Villa Taranto, Lago Maggiore

Wow, guys, we have been to visit this beautiful villa near Lago Maggiore, and 80,000 bulbs in bloom is a sight to see and remember, until next spring at least! I felt ever so slightly Dutch for all the tulips. Absolutely stunning.

Совсем недавно мы посетили Виллу Таранто на Озере Lago Maggiore, и сказать по-правде, 80 тысяч тюльпанов в полной парадной готовности забудутся нескоро. По крайней мере, до следующей весны! Красота неописуемая.

Дети скакали по тропинкам, прямо как горные козлята! Чувствуешь себя свежо и великолепно весной в окружении такой красоты. Каждый бутон на каждом дереве был готов взорваться новым цветком, каждый листок развернуться новой ареной для букашек покрасоваться в своем весеннем наряде.

The kids were running up and down the paths just like the little goats! One does feel fresh and wonderful surrounded by such beauty. Every single bud on every tree was just about ready to burst open with a new flower, each leaf to uncurl to become a new stage for the bugs and creepy crawlies, so that they could show off their new spring outfits. What a show!

We went to Florence, and...

Have you ever played a memory game with your kids, I went to (insert your own) Florence in our case and I saw a basilica, then the next person goes: I went to Florence (or wherever) and I saw a basilica and... and so on, and so forth with the list of the things seen (or be it done) until someone makes a mistake. Well we went to Florence and judging by our photos we saw a basilica, some statues, some people (some of them yawning), a boot, a bridge, some market stalls...
and the most unexpected of all a nutria, yes, a rodent the size of a dog, and we are talking big dog, not your average chihuahua... Swimming around peacefully, breeding, and as I read they produce up to 13 young per go, mate throughout the year, and have teats (udder type of thingies) on the back (the females at any rate) to let the kids feed on the go! Oh, that is cool! That would have solved so many problems! LOL!


I am not afraid of nature, but these creatures were too much like giant rats for my liking, even if they were in the river and I was on the bridge! I am finding out now that they get served in the tourist restaurants as part of the dinner. Eugh! I am glad I am not a big meat eater! Florence was beautiful, despite the rats. Thinking about it now, I should have recognized them as nutrias straight away, back in Russia in the olden days, when the winters were so cold that antifreeze froze (rather turned to porrige, really) I used to own a coat made of these poor beggars, I wore it last when my oldest was just a babe in arms, I used to put on a marsupial bag with her in it underneath the coat... Memories, memories... See you later anyway.

A little freebie for you

Since it's Carnival season out here, I thought you'd like a little mask, here it's offered as a freebie for you, for a freebie roll down, for a little story to go with it hang on. In the nearby city of Bellinzona there is a February tradition of Rabadan procession, we have never seen all the floats, the kids attention still drifts after about two hours, and we usually go away after two thirds of the procession. The same thing happened last Sunday, but we saw pretty awesome ones, I must proclaim my unchanged love for Guggen monsters, I didn't see any of them this year, and that was a great shame, they always bring on festive cheer with them. Missed you, guys.
You can see my girls sitting there on the side of the road waiting for the procession to start, this time it was 45 minutes, otherwise you have to stand behind somebody, I still had to. I have problems, I am too shy in comparison with the big Italian mammas who push you out of their way so that they could stand in front of you, and see better. I am surprised to have taken some photos without her head in the frame, but there you go can't squash creativity with your finger... LOL!
Here are the Kings and Queens who always come on the first float, and some of the other floats that were in some way remarkable.

If you still remember about the freebie, you can download it right here. Please, leave any love you have to spare :)

My baby's Birthday coming

Wow, my baby-baby is turning 6! I am feeling like it's me growing old. This year she wanted to have a party most of all. A party with her friends. When before now a day with the family was requested, it's the day with Amici and Amiche is what she would like. So she was made responsible for ideas, party theme, party bags and so on, and here is what she has decided on. The theme is going to be princesses and pirates (shows, that most of the friends of hers are of the male gender). Her sister insisted on joining the army of the bucaneers too! So the invitations were made with this in mind. Rolled up as good old treasure maps should and tied up with pretty ribbons fit for the princesses.
She has made the crowns for the girls, and the paper pirate hats for the boys, following the same principle as the crowns. Now since the desicion was made, both my little girls have turned very fond of pirate attributes, and from early morning it's ahoy, my mateys, all around the house. And one of them has to be either one eyed or one-legged (armed) at any given time. I am going to be blind Pugh for the party, I am sure. Have a nice day, wherever you are. And from us here, there will be a follow up story, I assure you.

Underwater love freebie preview

This is what the kit looks like. The link is in the post below. Enjoy!

Underwater love freebie

It's so snowy outside, that I feel an urge of something summery, warm and fun. So I have dug up something, that I want to share with you. Here are the pages I have finally made with my own kit. Underwater Love I called it after a wonderful song by Smoke City. Would you like to have it? I was sort of waiting for my shop to open, but it's been months, and nothing has been done, so I give up. I would rather you had fun. Click here to get it. Please, don't pirate it. Just send your friends here to collect it, please. Have a nice day.

Christmas report 1

This is a small post to start our report on how the holidays went. Early December we decorated the tree, and the girls took the task so seriously, that they got dressed for the occasion, how very smart, so I grabbed my camera, and snapped these.

Pages made with Shelleyrae's special gift given with the Tid-bytes December issue at Scrapbookbytes, and her Tattered Neutrals papers, available from SBB.