Tuscany, Italy

After a short train ride we arrived in Florence.  The owner of the hostel picked us up at the train station.  They spent time showing us a map and gave us a list of good places to eat.  We had a fabulous local meal of, what else?, pasta and wine.  We hit the sack early because we had a big day ahead of us exploring Tuscany wine country.

The one thing I thought was a must do when in Italy is go on a wine tour.  My niece didn't want to do a big tour bus tour so I scoured around and found a great gal on TripAdvisor.  Dolce Chianti Tours.  A one party tour for about the same as the big bus tours :-)

We went to three wineries and stopped in a beautiful little town called Greve for lunch.  For a change of pace I had chicken, Abbie had pasta, and we both had wine, of course! 

We learned a great deal about identifying the smells in wines and qualities to look for.  My favorite qualities were the black currant, eucalyptus, and leather.  For some strange (sad) reason I did not like the chocolate aroma...  We also had fun with the roosters found around as it is the logo for Chianti wines.

Rome, Italy

 



While sitting with my family at Lindsay's fabulous bridal shower in mid-October I heard my niece Abbie say that she was going to Italy- alone- because she couldn't find anyone to go with her.  I said she didn't ask the right person ;-) 

I called Art a little later and we talked about it and assuming I could work out frequent flyer tix and keep my budget in check it was a go!  I was in between any big projects, my birthday was coming up, and Art was at the store almost every day now anyway.  So I scoured the internet and called United to check my ff options.

 I could get into Rome within two hours of Abbie and out just after her on the same days.  I was able to book and join a once in a lifetime (maybe) event with my niece.  She had already set up hostels along the way so our hotels were going to be affordable.  I knew she had also set up public transport between cities so I knew I had to pack light. 

I packed and repacked each day between the day I booked and the day we left! lol!  I also started a walking routine so I could build up a little stamina to try to keep up with my 20-something niece!








The flight over went smoothly with the plan to connect just outside of customs in Rome.  Upon arrival I stepped outside the customs to the main airport to wait while Abbie was waiting just off the customs line inside customs.  So, it took us about an hour to connect.  Not a big deal though. 

We found our first hostel with relatively little issue, then changed and took off toward the city.  We walked around all afternoon and evening.  We saw the Pantheon first with it's great domed ceiling that was open at the top and the drains built into the wonderful marble floor.  We came across a great excavation site in the middle of the city that was full of cats.  We would quickly learn that cats held a special place in the heart of Rome. 

We found and walked up the Spanish steps to a wonderful park and cathedral above the city with fabulous views as far as the eye could see.  We then wandered down and came upon the Trevi Fountain and Caesar's Forum.  There were countless ruins, churches and fabulous buildings in between...  We stopped for dinner at 8:00 and had our first delicious Pasta and Wine meal.  Abbie was fresh off of two red eyes and no sleep so we headed back home to crash.






















The next morning we got up early to walk across the Tiber River and into town to take the dungeon tour at the Colosseum.  We got a little turned around and ended up walking the long way around Palantine Hill, which was gorgeous so it didn't really matter.  We got out tix for a later tour so headed off to the Forum first.

After the dungeon tour we were starving so we stopped for a "quick lunch" before we wanted to see the Sistene Chapel and Vatican City.  Long story short, good wine, good meal, good company does not equal short lunch.  We did manage to walk "around" Vatican City but honestly the walls are so high that was all you could see! lol!  Better luck next time.

Off to Florence!

Summer- Part two

 We had a tough summer with the business so we made the most of it and did our best to enjoy the extra time provided.  Art took his annual trek up to Lake Umbagog with Zdeno and his friend Teddy this year, and we finally made it to Art's old family haunt Dolly Copp for a relaxing night and a vigorous hike up the Imp the next day.

We also discovered some local ponds including Heald Pond just south of us wedged between Temple, Wilton, and Greenville.  Zdeno loved to go there to swim, chase his ball, and hike around.  It was a hot dry summer and our pond was muck soup so it was a nice retreat.
 We had lost most of our girls last spring so we got two batches of chicks this spring.  This is the younger group in the heat of the summer relaxing in the wheelbarrow.  Our electric bill was insane keeping both greenhouse fans on most of July to keep them cool.  This fall we planted a peach tree and a cherry tree on the edge of their outside area to give them some shade (and treats) in the coming years.  Our three roosters seem to be doing well.  Baby Spice had to find another home because she bullied the older girls (and two roos) so badly that they never accepted her again.  She is happy and healthy with her new family nearby.  Our older batch had twelve chicks and we ordered 14 with the second.  After losses we stand at 16 chickens and three roosters going into winter.  Now that they are all laying we are getting around a dozen eggs a day.  Not bad odds, and glad we have three roos considering our past losses and the fact that the falcons still circle a couple/few times a week.

 We got to join in Art's sisters family trip to the beach down in Rhode Island.  We spent one day on the beach sunning and relaxing, and the next morning Pam and I took a nice kayak around while Arthur and Dale went clamming.  They had such fun!  They didn't want to come out of the water.  It was a really nice mini-break. 

 We spent some nice days at home with friends and family as well.  With our new screened porch finished we enjoyed long evenings on the porch, hair raising experiences sitting out there during storms, and long lazy mornings when we could.

 My parents came out earlier than usual this year.  We had wanted to do a road trip up to Maine and the Bay of Fundy, but our timelines made that a tough trip to face.  So we headed North instead.  We started the trip just outside Burlington Vermont with a tour of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream then crossed Lake Champlain into New York before crossing the border to Canada.  We spent one night in Montreal.  Sadly, our timing was off so most things were closed by the time we got there and wouldn't open again before we left.  We did enjoy a nice walk along the banks of the St. Charles and through the old town before stopping for a bite to eat.  The next day we whisked off to Shcwinigen and then St. Paulin.  We stopped by a pellet manufacturer of ours to touch base and see plant improvements.  Our hotel in St. Paulin was a in a wonderful setting with plenty of hiking, biking, and kayaking options.  We all hopped on bikes and toured around for the afternoon.  We caught up with another pellet supplier for a nice dinner and a soak in the hot tubs.  The next day we set off to see the second pellet mill on our tour then headed off to Quebec City.  We stayed at the fabulous Frontenac Hotel on the Water. We walked around for the afternoon up to the fort and around the old town.
We stopped for dinner at a crepe bar that had a terrible (but delightful) french singer who butchered 1960-70 classic American songs.  We walked along the boardwalk that evening before turning in.  The next morning we went down to the lower area of the town and hopped on a river tour which took us around the banks South first then North to the waterfalls.  We enjoyed a leisurely lunch and some shopping before getting back in the car for the long ride home.  We did get to have a good part of the family together for the traditional lobster dinner as well.  The family is dispersing though, with Abi in NYC, Peter in Las Vegas, and now Jimmy and Lindsay in North Carolina.  The trip was entirely too short as always.  Zdeno did love spending time with his Grandma and Grandpa though and loves his Panda!

Summer

After a rainy May we went back to the old pattern of hot and dry.  Good news is that this gives us a lot of free time because the store is so slow.  Bad news is that the store is slow...  It's time or money, can't seem to have both at the same time. 
We have been working around the house though.  Hubby has been a machine in the yard and is almost done painting the house!  He has been pulling back deadwood and clearing debris from the ice storm and life in general.  Moving trees, seeding, ripping out weeds and seedling trees that have started to encroach on our house, clearing the area behind the greenhouse that we had a bobcat bed down in last summer and reinforcing the wall of the stream-bed.  I added a chicken fence since we have lost so many this past year.

The chickens are growing and doing well.  We lost our little Chipmunk who was an adorable english hen, but we have settled with 10 older girls and two roosters (4 months old), and ten babies (almost 2 months old) of which one is definitely a rooster since I ordered a pair of brahmas and one other suspected roo in the bunch.  Subban is our top roo in the coop.  He is very large and very gorgeous.  He watches me as closely as I watch him but so far we are ok.  Little Buttercup, my Orpington Rooster is a different story.  His name was changed to Loki for a reason.  I can't tell if he's just excited to see me or if he is posturing or if it is an attack but he runs at me every time I come into the coop.  He may be looking for treats?  Jury is still out on him...  Baby Spice has officially snapped.  She spends most of her time in a laying box.  If you take her out she will attack anyone, any chick, or nothing at all just because.  She also has a crazy head twist that she does and she cackles.  Very creepy and very sad.  She used to be so sweet and her Momma- Little Miss Sunshine- was an angel.

My Barred Rocks are two of my favorite new chicks.  They are so sweet and cuddly.  Molly is my love sponge.

Velma, our white silkie holds her own in the adorable white fluffy pet category.

 Our only layer at this point is Suzy.  Baby Spice was until the babies figured out they were bigger than she is and put her in her place.  I am hoping they start laying soon!  Should just be a few more weeks...





We traveled a great deal at the beginning of the year so we have been laying low spending time close to home and spending time with Art's Dad.  He is very sad still but seems to be getting more active and we have enjoyed spending time with him. 

We have spent nights over there and enjoy going around the seacoast.  We even took Z back to the beach we stayed at last summer.  He had such fun chasing his ball in the ocean that day :-)

Dad has been staying over with us this summer a few times which is really great.  He even babysat the chickens and Zdeno when Art and I went on our mid-summer adventures.  I think he has almost as much fun with Zdeno as Z does with him.



 

Zdeno has lived in the pond this summer which has been great except no rain has made our little pond more of a mudpit.  He will come out black as night (EWWWW!) but loves to be hosed off and cleaned up ;-)  He turned two on July 2.  He is not a puppy anymore.  He eats much better and seems to have lost most of his fears.  He has been a good boy.



We did a little get together here on Mother's Day but the family shifted the focus to Father's Day at Pam's for our first big family get together of the year.  Dale took Art and his Dad out on a fishing boat in the morning and they each caught a striped bass.  They were huge and wore large smiles that told us all we needed to know about the adventure.  Great visit with family.

I missed Lindsay and Jimmy's engagement party as I was in Las Vegas with my Mom and Rachel for her high school graduation trip.  I did not think that one through.  Las Vegas at the beginning of July was 110 degrees F!!  That is beyond ridiculous HOT!  I did take a hike with Peter and got to spend some good time with him down there.  It sounds like he is doing well and enjoying his job.  He is back in school. 

Won't do that again but we had a great time walking around, seeing shows, shopping, doing the spa thing and just hanging out!  My Dad drove down later in the week for a few days which was really nice.  We took a drive out to see the new bridge at the Hoover Dam.  My Dad took us for a helicopter ride to view it.  Our first time, but he told us stories of when he was stationed in Cheyenne and used to be transported on a Huey.  Very fun :-)

My Mother's had bad knees for a quite a while now but she is delaying surgery.   She is trying a procedure where they inject chicken fat between the knee joint to lubricate it.  Sounds almost as painful to have the treatment if you ask me.  She is still playing tennis and golf though.  Good for her!  I do hope she has the surgery soon.  I have only heard positive things about how well those types of surgeries work.

My Dad is going in for surgery today.  He has been getting sick for the past couple of years at least.  When he walks for any distance after eating especially.  He has continued to play tennis but having someone pause to toss their cookies is not comforting.  After I don't know how many doctors and tests one of them actually found something.  (more than the idiot ear docs here in New England who are incompetent and inept.)  They found he has two hernias which they are going in to fix today.  Hopefully that will make him feel much better and he will be able to be active as he likes :-)

Outdoor Living

One of our favorite places in our first house was a cute little farmer's porch that had been enclosed.  It was quite small but we had a hanging porch swing and many good memories reading the Sunday paper and having coffee out there.
When we moved to New Hampshire it was high on our list to have a screened porch.  First of all the bugs will carry you away if you sit outdoors with no protection and Art had fond memories of the porch they had on his family's house growing up.  Sadly, just months after hubby completed the porch we moved. 
The house in Temple has been a work in progress.  We have replaced floors, windows, moved walls, added spaces, re-finished almost everything and one of the last projects but most anticipated was the screened porch.  We have been talking about it for years; do we put it off the kitchen, the south side of the house, or the bar?  How big do we make it, what kind of roof...
This year we finally got our dream.  The porch we have been planning for and wishing to have.  It is a great outdoor space and I think we will spend as much time out there as possible.  I'm sure we'll put a pellet stove out there to extend our outdoor stay :-)