Lovely accommodation near Lucca

Warm atmosphere, old time charm and all kinds of modern comforts characterize this Villa near Lucca, restored with personal touch. For sure one of the best places to spend few days if you wish to visit Lucca and the north of Tuscany. The foundations of this ancient Villa date back to the 18th century
The Villa belonged to Mr. Bonuccelli that bought it from Washington since his family had emigrated to America, and the villa would allow his family left back in Italy, to live in it. In fact they lived in it, as it was, until 1945. Thankfully the bombings of WWII did not destroy this villa.

The Villa is located near Camaiore that is a town which extends from the fascinating summits of the Apuanian Alps to the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the heart of Versilia.

We really enjoyed our stay at the villa. A relaxing and refreshing experience in a lovely restructured and authentic Tuscan villa near Lucca.

Almost ready to leave tomorrow

This morning started out fairly good, warm all night long, they say hot today. We left about 9 am to hit the stores before it got too hot. Miss Princess does not like to go bye bye,She is protesting here, says i am not going you can't make me!. Well its either go or get beat up by Precious who takes a swat at her every chance she gets. Its kind of cute to watch them. As Precous walks around her with her fur in the air, and Princess dances around her growling and barking. But always watching to make sure that i am in sight so that i can rescue her if Precious comes after her.
Anyway went to Walmart to get cat food, a lantern and of course the weeks movie,Then went to Grocery outlet to buy some other stuff and off to Costco, for the rest of the stuff. Jaynee called and said that they were going to leave the campground tomorrow as well, and we will meet them along with Cindy.
Then later Sharon called and said that they were also leaving tomorrow but didn't know for sure what time. But said to call and they would try to go the same time. So the only one that won't be at the Silver Creek campground thursday night is Sassy and Arlene. They will come on Friday.

Here is the two big boys, Tittertat and Oliver sleeping together, I think Oliver now is outweighing Tittertat. Altho T has so much flab hanging there, wonder if they do tummy tucks on cats?Cause his sure is hanging down on the floor.



Here is P and Buttercup playing together with a little mouse, couldn't get a shot fast enough when P thru it in the air and Buttercup grabbing it.
I swear her name should of been Tasmania Devil. She sure keeps the cats active, other than Tittertat, and for some reason he just ignores her.

Well i will sign off, Still have to finish cleaning up the kitchen . Wash the truck in the morning as we will also take it with us.

Виды галстуков. Ещё раз о новой коллекции Giorgio Ricciardi

Стилист Giorgio Ricciardi со своим давним другом и постоянным клиентом, популярным итальянским актёром Кристианом Де Сика после презентации новой коллекции галстуков.

Кристиан Де Сика - сын всемирно известного режисёра Викторио Де Сика, дважды удостоившегося "Оскара" за свои фильмы.

Знаете ли вы, что галстуки бывают разных видов в зависимости от подкладки, которая используется для их пошива?

Они могут быть лёгкими, без подкладки, которые сейчас очень модны у итальянской молодёжи,

с подкладкой, обычные,

и с подкладкой "7 складок", которая получается гофрированной. Это галстуки-люкс, которые конечно стоят в два раза дороже, но и смотрятся и ведут себя в соответствии со своей ценой. Они более объёмные, сохраняют свою форму во время носки и не так легко изнашиваются.

Hopefully this is the end

Hopefully this is the end of poor Tittertats ordeal, at least he is in his favorite chair, other than mine. We took him to the vet this morning for a final check up. Dr said he is doing good, specially when i said he had a small poop last night, he ate his food well, i also gave him another IV altho he is drinking some water but does not go to the water dish. If i put water in his food with the chicken he will drink it.
So now she has him on some CD diet food for the crystals in his urine. don't know how long he will be on that. Maybe forever. They said when they gave it to him there he didn't like it.He has a couple more days of meds left to give him, gosh he hates to have things stuffed down him. Well i guess i would too. I just hope he knows i am not being mean to him.Oh lets see she also said to give him 1/2 teaspoon of metamucil in his food a day, to keep him regular.

Oh the weekend is coming up and i can't wait to get out of here, Heading out on Thurs to go camping with my yahoo camping in oregon group. Surely will have something to tell when i get back from that.
Yesterday we went to LaPine to meet Cindy one of the gals that will be going with us, she lives in Jackson Hole Wy. she has been rving all winter by herself and her 3 dogs and 3 cats. Have never met her till yesterday nice lady.
We will meet her at the intersection to Silver Lake. Sassy and her friend Arlene will be meeting us at the campground on friday. And Jayne and Richard will also leave on friday they are at the LaPine State Park. Don & Sharon will also go on thursday i will follow Nevada in the truck as we will need to have transportation to get to the Cowboy Dinner Tree on Sat night.

Tomorrow we will have to go to the store to get the rest of the food and then pack the motorhome, most everything is already in there but always need to take more. And the weather is suppose to be beautiful and warm all weekend. Tomorrow they said it should get to about 90 oooh that is way too hot, but i guess we better not complain.

Memorial Weekend

Beautiful sunset at the Slabs in Niland California.



Well the closeing of a nice 3 day weekend for people, at least this part of the country, not sure but I think some states didn't have very good weather. How was your weather were you are?
It was windy today here in Bend Oregon, but at least no rain yet or too cold. In the past it has rained or was way too cold to be out camping. So it truly was a nice weekend for the first camping season.
Hope that you all had a good time off work. And for those that had to work like me, well take i guess someone has to do, so thanks.

Tittertat is doing a little bit better each day, the chicken strips that i feed him, he likes them, to encourage him to drink i add water to the chicken and he ends up drinking the water as he picks up the chicken. Sneaky aren't I? Hey whatever works to get some fluids down him.

Hurray !Tittertat is home

Hurray, he is back home, not in the best of shape yet but at least he is home, were he is more comfortable and loved. Here he is just getting ready to walk over to his favorite place to lay down, he takes about 2 or 3 steps and then sits back down.
When i first got him home we noticed that he was straining really hard, he got into the litter box and peed a bit, get out and then go back in. The we also noticed that as he was walking into the living room he would sit and then urinate. This is not good, so on the phone i went again to call the vet, she didn't tell me this would be. so she said due to the bladder infection he has, the antibiotics should kick in soon.
Here is finally to his best place to lay under the coffee table.
The vet said that they still have been force feeding him as he wouldn't eat. So they were trying some baby beef food. She said they couldn't get him to eat on his own, but once he saw us and i put the food down there for him he licked it several times.
He just needed to be home with mom thats all.
So here he is eating some chicken pieces, when i got him home.This boy is used to chewing something, he wanted to sink his teeth into real food not that baby crap.
I had chicken plain raw chicken strips that i had bought when Princess was not feeling good. So i stuck a piece in the micro and cut a few junks of it up for him. Of course Princess had to see what she was missing and she said give me some too.

Here he is finishing up his chicken. I don't think he liked being away from home. His eyes don't look so shallow or empty either now. And he is responding to his name. Of course the other cats all have to smell and see how he is doing.
Now just to get him to hold that food down, and to get him to drink.

Tittertat still not home

Yesterday we were really hoping that he would be able to come home. The vet said she would call in the morning, NOT!, i finally called about 11:30 and Wendy the receptionist said they were in there with him and she would have her call, NOT!, again at 12:30 i called again, she came to the phone and said he still wasn't eating on his own and what he did eat he threw some of that up. She wanted to keep him and said she would call at 4pm, so waiting and waiting no call, finally at 5:15 pm she calls and says she thought it would be best that he stayed, he was still not eating on his own, "OH hum" it has been a week since he ate, I hope that he starts eating, he is probably not likeing the idea that he is being forced feeding, and he doesn't like the food there giving him. I finally asked how much all this is costing me, as they usually give me a estimate of all that they do, but since they didn't ask me about the draining of his bladder i really had no idea. Well unless he has to stay another day, the total bill if he gets to come home today is $469.00 so now we are $1100 bucks. For a poop problem.

My daily activities: Have a great Memorial Weekend

My daily activities: Have a great Memorial Weekend

getting better

Well today went better i think, this morning i called the vet but she wasn't in, Amy said that he had thrown up, so had to wait for the dr to come in and let us know were we go from here.
When she called she said that she wanted to keep him as she had not given him the medicine to not throw up, so she wanted to be sure that he got that medicine on a timely matter....that was at 9 am. she called again about 11:00 said that they now know what his problem is as to why he wasn't getting any better. It seems that he went in the cat box and started howling, they said that it was a sign of something and what she found was that his bladder was clogged, or what ever they call it, his urine had crystalized. So they did a emergency bladder drain or what ever they call it. She said that she would call me later this afternoon and tell me how he is doing. Well she called about 4:30 and said that he escaped his cage, they had to chase him down, Now if your thinking that fat cat can't run fast, he can when he wants too, But she said that he was definitley feeling better and that he had gone potty so that was good, she said they were trying to force feed him again and he fought them. Well if he is feeling good won't need to force feed him, he loves his food.Anyway she wanted to keep him another night just to make sure that he was doing what he was suppose too, so she will call me in the morning . Boy i am so happy to know that he is going to be ok.
We were really worried that we were going to lose him. So hopefully this part of our ordeal is over with.
I think i will sleep much better tonight.

Last night & this morning the IV

Last night we thought things were going to be ok. We stopped and picked up the baby food, i mixed the meat with some water so that i can use the syringe, i did one tube and then he decided to lick some on his own, YEH!!!! NOT. He was very listless still last night, stayed on the bed he feels very cold so i covered him up. Then before going to bed i put him in the litter box and he peed very little but did it YEH!!!!NOT..... He slept most of the night moved a few times. All seemed good, Till this morning. He threw everything he had in him up, all waterery God what a mess.That was at 6:30 this morning, He now has come out of the bedroom laid by the water dish, he took just a few licks of water. Then moved himself back under the coffee table. I will call the vet as soon as they open.

Gosh we are wondering now if maybe there isn't another problem.This is so discourageing. Oh and when we took him back in yesterday he lost another lb.

Well i talked to the vet this morning and she said to give him some more fluids since he threw everything up, but was good that he kept what food i was able to give him last night in till this morning.

Gosh i hated the idea of having to give him the IV was really hopeing that he would be eating and drinking on his own this morning. but here i have just inserted the IV in him. That is Nevada soothing him.Smiley looking on to what is going on.

He just doesn't seem to be getting better.


After we did the IV i fed him some more, we then waited a while to see if he kept it down and all was ok, so went to town for a little bit, when we got home he had thrown everything back up again, It was almost 2 pm i called the vet again but they were at a meeting so had to wait till 3 to call back. When i did Amy said you need to bring him in, so he is now staying at the vet.

Feline: Conditions of the Liver Hepatic disease (conditions of the liver) can be acute/sudden or chronic (long lasting). The liver is responsible for detoxifying the bloodstream as well as processing the nutrients absorbed from the intestinal tract. There are many things that can go wrong with the liver and in general they are serious but it always helps to understand medication used and the principles involved in management. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=182&A=1455&S=2

Here is the information the dr gave me to check out .There going to give him maga dose of the fluids plus a shot so he doesn't throw up.She says the good thing is that he is not yet Jaundice which is a good thing, because we have been on him from the start, but this is what can happen to him if he had not been.Hopefully what she is doing today will get him over the hump.

I don't understand it all yet but sure is scary if he gets to the point of being Jaundice.

Lilli

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Another Bad day with Tittertat

Tues 22,07

Well we had to take Tittertat back to the vets, he has not changed, no food or water , so listless, We just got home and she has him on a IV which she showed me how to administer, god i hate needles. But he is so good that he just lays there and doen't move. I also have to force feed him baby food, chicken, mix it with water so it will go into a syringe, she says what is happening that he has been without food for so long that he is shutting down and so his fat is going to his kidneys which is not good.

He goes to the water dish but doesn't drink, he puts his paw in the dish, and just keeps it there, see his other paw,

it is all wet as well, He has never done that, as he never liked water on him.Both his feet have been shaved for IV's and blood work and under his neck from the first vet, said he couldn't do it there because he was too fat.So i am hoping that this will work and nothing else happens.

Till the next update which i hope will be a good one.

Monday news on Tittertat

Well just to update you all, Tittertat went to our vet today, they put him to sleep and did a enema and cleaned him out completely. We picked him up at 5 pm and he was still pretty sleepy. But she said he should be doing much better by tomorrow. Said he was pretty backed up.

It is now 10 pm and he still is pretty groggy but then he has had a bad few days. I think he will be fine now.So far he still has not ate or drank which she said would be fine. Said it will be tomorrow before he will want anything, but to be sure and call if he doesn't.

Hopefully we will be able to finally get some sleep tonight as we both have been so worried about him.

Now we have another worry and that is my husband who also had a dr.s appt today, so if you could spare another prayer we would appreciate it. to make a really long stoy short, he has had two strokes the last one last spring,, he has had some breathing problems for a few months, why men hate to go to the dr is beyond me, not that we women like it any better, but anyway they did a EKG and the dr said that it looks like he has had some heart damage since he was in last, so now he has to go to his heart specialist to have it checked out. Life is never dull around here,specially the last couple of springs.

Thanks

Lilli

Castagneto Carducci and Bolgheri

The Castle of Bolgheri has been known of since the 8th century, and it too belonged to the family of the Counts della Gherardesca. The original structure had a different location: the castle we can admire today is the result of a reconstruction after the arrival in Bolgheri of the army of Emperor Maximilian in 1496. In the beginning of the 20th century, the castle of Bolgheri was the center of the properties of the noble Gherardesca family ; the countess Franca Spalletti Trivelli (a Gherardesca), wife of the earl Clemente Zileri (who owned the Fattoria Poggio a Poppiano near Florence) inherited this estate of 130 ha (among which 50 ha of vineyards) from her mother.




If you are looking to take a quick trip here from the north, then head south direction south Grosseto, exit La California and continue towards south for 5 Km. Here begin on your left the cypress road. If you are heading over from Siena follow the road that leads to Massa Marittima (another goregous little stop) and then proceed towards Castegneto Carducci.


Perhaps one of the most distinctive aspects of this town is the 4.3 km of road wich stretch between the castel itself and the old roman road of Aurelian is the long and pictureqsue viale of cypress trees (more than 2000 trees), well known through the Tuscany region and often associated with the Tuscan landscape.

Between 1838 and 1848, in the famous Italian Poet named Carducci, lived in Bolgheri and with his poem Davanti San Guido, he immortalised the "Viale" that led to the small village from the antique Roman thoroughfare to the chapel of St Vitus, built in 1703.




"Cipressi che a Bolgheri alti e schietti / van da San Guido in duplice filar, / quasi in corsa giganti giovinetti / mi balzarono incontro e mi guardar"

(The cypresses trees that go from Bolgheri, high and sincere in a double line, almost as young giants run towards me and looked at me).



Comfortably small and very walkable, this quaint little village is the perfect place to stop off and have a bite to eat - or get that after lunch cafe while admiring the Italian architecture in the many times restructured castle.

Update on Tittertat

Well it was a really crappy night for all of us, Tittertat slept on the bed with me, the other cats didn't like that at all, as they think that is there bed. He was so sick i just felt i had to keep on the bed with me so that i could keep an eye on him, I woke up several times checking on him, so not much sleep, about 4 :30 am he got up and started puking again, thank god he got off the bed, altho he didn't do much, nothing in his tummy to throw anything up accept foam. Poor guy was not very good. He took just a few steps and plopped down and just laid there. His eyes were really stuck back in the sockets, you know very shallow. I got up and tried to give him some water but he wouldn't take that either, so i just left him alone, i went back to bed, and woke up about 7 and he managed to work his way into the living room, were he just plopped himself again.No he did not want any water, i was really concerned about him. i got a syringe out and tried giving him some milk as he likes milk, but nope he didn't want that either..

I did find out that our vet was open till 1 pm so had to wait till 9 to call, finally called and wouldn't ya know it, there was no dr available as the one that was suppose to be there had an emergency at home, so was not going to be in, seems like everytime we have had an emergency with a pet they have never been available, so have always had to take them to another vet. Irritating.

So i called the vet we had Tittertat too before with the same problem. They said to bring him in. Well we got there and the vet said that to be on the safe side they had better take some blood work to make sure that nothing else was going on either. So they said let us do a estimate work sheet to see what the cost was going to be. Well he had to have blood work, an IV for the 3 hours that he was there, and then the Enema, so the total bill was $380.00 . $80 bucks more than 5 yrs before. Geesh and they say no inflation.

Well we left him there and went to pick him up at 4:30 the vet said, well we filled him up pretty good BUT he has not gone yet so hopefully you will get him home before he has to go. He said boy he did not like me giving him that enema or the jelly medication that i am suppose to give him twice a day by mouth, I said yeh i knew he was not going to like that as he don't like anyone even coming close to his hiney at home. Due to the last time he had to have this done.
So the only good news is that he has lost weight which i wasn't sure he had done but according to the scales at the vets, he now weighs 20 lbs instead of 32 lbs. so that is good news. Vet said to continue doing what i was doing, just cutting it down a little bit more. Well once he takes a poop maybe he will even weigh less who knows.

It is now 7:30 pm and so far he still has done nothing. The vet said if he doesn't do anything by monday i will have to bring him back and do the enema thing again. How wonderful is that. I am really hopeing he will do something soon. No food yet, as far as i know he has drank no water either, but the IV should of helped that for a bit anyways.
Well maybe later i will go and give him a massage and see how that stimulates him.

Another week gone by & a constipated cat

Well another week has gone by and not much has been going on , business had been slow. Geesh wonder what the summer is going to bring, can it really be that folks are going to be staying closer to home? Gas prices are soaring. $3.39 last we looked when we went out. Other places i am hearing is even higher. Not a good sign.

Did get plants yesterday to put in the flower beds, got some of them in but not all, didn't feel all that great today so didn't finish putting them out in the yard, not sure yet were to put them. Oh well maybe i will feel better tomorrow. Laid back down today and took a long nap, havn't done that in a long time. Not sure that made me feel any better, been so tired lately, and getting up several times during the night. Cats don' t help either as they want your attention once your up.

Not sure what is wrong with Tittertat, i am guessing he is constipated again, he has gotten out of hand again about eating, so today he is not good at all, has thrown up several times, wants nothing to drink, or eat OH MY GOD! you know there is something wrong when he doesn't want something to eat. Poor guy is having a rough day and night today.
I have had him on a pretty stricked diet and lately have slacked off with it which i shouldn't have done that, but he just drives you crazy if you don't feed him what your eating. So the last two days i have given in to him, now we both are suffering for it.
If he isn't better by tomorrow i will have to see about getting him to the vet or at least try to get some medication down him so he can go to the bathroom. I know just what ya all wanted to hear. One time it cost us over $300 to get him to go to the bathroom. It can be dangerous if he doesn't go. Altho i have don't know if that is what his problem is but he sure acts like it. I tried to give him some milk and he didn't want that either.
Last night i didn't pick up the cat food from the other cats so he may of got up on the counter and indulged himself so much that he is sick from eating so much. You know he is like people, he can't say NO to food when in front of him. He is a compulsive
eater. Only cat i know that eats everything you eat.

Well i guess i best close for now and go to bed, not sure what we will be doing this weekend, a few things going on in town, Pole, Peddle, Paddle in Bend i think that is what they call it, have never been to that. The Madras has the air balloons and then there is a horse show which i know we won't be going too.

I know i will have to get out of here sometime as i am feeling housebound.
Hope all is having a good weekend.

Time to work in the yard

Well today i decided that the yard needs some tender loving care, altho I do wish i had a green thumb. One of my flower beds has been in such a mess, because of this beautiful tree that we have, but since we have put the yard in several yrs back, this tree has released all of its roots and it is getting to be a real pain in the rear.

Of course i wouldn't think of getting rid of the tree as it gives us some wonderful shade in the summer time. But it definitely has caused a problem with trying to grow anything in the flower beds. 2 yrs ago we dug it all up and put down plastic hoping that would stop the roots from going thru but , NO way, they have smothered what plants i did have in there.

So today i took the blocks from around the tree and put them around the flower bed and raised it up and added more dirt, so hopefully those roots won't be coming towards the top of the new dirt, Now i have to think about what to plant there, since most of it is in the shade it will have to be shade loving.

Really wasn't planning on doing anything to the yard, because I have my heart set on this place selling, but then if it doesn't, well like last yr, we didn't do anything either and you can only go so long with out doing anything before it all goes to pot.

Boy sure can tell we are out of shape, we were so tired today, and sore. Nevada got the dirt from our pile that we have had a few yrs ago but never used.
The pond finally must of got cold enough to break the lip off, so he had to put a rock there so the water could run off the rock, but then we also discovered that it had a hole in the bottom of it, so the water was leaking from there. So now he has to fix that with something. At one time we had 5 waterfalls here.Got to be too much to take care of and too much to keep the water in the ponds, so much wind here that it just evaporates.

Oh and yesterday he was cleaning another one of our ponds out in the front yard and there was a rat in it, how disgusting is that? The guy at the catering place said he has had to put out rat killer so i am wondering if that rat came from his place looking for water.

Печёная продукция синьора Савиано

кликните на фотографии, чтобы увидеть их в натуральную величину

Я уже представляла продукцию синьора Савиано в предыдущем посте.Эта компания -официальный поставщик крупных сетей супермаркетов, таких как "Карфур".

Сегодня он сам посетил нас и рассказал как и для чего используют те или иные виды этих специфических snaks, из чего их делают.

Продукция делится на солёное и сладкое. Составляющие могут меняться в зависимости от вкусов и заказа клиента. Например, наши покупатели из Японии любят вкус лимона. Кому-то нравится фенхель, другие предпочитают миндаль.

Это группа солёных продуктов. Надо вам сказать, каждый сам по себе очень вкусный, а с пивом -просто мечта. Эти продукты используются также виноделами на выставках. После многочисленных проб посетители уже не в состоянии правильно оценить вкус вина, поэтому перед пробой им дают съесть кусочек этих печений, которые возвращают вкус "в исходное положение".

Taralli

делаются на свином жире с добавлением крошки миндаля.

а к этому тесту можно делать разные добавки

Для производства используется оливковое масло высшего качества, которое делают специально для этой компании около Беневенто.
Все эти продукты хрустящие, но не жёсткие. Мы дома перепробовали продукцию разных фабрик, тогда ещё не были знакомы с синьором Савиано, но из всех предпочитали именно эти, потому что этот рецепт нам нравится больше, чем другие.

Теперь о сладостях.
Два пакетика в центре - это качественнейшее песочное тесто, сделанное на масле, а не на маргарине. с добавлением шеколадных капель и без них. Это для тех, кто следит за качеством продуктов, которые ест.
Белые печенья слева делаются с ликёром "Лимончелло". Их подают к сладким "Шампанскому" и шипучим винам.

Заменители хлеба
В Неаполе любят есть хлеб специальной сушки. Его вымачивают в воде перед едой. Однако эти кусочки не совсем сухие. На них наливается оливковое масло, а сверху кладут зелень, помидоры, сыр -что есть. Такую закуску можно приготовить заранее. К моменту, когда надо подавать, этот хлеб будет достаточно хрустящим, хоть и не очень жёстким.
Его можно также разломать на кусочки и положить в тарелку с супом или бульоном.


Вы обратили внимание, что упаковки все прозрачные, сразу виден продукт. Человек, раз попробовав, знает, какой вид продукции ему нравится, а какой -нет.
Гарантия некоторых продуктов сегодня -6 месяцев, но сейчас проходят анализы срока годности и скорее всего после него все продукты будут иметь срок годности год.
В некоторых случаях, если изделия могут разломаться, они находятся в пластиковых коробочках, а сладости уложены на подносики, покрытые золочёной фольгой, которые можно сразу ставить на стол, как например Roccoco и Mostaccioli в моём предыдущем посте.

Презентация новой коллекции галстуков Giorgio Ricciardi на выставке

10 мая в церкви Santa Maria Incoronata прошла презентация выставки, в которой принял участие также Giorgio Ricciardi со своей новой коллекцией галстуков.

Giorgio любезно предоставил нам фотографии с выставки и даже подарил право использовать его фирменную фотографию для этого блога.

Вот такой своеобразный экспозиционный стенд

где можно увидеть и ткани Mogador, используемые для пошива и готовую продукцию

и восхищение "покупателей" - Ariel Soulè и Simon Toparovsky

Ну и наконец знаменитая на весь мир фотография -символ фирмы

Итальянские макароны, "пища счастливых" -исторический эскурс

Слово p'asta происходит по всей вероятности от греческого термина, который обозначает "мука, смешанная с жидкостью" и, конечно, невозможно узнать, кому первому пришло в голову смешать пыль от зёрен с водой так, чтобы получилось что-то съедобное. Уже Цицерон и Гораций, 100 до Р.Х., писали о том, что очень любят laganoz, раскатанное тесто, без дрожжей, отваренное в кипящей воде, нечто похожее на итальянскую ласанью.

С 200 по 1000 годы нет никаких письменных свидетельств.

Считается, что в современный смысле, т.е. разные типы макаронных изделий, слово рождается на Сицилии, где в городке Trabìa, недалеко от Палермо, тесто стали вытягивать в нити. И сейчас ещё там делают специфический вид вермишели. Есть предположение про арабское происхождение спагетти, там якобы тоже делались "нити из теста" но нет этому никакого документального подтверждения.

Со словом "макароны" сложнее. Можно предположить его связь с греческим macar , "счастливый", т.е. пища счастливых. Или же macaronis , которое означало своего рода мелкие пельмени, распространённые и сейчас и имеющие множество видов и названий.

Некоторое время вся паста носит название макарон, пока неаполетанцы не начинают называть так только длинные пасты с дырочкой внутри.

Есть фотографии, относящиеся к XIX веку, где видны специальные повозки с баками, в которых прямо на улице варили макароны, слегка посыпали сыром или перцем, и прохожие ели их руками прямо перед повозкой. Паста стала своего рода fast-food ante litteram пищей народа, дешёвой и быстрой в приготовлении.

Lipizzaner Stallions

Good Morning,
Well i hope that everyone had a very good Mother's Day yesterday. I certainly did.
We had not bought tickets ahead so was not sure if we would even get any, but our expo center is very large, we took Princess with us as we usually do, it was a bit chilly out with the wind blowing so figured it would be cool leaving the windows cracked, but by the time we got there it had warmed up quiet a bit, We walked her to the check in area, and these ladies said, are you going to the show? And i said yes, she said well you can't take the dog in, i said yes i know that, she said well its too hot to leave your dog in the car, i said yes i know that, we will leave the A/C on. She looked puzzled and walked off. The show was 50 minutes with a 15 min. intermission, so during the intermission we made a mad dash to go back to the parking lot to check on her, Now i have to tell ya, not sure the distance to the parking from the arena but its not short, and it has been a long time since i have walked that far and that fast in a long time, and boy am i sore this morning.

We went to see the Lippizzaner Stallions at our local Expo Center. These are truly magnificent horses, if you have never seen them and get the chance, go see them, I think its well worth the money, of course you have to like horses.



Boy what showmanship,when you watch them you can see there feet clicking each step they make, hard to describe but its amazing.

I tried so hard to get a shot of the horse jumping in the air with all fours off the ground, but my camera just isn't fast enough, or with a good zoom, all i did was complain to Nevada that i just have to have a better camera. One of these days i will just have to get one, i miss some really good shots.
Well that was my excitement for the week, have not done much all week so there for not much in the way of posting.

Weather is really nice, suppose to be 79 today.
How is the gas prices were you all are at? Cheapest here is $3.38
Well have a good day.

Дни Италии в Японии, Mitsukoshi и CIO Japan

Аки сейчас находится в Японии.

Там в эти дни проходил ежегодный праздник, который длится целую неделю, и в этом году он был посвящён Италии и её продуктам.

Одна из наиболее важных выставок была организована в помещении центра одного из наших самых крупных клиентов в Японии, Mitsukoshi, и конечно же Аки не могла не посетить эту выставку, где встретилась и с другим нашим клиентом, господином Kubota
из CIO Japan.

И прислала нам фотографии.

Discover Pitigliano in Tuscany

Pitigliano lies in the green Etruscan hills of the Maremma, the most southern part of Tuscany. The historic center stands on a protruding tuff rock and still demostrates remains of an aquaduct. The history of the town stretches back to the Etruscans in pre-Roman times and even today Etruscan graves and pathways carved into the tuff beneath the town point to these ancient peoples.


The of Pitigilano, in southern Tuscany, town is situated on a steep tuff rock (a hardened type of volcanic magma), 313 metres above sea-level. Not far from Pitigliano and its vacation rentals is Lake Bolsena, a huge water-filled crater and the largest Italian lake.


Southern Tuscany, a beautiful place to look for a vacation rental villa, was once one of the most important centres of the Etruscans. There are numerous cave-tombs of that period around Pitigliano, caves cut deep into the tuff, that are today used as cellars and sheds. Of further interest is the Jewish history of Pitigliano.


In the 30`s the situation of the Jews deteriorated. By luck and good fortune as well as the assistance of some Italians, who risked their lives, apparently all the Jews of Pitigliano survived. Today there is no Jewish community any more, but the cultural heritage is maintained. You can visit a small museum in the old ghetto area of the town. Not only does it offer a glimsp of the Jewish livestyle, but also a great opportunity to see the catinas carved in Tuff.



The mostly volcanic mountainous area is called "Alta Maremma" (Upper Maremma). Most of this area is covered by tuff (in italian: tufo), a volcanic material, that was discharged from volcanoes in prehistoric times. Tuff can be worked quite easily as long as it has had no contact with air that hardens it. Tuff has been used by people living in the area from early times. Today most of the old buildings are gone, and most of the remains are made from hollowed out tuff.
As a well known archaeologist once said: There is nothing that lasts longer than a hole in the ground.