EMBARRASSING CONFESSIONS

-

Dear Ones,
I had tried to promise myself to lay off the iphone and computer, but my addiction proved too strong. While alone here, as the Principessa, I am the only one who would berate me for this;however, I have decided to cut myself some slack.---xxx,d

ON COEXISTING (RELATIVELY) PEACEFULLY WITH THE UMBRIAN FAUNA

If a bug is where I don't want it to be, before resorting to violence, I like to give it a chance to go elsewhere. The smart ones seem to know when it's time to take a powder. Then anyone who sticks around too long after being invited out ends up making both of us sad. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHO SAYS THAT LIFE IN THE COUNTRY IS BORING? WHAT’S THAT GIGANTIC CREATURE ON THE KITCHEN FLOOR?🙀

-
Image
Our friend Veronica whom we love dearly and vice versa has always been a city chick. Even though she enjoys the change of pace of staying with us out here in the middle of nowhere, when pressed, I think she’d admit that the life of a Country Mouse is boring. Ditto for Jim’s sister, my lovely, sociable sister-in-law, Nan, who bought her own apartment in town rather than stay out here with us in the sticks.  All that is a prelude to what would’ve been a far more dramatic story if I had had my camera handy at the right time.😕 But these photos will have to do.  Here goes. Last night after I should’ve been in bed, I remembered that my freshly-washed clothes were still in the kitchen. As I was about to head back upstairs, laundry in hand, I noticed a very large creature on the floor that should not have been there. At first it looked like a wounded bird. But, no.  I looked for a workaround and decided to try to cover it with just the right size piece of Tupperware. Success! But now w
Read more

HOW IT ALL STARTED

-
Once upon a time there was, as the French like to say, "une femme d'un certain âge"--and a very risk-averse one, at that--so much so that she would rarely leave her nest. But she had a husband who did not suffer from this problem, and a prince of a son who is an expatriate writer who thought she needed a project. As a birthday present from my husband, I received Under the Tuscan Sun --the book that first pried me out of my nest for a trip to Italy. If you can swing it--if your generous 91-yr-old mother-in-law, the only member of the family with any money sense--leaves you some dough--you can see if two nests are better than one.
Read more

A HOARDER? MOI?

-
Image
    “The Yale Daily News” wanted to do a report on faculty offices that had interesting decor or collections. Someone suggested mine. The poor reporter thought she’d just breeze in, take a quick photo, and move on. Ha!   Well, I wish I had a camera to capture the look on her face when she stepped into my office. Her jaw dropped. There were touchstones everywhere!   I’m sure I’ve mentioned that my family is missing the throwaway gene. When I told a psychologist friend who knew about my collections of stuff that “I see the poetry in everything,” he chuckled and replied, “That’s a hunk of bunk, Diane. You’re a hoarder!”   Above are some of the photos of my beloved Yale office that I posted on Facebook, but there are many more including the two panoramas. I would have liked to take you on a full tour, and Jim made three videos that we hoped would allow me to do a version of that. Remember the old tv show, "You Are There"? Well, that's what I was going for in trying to give a
Read more