A NEWCOMER

This is Lino, who last week arrived at Casa Natia and I know you'll all want to welcome him to the world. Isn't he cute?

Casa Natia is run by my friends Giorgio and Giovanna and you can read all about it by clicking the link.  Why not take your next holiday there and meet Lino and his chums?

Booking details are here.

Casa Natia on facebook

NICK

It was with great sorrow that I learnt of the passing, in Kentucky on Saturday, of my blogging friend Nicholas Temple, the "Sometimes Saintly Nick" of  Nick's Bytes.

I never met Nick but felt as though I knew him personally, for we shared a sense of humour, a love of animals, many a political opinion and a birthday. We also knew what it is like to fall upon hard times, both financially and healthwise. Sadly Nick had been very seriously ill for some time and he knew the end was near, but even as recently as January he found the strength to try to cheer others up on his blog, with his "Too Bad it's Monday Humor" posts and "Friday Funnies".  Those posts helped me to face the coming day many times and I shall so miss Nick's daily "Good morning, world", accompanied by a beautiful picture, on facebook.  Somehow this greeting made me want to get out there and cope.

A military man, social worker and later a pastor, Nick's life experiences enabled him to understand others and reach out to them in friendship. You only have to look at the tributes to him currently on facebook to realise that.

Central to Nick's life was his beloved cat Alex, now being cared for by Nick's granddaughter, I understand.  Alex even had his own blog and oh, it made me smile!  So I'm thinking of you and your pals Midnight and Sugar too, Alex.

Peace was very important to Nick and I am sure that all who remember him will be comforted, in the coming days, by the knowledge that he is at peace now.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere condolences to Nick's family who can be assured that he was, and is, loved by people all over the world.

FELYING

SABATO MUSICALE - SOMEWHAT CONTROVERSIAL

One of my favourite Italian singers, Irene Grandi, is in a bit of trouble, having sung the song below wearing a real fur cape during Rai Uno's New Year's Eve show.  There have been demonstrations and furious rebukes by animal rights groups.  Miss Grandi made no statment until Wednesday, when she apologised for offending the sensibilities of animal lovers but tried to justify her choice of clothing by saying that it was an alpaca fur, so the animal had not been bred solely to be turned into clothing.  Not good enough, Irene!

Fur has, to my disappointment, come back into fashion recently in Italy and I was not happy to see some real fur garments on sale in a certain hairdressing salon today!

Here is the song - one that it is hard not to dance to - that Irene Grandi sang but I will not publicise the video of her singing it dressed in fur:

Irene Grandi - Bruci la città

OF DESPERATE TIMES AND DRASTIC MEASURES

myspace glitters

Desperate times, it is said, call for drastic measures and selling one's own mother on ebay would be drastic by most people's standards.  That is exactly what a Sicilian seller hopes to do, though and in the advertisement, placed on 30th August, the mother in question, who apparently does not baulk at the prospect of singing a lullaby at 3 am.,  is described as "new, unused, unopened and undamaged".  The seller goes on to say that she is an excellent cook whose speciality is sweet dishes, open-minded and a good listener.The unfortunate lady also has a university degree and speaks five languages.  

"Why is she up for sale, then?" you may ask.  Well, the seller hopes to exchange her for his or her dog, a ten-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier who disappeared from Castelluccio in Siracusa Province on 15th August.  Any money raised from the "mamma sale" will go towards offering a reward for the return of the dog or to ENPA [a national animal charity] in Catania.

Bidding at the moment stands at €4.50 and there is one day left to bid.

TERESA, THE UNCOWARDLY COW

Sicily Scene loves an animal story with a happy ending so tonight I am delighted to bring you the tale of Teresa, the uncowardly Sicilian cow:

Teresa made national headlines in May when she escaped from a farm in Castiglione di Sicilia [Etna].  So desperate was she to get away that she followed the River Agrò until she reached the sea at Messina.  There, she threw herself into the Strait and started to swim towards Calabria.  She was rescued a mile out from the Sicilian coast by the joint efforts of the Italian Coast Guard and Fire Service.

Once rescued, Teresa's troubles were not over, however:  there had been cases of brucellosis on her farm and she seemed destined for the slaughterhouse.  But Teresa's doleful eyes had softened hearts all over Italy and, after a campaign by animal rights groups, facebook supporters and others who admired her courage, today it was announced that she is to go to a petting zoo in Messina Province where I am sure she will make many new friends.

A DOG CALLED DREAM

Warning:  This is an upsetting post.

In an unspeakable act of cruelty carried out by a sadist whom I'll be happy to help string up when he or she is caught, a beautiful dog now known as Dream had three of his paws cut off last week.  Dream was found lying in agony in a field near Vittoria [Ragusa Province] on 13th March.  

What happened to Dream has sickened the whole of Italy but has also brought out the best in Italians:  as soon as the news broke, money poured in for his care and there has been no shortage of kind folk offering to adopt him.

Today Dream was flown to a specialist animal hospital in Bologna and the captain of the Alitalia plane allowed him to fly in the passenger cabin with a volunteer from the hospital.  The appropriately named Captain Alessandro Salvati announced that a very special passenger was on board and all Dream's fellow-passengers and the crew showed their concern and compassion for him throughout the flight.  Dream, who is said to be a gentle dog with eyes to break your heart, turned out to be a good traveller and continued his journey to the hospital with the good wishes of all who know his story.

Veterinary surgeons in Bologna hope to be able to fit Dream with prostheses from the USA and to help him walk again.

If you read Italian, you will be able to follow Dream's progress on facebook.  I am sure that all of you, like me, will be thinking of him in the days and weeks to come.

Update:  According to the latest facebook bulletin, Dream's operation today went well. Another part of Dream's front right paw,  part of his back right paw and part of his tail  had to be amputated because of advanced necrosis.  His back left paw was cleaned during the operation because of infection.  It is now hoped to fit him with a front right paw prosthesis from Italy and that this will enable him to walk but veterinary surgeons in the USA are being kept updated.

ITALY MAGAZINE ROUND-UP - 21

Here is my pick of last week's Italy Magazine articles:

It was the week in which we discovered that the Milanese have the most extramarital affairs in Italy and Mr Berlusconi's love life came under the media spotlight once again as the term bunga bunga entered the Italian language.  The passing of Paul the psychic octopus - who was, of course, Italian and really called Paolo - was mourned and if the CEO of Fiat gets his way Italians will soon also be mourning a national icon.  It wasn't all gloom, however, with Christina Hendricks telling us that living in Italy made her both curvier and sexier whilst a young man from Cervia [Emilia-Romagna] was declared the world's best sommelier. 

Here is a Venetian festival that I would love to attend this month.  How about you?

For my Patti Chiari column, I had the pleasure of inteviewing my friend Giusy Asta, a Modican wedding planner with a difference.  Giusy's shop in Modica Bassa is one of my favourite places here.  Take a look at the article to understand why.

Happy reading.

THE MAIN ATTRACTION

Raffaele's new puppy, Ciccio, has stolen the show in the salon.

DAILY DOINGS - 25

It's been a busy couple of weeks and I have started back in my old job at the English International School [where I taught before I was ill last year]. I must say it is pleasant seeing some of my old students again and meeting new ones. I took in some pictures of London to sort of welcome myself back and presented my boss with a dollop of blu-tack [unavailable here] to put them up with; what more could she desire?

Meanwhile, at home, and thanks to Marie-Laure and David for having suggested it, the computer shop man has set up Wifi for me so at long last I can listen to The Archers in every room! I don't know why it never occurred to me that that was the solution.... Rosa was laughing at me this afternoon as I purred with contentment at the mere thought of being able to listen to all my beloved Radio 4 voices as I laze the siesta hours away in my bedroom or lounge.

The kitchen has been a hive of activity too, as Irma wanted to see how I make that old standby of mine, the lemon semifreddo which is really Jennifer Paterson's "Suffolk Lemon Pudding" [from Seasonal Receipts]. If that sounds familiar to regular readers, it's because I have both made and mentioned it hundreds of times before, and the recipe has not let me down yet. Irma likes my instructions, which include this advice for turning the cake out: "Dip the base in hot water, take a deep breath, pray, then be brave - and quick!"

Over at Raffaele the hairdresser's there are all these new perfumes for his clients to play with:

They are mostly good imitations of famous scents and I decided it would be fun to spray one on top of the other until I got the right "note" [as I believe perfumers call it]. I'll probably never be able to create that particular mix again! Raffaele just looks on as if to humour me...

There was less fun for my other hairdresser, the one nearer home, yesterday, for , just as I was going out with Simi at lunchtime, an injured pigeon took refuge in our courtyard. The poor creature could hardly move, let alone fly, crashing in agony each time it tried. I didn't know how to help it and was wondering whom to call when Orazio appeared. When he said he'd see to it I wasn't quite sure what he would do but he went back into the salon and emerged with a box and a rather hesitant assistant behind him. Then he told me that he bred pigeons so could handle the situation and off Simi and I went. When we came back the bird was in the box and Orazio was trying to feed it some bread. Sadly, this morning he told me that the bird had died during the night but at least it was treated kindly during its final hours. Apparently the assistant, who had had to pick the pigeon up from under a car it had painfully reached, only admitted this morning that she is terrified of birds!

You can tell that it's autumn because the cotognata [quince paste] is in the shops, are as the fichi d'India or prickly pears. One of the nicest combinations I know is that of Asiago cheese and cotognata:

And the Altro Posto yet again wins the "Ice Cream of the Week" award, for being the first bar this year to include fichi d'India in its coppa di frutta e gelato:

I was going to finish there but I have to tell you that, much to my amazement, I have won Saretta's competition over at her blog! She had the brilliant idea of putting up a photo of a group of her international friends and her readers had to guess the nationality of each woman. No, I didn't guess correctly; it was a lot harder than you would imagine and we all got in a fine muddle trying to work it out by logic, so in the end Saretta pulled a name out of a hat! The prize is a guide to Apulia which Saretta has translated and I'm really looking forward to receiving it. Grazie in anticipo, Saretta.

IF YOU CARE ABOUT ANIMALS...

...please read this article and consider signing the online petition. Thank you.