Creatures of habit…Are we willing to change?…Queen of routine?…

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Its funny how we stumble across interesting articles on the web when we’re researching another topic, often leaving our original search in the lurch. It’s easy to forget our original thought as we become entranced by a new topic.

Today, while searching for information about “creatures living in Tuscany” I was taken to a great article about “creatures of habit.”

Laughing while getting sidetracked is normal for me when its a topic I’m drawn to regarding our habits which have become so obvious to us as we’ve left our old lives behind to begin anew. 

Bringing along our old habits didn’t surprise us.  They occupy no space in our luggage whether big or small, useless or useful, beneficial or harmful, annoying to one another or not, we brought along all of them.

Unfortunately, or not, we’ve discovered that our environment as we’ve moved from country to country, is not conducive to maintaining many of our old habits. The question for us has been.Shall we replace one habit with another more befitting our environment or,ilet it go entirely?

Without a doubt, we’ve reshaped many of our old habits, most of which are simple daily tasks that we adopted such as preparing the coffee pot at night to easily turn on in the morning, a task many of us habitually perform. Most likely, most of us have 100’s of such rituals we exercise each day, finding comfort in the routine, often performing these tasks without conscious thought.

Then, there are the others, the habits we believed we’d never change, never need to change as being harmless and insignificant in the realm of our daily lives. 

Suddenly, almost nine months after leaving Minnesota, those we’ve surrendered are glaring, as places we live force us to strip more and more habits away.  I must admit with a bit of trepidation, that I was the “queen of routine.”  I wasn’t bored by any means but kind of “stuck in my ways,” a state in which many of us see ourselves. 

Few of my habits were particularly harmful to myself or others, albeit annoying at times to my family and friends, less so to Tom. He’s always considered my quirks as mildly entertaining.

One cannot travel the world and find joy in the process while “being stuck in one’s ways.” Ultimately, it would create angst, frustration and unhappiness. What would be the point?

So, beside saying goodbye to the people we love and a lifetime of “stuff,” we’ve both had to say “goodbye” to many of the routines and habits that we thoroughly enjoyed, often looked forward to on any given day in our lives.

Here are a few of the habits each of us have forfeited in our travels:

For Tom:
1.  Reading the Minneapolis StarTribune newspaper every day of the week. Based on poor quality of the download service by the few companies that offered the daily paper, he was forced to quit, not replacing it with any other daily publication.
2.  Sunflower seeds, salted in the shell. Quitting smoking last Halloween when we left Minnesota, he’d taken up a replacement habit of eating sunflower seeds. Now, as we travel the world, we’re unable to find them at any of the local grocery stores.
3.  Turning on the TV, remote in hand, able to “flick” to his favorite TV shows at leisure, all spoken in English. There are two financial news show, BBC news and France News, here in Italy spoken in English plus, reruns of Jimmy Kimmel. 

For Jess:
1.  Eating dessert every night. With easy access to low carb, gluten-free, sugar-free, starch-free, grain-free products, I was able to make desserts we’d enjoy every night after dinner during our last year in the US; the perfect plate of dessert, a special fork and a neatly folded linen napkin eaten while watching a favorite pre-recorded TV show provided great comfort. This habit is gone. Ingredients to make any type of dessert are not available.  If I find myself hungry a few hours after dinner, I may have a piece of hard cheese. Habit gone. That was the hardest one for me. 
2.  Crystal Light Ice Tea:  for no less than the past 10 years, I had my insulated mug filled with this ice tea with lots of ice at my side most days and night, out and about, in my car, visiting family and friends. I gave it up a week ago.  ts not available here and we were running low on our supply. The ice tea is 99% caffeine free. It was habit. Its over now. I’m free, instead drinking bubbly water with lemon. Its OK. After a few days, I stopped thinking about it.
3.  Watching Dr. Oz (with whom I didn’t always agree with his many mixed messages but enjoyed none the less) and also, Dr. Phil, every afternoon, since retiring, I turned on these two shows while chopping and dicing for dinner, folding laundry, baking desserts or other productive tasks, never sitting down  just to watch. These shows are unavailable for downloading or streaming outside the US. We could pay for a service but choose not at this point.

They say, “old habits die hard.”  Yes, they do. For us, new habits replaced them such as with the bubbly water and lemon, watching downloaded shows and reading books on our phones. 

In the past, we’d dine at 6:30 each night. Now, we try for 7:00 pm. We used to awaken the same time each morning, going to bed the same time at night. Now it changes from day to day. I used to do laundry every day. With no dryer, the weather is a factor for hanging clothes. I used to go to the health club on the same days each week. Now there’s no health club within an hour and a half drive on the mountain roads. I work out in the neighborhood, walking the hills.

Looking at the clock on my laptop as I write this, I see that’s it close to 4:00 pm.  It’s tea (hot) time. That habit, I’ll never break. Although I’ve decided that when I run out of my favorite Taiwan Pouchon in the next month or so, I’ll start drinking Earl Grey which appears to be available everywhere we’ve been. So far, that is.

Its a “buggie” life…Flying insect photos from a pro..

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These “bug/flying insect” photos were provided by Chris Kelly, a professional photographer on his recent visit to Tuscany.  He too, observed the vast number of flying insects inspiring him to take these excellent photos. Thanks, Chris! Great photos!
Looks like a regular bee, doesn’t it?

As a kid, when a bug, flying insect, mosquito or bees buzzed my head, I’d jump around and scream. Over the years living on a lake in Minnesota, I got over it, with an occasional jump but never a scream. Bugs were everywhere. 

By August, the wasps, yellow jackets and hornets flourished, practically dive bombing us when we attempted to enjoy the outdoors. Tom and I are both allergic to wasps and hornets.   

Over the years, on many occasions, my hand or foot would become swollen beyond recognition from a horsefly bite, with itching lasting for 10 days or more. Even a paltry mosquito bite could cause swelling and itching for days.

Really?  Please don’t stop by!

None the less, we spent considerable time outdoors days and evenings, swatting, spraying, dancing about to ward off the biting insects in Minnesota, the mosquito being the most prevalent.

When we arrived in Belize, we were plagued with the notorious no-see-ums, having as many as 100 bites at a time, they too, itching for many days and nights.  Once we moved to the air conditioned property in February with screens and air conditioning, we were well protected, especially at night.

Chris said he shot all of these insects on one single walk in Tuscany over a week ago.

The dilemma here in Boveglio boils down to the lack the screens or AC, not just on our house but in houses throughout the area.  I suppose the residents take them in their stride. We’ve yet to accomplish this feat. The exquisite blanket of vegetation covering the mountains, hills and terraced areas, provide a lush environment for flying insects along with a wide array of bugs we don’t recognize nor do we fear. 

Were it not for the risk of a serious reaction to a sting, neither of us would give it a thought.  Although anything buzzing around one’s head at night is rather annoying. As mentioned a few posts ago, we now keep all the windows and the door shut in our bedroom. Yesterday, lovely Lisa and Luca, the owners of the house, brought us a stand fan making last night’s sleep especially comfortable.

Yes, we’ve seen these buzzing around the flowering basil. No annoyance here.

Today, the temperature is in the low 90’s.  Luckily, in the evenings the temperature drops considerably. If we chose to open the windows in the bedroom at night, we may be inviting bats inside with the hundreds we’ve noticed flying around the house as we’ve sat on the veranda in the evenings. 

Yesterday morning, I heard an outrageous buzzing while chopping and dicing in the kitchen while Tom was in the other room.The kitchen window was opened. After awhile the buzzing stopped replaced by the lesser buzzing of other flying insects entering and leaving the kitchen through the open window.

This appears to be a type of moth, not so scary.

I should mention that we keep the organic waste, of which we have quite a bit due to cooking most of our meals, in a tightly closed and bagged container in the kitchen, emptying it often. We’re fully aware that such a container would surely attract bugs.  In our old life, we had garbage disposals, not the case after leaving Minnesota last Halloween. 

There are five separate containers for recycling down in the trash area. We sort and remove all of our trash frequently, keeping all windows closed anywhere near the  outdoor trash area.

Most likely, this insect doesn’t sting.

Back to the outrageous buzzing. This morning, again while chopping and dicing, I heard it again as did Tom.  Looking up at the log ceiling in the kitchen, we saw a yellow jacket or hornet coming out of a small opening near the mortar and the wood. Oh, no! Its making a nest inside the kitchen. Somehow, we shooed it outside the window.  Minutes later it came back inside working its way back inside the little hole in the ceiling.

Not feeling like driving down the mountain today to get some type of spray, our only option for today was to shoo the thing outside once more, when we weren’t able to kill it and proceed to close all the windows in the house.

These things are clever. Shall we wait to see if 25 baby hornets are born in the kitchen soon or shall we drive down the mountain to find a hardware store in order to purchase an appropriate spray (first, we’ll translate the possible verbiage).

Wanting to be outside awhile ago we spent an hour on the patio in our chaise lounges, swatting the flying things. With the herb garden growing within a foot of us, they were swarming us for the entire hour. Back inside, we’re now on the less-“buggie” veranda with a few flies, an occasional bee and less often, a gigantic loud hairy black dive bomber.

This resembles a beetle, not necessarily a stinging insect.

While researching the Internet this morning for possible solutions and descriptions of these flying insects, I stumbled across these amazing photos of a sampling of a few of the flying insects of Tuscany, taken by a professional photographer, Chris Kelly (yes, I’m jealous!) writing to him asking permission to use his photos. As it turns out he took these photos in Tuscany while he was vacationing here only a week ago. Chris was delighted to share his work, as us “web geeks” often are. 

Naming these must be left to the bug experts of the world. Please comment if you know the names of any of these. With literally millions of species on flying insects, it would be an impossible task to find their varieties in order to name them correctly.

As an aside, this morning while chopping and dicing I had intended to make a salmon salad using canned salmon as one would use canned tuna. We’d purchased two such cans while shopping a few weeks ago. 

With Tom having the leftover taco salad tonight, I though a big bowl of salmon salad atop shredded romaine lettuce and raw sliced veggies would be a perfect meal for me, along with plate of steamed green beans and sautéed eggplant. 

Whenever we have leftovers which is only enough for one of us, I make a single separate dinner for the other. Waste not, want not. Never wasting a morsel of food is our motto, hardly ever throwing away any leftovers. 

After chopping the fresh crispy celery, purple onion and hard boiled eggs using the Mezzaluna knife (see instruction video), placing them in a large mixing bowl, I opened the big can of salmon, poured off the excess juice and dumped it into the bowl. 

Instead of a glob of salmon freely popping out of the can, it was a batch of about 10 small fish. It was mackerel! Yikes and yuck! Well, my “waste not, want not” theory kicks in as I continued to make the salad. That’s my dinner tonight! I’ll have to eat the entire bowl so we won’t have more organic waste to attract more flying insects.

Potential car rental nightmare…

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While in Dubai from May 21, 2013 to June 4, 2013 the time had arrived to arrange the rental of a car for the summer in Italy.   Our objective was to pick up the car at the Marco Polo Airport once we arrived in Venice, Italy by cruise ship.  Once in our possession, we’d drive the five hour journey to our awaiting home for the summer in Boveglio.

Although we weren’t particularly concerned about renting a car, we had several factors to consider:

  1. When it was time to leave Italy on September 2, 2013 to fly to Mombasa Kenya, which airport would provide us with the best fares, best flights along easy access to return the car? 
  2. Which car rental companies would we feel most comfortable after reading reviews as to renting a car in Italy?
  3. The total cost for the lengthy period from June 16 to September 2, 2013, any potential “hidden” costs. (Renting a car for two and a half months isn’t typical. This is a totally different scenario that the usual one or two week rental while on vacation).
  4. Which types of available cars that would allow enough room for our over sized luggage?
  5. Which cars were most economical in regards to gasoline usage, priced at roughly US $8.50 per gallon in the Tuscan region of Italy?
  6. With us no longer owning a car with it subsequent insurance that typically provides coverage for rental cars, what would we do when the average cost for the “extra” insurance is US $10 per day.
  7. The time of day we’d pick up the car and reserve it to ensure we didn’t have to pay extra fees for a late drop-off or in some case, an entire extra day.

Shopping online at several familiar sites, comparing prices, reading  reviews and conditions of the rental agreements, it proved to take a lot longer than we’d expected.  Since quite ill while in Dubai, I left most of the research up to Tom.  He went at it with gusto.

While conducting this research, we also had to shop for the best airline prices to get us from Italy to Mombasa, Kenya from the several options in Italy which proved to be a huge factor in determining where we’d drop off the car in the end.   Would it be Venice, Rome, or Florence, all within a five hour drive of our summer home in Boveglio?

It took several days of reviewing all of these factors until, until we found the best overall conditions, considering the above factors. 

We ultimately decided that we’d pick up the car in Venice at the Marco Polo Airport with the goal of eventually flying out of the Marco Polo Airport to Mombasa, Kenya on September 2, 2013. 

Of course, with the five hour drive from Boveglio, we’d have no alternative but to spend one night in a hotel in Venice close to the airport.  (A week later we booked a nearby hotel, offering free shuttle service to the airport, allowing us to drop off the car a day early, if we so chose, to reduce the stress at the airport on our flight day).  Good plan.  

As we continued on in the booking process from RentalCars.com, a site more user friendly for Italy, we discovered a fact that threw us for a loop:

Based on the lengthy period of time for the contract, the rental car company, in this case, Budget, would require two and a half times the cost of the long term rental, to be held on our credit card for the entire duration. 

Upon realizing this fact, we jumped to other rental companies to discover that these circumstances were common, especially in well known rental car companies, such as Budget, Avis and Hertz.  We’d decided that under no circumstances, would we use a small local company after we’d read many negative reviews describing nightmarish circumstances for long term rentals.  The more well-known companies were definitely the way to go but, as it turned out, all of them required this credit card “hold.”

At the rate of US $830.00 per month over the summer in Italy, our total rental would be roughly US $2075.  None our credit cards charge an exchange rate for paying in Euros and, they offered “free” insurance when using the card to pay for the rental, which in itself saved us a small fortune.

However, there was nothing the credit card company could do to avert the necessity of the Budget (which had the best pricing) “holding” two and a half times of the funds for the entire rental period which would total US $5187.50!   

We weren’t thrilled with the concept of Budget “holding” funds against one of our cards in this amount for this extended period.  Although we use several credit cards for our travels, with future expenses, hotels, flights and rentals required to pay in advance, we were against any of our cards being tied up for this amount for almost three months.

Our only option was clear to both of us:  Rent the car for one month allowing them to “hold” over $2000 which appeared to be their concern over two factors for any long term rentals; one the credit card may become maxed out during an extended period resulting in insufficient funds to pay at the end of the rental period and two, to cover the cost in the event of damage to the vehicle not covered by insurance.  This is a sensible policy from their perspective, protecting their interests only.  For us, quite annoying.

On June 16th, we rented the car at the Marco Polo airport for one month until July 15, 2013 which ends this upcoming Monday, with the plan to contact them on July 8, a week earlier to extend it. 

At Budget rental office, we inquired as to the procedure to extend the rental with assurance that the process was simple;  either call or process the extension online within 24 hours of the end of the rental period.

Here’s how it went beginning this past Monday, one week before the car was to be returned:

  • Sent an email to Budget confirming the procedure to extend the rental when we couldn’t find a place on their international website to extend it
  • They sent an email back, after they charged us $2 for the online inquiry, informing us we’d have to call the Budget desk at the Marco Polo Airport where we got the car.  This had to be done over the phone.
  • Called the number for Budget at Marco Polo Airport, asking to speak to an English speaking representative.  After being on hold, while paying for the call (no toll-free number to the location), for no less than 10 minutes, someone came back on the line, saying “No English” and hung up on me.

Add to that, the rental agreement itself was all in Italian.  Using Google Translate we became further frustrated in an effort to translate the many numbers, codes and notations that could or couldn’t be our reservation number, customer number, booking number and contract number.  It was nearly impossible to decipher which was which.

Hoping if we waited a day to call back, they may have an English speaking representative on duty. 

  • Again, called the Budget desk at the Marco Polo Airport.  A woman spoke poor English asking me for the reservation number.  There were four numbers on the “written in Italian” form.  I read all of them to her. They were lengthy, numbers and letters.  I spoke clearly.  She kept getting them wrong.  I explained our goal to extend the contract.  She said we’d get a confirmation email before the end of the day.
  • Two days later, no response, no email, no confirmation.  Called again. Again, no one spoke English. The representative yelled at me and hung up.
  • Looking online for Budget’s International Customer Service, we found a number in the UK.  We called, speaking to a nice guy.  He couldn’t do anything since he didn’t have access to the files for Italy, suggesting we try calling the Marco Polo location once again.  I did.  Again, no one spoke English. Our frustration factor continued to grow as each day passed adding a certain amount of worry to the mix.

Need I say this process continued over five days?  Calling back the UK office on Thursday, we were given a private email address for the Marco Polo location. Sending an email to this “unpublished” email address, copying the international corporate headquarters, within hours we received an email that stated, “We extended the contract for you.”

Of course, I immediately stored the response into the “Car Rental Italy 2013” folder in Outlook for future reference.  As of this date, they’ve yet to bill us for the remaining six and a half weeks.  Hopefully, they’ll prorate the balance based on the original cost and not some arbitrary amount.  I’ll keep checking the balance on the credit card, knowing whatever amount they’ll charge will include the “holding” amount for the remainder of the period. 

I wish I could say that we’ve learned something from this annoying experience.  Is it “shut up and pay?” Possibly.  On the other hand, it may well be a by-product of the nature of our lives…to expect these types of situations to occur from time to time.

Surely, the language barrier played a role in preventing us from easily accomplishing an otherwise simple objective.  

Long ago while still in the US, I recall spending hours and eventually days, on the phone, in English, with our past cable company in an attempt to resolve an issue with the operation of our service which ultimately wasn’t resolved for over a year.  With no other options available in the area, we were a captive audience, as in this case…in possession of Budget’s little navy blue Fiat, not interested in driving back to Venice in a few days to stand in line for two more hours, only to turn around and drive the five hours back to Boveglio.  

Now this issue behind us, we’re back to the freedom of spirit and peace of mind in which we strive to languish each and everyday.  Tonight’s “taco salad night,” minus the chips, minus the shell “bowl” but with all the fixins’ will be a treat, even in Italy. Add a downloaded movie and we’re content as we could be!

A trip to the barbiere (barber)…A new haircut plan in new place…More lessons learned…

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Driving around, we yelled to two gentlemen sitting outside, “Uomo Barbiere?”  They kindly pointed us in the direction of this salon, serving the needs of women (donna) and men (uomo)

Yesterday, while driving around Pescia, Italy, searching for a barbershop, it dawned on us that most likely Tom will need a haircut in each country in which we’ll live for a period of two to three months.

Leaving the US last January, we’ve since lived in two countries for approximately three months, Belize and now Italy, (we were in the United Arab Emirates for only two weeks). By next July, we’ll have added four more countries in which we’ve lived, a mere pittance based on the number of countries in the world.

Prior to leaving Scottsdale, Arizona where we resided for two months, he’d had his final US haircut for a very long time.  So far, his favorite was the haircut in Belize with Joel McKenzie, under the tree on the plastic chair atop the cement blocks.  If you haven’t seen these photos, look for the post in the archives from March 13, 2013.

Most guys have a regular barber they see at certain intervals. For some, the quality of the cut is less important than others.  For Tom, with his full head of thick, almost white hair, it matters. It matters to me as well, more that he’s happy with it than my having to look at him all day and night.

Luckily, I am able to take care of my own hair, manicures, and pedicures.  I learned this years ago when I found myself squirming impatiently in a beauty salon, anxious for it to be over.  This is quite helpful now as we travel.  Plus, it saves tons of money better spent on other more important aspects of our daily lives.

Tom, relaxing and ready for his haircut with Barbara.

The Euro $20 (US $26.06) he paid for his haircut included a 30% tip, although he wasn’t thrilled with the cut, definitely no fault of the stylist.  Most certainly, it was a result of the language barrier.  We learned a valuable lesson yesterday:  translate what one would like done in advance, showing it to the barber or stylist before they begin cutting, if possible, including photos.

Fortunately, the upcoming haircuts he’ll need will be in Kenya and South Africa  where English is spoken freely.  In Morocco, we’ll have staff that will translate for us. 

After Morocco, we’ll be in Madeira, Portugal for almost three months where Portuguese is spoken. We’ll translate instructions at that time. So far, we know one Portuguese word, “obrigada” which translates to “thank you.”  We’d better start working on a few more words.

Smiling and hopeful for an easy summer “do” Tom was at ease.

Between us, we’ve learned enough hand signals and Italian words that enabled us to carry-on somewhat of a conversation with “Barbara” pronounced bar-ber-a) yesterday as she cut Tom’s hair.  She told us in Italian that she grew up in Pescia, has three children, 8, 13, and 16, a husband, and has been a stylist for both men and women for 20 years. While at the salon, we met her 13 years old “bambini” hoping she spoke English.  No such luck. 

Barbara asked us, about us, where we were from, where we were going. Dumbfounded, Tom and I looked at each other wondering how to explain. Somehow, we managed to convey that we are living in Boveglio for the summer, are traveling to Africa soon, have four adult children and six grandchildren. 

Hand signals conveyed the grandchildren’s part. I had yet to hear the word for grandchildren which I’ve since researched in Google Translate. It’s “nipoti.”  Some words make sense in translation, reminding us of a word in another language; English, French, or Spanish.  This one, I couldn’t get for the life of me.

Lots of Tom’s gray hair on the floor.

Apparently, our communication methods didn’t serve us well enough. As Barbara neared the end of Tom’s haircut, the top standing straight up, she asked if he’s like some “butch wax” while holding up the container. He cringed shaking his head an emphatic “no” all the while with a forced smile on his face. 

Later, in the car, he said, “I didn’t want to look like Bob’s Big Boy. She was going in that direction!”

I agreed that was true, based on the photo he’d shown her.  When packing for our flight from Dubai to Barcelona in June, we’d tossed an 8-ounce tube of hair gel. Bringing it along would have cost another $5 in excess luggage fees. Thus, we’d have had no way to maintain Bob, had he liked that look.

Here it is, the haircut. Maybe in a few days, it will take shape. I’ve offered to reduce the length of the top for him. He declined my offer.

“Give it a few days,” I said.

Having perused a substantial book of men’s haircuts while he sat in the chair, we observed all youngish chisel faced models in their 20’s. There was nary a cut befitting a mature adult male. The one he ultimately chose, had the sides cut as he’d prefer, but the top was definitely in the Bob category. Trying to explain this to Barbara was fruitless. We couldn’t come up with anything other than a “scissors snipping” hand signal to take more off of the top
.
We take full responsibility for the cut. Barbara is surely a very fine stylist. My well-intended interference and our lack of communication skills inspired the end result.  He’ll live with it and see what happens in three months from now in Kenya. 

Living in the world is a never-ending lesson. Some experienced travelers we’ve met over the years talk as if they have it all figured out. We’ll never figure it all out. Each area, each country has its own unique customs, modes of living, and nuances that one can only become privy to over a long period of time. 

Two to three months in any country will never be long enough to learn the language and those nuances, that in the end, for us, make it all the more enjoyable.

Perceptions of an easy life in retirement…Play Gin..

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Clouds rolling in this morning for yet another rainy day. Once the weather improves we’ll head down the mountain to explore a few more villages and grocery shops.

It is never our intent to imply that life as nomads is easy and that each day is comparable to a vacation day.  Nor is it our intent to portray retirement, in itself, as a means of a sense of total freedom. There’s no free lunch.

Another sitting area the vines will soon overtake.

How early we are presented with this lesson in life varies from individual to individual. How quickly we actually learn it, putting it to use, for many of us doesn’t come until the realities of life in retirement slap us in the face.

Those realities? That our life is moving fast into perhaps, our last 20 years on this earth as we know it. That’s the money we have access to could literally fade into oblivion in the precarious financial world in which we live. 

That our health, regardless of efforts, we have or haven’t made, hangs in the balance of a combination of factors, over which we may have little control.  That the person(s) we love with whom we spend each day may suddenly be snapped from us or may fall into a state of poor health, leaving our own last years as an exhausted caregiver. 

Our sloping yard as the clouds roll in.

Depressing? Yes. Immobilizing? Emphatically, not for some. Sadly, yes for others. And then, for those trapped in the uncertain middle, there are good days and bad.

For those that choose to be immobilized, we have little to offer other than our love, attention when possible, care as needed.  Inspiration is tough to render. It’s all a part of who we are, who we have become after a lifetime of shaping our psyche.

But, for those of us, who chose to “master” retirement, striving for happiness, fulfillment, purpose, and joy, it’s a daunting task, almost as if it was a job, the very state of being we abhorred in our last working years. 

Is there no escaping responsibility? Not really. Is there no escaping the planning of the very things we must task upon ourselves to ensure we stay busy, fulfilled, and happy? No.

Never much of a gardener, I think these are hydrangeas.

It all translates to “how” we do it?  Not so much as “what” we do. 

If it’s reading mindless novels languishing in a familiar comfy chair by the window, overlooking one’s less than perfectly manicured lawn while waiting for the grandchildren to arrive or, it’s jumping out of airplanes at 90 years old. Whatever it may be matters if we can find the peace, the acceptance, and the purpose to our remaining time as we feverishly grasp at the morsels of significance which ultimately give us joy.

Several of our readers have written to us, asking if we are lonely or bored, perched atop these hills, in a land of no English, no coconut oil, no movie theatres, no nearby restaurant in which to pop in for breakfast for a three-egg omelet, a side of bacon, and a slice of avocado. We’re not lonely. We’re not bored. 

The lovely spot where we occasionally sit enjoying nature. 

We spend each day doing the things that those of you have chosen to “master” retirement.  We laugh.  We eat.  We read books we love.  We watch shows on our computer.  We get up early to savor each moment of the day.  And most recently, we began playing the card game, Gin, another version of mindless drivel as we continue our “job” each day, simply, for being happy.

Life without a phone…How’s that working for ya’?…Plus weather photos, stormy day…

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This morning, as white puffy clouds rolled in over the hills.
Soon, the sky became a little darker as the white puffy clouds began to dissipate.

Almost a year ago, before leaving the US, we did an analysis to determine the cost of keeping our cell phone service with Verizon Wireless while we traveled the world. With both of our contracts expired, we weren’t obligated to continue on.

Only minutes later, the clouds rapidly wafted into the hills.

First, we determined our calling costs in many of the countries in which we’d reside. Secondly, we determined the data costs based on our usage while in the US. In other words, what would it cost us monthly to continue making calls and using data freely as we’d done in the past?

The clouds are so close to us.  It’s heavenly!
We’ve never seen clouds from this vantage point!

The estimated total for both of our smartphones would be $2300 a month, not something we could or would be willing to pay. Also, figuring the cost without making calls on the phone, the data aspect alone would be over $1000 a month. If we considerably cut our data use, most likely we couldn’t get below $500 a month. Old habits die hard.  With no data plan, we’d have no alternative to breaking the habit of using our phones as computers.

As much as it looks like smoke, it is puffy clouds.

The basic monthly fees for service for both phones were $167 a month including taxes and fees. What was the point? If roaming calls were an additional $2.89 a minute on average, using Skype for free was a logical alternative.

The question remains, will everyone we want to speak with, be willing to download Skype taking the minimal amount of time to learn how to use it?  Not necessarily, much to our disappointment. 

The clouds dissipate quickly. Tom stood by with the camera in hand getting these shots as they progressed while I was busy in the kitchen.  I’m impressed!

As we’ve discovered over the years, many users only check email and Facebook, occasionally using search engines on their computers at home and at work, with little interest in learning to use the zillions of other applications available online at little or no cost. 

Unfortunately, this prevents us from the opportunity to speak with many family members and friends who simply aren’t comfortable using Skype. We wish we could convince them otherwise enabling us to freely call any of our family and friends with the same ease we experienced back in the states using our cell phones.

The rain, although short-lived, was torrential! While the sun was still shining Tom said, “I smell rain!”  I shrugged and dismissed his comment. Within 20 minutes, the sun was hidden behind the clouds while the rains came pouring down and these puffy clouds appeared.


While in Boveglio, Tuscany the Skype connection is quite clear with or without video. We’re more than willing to talk without video if the call receiver prefers not to use their camera.  With the huge time differences, one may hesitate to be seen online in their pj’s or otherwise, understandably so.

Also, we can send and receive Skype calls on our smartphones when we’re connected to the Internet via our MiFi device or the wireless connection in the house. The call receiver may do the same using their current cell provider’s data connection with the Skype app loaded for free. Most new smartphones have  Skype pre-installed when they purchase a new phone. 

Thus, a cell to cell call may be made using Skype on both ends without incurring any cost, unless the receiver is using a data plan that charges per megabyte on their cell phone. 

In this case, they can make the call using their cell phone from their home, using their home’s wireless connection by a simple setting on their phone before making the call. It’s easy, requiring only a few steps, and is equally easy to set it back to the Internet data service provided by their carrier after completing the Skype call.

In the past several days, we’ve had to make a few personal or business-related calls. How do we do this with no phone?  Simple. We search online for the toll-free number provided by the business and make the call on Skype with no charges on our end. 

How do we make a local call?  Again, using Skype. If no toll-free number is available, for example, when we recently inquired to a local pharmacy for a product, we used Skype‘s “for fee” service. We’d deposited $10 into our Skype account for these exact purposes last January with still $8.76 remaining as shown below in this photo.

Our remaining Skype balance after making several local calls using Skype. Long-distance calls from country to country are more expensive, considerably less than roaming cell phone calls.

The local fees for local calls in most countries using Skype are a little over $.026 per minute. That same call to the US would be $2.89 per minute without the use of a toll-free number. (Also, we still can make an emergency call from our cell phones or Skype at no charge).

Why do we continue to carry cell phones if we have no service?  As explained above, for making Skype calls, emergency calls, navigational services when we use our MiFi as an adjunct, and most often, reading books on our Kindle app installed on our phones. 

FYI:  When downloading new books, we connect our phones to the wireless connection in the house, sync the new books, and disconnect. The e-books are permanently stored in the app on our phones which doesn’t require a connection for us to read at our leisure. With no TVs in the bedroom, a bit of reading time seems to aid us both in lulling us to sleep.

Why don’t we leave the house’s wireless connection all the time?  Each location is different depending on the strength of the wireless signal.  In this house, keeping the phones online diminishes the strength of the signal to our laptops.  When downloading books, we disconnect our laptops for a few minutes in order to sync the books, turning it back on when completed.

I know we’ve addressed these cell phone and Skype concerns in past posts. However, as time marches on, we learn the nuances of the systems we currently have in place while analyzing that which we may need in the future as technology continues to flourish before our eyes. 

Much of which we now use with aplomb, will become obsolete in the near future. In the interim, we both make a concerted effort to be aware of the changes as they reach the marketplace, hoping to create greater ease of use and features as we move along in our worldwide travels.

Food repetition…List of 10 meals we repeat…Especially while traveling the world…Especially with our limited diet…

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Mezzaluna Knife, translates to half moon…

This knife was part of the kitchen equipment available for our use in the house in Boveglio, Italy.  Its sharp and with two hands on the handles making it impossible to cut oneself. That fact, in itself, makes it a must for me. The bonus is the ease in which it cuts and chops just about anything. 

Years ago I read that the average household eats the same 10 items for dinner over and over, week after week, month after month, year after year, with little variation. 

Think about how few items we eat for breakfast! This, of course, refers to cooking at home.  But then again, it may not be different for those dining out several times each week, whether breakfast, lunch, or dinner. We tend to repeat.

I suppose if we made a list of the meals we prefer to prepare at home, that our family or household prefers to eat, this most likely would be the case.  Although it sounds rather boring, many of us find comfort and ease in the repeat of the use of familiar ingredients, spices, and flavorings.

With our limited way of eating, the further restriction is incorporated into this theory. Here’s our list of 10 dinners, all within the confines of our diet (low carb, grain-free, wheat-free, starch-free, sugar-free), not necessarily in order of preference. 

(Please comment at the end of this post and send us your list of 10.  We’d find it interesting to see what others eat).

All meals are made using local ingredients, grass-fed, free-range meats, and organic vegetables when available.

1.  Pizza with a side salad, cooked and/or vegetables
2.  Italian meatballs with sugar-free, wheat-free pasta sauce, topped with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.  Side salad and cooked vegetables.
3.  Chicken breasts or whole chicken with a side salad and roasted vegetables
4.  Steak with sautéed mushrooms (this could include various cuts of steak, prime rib, filet mignon) with a side salad and cooked/steamed vegetables
5.  Pork which could include pork chops, pork roast, baby back ribs (rub type seasoning, no sauce), side salad, and cooked/steamed vegetables
6.  Pot roast/roast beef with roasted carrots, onions, mushrooms, with a side salad and additional roasted seasonal vegetables
7.  Mexican taco salad with chicken, shrimp or leftover pot roast, olives, tomatoes, onions, grated cheese, sugar-free/wheat free taco sauce (no chips, no shell) topped with sour cream, avocado, or homemade guacamole
8.  Seafood to include crab legs, shrimp, salmon, and cooked fresh fish or crustaceans with a side salad and cooked/steamed vegetables
9.  Hamburgers topped with nitrate-free bacon, sautéed onions and mushrooms, cheese with a side salad, and additional cooked/sautéed/steamed vegetables.
10. Chicken salad, tuna salad, or seafood salad made with onions, celery and mayonnaise atop a bed of fresh greens with a side of coleslaw and cooked/steamed vegetables

When reviewing the above, you’ll note that all we’re really missing with our dietary restrictions is:  potatoes, rice, grains or beans, bread, corn, fruit, processed side dishes, and dessert. When we want dessert, we have nuts (preferably raw) or cheese (preferably hard, unprocessed as much as possible).

Yes, it’s a repetitive menu. Why? For us, primarily for convenience. I can whip up most of these meals in less than 30 minutes of prep time. The most time consuming is the meals that require considerable chopping and dicing, now all done by hand with no access to kitchen gadgets for reducing prep time.

In a perfect world, the side salad we’d have would vary in ingredients and flavors. In both Belize and here in Tuscany with the inconvenience of grocery shopping, we are unable to keep our favorite, romaine lettuce (or other types of greens), fresh for more than a few days. 

In the US, I’d buy cello bags of uncut romaine lettuce easily keeping it fresh in the crisper for a week. Not the case here. It spoils, as do other fresh vegetables in two to three days.

I’m now convinced that some type of spray is used to keep greens fresher longer in certain parts of the world. 

With our current situation of grocery shopping for two weeks at a time, we purchase fresh vegetables, using them quickly with no alternative but to purchase some frozen vegetables for the remaining days. 

While living in Belize, with no car and grocery shopping once a week by cab, we discovered the benefit of making homemade coleslaw, faced with the same lettuce spoiling dilemma. We’d have some type of lettuce salad the first few days using it before it spoiled, then turning to the homemade coleslaw as the repeat alternative.

Green cabbage and carrots that we prep most days for our repetitive coleslaw recipe, a favorite while traveling the world with the ease of finding and keeping the vegetables fresh.

Cabbage and carrots seem to keep easily for two weeks if left uncut and unpeeled until the day of use.  So here’s the repeat.  Except for the first few nights after shopping while the greens are still fresh, we may have taco salad, or the other salad meals above, i.e. #7, #8, or #10.  Once the lettuce spoils (it always spoils before we use it all), we revert to the coleslaw.

I know I’ve mentioned this coleslaw in prior posts.  After all, we make it almost every day of the month.  Over time, we’ve perfected the process of preparing it (cutting the cabbage and carrots) and adding the ingredients for flavor which are few.

We’re posting this recipe once again after many email requests from readers.  The above photos illustrate how we cut the cabbage and carrots, a crucial aspect in producing the perfect crunchiness factor and the mouth-watering flavor. In the US we’d purchased the bags of precut cabbage and carrots which are unavailable as we’ve traveled. Plus, the taste truly is considerably improved by hand cutting, especially the carrots in small chunks.

The eyedropper bottle is a mixture of liquid stevia and sucralose. Unable to consume any form of sugar or quantity it is a staple for me to use in moderation. You can easily substitute other sweeteners that you prefer to use as shown in the recipe below.

After hand cutting the cabbage and carrots since last February (except while cruising, of course) we’re rather pleased with the results, each of us eating a large bowl each night with our dinner. I prefer to eat mine after the entrée. It tastes so good that it tricks my brain into perceiving it as a dessert.

Jessica & Tom’s Repetitive Coleslaw Recipe for World Travel (large portion for 2)

1/2 head small (or less of a large) green cabbage, shredded from small chucks, after removing the core

4 medium-sized carrots, trimmed and  peeled, cut into small cubes

5 T. real mayonnaise (look for a quality brand made with real ingredients without HFCS, wheat, or chemicals)

10 drops liquid stevia or another sweetener or if you’d prefer, 1 T. real sugar or more to taste

Salt to taste

Mix the carrot bits and cabbage well.  Season with salt (we use Himalayan Salt) to taste.  Mix the mayonnaise with choice of sweetener and toss into cabbage and carrot mixture. 

It may be stored in the refrigerator a few hours before serving but best if cold and freshly made, although it will keep fresh if refrigerated overnight. This recipe may vary from any previous posting as we’ve perfected it as we go. 

This recipe is not runny nor does it contain vinegar. The only time-consuming aspect is the carrot and cabbage prep, well worth the extra effort. We take turns cutting it every day and have it down to about 10 minutes, especially using the Mezzaluna knife we found in the kitchen here in Boveglio.  We’d love to carry one of these knives in our checked luggage but doubtful it would pass security.

(Yes, I know artificial sweeteners have been given a bad rap but my diet restricts any foods that contain sugar in any form including fructose found in fruit.  Plus,  Dr. Robert Lustig’s book, The Real Trust About Sugar, a profound life-changing book that we read after we’d already given up sugar, confirming other reputable reports and studies we’d reviewed over a period of time. Not a morsel of sugar has crossed my lips in two years).

There it is, the most repetitive food item in our repertoire of meal repeats. 

Let’s face it, food is fun. Dining is an integral part of our daily lives. It sustains us. It gives us comfort. It gives us joy. It brings us together. It inspires memory and emotions. If done correctly, it can give us good health, renewed energy, a sense of well being.

If you were coming to dinner at our home in Tuscany tonight, we’d be having a string tied grass-fed beef roast, wrapped in fresh herbs from the garden, served with natural au jus, roasted carrots, onions, and mushrooms, stir-fried seasoned eggplant, tomatoes, and basil (from our garden) and of course, a side of Jessica & Tom’s Repetitive Coleslaw Recipe for World Travel.

Repetitive meals are comparable to a happily retired couple being together day after day, night after night. It’s looking at the same face, hearing the same voice, and hugging the same, less than a perfect aging body, and, it still feels good.

Mechanical aspects in our 300 year old temporary home…Many photos include new homemade pizza recipe using local ingredients…

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This paper towel holder is a dowel, a piece of string tied in loops on the ends to be hung on any available hook. Simple and clever.

Today is a full three weeks we’ve been living in a charming 300-year-old stone house, nestled in the mountains among a cluster of other attached homes built centuries ago, into the exquisitely forested and farmed hills and valleys of Boveglio in the Province of Lucca, Tuscany, Italy.

It’s at about this time, as we’ve become more settled, that we wander about our vacation rentals with a more keen eye observing its quirks and nuances, some of which may be a violation of code in the US and other countries which we find to be unique and interesting. 

More cloth wiring in the kitchen with exposed bulbs over the sink.
The electrical wiring throughout the house is all exposed, using cloth as opposed to the conduit most of us are familiar with as a code requirement in the US and other countries.  We doubt that building/code compliance inspectors travel around inspecting all of these centuries-old properties.
As shown above, in the kitchen, the main source of lighting is these two fixtures over the kitchen table, encased in glass globes. Energy-efficient as the “curly” energy-efficient bulbs we’d used in the US, this particular style takes approximately five minutes to light up the area which can be a little tricky at night.
As the designated cook (Tom’s the dishwasher), I’ve had the most difficultly operating the stove. It’s a newer “made-to-look old” range and oven and there’s nothing wrong with it. 
This hanging plant is used to hide an electrical outlet.
It’s the same a stove type we used in Belize; gas without an automatic pilot.  One has to hold in a button while pushing in the dial to ignite the oven or burner. It sounds easy, but the trick is in the amount of time one has to hold in the button and the dial to keep the burner ignited.  Let go of one too soon and gas is free-flowing without ignition.
I know it’s not rocket science nor does it require an inordinate amount of skill.  For some odd reason, I struggle with this, trying desperately to figure it out on the own without having to ask Tom.  Stubborn, I guess.  On occasion, even he, Mr. Coordinated, has trouble with this.  In several instances, we’ve had to stop, open the screen-less window wide waiting for the gas to clear to later begin again.
These cloth wires are above the small shower and near the sink in the large main bath.
Two things here to notice: One, this is Tom is he’s walking down the long hallway for which he obviously has to duck. Yes, he’s banged his head many times getting me into the habit of saying, “Don’t bang your head!” as he walks to the bedroom.  Two, this is Tom desperately needs a haircut. We’ve yet to find an available barber in any of the villages we’ve visited. His last haircut was in March in Belize for which we wrote a post with photos. Ponytail or shave?  Which will it be?
This doorway to the main bathroom was cut to fit the frame, also low, requiring that I also duck when entering or leaving. 
Another head ducking/banging doorway to a guest bedroom.
Earlier, we’d posted a different photo of access to the patio from the stone stairway. These stone steps, continue down a full flight, making this the most hazardous spot in the house. Although this patio is our new sunning spot and only place to hang laundry outdoors, we spot each other each time we hike up there. No happy hour is to be had on this patio! 
This is an old, now unused wood burning stove (we think unused) in the long hallway.
The uneven multiple steps in the long hallway along with the variety of low ceilings, present an ongoing challenge for both of us. Tom is roughly four inches taller than I am creating a much more hazardous situation for him.
The heating elements for the radiators are behind this hanging curtains in the long hallway. Hmmm….

Also, there are two uneven steps from the hallway into the master bedroom.  We’ve both adopted a habit of reaching around to the wall on the right of the doorway to turn on the overhead light.  This process reminds us of the two steps.

This meter, most likely electrical, is in the interior hallway by the front door.

During daylight hours, we leave the hallway light on all day (the only light that remains on) as a reminder to tread carefully through the areas of steps. At night, we bring our mugs filled with ice water to leave at each of our nightstands and also use the en suite bathroom to avoid the long walk down the hall.

Tom was washing dishes one night while I tended to the laundry. Hearing this box, turn off and on rapidly startled me. I ran upstairs to ask Tom when he told me it an “on-demand” hot water heater. I’d heard of these in the US, but never heard one of them in operation.  In any case, most systems are energy efficient here in Italy.
Also, during the day, we keep the bedroom door, the screen-less windows and shutters closed. These two steps keep the bedroom cool for sleeping and more importantly, keeps the flying insects from flying around our heads at night. 

In our old lives, if our dishwasher or dryer broke down, we’d be in a tizzy for days until an overpriced repairman arrived with a fix.  Now, we chuckle as we hang the wash outside, do dishes by hand, swat flies and bees flying indoors all day, cook food in batches (as opposed to leftovers) with no microwave and look down while bending our heads when we walk around the house.

This green plastic hose could be anything. 
This week, we’ll cook all the remaining frozen meats so we can defrost the tiny freezer before we go grocery shop again.  At this point, the buildup of ice is occupying a third of the space. I can’t recall the last time we defrosted a freezer.
This carved from the stone area inside the main door entry may be the water or gas meter.
 Much to our mutual delight, neither of us complains or whines to each other.  We observe, discovering solutions, and adapt accordingly.  All of these minor inconveniences become a part of the experience, a part of our personal growth as we strive to adapt, and a part of the story we’ll someday tell to anyone who’ll listen, in English, please.
Last night’s yet to be baked homemade low carb, gluten-free, grain-free, starch-free, and sugar-free pizza made with “real” mozzarella (often referred to as buffalo mozzarella in the US) and locally grown ingredients.  The stringiness factor was tripled from the pizza we’d made in the past using “manufactured” bagged shredded mozzarella which we hope to never use again. It was our best pizza ever! I’d cut double the ingredients in order to make another freshly made pizza for tonight with no microwave for reheating. Nothing like two nights of freshly made pizza!

Date night at the pub…Photos..Great website for downloading movies and TV…Adapting our pizza recipe for Italy…

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As we walked to the pub, we found new roads to explore.
The neat trim look of many of the homes caught our eye.

There’s no doubt that our social life is lacking in Tuscany. Located in a tiny village at the peak of the mountains of the region of Lucca, we are far removed from contact with English speaking residents and tourists. With few tourist activities within a two-hour drive, we’ve resigned ourselves that making new friends while in Boveglio is unlikely.

For a week, an American mom and her two adult daughters were our neighbors, but with only a one week stay, they crammed in as much sightseeing as possible, attended a cooking class, drove to Pescia taking a train to Florence (which is on our to-do list sometime soon). 

Chatting with them only a few times between their activities, they were wishing they had more time to relax and enjoy the scenery here in Boveglio. They, too, dined in most nights except when they were in Florence, due to the distances to drive to restaurants and the winding road back up the mountain at night.

This was one steep road to walk down, but back up was more challenging.

We’d hoped that stopping at the local pub, Bar Ferrari, a short walk in the neighborhood which we described last week in a post, would give us an opportunity to meet English speaking people, whether local or tourist.

It’s unfortunate that homeowners have to find other areas to park their cars, especially when it snows in the winter.

Arriving at Bar Ferrari last evening at 5:00 pm, we thought that happy hour may begin at 5:00 pm as is common in the US, to later discover that we were wrong. Happy hour apparently begins at 6:00 pm.

Two lookalike cats live here often hovering around the entrance to the home.
With the loud Italian soap opera playing loudly on the TV in the bar, we decided our visit, although pleasant, with the great prices and the extraordinary view, we decided to head home to make dinner, rather than hang around. 
Of course, no more than two minutes after we walked out the door, we noticed a group of people entering the bar.  Maybe with a crowd, the owner would turn off the TV so people could chat among themselves. We never found out. Most likely, we return another night at 6:00 pm to give it another try.
It appears that narrow tractors and trucks can make their way to home to deliver wood and building materials.

In any case, the walk to and from was enjoyable as usual, both of us getting a good share of exercise especially on the return walk.

Another simple but clean looking entrance.

Are we bored with one another? Hardly. But, we’re both social animals and love to meet new people, making what has proved to be lifelong friends along the way, as we did with our wonderful friends in Belize and people we met on our cruises, many of whom we’ve continued to stay in touch with via email.

Tom had an Italian beer. I had the “fizzy” water. Can you believe the price for two drinks at Euro $1.50, US $1.95?  We were the only patrons in the bar. Next Friday, we’ll arrive a little later and perhaps meet some of the locals who were arriving as we left. No food we’d be interested in was served in the bar.

In reality, the issue is more the language barrier than a lack of people around to meet. We adore Lisa and Luca and her parents, Cicci and Dano. Without the language barrier, I’m certain we’d have spent time together building lasting relationships.

Tom enjoyed his beer while I particularly liked the bubbly water. It may be a possible replacement for me when we’re out of our Crystal Light ice tea sometime in the next few weeks.

Although Tom has some reservations about our upcoming three months in Kenya, we’ll be living in a gated community with ample opportunity to socialize. Plus, Kenya, primarily, is an English speaking country is our next stop from there three months later, in South Africa.

Tonight, we plan to drive down a very steep road to this area which includes the larger church bell tower to hear it chime as it does only on Saturday evening, at varying times around 5:00 to 6:00 pm.

I wish I had started learning to speak Italian some time ago, but that wouldn’t have helped Tom. Its conversation with others we’d enjoy and if I could speak it and translate for Tom it still would be awkward and cumbersome.

The road at the bottom on the steep incline that we’ll explore later today.

The next time we’ll be faced with a language issue will be when we arrive in Madeira, Portugal next May for two and a half months where, of course, they speak Portuguese. At least here in Italy with my ability to read and understand French, I can translate most road signs, restaurant menus, and other written notices in part since there are many similarities in the two languages.
 Flowers are in full bloom this time of year in Tuscany.
It was funny when I was negotiating the cleaning job with Santina, I kept responding using French words. My brain was searching for a response and the French language was all I could come up with. I’d studied French for four years in high school. Ironically, it’s all coming back to me now.
Zooming in for a better look from the vantage point of the pub’s patio.
It would make sense for the homeowners to use their tractors to get from the few parking lots to their homes, especially in inclement weather.
While sitting on the patio in the bar we were swarmed by flying things, including, noticed by us for the first time, mosquitoes that were on a feeding frenzy on my bare arms. Several bites later we left.
The house attached to the bar. As we enjoyed our drinks on the patio, the owner had the TV blaring inside while he was watching an Italian soap opera.
Our evenings at “home” are enjoyable for us, friends or no friends. Recently, we signed up again to Graboid, the online download center for TV shows and movies, highly rated by BBB and numerous publications. For $19.95 a month, we can download unlimited shows and movies.
 FYI: Graboid offers a free one month trial period during which one can download and watch several recent movies and TV shows.  We are not associated with Graboid in any manner, other than as a customer paying the monthly $19.95).
It’s difficult to determine which homes are occupied.  None of the homes have window screens or screen doors. Any wide open window or door in a rundown building doesn’t necessarily translate to a vacant property.
More beautiful flowers filling the air with heady scents.

It’s easy to use. If you try it and have difficulty, their customer service is impeccable or, if you’d like to, feel free to contact me on Facebook for instructions.

While in Scottsdale in November and December, we’d signed up for Graboid enabling us to download many movies and TV series to our external hard drive primarily with the intent of watching what we’d saved on the quiet evenings while in Africa, where we’ll have no TV at all. (Here, we can only watch  BBC News and CNBC to stay abreast of what’s transpiring in the world).

One of the few relatively level narrow roads to home, a welcomed relief.

Unfortunately, the Internet signal was weak in Scottsdale requiring us to download the shows during the night with many movies taking several hours to download. Now, we can download most movies in less than a half-hour.

We cannot use Graboid with our portable MiFi. The service doesn’t allow download of videos due to the extensive bandwidth requirements. With the better signal here in the house, we’ve been fortunate to be able to add to our repertoire of shows for Africa, while watching some episodes of our favorite TV shows at night which include:  Dexter and The Borgias. 

Each night we’ve watched one episode of each of these shows, entertaining us for a full two hours. Having missed the last few seasons of each of these, we expect to continue to catch up over the next several weeks.

Having paid little attention to movies in the theatre over the last several years, we’ll look up movies on IMBD, read the synopsis and the reviews to determine if it is a genre appealing to us before taking time to download it.

This house didn’t seem occupied. We wondered how long it may have been vacant.
In old lives, our cable bill was $234 a month.  Paying $19.95 a month for Graboid is a far cry.  Whether using one of our two laptops or our portable HD projector, we enjoy this quiet time to get outside of our heads and become wrapped up in more mindless drivel for a period of time in our day.
Not every moment of world travel is filled with wonder and life changing events. Many hours are spent in the routine and mundane activities that most of us have incorporated into our daily lives. Fortunately, for us, we both enjoy the “routine” and “the mundane” with the same fervor that we enjoy the unique and enriching.
Thus, tonight, we’re having yet another repeat of our homemade pizza, which we haven’t had since Belize almost three months ago  Making our low carb, sugar-free, starch-free, grain-free recipe in Italy was surprisingly a challenge. 
There is no such thing at the grocery stores we visited as “grated or chunk US-style mozzarella cheese” that we always used for the top. Also, there is no such thing as cheddar cheese that we always used for the crust. The mozzarella cheese we purchased is the damp big balls of mozzarella.
I drained the balls on paper towels, replacing the towels every 15 minutes over two hours, resulting in the balls firming up. Then, I was able to cut them into slices to place atop the pizza crust I’d made using highly flavored provolone cheese.
We were fortunate to find a chemical-free, low carb, sugar-free, gluten-free red pasta sauce for the pizza, Italian sausage, fresh mushrooms, organic onions, and the best green olives we’ve ever had, topping the pizza with all of these after we’d precooked the crust and, precooked and drained the sausage slicing it into bite-sized pieces. (The sausages came tied together with string. Love it)!
An overlook from one of the few parking areas.
 We’ll see how it comes out tonight while we have a “movie night” with pizza.  It’s odd to experience replacing “processed” items with “the real deal” requiring a bit of adaptation in the preparation. I’m anticipating that making pizza this “new” way, will be our method in the future, wherever we may be.
Happy day and evening to all.

A breathe of fresh air…A most entertaining conversation…A hurried road trip…

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The chaos at the grocery store in Pescia inspired us to avoid shopping again on a Friday, obviously a busy day. It was surprising that these little villages have enough population to attract this crowd.  The cashiers sit while checking out customers and there’s a charge for carts (Euro $1.00) and for each plastic grocery bag (Euro $.05).

Yesterday afternoon, as we watched the movie, Zero Dark Thirty on my laptop I was startled when I heard the door buzzer. A funny thought entered my mind, “Gee, it’s a holiday! Who’d be at the door unannounced on a holiday?” Yeah, right! No 4th of July holiday here in Tuscany!

Tom, who is hard of hearing after 42 years on the railroad, doesn’t hear the buzzer. Together, we dashed down the stone steps to the door, surprised to find Lisa’s parents, Cicci and Dano, and another woman at the door, none of whom speak English.

Knowing we were in for a challenge with the language barrier we were in a quandary as to their visit. As it turned out, Luca had sent me an email while we were watching the movie to tell me they were planning to stop by to visit which I had failed to read.

On our way back through Collodi from shopping in Pescia, maneuvering two roundabouts, we began the steep climb back up the mountain to Boveglio, a 30- minute drive with many hairpin turns and guardrail free narrow roads. From what we can determine online this mansion is the Villa Garzoni.

A few days ago, I’d asked Luca if they had a feather duster so we could clean the house. Instead, they brought Santina, the local cleaning lady! OK. We can deal with this.

A half-hour of convoluted conversation commenced, discussing the days of the week she’ll come clean, the number of hours she’ll clean each week, the tasks she’ll complete, and the pay in Euros. 

After lots of arms waving around, my fumbled attempt at the translation of Italian, more head-nodding, we came to an “understanding.” (By the way, Tom went back upstairs after the first 15 minutes, bored and confused). 

Santina started cleaning today continuing to do so every Friday morning for our remaining eight weeks in Boveglio. For two hours, she’ll clean the entire house, (excluding the laundry) for a price of Euro $16, US $20.85, per week. We couldn’t be more delighted to have been able to arrange for her help.

Again, nodding and many “grazie(s)” later they finally left. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face, grateful for the freedom of not having to wash the stone floors and dust the zillions of shelves, ledges, windowsills, bookcases, and tabletops that are everywhere in this 300-year-old house. The price? Couldn’t be better! The conversation?  Priceless! I had the time of my life.

Next, our challenge was to clean up before the cleaning lady comes, a habit I had acquired years ago, preferring that the cleaning lady wouldn’t have the responsibility of dealing with our clutter.

After watching the remainder of the movie, we ran around de-cluttering, a task Tom found pointless which I thoroughly enjoyed, knowing the unpleasant cleaning part would soon be done by Santina.

One might think…”They’re spoiled. Two retired people that won’t clean.” The reality, for years I had a medical condition that made heavy cleaning impossible and now feeling well, we still each have to deal with our bad right shoulders which we tend to favor for fear of worsening the condition. 

Having help is well worth the Euro $16, US $20.85, for the sake of saving the wear and tear on the shoulders from scrubbing stone floors. Before we know it, we’ll be packing, once again on the move hauling the heavy luggage.

Using Google Translate, I typed a note to Santina when she arrived promptly at 10:00 am, explaining that we were leaving to get change and groceries and would be back before she’d be finished at noon. Also, I made a list of what we’d like cleaned in general terms: floors, dusting, make the bed, clean bathrooms, etc.

The closest bank is in Collodi, next door to the smaller of the two grocery stores where we’ve shopped. With the half-hour drive on the zigzag mountain road, we’d have an hour to do our shopping and return. 

Tom dropped me at the grocery store while he ran into the bank, getting stuck in the tiny revolving electronic security tube. If it had been me, I’d have panicked in the tiny tube. Tom merely became frustrated while he figured out a means of getting out with no instructions in English. 

Apparently, his RFID wallet set off the metal detector in the tube. Finally, he figured out how to get out. Then, the non-English speaker banker handed him large bills rather than the smaller bills he needed.

By the time he found me in the grocery store, his patience was worn thin. Unable to find a few grocery items, he insisted we go to the larger store in Pescia and leave what I’d already placed in the tiny basket. 

Time was marching on. The store in Pescia was another 10 minutes away. I suggested we pay for the items already in the cart and then head to Pescia, reducing our time finding these same items again. He agreed. Then we were stuck in line behind a woman whose credit card wouldn’t go through. Another seven or eight minutes ticked away.

It was important for us to be back in time to pay Santina. Tom and I are both sensitive to being on time and in keeping our word.  There was no way in the world we’d fail to return in time if we could help it.

By the time we reached the grocery store in Pescia, it was 11:08. When Tom couldn’t find a parking spot he dropped me off at the door. Not wanting to take time to pay a Euro for a grocery cart, I entered the store looking for the handheld baskets provided at no charge.  Not a one was in sight. I decided to carry what we needed until Tom showed. 

My arms filled with grocery items and still no basket in sight, Tom appeared immediately cognizant of my dilemma, taking off to find a basket. Running helter-skelter around the store, we gathered up the items we needed to begin a 10-minute wait in line. We’d never make it back on time. 

On the road again, he was determined to maneuver the winding hairpin turns as fast as possible. Gripping the sides of my seat, I held on for dear life desperately trying to keep my mouth shut. He’s a good driver. I only commented a few times, reminding him that our lives were more important than an impatient car behind us or being five minutes late to get back to Santina with the Euros.

At precisely, noon, we pulled into the parking spot near our house, grabbed the grocery bags to find Santina coming down the steps, her hands filled with her load of cleaning supplies and equipment. It was obvious she was excited to show us what she’d done.

The stone floors were still wet when we returned.  We were grateful for Santina’s commitment to clean every Friday.

Walking from room to room, me at her side, she rattled on in Italian on what she’d done, obviously proud of her work. Over and over I said, “molto bello” (very nice) and grazie (thank you). She was pleased. I was more than pleased. 

The stone floors, some still wet from her vigorous washing, looked better than we’d imagined they could. The shelves were now dust free and a freshness permeated the air. What a relief to know that we don’t have this stone cleaning task facing us each week!

The floor in the long hallway had already dried but looked perfect.  We couldn’t have been more pleased with Santina’s hard work.

Rushing around today we had little time for photos. We’ll be back tomorrow with more photos and the story of our Friday night “out on the town” at a new location.

It’s time to get out of my bathing suit to dress for the evening. Clouds rolled in over what had been started out as a clear sky only minutes after we’d attempted our one hour of sunning in our new chaise lounges on the patio. Tomorrow’s another day.