Today was one of those days I wish I could have stayed home with the kids! It was such a beautiful day. Spring is straight ahead and today was a small tease for us.
This morning, we got up and had some errands to do before I had to head to work. The kids saw the neighbor girls out last week on their bikes and roller skates. Neither of the kids has a bike, and they asked about them. While we were out, we picked them each up one with training wheels.
Before work, I grabbed the tools and began putting them together. Andrew got a cool Paw Patrol one that I have to add a couple pieces to.
It didn’t take him long to figure out the pedals. I think he’s going to be doing a whole lot of riding this spring and summer.
Ella got a Frozen bike. I felt bad because I got the whole thing together and there were two “left” pedals in the box instead of a left and right. So I called the store and asked about just swapping out one of the pedals, but I’ll have to return the entire bike and get an entire new one and rebuild it. Of course, she still had to see if she liked it.
I’ll head back to the store in the morning and get hers all set!
With the nice weather, Sam and I were already talking about things that need to be done in the yard. I have to re-do the stone walkway to our front door because the construction fools did a shoddy job putting them back in place. Sam wants to do something with the flower beds in the front yard, so I may have to look into some sort of barriers for that. She’s also wanting a garden – she will find out how NOT green my thumb is!
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If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know my son Andrew is all about tools. He’s always right there with something to help me and my father-in-law when we work on a project. He still carries around one of my cordless drills (with out the bit, of course).
He has a few “tool boxes” but my father-in-law has a tool bag. I guess He was trying to put the cordless drill in his boxes and it won’t fit. So he asked his Pa about a tool bag. You can only imagine his excitement when Sam’s folks dropped by the house the other night with a nice new tool bag for Andrew’s drill and other tools!
We had quite a few people at the house this week to look at his education plan. We’re hoping that he will be ready for preschool (and they are ready for him) soon. We were going over speech, occupational therapy and physical therapy goals and how to best get what is best for him.
Our Ella turned four last month and we were a week or so late in getting her four year old pictures. We once again took her to see our photographer friend, Beth, at Enjoy the View Photography. This time I did not go with them when the session happened. So they were a surprise to me when I finally got to see them.
This session truly showed her personality. There were pictures of her making silly faces, laughing out loud, and even sticking her tongue out. I joked that we paid for her to make silly faces, but I love that we have them. It is really what she is like right now – silly and sassy. At the end of her session, they had her sit on a swing. There were some fantastic photos there. This one is one of my favorites:
As the “Nostalgic Italian,” I would be wrong to not mention that today is the 346th birthday of Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi. He (along with GF Handel and JS Bach) is considered to be one of the greatest Baroque composers of all time. His work consisted of many concertos for violin, choral works, and even operas. To me, he will forever be known for one amazing work of music – The Four Seasons.
He was born in Venice, one of six children. He had some issues with his health, which many say was what we’d call asthma today. While this prevented him from playing wind instruments, it did not stop him from becoming a virtuoso violinist. It also did not stop him from composing music.
It is estimated that he wrote The Four Seasons somewhere between 1717-1720. The entire piece features 4 concertos featuring 3 movements each. It begins with the season of Spring, then Summer, Autumn and finally Winter. Wikipedia describes the piece:
They were a revolution in musical conception: Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing birds (of different species, each specifically characterized), a shepherd and his barking dog, buzzing flies, storms, drunken dancers, hunting parties from both the hunters’ and the prey’s point of view, frozen landscapes, and warm winter fires.
Unusually for the period, Vivaldi published the concerti with accompanying sonnets (possibly written by the composer himself) that elucidated what it was in the spirit of each season that his music was intended to evoke. The concerti therefore stand as one of the earliest and most detailed examples of what would come to be called program music—in other words, music with a narrative element. Vivaldi took great pains to relate his music to the texts of the poems, translating the poetic lines themselves directly into the music on the page. For example, in the middle section of “Spring”, when the goatherd sleeps, his barking dog can be heard in the viola section. The music is elsewhere similarly evocative of other natural sounds. Vivaldi divided each concerto into three movements (fast–slow–fast), and, likewise, each linked sonnet into three sections.
The Four Seasons is one of the best known pieces of classical music. It truly is an amazing work. I had heard it hundreds of times before, but it wasn’t until I set aside about an hour one day and listened to it in headphones that I truly gained a real appreciation for the piece. I recall sitting with my eyes closed and envisioning what season the movement was about. The images that the music conjured up in my mind was something I cannot begin to describe. It really was an amazing experience.
Here is one of MANY recordings of the entire piece:
There is a lot of debate as to whether the concerto was written to go with the sonnets that were written or the other way around. No one knows for sure who wrote the sonnets, but it is believed that Vivaldi wrote them.
As you listen to each concerto, read the sonnets and see if you can picture the things alluded to in them.
Spring
Allegro Springtime is upon us. The birds celebrate her return with festive song, and murmuring streams are softly caressed by the breezes. Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar, casting their dark mantle over heaven, Then they die away to silence, and the birds take up their charming songs once more.
Largo On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches rustling overhead, the goat-herd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him.
Allegro Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes, nymphs and shepherds lightly dance beneath spring’s beautiful canopy.
Summer
Allegro non molto Under a hard season, fired up by the sun Languishes man, languishes the flock and burns the pine We hear the cuckoo’s voice; then sweet songs of the turtledove and finch are heard. Soft breezes stir the air, but threatening the North Wind sweeps them suddenly aside. The shepherd trembles, fearing violent storms and his fate.
Adagio e piano – Presto e forte The fear of lightning and fierce thunder Robs his tired limbs of rest As gnats and flies buzz furiously around.
Presto Alas, his fears were justified The Heavens thunder and roar and with hail Cut the head off the wheat and damages the grain.
Autumn
Allegro Celebrates the peasant, with songs and dances, The pleasure of a bountiful harvest. And fired up by Bacchus’ liquor, many end their revelry in sleep.
Adagio molto Everyone is made to forget their cares and to sing and dance By the air which is tempered with pleasure And (by) the season that invites so many, many Out of their sweetest slumber to fine enjoyment
Allegro The hunters emerge at the new dawn, And with horns and dogs and guns depart upon their hunting The beast flees and they follow its trail; Terrified and tired of the great noise Of guns and dogs, the beast, wounded, threatens Languidly to flee, but harried, dies.
Winter
Allegro non molto To tremble from cold in the icy snow, In the harsh breath of a horrid wind; To run, stamping one’s feet every moment, Our teeth chattering in the extreme cold
Largo Before the fire to pass peaceful, Contented days while the rain outside pours down.
Allegro We tread the icy path slowly and cautiously, for fear of tripping and falling. Then turn abruptly, slip, crash on the ground and, rising, hasten on across the ice lest it cracks up. We feel the chill north winds course through the home despite the locked and bolted doors… this is winter, which nonetheless brings its own delights.
I haven’t posted in the last 5 days. It is not often that I get time with my entire family, so my focus has been on them.
The weather has been just perfect. Even though we are officially still in Spring, it felt like Summer! We’ve got a water table that the kids love to play at, but we took advantage of the warm weather and set up their new sprinkler.
We picked this huge fire hydrant up at Sam’s Club and the kids love it. Water shoots from the side “plugs” and there is water that spins out of the top. Even my wife knows that you are never too old to run through the sprinkler.
Memorial Day was very laid back and I worked on some projects (more on those in another blog), but Tuesday was just the best day! Sam planned a day at the beach with the family. She also knows how much I have talked about my childhood summer vacation destination ….
As a boy, we spent many summer days in Caseville. I have written about it in the past. Prior to having kids, Sam surprised me with a day trip there. I was like a little kid! I remembered so many places. I have since told her that I would love to take the kids there. So we combined their first trip to a beach with their first trip to Caseville.
Choosing to go on the Tuesday after a holiday weekend had perks! We pretty much had the entire beach to ourselves! It was perfect! We lathered the kids up with sunscreen and before we could get some on ourselves, the kids were running toward the water!
Andrew loved every second of being there. At first he spent his time chasing seagulls, but eventually made it over to the water.
Neither kid has ever been to the beach, so they had no idea just how hard it is to run in the water. Both of them fell almost immediately and freaked out a bit. The main beach at Caseville is perfect for them because it doesn’t get too deep for a while. You can walk out pretty far and still be above water.
Ella was a bit scared after she fell in the water, but I walked her out a bit and held her hand all the way back because she was scared.
The water was cold at first, but that was always the way it was growing up. You know how it is, you go under water and then you are fine. There was a bit of wind that day, which made it a little chilly, but it was still fun to be there with the family. We even tried to build sand castles, but Andrew thought it was more fun to step on them once they were built.
Sam prepared a fantastic picnic lunch for us. She made sandwiches, packed some fruit, and plenty of water, iced tea, and juice boxes. She found this cool beach blanket that was perfect for us.
Of course, once the food came out, the seagulls were very interested in our picnic! Andrew wanted to throw them food, but we stopped him, thankfully. You know once they get a nibble of food, they want it all!
There was a point where the kids were cold and shivering, so we brought them up to the playscape and let them run around a bit. We were both surprised when Ella said that she was done with the beach. She said she would like to come back, but was ready to go home.
One thing we didn’t do was go by the old place that my grandparents had just out of town. We figured the kids were pooped, so we’d just head home. We did, however, stop by the new Caseville sign and get a family selfie.
The sign is a new sign. From what I read, they did a big upgrade to a lot of the signs in town to make them more “uniform.” What’s cool is that on the left of the sign the word “Caseville” is spelled out in the International Nautical Alphabet. You can see it a bit better in this picture of the kids.
After our long drive home, we decided that we didn’t want to cook. So we took the kids to the local pizza place and had a nice family dinner.
It was a fantastic day! Sam and I, however, realized soon enough that we had forgotten to put sunscreen on. Sam’s back and shoulders were just fried and my head was also pretty toasty. So we’ll be keeping the Aloe close by for the next couple days!
It is finally starting to feel like Spring in Michigan. Some of the days ahead may even have summer like temperatures.
After I put together the porch rocker for Sam, the kids and I ran around the yard. Sam had got some flowers and soil to put in a planter pot and we placed it next to the front porch.
The back yard needs a good mow, but Sam had actually mowed the front lawn late last week. The kids were running around the front yard and I took advantage of the shade. I actually decided just to sit on the front lawn. The kids saw me and came over and sat with me. If there had been clouds out, I would have laid on my back with them and looked at the shapes. Skies were clear, however, and it was nice to just sit on the ground and play with them.
Sometimes, you gotta take a minute and enjoy the little things….
Sam went to the store today and saw that the had scooters on sale. These were the ones with two wheels in the front. She couldn’t pass up the deal and grabbed one for each kid.
I woke up a bit early this afternoon and it was such a nice day we all went outside and the kids showed me their new modes of transportation!
Ella, of course took right to it.
It took Andrew a little bit, but he learns fast!
Ella decided that she wanted to take a walk and for the first time in what seems like forever, the entire family got to stroll around the neighborhood before dinner. It was a beautiful day and it was some much needed family time.
Yesterday was nice, too. Sam and I have decided to get rid of the trampoline. We haven’t said anything to the kids yet, but I let them get on it yesterday for a sorta last hurrah. Watching them play on it, I am almost sad to get rid of it.
Speaking of trampolines – our local police Facebook page posted one of the funniest pictures I’ve seen in a while. This was tooling around Flint this morning ….
I enjoy stupid puns. Every time someone says that spring is just around the corner, I think of the above picture!
Despite having a big snow a few days ago, the temperatures are rising and the snow has pretty much melted away. We actually got over 60 degrees today! When I left to go to work, I was pleasantly surprised at the temperature:
What a wonderful day to get out and enjoy! Of course, I had to sleep through most of it. It was nice to walk out of the bedroom to fresh air. Sam had the windows open in the house and there was a nice breeze in the living room.
On my way into work, it was very obvious to me that people were loving being outside! Just some of the things I witnessed as I drove in:
The park was crowded with parents and children.
Many people were walking their dogs.
Pairs of mom’s pushing kids in strollers and chatting with each other.
Two people playing catch at the park.
Extra long lines at the ice cream stand down the road.
Countless people walking without jackets.
Plenty of cars driving with Windows down.
People reading books while sitting on their front porch.
Earlier today, while I slept, Sam actually was able to get out the double stroller and she took her first run of the season. Ella already loves talking walks, but this was Andrew’s first jog through the neighborhood. Ella told me when I got up that she got to see her “puppy friend” (an old bassett hound we see on our walks).
I know I am excited for warmer weather! I love my walks with Ella and I’m sure Andrew will enjoy them, too!
I also know that I may be rushing things a bit. If I “uncrop” the temperature picture a little, and you take a good look at it, you will see that Old Man Winter isn’t quite done with us …
Stupid Snow!
I guess I just need to keep thinking positive and thinking spring!
I’ve been struggling with a few things lately. I decided to listen to my own advice and take a step back and look around and appreciate the little things. So this past week, I put Ella in her stroller and we took a 2 and a half mile walk around the neighborhood.
She loves going for a walk and it was very beneficial for me as well. The first thing I did was focus on the sounds of spring, which were all around us as I walked!
The Sounds
As I was putting Ella in her stroller, the sounds of the birds singing rang loudly in my ears.
As I listened to them, I could here the songs of different types of birds. One, in particular, reminded me of early mornings in Caseville. I remember walking out of grandma’s trailer and hearing this one particular bird sound. Funny how you can remember that almost 40 years later.
At one point during our walk, the church bells began to chime.
It is not odd to hear the church bells/chimes begin to play hymns during the day. I recognized the hymn as being Blessed Assurance.
The weather was nice, so naturally, some neighbors were out mowing the grass.
This allowed me to experience not only the sounds of the lawnmower, but the smell of fresh cut grass.
There were also plenty of neighbors out working in the garage. I loved walking by and hearing the sounds of a small radio playing from inside the garage.
I remember my dad always had the radio on when we were outside on the weekends. If he was washing the car, working on the yard, painting, cleaning the garage, or fixing something – the radio was always on. I remember many Sundays listening to Casey Kasem and American Top 40 while we helped outside.
The Sights
Along with the sounds of spring, there were plenty of sights, too!
Ella always gets a kick out of the squirrels running up a tree or around a yard.
There are plenty of squirrels in the neighborhood – and many that run around my yard!
The Robin is the Michigan State Bird. We always look for the “first robin of spring.” They are all over now. They were hopping all around the yards and bird feeders we see along our route.
Along the way, we also saw many neighbors out doing yard work.
I truly wish that I had the time and energy to do what some of my neighbors do! I’m lucky if I get the leaves out of the flowerbeds by late summer! It is SO much work! Yet, there are neighbors who line their walkways with tulips, fill their flower beds with every flower imaginable, and have hanging flowers that are beautiful all spring and summer long! We bought hanging plants one year and they died within two weeks. I obviously do not have a green thumb.
Kudos to my neighbors! I love looking at the product of your hard work when I walk.
There is one house I always walk by with Ella. I do it because there is always this old hound dog outside.
The dog is either laying along the fence or up on the back porch. It always looks up when we walk by, but it is old and content to just lay there soaking up the sun. We have no idea what the dog’s name is, but she gets a kick out of seeing that dog on our walk.
Sadly, the dog is really old and I’m not sure how many more walks we will be seeing him/her out there.
The last thing I really enjoy seeing when I am out walking is people sitting out on the front porch. I’m not sure why more people don’t do this, but it seems to be more and more rare.
Before Ella, we would sit out on the porch in the morning and drink coffee. That doesn’t happen too much anymore. There is something about sitting out with a hot cup of coffee, my Bible, or a newspaper that is so relaxing. I don’t need a rocking chair, any chair will do.
I guess the only beef I have with sitting on the porch lately is the recent increase in the number of bees and wasps. I’ve walked around the house and looked to see if there are nests, but I can’t seem to find any. I read somewhere that peppermint oil will repel them. Maybe I need to find a way to put that around the porch?
The walk around the neighborhood really helped me relax. Noticing the sights and sounds instead of being lost in thought was a big part of that. I’m looking forward to my next walk …
Saturday morning, I came home from work and went right to bed. Sam and I had plans to celebrate our anniversary this weekend. Originally, I was going to take her to an amazing Italian place in Troy (about and hour and 15 minutes from our house). After some discussion, we decided that since it was really the only day we had together, and I was going to sleep for part of it, that we should grab dinner somewhere closer. We decided on Outback Steakhouse. Now, Outback was the ONLY chain restaurant we ate at in Florida when we got married. We picked Outback for that reason, and because it was close to a few places we wanted to go to while we were out.
This was the first time we have been out to eat in a restaurant since all the Covid stuff. They did a good job of spreading everyone out. It has been so long since we were out, it was almost awkward. It was nice to have dinner together. It’s really amazing how something so trivial can mean so much. I will never take those little moments for granted….
After we ate, we decided to walk through Barnes and Noble. Ella loves books, so we looked through the various kid books and picked up a new book for her. She loves the Jimmy Fallon books (Your Baby’s First Word Will Be Dada, and Everything is Mama), and Sam found one called “This Is Baby” (which she loves just as much!). I picked up a book for me, too. It was my anniversary present from Sam. She had asked what I wanted and I told her to just get me a gift card. Instead, she went with me and I got to pick out what I wanted (More on that in a few).
With baby #2 on the way, we wanted to stop at Target to see what the double strollers looked like. I never in a million years would have guessed that I would be looking at double strollers! Anyway, they only had one there to look at, which I thought was odd. Sam is all about online shopping, but she’d like to at least see the thing before we buy it. Since they didn’t really have any, we decided to look in the toy aisle for a few things. We bumped into one of our sleep teachers, Angie, and her husband there. It’s been forever since I saw her, and we were just talking about finding a day to get together for coffee. They were out getting presents for grandbabies.
The world had changed. Normally, when I run into someone I know I offer a handshake or hug them. Here we were, all wearing masks, and kind of standing our 6 feet apart. We chatted for a while and then we had to get going because we needed to go pick up Ella from Nana’s house. This is where is was crazy awkward for me … I wanted to reach out and shake Dave’s hand and give Angie a hug, but instead it was kind of a “well….ok…..good to see you …. take care…..so long…” thing. It just didn’t seem right walking away like that. I dislike the new “normal!”
Sunday
Sunday was extra busy! We all got up and had chocolate chip pancakes. Afterward, Sam and I compiled the grocery list and I ventured out to Meijer. I always seem to have to go back to an aisle because I either walked right by something OR I didn’t see it on the list until almost the end of the trip. Ella napped while I was shopping and woke up as I was bringing in the groceries.
The weather was just beautiful. I think it was like 65 degrees. We had bought Ella one of those Cozy Coupe cars with the intention of giving it to her for Easter, but decided that the weather was so nice, we should give it to her Sunday. I’m not sure why, but I thought that it literally just snapped together…..it doesn’t. I had to go get my drill, a screwdriver, and a hammer to put it together. At any rate, She really loved it and I got to push her around the neighborhood in it.
We spent the afternoon outside in her car, in the stroller, going down the slide, and running on the trampoline. Eventually, she started to yawn and I knew it was nap time. Once I laid her down, the real work began for me.
Despite my best attempt to tell Sam that the lights on the house were “Easter Lights,” I took down all the Christmas lights. I can’t complain, and I’m glad I finally had good weather to do it. This year I had strung some up high on the front porch, so I had to drag out the ladder to get to them.
Once I had the lights down, I took the totes back to the basement. While down there, like a typical guy, I noticed this huge plastic house that Sam had in the basement so our nieces could play in it. We had talked about bringing it outside and cleaning it up for Ella. So, while Sam slept for work, and Ella napped, I took it partially apart and brought it upstairs. I had measured it and figured I could get it outside no problem. I got it up the stairs, through the basement door and once at the side door – it had to really yank it out! It was SO snug! I was able to get it outside and get it washed and back together!
After I got it back together, I was back inside making dinner, so Sam had something to take to work.
Needless to say, I was in bed early that night!
My phone sent me a notification that night that said my “panoramic” photo was ready to view. I didn’t take any panoramic pictures while we were outside Sunday. However, my camera took two separate pictures and combined the two and put Ella in the picture twice! At first I thought it was weird, but after looking at it, I think it’s pretty cool!
Two for the price of one….
Monday
Another beautiful day, this time 70 degrees. It was windy, but that didn’t stop us from playing outside. More trips around the neighborhood in her car and in her stroller. Then we played in her house. I’m thinking we need to get a chair or something for her to put in there, because she walks in and really doesn’t know what to do in there.
A Good Read
The book I got for my anniversary is called “100 Bible Verses That Made America.” So far I am enjoying it. It is really amazing to see how people of the past used the Bible and the principles to help shape this country. The only issue I have with the book is that every time it quotes a Bible verse, it quotes it from the NIV version. The NIV version wasn’t even around until the 1970’s. To me, it would seem that they would have used the KJV to quote from. Whenever it quotes a verse, I just grab my KJV and read it from there. Still a very interesting and enlightening read.
A Real Pain in the … Back!
About two weeks ago, I was getting out of bed and kind of felt like my back was tight. Over the next few days, I started to feel like it was even in my hip. I’m really not sure what I did to it. It’s been bugging me and kind of annoying. I’ve taken ibuprofen and such, but it has been getting worse. Monday, I pushed Ella in that car around the neighborhood (which meant I was leaning a bit forward to push her). Then I walked another mile or so with her in the stroller. It felt good to get out and walk! I love walking, but by the time I got closer to home, I could feel like my hip was hurting more. Later, I was feeling pain when I sat on the floor to change diapers. When I got up from bed, I could hardly move and the pain was excruciating.
I had to make an appointment with my doc for a refill on my prescriptions, and I plan on asking her about it when I go in. In the meantime, I have to wait until Thursday morning and these are my friend ….
They don’t help a lot, but they do bring some relief. This morning, when I got up, I was tearing up from the pain. I was trying to load the dishwasher and could hardly bend down. Trying to get pants, socks and shoes on only brought about more pain. I’m gonna try to get in to the chiropractor, too. I’m really hoping it is nothing, but I tend to always think the worst.
Spring will officially arrive in 10 days (March 20), but today certainly felt like it was here. We had record temperatures here in Michigan. Our local news station said that we hit 71 degrees today. Sadly, because I worked last night, I slept through it. Granted, it was still nice when I left for work this evening.
As I drove through our neighborhood, I was thrilled to see people walking their dogs, riding their bikes, and parents walking with strollers. As I passed the park, there were kids on the swings, playing on the slide, and couples walking hand in hand. On the other side of the street, there were plenty of kids with skateboards at the skate park.
Driving toward the expressway, there were plenty of people walking downtown. The line at the car wash was long and the pub which has one of those garage doors was open with people eating out on the patio. There were plenty of motorcycles out enjoying the weather, too! It truly was a great day to be outside.
Charles Dickens, in Great Expectations said: ““It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”
I’m not sure how much sun we got today, but I do know that we certainly had some wind.
Anne Bradstreet said, “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.”
Spring reminds us that though dark times may come (winter), beauty (spring) is on the horizon. It has been said that spring is a wonderful reminder of how beautiful change can be. What once was “dead” becomes alive again. The flowers bloom, the trees bud, and the grass changes from brown to green.
After the HUGE dumping of snow we got a week or so ago, in typical Michigan fashion, we’ve had some warm weather recently. Most of the snow has melted away. The other day, we actually went to the store and didn’t have to wear a coat!
Walking in Sunshine!
We have a small house. Ella looks forward to car rides and just getting out of the house. Today, while I napped before work, Sam took her out for a walk. She was going to put her in the stroller, but now that she is walking, that is what she wanted to do!
It took her a minute to realize she was free to walk around, but when she did, she was off like a rocket!
When I woke up for work, I took her out for a walk, too! She was a bit more tired by the time I took her, so she was a little less cooperative. At one point, she lost her glove. She cracked me up because when it came off, she stared at it on the sidewalk for a few minutes….
…and when it didn’t miraculously go back on her hand, she stared at me like “Are you gonna help me?” “This thing ain’t gonna put itself back on, Daddy!”
She isn’t quite yet to the point where she will walk and hold our hand. I am really looking forward to that and more walks this spring and summer!
Coming soon!
One of the things I have had on my “to blog” list is one word: “Beatles.” As a fan of the Beatles, I have wondered just what I want to write about, their solo stuff, the early stuff, the later stuff, a list of my favorite Beatles songs…I just haven’t been able to decide. The first blog here about the Beatles will be presented by my blogging buddy, Max, who is quite the Beatles fan as well. I’m excited to announce that his guest blog should be making an appearance here in a week or so. I’m looking forward to it and am sure you will enjoy it!
A Brew You Can’t Refuse?
A friend of mine saw this coffee online, and knowing that I love the Godfather movies and coffee, she ordered me a bag of this and sent it to my house. I’m excited to try it. It has “cannoli”in the name of it ….It has to be good, right?
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 