Healing, but Not Ready Yet!

Italy Journal

Thursday, August 30, 2012

RATS!

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No, we haven’t found rats, as the title would suggest. Although, Enzo came back to his old apartment to let in the cleaning lady and soon heard screeches from her that there was a bat flying around in the apartment. The bat was more scared of them than they were of him/her, and it was relieved to be isolated in a room away from the screeching cleaning lady and eventually found freedom when Enzo opened the door onto the balcony. Poor thing! Nobody has screens in Italy, and Enzo assumes that the bat came in while someone ha a door or window open. The weather in the last four days has been a delightful break from the heat wave for the last month, and people have left their windows open more for the fresh air…and bats, too, I guess…to come in. When it has been so hot, it was actually cooler to close windows when it started getting hot to let the thickly insulated walls hold in the cooler air.

Speaking of Enzo, he has now earned Guardian Angel status! (Here’s where the “RATS!” comes in.) At the hospital this morning, language was a definite problem, and I was nervous about having the cast cut off, so I called Enzo. He came immediately to Radiology and stayed with me for about 1½ hours until I was finished. Because he was there, I knew when to respond to my announcement on the intercom and where to go. I could communicate with the nurses, doctor and staff about my questions and what was happening, and Enzo could explain to me why the cast WAS NOT COMING OFF TODAY! RATS! It seems that this doctor and the one in the Cles hospital disagreed about how long the cast should stay on.

The important thing we learned was that the wrist is mending perfectly, though. They cut off the part of the cast above the elbow and told me to come back on Friday of next week. Enzo made sure I knew everywhere to go next week, and I’m confident I’ll be fine then. The doctor made sure I understood that after the rest of the cast comes off, it will be painful for about 50 days; and I will have some exercises to make it stronger…and hurt even more.Che bella! At least it is healing, right?

Thank you, Enzo! You saved the day for me.

Colleen

Yoga with the Swan

Italy Journal

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

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Yoga with the Swan

I couldn’t resist taking yoga pictures with the Swan. I think a cast should be a prerequisite for learning yoga correctly!

I‘m looking forward to having the cast off tomorrow. I’m even happy to go back to doing all the cleaning in the kitchen. I’ve been told that seeing what my arm looks like will be…fascinating. Evidently, it has atrophied some, so that arm will be smaller until I get it stronger again. Also, I’ve been told that the arm hairs that normally fall away and we don’t even know they’ve done it will be inside the cast. Che bella! In addition, I can already tell that I have a tan line on both ends of the cast. Fortunately, my dress for Kyle and Victoria’s wedding has ¾ sleeves, so maybe that won’t be too unsightly. (I hear you laughing at that comment!)

Dr. Nick, my personal Physical Therapist in training has said for me to expect to need to do some exercises to strengthen that hand and arm and to get all my motion back. He says to expect that to be challenging and painful, especially at first. In any case, I’m still happy to be getting this cast off. I’m really good at following doctor’s orders and any exercise regimen…after all, I have 2 little grandsons to play with in just about two weeks! How’s that for motivation?

Ciao!

Nonna 

Cuneo's Street Market with Friends

Italy Journal

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Cuneo French Street Market

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Cristina and Shona joined us this morning on a road trip to Cuneo, the capital of the Piedmont region. The travel was about an hour of watching famous Monviso rise above the other mountains in the distant Alps. It was a beautiful drive.

We let the others out to go about their shopping and sightseeing. Then, it took Peter 40 minutes to find a parking place. Che bella! Of course, a regular aggravation was getting the parking sticker machine to spit out a receipt to put on our dashboard. It kept spitting the money back because we were putting in too much money. Che bella. Finally, Peter figured that out. He noted where we were parked, and we went to find the Café Pietro that he had located on the internet. Decaf Cappucino for me, and caffe normale for Peter made us feel a lot better, so we went on our way discovering the Street Market. It was extensive, and about an hour later, we were glad to find that Shona and Cristina were ready to head back to Bra, too.

We all agreed to come back to Cuneo when it was not Market Day and discover the ends and outs of a lovely little city.

Ciao, Cuneo!

Colleen

Enzo and Lisa Settling in!

Italy Journal

Monday, August 27, 2012

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How could we be so lucky? Cristina came back in town just in time to help us organize Enzo’s basement!!!

Lisa has to quit her job, because we have so much more fun when she is there! But, it helped a lot to have Cristina volunteer to help when Enzo asked us to attack the garage with him. He and Lisa are making good progress in getting settled in, and getting the garage storage shelves attached to the walls and organized was a huge step in the right direction.

Of course, Cristina had never seen the house, and she was duly impressed when Enzo told us the view from their bedroom window included a beautiful pink cover over the Alps in the distance each clear morning. What a lovely way to wake up.

I’m so glad we could go and help Enzo some more.

Thanks for making us feel so special, Enzo!

Colleen

Hiking in Pocopaglia!

Italy Journal

Sunday, August 26, 2012

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After my morning walk about town, Peter suggested a hike in the Little Grand Canyon at nearby Pocopaglia (poh koh PAH lee ah). Why not, right? We had a great time, and the weather was 81 degrees F…quite a cooler temperature than it has been in a while.

I wore my new hiking boots for the first time on our hike and felt sturdy and oh, so cool with my cast and hiking boots…my improved Dolce e Gabbana look!

The park was extensive, and we walked down hill until we saw no end to downhill and it was getting treacherous, and then we turned around to go back up and take a more flat hike further up the road. We still got in a decent 1 and a half hours hike.

The soil was nothing like our Georgia clay. There was so much sand that I commented about how shocked I was that they had trucked in sand to make the road safer for me.

The views along the way were breathtaking, as usual, including gorgeous valleys and the looming Alps. It was interesting to see the bee houses up at the top of the mountain. Those bees had blossoms of all sorts of flowers (not lavender, Monica)… fruit trees, vineyards (those pictures are for you, Stephen!), garden plants and wild berries to choose in making their honey.

We had a grand time on our hike in Pocopaglia, and the Little Grand Canyon earned its name. We even saw a sign to Atlanta on our way afterwards to lunch at Eataly, the grocery store/café supported by Slow Food. And, of course, there’s only one way to end such a hot and taxing day, right!? See the pictures.

Colleen