests in a convent right next to the Colosseum and the Forum.

Right. Next. To.

See? Told you.  I don't lie.  Not in Rome... Too close to the Vatican.

The view from the other side of the garden was this:

Not bad either, me thinks.

The convent itself was 1900 years old.  It was the palace of the emperor 'Domiziano' and it's been a Franciscan convent since the 1700.  Big numbers always make me feel small.

One of the friars is a famous contemporary artist and he's got the most amazing 'atelier' on the top floor

But let's talk about my little brother and his most amazing day:

Actually, I don't know what to say.  It was moving, and real, and surreal.

And humbling. (he's the one of the right, flashing his calf)

The boys are demanding their dinner now, I'll have to go, I'll just leave you with images of Rome...

and just for the fun of it...

Can you smell the lions from there?
 
 
  
 
 
 

 
 

 
 

half term

So... how are you filling your half term days?

we're enjoying the crazy colours

 

and the woolly socks come out to play (grazie mamma!)

we're playing football in the park till the light fades

 

we've discovered the pleasure of card games and absolutely love throwing pigs around...
 

and you?
 

 

  

a week away

and now we're back. 

The boys had a week off school and so we took a little family holiday in Tuscany to see my parents.

Relax was the name of the day and nothing much was done.

We walked a little

in the cold Autumn air

 

We, well I, shopped

and went to a concert with my sister

 

We discovered a wonderful restaurant

(and if my camera hadn't died I would have shown you the food.... oh how glorious... sigh)

We spent time together, we laughed, we played, we saw long lost friends.

We woke up and smelt (or smelled?) the roses...
 
 

whirlwind (2)

The day after the (karaoke)night before we got taken to a famous - locally famous/not tourist famous - restaurant.

I wonder if the chef left his heart there... or ever visited with flowers in his hair..

apparences can be deceiving

very, extremely, totally, completely and utterly deceiving

Phew, eh?

We sat down and our gracious host washed?warmed? the tea cups for us.

And we were away.

The food was gorgeous.

Spicy

mysterious

 

exotic

We were well and truly stuffed.

It was a great ending to our stay in this lovely country full of the nicest people and the most contradicting images...

from this

to this

to this

to this

We'll be back again.  I have no doubt.

 

 

whirlwind (1)

Mr M and I abandoned our children to kind family members and got on a plane to Malaysia

just the two of us (well, plus a wedding and a few business meetings...)

It was great to have breakfast in solitude (one prepared by others and one I didn't have to clear away afterwards)

relaxing, taking in th view from the 13th floor (I'm not superstitious, we got married on the 13th..)

 

We had the most wonderful food

and drank the juice of a dragon(fruit)

We visited Mr M's new business venture

 

which had the cutest temple in the courtyard (what's with the drinks bottles?)

 The wedding was a grand affair

with an interesting menu

The bride changed outfit three times (from white to red to yellow), we watched a movie of the happy couple... and we rounded the night away at a karaoke club till three in the morning.  Mr M and I sang 'Let it be'... and let's just say that although they politely clapped ... we weren't offered the microphone a second time. 

The memory of that experience is too painful.  I must retire for a while.

 

 

Puglia - part three

  "this are just few of my favourite things..."

 

plenty of room for everything!

 

Ceglie Messapica (my favourite town)

and again, same place. It was hot people, very hot.

what can you say about the sea?

 

and those lollipop umbrellas

 

ironwork and peeling shutters? does it get much better than this?

small shops

  

check the knitting in the plastic bucket!

 

holidays are great, aren't they?

Puglia - part two

We stayed in two different houses. We couldn't find one for the whole period but it turned out well in the end.

The first house was surrounded by rolling hills, olive groves, vegetable patches and vineyards, I know, I know... hard to bear...

 

See those conical roofs?  They're called 'trulli' and in this area the houses used to be built like this in the old days.  The have very few and tiny windows and the walls can be up to 8 ft thick to keep the scorching heat out in the summer and the cold out in the winter.  The more 'cones' a house had the richer the person was.  The average farmer (we're in feudal country here) had three cones, one small for the cooking (with the chimney) a larger one as living area and another one were everybody slept.

I think they're magical.

 

Inside it was cool and old and simple

just perfect - I really wanted to steal the sheets... I didn't, but... sigh.

The big plus of this house was the pool

 

who wouldn't like a corner of the world like this one?

 

Can you smell the peace?

The next house wasn't as pictoresque but it still had a trullo and the olive groves around it and the fact there wasn't a pool forced us out to explore... but that's another post all together!

Puglia - part one

And so we're back.  Mr M and I got back late on Saturday night after almost missing our flight (memo to self: must check flight time earlier).  It feels good to sleep in our own bed but the house is awfully quiet without the boys.  They're staying in Italy for another couple of weeks with 'nonni'.  I'm sure we're missing them more than they're missing us.

But let's talk about Puglia.  What a beautiful region. 

Dry, oh so very dry.  And hot.  Very very hot.

The sea is one half of the world here

the other half is full of olive trees

 

and prickly pears are normal garden plants

 

We ate, we swam, we baked in the sun.  We read and visited.

But above all we relaxed and had fun.

Once I deal with the post-holiday laundry curse I'll be back with more - a lot more - photos.

will you please...

look after my courgettes for me?

 

We're off for a couple of weeks... just the last minute things to pack (i.e. all of my stuff!!) and then I can relax.

The thing is I've become (I'm a bit slow I know) completely obsessed with this story.  I can't really concentrate on much else.

Sigh.