FromNowOn's activity

Oh dear, I just wanted someone to suggest a good camping site in a pretty location near an interesting town.  We've done the journey by car several times over the last 3 years, and taken the 'plane 3-4 times a year on others.  We like to take the car once a year (not for Heinz beans transportation) but because it saves money on car rental when we are there for a few weeks.  Taking the car throrugh Europe makes a nice change, as long as we don't have to sit on motorways for hours at a time.  We both like driving, but not for long periods.  We have stayed at budget hotels as well as some very nice ones.  We usually end up enjoying a good meal in the evening whether we are at a budget hotel or not; take a buffet breakfast to start the day, and then a lunchtime stop somewhere beautiful/interesting and have a mooch about.  The tent will allow us to save money that we can use in local restaurants in the evening.  The idea is mine - so it had better work out! The tent we have bought Allan can erect in 15 minutes, and he's only tried it once in the back garden.  He's an experience camper from years ago when he used to cylce all over Europe, including over the Alps and across Scandinavia.  Apparently, the camp sites he used then were sometimes farmers' fields.   I don't think we'll have trouble unpacking the gear as the tent goes into a holdall, the bed into another, and the stove and whistling kettle sit on top.  I have got loads of room left in the car boot for the child seat for when my daughter comes out with the baby, and all the other odds and ends I have decided to take with me. I am looking forward to our trip as we are going to use a French route rather than the Belgian mortorways (boring). Please can I ask again, does anyone know a good site around Colmar?  Allan tells me he has sent off for a book or magazine that lists lots of sites, so maybe we will do our homework, and then stop where the fancy takes us.  However, a recommendation would be welcome please.

All these recipies for home made baked beans are fine; I make them myself; soak the beans overnight, add onions, celery and tomato - BUT - it's not the same. Heinz baked beans have sugar in them, are thick and gloopy, and taste wonderful with chips and sausages.  I wait 'till I am back home in England to have my Heinz beans.  However, in Italy I have visitors from England who need feeding, and as well as cooking up my big pans of cannellini beans to make the equivalent of Heinz, I have cooked wonderful inexpensive soups from dried peas (geen and yellow) and lentils.  I add fresh produce from the market and sprinkle with fresh herbs or cheese.  My guests think I am so clever and imagine (ha ha) that I am cooking Italian.  (In truth, I just want to save my money for proseccos down at the local bar).  I won't be back in Italy for 3 weeks, but I know that I have soup bases in the freezer - made from those sweet white onions that I bought by the kilo in the market, and also I have soups made with the produce given to me by my neighbours from their ortos.  I've got cherries frozen in syrup; they seemed to have had a glut two weeks ago, and they gave me baskets of them.  I'm looking forward to the outsized peppers and tomatoes, apricots and figs.  My neighbours look after me.  In return I take them M&S clothes for the children, Jubilee tins of biscuits, and soaps made from roses.  They are astounded at the strange times of day and night that we have our meals.  (Why?  I am on holiday).   I see them peering over the hedge into our garden where I have the table set, and down from the balcony above, to see what we are up to this time.  I hide my afternoon glass(es) of white wine in a teacup, and pretend to be sober when we return from our proseccos rather late in the evening only to start cooking dinner!  Don't really know what they think of me, I just know they feel sorry for my husband whose stomach must be suffering  ....... no wonder he has a pancio (paunch?).  I love our neighbours, and they are so friendly towards us, and keen to meet any new people we bring out from England.  Mostly our neighbours are from Milan and Genoa, and they are at their holiday apartments too, so perhaps they are more forgiving and accepting or our stange habits.  All I know is that I can't wait to get back to Italy and the wonderful sunshine and company of the locals.

Just returned from 2 weeks in the Villafranca area, and I am sorry to say the large public pool is closed and has piles of rubish outside and weeds are taking over the entrance.  A notice says that it is being transferred to new ownership, but there is no mention that I saw when the pool might reopen.  I just hope it does for July and August, as it was marvelous.  My summer visitors loved it.  However, there is a smaller pool and two children's pools (with slide) at Villfranca Camping.  Entrance is 7 euros for the day and 4 euros after 3pm.  Beds, parasols, tables, chairs and gazeebos, included in the entrance fee.  It opened for the season last weekend.  I imagine it will get pretty crowded by August when the campers arrive in force. Does anyone have any news on what's happening with the Villafranca pool?  It will be disappointing to do without it this summer.

Since posting the above I found this link to postings on the Kindle drop test.  http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m25LKTYHEBQP7L I have to say my Kindle SLID halfway down the stairs before hitting floorboards.  I don't mind that they won't do repairs, I am happy to have a new replacement at a discount price.  Perhaps I would not be so happy if it had been a lot newer than 15 months. I use my Kindle every day, throughout the day, and check the free book list each morning - including when staying at our place in Italy.

It's been lovely reading about how you look after your wild birds in Italy. We've had some snow here in Buckinghamshire, enough to cover the ground and trees and bushes. We have a shrub with red berries outside our dining room window.  There are tracks in the overnight snow that show some cloven hoofed animal has been sniffing around.  I saw my neighbour out in his garden in his walking boots shaking off the snow from branches - I expect to allow the birds access to anything left alive on the leaves. I have just read that you should never put out any food in mesh bags. These may trap birds’ feet and even cause broken or torn off feet and legs. Birds with a barbed tongue can become trapped by their beaks. This afternoon I saw a robin on my patio table helping himself to some dried fruit and seeded bread crumbs. I do love wild birds! When we get to our place in Lunigiana we'll have to do something about the swifts nest that appeared last year under the eaves. I've read that swifts return year after year - and they do make an awful mess.  I had to wash my terrace twice a day last summer to clear up their droppings.  I don't want to destroy them, just stop them coming back this year!  It is not as though I ever saw them - just their leavings!

I have been googling Italian birds and winter weather.  It seems the Italian Sparrow is one of the wild birds most commonly consumed as food in Italy!  Perhaps feeding stations are used as bird traps instead of lifesavers!

Do you take any precautions after experiencing small earthquakes/tremors?  My family laughs at me when I insist everyone takes a bottle of water and a torch to bed when we are on holiday in our apartment in Italy.  I have experienced two small earthquakes in England, one at night in bed when my wardrobe woke me up squeaking and shifting from side to side.  The second one was years ago at work in an office above a petrol station.  There was a huge bang and I thought a truck had hit something downstairs.  But no.  Definately an earthquake as it was all over the local news and felt as far afield as 200 miles away.  My neighbours in Italy are used to tremors but I've never experienced any whilst there.  We have a modern building which is supposed to be earthquake proof - it has a channel that runs through my bathroom and across the hallway. 

I am sure you'll have lots of fun with your bread maker Lorraine.  After the first few loaves I got my confidence and started experimenting.  I added ripe bananas - that did not work too well.  The bread came out a bit heavy and squidgey, although the crust was nice and crisp!  The addition I like best is sunflower seed - lovely and nutty and chewy.  Currently I have about six flour types on the go, and all sorts of nuts and fruits.  My next loaf will have pesto and pine nuts in it, and I want to make the onion and cheese loaf too. I am looking forward to seeing what flour types they sell in Italy.  On the old forum someone suggested buying flour direct from the local bakery.

Are you part of a condominium with an official administrator to handle the service charge and maintenance?  I understand that where there are more than 8 flats you are obliged by law to have an administrator.  That's Italy anyway - don't know if it is the same in Sicily.  We have condo meetings every few months and votes are taken as to what we should be spending our funds on next.  I have to say there are always plenty of claims on the funds and you have to shout pretty loudly to get your voice heard (difficult if the Italian is limited!).  However, our neighbours are very friendly and obliging, they explain it all afterwards - what we have voted to spend the year's service money on!  Our administrator is excellent, and he doesn't cost too much either.

I have caught two of these programmes and I loved them.  We have driven around Sicily by car twice and stayed near many of the places featured - and I must say the programme reminded me how much I had enjoyed those trips.  I'd love to go to Sicily again, but now that we have the holiday apartment in Italy, it eats up most of our money, so those days of freedom travel may have to go on hold until full retirement when we'll downsize the UK house.