giovedì 18 giugno 2015

First swims of the year

The first swim of the year is always something to document. This year I took my first swim in the sea on the 17th of May. Me and Sofia went to the beach of Torvaianica with our friends.

We had a nice coffee and a chat at the beach cafè.

Carlotta was at the theatre with her friend that day, so the next day when I had finished working I suggested to her that we go to Ostia to have a swim at the beach and maybe an ice cream afterwards. She liked the idea. 
I like going to the beach when it's not too crowded and not too hot and the best moment is when the sun starts going down and people go home and the light is so beautiful.




Then we drove to the centre of Ostia where there is a frozen yogurt shop. Yummy! You serve yourself and choose the toppings and pay by weight.


I love the golden hour!

 Driving back home.


mercoledì 17 giugno 2015

Spring barbeques

Although our week-ends are quite hectic with Sofia's show jumping competitions and Armando's marathons, this spring I have managed to organize two last minute barbeques in our garden. They are always great fun. Everyone brings something to eat, so it doesn't get too stressing for anyone.

The first barbeque was on the 12th of April after the Easter holidays. That time it was with our Italian friends. Some of them knew each others, others didn't, but it turned out to be a very happy bunch of people and we got many good laughs.

The second barbeque was on the 1st of May and it was with our Swedish-Finnish friends and their families and also some of Armando's marathon friends. The more the merrier! Again a lovely day out in the garden. This time we had fava beans and pecorino cheese, which you traditionally eat in Rome on the 1st of May, strawberries and some very tasty cakes. Our teenagers seemed to get on well together, although they hadn't met for a long time.


A summer update

I'm very much behind with my posts here. What have we been up to? Well, lots of small things. Schools have finished and now for the second week all three children are at home. Well, Daniele is almost never at home. He has had a very active life since he started his summer holiday. He has a group of friends and they organize something everyday. They go to the beach, to the pool, they have barbeque parties, go out in the evenings and so on. Just now he is at a camping site in Tuscany with other 6 friends. Lucky him. This is where we left them playing football in the sea when we had taken him there.

My work has kept me at home in the mornings, so if Sofia and Carlotta don't get invited to friends, they are here at home, too. They sleep late in the morning and mostly watch TV. After quite some time we managed to get our outdoor pool assembled and filled with water. The outdoor pool is quite complicated, actually. You can't use the water from the well, as it gets brown and it wasn't easy to find a place to connect the water hose inside our house. Then the water leaked on the floor. Fortunately we got that fixed. Then you have to measure the PH and the chlorine content in the water and correct it when needed. Anyway now the pool is there and Sofia and Carlotta has spent some time there. Yesterday they made a brownie cake after a recipe found on the internet. Of course Carlotta got summer home work from school, too, but she is not so eager to do them. For me it would be more important that she would read some books and maybe write down her summer memories, which she already has started to do.

In the afternoon I turn off the computer and we go to the horse stables and come home quite late in the evening. After dinner we often go out for an ice cream. This week the evenings have been a bit rainy, so we have stayed at home.

I have decided not to let the summer float away without doing anything. So as soon as I will have time, we will go to the beach, to some pool, go out for an evening swim and other nice things. I have been more lazy exercizing than last summer, so I will try to start jogging again more regularly. There are also a thousand projects to do here at home and if I finish at least a few of them, I will be very happy.

Summer is finally here, so let's enjoy it!