Archive | November, 2012

life lately

November 9, 2012 at 2:00 pm

From around our home this week, here are a few of the little things that have made my heart glad.

“Forget going for a walk; let’s take this old Fiat for a spin.”

& crazy cactus in the neighborhood

How I’ve been spending my evenings lately: in bed next to Elliott with my knitting and this book.

(the heavy metal book clip on the corner keeps the pages open so I can knit and read at the same time)

Pink clouds wreathing Mt. Etna at sunset; our town is perched on the cliff in the foreground

& whole wheat pancakes enough to last Lena for a few snacks.

Knitting and snuggling with Siena.

Her favorite toy (hours of entertainment each day, I kid you not)

& the young artist at work.

Lena’s berry and Greek yogurt homemade popsicles are a daily treat (that she likes to share, too!)

& after this we learned how to put things back where we found them…

A big order of fingerless gloves finished and ready to mail!

Crouch… and pounce!

Amazingly, Siena never seems to mind.

Linking up with Lindsay today for it’s the little things.

11 :: in life lately

Mt. Etna in the autumn (or… hiking with kids)

November 8, 2012 at 2:40 pm

The weather these days in Sicily is just perfect in every way. Clear, refreshing days with big bowl-of-blue skies and light breezes. Rain once every week or so, just enough to turn the earth green again and give you reason to break out your cooler weather gear. And then there are the hints of changing color on Mt. Etna, which we are taking every opportunity to see.

Last Saturday we joined our dear friends the Arthurs for another hike on Mt. Etna. It was a perfect day: a picnic, a fireplace (even if we forgot marshmallows), a beautiful climb, and a magnificent view. Oh, and kids wearing themselves out with happy play!

Elise in her new hat

Mama Arthur and her brood

Lena and Lucas

The fire builders and their helpers. (Josh: “It’s easier to wear Elise’s hat than carry it for her.”)

How young families hike.

The final push and then the summit.

Beautiful Sicily!

“There’s our town, guys, can you see it?”

my gentle husband

we three and Mt. Etna

9 :: in friends, hiking, Mt Etna, Sicily, weekend

the cuteness of mini Ruche

November 7, 2012 at 10:22 am

The other day I was entering a blog giveaway* in hopes of winning something from the Ruche children’s section. I didn’t even know Ruche had a children’s section, but wow. Their stuff is so cute! I’m especially head over heels for that “future bird watcher onesie” so my little boy can be just like his daddy!

1. iron-on ties (how brilliant is that?!)
2. Marty the Monkey stuffed animal
3. bird watcher onesie
4. prepster saddle shoes
5. future photographer onesie
6. fruits and veggies wooden magnets
7. animal parade print
8. billy crayon caddy
9. striped romper

*Why do I do that? I have almost no chance of winning. But enter giveaways I do, and faithfully. Have you ever won something?? Well, besides you, Bethany, because you won my giveaway. :-)

9 :: in Baby Numero Due, gift guide, links I love, wishlist

why Italian kitchens make me happy

November 6, 2012 at 3:09 pm

my wonderful Italian drying rack

Let me just start by saying that, despite the incredible food they produce, Italian kitchens are not known for being beautiful, necessarily, or even particularly user-friendly. Oftentimes kitchens here in Sicily will be outfitted with small, shallow sinks (a pet peeve of my husband’s) and very little counter space.

However.

Italian kitchens have at least one design feature going for them that I have never seen elsewhere. It’s called the drying rack over the sink. It looks just like a regular kitchen cabinet, but when you open the cupboard doors, you see a beautifully hidden away set of drying racks for your dishes. No dishes strewn all over counters on dish towels, no unsightly dish racks on the draining board, no pots left in the sink to dry. It’s pure genius! Thus far there has been an over-sink drying rack in every kitchen I’ve seen in Italy, even in tiny cottages in the Dolomites.

But I’ve never seen this feature in any other kitchen in the world. Why? Do you have any theories? My personal theory as to why this hasn’t caught on in the States is:

a) dishwashing machines exist there and

b) every American kitchen is designed with a window over the sink.

But why a window over the sink? Do you ever look out the window while you’re washing dishes?

(See some more photos of our kitchen here and here.)

21 :: in home sweet home, Italy

trip to a Sicilian bakery

November 5, 2012 at 12:24 pm

“I’m going kind of stir-crazy,” I admitted to my husband on the phone. He was in Greece for work and I was stuck at home with a toddler.

“Why don’t you go see if the pet store is open?” Elliott suggested. “Lena would love that.”

The pet store is awesome, and I think Elliott and I enjoy trips there almost as much as Lena does. Unfortunately, we have a suspicion that it is a cover for some kind of operation (perhaps related to a popular 1970s movie trilogy?). It is closed ~~at weird times~~ almost all the time and I have been told to leave very suddenly when the owner gets a phone call and suddenly has to rush out the door, jump in his Mercedes SUV, and tire-squeal off to some urgent business.

But that is neither here nor there.

Suffice it to say, the pet store was closed again that day. However, since we had come so far, we kept walking to our favorite little biscotteria. I guess you could roughly translate biscotteria as “cookie store”?

I love this place. Just walking inside makes me so happy.