FRIENDS...AND A DOG

Last week we received a frantic phone call from Belinda. She’s left for London to rendezvous with her parents and sister for a week or so, and Giacomo had left the same day to lead a two week bus tour. Kyra, the dog they’ve adopted, (they’re taking care of her more or less permanently since Kyra’s owner sort of ‘outgrew’ her…sad but true) had been left with a friend. The friend also had a dog, and Giacomo had taken Kyra for a few visits just to make sure the dogs got along. Everything was set….until the ‘friend’ called Belinda in the middle of her vacation to say she just couldn’t watch Kyra anymore. Heaven protect us from friends like this!

Luckily Art and I were home when Belinda called, so we were able to drive to Orvieto to pick up Kyra and bring her back home. She’s a German Shepherd, and of course she’s just a big baby. She was so well behaved in the car, and we could tell she was happy to be back in her own home. We feed her, played with her..well, we tried, but Kyra’s not the most active dog, so all she really wanted to do was chill out on the back terrace. Belinda and her parents arrived home last night, so now Kyra is really happy!

This morning we met Belinda’s parents, Margaret and Bronte, and it was wonderful to have not one but THREE Australian accents filling our house! Giacomo will arrive home tomorrow (after the ‘tour from hell’, according to early reports!) and I’m sure we’ll have dinner with all of them soon.

Our friend from Florida arrives on Friday for a few days in Umbria. Although she flies in and out of Italy fairly often, this visit will be for a full week, rather than just one long day. I guess it’s been almost a year since we’ve seen her, and we’re excited about her visit. While she’s here we’ll try to figure out our itinerary for our December trip to the states….after two Christmas’s here, I really want to be with family for the holidays. The bonus is that we’ll also get to be with our lil’ red headed granddaughter for her 6th birthday!