Mamma Americana

A New Dress

O.K. so this is my first attempt at sewing clothing and using a pattern. I bought the Simplicity pattern (9784) for a cute pinafore dress for Eleonora when I purchased my sewing machine. The name "Simplicity" gave me a sense of comfort, being a newbie and all. The Reader's Digest New Complete Guide to Sewing was a big help (thanks Joanne!).

It's not done yet. I still have to make the button holes in the back and add two buttons. And throw it in the wash. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Most importantly it seems to fit!

Cicadas and a small Ikea kitchen hack

I wanted to write about cicadas last week, while the temperature was soaring, but didn't get around to it. Over the weekend a storm moved in and cooled things down considerably. As I write this I can only hear a few cicadas singing outside. Not the usual din, but they'll be back at it in no time. 

For anyone who lives in an area with cicadas, they are part of summer's soundtrack. Their arrival means that summer has officially begun. Although it can be irritating at times, I've grown to love their song. Here is a picture of a Tuscan cicada. And you can hear their song too. Not sure if it's the right species, but you get an idea of what they sound like.

On to the hack. I've had this kitchen hutch for a couple of years. At first, I liked the open shelving. The dust finally got to me though, and I decided to cover it up. I couldn't find it on Ikea's web site, so they must not sell it any more.

I sewed up some "curtains" using a small gingham print. Then I sewed some velcro to the tops and used adhesive velcro on the hutch.

No more dust or clutter! Yeah!

Sea, Sun and Airplanes?

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I always get super busy this time of year. June usually finds me trying to finish up projects before summer gets underway. I finished one such project yesterday: the Blair family cookbook. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. It has over 78 family recipes, along with old family photos or copies of the original old recipes. I was surprised to find that some of the oldest recipes go as far back as the 1930's. Here's the link if you want to take a look at it on TasteBook: Blair family cookbook.

We spent the weekend at the family's beach cottage in Tonfano. There's still some work left to do on the patio, but most of the interior is back in shape after the humid winter. There was quite a bit of peeling paint and some mold that had to taken care of. 

There was an air show planned for the weekend that we were unaware of. It was a nice surprise to see jets doing stunts as we pedaled our bikes to the beach. Evidently the Frecce Tricolori  (Tricolor Arrows) were performing. They're the Italian Air Force's flight demonstration squadron. They rehearsed on Saturday and did the full show on Sunday with their trademark tricolor smoke trailing behind.

Shooting over the pier in Marina di Pietrasanta

A low fly by

A civilian group does a loop

Getting Ready For Summer

Last weekend was a long holiday weekend. Tuesday, June 2nd was a national holiday celebrating the Republic. We spent it at the beach cottage, but since the weather was not cooperating, cleaning was about the only thing that got done. That's OK though. The place really needed a good cleaning. We hadn't really been there since last September. The place is the size of a postage stamp, well maybe two stamps, but it took the better part of 2 days to get the place in order.

Here are some pics. of the cottage from spring 2007.