Colonization

Since David and I bought this house, 10 years ago, we've made a few changes.  Since I've been writing this blog now for 8 years, you've seen most of them. We've come to refer to these little changes as colonization.  We've been colonizing our house for a decade.  We landed in the kitchen and have been working our way outward from there...bathroom, new colony....stairwell, new colony...backroom, living room, bedroom, new colony new colony new colony.  Then last year there was the colonization of the patio - whoa.  Today, our expansion continued.

To all of you who have visited and had to sleep in hallways, on couches, on floors, no, I'm sorry to tell you that we haven't added a guestroom.  Come back to Maberga and you'll still get the blow up mattress.  No, today, we expanded beyond the walls of the house.  We colonized our LAND!

I know, I know.  I've had the orto for several years but that's just been one little corner of our acre of land.  Not any more.  Let me introduce the Maberga colony known as...the Oliveto

Umm, yeah, ok.  That's not the oliveto.  That's David carrying two of the new inhabitants of the Oliveto.

Here are the guys choosing just the right spots

And then,  the digging began

 Staking and pruning our new babies...

And a beer.  All before lunch.  Ten new trees, with the 20 or so we already have will make quite a nice Oliveto.

Yes, yes, I do realize that when our new 'babies' mature I'm going to have to pick all those damn olives.  I think the view might be enough of a motivator

In honor of our new oliveto, I knit one....

Love from Maberga

Oh wait...that's a....

snake on our patio.

I went to get a bucket to cover him until David could take him to someone else's garden later, but when I came back with the bucket, yep, he was gone.  In retrospect it was probably a bad idea leaving the front door open.  You might be seeing more pictures of this guy.

Happy Valentine's Day

Ps.  I've added a new gadget to the sidebar that will email you when I do actually post to my blog.  This way you won't have to come back again and again to see this snake again and again until I post again. 

a big day

Last Friday, a big day -- In which the knitting girls got together for the usual...talking, knitting, talking.  Mette's had had a birthday a couple weeks ago and being the fucking thoughtless people we are, both Christine and I had forgotten.  That's nice.  Not really.  So this time we did it up right with a limoncello cake, horns, hats and presents.

 It was quite fun posing for those photos, but, well, looking at them now I find them slightly disturbing.  Oh well, big day.

Last Thursday, a big day -- In which I began my political career.  If elected, you are reading the words of the new secretary of Maberga.  It's a modest start but an important position.  I will, if elected by my fellow Mabergini, have the honor of collecting the annual dues.  That's nice.  Not really.  But here's what happened.  Neighbor Giuseppe called:
G-- LINA!
L-- Si', yes Giuseppe.  How are you?
G -- LINA!  You wan be secretar?  (that's how giuseppe speaks, he doesn't finish his words.  of course he's speaking italian, sort of)
L -- But Giuseppe, I don't speak italian well enough to be the secretary.
G-- LINA. cours' you speak ital'. we got t' pa' the bu'doz' fo' cleanin' the lan'sli'
L --  Oh, right.  We can't get the money to pay the bulldozer who cleaned the landslide without a president and a secretary.
G -- O'. like I sa'
L -- ok.  I'll do it if you are the president
G -- O'! (that's Giuseppe's way of saying yes)

We're having campaign t-shirts printed "Maberga 2014 - Januzzi/Cornwell"  Big Day. 

Yesterday, a big day -- in which my new and improved Maberga Designs website opened for business.  Now you can buy all the fun things I make (papier mache, knitwear AND jewelry) right from the site.  That's nice....it really is.  Please check it out if you can at mabergadesigns.com. 
Big Day.