Doodling About. Monday 28th September, 2009.

The day slipped through my fingers all too quickly and before I knew it, it was 3pm. We had been planning to buy AJ a lovely silver ring with small black onyx stones in it for his 13th birthday this week. We wanted it to be a surprise but at the same time we thought it would be nice to ask him if he would wear a ring and if he liked what we had chosen. We visited the jewellery store this morning and he just loved it, it is as if it was made just for him. He slipped it on his finger and there it stayed. It will be a lovely birthday gift to mark his entry into teenage hood in a few day's time, and also a lovely memento of our time in Italy. All day he looked at it, asked questions about how best to look after it, and kept telling us how much he loved it. I just love being a Mum.

Matt and Janie called on Skype; it was so nice to speak after being off line for so long. Bud is staying with them while Brad and Vikki are holidaying in the snow, so it was wonderful to see his little furry face, we miss him terribly. We talk about him daily and don’t know what we would do without our wonderful friends who look after him so well. We hope you guys are having a great time in the snow Brad, Vikk and boys; we cannot imagine it snowing as we are spending days on the beach over here.

That’s exactly what we did today; we grabbed a gelato from ‘Paradise’, our favourite gelato place in Castiglione dell Pescaia and headed to the beach. There was a little bit of a breeze about and being a Monday the beach was quiet and tranquil. We walked its length, right to the end which is a high rock wall; we explored there a while before retracing our lazy footsteps to the far end and the harbor wall. We took the long way home, along the harbor filled with fishing boats, watching locals feeding the ducks. A red Ferrari passed and was gone again in an instant.

AJ let himself into the apartment while JR and I strolled the main via with the locals. We stopped for a chat with our friend, the owner of Dal Buchaniere restaurant, he is a lovely man. JR was in raptures after finding a much sought after dish brush in a nearby shop, I don’t think he will let this one out of his sight after being without one for quite some time; this one will travel with him wherever he goes.

Back at home we cooked a big pot of spaghetti and meatballs. The pasta was fresh and just lovely, such good quality and a lovely rich yellow. We all agreed that the meatballs were the best batch ever, maybe it is the meat but I must say they were absolutely delicious and I wouldn’t have changed a thing.