Visiting Italy in My Downtime

I've been busy upgrading the house, room by room. Once all the kids and pets are gone there are so many places to repair and upgrade. I'm amazed at the volume of work - painting, caulking dents in the walls, and finding dirt where I'd never seen it before. Like behind doors, stuck in the hinges!

I've not had the time or the inclination to do any of this deep cleaning, and I simply didn't care as long as I felt anything I did would be undone in a matter of hours by people who have more interest in exiting a home than in repairing it!

I've been making a list for the week, so I can get George involved some evenings for a simple project - like putting handles and knobs on the kitchen cupboards. My arthritis acts up from time to time and these handles sure make it easy to open a cupboard. But, before they were installed, I had to sand the old varnish off the cupboards, and reapply it for a fresher, cleaner look. That was a lot of work.

I got rid of the metal blinds in my bathroom (installed by the contractor), and replaced them with wooden ones, changed the corroded light fixture, removed an old dust-covered bouquet, and added fresh baby roses. Yellow, fringed with red, they compliment the bouquet of orange, russet and red leaves from branches picked out in the yard. I'm determined to have these small $6.00 bouquets of fresh roses in my bathroom every week. When I finally sit down from all this work I have something exquisite to enjoy!

It is amazing how just a few little upgrades can restore freshness to a home. I've removed all the old, patched, shredded furniture in the livingroom, vowing to never have cats again! We gave it to Matt and Ruhiyyih - she has purchased new slipcovers for the chairs and sofa for their home up in Bremerton.

I still have more painting to do, and look forward to planning my vegetable garden. When I take my coffee break in the afternoon I sometimes visit Google Earth, use their street-view tool, and wander the village streets of Italy.

I like this tool because it goes at my pace and allows me to turn around and look at all the details. This is exactly how I would travel in Italy if I went there - traveling through villages in the countryside.

Recently I found a chapel, Madonna della Neve in Tussio. I 'drove along', stopped, and noticed two small bouquets of red roses on the step at the doorway. Heading back uphill, the Google camera photographed several old ladies walking along the edge of the road. I imagined that they had placed the flowers there.

I do enjoy visiting the side-streets of Naples, with images of laundry hanging out to dry, the dark shadows and markets. The only things missing are the sounds of traffic and people, the aromas that change from early morning into the afternoon, and the glint of sunshine that startles the senses as one walks onto a terrace. These I'd love to experience again.

I have been watching House Hunters International on HGTV. It features properties that are for sale. One is chosen and often repaired and remodeled. The remodeling is so interesting, with cute propane stoves and candelabras, plastering and painting. I recall one gentleman who bought a little house in Italy and remodeled it. I found his Facebook site, and enjoyed all the upgrading photos . His wife repainted the scrolls around a ceiling fixture. She spent 12 hours facing upwards, restoring it, paintbrush in hand. I just loved that dedication, and imagined the happiness they would share while staying in the little house. This last beautiful photo shows her on their recent trip to Venice.

Cooking At Thanksgiving

Although we were invited out to dinner at Rue and Annie's for Thanksgiving, I wanted to cook a few things too. I roasted a turkey with cornbread dressing, and made pumpkin and apple torts.

Ruhiyyih and Matt were visiting a few days, so we enjoyed Thanksgiving multiple times, always grateful for the opportunity to enjoy good food with our children.

I made polenta, stirring it into a thick texture, seasoned with fresh parmesan, garlic and herbs. The polenta is spread onto a stone, spread out flat, then allowed to set overnight. It hardens, then is ready to cut and fry in olive oil. I served it for breakfast in an eggs-bacon-and tomato casserole.

During the week we enjoyed many leftovers, including asparagus in a salmon stirfry.

These salmon-feta-spinach sandwiches were served with a vegetable rasam flavored with our wild huckleberries. They give the soup a deep color and add just the right sweet-sour counterbalance to the spices.

I'll Walk A Mile For a Good Cup of Coffee

This may seem like a cold and lonely beach, dressed only with silver mist and sandpipers. But the Thanksgiving weekend we spent at Long Beach with some of our children and their spouses was warm and convivial.

We booked rooms at the Adrift Hotel and settled into luxurious accommodations. This hotel, constructed from pre-used construction materials offered down blankets, propane fireplaces, extravagant shower-heads and soaking tubs, great organic coffee, and exceptional customer service.

We spent the weekend indulging ourselves!






The hotel staff recommended the Pelicano Restaurant at the Port of Illwaco for dinner. It specializes in Mediterranean cuisine, our favorite. They served the most flavorful scallops!

George and I shared a Chocolate Mousse for dessert, which was so heavenly we had to share spoonfuls with everyone. That resulted in an intense discussion of how to get every last spoonful out of the bowl. Laurel suggested that the waitress bring a small spatula from the kitchen, but George ultimately, with a deliberate sweep of his finger, consumed the last sweet sensation.

We had great hiking weather over that weekend - sunny but cold. All the tourists had long since vanished, and the one cafe closest to the beach offering clam chowder doesn't make it off-season - it is not cost effective.

We'd hiked along the beach for several hours, so settled on anything this poor restaurant could offer ... even if the cook had to be hunted down to come inside to fire up the grill! He came inside wearing Bermuda shorts, hiking boots and a blue wool cap. The waitress was a lot older than me, shuffling along on a bad hip. She asked if she could serve water in plastic cups rather than use glasses, which were on a high shelf out of reach. We gave the high sign, and she pulled some out of a plastic bag.

While the waitress poured water from a gallon jug, we checked out the menu - typical fish 'n' chips, burgers and fries, simple tossed salad.

By now we were so hungry we'd settle for buttermilk pancakes, from batter in the fridge. The waitress brought a half-filled bottle of syrup, in the shape of a maple leaf. Now, that looked like the promise of a blisspoint! But the sweetness just never arrived. I wasn't sure what was in that bottle, but that was the most disappointing syrup I've ever had! You could pour the whole bottle and never get to 'sweet'.

I would have enjoyed coffee with my pancakes, but the brown liquid in the pot on the burner looked like it had been there since September. I wasn't going to risk it, have a belly ache for the rest of the afternoon. We walked back toward the hotel, about a mile and a half, looking for a good cup of coffee. I found a great latte at McDonald's, and we resumed our walk.

Along the way I told George, that if we'd just walked another mile, we could have eaten at the Shelburne! Advertised, it says ' Breakfast to the Shelburne is like art to the Louvre'. They'd have premium syrup!

But, we would have lost the ambiance of the little bedraggled cafe - the weary waitress, the cook who'd rather be chopping wood out back. He had little to do while we were there, so sat down and talked to a local who came in for his usual, the last drags out of the coffee pot. It being a cafe of about 30 feet and two tables, I learned a lot about the social life of the community, some of which has to do with court dates, collecting bail, and making ends meet.