Random Picture, Window in Bavaria

I love this photo of this little window opening into what look like a large loft space of an old house in Bavaria, Germany. What lies beyond? Why so small? Is it to keep out the heat or keep it in when the weather temperature drops to  -20 which it regularly does in this part of the country? The snow often holds people hostage in their homes when it piles up against their doors. My Sister-in-Law has a story that when she tried to enter her car one very cold winter day her key would not fit into the iced up lock, so she climbed in through the boot to get to the driving seat. A window so small as this, then, will certainly help prevent heat loss on these cold cold days and to keep in the warmth from the fire.

Would you like to see the rest of the roof from which this window peaks? Oh, go on then, here it is:

Our New Sink has made my Heart Sink

Pathetic, I know - both the pun and the sentiment.

But I am in fact disappointed in my new sink as it has proved to be so small. I was very much looking forward to my kitchen extension but there have needed to be so many compromises. For instance we won't have room for a large fridge freezer with added ice maker when the time comes to replace the one we have, there also won't be room for the dining table I envisioned for large family and friend meals, we will only have room for a tiny table to seat two or three people, so gone are the ideas of Christmas dinner sat cheerful and laughing altogether. Several other more minor compromises or losses have been experienced, and now I find my double sink, although classed as two full sized bowls are far smaller than the single I have now. I believe this is due to sinks being made smaller in general now as new houses and kitchens are being built so much smaller than they were and certain appliances are downsizing to fit, plus the use of dishwashers has risen so larger sinks are often generally not needed anyway. Personally I prefer to wash up myself, it's much quicker and you don't have those dirty dishes hanging around in the dishwasher for too long. But it won't be so easy to wash up my larger pots and pans now.

Yes, I know there are worse things to worry about or be-moan but I am allowed to feel sad that my dream kitchen will only be a kitchen now.

Back to School

They've only been back since this morning and I'm missing them already. Yes, even their little tiffs. There's no grumpiness, no sitting in front of the TV and no having to repeat anything I say to their plugged-into-some-music-device ears, and I still find myself missing them. How strange.

At least the boys are still here to keep me company as they carry on working on the kitchen extension. Here is a photo of  our current mess for you to look at

School Bags

                                                                                    

School starts back tomorrow and so the last few days have been a time for uniform shopping, shoes, skirts and bags. Who would have thought it would be so hard to get the RIGHT bag. It has to be so big but not too big, the right style, the right colour etc. The last one daughter#2 had was like the one in the picture except it was red. As the zip broke at the end of last term we've been looking for the perfect replacement. We finally found one after much traipsing of shops, the new one is almost exactly the same as the last one after all that but this time from a different shop. I'm glad it wasn't Superdry, which seems to be the IN shop for teens at the moment, as you end up paying for the name - or in other words 'too much' especially when the zip breaks before it's time is out in my estimation.

                                                     

At least we got in a bit of coffee drinking and cake eating while shopping, one of my favourite pastimes. We shared a delicious Giotto in Patisserie Valerie, which is similar to their Tiramisu shown here. I guess that made up for my tired feet. 

Friday Hunk

It's been a long while since I did a Friday Hunk photo and thought it was time. Colin Farrell is not to everyone's taste but he is to mine. Even though I loved the Arnold Schwarzenegger film 'Total Recall' I am looking forward to seeing Colin's re-make, even though it seems to be a word for word re-make - usually a big no-no in terms of wanting to watch this sort of thing, guess that just goes to show how much I like him even without that gorgeous Irish accent as yet again he is going American. Kate Beckinsale will help elevate it, too, and not just because of her fabulous sky high heels.

Shame they couldn't make it slightly differently, though, or even a follow on. I don't really understand the need for re-makes if the original was good enough first time round. If a follow on film for the Bourne series was thought to be worth it without Bourne, the main man as it were, and has some other character, surely the same can be done for other films? Maybe it will set a precedent so these nuisance re-makes will change tack.

Anyway, here is my Friday Hunk, Colin Farrell, who looks as good in a suit as he does in ripped jeans

My Aunt's Home-Made Pasta

One of my Aunts in Italy is a wonderful cook, preferring to make a lot of her food from scratch including ice cream. To be invited to a meal at her house is truly something. Not only does it taste fantastic but it looks great, too. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of any of her feasts with anti pasti of many cheeses, salamis, olives etc, or her several other courses. I only have this photo of her home-made  fettuccine being mixed with some lovely sauce, parmigiana at the ready for sprinkling.

Daughter#1's Trip to Italy and a Bit of an Italian Word Class

It was only a little daunting to fly out there with her cousin as this time they landed at Fiumicino airport which is a lot larger than the airport they are used to travelling to and from. Fiumicino is actually officially named Leonardo Da Vinci although no-one seems to call it by this name but by the name of the nearby town instead. It's as large as Heathrow so daughter#1 and nephew#2 were a little worried but managed perfectly well in the end. Of course on the return journey they needed to walk the entire length of the airport to get from check-in to the departure gate, and, again of course, once arrived there they needed to change gates to one in a completely different area of the place - why this happens every time is one of those little nuisances quirks that only happen in Italy.

They tell me that they enjoyed their time out there very much despite the near 40 degrees temperature out there right now. And the mosquitoes, too. Actually we have had mosquitoes here in the UK recently! I'm going to buy one of those bug swatters which are great fun to use as you just swing them round the room till you hear a satisfying zzzt.

They didn't seem to mind going for walks only to have to stop every hundred feet to meet and kiss yet another cousin or family friend, or even neighbour. Nor to eating huge lunches though they both had to stop eating so much by the end of the holiday as they were both just so stuffed. But they enjoyed the beach, my father hired an umbrella on an ordinary stretch of sand although still near to the section he usually uses with the anziani (or older person) where the pensioners get their ombrelloni (beach umbrellas) a little cheaper.

I'm just a teensy bit disappointed as, although daughter#1 did bring me back some yummy goodies such as favourite Italian biscuits from when I was young, she couldn't get me the fresh figi (figs) and big fat juicy olives from the market as they didn't have quite enough time to visit the mercato (market) athough it was mercato day, but then unless you go early such as 8am then it can get so hot sometimes it's not enjoyable to go, although the busy bustling mercato with it's oh so cheap fruit and veg is one of my favourite places to go - I can't get over how, by the end of the morning, you can buy a whole tray or box of pesche (peaches) for 3 Euro!!