Thursday, December 11, 2014

Ya know, blog fodder is hard to come by.  That's why it's been over a month since my last post. 

Yeah, ok.  That's a lie.  Blog fodder is everywhere, everyday - one just needs to observe the oddities of life and jot them down.  I've been lazy, that's the reason for no posts.  Had I not been so lazy, you might have seen something clever written about the traffic jam we had in Maberga the other day.


Or something philosophical about teeth chewing teeth

(yeah, that's a bad picture.  it's Q chewing on the jaw bone of some unidentified animal)

Or about how rainbows in the valley just never get old



Or maybe there would have been a nice photo album of the Thanksgiving we hosted this year
(but I was lazy so there are no photos)

Or perhaps I would have shared some photos of the baby sweaters I knit for a soon to be granddaughter of a friend of mine.

Remember this idea?

Well, I certainly haven't forgotten it!

In fact, I've started one of those goal thermometers to measure my progress.  Here it is...





note:  the number has changed slightly from my original calculation.  Bad math (or poetic license) Gosh, we won't even need half what I'd originally counted.  All 12 of you readers just have to tell 4,167 of your friends to go to my website and buy something and we're there!



Sunday, October 26, 2014

I think David likes his new pizza oven



Here's how I know:

1. since the day the first stone was laid, he's spent 20 hours a day with it - looking at it, photographing it, videoing it, talking to it.  Its first 3 weeks of life are better documented than any babies I know (even the first born ones).  He uses the other 4 hours of the day to research recipes and general cooking tips for pizza ovens.

2.  when he's standing in front of it, a strange grin comes across his face and then he makes a noise something like this




3.  For the first time in 10 years he's cleaned the space on the side of the house (where the oven is)



yeah, ok, well, you should have seen it before.

4.  He's built it a little friend for it with the left over fire bricks - just to keep it company.



5.  And if all of this wasn't clue enough that David likes his new pizza oven, he did this yesterday

He rearranged all the patio furniture so that when sitting you no longer have this view

or this one



but rather this one





Wednesday, October 22, 2014

guns, needles and pizza

When I was teaching at an elementary school in Denver, what now seems like a lifetime ago, I had a reoccurring nightmare.  In this dream someone comes into my classroom with a gun and shoots me in the neck.  This was pre-Columbine and my subconscious wasn't so fucked up that any of the children were shot.  Only me.  Right in the neck. In that little indentation, you know, just under the adam's apple, rendering me completely incapable of calling out for help. 

Have a dream like that a few times and you reconsider your career choice.  The job might have been stressing me out a bit.

And then last night, death by knitting needle.  In this dream a troubled young man was watching me knit, admiring my work.  I set the needles down just for a minute to count my rows.  I was knitting a 6 foot long rug...had this been a horror movie we'd all have known already that something bad was coming.  The dude picked those needles up (#9, straight, extra long....I was knitting a 6' rug) and stabbed another young person right in the gut who was just sitting there.

I don't know what happened next because today is Wednesday which of course means that the hunters arrived at 6am with their guns and trucks and dogs, causing our dogs to go completely ape-shit barking, causing everyone within a 5 mile radius to wake up.

If I have this dream another, say, 10000 times, I might have to reconsider my knitting career.  Or just never set my needles down.

In other Maberga news....it won't be long now




Someone added a little cupola art







Can't you just taste that pizza




Viva Maberga


Sunday, October 12, 2014

Tuesday, October 07, 2014

Mystery House Project - part II

Good guesses so far from y'all but no one has hit the mark yet.

Let's see if these photos can help reveal what we are making:

1. we will be using these....



2. where those two cute Cornwells are standing is where it will be



 3. supplies were delivered yesterday...



 4. ....in a very nice looking tractor



 5. we had coffee and cookies before the work started (that probably isn't such a helpful clue)



6. here's the beginning...


Now can you tell what it is?  New guesses?

Actually, we've all been very busy making things, in addition to the mystery project.  Those Cornwells mentioned earlier did this yesterday while I was out...

Yeah, they made light! Can you see that line of light illuminating the brick vault?  Cool, huh?  For a decade now it's been a little dark in our kitchen.  No more, baby!  And you can turn them on with a switch that is by the door!  Really cool.  Perhaps you all take lights and light switches for granted...don't!  Not having either one is a real pain in the ass.

I finally finished this patchwork blanket ...


which I think turned out just, absolutely Okie-Dokie .

And visiting son Graham got a new pair of socks (David picked out the colors, it's not my fault).


As the italians call their favorite cookies "Butti ma Buoni"  -- ugly but good.

Monday, September 29, 2014

????????

Why is David collecting rocks?
I'll give you a clue.....


Saturday, September 27, 2014

So I was at the gas station the other day fillin' 'er up when a guy popped his salt and peppered head into my open window (more salt than pepper).

guy: you wanna buy a house and some land in Maberga?

me (a little dumbfounded): um...what?

guy (in rapid-fire italian, almost without breathing): I have a house and some land in Maberga, a lot of land, and I never use it.  I never go there.  Why should I go there?  Why should I have it.  I haven't been there in years.  I don't remember the last time I was there. I want to sell it.  Well, I have to ask my sister too but she doesn't go there.  Why should she go there?  Why should she have land in Maberga?  I'm sure she'll want to sell too.  Do you want some land and a house in Maberga?

me (a little shocked by the babbling head of what must be an old Mabergino, whom I'd never met): I HAVE a house and land in Maberga.

guy: well if you want another one.  or more land.  I have a lot of land.  or if you know someone who does.  I live right there (pointing to the completely nondescript 1970s apartment complex across from the gas station).  You can just find me there.  It's a lot of land.  And the house, it's near the church.

And then the guy was gone.  I gave a quizzical look at the woman pumping my gas.

gas lady: he must have known you live in Maberga.

Yesterday I went up to Maberga Soprana for a walk with the dogs.  I pondered living up there and was trying to figure out which house belonged to this Mabergino I didn't know.  I do know who owns most of the places up there.  Like this one




and these


The guy saying that "it's near the chruch" doesn't really shorten the list since you can just about touch the church from any window in any house in Maberga.  So, the guy could be trying to sell this one:

 or maybe this one
 or this one
In any case, that guy must be nuts.  Why would he prefer a 1970's apartment in town to any of the above beautiful options?!  People are weird.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Surfing and Turfing at 45

In the couple of weeks whilst I wasn't posting to my blogs, I started a new year on the planet.  What follows is the photo record of my 45th birthday.  The theme was surf and turf.


Sunrise

Breakfast with new socks

a morning walk by the sea

with a coffee and a cute guy

and warm water, unfortunately no suits

Then a hike in the mountains




to just the right spot for a picnic



 with just the right treats
.
  
and the ceremonial casting on of the birthday sweater

 


then back in the car to head home

where we were attacked by dogs that looked like Ruffino

escaping only to stumble on this beautiful mountain church


And finally,  pressed and dressed and ready for some surf and turf with pals

PS.  Thanks, David for catering to all my whims (on that day, and, well,  most other days too). Oh, and also for the awesome magic internet gadget you gave me that is allowing me to post this from my studio.  I promise, you'll never have to listen to another Agatha Christie audio book or any music from the 80s blasting through the house ever again.