After posting about Hokey Pokey and reading the comments from Darylynn and Toni, we have been quite curious about all this Hokey Pokey thing, LOL! We’ve been looking over the Net and here is what we’ve found, for those of you that might be as curious as us.

Hokey Pokey:

1) it is a flavor of ice cream invented in New Zealand and consisting of plain vanilla ice cream with small, solid lumps of sponge toffee;

2) in Ireland the term "poke" is a common name for an ice cream;

3) Hokey Pokey (The Ice Cream Man) is a song by Richard & Linda Thompson (1975);

4) it was a slang term for ice cream in general in the 19th and early-to-mid 20th centuries in several areas (including New York and parts of Great Britain) specifically for the ice cream sold by street vendors, or "hokey-pokey" men. The vendors, said to be mostly of Italian descent, supposedly used a sales pitch or song involving the phrase "hokey pokey", for which several origins have been suggested, although no certain etymology is known. According to The Encyclopedia of Food (1923) hokey pokey (in the U.S.) is "a term applied to mixed colors and flavors of ice cream in cake form". The Encyclopedia says the term originated from the Italian: "Ecco un poco" (literally, here is a little);

5) it is a dance that children do in America. Participants stand in the shape of a big ring formation during the dance. The dance follows the instructions given in the lyrics of the song: "You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out, you put your right foot in and you shake it all about. You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around, that's what it's all about." And it goes on with other body parts until you put "your whole self in...". BTW, thanks Darylynn for this bit of info!

Alicante is quite a nice place. I have been there for work, with a very tight schedule, so I did not have the chance to see many things around. My colleagues and I were expecting to find a nice weather, but we actually got rain for three days out of four. Local people told us that this winter has been crazy in Alicante as well, being rainier than usual.

When I came back to Glasgow on Sunday night I have found a freezing temperature waiting for me. It has been freezing cold on both Monday and Tuesday, but at least with sunny clear sky.

During the night between Tuesday and Wednesday it started snowing and it did not stop until noon today when it turned into rain. It’s still raining now and all around it is all covered in white, but it is not snow, it is a slush instead.

On Tuesday morning when I was going to work I bumped into a fox. I tried to take some pictures, but it was still dark and the fox was moving around, so they came out all blurry. Only one photo came out kind of decent.

I have been away with all my colleagues for about four days. We have been to Alicante (Spain) for a European meeting with training purposes. We left on Thursday afternoon and got back on Sunday evening.

I will tell you more about this trip in the next few days.

Tonight I have been chatting for hours on Skype with Kia and she asked me to say hello to everybody!

Have good night you all and talk to you soon.

First of all, thanks so much for stopping by! I hope to visit your web-homes at some point tomorrow. This week has been kind of hectic, with my parents visiting and many activities to organize. BTW, sorry if I did not update your comments (sent by e-mail) yet. I will do it as soon as possible.

Today was a sunny day, like yesterday and the day before. Yep, three sunny days in a row! Almost incredible! While Zeno was at work, we tried to take advantage of the beautiful weather by going around and doing a wee shopping. You can already see the first sprouts on the trees. It seems like Spring is around the corner, yay!

On Sunday I will go back to Italy with my parents and stay with them for a bit. In the first half of March Zeno will come as well and then we will go back to Scotland together. When Zeno comes in March, we will go and visit Zeno’s uncle near Parma, where Zeno’s grandma is staying for a while. In those days, Zeno’s parents and brother will come as well, so that we can all meet and spend some time together.

Gotta go now. Not sure how often I will be able to blog till the middle of March, but I won’t disappear. Till next time, keep smiling! Hugs & smiles your way...

My parents are here for a visit this week. I haven't seen them since November, so it is nice to be with them again.

Tonight we came home from Mark&Spencer with these tiny tangerines. They are gorgeous, so little, barely bigger than cherry tomatoes! They come from China’s Jiangxi region, where they have been cultivated for over 1300 years. They have a wonderfully sweet flavor, so delicious! YUM! And I usually do not like tangerines at all! I’ve notice that every time I feel a bit under the weather I look for colorful food, even better if it’s something new.

Enjoying the silence of winter, but longing for a bit more of sunshine…

Yesterday, after a snowy afternoon and evening, we went out for a late-night walk in the snow. The white and soft blanket was irresistible, so around 8:30 PM we grabbed our coats, scarves and gloves and ran outside while fluffy snowflakes were still coming down. We took also our DSRL, of course! We had a lot of fun running around on the fresh snow (Kia) and taking a few snapshots (Zeno).

Since it was still snowing, our camera was always getting covered with snowflakes and water. So most of our photos did not come out very good (that’s why we chose the B&W option). We totally enjoyed hearing the crunchy sound of the snow beneath our boots and throwing each other a few snowballs...

This is a perfect cure for the grumps, LOL!

They are (green) Christmas trees that taste like apple and (pink) bells that taste like cherry. A Christmas present for Zeno, but I opened it the other day and had a lot of them already! YUM! Today's weather has been perfect for this treat: bitterly cold and snowy!

What a peculiar weather we had today! When we woke up it was drizzling. Later on it started snowing, little at first, then with big flakes. On the ground there was not much though, just half centimeter. The central part of the day has been mostly rainy and then a sunny afternoon. The snow was all gone when we went for a walk on the hill to take a photo for our new photo project (Fourth dimension). Temperatures spanned from -3°C/27°F to 1°C/33°F today.

It is true that here in Scotland you can have the four seasons in a day! These three photos have been taken with a 2 hour gap from each other, starting around 10:30 this morning...

After a sunny and bright weekend we are back to rain and fog, yuck! You can wrap up against the cold, but the dampness eats into you…

Those colorful pansies are so cheerful, they reminds us of happy faces! Back in Italy we always had a vase of Pansy Violets (Viole del Pensiero) on our balcony or windowsill to help keeping the winter blues away. The name pansy is derived from the French word pensée meaning "thought". Pansies are symbol of intelligence and free thought. Pansy is not only a decorative plant. Did you know that they are edible and high in vitamins A and C? The flowers can be used to make syrup and flavored honey, as a garnish for salad or soups. They are also used in phytotherapy: because of its purifying properties, infusion of wild pansy is considered particularly useful for skin problems such as acne or eczemas, and as a supportive treatment of chronic lesions of urinary system. Cool, huh?

Hubby had a day off today, but since it is a busy period for him, he brought some work at home. The weather was not so nice to go out anyway. Even if hubby had some work to do, we took it easy the whole day: we woke up later than usual, had a long breakfast together, took some time to go through our photos, cuddled on the sofa, cooked together... we also started a new photo project: Fourth Dimension (link on the left). This is a project we wanted to start last year together with Jaana, but we didn’t make it. So here we are, one year later, ready to see how our hill changes along the seasons. Check it out if you have a spare minute. BTW, the title was Zeno's idea. Till next time, be happy!