Youth

Life with I ragazzi: lots of bocce, lots of beer--local dark beer--lots of prosecco and wine, lots of food—Steve keeps thinking we’ll have leftovers for lunch but there never are any with this crew—lots of dessert—in honor of their visit, Marcella and Giovanna have been baking up a storm—lots of boggle in front of the fire—Jacob brought an awesome new all-in-one version that has a timer built in!

Best of all, I have learned a new and effective technique for dealing with the sheepdogs when I walk up the hills. As soon as they start barking and growling at me I look them squarely in the eye and shout, “Zut!” with great authority. This doesn’t stop the barking but it does stop them from dashing under the fence to follow me. No more hot doggy breath on my heels.