florence

The blogging has been a bit sporadic of late, quite a bit going on and the weekly discipline of reflection and recording has gone by the wayside.

And so it is that mid November has arrived and we are on the other side of the world adjusting to a new time zone and a new country. Predictably the long haul flight was unpleasant, long gone are the days where 14 hours on a plane was exciting! On the up side being in Italy IS exciting and tiring and challenging and amazing and so many other things too.

Our first four days were spent in Florence (so far it is Colin, myself, Johanna and my nephew Hayden). We did a lot of touristy things and were severely embarrassed finding ourselves on a Tuscan Day Tour with a big group led by a tour guide waving a flag (yep, exceedingly cringe worthy). However the tour itself was great and San Gimignano was amazing and the organic winery and farm set in the Tuscan Hills where we had lunch was picture postcard perfect.

tour group in the winding alleys of Sienna

Tuscan landscape and also our lunch destination

Tuscan landscape

San Gimignano

A bit of photo taking in the main square of San Gimignano, such a beautiful place and not very busy mid/late afternoon

hold it

yep, got it

Note that Colin is sporting a new hat. Johanna and I vetoed a beanie, can't look like an Aussie bogan in Florence! Now he has an old man Italian cap instead!

We arrived in Pisa at dusk, the last stop on our tour.

Johanna and Hayden climbed to the top

Our other most embarrassing moment (other than the hop on/off bus) was being so tired and hungry (mostly tired) that we ate at 6pm in a cheesy, touristy place called Il David, right next to a replica of the statue of David, smack bang in a touristy square. Not our finest moment, and we were the only ones sitting outside (there were a couple of other culturally inappropriate tourists eating inside, it was a cold evening).

our local morning coffee spot

a couple of locals

a drummer drawing a crowd in one of the many piazza's

the river Arno from the Ponte Vecchio

the Ponte Vecchio

The Duomo

The Duomo

Yesterday we managed to time our arrival by train into Rome with Heidi and Alex's arrival in the country and more amazingly find each other at Roma Termini with ease and a bit of luck. Colin had far more trouble finding the public toilets! My sister arrived in Rome a couple of days ago, so now we are 7. The next few days will be spent exploring Rome and no doubt there will be more touristy and embarrassing moments to come.

extra hours

It has been a while since consistent early mornings have become routine. Unfortunately puppies are like babies, they wake up early, ready to go. Suddenly there are extra hours in the day and it feels like a long time between getting out of bed and falling back into it. Today is 'an at home day' and I had cleaned (including the shower), vacuumed, washed floors and done a load of washing before 8.30am. Then I tackled the garden, watering, pulling out peas and preparing the beds for summer crops and it was still mid morning. So I decided to wash the deck to get rid of the layer of dirt from the roadworks out the front of our house, and it still wasn't lunch time!

Winnie was very helpful all morning, not.

pulling out peas and having a munch at the same time

Another load of washing and finally it is lunch time. Winnie conks out from all her helping and I duck out to the shops while she sleeps.

The afternoon is hot, our first for the season and Winnie is lethargic (actually we both are) so I am catching up on mail, sorting photos (for some reason there are a ridiculous amount of the dog) and writing this blog, and it is not quite mid afternoon, still hours to go before Johanna and Colin return from their respective work days. Think I'll join Winnie for an afternoon nap...

saturday night

Hmmm, what have we become. It is a Saturday night, 8.45pm. I am laying on the couch with Winnie sprawled on top of me. She is snoozy and cuddly, she really could be in her bed while Johanna is in the shower but I can't resist. She nuzzles her head into my neck, her little tail wags and her heart beats fast. Her breathing slows, she tries to get closer, her eyes become glazed and gently close. She must dream sometimes because her breathing changes, she twitches and makes funny little noises. Eventually, gently rhythmic snores are right near my ear. On the other couch lies Colin reading, the book slowly lowers to his chest and his head nods forward. Eventually, not so gentle rhythmic snores, thankfully not right near my ear. Johanna walks into the lounge, "Are you guys asleep, you have got to be joking it's not even nine o'clock, get with it!"

Life at the moment is very puppy centered, a lot of work for a little while. The reward is loving devotion. Who else will greet you like this when you come home from work.

For those so inclined you can check out the winnstagram

the south island

Colin had a conference in Christchurch and I decided to tag along. The city remains visibly impacted from the earthquake in 2011. It is a strange mix of emptiness and brokenness alongside a mass of building activity. There are layers upon layers of complexity here; grief and trauma, courage and resilience, hope and possibilities, frustration and bureaucracy...

I spent a pleasant day wandering the streets of Christchurch, visiting the art gallery and walking in the botanic gardens and as I sent a message to my girls outlining the day I realised just what an 'old person' I am becoming. They agreed.

I rode the gondola to the top of nearby hills and enjoyed the view of Christchurch, Lyttelton, the bays, lakes and the sea from the top. Luckily for me it was a clear day, blue skies and blue water.

I joined a day tour and headed west to the mountains, Mount Sunday to be exact, the home of Edoras for those who are fans of the Lord of the Rings. It was breathtakingly beautiful...

It was a ten hour day but well worth it. There is always something so soothing and soul-full about being in nature.

And I have to admit that I really missed Winnie while I was away...

winnie

We are all totally smitten, of course. My goodness, has a puppy ever been so adored by so many family members. Heidi and Alex stayed last night, as well as Zac and Jan (before they head off to Japan) and Rach will be down in a couple of days, all to meet the newest family member. Luckily Winnie is the most smoochy, cuddle loving dog you have ever seen. Not sure if it is the breed, a Cavalier King Charles, or her in particular, but she will happily sit on someones lap 24/7 and there are plenty of people lining up for the privilege. Not only does she sit happily, she cuddles, smooches and looks adoringly at you. Oh dear, she is going to be so spoilt.

Johanna finally has the dog of her dreams and is experiencing all that 'parenthood' brings. She now has a constant shadow, a little bundle of love that looks for her when she goes to work and finds comfort in sitting on her shoes.

Heidi, just slightly besotted!

And Jan too

And it may just be that on a rainy Sunday afternoon Winnie and I cuddled up together for a nap, couldn't think of any place I'd rather be...

catching up

Not sure where the last couple of weeks have gone. Somewhere in there has been lots of assignments for my photography course, plans for the addition of another member to the family - of the four legged variety (more on that at a later date I'm sure), getting some things sorted for Italy, planning to join Colin in New Zealand for a few days in a couple of weeks and on the list goes. Some things that were on the list have fallen by the wayside, including learning some Italian; time to get back with the program. There's also been some garden preparation for spring planting; just waiting for the spring weather! Johanna and I got hailed on the other day running from the shopping centre to the parked car.

Lots of stuff happening and thankfully most of it good...

the promise of spring

seventy

We spent the weekend in Tassie celebrating another milestone birthday, my mother's 70th. Like most mothers she is an amazing and special lady and very much loved.

She also happens to be a bit of a crazy dog lady, as my sister can attest when she went to visit and found my mother and Lottie sitting side by side in their rocking chairs! Lottie has personality; that is a kind way of saying she is a crazy, energetic, full on puppy. She has moments of normality, a slight hope for the future. In the meantime, as my mother said, she literally laughs out loud every day at her antics - a not so little fuzzball of mischief and merry-making...

thursday

It just so happened that Johanna had the day off, Rachel had stayed overnight and Colin didn't have to be in Melbourne (he juggled work from home). It wasn't a hard decision to ditch attending my class today and join the others in a rare mid-week jaunt.

A little bit of a swing

A little bit of a walk

A little bit of a swim (well Rach was the only one brave enough to strip off and take the plunge)

A little bit of yoga (well for Johanna anyway)

And a little bit of lunch, but no photo of that.

Comment of the day from Johanna, "it just makes me so happy to have sand under my feet"