The Villa

After a week of entertaining Pete and Ray, and cooking and cleaning in Rome, we headed for a vacation in Tuscany where... I did more cooking and cleaning...

Actually, it was so cold in the villa, that I welcomed standing at the hot stove to warm up.

My master scout Trevor had the formidable task of making a fire with wet wood.

Ray solved the problem. He went to a little market down the street and found these "fire starters," and in no time

we had a nice cozy fire.

I have had romantic notions of staying in a villa in Tuscany since we got here. About 4 months ago, Steve did some research and reserved us a Villa for December. We've decided in hindsight that it's only a good idea to reserve a stay in the fall. When we took showers in the morning it was 30 degrees in the house. It was like sitting in the hottub in Sun Valley and then standing out in the snow afterwards. But all things considered, we had an incredible time. We were happy when we arrived to find this quaint, cheerful place. I now understand why they say the sunlight is amazing in Tuscany. The colors were so vibrant that I felt like we walked into a painting. The reds were so tantilizing,

the blues so soothing,

and check out the green

The kids found three cats and immediately made friends. Almost a hint of a smile reaches my first born's lips.Trevor would just cluck his tongue and the well-fed strays came running. They wanted to take them home, and tried to sneak them in the car.

Everyone got busy exploring

Here's Brendan telling one of his tall tails, "I saw a giant lemon on a tree thissssss BIG."

I just walked around and enjoyed the visual treats

I love this photo of Steve and Natalie framed by the lemon tree

and the way the after noon sunlight filtered in the windows

and a nice and tidy country kitchen table

and neatly made bed

Brendan had to bring me back from my reverieand let me know climbing the flight of 12 steep steps with my heavy suitcases was a chore.

Natalie was first to pick her room out of the three. She found this one with the princess net (really a mosquito net) and then

baby bear Nat tried out the bed

and pronounced it just right! And with hot water bottles filled and put on the cold sheets just before bedtime and 5 blankets on the bed-- it was!