13 days

1 Agosto
We have started with a truly beautiful day here, though we missed out on the forecasted rain yesterday. Raffaele's parents and sister came to dinner last night and I made the antipasti with prosciutto, melon and cheeses and the salad Tuscan style which I learned from Judy at Jasper's cooking event. Both went over well as did our local wine Rosso Piceno and a little bit of Ch. D'Angledut from 2002.
I wanted everyone to know I am honing my surgical skills here: I cut prosciutto very thin, which is just like harvesting a skin graft and I cut up all sorts of fruits and vegetables to keep the fingers nimble although I did cut myself last night trying to cut up dried bread (nice to know direct pressure still works). Also I am tying knots when I cinch up the garbage bags although it is a very fine plastic and tends to break if i cinch too hard! Finally, I am always washing my hands to keep in practice. Plus I freely give out medical advice to friends and guests and offer H2 blockers to the guests when they have overeaten.
Today is a good day to learn a little more about the zone, maybe drive into the mountains, find some really good pecorino cheese producers and enjoy the convertible.
I have a new toy which is a little canon camera to replace my broken Olympus, so I will chronicle the day and post some photos later. Have a great week! dds