Quote of the Day

"A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world." --John le Carré, English author

There is a thought worth musing over. Of course, I spend most of my life at a desk.

Tucany Painting

I am finally making progress on my Tuscany inspired painting! I started this painting at least *ahem* a year ago, if not longer! I was getting really frustrated with a patch of trees that I couldn't get right and gave up for a while. One of my summer goals is to complete it. I'll admit though, that it took finding these topiary trees to finally incentivize me. (why isn't "incentivize" a real word? we use it all the time at work. another one of those made up marketing terms i guess.)

Wish me luck, I'm hoping to finish it within a week! P.S. It's not an original painting of mine, I am copying something I saw at Crate & Barrel. I think I spent almost as much buying the art supplies as I would've just buying the painting. Sometimes doing it yourself doesn't really save money!

My Nonna's Lasagna

My Nonna (Italian grandmother on my mother's side) sent me a wedding anniversary card a few weeks ago and included a handwritten recipe for her lasagna. Which oddly enough, I've never actually had. She doesn't make lasagna much that I can remember.

My grandparents immigrated here in the 50s and still don't speak English very well. The best part about this recipe is trying to read it. I'll give a prize to anyone who can translate it!


If I try and speak like my nonna, with her accent, it starts to make sense.

Here are a few clues:

• Miad = meat
• Pis = pieces
• Ef = half

My favorite line though is the one she circled at the bottom of the page, "Eskius may rait" which translates to "excuse my writing". This one is a treasure.

I thought I had decided...

I thought I had decided...on which topiary I liked best for our fireplace mantle.

Now that I am looking at the photos again as I post them...

I'm not really sure! Which ones do you like? The scraggly rosemary ones, or the two "ball" mint ones? I thought the rosemary ones went better with my half painted Tuscan scene. The mint ones look a bit to groomed "English garden" to me.

I've been wanting topiaries for the mantle since we moved in three years ago! And I finally found some on sale at Crate & Barrel for only $15 each. Now I just have to choose...