Can't Sleep

Its March 31st 2011 Gino and I finally made it back to Sicily. The last year has been a roller coaster of a ride. Moving here in August putting Isabella in school here working on the house getting three puppies, two birds and a fish.... going back and forth to California putting Isabella back in school in Santa Barbara...renting out our Camarillo restaurant..renting out our Camarillo house...finding spots for three cars..saying goodbye to the family..again

No wonder I cannot sleep. No actually its the jet lag. Its nearly 5 am I just made a pot of soup and did the laundry....if I am awake I will hang it out at the crack of dawn...feed the dogs and probably fall dead asleep.

No really its been a year to look back on. Good and bad but we survived it. Best part getting to retire and spend the day as I want cooking cleaning doing laundry all of which I love as its done at my pace. Gino spends his day working on the house and around the grounds. Its never ending you finish one job you start another. This is ok with us as we both like to be busy.

Today Gino cleaned the furnace room as we are expecting another shipment of sansa/pellets for the giant machine that heats our home and water. We also burn logs and I enjoy getting out the wheelbarrow and delivering the logs from one side of the house to the other. Its great exercise. I spent the month of January here with my pal Janet from California. We really had to fend for ourselves with no men around. As a team we did really good. We both like to cook so we cooked together most days and tried to watch what we ate as we both have weddings to attend and thought we could get in shape. It worked...we were a little slimmer.....were. We dealt with the animals, shopping and day trips.... we were out and about like the natives....of which I am now one!

Today was quite lovely...foggy in the early morning then the sun came out I fed the dogs and spent a little time between chores sitting outside reading. The afternoon it rained some and cold came in. The days here are never dull weather wise...it changes constantly at this time of year. When the sun shines you get your laundry done and out hanging on the line..the old fashioned way. Best way to dry your clothes and much cheaper than the dryer. Electricity is expensive here so we only use the dryer in emergencies. Gasoline also...has been for years and currently is about $9 per gallon. We joked about getting our 5 year old brand new Vespa out to start using it...I really think we will. Plus parking is a nightmare in the town of Enna and its a stress anytime we want to visit Gino's Mum or just go to town. We shipped that Vespa here for a reason.

Its now 5 am and I am even more awake. God knows I have enough to keep me busy for a year. Last August we shipped a 40 ft container here filled to the brim with all our furniture and personal items from America. Gino complained about what I was packing I complained about what he was packing. There was plenty room for all the stuff we both thought we could not live without. The one thing we agreed on was our kitchen. We bought and shipped a brand new professional kitchen which included a 6 burner Wolf stove with a huge oven big enough for my Thanksgiving turkey which I will be cooking every year in honor of my Dad who just like me loved turkey. TG Sicilian Scottish style.

Tomorrow is another day I need to pick up my birds and fish that my sister-in-law Silvanna kindly babysat while we were gone. The dogs Winston a Beagle, Max a black and huge German Shephard and Oliver the little mutt I found at the side of the road and who has turned into the most beautiful Golden Retriever keep me busy all day long. They have their special dog run but when I am home they run around and play all day long trying to escape to the neighbours properties on either side stressing me out till I find them and bring them home. I think a job tomorrow is to try and secure the property so these dogs stay safe.

Ok think I am going to test my soup.....5. 15 am...might see the Sicilian sun come up.

9.15 am never did sleep...saw the most lovely sunrise.....fed the dogs hung the laundry made breakfast. Our contractor just showed up so looks like Gino and him are working on something that needs attention. I will be called any minute to make the coffee.

The piscina=the swimmng pool=the money pit!

My only real request to Gino when we bought this house was.........I must have a swimming pool. We started the pool last week. Its quite a procedure with at least 5 different companies involved.

First you pick the company for the pool...and a normal person would think they do it all from start to finish????? no they do not. They supply the design, the pump etc, the lining for the pool. You then hire company #2 to dig the pool..which involves taking out a lot of dirt and unless you have a place to reuse this dirt you pay to have it taken away. We will use some but not all. Then using the measurements from the pool company you mark out the depths of the pool and this has to be precise before you hire company #3 to pour the concrete..then on top of the concrete you put down sheets of metal.....my photos will hopefully make sense of this.

Its more complicated than one thinks and of course lots of $.......I must sound like a broken record but $ go fast here........as I said to Gino....we can always go back to work.

Big announcement....we are going back into to business....we are opening an American hamburger joint here..........the kids here really need it. Just like in America its the kids that seem to spend the $ and in our town I really feel this would be a great spot...a lot like In and Out........we are not opening it tomorrow...but we will do it in the next several months.

Then you have company #4 that spreads the cement......this was two really nice men and this is not as easy as it sounds...they have to work like the devil to get it spread fast and even....quite a talent and fun to watch....wish my grandson Oliver was here to enjoy all this man stuff.

Then comes Pavone once again..... who then adds his own layer of very thin cement this is super super important as we add a plastic lining on top and the smoother the cement the better the pool.....I love Pavone he is doing the best job with his helper grumpy Gino.

This is the point we are currently at.......there will be a part two to this blog.....when Company #5 takes over.....Ciao

Isabella In Sicily

She did not want to come here...that is a well known fact. We have now been here 5 weeks...boy it seems so much longer and if you have been reading my blog you will know why. Lots of work and no time to think.

So....Isabella....5 weeks later she is in school...Schola medio...2nd grade. Subjects: English, French, Italian (not the lanquage) technical, PE, Math, Art & Music. First day was the hardest for sure...she showed up in shorts...the only one in the whole school...in shorts. The Italian kids are great.......she is like Madonna...she is known thru-out the school..the city at this point as the new American girl. She made two very close friends fast Guila and Manuela and Marco Santa Maria...her new boy F.....either she worked fast or he worked fast I have no idea...but she is smiling and boy does that make me happy. All this with little Italian lots of sign lanquage and google translater...somehow it works and she is enjoying school. The school week here is 6 days.....and some of those days go until 4.15.....After only a few days she said..I wish there was school on Sunday.....I cried...I cried.

So just a little blog to say how proud I am of my darling beautiful Isabella. Mummy loves you!

The most peaceful place in Enna

Cemeteries in Sicily are are sometimes small towns. Most people here are Catholics so burial is still the preferred choice after a death. When Papa died last year his resting place was in the family tomb. Politics prevail within families as to who has a spot in the tomb....I still have to understand our family politics regarding this.

Most people visit their loved ones on a Sunday as we did last week. Before Papa died we had been there several times to visit other family members......its pretty apparent who the wealthy are by the size and quality of the tomb.

Its a very peaceful spot and a lovely walk as you meander thru the streets that are all named and numbered like in a normal town.

Its sad to see see the tombs that are neglected but these are usually because families have no more living members or survivors live outside the area. Its fascinating to see pictures, dates etc and imagine who these people used to be....always super sad to see young babies and children in the tombs.

Definetly one of the most interesting places I have ever been and for sure a peaceful resting spot for someone you love.

Top ten worst things about living in Sicily

1.Missing my kids and Gkids

2. My Mercedes parked at home in CA

3. Calling my sisters whenever I feel like it

4. Wine with Janet

5. The drive up the coast to SB or down to Malibu

6. Starbucks

7. Trader Joes

8. All my fav TV shows..too many to mention

9. My Customers at the restaurants

10. Target

Top ten best things about living in Sicily

1.Being with Isabella and Gino...a lot

2. The peacefulness

3. Winston

4. Seeing Mama happy to have us here

5. My house and grounds

6. The Milano family

7. The sky

8.The Crazy entertaining Sicilians

9. Being closer to Scotland

10. Cefalu

Current status at Villa Isabela

Pavone is the boss.....this man is the bunny with batteries that runs and runs and runs. He shows up at 7 am....leaves for one hour for lunch and back till 5. He is a retired electrician but for sure sure a man of all trades. His job this time around was to prepare the house for the plumbers for the new furnace being installed...that means.....knock the hell out of my house and make as much noise and dirt that we could enter the Guinness book of records...is there such a category?

Now he is building the chimney for the furnace...sure to get some kind of complaint from our one and only bitchy neighbor...who don't even live in the house next door....its their summer place....but they have complained about everything else...so why not this. We just smile and we are nice to them..as I so want to buy their property......Gino says I am going to have to turn tricks to get some serious $ if it ever comes on the market.

Side note watching BBC news as I type..its my lifesaver...I stay connected to the world outside Enna....and just cooked eggplant parmigiana and 6 scones for the workers to take home as a thank you from me for all the mess they made.

We broke down and hired an architect as Gino and I kept arguing about the front of the house the pool the grounds etc etc....not real arguing just worried we will screw up...cause when its done its done..and as I keep saying nothing is cheap. So it will set us back week or so as he measure and prepares pictures for us. Then we can go ahead and set the pool and plan grounds for the companies we hired for those jobs...boy this is harder than I thought it was going to be.

So we move forward and overall happy with what we have accomplished so far and getting more excited about the end results....main goal is get as much done before the weather changes.