Inside the Tuscan Hills Travel Videos

In doing my daily "olive oil" search on Google, I found this lovely travel video snippet. I feel like I am back in Tuscany. I especially want this video so that I can see the segment on Capezzana -- one of the staff favorites at www.olio2go.com. ."..Finally we stop at Capezzana for the olive harvest and watch as the black and green beauties are transformed into luscious olive oil." --WWW.TRAVELVIDEOSTORE.COM

The Busy Season

OK, repeat after me. Rule number 1 is to write the post in Word and copy it in to Blogger. I’ve lost my content twice today. Perhaps it wasn’t fascinating enough for the computer gremlins.

I'm spending more time in the dark, thanks to the changing rotation of the earth. Aren't we supposed to slow down and bunker in to prepare for the winter?

It seems I am working in the dark and driving kidlets from place to place. I revel in the nights we actually get to have a good family dinner, with four of us around the same table. And, the better the food, the happier I am.

We are sampling new Extra Virgin Olive Oils at Olio2go’s World Headquarters several times a week. We’ve taken on a number of new brands from small producers. Tom loves Mosto from Puglia, so I have added a picture. Time in the office passes quickly as there’s much to do. We’re working on holiday plans, a consumer trade show, and a new web site. Stay tuned.

The upcoming trade show is the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show, and it will be held at the DC Convention Center, November 3-5. The good news is that Jeannette will be manning the booth with me. And, our friend Rhonda will be in her company’s booth on Saturday.

Today Jeff and I took a break from the usual routine, and toured a couple of Italian stores in the DC area. It was an adventure. He drives with a Blackberry in his hand. Traffic circles, tunnels, and a Blackberry. Think about it.

Knitting is taking a breather as I just can't get to it. For the first time ever, I didn’t even scan the new Vogue Knitting on the day it arrived. When I got to it, the only sweater that truly appealed is the Brandon Mably. Not much surprise there. I’ll just never have the time. Last Friday night at the high school football game, I was able to have a long chat with Christine. Her Mom is the author of Knit One, Kill Two---the first of a series of knit shop mysteries. They’re fun reads, but I wish they were published as Trade Paperbacks, rather than Mass Market. A larger format would make it easier to knit and read at the same time. Not that I have time, lately.

Tonight I am finally finishing Donna Leon’s Uniform Justice. It started off slowly, but the pace has picked up and I only have a handful of pages left to read. I don’t know what’s next on my reading list because Tom grabbed Mayflower. I do have a selection of library books and knitting books from the library.

It's time to call it a night. All those pages I printed, might get read in the morning. It's time to find out what happens to the Mets, finish tonight's book tour of Venice, and plan some good dreams.

A Rainy Saturday

It’s a perfectly lovely rainy Saturday. I can play on the computer, read a book, and possibly….just possibly make an apple pie.

My husband thinks I have no life as my boss and I are emailing back and forth and I’m using both my personal account and my business account. So many questions, so little time!

On Wednesday I attended a Yahoo Search Marketing seminar. So much information, so little time! There are so many great ideas to implement, but we really need to get the site relaunch done first. The new business cards and letterhead came this week. We tasted a new olive oil line recently, Ursini, and hope to offer it on Olio2go soon.

The week’s highlight was attending DD1’s winning Field Hockey game on Thursday! And, her sprained ankle is healing. She got to play most of the game.

And last night we got to celebrate cousin Erin's 10th birthday at the girls' favorite restaurant, Sweetwater. Their usually great service was off last night. It was one of those things adults notice, but not the kids. Call it uneven.

Last Saturday at soccer, I got to work with Andi’s squeaky yarn—but just for a minute. It was time for cast-on and purling lesson. I happened to have a small ball of Cascade Sierra (wool and cotton) in my bag. I tossed her yarn aside, grabbed her needles, and started to cast on. When I handed it to her, you should have heard her exclamations about how much nicer good yarn feels! Am I responsible for the fact that her knitting expenses have just risen dramatically?

Although I have four knitting projects in various stages, none are brainless. My aching back is telling me I need a mindless, give-me-Zen project. No lace stitches, no mittens with thumbs, no ankles to turn, no color changes, no cables to twist…maybe just ribbing, if that. Last night, while watching the tape of Thursday’s ER, I cast on for a hat. Ah, nirvana.

Our old neighborhood--Stewart's Landing-- was hit by a tornado on Thursday, September 28. Last weekend, I called Kathy and got the details. It was a pretty exciting time in Severna Park. Luckily most of the damage was confined to houses and trees.

I’ve recently finished A Thousand Days in Tuscany and A Thousand Days in Venice. The Venice book should be read first, and it is the superior of the two books. I finally found the end of Good to Great. It started strong, but I wasn’t compelled to stick with it. Tonight, I picking up Donna Leon’s Uniform Justice.

It's time for a Saturday lunch worthy of a rainy day at home. Homemade beef soup with chunks of beef, little meatballs, pureed carrots, and ditalini all in a tomato broth. And, tonight...Risotto by Tom!