14/6: Histon Open Garden day

Every two years some villagers organize the Histon Open Garden day.
The event idea is simple: some of the gardens are open for public to visit and the money collected (a unique ticket) go for charity.

I must admit that it took a while to convince me, but I didn't regret it.
To start with, I got a lot of great ideas for our garden. Not all of them applicable, but there is room for discussion.
But most of all I really liked some of the gardens and I enjoyed to observe a very typical aspect of English people life: gardening is one of the most spread hobby.
Plus the great weather has been a good background for a very colourful day.

30/5: Agnese is 6!

30th of May 2009: Happy birthday Agnese!
She is 6 today!

18/5: Rachele is 4!

18th of May 2009: Happy birthday Rachele!
She is 4 today!

3/5: Histon fun run

The 3rd of May we took part at the Histon fun run.
The event was organized in two runs:
. one for adults (of 5km), where I run;
. and _the most interesting_, one for children up to 7 years old, 1 Km long (!).

Agnese and Rachele run the 1 Km one and I was very impressed.
I was supposed to run aside Agnese but then Rachele wanted to join... so Agnese run by herself ending up in a very good position.
I run with Rachele who had only one single break in the 1 Km ring.
Both of the girls where very good!

13-19/4: Holiday in Cornwall

From the 13th to 19th of April we had a fantastic family vacation in Cornwall.
We hired a camper van and tried for the first time this kind of experience.
The final response was:
ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!
We do think that a camper van vacation is idea with children, ideal for a flexible planning such as we had, ideal for the degree of freedom it provides.
We must do it again.
Anna Maria and me found it fantastic.
Agnese and Rachele loved it.
Paolo didn't and he wasn't able to sleep properly a single night (try to guess about us then?). Yet, he is in minority.

Few snapshots of some places we have been visiting.

Here we are talking down into Clovelly, surely the most picturesque and beautiful village I ever seen in UK.
It is a 'private village', which I was not aware could exist at all. The atmosphere there, especially late evening without the tourists rush, is fantastic.








St Michael's Mount has a 'brother' in France: it is an old monastery, then converted into castle, which is built in an island close to the coast. Once a day the tie allows a path to appear and it is possible to walk there.
We went to the castle (which is really worth a visit) by boat and came back walking on the path with low tie.


Kinance Cove: a dramatic landscape on the seaside, where it seems like nature has been untouched.


The Lizard Point.
The southern most land of Great Britain.
Again a very nice landscape.
Here is the four of us (Anna Maria is taking the picture), although Paolo felt asleep and is slightly visible.






Glendurgan.
An amazing old and very well kept garden, within a valley that leads to a bay.
Fantastic walk and also absolutely funny for children who can enjoy the big maze.



Lanhydrock.

A huge country mansion property with 51 rooms opened to the public, which supply a clear idea about life in old times.
Remarkable interest for Agnese who was complaining about us going too fast from room to room!Obviously this site is equipped with a wide garden, with different walks (like magnolia's one): can't be described, should be smell instead.

In short, very short: a FANTASTIC WEEK!


NOTE: A full report of this story should be published in a UK magazine soon... therefore here I can write very little and publish only few pictures, surely not the best ones.

April: Paolo is crawling

A brief update:
Paolo (9 months) is crawling now. And as Rachele pointed out, now we have a problem!

Regarding Rachele one day we suddenly realised that she is able to read numbers. We asked: "where did you learned it? did you learned it from kinder garden?".
She said: "I've just been reading books!".

Agnese is more and more very British. Not only the way she speaks, but now she is even telling English jokes, the ones that you can find in Christmas crackers for example, and that I would never understand.... never mind!

28/2: making italian sausages

The Romans brought into Great Britain a lot of things that at that time were considered to be... 'signs of civilization'.
Unfortunately they failed to impose to britons a good recipe for making sausages.

So this time I took advantage of my father visit and we made them!

My father was happy to give me a training... indeed for him he was a kind of 'revenge', since when I was a child I could not care less about his job and learning his skills (he was a butcher). 

Now I was begging for information.... time changes! ;-)

21/2: Carnevale

In Italy - more or less at this time of the year, just before lent - we celebrate Carnevale.

It is a kind of "happier" version of Halloween, where traditionally there are less monster 

masks and more traditional ones (Arlecchino, Pulcinella, etc).

 

An italian group of people organized a party in Cambridge, and that was the first Carnevale for Paolo.

Also Agnese and Rachele were there, obviously as princesses (would you have guessed?).

5/2: it snows again....

That's absolutely rare...

2/2: "heavy" snow!!!!

Today we awoke with snow around and snow allerts in the radio.
The event was advertised in the news as the heaviest snow fall since 18 years!
Most of the schools were closed and people were advised not to travel unless really necessary. In some areas they even stopped rubbish collection.

To be honest, with the same ammount of snow in Finland, I don't think I would have weared high shoes, but one must think that snow in UK is very unusual and cars do not have winter tyres at all.

So when I came back from work (a bit earlier than usual) we made a snow man in the garden and we went with the sledge: being the area totally flat we played the sladge with dogs, with me being the dogs pulling two passengers (original game was Santa's sledge, but I didn't like the idea of being a reindeer, bearing horns...).

Weather forecasts say it should snow all week... but I don't recall a time were the weather forecast was correct for a whole week!

1/1/2009: Happy Half Year!

1/1/2009: Happy New Year everyone,
but today is also Paolo's first Half Year!

He is about 8.5 kg, he sits and smiles a lot.
He likes to play with the sisters (whatever 'play' could mean for him) and he loves to jump in his baby bouncer.
He just started eating solid food (which also means solid 'output') and he has two teeth.

The footh in the picture is his own.

December 2008: Italy

We spent Christmas time in Italy - as we do every year - from 17th to 31st of December.
As every year this is the occasion to see many relatives and lots of friends.
As every year we spend part of the vacation at home because someone of the children is seek (this year was Rachele - who left UK with fever, then Paolo, then Rachele again).
As every year we eat a lot of italian Christmas typical delicious food... and I fly back fatter!

In the picture we were at the Eremo dei Frati Bianchi, that Agnese and Rachele describe as a fairyland.

Have a merry Christmas and happy New Year!

We wish you a very merry Christmas and a fantastic new year!

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20/11: having lunch at school with Agnese

Agnese's school has organized an initiative that I found brilliant: they allow parents - for a certain period of time - to have lunch at school with their children.
And so I went, to have lunch at school...
It was very nice and interesting to discover a portion of their daily life.

One thing that I completely forgot was the feeling with the noise caused by... many children during lunch time, and coming from office life, which is typically silent, that was a kind of shock!
Again, was I a silent boy at school? OK, let's not go there...

Agnese was super happy... but one of her school mate was very annoyed because his mum would have gone there two days later, and he insisted that he was not fair! ;-)

At that ages, priorities in life are completely different!

17/11: sweet children!

17th of November, general update...

Agnese lost her second tooth... nothing major except for the way it happened...
Coming back home, Agnese run towards me telling that her tooth - which was about to fall - had finally drop out.
I asked: 'how did it happen?'
Agnese answered: 'I was playing with Rachele, then she kicked me in my mouth and the tooth drop out!'.
What a lovely children!

General status update: everything is going very well.
Paolo keeps on growing up. He plays with little soft toy, likes to practice voice and smiles really a lot! It is enough to look at him to get a big smiles.
The sisters love him.
Rachele is very happy at the kinder garden, Anna Maria a bit less because it is always very difficult to pick up Rachele from there: she just doesn't want to leave!
She is becoming very creative and she is always with her head in the clouds...
Just today Anna Maria let me notice that it is not possible to know what Rachele eats at the kinder garden, since she forgets it immediately and then makes up something... which changes five minutes later... and then again...
Agnese is happy at school as well, although at the beginning she was complaining that there is little playing time and much more reading, writing, counting etc...
She is becoming very precise and she is prone to lose the temper as soon as something doesn't go in the way she planned...
Malicious voices said she resembles the father, but not evidence has been provided about it.

31/10: gardening...

We usually do some gardening, but honestly I don't care about flowers.
I prefer to plant what I call 'useful plants', meaning these that provide food...
We have tomatoes, different varieties of lettuce, rocket salad, sweet peppers and some fruits, like blueberries and very successful strawberries.
I also planted a grape, and the plant has grown a lot.... maybe next year we'll have some fruit.

But what happened this summer was... unexpected.
Leaving for holidays, I went to throw away rubbish and I noticed a strange plant in my garden...
taxi came and there was no time for further investigation.
When I came back that weird plant had grown.
Now it was quite clear about the species... but to be sure I had searched on Internet and sent some pictures around: there was no doubt, it was cannabis.
Interesting enough it was the male plant of cannabis, which apparently is good for nothing...
But even more interesting there is quite plenty of use that a non smoker person such I am could do with cannabis: butter, cakes, textile for shirts, petrol similar to diesel...

In any case, after first observation period, none cared about it and the plant has been removed, but the question remains: how was it born there at first?

21/10: Wedding Anniversary

21st of October: today we celebrated the 7th Wedding Anniversary.

To the girl's question about 'what does anniversary mean?', we answer: 'it is the birthday of our family'.

Since we have been silent for a long while, we give a quick update:
Agnese is at year one of school (they start at year zero, which is reception). After 3 weeks the new teacher asked to Anna Maria if it is true that Agnese speaks also Italian... and she was surprised to hear that English is not her first language, since 'she is so fluent' - she said.
Rachele started the daily kinder garden: 3 times a week she stays there for 5 hours, two days a week for 2h and half. She's starting to speak English and she is quite happy there. Her personality is becoming more and more evident... as it is clear that she is always with her head in the clouds.
Paolo (now 3 months and half) is growing really well and quick (7.5 kg!). He is a good boy and complains only about stomach each (no wonder, he eats so much!). He doesn't like to be apart and enjoys to watch the sisters playing. He starts to play with sounding toys as well.
He smiles a lot, especially to the sisters who love him.

5-21/8: vacation in Italy

From the 5th to 21st of August we were all in Italy for vacation.
Few days in Cupramontana, at 500 m on the sea level, where the hot temperature was not so extreme; then the rest of the time on the sea side, at Marcelli di Numana (AN), where it was extreme.
I saw a thermometer once: it was 19:00, in Ancona: +31!
I don't want to know what was at noon.


Agnese lost her first tooth. In UK apparently there is the tooth fairy, while in Italy there is the tooth mouse (really?) and we were not prepared for this. So everyone asked: 'what did the mouse brought you?'.
I think she must be in love with cats by now...

Paolo seems to have learned to sleep properly during nights (I am not saying that aloud; technically I am just writing it!). He is even smiling on purpose now: very cute!
It doesn't seem possible that in few months he will be scratching my freshly painted walls!


Rachele (who is typically afraid of her own shadow) became suddenly fearless of the water, so we had to keep an eye on her.
She was swimming all the time in deep waters, careless, but obviously with the inflatable arm supports (whatever they are called).

We had a good time.
The 21st I came back in UK, while the rest of the family is still in Italy.
But they grant me they will come back too... (maybe!).

9/8: Paolo's Baptism

Paolo was Baptized the 9th of August, in Cupramontana (AN), St Leonardo Church (the same one where I had my baptism).

His baptism names are Emanuele (given by her good mother Rosa) and Matteo (by his good father Luca).

He was sleeping all the time, including when he had water on his head.

1/8: Paolo's first month

1st of August: Paolo turns to one month.

His weight is 4,8 Kg (!) and the comment of the midwife was - referring to the mother: "that's why you are very tired!".
At the same age Agnese was decent/good enough with her sleeping.
Rachele was fantastic.
Paolo cries so much that even on average we are no longer lucky! :-(
The problem seems to be that he has frequent tummy each (no wonder, since he eats so much!).

He is definitely an High Consumption boy!

Agnese and Rachele are still enthusiast about him and they tend to look after him quite a lot.
We are looking forward to the first _on purpose_ smile!