Nothing much to report. The Dog & I will drive down to il Poggiolo tomorrow, Wednesday. The AUDI is already filled to the roof with all of Babbo Natale's Christmas gifts...

a wooden folding garden table...

an oddly military green metal serving tray the size of Tuscany...

a set of 12 Tuscan wine goblets... necessary to toast in the New Year, I suppose...

to mention only a few of the items crammed into the car.

Dr. You-know-who comes on Friday. Poor thing. He has to work between Christmas & Capodanno.

It is always difficult to have The Dog & Dr. in the same house. The two argue over who gets to sit and/or sleep on the Most Uncomfortable Sofa in The World. The Dog feels it is His Due to plop his 33 bread-nourished kilos on his synthetic pile covered mattress at one end of the sofa, while I get a small space at the other end. This arrangement riles Dr. You. Once, catching The Dog... in flagrante!!!... in his cherished spot on the sofa, gave both of us a severe tongue wagging followed by storming out for his terra-cotta painted bedroom off the Loggia. I went back to my DVD and The Dog to snoring in Total Contentment. The Dr. believes People sit on sofas, Dogs sleep on the floor. This is inviolable!!! The Dog & I do not share this view of the Appropriate Order of Things.

So, I shall distract them both with sunny walks in the woods behind il Poggiolo and checking upon any Progress made on the fireplace in the Apt. Azzurro. Gosh. What fun. The evening fare will be more of a challenge but, I HAVE developed A Compromise. As soon as the Dr. traipses off to his separate bedroom for a night of easy slumber, The Dog's mattress will... miraculously... find itself raised off the floor and onto the sofa in matter of seconds. Clever, no? Gads.