Settling In

Date: Wednesday, June 15, 2011



Settling In                                                  

Pool Time Again

Betsy started classes and Rider and I attempted to establish a
routine. I realized today that I rarely spent this much time alone
with my own children as infants. Rider is an amazingly easy baby but,
yet, he is a baby and requires constant attention when he's awake
which was pretty many hours today. He is everywhere and is on the
verge of walking so today has been a three ice pack day from tumbles.
He does take both a morning and afternoon nap and we took strolls both
morning and afternoon. I'm thankful we have a lot of room in the
apartment and he can ramble around in the house as well. Plus I take

him to a grassy area for playtime ; we visit the large area housing the hens, rooster, chicks and turkeys. Dov e la gallina?

Strange Italian hen

 There are several dogs to visit like Carla, the German Shepherd, Stella and

 the Bishon ( maybe) hunting dogs in the pen near the caretakers' house.

We have learned to navigate the pathways where there is the least
amount of gravel as gravel makes the going very tough. Actually
strolling on the tennis court is the easiest but the most boring.

Strollin'
Vistas near the building that is used as a studio are, to me, the most serene....just forever the mountains and trees. Other vistas are similar to our views at Bent Tree of distant buildings and other mountains. There are different trees to see...tall cypress in particular and olive as well as many rows of grapes. 

Exploring a tree

The vineyards obviously do their thing as we have been purchasing wine based on what is on sale and have yet to pay over 3.5 Euros and have drunk delicious red and white wines.

We are cooking our own meals and making them super simple... tonight
sauteed greens with Italian sausage and spinach and cheese ravioli
topped with shaved hard cheese. Wine, of course, was part of the meal
and finished with coffee and gelato.

Today for lunch...salami, cheese, sliced tomatoes drizzled with olive oil, baguette and fresh peaches.
Just maybe we Americans make cooking and eating too complicated.

Betsy went into Florence today with some members of the class to
purchase art supplies and found it as delightful as she remembered
from her previous visit when Anthony C was at the NYU campus. She also
came home with a few Italian toys for Rider. He'll now always have a
copy of The Cat In The Hat in Italian!