Ciao!

Life here in lovely Tuscany is marching on and I am brought up short by how fast the days are flying by.  I had forgotten that feeling, and how engrossing it is finding your feet and transitioning to life abroad ~ to living in very close quarters with only ourselves in a new world.  Truth be told there are ups and downs at the start of such a journey, but I have always loved the fact of it and especially coming to the other side and the realization that you are doing it and it's good.  I feel so fortunate to have had several such opportunities of "living in a bubble" with my little family.  This one has proven good in so many ways, although I have to say it's been a bit more challenging having two of our bubble mates back in the states in college.  It does help immensely knowing that they are happy and are making their way just fine without their mama close at hand.

I have a slew of images of our Italian daily life and have been posting to Instagram with regularity.  If you want a peek you can find me here.  Here's a glimpse of what you'll find there...

In other news, my sweet husband has been feathering my nest in the most admirable and generous way. How's that?...He has taken on the sluggish internet here in our apartment in an effort to spiff up my website.  This has been sorely needed for some time, and it's the kind of chore that quite honestly I will never get to.  The site is still a work in progress {I need to get in there and add images and links and info about a few more patterns}, but he has done wonders! It's as if we were house hunting and after patiently listened to my laundry list of desires {clean, uncluttered, not too stuffy...}, he just set about building me the perfect house.  Such a nice thing!  I will, for now, be posting here and on my new website knittingbyhand.com, but in the next month or so will make the move permanent.  Very exciting!!

I'll leave you now. An amazingly cloudless day is beckoning here in Siena {yes!...a no umbrella day!!...I'm thinking that means spring is on her way, right?!}.

Buona Giornata tutti!
~xox~
alison

Siamo arrivati!...

We are here!...just.

After two (no three!) days of travel which involved nothing less than two 3 1/2 hour car drives, one 5 1/2 hour flight, one 3 hour flight, one train ride, one 3 1/2 hour bus ride and several hours of layovers, we are all feeling a little dazed but are no worse for wear other than being a wee bit exhausted and not being able to remember what day it is ;-) The not-so-glam bits of traveling...

Polarized...

Happy 24th day of Advent and Christmas Eve!!! Want to see the last feltie of the season?...

This sweet polar bear joined our Advent menagerie just in time for the big day. He is now happily residing on our tree with all the other Advent gifties from this season.

Knock, knock...

Hello,

The 23rd day of Advent is upon us. This little downy woodpecker came knock-knock-knocking and has been exploring our tree all afternoon.

 

I'm keeping it short and sweet today. So that's it for now. 1 more Advent feltie to go!

See you tomorrow!


~xox~

alison

 

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A happy mama...

This happy mama and I want wish you a very happy Advent day 22!!...

After an incredibly exhausting week of unexpected excitement (not the good kind~our house was burgled) and far too many flights and delayed arrivals, I am happy to report that everyone is well and my little nest is full once again. I'll be honest. It's been a rough week, but with all sincerity, I can say that all of this unpleasantness has left me feeling immensely grateful. It has reminded us all that what makes a home is the people in it. Stuff is just stuff. It can be replaced or remembered fondly~it is not important in the grand scheme of things. And this morning when I woke up knowing that we were all together again and that each of my beautiful babes was sleeping peacefully upstairs, I felt an incredible surge of joy and peace and contentment. And for that I feel so grateful and full. So it just seemed fitting that today's feltie should be a mama bird with a full nest.

Outfoxed...

Advent day 21 is upon us and we celebrated with this handsome guy...

Truth be told, this feltie got his start about a week or so ago, but I decided I didn't like him very much and so I ripped his legs off. I know, I can be harsh. I threw him in the bottom of the bag holding my felting supplies and refused to give him a second glance. Then the other day he surfaced as I was looking for something and I decided that he might have potential after all. In fact, he was kind of cute if you looked at him with your head tilted just so. Out he came and was bestowed with legs, a tail, ears and facial features and voila!...the newly born Mr. Fantastic jumped into Advent stocking number 21. He's not perfect. Instead he's kind of quirky and full of personality. Just as he should be...

Mr. Narwhal...

Hello,

Time for Advent Day 20! Ready? Today's Advent feltie is...drum roll please...

A narwhal! Yes, a narwhal. My middle man is back for the holidays and so a narwhal is the order of the day. He loves narwhals, so there you go...a narwhal for day 20. Here he is in all his fuzzy glory...