While away

I came across and immediately took a shining to the work of this local Chicago artist 

 Laura Berger, her blog , and her etsy shop 

Drive on the left side, leave the right side free

Must remember: stay on the left, drive on the left side.

We are back in Malta! 

After having sweet visitors from England, we headed off across the big pond. 

Three fun filled weeks of biking, camping, festivals, hanging out with siblings, cousins, grandparents and old friends. 

Don't worry I won't bombard you with photos.

But I leave you with this....

that taste of lush green that we were so missing on the little rock...

and that bit of pixie dust.

Patience

TO DO LIST

( to complete by 10 AM so we can go to the park and run errands in town)

• call council regarding garbage collection of broken suitcase.
• clean kids window and shower stall
• wash dishes, counters, floor
• hang laundry
• wash mattresses- all three
• water plants
• take down pictures from black board wall to get ready to repaint it

List of interruptions to far.....

• girls insistent need for 'popsicle tattoos' to be placed on arms (free in package)
• Stella's need for help in cleaning her toys up from all over the living room floor
• fight on sofa regarding someone kicking someone ( an accident? doubt it)
• Stella needs NEEEEEEEDS SOMEONE to play the 'alphabet' game (which in reality is a math puzzle game that is meant for older kids but she refuses to accept this )
• general distress and finger pointing over who put the kids toothpaste where
• repeated questions regarding the lost toy of Woody
• sofa troubles again, someone took someones pillow. 
• help needed in cutting windows for a shoebox house for the cat
• confirmation needed by middle child (third time in the last hour of how many days till the visitors from England come)
• cup of tea for myself only to realise we are all out of milk. blasted!

It is nearing 9 and only the dishes and hanging the laundry have gotten crossed off the list. 

Boy am I wishing we had milk, a cup of tea is needed. 

May your day contain a decent cup of coffee or tea and an accomplished list of done things. 

There is someone in the house who is good and relaxed though.

Summer moments

Along with local and Sicilian peaches ad nectarines, figs are back in season here, 

so ricotta and fig tarts ahead. Fruit smoothies are a daily treat round these parts, 

above we have the addition of little Gabi at the kids table. 

As is obvious she blends right in, such a dear, suppose this is good preparation for four!  

Ode to old walls and peeling paint

Went walking alone this morning, 

actually I got lost, among some appealing side streets and dead ends. 

Birgu is like a maze. I ended up walking for far longer then I had expected and with this growing belly, that long walk back up the hill felt mighty long!!!

May your weekends hold some inviting sights and sounds and your legs not get too weary! 

Sunday Afternoon

Music playing, 

someone drawing, 

someone painting

 and la mamma cutting fabric for some new projects. 

Biding time till the rest of the family wakes from siestas 

soon we will all go out for an evening walk 

along the water in an attempt to catch some cool breezes.

Walks at sunrise, salty skin after a swim and getting lost in summer reading....a few favourites 

of the season. Hope you are enjoying your summer days too. 

Songs and Swaps

Summer treasures 

: can include when you are lucky...

the discovery of a new song that you can not get enough of 

and if you are really really lucky a new group that strikes straight into your heart and soul

and ohhhh this one has me hooked!! 

Rupa and the April Fishes

Am behind (way behind) in my music exploration 

so maybe some of you out there know of this group already (especially you California folk). 

If you like Beirut (the group), Manu Chao or a gypsy like sound this group is FANTASTIC. 

Plus the main singer is like a character out of a story, what a life already!

By day a doctor by night a singer, child to immigrant parents from India she grew up in Southern France but lives in San Francisco  now.

Click on the links below if you would like to give a listen. 

Maintenant

Trouble

Culpa De La Luna 

L' elephant

The Swap- those of you based in Malta who would like to be part of a clothes swap for charity 

hop over to A fish in Malta blog for details 

about an upcoming frock swap this weekend. 

Ode to afternoon naps

One of my secret pleasures of these hot summer months 

is taking the time mid day for a siesta, a proper lie down, 

little D sleeps (for hours!), the oldest boy child quietly reads on the sofa and builds lego worlds. 

My magpie middle child and I lay down on my big bed in front of the rotating fan (after ice cold showers) and I read a story a day from her new favourite book. A book given by an adopted grandmother of sorts here on the island (will save that story for another post). 

Here are a few pages of our latest story book (I love the old illustrations and the way it's written). 

* The best part of all though is if by chance she falls asleep before I do, 

I get to gaze for a spell at her sleeping face, something I shall never tire of looking at. 

Is there anything as sweet and peaceful as your child deeply asleep? 

Hot summer nights, 

candlelit bridge bar cafe overlooking the Grand Harbour, 

festa fireworks light up the sky and the sounds of Joao's guitar and smooth Portuguese words waft up over the bastions from the jazz festival below. 

Yes, we discovered that an evening stroll through the streets of Valetta still contains magic. 

When the summer heat keeps you awake....

You just may if you are anything like me 

find yourself late at night stumbling upon sites 

that make you stop and gaze and wish for the winning lotto ticket.....

so you could whip your house into some stunning trendy delight.  

Pop over and have a gander at this find (West Elm). 

New for me but perhaps some of you have known all about it. 

Freedom!!

Liliana in the San Anton Gardens

Finished at last!!! 

Hop, skip, jump for joy!

Last of the exams corrected, reports sent off, classroom cleared out.  sigh

My first year of teaching behind me! Changing career paths after the bubble of having kids was a major move and this first year of full time teaching - and teaching subjects I knew very little about initially was CHALLENGING, would never in a million years have guessed I would get to know so much about Mediterranean history and more specifically Maltese history!

Also learned to drive this year, something I hesitated doing for (good god) 20 years! Ever since a bad accident scared me when I was almost 16. 

Ohhh my the freedom!!  

Am so happy to be exploring the little tiny maze like roads around this island. Also to be able to take the gang to the beach, parks or where-ever at a moments notice.

Caper Collection is back! -  am sewing again and madly trying to finish enough bits and bobs for the artisan market this Sunday (those of you in Malta do come by)! 

(Etsy shop soon to be back up and running).

Last but not least,  a wee bit of extra news -  it seems a little spirit out there thought our family was not complete yet- so by January if everything goes smoothly there will be four children in this house! Crazy.

Apologies for being so silent these last few weeks, am happy to be back and finally able to stop and visit your blogs and respond to emails and comments properly. 

* * *  

Looking out to Bormla

You know your in the Mediterranean when.... you park the car next to a rubble wall and find an abundance of grapes, a few paces away an overgrown wild fig tree heavy with fruit.

Views of the three cities,  a 15 min walk from where we live and an area which I am increasingly growing more fond of. The top left picture was taken while picking my son up from his art class, this past weekend they were drawing and painting in an old building built by the knights in the 16th century (a really beautiful, but sadly mostly closed up and locked away building) the children were very lucky to have been able to use the space and to have gotten the chance to gaze out the windows and enjoy for themselves the harbours below (Birgu from one side and Bormla from the other). 

Summer breezes

New shells to collect, sand castles to make and ice creams to think up.

We are in the last tipping point of juggling before lazy slow days of summer truly can begin.

Finding it difficult to muster my usually energy.

*   *

(We are slipping off to the beach whenever we can lately. days are hot even if the sea is still rather chilly)

My dear middle child, hair chopped off for the summer, 

already busy at her usual sea shell collecting. 

Familiar waters

small surprises

Sing along

A little over a week ago more than 100 million viewers watched the European Song Contest.

One must take it for what it is .. the search for a catchy (usually very cheesy) summer theme song ....

 glam, glitz and loads of flashing lights. This was how Abba was found mind you. 

I admit after years of teasing those near and dear for taking the time to watch it.. this year we ordered pizza and poured some drinks... must admit it is a laugh (sadly no Terry Wogan hosting here). 

The kids watched some of it too and these are their top choices...

(note of caution- even if you hate the song it is so catchy sometimes that you find yourself humming it)

My little magpie likes this one (Norway, yes really) Haba Haba

and the boy child likes this one Lipstick

Desctructo is split between  Maldova's 

SO LUCKY

and Denmark's pretty boy New Tomorrow

GO ahead, have a laugh if you missed that eventful evening!

The winner was the ultimate Eurovision sap (see here if you like).

My personal favourites were - Bosnia Herzegovina  and Switzerland's. 

Oh and Serbia's perky number (click here).

A Mini poll
Which do you like? (none does not count)

Finding peace

an old church yard

scattered with gnarled old olive trees

here is the sense of calm I have been craving

drinking in the sight

sweet secret corners of Lija 

sigh

starting to see the light.. only some weeks left

till then it's busy hectic days... last weeks of school term for the children and myself 

**** 

Hope your start to this new week has been 

blessed with tiny moments of peace too.

hallways of an old Maltese villa... 

calming colours no?

Gems

Small treasures spotted over the weekend:

Wild Purple Poppies

Appealing tucked away restaurants near by.

Old tiles spotted under my resting daughters bums.

Church corners and dead end alleys.

But my favourite of the weekend, was this..

Let me introduce Gracie

 she is somewhere over seventy years old, 

and  a part of that old time in Malta...a glimpse of what life used to be like here ( she is one of two old women in our village who can be seen very slowly moving down the road selling bits and bobs from their own garden, from fresh garlic to artichokes) their home made carts complete with rusty old scales and even plastic bags! Gracie even had the old wooden caper cup (I have heard talk of it but had never seen one being used). That is the way you used to buy capers, by the wooden cup full. Her hands gnarled from arthritis but far more agile than I expected, her smile easy and genuine. I spotted her slowly walking up a very long hill, she stopped and we talked (a good chance to use my Maltese) I bought capers, lemons from her courtyard, fresh broad beans, eggs, a huge bunch of mint and home made pickled beets. I was amazed how much she had tucked into her small cart. She was selling also home made carob syrup (good with warm water for a sore throat). 

The caper bucket

Now days most young people buy new apartments in more suburban areas and you find in the heart of some of the old villages a population of old people, sometimes only one or two left living in very dusty grand old houses,  really struggling to maintain them. Could go on and on as regards this topic but I will end it here as the day is soon to start. 

***The last term of teaching underway, Maltese and European history taking up all my spare time.