Sunrise on Groundhog Day

woke up really early this morning ... watched the sunrise while Indy drank bird-flavo​red water (from the bird bath)

"People of Liberty"

Posted in the main piazza here in Belpasso ...
 Berlusconi was the Italian Prime Minister until recently.

Store shelves on Saturday

Cold shelves in a local store ... trucker strike is having quite an effect.

Gas strike - day #7

A friend waiting for gas during this week's trucker's strike .... DH and I heard a rumor last night that a gas station (not the station in this picture) we go past most days got a delivery last night and was going to open at 7:00am this morning (he's normally not open on Sundays).  So we were up and on our way by 5:30am to sit outside his station and see if the rumor was true.  Another friend joined us in line ... and a few others that drove by joined the line as well.  It was TRUE!!  At 7am, he opened -- there were only about 5 cars in line at that point .. but everyone started calling to let others know gas was available.   The attendant said he got about 2000 liters of gasoline last night ... DH heard this afternoon that the station we gassed up was empty by 9am.

Etna's gift

Etna's ash and grit covers our terraza.

Etna's cooking again!

Etna's off and going again!

Lots and lots of ash blowing around ... 

it shows here as the gray  covering the left and middle of the photo.

Ho Ho Ho in Nuremburg

Santa and Rudolph DH and I saw while visiting this year's 

Nuremburg Christmas Market.

He gave candy to the kids whether or not he was given money.

We stopped by to watch him every night we were there

Ho Ho Ho ... Merry Christmas everyone!

Cold flower ....

Gerianum plant on the terraza had a rough time the day it snowed.

It snowed last night!

There was a dusting of snow on the car this morning. 

It gets parked at the bottom of a long driveway.

Santa Pup

Santa Pup -  

DH and I saw him while visiting the Nativity displays in Mineo

(a hill town about an hour from where we live)

Street view

Looking out of my doctor's window onto the street below ...

Sunset ...

A recent sunset ... and my timing was good ...

a week later, only one water tower was standing there.

I've missed you all ... my computer died, my camera wonky ...

and work, well ...

let's just say it has been very challenging.

Via Roma in Belpasso

Looking up Via Roma (the main road in Belpasso)

 toward the Mother Church (you can see it at the top of the road).  

Way more traffic than you would normally see. 

You can tell it's the central part of town ... lava cobblestone road.

another painting at Garibaldi

"We are the heirs of a great history ... the future of a grand country:

1861 was the unification of Italy as a single country

lobby picture at Garibaldi Hospital

One of many pictures in Garibaldi Hospital's lobby and waiting rooms  ...

all were painted by the students at a local school.

"Brothers and Sisters of Italy"

Jester at Medieval Festival

Even not understanding Italian, he's fun to watch...

three different clips.

Jester in Motta S.A.

Recently Motta Sant'Anastasia (CT) Sicily had its annual Medieval Fest

 and celebrations in honor of the town’s patron saint, Santa Anastasia.

This jester was a lead performer one night. 

He's also a juggler and ventriloquist and a bunch more all rolled in one.

He was a riot to watch!

Etna erupts again

Etna has been erupting off and on all year long ...

This was taken from th end of our street.

Belpasso is located about a third of the way up the side of Etna ..

St James candlelighting - Caltagirone

This year's luminaria design on the steps of Sta Maria in Caltagirone (Catania province).
Each year a contest is held - the winner's design is re-created for the St James Festival (he's the patron saint for Caltagirone) held the 24-25th of July.
Made for a long day ... DH and I didn't get home until nearly 2am ... but it was worth it.

CHESTNUTS

Picking chestnuts last fall.... (yup, I'm wishing for cool weather)

Spaceship over Etna

The winds blowing around Etna cause this cloud formation.

Did anyone else think of the movie "Independence Day" when seeing this?

Yum ... roasted chicken!

Generally cooked on a brace over a wood fire .... good stuff!

DH and I could eat this just about daily.

Operation Husky ... WW2

Visited the WW2 Museum in down-town Catania a few years ago ..small, but has excellent exhibits.
Well worth visiting.

Traffic jam?

On the way home one morning ...

Italian zodiac

It's been miserably hot lately here ...

DH picked up a pizza on the way home from the poker tournament.

The local pizza place has a new logo ...

haven't seen this version of the zodiac before.