It's been a long time since our last post. We've been caught up with many things, then my sweet Kia got sick. Her flu is almost gone now, so she will be up and running very soon.

We had to start from zero with our comments because HaloScan was acting up lately. We have saved all your messages on our computer, so we'll be able to return a visit when Kia feels 100% better.

We would like to thank you all for your visits. You have brightened up our day. Have a happy and sunny new week ahead. Cheers!

Ok, ok, I admit it: I'm addicted to checking my e-mails! Especially now that I'm having major problems with e-mails lost in cyberspace. Maybe I should join "E-mail-checkers Anonymous", LOL! I wonder if there is such a group somewhere.

Valentine's Day is approaching fast. Do you celebrate it? If so, do you have any special plan? I wanted to share with you these gorgeous vintage Valentine cards. Aren't they adorable?

If you like vintage cards and postcards as much as I do, go visit Vintage Holiday Crafts, it's a charming website! And if you have other vintage links to share, just let me know, please.

My hot chocolate is waiting for me, have a relaxing evening with your beloved ones.

WEATHER: the sunny day helped melting most of the snow, although some spots of slippery ice survive here and there.

SKY WATCHING: we had the chance to enjoy the almost-full moon last Friday. This is a photo we took at 5:03 PM. As you can see, days are finally getting longer and the sun sets only at 5:12 PM.

LANGUAGE BARRIER: still having problems with this strong Glasgwegian accent. It was easier to get used to the American accent than to the Scottish. We are listening to BBC radio while cooking or doing other household activities, hoping to improve our understanding. Well, Kia's mostly, obviously.

MOVIE: we went to the cinema to see "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. It's the story of a man who is born 80 years old and grows younger every day. It's based on a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was almost 3 hours long, a sad but catching story, melancholic and romantic.

Hubby is not feeling very well tonight, so I will keep this short. I just want to share this poem with you. It's called "Winter Time" and it's been written by Bernard Howe.

The cold snap in Scotland continues. The snow is still lying on the ground and the temperature struggles to get above freezing during the day. But everything is so beautiful!

A bunch of photos of our late-night walk in the snow.

The white and soft blanket was irresistible…

...so around 10:30 PM we grabbed our coats and gloves and ran outside, while fluffy snowflakes were still coming down.

While Kia had a lot of fun running around on the fresh snow, I took a few snapshots of the town centre cover with snow.

Just a bit of Italian before saying goodnight:
Sta nevicando! = It's snowing!
Neve = snow
Fiocco di neve = snowflake
Palla di neve = snowball
Pupazzo di neve = snowman

We've been tagged by Ela for the "6th of the 6th" challenge.

The rules:
1. Go to your pictures.
2. Take the 6th folder.
3. Choose the 6th picture.
4. Show the picture on you blog and write something about it.
5. Invite 6 new people to this challenge.
6. Link to them and let them know they are challenged.

Our 6th folder contains pictures of our trip to Vienna (Austria) a couple of years ago.

In the background you can see Karlskirche (St. Charles's Church), an outstanding baroque church. Back then, in front of church there was a display of peculiar statues, the United Buddy Bears. These statues were all identical in shape (obviously representing a bear), but each of them was painted with a motif representing one of the nations of the world.

We are tagging Amanda, Darylynn, Dru, Elizabeth, Kat and Suzanne. We know you like pictures too, so we hope you'd like this challenge.

We have also uploaded a few of our photos of Vienna to our Photo Album. More will come tomorrow, time for bed now. Sweet dreams everyone!

As you all already know, Zeno and I have been a bit disappointed 'cos after 7 hours of snow all we got was half cm of snow on the ground.

While hubby and I were looking at the not-so-charming photos I took yesterday morning…

…we received an e-mail from our dear friend Sergio with a couple of photos attached to show us how much snow he has to deal with lately.

He lives in Piemonte (North-western Italy) and he got 1.2 meters of snow. In the photo above you can see how much he had to shovel to get his yard clear. Well, almost clear, LOL!

Last year we spent Christmas over there but we didn't get any snow even though Zeno kept doing his "snow dance" hoping to get at least a few cm of white and soft blanket.

This freezing cold weather has been perfect for enjoying a good book. My neighbor Dorothea lent me "Strictly Love" by Julia Williams and I really enjoyed it from the first page to the last one! I am not a dance fan, but I found it a lot of fun to read. Today I finished "A Desirable Residence" by Madeleine Wickham. It was nothing special, and I found it strange since I really enjoyed all the books she published under the pseudonym Sophie Kinsella. In fact, I'm looking forward to her new book "Twenties Girl", that should be released this year. Gotta dash away now, happy Friday!

It's has been a productive day for me, as I've found the perfect gift for my Dad's birthday.

Do you like them? My fave is the blue one, with the Paisley Pattern. On the other hand, the other tie will go perfectly with a suit my Dad got a few weeks ago. I've also found a cute li'l pochette (clutch bag or evening bag) I'm sure my Mom is gonna love!

I've added a printer friendly version of our recipe (see menu on the left) so you can now print them or save them on your own computer. Have a fab day!

Sitting quietly and enjoying a delicious cup of herbal tea (cherry, apple and rose hips) waiting for hubby to come home from work. I was wondering, my dear friends or simple readers, if you made a resolution for the new year. If so, how's it going so far? I didn't really make any resolutions for this year. I used to make a few resolutions each year in the past, and keep just a few of them. So now I make zero resolutions and keep them all, LOL! Let's say this year I will just "try" to exercise more (don't laugh, I can hear you! Miracles can happen, you know?), have more self-esteem (now I'm the one laughing!) and eat more fruits.

We're having a real winter day here today. Temps dropped down (-9°C/16°F this morning) and it has been snowing since noon. I can spend hours looking at those soft snowflakes floating in the air! They go sideways and up and down and it is really fun. Alas, the snow is not sticking, the ground is only wet, not white and soft. I'm keeping my eye on the forecast, tomorrow is supposed to warm up a little.

Yesterday we had one of Zeno's colleagues over for dinner and we had a very pleasant evening. We made "tagliatelle al pesto", the traditional recipe from Liguria (my Dad's region) with chopped potatoes and green beans. I did not add enough salt to the boiling water, so the pasta was not very tasty.

Today is our friend Marco's birthday. Meine herzlichsten Glückwünsche zum Geburtstag! I'm sure Sabine will spoil you rotten!

Zeno's home and he says that now there is some snow layering down. I don't know if I used the right verb, but I hope it gave you an idea…

Until next time, keep smiling! Stay warm and cozy. ((HUGS))

For days the forecast man has been warning us that blizzards from Russia were approaching, and today we finally got a wee bit of snow. Nothing major, just scattered flurries.

It's -5°C/23°F this afternoon and it has been snowing overnight and on and off all day, but there is only a dash of snow on the ground. Yep, I'm a bit disappointed...

Today is Candlemas Day (Festa della Candelora, in Italy), the Christian "Festival of Lights". This ancient festival marks the midpoint of winter, halfway between the shortest day and the spring equinox. This feast is called Candlemas (Candelora) 'cos that was the day on which the year's supply of beeswax candles for the church were blessed. Candles were important in the past not only 'cos there was no electric lights, but also 'cos Christians talk of Jesus as "the light of the World". Candles are lit during church services to remind Christians of this. This day also commemorates the "Presentation of Christ in the Temple" and the "'Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary".

People believe that Candlemas Day predict the weather for the rest of the winter. Here in the UK there is a weather proverb that goes like this: "If Candlemas Day is clear and bright, / winter will have another bite. / If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain, / winter is gone and will not come again.". It's very similar to a proverb that we have in Italy: "Quando vien la Candelora / da l'inverno sémo fóra, / ma se piove o tira vénto, / ne l'inverno semo drénto.". This proverb comes in different versions, depending on the Italian region and dialect. As an example, this is how the proverb goes in Trieste: "Se a Candelora xe sol e Bora / de l'inverno semo fora, / se piovi o tira vento / de l'inverno semo dentro.".

Since during the day we had snow, wind and rain, does that mean that the worst of winter is over?

After reading Jaana's comment, we were both craving for a warm slice of focaccia. For people who don't know it, focaccia is the "white" version of pizza. White 'cos it doesn't have tomato sauce on it. Besides, focaccia is thicker and softer than pizza. Focaccia is quite popular in Italy and can be flavored with olive oil and herbs. It can also be topped with cheese (mozzarella, stracchino, crescenza), cold cuts (ham, prosciutto crudo, salame) or vegetables (zucchini, tomatoes, onions, black olives).

As usual, if you want any of the recipes we write here, just ask and we can e-mail it to you.

FOCACCIA WITH SUNBLUSH TOMATOES

Ingredients:
500 g flour
3 teaspoons of salt
7 g sachet of dry yeast
250-300 ml lukewarm water
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
15-20 cherry tomatoes
15 SunBlush tomatoes
1 teaspoon of herbs (rosemary, oregano, thyme)
A dash of coarse salt (optional)

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the salt, mixing very well. Pour some lukewarm water into a glass until half full, add the sugar and stir until solved. Add the yeast into the glass of water and stir until solved, then let it stand for about 10 minutes (you should see that bubbles are produced).

Dig a hole into the flour and pour in the yeast, the remaining water and the 2 tablespoons of oil. Knead until all ingredients are well mixed. Shape the dough into a ball, cover it, and let it rise for about an hour in a warm place.

In the meanwhile, wash the cherry tomatoes, cut them in half and place them into a colander to drain. Grease a pan with some oil. Place the dough into the pan and stretch it with your hands. Distribute both cherry and sunblush tomatoes, pushing them into the dough. Spread some salt, herbs and oil on top and let it rise for about 30 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven at 200°C. Place the focaccia into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Prolong the baking time if necessary until the surface is golden brown.

This recipe yields 2 pieces of focaccia as the one in the photo. It serves up to 4-6 people, so you can have an idea if you want to scale up or down the amounts.

Focaccia is good warm or cold, served with fresh cheese (like mozzarella) and/or cold cuts, and some green salad.

We have been greedy and we also had some rhubarb tart left from yesterday (see previous post for the recipe) with our coffee. We are stuffed, as you can imagine! We better avoid the scale for a few days, LOL! Have a nice and relaxing evening, lots of hugs!