Our pianist

We're already near the end of the first month of the new year, how did you begin the year 2013? Well, my life is proceeding quite normally. A little bit of bad weather, humidity, snow...I really hope February won't be too cold. (The last year the temperature went down to -17 °c!)

My son began to take the piano lessons since last October. It seems that he found a new passion! The teacher is very satisfied with him, saying that he's very quick and has learned much in only few months. I and my hubby are glad to hear that. An electric piano was planned to be his Christmas gift but, seeing his enthusiasm, we had anticipated the gift, so he received it in November. Since then, we often have a little bit of sound and music in our home ;)

Our pianist!

I'm posting a video clip of his first song, recorded in December. I wanna entitle the video as "The Pianist and the Listener"

Enjoy the music!

Merry Christmas Ho..Ho..Ho..!!

Wishing you a great time with your beloved ones on this special occasion.
May happiness, hope and peace fill your hearts...

Love,
Mee

My all-time favorite book

It looks like I've abandoned my blog for a while....I'm, at the moment, devouring the books I've bought some time ago and I'm not quite in the mood of writing ;-P

Among those books, there's one which I'd like to suggest you. It was my favorite book when I was about 10, and it's still one of my most favorite ever! I read and reread and reread it for several times when I was a child. I was so glad to find it in Italian language and I didn't hesitate a bit to get it for my son. And I wasn't wrong, he's enjoying the book very much. I, too, am reading it once again, this time in Italian version. Some of you might have read it already. It's suitable for all ages; since the youngest to the oldest in your family! And the book is....

 

The Italian title is: Totto-chan la bambina alla finestra.

Letter to Santa Claus

Dear Santa,

if you read this letter in time, please do me a favour! Seeing that you go across the continents all the night, I'd like to ask for your help! Please carry with you my thought and pass by all my beloved family and friends. Please just leave them a breeze of my caress, please add a little bit of your magic, so that they could receive my love and care into their hearts, so that they would be filled with all my best regards and so that they would be embraced with the warmth I would like to transfer.

You might know where you should stop by, somewhere in Italy, some other angles in Finland, Spain and Island, some farther edges in Japan, China and Thailand! I might be disturbing you too much but if it's just possible, I'd thank you infinitely.

Sincerely yours,
Mee...from Italy

Our Christmas tree

We put up our X'mas tree yesterday afternoon. This year we picked up the white & red theme. Our 11-year-old boy was of great help. We're looking forward to seeing the gift boxes below ;-) Our boy has become a young guy now and he made us know last summer that he knew who has been the Santa Claus...oopps! Therefore, no more letter but he somehow looks happy to ask for the gift directly to his real Father Christmas.

The essence of a special evening

After the last post which was dedicated to my only son's birthday, I wanna write about his small party with his best friends at home. We organised it 2 days after his birthday as he had been sick and just recovered in time, so yesterday was a better day as it was Saturday = a school-free day.

The kids are becoming big, they already have a-teenager-to-be look, however they're all kids and still love playing and ruunig up and down stairs. My boy was so happy, he did have a great time and lots of fun with 3 classmates and another friend. I just would like to remember all these simple but happy moments as they're very precious for my son's youth and for us, the parents, as well. Today, there're many places where you can organise a birthday party with the whole class. They're nice places that offer a large space with enormous inflatables and every kid loves them. Dylan had been many times to these parties and we once organised such a party for him a few years ago. The kids enjoyed it a lot. Those parties are funny but they're very confusing, you mostly hear yells and see some figures running here and there. I personally love more intimate and cosy atmosphere.

Yesterday was really a cosy birthday party for my boy. He was very happy to stay with his close friends. I've always been convinced that the "essence" of a great party is to be with the person you love and to do what makes you happy, that's all.

To finish this post, I leave you a picture of snacks I baked myself but I have to refer the food blog where I picked up the recipe. Thanx to "La mia cucina" of Gianni for the idea!!!

Today is special because...

วันนี้เป็นวันพิเศษที่สุดวันหนึ่งของเรา เนื่องจากเป็นวันครบรอบวันเกิดของลูกชาย ปีนี้อายุครบ 11 ปีแล้ว หนูกำลังโตเป็นหนุ่มขึ้นทุกทีๆ โพสต์นี้อยากเขียนทั้ง 3 ภาษา วันเกิดลูกเรารู้สึกว่ามันเป็นวันแม่สำหรับเรา วันที่ได้มีลูกอยู่ในอ้อมกอดเป็นครั้งแรก จับต้องลูก ให้นมลูก รักลูก ทำให้เราได้รู้จักความรักอันยิ่งใหญ่ที่สุดคือความรักของแม่ที่มีต่อลูก ในวันเกิดของลูก แม่คงจะไม่มีอะไรมากไปกว่าความรัก ความห่วงใย ที่มีต่อลูกเสมอมาและจะคงตลอดไป สุขสันต์วันเกิดนะครับลูกดีแลน

จากแม่

Oggi è un giorno molto speciale per me. E' il compleanno di mio figlio che compie 11 anni. Il mio bambino sta diventanto grande. Avevo voglia di scrivere in tutte e tre lingue che conosco. Per me la festa della mamma è oggi, cioè quando è nato mio figlio. L'ho tenuto in braccio per la prima volta, l'ho potuto accarezzare, allattare, amare...ho conosciuto l'amore più grande: l'amore di una mamma. In occasione del suo compleanno, non avrei niente di più speciale del mio amore per lui. Buon Compleanno Dylan!

dalla mamma

Today is the most special day for me. It's my son's birthday! He's 11 years old now. He's going to be a teenager soon. I wanted to write this post in all 3 languages that I know. For me, my boy's birthday is also my "Mother's Day" because the day he was born was the day I could embrace him for the first time, I could caress him, breastfeed him, love him...I could perceive how was the love of a mom like. It's the greatest love. Today, his birthday, I don't have anything that is more special than my love for him. Happy Birthday Dylan!

from mommy

An excursion into nature

I'd like to post some nice pictures taken during our short trekking. It was on Sunday 26th of June. Our boy Dylan loves walking up the mountain. Actually he didn't walk but he ran! After a couple of hours of walking among the nature, I really felt healthy and relaxed, nevertheless the contrast effect causing by my allergy to grasses. The location is a passage near my mom-in-law's house on mountain in the province of Bergamo. Let me show you the pictures of some wild flowers and the panorama.

When Nanà is "home alone"!

Who has read my older posts would know who is Nanà. She's our 4-year-old Birman cat. She has quite particular characters. Normally cats are independent. Ours instead needs someone to stay with. Actually it's said the Birman cats are very proper to who need a pet as companion.

I noticed her behavior when I was packing stuffs before going away in a weekend. I pulled out a big baggage, she turned around and around and sniffed. The next morning we went to my mom-in-law's house on mountain. My in-laws already arrived there the day before. We left Nanà at home because, from the previous experiences, she suffers a lot the trip, strangers and the new environment. Moreover, we were mostly obliged to close her in the loft in order that she couldn't stray in relatives' apartments or go down to the neighbour's garden. So we concluded that it'd much better leaving her home when we go away for only a weekend.

It happened that the next Monday, I was packing stuffs again to go for a short holiday at sea. When I pulled out the 2 baggages, she came close to me. Each time I put a piece of clothes there, she bited my hands, trying to impede me. We quarreled for a while but, becoming impatient, I stopped doing the baggage and went to another room. She followed me and was still biting my feet. I thought she's gone mad! That night, she slept on one of the baggages. Incredible! She understood we were leaving her home again.

This time yet, my in-laws took care of her. They told us on the phone that Nanà was angry with them. Anything they did for her never satisfied her; giving food, brushing her fur, etc. It seemed she did go mad. The day we arrived home, she finally stayed calm and returned normal. My in-laws said they almost couldn't stand aggressivity. How come! Nanà's used to stay with them. She might not want us to leave home.

Un' uscita in compagnia @ Lago D'Iseo

Giovedì 17, festa del 150° compleanno della Repubblica Italiana, siamo andati al Lago D'Iseo, situata tra la provincia di Brescia e Bergamo. Questa uscita è stata programmata con la famiglia di Tommy, il miglior amico del nostro bambino Dylan, da autunno scorso ma è rimasta in attesa...e finalmente c'è stato quel giorno di festa e ne abbiamo approfittato!

Il tempo non era ottimo, cielo coperto con un pò di pioggia che rendeva non tanto allegra l'atmosfera di lago ma siamo stati bene in compagnia, soprattutto i bambini si sono divertiti un sacco. Ci siamo fermati alla trattoria Glisenti a Marrone. Abbiamo mangiato benissimo!! Tante portate di pesci di lago. Mi piaciono molto questi assaggini ;-D Ho fatto 3 foto dei piatti primi e secondi.

1° foto: Trota salmonata, maionese fatto in casa, polpettine di trota e polenta con che pesce?? Non me lo ricordo (Aiuto!!)
2° foto: Risotto e tortelli di trota
3° foto: Polenta con grano saraceno con il pesce di cui non ricordo il nome, perdonatemi! (Elena, puoi aiutarmi lasciando dei dettagli dei cibi nel commento se vuoi ;-P )

Abbiamo concluso la giornata con una passeggiata nel paese. Una giornata divertente direi!

Carnival festivity

Yesterday was a very sunny day, it was worth going out. We're in the period of Carnival, so there're many events all around. We've never been to the famous mask carnival of Venice. We once visited that of Busseto (the province of Parma) which was quite grand and lively. Well, I just had a look on the local newspaper and found some nearby villages which organised the festivity. At our living place there was an in-door disguise competition but I preferred bringing my boy to an out-door one. He had been to the competition some times when he was smaller.

My husband decided the place. It was in our province, not far from our zone and it's called "Gossolengo". Certainly our teenager-to-be wore a disguise costume. Just have a look in the pictures and guess who he was mimicking!

Many friends of mine said he looks alike the real character very much ;-D

The happiness of Nanà

After introducing our kitty Nanà in the previous post, I'd like to talk more about her. The title of this post, as my Thai friends must have recognised, is intended to immitate one famous Thai movie's name: The Happiness of Kati (ความสุขของกะทิ). However, there's nothing to do with the movie, I only would like to make it sound a little bit "fashionable" and this article is going to tell about the daily "happiness" and "unhappiness" of Nanà.

I've to describe her habits and attitudes towards us and strangers. She's usually sweet, cuddly and playful with our family members but she becomes timid, fearful and nervous when there's a presence of a non-family person. Acually she's easily frightened by any noises and she hides herself in a closed place such as under the bed or wardrobe. From my knowledge (by reading), this's normal. Cats don't stand loud sounds and they try to avoid them. Nevertheless, Nanà is frightened by only some little sounds, especially unexpected ones.

Moreover, Nanà doesn't like visitors. She's not one of those cats that love being caressed by people (naturally except us!). One rather funny thing is that; when she hears the doorbell, she suddenly runs to the house main wndow door, moves the curtain by her paw to find out who's there and if she sees a stranger (non-family member) she takes off as a plane and you won't be able to find her! We initially hoped that she would be able to get used to see strangers one day, but we already lost the hope! Sometimes when the guests stay for some hours, she comes out to see in a safe distance, people can see her in only these few minutes because she disappears again untill the guests are gone.

I and my husband sometimes asked ourselves why Nanà is afraid of people and so many things. We immagine that probably she might have suffered during her first months at her original house.We remember the day we went to take her home. The other 2 of her siblings were double-sized of her. We then thought she could be the weakest of all the kittens. Who knows if the farm owner gave her away for this reason! Perhaps we saved her life bringing her with us!

                                     A moment in summer when Dylan & Nanà enjoyed outdoors.
                               (Nanà seemed not to be that happy in the way her buddy held her!)

In summer, Nanà loves going out to lay on the lawn, to have some grass and to scratch herself on the rough pavement. She used to meet some other cats that came into our garden. We kept an eye on them to see the reactions. The one and another kept some distance and didn't move. They looked at each other and mostly another cat went away. Once I saw Nanà inflated (I don't know which term is suitable here) herself in order to threaten another cat, letting out a weird cry at the same time. She might not feel safe and tried to defend herself. I went out to see and the other cat escaped away. Since then, we watch her often when she stays outside the house. We'd be diappointed if the cats fight against each other. Well, now we even became cat-sitter/guard!

At the conclusion, I think I can say that Nanà is a lucky kitty. She has a spacious house to live in, she can sleep wherever, she has a fairly large space outdoors, and especially she has a warm family to depend on.

Why a cat?

Around lately July or early August (forgive my poor memory!) of 2007, we brought a new member home. It was a female cat, purebred Sacred Birman, born on 7th May, 2007. Sincerely I had never known nor heard about the existence of this breed before. I had even never immagined I could be able to love a cat either! In my childhood, my family owned a dog. As I remember, I didn't like cats because the look in their eyes scared me a little bit. There were several stray cats in my living zone (my parents' house at Bangkok). I refused to approach or touch any cats just because I felt they were not so friendly. Therefore cats were "scary" and "hostile" for me.

Well, the idea to get a pet comes to your mind sooner or later, especially when you've kids. Truly it was my husband, Francesco, who proposed one day the question: "Why don't we get a puppy?". He suggested it should be time to give Dylan, our only son, a pet to keep him company. It's said animals do good to children, perhaps he was right, I thought, although I wasn't that convinced.

At first, he thought of a dog. He was pretty interested in the golden retriever, well-known for its attractive characteristics. I would be great but I wasn't so certain of the idea. Well, who would bring it to pee in a freezing winter morning, perhaps at 6 a.m.? I was so sure the responsibility will become mine, thus I should prevent it before it cuold happen! (We share the same house, court and garden with my in-laws and they'd never accept a doggie's pee and poo in the house's gate.)

After this argument, Francesco looked at many websites to find something to convince me and he somehow came across a web page that told about a cat breed which is rare. He suddenly felt in love with those kittens after reading their story and looking at the pictures. He came to the conclusion that no one needed to bring it outside in a cold morning (of which I was afraid). A cat is less dependent than a dog, we immagined. From the pictures, they were just adorable, like little cotton flocks. The Sacred Birmans are not easily found in a pet shop. They're reservedly bred in farms, that are not available in many places. The nearest one we found in the websites was the Albafeles, in the province of Pavia. Francesco contacted the owner by phone and she invited us to see the cats at her place. We brought Dylan, 6 years old at that time, to visit the farm the soonest. It was the first time I saw cats as attractive and friendly creatures! The bigger ones came near us, they wanted us to hold them and they were very soft! That was my feeling. Dylan too was enthusiastic. Well, we just simply loved them. The owner kindly explained the Sacred Birmans' characteristics, their habits, how to take care and she assured us that these cats were very friendly and playful. Well, we had had the experience from the visit.

After one month of waiting, we got the call from the farm owner that the new kittens were born and we could go to see them. Only one of the three new-born kittens was to be given away. It was female, seal point coloured, and it was just too adorable. Yes, we decided to take her but the owner didn't want to seperate the kitten from its mother too soon as it was still eating from breast. We had to wait for almost 3 months and then it was done!

                                                         Nanà, the 1st time we visited her.

                                                        Dylan was glad to get near his kitten.

                                                          They were getting more confidence.

                                  Finally Nanà came to stay with us, she was inseparable from Dylan.