It's Raining, Again.....

This February feels like a re-run of last Feb weather wise, with 3 or 4 days exception. Last Tuesday and Wednesday I was sat out in the garden eating my breakfast and reading a newspaper. Not for the rest of the week though! 

I had been told that it rains alot in Tuscany in the winter, but I didn't believe it could be any wetter than Manchester, UK, where I grew up. I was wrong!! It ISN'T wetter year on year, but by season winter is probably wetter if anything. Bizarrely Florence and Manchester share similar geography. Both are on the western side of their countries, one being an island, the other a narrow peninsula. Both have rivers running through them down to the sea, so there is no real barrier between them and the coast which, in both cases, is about an hour away and both are in a bowl of mountains on three sides. What this meant in Manchester and also seems to mean here, is that the cloud and rain blows in from the sea and dumps their load on Manchester and Florence before it hits the hills. Oh, and the mountain range here is the Appenines and the range in the UK is the Pennines. Wonder who thought the name up for the UK range? Hmmm....

Anyhow, it's times like this I wonder what I am doing here, then the rain stops, the sun comes out and I remember! No matter what, I would never get 18C in February in Manchester!

Cadbury Eyebrows (official version)

Okay, this is so funny! First a drumming gorilla now this, what next!!

Christmas!!!

On the 23rd December a good friend arranged for Father Christmas to pay an early visit to her house. As you can imagine this was very popular with the children that went! Even my 13 year old got a little present, which I think went down well!!

My friend's husband does all the cooking in their house. His speciality is soup. On this occassion we were treated to a thick Ribollita. It was very good. He also make amazing onion soup with cheese in it which I replicated, successfully I think, at New Year.

This is all the children, apart from my son, who feels too old for that sort of thing now, who wanted to be with Babbo Natale.

Christmas Day! I have more photo's but most of them have gone onto my Facebook page - I've listed the name to look for on Antonia's blog if you are interested. Antonia asked for golf clubs, here she is opening them! She also got Winx dolls and a dress-up Winx costume plus other bits and pieces.
Alex got games and books and a Warhammer model to make. But you can see his main interest was the choccies he found in his stocking!!! He went through a Kinder stocking with 12 bars in it, 3 bags of chocolate coins and still found room for his dinner and Christmas cake, bought for us by Stephen's business partner from Mr. Tesco!! It was very good!

Unfortunately we all suffered with colds and flu over both Christmas and New Year. Alex was on anti-biotics before Christmas, Antonia was asleep Christmas Day evening with a temperature, then Alex started again New Year's Eve! During this both me and Stephen had a cold. Mine developed into something more flu like on New Year's Day which has had me in bed all yesterday afternoon and today - must be feeling a little better in order to have done this, but it does explain my subdued tone.

Happy New Year everyone! May you all have good health and fortune in 2009!

WInter arrives!

Last time I posted we had been to the zoo in Pistoia in light weight jackets and cardigans! This is only a month ago but today would seem ridiculous! There was a zoo trip arranged with a local church group about 2 weeks after our trip, it was cancelled due to the snow and freezing temps up in Pistoia! My heating is well and truly on all the time now.

The worst part is getting up and going to school in the morning. I admit we don't make every day, especially when it is torrential rain outside. A mile walk to school in the heaviest rain falls in 20 years or something is not my idea of fun, I'm afraid!! Luckily this is still Asilo, so it isn't obligatory for Antonia to attend, when it is I will have to get my act together! Driving, even if I had a car, isn't really an option as the school is the wrong side of a huge one way system, so it takes longer to drive than to walk!! A scooter would be more practical - we shall see!

The up side to winter being here is that everything is starting to look Christmassey! The tree is in the main square in Florence, the lights are, on the whole, up and on. The tree man has arrived on the corner of the viale with his dozens of real trees. I'm waiting for next week to get one!

Next week!! Alex is home for the holidays, 3 whole weeks! Yay! Another reason for not posting is all the sickness we have ALL had - Antonia and her constant colds, then the 3 of us, at different times, with a really nasty stomach bug! Alex has just had it at school this last week - it was one of the worst times of my life! He just wanted to come home, but apart from the logistics he wouldn't have been allowed on a plane throwing up and once he started to feel better school said he had to stay!! I thank God for Face Book! We were constantly messaging through it while he was sick, as well as talking on the 'phone. Now he is better - nothing! But that's teens for you! School has it's own infirmary, staffed 24 hours by nurses with doctors on call, so in the long run I felt he was better where he was. If it had turned into something more serious they would have just sent him straight into a hospital, which I would have done here too, but at least there we can work things out in English! The idea of a sick child, the worry and trying to deal with it all in Italian doesn't even bear thinking about!

Anyway, assuming I won't post again until after Christmas and Befana ;) - Happy Holidays wherever you are!