Driving in Italy (not for the faint of heart)

On our recent trip to Italy we picked up a rental car in Rome so we could drive to Florence. With our trusty little Fiat Panda we were able to explore half a dozen villages in Tuscany. It was lovely to have the freedom to explore on our own but, admittedly, at times it was quite terrifying! 

Apparently, the 130 km speed limit is merely a suggestion, and so are stop signs. Oh, and if you leave a few metres between your car and the one in front of you I guarantee someone will see it as an invitation to squeeze in. The driver needs nerves of steel and the passenger...well, let's just say that sometimes the best thing to do is to close your eyes and hope for the best.

I hope I haven't discouraged you too much about the driving experience in Italy. In any case, if you speak to my husband, Mr. Nerves of Steel, he'll tell you to go for it and have a blast. 

 Below are a few photos we took of some cool cars we saw on our trip.

Our little Fiat Panda. Still quite amazed that we got it back to the rental agency without getting a single scratch on it.

Lest We Forget

Today is Remembrance Day and I am thinking of some special people in our family. My husband's father, Frank J. Rapp, was an officer during the Second World War. Unfortunately, I never really got to know my father-in-law as he was already quite ill when I started dating my husband. Frank died before our first child was born and that has always been a source of sadness and deep regret for my husband. He would have loved for his father to meet our children. 

From all the stories I have heard over the years, Frank was a wonderful father and doting grand-father to the older kids in the family. Apparently, he is also the person from whom my husband inherited his legendary sense of humour. 

This is my father-in law arriving in Utrecht, Netherlands, as Commanding Officer, Signals,
1st Canadian Armoured Brigade. He landed in Sicily, continued in the campaign in Italy, then Holland and Europe, after serving in the Far North  before the war. While he is no longer with us, we think of him often, and while our kids never met him, they have been hearing stories about Grandpop and his sense of humour since they were little. 
  



But the story doesn't end there. My mother-in-law, Helen Rapp, also served during the war. At 15, she left her hometown of Shumacher, Ontario to work in a munitions factory in Hamilton. At only 16, she pretended to be 18 so she could join the Canadian Women's Army Corp. In other words, she was one of the original bomb girls! Pretty brave don't you think?

I

Helen Rapp, in 1944, as a Sergeant Major in the Canadian Women's Army Corp. This is where she met Frank as she was in charge of the office at Army Signals when he returned from the war to take command.

And the story continues. A few years after Frank passed away, Helen met Jerry Bowen, a veteran of the Navy during World War Two, and of the Korean War with the Vandoos. He is a fellow volunteer at the Canadian War Museum. You can certainly see how they feel about each other and we are so happy to have him

 in our family as stepdad. Thanks to our kids, he has always been known as Grand-Jerry. 

And there you have it, in a few words I have tried to capture a small part of the story of the people I am thinking of today: Frank, Helen and Jerry. A sincere thank you to them and their fellow veterans for their bravery and sacrifice. 

Pretty Craft to Brighten your November Day

November can be a dreary month. The leaves are off the trees, the flowers in the garden are long gone and most of us haven't started decorating for Christmas yet. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to brighten up our November days, does it? 

Here is a super easy craft I made today using a few Mason jars, a little bit of greenery, some berries I picked from a shrub in my garden and three floating candles. Simply place a bit of greenery at the bottom of a Mason jar, then fill it about two-thirds full with water. Drop in a few berries (cranberries would work well) and a floating candle and, voilà, your home is a little prettier and brighter.    

Happy Birthday to Me!

This past weekend we celebrated my birthday at my parents' house. Have I mentioned that my mother is a brilliant cook? In fact, I think she missed her calling because nothing makes her happier than cooking a delicious meal for a big bunch of people. And a big bunch of people is what we were for my birthday feast. There were 17 of us at the table for dinner. Yes, 17, and my mom didn't bat an eye. As usual, she prepared a restaurant-worthy meal which left all of us stuffed but oh so happy!

At least my mom didn't have to wonder what to make for dinner, as for the last 35 years or so, she has been making the same meal for my birthday. A boeuf bourguignon worthy of Julia Child is what I decided was my favourite meal when I was a little girl and so every year it makes an appearance.  

The massive amounts of boeuf bourguignon, simmering on the stove top. Many a bottle of red wine was sacrificed for this dish.

The beautifully-set table.

This was a simple, but delicious dessert prepared by my aunt and uncle who were visiting from out-of-town. Heavy cream, yogurt and lemon were served inside the hollowed-out lemons. Very refreshing after a big meal. But the dessert extravaganza was only beginning...

The tiramisu birthday cake was heavenly. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the apple cake and the pumpkin pie, the latter having been baked by my little nieces. Yup, we like dessert quite a bit in my family. 

A glimpse of the tiramisu.

It was a feast to remember, made even more memorable by the people sharing it with me. Now, anyone out there need a cook? Give my mom a call, she's the best! 

Doors of Tuscany

I'm not quite sure why I like old doors so much, but I always end up taking lots of pictures of them when I'm on vacation. As I mentioned in my previous post, I'll be adding on to our memory wall in the dining room with some of our photos of interesting doors in Tuscany. Here are the top contenders.  

My favourite is the dark green door with the yellow wall. That shade of Tuscan yellow is pretty much perfect. Does anyone else out there take pictures of doors when on vacation or is that just a weird thing that I do?

Memory Wall

I'm a bit obsessed with decorating. In fact, it's not good for me to stay home for long periods because it makes me want to repaint, move things around and buy new stuff. Just ask my poor husband. I've lost count of the number of times he's repainted the walls to satisfy my ever-changing whims. Sorry sweetie.

I've found that one of the easiest ways to add interest to a plain old wall is to put up a picture gallery. I've done one in our dining room but it's still a work in progress. Someday I hope to have the entire wall covered in meaningful photos, paintings and family mementos. This is so much fun to do. 

We recently had our floors sanded and re-stained so we had to remove EVERYTHING from the first floor. That was not fun at all. It also meant that I had to take down my picture gallery so it didn't get damaged. It's a good thing that I took a picture of the finished product before taking it apart because otherwise, I would have been up a creek trying to put it back together. 

Starting to put the memory wall back up. I had left the nails on the wall so it took no time at all to put everything back.

Nearly done.

Ta Da!

I will be adding to the wall soon with some pictures we took of beautiful old doors in Tuscany. As I said in previous posts, I went a little crazy with the camera in Italy so I have way too many pictures of old doors. Eventually, I'll have to sort through them and choose my favourites.


Our 17-year-old daughter, who has loved painting, drawing and decorating since she was little has put up a memory wall in her bedroom. I love going in and getting lost in the memories as many of the pieces are her own paintings, some from when she was itty-bitty. 

A small section of her wall

I love this painting which features her beloved Nounou the bear as a superhero. She has had Nounou since her 1st birhday and he has been all over the world with us. In fact, we have pictures of him lying on the beach in Hawaii with a flower tucked behind his ear. Lucky bear!

 One of my faves. She did this drawing in answer to the question: "What would you like to be when you grow up?"

The memory wall above her bed which is always evolving. This is a fun and easy way to display meaningful photos, drawings and mementos in a child or teenager's room.

Meet Daisy Belle

This is Daisy the cockapoo. She's been with our family since 2004. That means she's now a senior dog, but you sure wouldn't know it by looking at her. People still assume she's a puppy when they first meet her. She's just so full of raw enthusiasm. 

A friend said to me very recently: "You just can't help but fall in love with Daisy." And I agree. She's not the best behaved dog in the world (even though she did get an A at puppy training) but she is most definitely one of the sweetest! 

This is Daisy's favourite spot. From this position on top of the ottoman she can watch over her domain and see the front door. She normally sits and waits until all her people are safely inside the house.

She is multi-talented...Daisy the surfing dog.

Daisy, as a puppy. In this case, the kids were able to tell the teacher that the dog ate their homework and it was true! See, I told you she wasn't very well-behaved. 

Again, here she is showing off her rebel side. She is looking straight at me and seems to be saying: "What? You got a problem with me sitting on the table, lady?" 

Anyone who knows Daisy also knows that she LOVES her ball. This dog would rather go without eating than go without her ball. You don't think I'm serious? Just ask anyone who's thrown the ball 50 times in a row and asked: "Does she ever get tired of fetching that thing?" The answer would be no, no she doesn't!

Sometimes we think we should have called her Houdini because she is quite the escape artist. She figured out a while ago that she could sneak out of the yard to visit her doggy friends by squeezing through the fence posts. I don't know how many times I sheepishly answered the front door to find a neighbour holding Daisy in their arms. 

Recently though, my son and husband fixed her little wagon by lining the fence with wire mesh. Please don't give her any wire cutters, she'll know what to do with them!