Cute

Well, at last we have arrived at our home away from home in Tuscany.  It seemed to take forever to get here.  We took an overnight flight from Boston to Munich, (I got the middle seat of the middle row, and had the pleasure of cradling some stuck up, selfish witch's head between my knees all the way across the Atlantic, as she fully reclined her seat thereby pinning me into mine.  We had an hour and a half layover before traveling on to Bologna.  There, we rented a car and drove the hour or so to San Casciano in Val di Pesa, where our little farmhouse was waiting for us.

The house is adorable -- set high on a hillside, with the requisite olive groves and vines sporting themselves picturesquely about the place.  It's very warm and sunny, still, and the mosquitoes are ravenous!  Glad we remembered to pack insect repellent.

I thought this view of part of the back of the house was rather cute.  The steps that rise up to that wooden door on the right hand side of the picture?  They serve a dual purpose.  The bottom step is a barbecue grill.  At the top of the steps, behind the door can be found a washing machine.  How often do you get to walk across hot coals to do the laundry on any given day, I ask you?  How cute is that!  (Ignore the maniacal, overtired laughter in your right ear, dear reader.  It's nothing.)

On another note, I seem to have come down with something rather painful and unexpected en route to Italy.   Shan't go into the gory details here, but suffice it  to say I am glad to have some antibiotics left over from our trip to India last winter ...