In Italia!

Ciao a tutti! We arrived in Partigliano at about 7 pm yesterday evening. It was a long but uneventful flight. Going through Paris was good except for the layover. We spent over six hours at Charles De Gaulle Airport and it was the worst time of day for us. We arrived there about 8:15 am and left at 3:40 pm European Daylight Time but if you subtract 9 hours from those times you will see that it was 11:15 pm to 6:40 am Pacific Daylight Time. So, as far as our body clocks were concerned the only thing to do was sleep. I keep wondering why airports do not have more chaise lounge type chairs. Lacking those we found a couple of cushy armchairs but they were small enough that it was hard to curl up in one. I could not stay awake but nonetheless kept waking up because I was so uncomfortable.

Once we arrived at the house it was better. Unpacking and getting things turned on at the house kept us moving. About 8 pm we went to Ristorante La Terrazza for dinner. By the time we finished there we were both dozing in our chairs. So, it was back home and to bed for both of us.

This morning we went to the "trucker" bar for cappucino and pastry. It is really great to walk into local places, be recognized and not even have to order because they know what we want. After that it was off to the supermercato to load up on groceries. When we got back to Partigliano it required both of us to haul everything back to the house. All four of my Whidbey Island shopping bags were full plus on the side was a six pack of fizzy water and a package of toilet paper.

You can see my four Payless grocery bags plus the water. There is also a basil plant sticking out of the bag on the counter. You can buy them for about Euro2 at the supermarket!

After I got everything put away Dom and I walked through the fields to check on the olive crop. There seem to be enough fruit to make it worthwhile harvesting. There will not be as much as last year but we should have a respectable haul.

Then it was more puttering around--vacuuming up the dead bugs after spraying some yesterday--and then lunch. Of course after that we started falling asleep again. A thunder and lightening storm blew through about that time. It got close enough to rattle the windows pretty well and interfere with the satellite reception. So it seemed like a good time for a nap. At least that is what Dom is doing. I am trying to make it to 4 pm before crashing but it looks like I will come up a bit short.

I tried to take a picture of the heavy rain out the kitchen door. The bright speckles are the flash reflecting off some of the closer raindrops. It's a little hard to tell but the water is streaming down the steps and then running off the patio to the left.

I have actually been falling asleep as I write this. When I jerk my head back up I see that my fingers go on longer than my brain does. Hopefully I have caught everything that needs catchingnnnnnnnn. Well, there I go again so I guess it is off to nap for me.