STUCK IN THE STATES!

Yesterday was my big day to pack (and re-pack) our suitcases, to decide which clothes to leave here for the spring and which to take back to Italy, to store my cooking supplies in the basement, and to get everything ready to today's flights back to Italy. Then Mother Nature decided to change everything.

Today we are under a winter storm warning and the ground is covered with snow and ice. The snow/ice/rain/sleet continues to fall, and more accumulation is expected over the next few days. I decided to call USAir yesterday to see what my options were in case we couldn't get to the airport, or in case the flight was cancelled altogether.

The USAir reps were very helpful and told me that I could go ahead and rebook my flights up to seven days. Given the weather forecast, and the fact that Philadelphia is famous for it's bad weather, I decided to rebook. We knew Thursday and Friday's weather still looked bad, at least in the forecast. Saturday looked a little better, but then the flight schedules were terrible and we knew all the flights would still be backed up, so we checked on Sunday flights. Unfortunately the only flights to Philly had us either leaving Louisville at 6:30 A.M., spending hours in the airport until our (scheduled) 6:05 p.m. departure, or not arriving until 5:00 p.m., not giving us enough time to make our connection. Forget that. Monday wasn't an options since USAir doesn't fly to Rome on Mondays in the off season. So - now we're looking at Tuesday, and unbelievably that puts us into FEBRUARY!!!! There were plenty of seats left on that flight so I went ahead and booked it. Another 6 days here in Louisville, but many of them will be spent stuck in the house due to the terrible road conditions!

I did check the flights online to day, and the flight from Louisville to Philly is/was cancelled, so it looks like I made the right call. Now if we can get a small window of opportunity to run to the grocery - and hope there's something left on the shelves!!!

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RENT OUR HOUSE IN UMBRIA, ITALY THIS SPRING?

We'll be in the states for about 8 weeks this spring, returning so that Art can have his other hip replaced and continue with the dental work he started last month. If it's possible he'll also work at churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby, assuming he's able to talk and not in pain from the dental work. anyway, it dawned on me that we might be able to rent our house out while we're gone like we did last year. Interested? If so, you can read all about the house and all about San Venanzo In the HOUSE FOR SALE POST. There's also a link over in the right hand column. In that post you can see pictures of the house and the area and read about what the house has to offer.

You definitely need a car to stay in San Venanzo. You could rent one at FCO and drive up from Rome, or take the train to Orvieto and rent a car there and drive the 45 minutes over Monte Peglia to San Venanzo, or you could train to to Chiusi or Foligno or even Perugia to pick up a car....or you might consider ading San Venanzo/Umbria onto your exisiting vacation and just drive from where ever you were before! We'd be more than happy to help with travel suggestions.

The house would be available for weekly rentals running Saturday (after 3 p.m.) through Saturday (departing no later than noon) beginning on March 28th and ending on May 23rd. Last year we rented the house for €550 per week with a $250 deposit - note that the deposit is in dollars and the rental is in euro. We'll keep the rates the same this year, and please note that there's no extra charge for cleaning! the house will sleep up to four people comfortably, although the guest bedroom does have a trundle bed and is a lot smaller than the master bedroom. There are two full bathrooms upstairs, one with a tub and one with a shower, and there's another bath with a shower on the ground floor.

If you're interested, please contact us at: umbriahouse4sale@hotmail.com and please write "Rental" in the subject line.

BRRRRR!

Just as predicted, the temperature dropped to BELOW ZERO last night! It's been bitterly cold all week with temperatures dropping day by day, first in the teens, then into single digits, and last night for the grand finale of this cold snap we hit -1ºF. For those of you who think in Centigrade/Celsius, that's -18ºC! Things are expected to warm up after today, but I've never been more thankful for the nice even heat of a forced air furnace! I hope you're nice and toasty whereever you are today.

OLIVE OIL AT WILLIAMS SONOMA!

Olive Oil Williams-Sonoma, originally uploaded by artnbarb.

While visiting the Louisivlle Williams-Sonoma store I found this olive oil in a cute ceramic container made in Citta di Castello!

As usual, many of the olive oils in Williams-Sonoma were WAAAAY out of date! The two bottles I looked at, one from Lungarotti and another from Umbria both proudly proclaimed that they were from 2006!!!! There was some new Tuscan oil from November 2008 on the shelf, so I steered the two women who struck up a cons\versation with me to the newer oil.

I did mention my concerns to the store manager, who of course had no idea that olive oil should be consumed within 18 months of pressing. You might recall that I wrote about this same problem back in June of 2007 when I wrote to both the regional WS manager and to Chuck Williams himself, but I never even had the courtesy of a reply. Apparently selling outdated oil for premium prices is okay with Williams-Sonoma,

If you really want a great oil at a bargain price check out the Kirkland oil at Costco! It's a spicy Tuscan oil pressed in Novemeber 2008 and at $12 for a full liter it has to be the best bargain around! and yes, when it comes to olive oil, I'm pretty demanding!

NOT BETTER, NOT WORSE, JUST DIFFERENT

As our time in the states draws to a close I'll be sure sure to enjoy a few more fountain diet Cokes with lots of ice, some cheddar or colby cheese, maybe an eggroll or two, but I'll also be ready to have a porchetta sandwich as soon as we get back to Italy, as well as a great pizza, and some homemade pasta with chinghiale sugo (wild boar sauce)! Being able to enjoy the best of both worlds is something we enjoy, and we're gone from the states long enough to really appreciate the treats that are available here, but even after a few weeks in the states we're always wishing for some simple Italian dish that just can't be replicated here.

I made pizza yesterday for us and our grandson, but of course the sausage was different and the mozzarella definitely not what I'd call great, but still, you have to work with what you've got! Just as we do in Italy, we adapt our recipes, and try to get that authentic taste, but it rarely works. Now that's not to say that the dishes don't taste good - they do, but they just taste different. Fajitas in Italy taste different than fajitas in the states, and the tomato sauce I make here tastes different than the sauce I make in Italy. Embracing the 'just different' concept can be difficult for purists, but for us it's all good!

MORE U.S. UPDATES

Art continues to recover from his hip replacement surgery. Everyone we tell about his surgery is amazed at his progress, but what's surprising to us is that anyone is still having hip replacement done the 'old fashioned' way. He's so anxious to have the other hip replaced, and we've already scheduled a return visit for that surgery in April. That's the good news, but unfortunately there's also bad news.....

After years of seeing the same dentist, we now have a new one. Initially we went to the guy who'd bought our dentist's practice, but we weren't too impressed. Seems that not only was our previous dentist not quite up to speed, his hygienist and the new guy ALL failed to recognize that Art had some pretty serious gum disease going on. The front crown he thought was loose is in fact a loose tooth, and the bone loss is so severe that he's going to lose several teeth for sure. Quite a few more teeth are questionable. the plan of action, as best I can remember, is this: first Art has to have a root canal done on the molar that's been bothering him since before Thanksgiving. Our 'replacement' dentist sent Art to an endodontist since he couldn't figure out what the problem was, and thank goodness he did. The endodontist was the first one to tell Art that he had serious gum disease and needed to see a periodontist.

After the root canal Art will have his front FOUR teeth pulled and eventually there will be a permanent bridge implanted. Then the dentists will pull a lower molar that doesn't have a matching upper, then he'll have a root canal on another tooth, then the real fun will start. In order to save as many teeth as possible Art will have several surgeries where his gums will be cut open and the periodontist will do whatever it is he does to preserve the existing bone - and just in case you didn't know this, this bone, the jawbone, is what holds your teeth in place. Should this bone start to deteriorate the teeth get loose and eventually fall out. At that point you just can't opt for a set of false teeth because the false teeth need something to hold on to, and if the bone is gone that's not possible.

So - how did Art's teeth get so bad so fast? Our periodontist told us that they used to think that this was a very slow-moving disease, but now they know it can progress quite rapidly. Unfortunately we don't think that was the case for Art, given the problems he's had over the years. Yes, the hygienist said he should be flossing more, but no one ever mentioned the severity of the problem until the endodontist, who spotted it immediately. (And this after Art had seen the replacement dentist three times in less than three weeks!)

Art now has a Sonicare toothbrush, has to massage his gums several times a day, and is flossing at every possible opportunity. Flossing is really the key to preventing these problems. I always thought that flossing was just to remove anything that might cause a cavity, but what you're really doing is cleaning out the space between your teeth so that bacteria doesn't attack the bone. So here's today's helpful hint: FLOSS, FLOSS, FLOSS!!!! Seriously - go floss right NOW!

ITALY THROUGH THE EYES OF AN ARTIST

Well, actually through the eyes of TWO artists: our friends Bob and Rosemary! We first met Bob and Ro when they lived in Italy for two years (you can still read about their time in Italy by clicking on the link to their blog: "Live Cheap & Make Art Italy" over in the right hand column). Since settling in Delaware they've continued to paint and take photographs, and regularly blog about their U.S. adventures on their current blog, also linked to in the right hand column. (Live Cheap & Make Art USA)

Now, after much time and effort, Bob and Rosemary finally have their own website where you can view and purchase some of their amazing artwork. The new site is called, not surprisingly, Live Cheap & Make Art Studios. Rosemary's incredible watercolors will remind you of that cute little hilltown, beautiful piazza or field of wildflowers you remember from your last trip to Italy, or maybe Bob's very personal photographs will be the inspiration for your next trip to the boot. Stop by their site and see which one of their pieces speaks to YOU!

THE GOOD THINGS ABOUT LIFE IN THE U.S.

Okay, so here's a list of things I'm enjoying while I'm in the states:

• A forced air furnace - nice warm even heat, even in the corners
• wall to wall carpet - especially nice in the winter
• less humidity - although the Ohio River Valley can be miserbly humid in the summer, in the winter it's nice and dry, as opposed to Umbria, where it's wet and damp from now til June.
• SALES! Yes, sales are a part of the season, and a part of the recent economic panic, but still, sales in the states are a way of life, and if you want ot pay full price for something you've really got to work at it - or just be unlucky.
• Driving - and in my very own car! Freedom!
• the daily newspaper and the coupons in the paper
• magazines and books, and huge bookstores...all in English!
• Ethnic food - Mexican and Oriental, and of course good ole American hamburgers and fries!

That's just a short list, and I'll add more things - and I'll also publish a list of the things we're missing from Italy!