GPI*

What gives with pets and toilets? What is the fascination with that white porcelain bowl and flushing water?

My friend Speck told the story last week of Smudge and the midnight pee break . And I've noticed how Nora delights in the swirl of water as toilets are flushed:

Admittedly unlike Smudge Nora has yet to drink out of the bowl but that could only because she can't quite reach it ... YET!



And speaking of pets, my friend and colleague Laurie sent me this picture of her kitten Pepper.


Now neither Laurie nor I approve of playing Mr Dress Up with our pets - she has four cats - but in this case Pepper is dressed like a convict in a Mack Sennett one reeler for a very good reason. After some routine surgery Pepper developed a dreadful skin condition where the fur literally peeled off. She spent almost two months at the vet's but is back home now. However she still has a very large patch of furless skin that bothers her and she bites at it - making things worse. After turning her into a cone head for over a month Laurie thought she'd try something else: a sweater to cover the raw area. Well apparently the sweater lasted long enough to have this picture taken and within minutes it was back to the cone. Poor Pepper has been through a lot and the healing process will take a long time. But she's a brave little thing and if love can cure her problem she is receiving an endless supply.

*Gratuitous Pet Items

21 luglio - San Lorenzo da Brindisi

So Where The Hell Have I Been?

I was happy to see my blog buddy Speck (that would be she in younger days at the left) over at Worms, Puppies, Barbecue had posted a little item earlier today for the first time in about a month. I immediately added a comment telling her how much I had missed her posts.

Now I knew she had gotten into sketching and many of her posts at WPB were cartoons and sketches but somehow I had missed the fact that she now has a sketch blog!!!!! So a good deal of this morning was spent scrolling through all the goodies I had missed at Speck's Sketch Blog. She's a talented and a funny lady. I recommend taking a look in - and I've added her to my daily check list.

Sorry Speck don't know where the hell I was when you announced the new (?) blog.

13 lulgio - Sant'Enrico II del Sacro Romano Impero

Sharing

One of the great things about being in a blog community - even a very loose one, hmm doesn't sound quite right but you know what I mean - is the talent that you encounter almost daily. It may be the ability to use words or a pencil or a camera. But it is that ability to communicate thoughts, memories, humour and ideas through whatever medium that constantly amazes and delights me.

Even in busy Pesaro the Saturday Market in Centro is quiet during Ferragosto. I wonder where the residents of a seaside resort go in the summer when the rest of the world is flocking to their beach?

I overheard the conversation between this lady and the fruttivendolo (greengrocer)- she needed enough eggplant to feed eight - her son, his wife and the bambini where coming for Sunday lunch. He, of course, assured her he had just the ones she wanted!

As in most small towns here bicycle seems to the be major mode of transportation in Centro. And of course its easy to stop and have a Saturday morning gossip when you cycling through town.

• Lorraine has two brilliant posts in a row this week - not to say they aren't all brilliant just that... there I go sounding not right again! And speaking of the right she uses her remarkable facility with words to address the Religious Right and a possible (?) double standard. And this must see video has become an instant YouTube classic. I sent the link to quite a few friends and they've been spreading it around - the link I mean! Damn think I'll just give up on words today.

I am still slightly surprised when I see a pair of Mormon boys walking through the centre of an Italian town. As with most small towns the Centro Storico of Pesaro is closed to traffic. I'm not sure what the red carpet was for but it gave a festive air to an already festive city.

Rossini was born on the the ground floor of this palazzo. He very seldom returned after he left in 1796 at the age of 4. That, of course, has not stopped the sale of Rossini memorabilia in Pesaro but at least its more tasteful than the Mozartiana sold in Salzburg.

• And Speck uses words and her talents as a cartoonist to tell us all about her Labour Day Weekend (sorry Speck I just can't type labor) and an encounter with some people on the run from Gustav. And that first cartoon should be gracing the editorial pages of a major newspaper.

While hundreds of holiday makers crowd the beach seeking that perfect tan that will be the envy of their neighbours come September ...

... others just sit in the park looking out over the Adriatic and pondering the passing world.

04 settembre - San Tesauro dei Beccheria

Sharing

Its been a while since I've shared some of the riches out there from my blog buddies and its about time I did. And here's a few pictures of Spoleto from our weekend in Feburary (and a few from the past weekend) that have been hanging around that I've meant to share but some how never got around to posting.

The tradition of posting death notices on billboards, expressly there for that purpose, still exsists in smaller towns in Italy. This was one of the boards in Spoleto last Sunday.

• Over at Big Ass Belle, Lynette enjoys the first tomato from her garden and in the process makes me so homesick for a Bacon and Tomato sandwich. The tomatoes we get here are fantastic its getting the North American style bacon that's the problem.

I'm pretty sure almost every Umbrian hill down has its Boca fountain. Spoleto is no exception however this one is build into the first wall surrounding the Rocca castle. It was probably originally fed from the castle cistern.

• I'm not sure why but this posting from Sageweb had me laughing and shedding a few tears too. It can't be menopausal, I'm not on any drugs and I wasn't hung over. Maybe just a happy high?

The ceramics in this area are colourful and though expensive can be an attractive addition to that small hillside villa we all want to buy. The best we could do were two ornaments to add to this year's Christmas tree.

• Since May, maybe earlier, Speck has been sharing her Hot Dog cartoons with us. I have to admit that Francine is my favorite but here's a few of them for you to relish! Sorry I just had to.

I'm not sure that security is really a big issue in Spoleto but this palazzo owner wasn't taking any chances - and admittedly the window is almost level with the pavement.

• Lorraine reminds us that last Friday was the 232nd anniversary of the official birth of the United States; and she makes some observations on the documents that define America. And if you scoll on down she lets us share on her road trip with the Child and Auld Hat to visit our friend Sling.

The shops in Spoleto tend to the trendy, the elegant and the expensive. And they do know how to display things.

• And speaking of Sling he posted an old Pete Seager number that had me singing along and remembering my brother on guitar singing tenor, my sister-in-law doing alto and me mostly off-key boy soprano. Goodnight Irene anyone?

And again speaking of Sing, when I see woodworking like this - the choir stalls at the Duomo in Spoleto - I am reminded of postings he done about the work he and his colleagues do as cabinet makers.

• The talented and witty Hat takes an aphronism from Mark Twain that is not one of his better know - but it should be - and gives it an artistic and philisophical twist.

The goodies that are available in stores like this are incredible - pastas, meats, condiments, wines - everything need to make a great meal.

08 lulgio - San Adriano