Kittens and summer.

I finally think summer may just about, probably, be here. It's been terrible so far this year! So much rain, even friends who like the rain have been complaining! My two poor tomato plants are turning yellow with it all! Finally brightened up the end of last week, just in time for the bbq my friend Kim had arranged for a group she runs for English speaking mums. It was a gorgeous day and there was a great turn out! Unfortunately "cliquey-ness" was a bit of a blight, but once that group had moved on things seemed to take a turn for the better! The kids there had a great time, which was probably more important! So much good food too, luckily my lemon meringue held its own, which was a relief! Star for me were the chocolate cup cakes and the spinach and artichoke dip! I could've eaten the latter all to myself and wanted to with the cup cakes but they were so rich I was feeling pretty sick after two, but they were worth it!! :D We all bbq-d our own stuff, I'd taken kebabs but Antonia and I had pigged out so much on the table buffet we didn't eat much of them! I wasn't that bothered as they really weren't my best effort! She didn't like the meringue though, said it was too lemony!! Lol!

Because we stopped over at the house where the barbie was we also took along our new kittens! Kim is a big cat fan and it was her idea! They slept in the same bedroom as us, which was amusing if not restful. I woke up at one point to find them sucking Antonia's hair!! They also had a "garfield" habit of walking across my face with their claws to wake me up! Here, at home, they have the run now at night but I lock them out of the bedroom. It won't be long though before they work out how to get past the doors via the open stairs! We've had the kittens nearly two weeks now, they still don't have names, we are waiting for Alex to come home for a break this weekend to help out with that! One is a tom, he is absolutely stunning, a grey tabby, not something I've seen before. He has the cutest face and a mass of fluffy fur. I think he will be big, he has huge paws already at 6 weeks and reminds me of a little tiger cub! The other is a female, she is a strange mix of colours, two of her legs are perfect ginger tabby stripe, but the rest of her is a mix of grey, brown and ginger! She is tiny compared to the tom, really delicate like a flower! She's also the nosy one and I know will be in more trouble than him, either that or she will be egging him on from the side!! Lol!

We are all so happy to have the kittens, Antonia doesn't really remember having a cat in the UK and this is the first time in 4 years nearly, that we have had one. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance. I post them rarely because it is such a pain to upload them for some reason, I don't know what it is, anyway, soon. Girly cat just tried to add her thoughts so I'll finish off now!!

All things Volcanic!!

All has been quiet here at Casa Long, hence nothing to write for a while!!

We went to Spain for 10 days before Easter which was a pleasant change. The weather was only okay until the last 4 days or so but it was good to get away!! Loads of British shopping in Iceland - you have to be a Brit to even get that one I think - a good haul of Crunchies came back and so far I have managed to keep them all to myself!! :) We also went to a wolf park up in the mountains which was really interesting if bitterly cold! Oscar the fox was so cute! He likes to have his chin tickled!! I took the kids to Corduba for the day - should have been Seville but we missed the train...Someone forget to tell us that Malaga has TWO stations...Anyway, it was a pretty place and has Roman roots so felt like home (not!). The most interesting thing was the mosque/church. When the moors were kicked out the Christians "converted" the mosque rather than knock it down! Hence the bell tower is the muzzein's tower covered over to look more "Christian"!! Very strange place!! The holy places from the mosque were left intact inside too. Shame there can't be this "tolerance" today - okay so the Christians kicked the Muslims out of Corduba, but they didn't descrate the mosque, rather they adapted what was already there....

We were in Florence for Easter weekend and went to see the cart pulled through the town by the oxen (moo-pigs! - big and white...!). We also caught the flag throwers who were in good form as usual!

Chaos descended over Europe roughly a week later when Iceland's unpronounceable volcano blew it's stack! Suddenly my husband was stuck in the UK, my son couldn't go back to school and it looked like nothing was going to change this for quite some time to come!! Just over a week later my husband is in Spain and my son is on his way back to school!! Whether things changed, like the weather, because they do or because of pressure from the airlines who really knows at the end of the day?? All I know is that everyone got to where they should be and safely, which is what really matters. It also meant Alex had his birthday at home for the first time in about 4 years!! Because of all the uncertainty in where he was going to be he had two cakes, and two mini-celebrations! Neither were perfect (from my pov) as I wasn't sure what was happening when so I ended up hedging a bit...Next year he is definitely here and it will be his 16th, so I will make sure that is a bit special!! Antonia had her birthday in Spain, which I'll write about over on her blog!! :)

Snow again...

It started coming down pretty heavy, but didn't stick this time. As it is it is very wet and miserable! When the wind blows it is soooo cold too! If you go back to March '07 you will see photo's of my kids in the garden in shorts and t-shirts! Antonia went to school in her ski jacket, ski hat, scarf and gloves today!! This weather is so strange! It really should be warming up by now! Normally we would have had a few really warm days by now to remind us summer was coming, but not this year. Actually, not true, two weeks ago we nearly hit 20c...so maybe summer is coming after all!

Still waiting for Antonia's passport. If you are British and now have to apply through Paris do it with plenty of time! Or do it in person in the UK. Only one thing to remember, you can only have white background for your photos on passports done through Paris, in the UK they have to have a grey or off white background as they scan them. We discovered this the hard way with Alex's passport! Sent photos done here with a white background, Steve had to do a round trip to Winchester to pick up new ones with the right background!! :P The same day service is also good if you can hang around in London or whichever city you use with a passport office, for 4 hours after your interview. Also, don't go with anyone, they won't let them in! Only one person per interview/appointment is allowed in the building, not to the appointment itself!! Back to Antonia, it should arrive today - Paris rang me yesterday and gave me the TNT tracking number for it and it is at least now in Florence!! Watch this space...!

Sunday, Sunday.....

Today is the busiest we've been in a long time on a Sunday. We, that is Antonia and I, were up reasonably early as she was invited to a party for one of her classmates at the Palazzo Vecchio here in Florence. This is the town hall but unlike other town halls it really tries to involve the children in its community. So they allow you to host birthday parties there which include activities relatated to the history of Florence and the Palazzo. It's a great idea and they have been doing this for so long now, at least 8 years that I know of, that they have everything worked out pretty well to entertain their audience. Today was based around the secret staircases inside the walls of the palazzo. Firstly the children were told the history of the staircase through a shadow puppet show. They were completely enthralled, which, I have to say, amazed me! I really expected them to be unsettled but they bought right into it! Then we were taken into the wall and up the staircase. A talking mouse puppet then entertained them for a short period before we went back down to the party room for cake and drinks. It was a good way to start the day, especially as it had started early and finished before lunch, unheard of normally!!

Next we went to a Serendipity Sale at the US church. In the UK we'd call it a table sale, so everyone paid for a table then kept the profits on any of their things that they sold. A friend of ours was their with her kids trying to sell some stuff, so Antonia went and played with them while I had a wander. I left with two brand new cardi's, a crushed velvet hoodie by Guess, cakes, tiny little wooden Chinese men, CD's of Britney and the Gipsy Kings, separately that is, a sheep money box and a horse.....I really shouldn't have had that glass of wine after the prosecco at the Birthday party I think.....:P

Coming home we popped into a display of Japanese Kimono's on the square that we live off. We stayed very briefly for a lecture about them, but it was beyond my Italian and Antonia's endurance, so we headed home!! If we'd been around earlier we could have bought a bento box each for lunch!! The hot dogs and scones from the church were pretty good though, as were the brownies and ginger cake we had for tea! :)

The sky is still blue at 6.00 p.m. although it is very cold, but better that than rain! All in all a good day!