kt40

truly

this last weekend my friends Bridget and Anna came and visited us. It was so nice having friends for the weekend. We have been here for one year now and the thing I miss the most is my good friends and family. I have gotten use to the area which I love, truly love......but it is the laughter and conversations that flow easliy when sitting around with my friends and family that I miss, truly miss.  

p.s. don't mind me in the photo, jasmine was getting frustrated because I kept closing my eyes. 

bridget, anna and me

the call

 

Yesterday the air was cool and crisp. Like a true day in the fall, the light disappeared and jet black took over. Jason had gone on a late afternoon bike ride and when I first noticed the blackness outside my thoughts went to him...did he bring his bike lights?

Right then, the phone rang, it was him, could I come find him? 

He did not have his lights and he couldn't see a thing on the long windy country roads that surround our home.

I called Wyatt down from his room "You are in charge, I need to go find your dad, can you finish making the rice for me?"

"Sure" he replied

"Wyatt, you are in charge now." I heard Iris say to him, spoken like a ten year old in awe of a fifteen year old.

"Wyatt, you are really in charge." she repeated again.

"What is it like being in charge?" she asked

"Enough, Iris." spoken like a fifteen year old, getting slightly annoyed by a ten year old.

Jasmine was upstairs listening to her music and fixing her room if I left quickly she would never know that her brother had been given the full reign not her, and no she wasn't getting second in command either that could easily turn into a "situation".

So off I went with my face up close to the windshield, squinting my eyes, trying to get through the dark, along a thin, windy country road and after a while there he was standing with his bike, I couldn't help but smile, it was as if time had gone backwards and I was that same teenager he had asked to meet him at his locker before lunch. I pulled up and he said "Thanks for coming to get me" and too embarrassed, because I couldn't lose the huge goofy smile that had taken over my whole face, I looked down like I was looking for something and replied "Sure, no problem."

riding home

The clouds in front of her were beginning to look ominous....then she turned her head back and saw that they were a deep black behind her. I must pedal faster she thought as the wind was beginning to bite through her thin jacket. Then she felt the first raindrop on her face. She awkwardly pulled over, because she wasn't the most swift of bike riders, and took off her coat so she could wrap her camera up and place it safely in her basket. Then back on her bike she pedaled faster and faster and soon the young girl who used to ride home with fierce determination to beat the storms had joined her middle-aged self and together they beat the oncoming storm once again.

the air

yesterday i watched iris as she skipped back to me in the supermarket's parking lot. she had just put the grocery cart back and there she was skipping with her long curly locks blowing freely.... please always keep her safe i whispered in my head, to whom i'm not sure, could have been to god or maybe spirits that wander around, it is even possible it was to the air that surrounds us everyday.....to anything and everything that maybe listens to moms like me. wyatt takes long bike rides alone now, he is 15 after all, but i can't help but worry as soon as he leaves until he returns.....hoping he watches for traffic and traffic watches for him. jazz has been sick this last week and as she sat there on the table as we waited for the doctor to come into the room.... i wished for her to always be safe and healthy. i don't know if this will always be answered but i would cast this wish on every penny i throw into a fountain or every birthday candle i get. i am a mom after all. 

this photo was taken by jasmine for me because she knows how much i love taking photos of hanging laundry. it is hard for me to say how much this means to me.

. 

 

back to school

Wyatt and Jazz start school tomorrow, Iris in a couple of weeks.  Wyatt went to a sleepover with his three best friends last night and i will pick him up soon so he can actually sleep today. Jazz is in bed not feeling well she didn't want to be sick before school started and i think has manage to stress enough about it that unfortunately she is indeed sick today. Iris is watching "I love lucy" and chuckling. Jason is on a bike ride. I am going to paint today. It is a Sunday morning here one that could blend well with any of our other Sundays. Hope you have a good day.

end of the week

today is wyatt's birthday.  i  have the presents wrapped and his sisters are making handmade cards for him. summer is always special for me, each one of my children was born in one of the months of summer and being able to have the time off to spend with them is something i truly love. speaking of which i am going off the computer this week school is around the corner and i want to squeeze every little bit of time in with my family. so if i don't leave a comment on your blog (this is to all my blog friends) or respond to an email (family and friends) it is because i am ignoring the computer this week. have a great week. i leave you with my two favorite snapshots this week.

busy with summer fun

this week we have had jasmine's best-friend andrea visiting so it has been a busy fun filled week.... yesterday was a drive to the Adriatic sea with friends, where the water was calm and i collected seashells and the kids played and ate ice cream. tonight a party to celebrate an early 4th of july...i have overheard the girls planning out their hair and outfits which made me smile of course when jason asked "Why are they doing that?" doesn't he get it by now. 

my sewing room

i am feeling the summer love in my sewing room, jasmine made me a pink rose to hang up in my room, iris made me a bright red card to put up on my board and wyatt peeks in through one of my windows when he is taking a break from shooting hoops and will ask "How it is going?"

I finished my first market bag. i added some special Italian ribbon on the straps. the straps when pulled taunt can be long enough to go over your shoulders but I reccomend that you just carry it in your hands and strengthen those biceps, i mean let's be honest, as women don't we already carry enough on our shoulders:) okay... men too.

p.s. i must add that the straps on this bag was an idea i had taken from a little change purse from Nepal that i had received as a gift when i was eight or nine. i loved how the person that made it had put these little triangles on the end of the straps and i was fascinated with how you could simply pull them and the purse would close shut and i said to myself "one day i will make a purse like this." it is 33 years later and here it is (i like keeping my word:))

Yesterday it stopped raining for a small moment. The kids all finish school this week.....another year gone by. (I measure my years by school schedules....is that nerdy in a studious way? not really sure) Summer is coming and my garden is giving me a small taste of what is to come. Have a good weekend! I am starting mine today, it will be a work weekend with play thrown in( yin and yanging it over here)

at home

This is our dinning room, the center of our home really, the kids use this table for homework and crafts.

The table also gets used for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday.  I walked through it today and glanced up at the love bowl Wyatt decorated years ago, there it was perched on top of a cupboard oh how i love the love bowl.  I found the cupboard near a dumpster here in Italy....Jasmine and I managed to shove it into our car (it took two trips) I painted it a bright turquoise only to be begged by the whole family to change the color so it would be more relaxing.....they were right it think it fits in much better now. Just sharing some of the inside of our home today.... I think I tend to share only the outside of our home. Do you have a center of your home where everyone gravitates towards? Does it make you happy when you pass through it even when it is empty because you know it will be once again hosting the ones you love.

Here is the recipe we had for dinner last night, oh so simple to make and added bonus, it is pretty to look at when cooking.

p.s. have a great weekend!

i had to take a photo(two actually, to capture it all) this morning of the backyard we have jasmine and honeysuckle covering the back wall. I worked in the yard yesterday and kept walking over to this area just to inhale the fragrance ( i love you garden)

i also worked on another pillow cover. i realize it is Indian and Scandinavian inspired, crazy mix i know, i just can't help myself. i loosened the tension on my trusty machine so that my white bobbin thread peeked through. i am deciding to call what i am doing rustic applique (maybe there is already a name for this) since my appliques will fray a little after their first washing instead of being perfectly tucked under and sewn down. I like this look it  seems to go along with my designs.

I was given the perfect bike for mother's day. It is black with a basket on front, it has gears so I can switch when going up hills. I love it!! Yesterday I rode around the neighborhood and kept braking for photos like the one above. I think me and this little bike are going to have fun exploring.

worked in the garden yesterday cutting off all the spent peonies

decided to play with the flowers before composting them

posing for iris

Our front door must have meaning, the next time I see our landlords I want to ask the following questions; 

"Where were they made?"  

and

"What do the carvings symbolize?" 

In the meantime I have decided we are lucky because we have two guardian angels protecting our house. They have wings and are wearing shields and connected to their wings above their heads there is big flower that looks like an artichoke heart (belief....strength.....heart))  and then there is my little wood carving from our last house, it hangs outside on the wall. It is an angel holding a small child and when the sun begins to fade at night it rests on her face and her arm that is wrapped around the child she is holding. I see it as a small reminder of the comfort and the beauty of a day.

Today's photo is for Marie over at more cheese who commented yesterday with a question, she  wanted to know want was the object behind the flowers.  It is a little side gate in our backyard that doesn't open anymore it would lead to our neighbor's driveway. Their home, I think, was the barn for our house years ago it of course has been converted into beautiful Italian country home and their backyard is filled with grapevines. The whole countryside around us is filled with grapevines for that matter.  One neighbor has told the children he will show them how to make wine this year, I am going to be in on that one for sure.

fairy house

Iris and her friend spent some of yesterday making a house to lure garden fairies to our yard. 

"Oh that is such a nice house little leaves for beds and feathers for them to sleep on...I bet they will want to live it in and this means they will bring a lot of butterflies to our yard, you do know of course that butterflies are friends with garden fairies...yes, it is such a nice house I won't be surprised if they leave a little gift for both of you." I said.

Today when I was getting Iris into the car for school she said "Wait!" and ran over to the little house. 

"Mom you won't believe it! They left something!" 

"What?" I asked.

"Two little rocks with flowers on them." she ran over to show me.

"Let me see those." imagine my surprise there were to little rocks with decoupaged flowers on them and in little fairy handwriting they each said    grazie   (thank you, in Italian)

the hallway door

i know i sound like a broken record but i just love this old house and it's garden..the backyard has trees that are blooming white flowers, they are actually the neighbors trees behind us, but lucky us they hang over our vine cover fence. everything is starting to bloom and i have be planting roses and was granted permission from our landlords to put in some fruit trees, life is full. 

The sun was out yesterday, the air warm enough for opening the doors (for just a little), to air out this old house. Loved catching Cubana by the door I see this being her place when summer hits. 

walk this morning

the cattails are golden and blowing off their stems

trees are being pruned

Cubana and I walking the neighborhood

sick

Well I have been sick and still not myself yet. Many days in bed where I would wake up and have to change my clothes because they were soaked through even blow drying my sweat soaked hair, yuck I know, even crying on the phone like a blubbering baby when Jason innocently called one day on his lunch break to see if I was feeling any better. The girls constantly check in on me Iris even made me toast one day

iris: would you like a piece of toast?

me: sure.

iris: would you like it light, medium, burnt or light on one-side and burnt on the other-side

me: uhh the last one you said i guess. 

sure enough it was light on one-side/burnt on the other-side, nobody can make toast like iris. 

jazz's specialty is hot chocolate something she kept offering me but i had to refuse "just water and tea for me thanks though jazz", knowing she just wanted to offer her best.

 Jason would peek in the room and looked over at me  I'm still alive..... you still have to be married to me

I would think as I laid there, white as a ghost with a bright red chapped nose and crazy hair, completely out of it, smiling, crazy sick lady smile.

and I could hear wyatt's questions out in the hallway "When is mom going to feel better?" yes when 

well let's see i have made it out of the room now that is a good sign.

pizza night

First off thanks for the thoughtful comments. I am getting dressed today the robe is going in the closet. It still is raining and cold outside but I'm choosing to look the other way. Good news Jasmine is feeling better and went off to school today. I wrote another email this morning hopefully this time it comes across better. Realizing yesterday my mood was more about feeling down because sometimes I am too far away from family and friends when I would rather be near to help out in anyway they needed. It is going to be a busy day today much to do. Jason said today is definitely a pizza night, how did he learn to read my mind?

blah....

It is cold and raining here today. I wrote a long email today and now as an after thought I am wondering if it came across the way I meant it too, understanding and wanting to send some strength but I think it might have not come across that way at all and I already hit send....suck! (my friendlier four letter word substitute)

wandered around the kitchen plugged in the heart lights, maybe this will lighten up this day a little bit, Jazz is home sick today and is studying away for upcoming exams, it is 1:30 in the afternoon

I am still in my robe, did i mention it is past lunch time already and still no urge to shed the robe look....

wishing I could go pull the covers over my head go back to bed but no time for the blahs here.  Iris needs to be picked up soon and soup needs to be made.  No time for whining and sulking in a corner I still need to be the semi-functioning adult here. No time for throwing something on the ground I would just have to clean it up myself. Nope no time for the blahs around here (thank god I have this blog for that)

moon outside the gate

The morning my family left Italy, the moon was right outside the gate. my stepfather made a comment about it days later when he was home safe and sound, that he wouldn't forget the how the moon was full and waiting. 

My camera is always sitting next to me in the front seat of the car and as I was taking Iris to school there it was again "Are you still a full moon? I thought, (knowing full well it wasn't) It doesn't matter if you are or not, I'm still taking your photo this morning, past the statue and the over the gate, you seemed to be waiting. 

Just in case you are wondering, Iris sat silently for a while then said "Mom, I think we are going to be late." "Right!" I said, then jumped in the car and off we went.

bookshelves

well, no worn out armchairs to be had...but the good news, six used bookshelves, we already have ten bookshelves in this house but that doesn't stop the rest of the books from having to sit on benches, being tucked into corners against the walls and from spilling out of baskets. 

Jason: "He did have a bed you would've liked, the headboard was a bookshelf, but it was to small to fit  both of us."

Me: "Ohh don't tell me that "  

laying around with books within inches from my reach....hum.....would Jason being willing to sleep on the couch......I'm just kidding......really, I'm just joking.