Has Anyone Else Noticed a Change in Ben & Jerry's

New York Super Fudge Chunk?  My Flintster brings it to me occasionally to provide for my dairy/calcium need. :-) When he started doing that about twenty or so pounds ago, I would put that spoon in and seldom would there be just the smooth, chocolaty cream. Now I can eat three of the four servings per container, and it's about all cream and very few bites of chunks. Any changes in YOUR favorite flavor?          Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream

Maryellen....Back in Town!

My former colleague and Golden Girl retiree friend returned to Sicily from her new home in Atlanta. We had the honor of hosting her and her friend, Elaine. What a great visit with our first house guests and first gathering for a small group of former colleagues!

Elaine and I took pictures of each other taking pictures. Her souvenir of Sicily was the sword and gauntlet. Little did we know that KV in our midst has a sword fighter certification among her acting credentials. CA is too gorgeous to look tough! MM was at his charming self. Maryellen bragged to AM about those biceps she built with her morning swims and personal trainer. He will be recruiting her for the Marines. SB, DB, EP enjoyed the pizza, fruit and prosecco without posing.

The Grass Grows....

Our grass is growing, and the sheep were on the wrong side of the fence; therefore, we spent a few minutes in the LIVING ROOM putting our new electric lawn mower together.Flint did graciously steer it through the parking lot and down into our garage for storage rather than bringing it back through the house.

Yesterday and Today's View from the Kitchen

Pay the Bill

Our bills are delivered to base, and they are usually late. The electric bill, with a scadenza (due date) of 26 April, was delivered yesterday 11 May. Housing told us that if we pay at the tabbachi shops that the information is received immediately. Well, I headed down there this morning. A lovely walk with lots of cars lining the street to the market and for the first time I saw children in the Baby Jungle. I paid the bill in the tabbachi....which carries a huge selection of purses.... then walked across the street to the posta to mail a couple of postcards that I had bought/written in Venice/Padua at the airport over the weekend, but no stamps were available when I completed them.

The post offices serve as a bank, a place of bill payments, and mailing. One selects the needed service from a Baskin-Robbins-type 'take-a-number' (six different service buttons) then you wait for your code to appear and go to the window number listed beside it. For example, my code was PO 28, and I went to window 5 when my turn came....the only window that was servicing mail needs.

Note the sign in the picture below says, "20 Minutes". It's very doubtful that one would get in and out in twenty.

A side note: A few years ago, we stopped at a much larger, busier posta enroute home. While Flint waited in the car, I stood for almost two hours waiting for my number. However, the cleaning people entered, the security people took the money, they ran the thirty or so people out as their office hours were finito! Many locals expressed themselves loudly with wild gestures. It was almost worth the inconvenience to witness that.

Enroute home I decided to get my first granita for the season and stopped at a bar just because it is on the way (not one of my favorites). The only choices were almond, lemon, and chocolate. I prefer fruit so I chose limone con panna and a brioche, but since they didn't have brioche, I settled for a day old croissant. The cool granita provided a boost for my walk home where the flowers were beautiful and the Baby Jungle was locked and silent.

Do You Remember Matchbooks???

Do you remember when almost every business offered matches? Well, I continue to pick them up whenever they are provided. I had a frame for posting my collection when I lived stateside. The frame isn't with me, but the match books are. More memories of wonderful people, places, food, and probably more second-hand smoke than we care to think about.....

Time, Cats, and The Rooster

When we first arrived in Sicily in 1995, our TLA (temporary lodging apartment) was on the main street above the bank and post office and across the street from a school with a relatively large parking area for this island. At midnight, we would awake to the drum/trumpet/flag practice beginning in that large parking lot. Within twenty-four hours of our arrival, we said that we would NEVER live in Motta! Now that we live in Motta (and love it), we have the practice at this end of town in the lot where the weekly market sets up; however, they moved the practice time to 9:00 p.m. to provide our bedtime lullaby.

An update on Olivia aka Lulu: She has not been back to see me, nor have I found her when out and about. However, with the combination of pets and feral cats, Jan Scissorhands put away her scissors, and we had the yard sodded in hopes of deterring the cats using our plot as their bathroom. It hasn't stopped them much, but the red pepper appears to deter them somewhat. An online source recommended orange, lemon, or red pepper. In the land of oranges and lemons, they didn't appear to notice. The red pepper seems to be more effective.

The rooster lives in the corner by the main road and the street entrance to our complex where it crows happily all hours. It's sounds just a bit louder in the early mornings.