Not enough time

 For those of you who actually read this blog of mine, my apologies for not writing more frequently.   As you probably know, I am this years IPP host and that is taking a lot out of me.  To say I have been busy is an understatement.  Between getting the castle ready for 400 people, and organizing events, I have had very little free time to write.  

I just want to publicly thank all of the previous hosts who have organized an IPP. There is a hell of a lot of work that you did to make it happen!  Thank you to each and every one of you.

I'd also really like to thank my team.  Even those that are unseen or not actively in the forefront..  Without you, it won't happen.  

And finally, for those of you that want to come...Join IPP.  I can't invite you.  I'm not really in charge of that.  If you are a true puzzler, you will find the link to join.  Fill in the forms and I hope to see you next year...wherever IPP may be.

Grand Opening

 It has been a long time since I last updated, but so much has happened in that time.  We have been working non-stop to finish the house in time for our grand opening.  And what an opening it was!

As with every year, George was once again Babbo Natale for the local children and the scuderia was filled with puzzles for children of all ages to play with.  

This winter was especially cold so there were few booths in the Christmas market in the beer garden.  Perhaps next year there will be more if the weather is better.  

Santa had a variety of elves this year.  His main elf (and temporary translator) got too cold the first day so she handed over her duties to a couple of other great helpers.  

We had guests fly in from all over Europe and even a few from the USA.  The first of our guests arrived on the 9th and everyone was here by the 12th.  In total, we had 22 puzzlers.  Pam arrived first to help set up a few things.  Oskar, José, Steve, Nigel, and Deborah came in late on the 10th.  Robin and Victoria, Kevin also flew in from the USA, Toby, Diogo, Carlos and Martina, Katherine arrived on the 11th.  Louis, Wil and Alessandro and his girlfriend arrived on the 12th and Dario, Giusy, and Pier Luigi came in on the 13th.  

As is usual for my events, there was way too much food!  Thursday I roasted off 5 chickens. Friday night I had food prepared in advance by Gallo nel Pozzo and reheated.  It was a delicious meal as usual.  

Saturday we went to Mosalino in town for a wonderful meal.  

The kids all made an amazing lasagna on Sunday, and on Monday we had a cobbled together cooking lesson.  

For those of you who are interested, I made a chicken noodle and minestrone soup out of the left overs from Thursday's dinner and we also did a tortellini in brodo which is traditional for this time of year.

This along with a variety of cheeses and meats made up the lunches.  There were 2 panettone and 3 pandora eaten this weekend. We went through 45 liters of wine, 12 liters of Coke Zero, only 4 of Pepsi Max, 3 bottles of Coke, 2 gallons of milk, and 8 liters of fruit juices.  I'm only aware of this because of how many leftovers I have in the bar fridge.  Our help loved me this week.  I fed all of them and then some.  I won't even begin to tell you how many bagels, lox, and cream cheese cartons we went through, or how many bags of toasting bread I have now got in my freezer.

Most of you are not here to read about the food, but rather the puzzling.  I wish I could say I did a lot of it, but I didn't.  I chatted a lot, cooked a lot, and just made sure our guests had a good time all around.  

Oskar, Robin, George, and Steve made sure the 3D printers were running non-stop.  Everyone was given a copy of an Oskar puzzle to take home with them.  At one point, a head got clogged and Oskar solved the problem by melting the plastic on my new stove!  

Am I an indulgent wife or what?  George is so lucky he has me.  I did draw the line at using the kitchen sink to clean build plates, but only because the laundry room was right next door, and I was using the sink. 

I caught a bunch of the guys in the secret box room opening puzzles one afternoon.  And I'm pretty sure Kevin was disappointed that we don't have a TIC room, but one has to stop somewhere.  

Wil wandered around the town taking photos everywhere and he marveled in seeing his puzzles on display.  There was a lot of "spot my puzzle" going on all weekend.  

Deborah spent the entire time in the Lego room building.  Now I need to find a place for the larger pieces she assembled.  

Louis tried to open our safe, but was unable to.  He did reassemble a ring for me though so he earned his keep.  When I saw how he did it, I felt a little stupid to be honest.  But hey!  I've got to give him one each time I see him.

Nigel was in heaven when I asked him to unbox a new Berrocal that came in.  Surprisingly though, no one played with one.  

As usual, we drank too much and slept too little.  I think all in all everyone had a good time.  For those of you that missed out, don't worry, there will be more puzzle parties to come.

Another update

As I lay here in my very comfortable bed typing this, I'm thrilled to write that the kitchen is now finished.  I can cook and find everything I need to prepare a meal. This is nothing short of a miracle for me.  It is a time I have long waited for.  

I am cooking in the kitchen.  I won't say I've been making gourmet meals, but the dinners have been much nicer when I have ample space to spread out on.  The problem though is after working in here, I can really see the major, and I mean major errors that company made.  The most important one to me is the 'natural stone' countertops that they didn't seal.  We have oil stains all over them.  Added to that, they are poured stone and so when I drop a knife, or a pan too hard, chips come flying off.  Our solution:  Epoxy!  Screw it.  The countertops I have now will last maybe 5 years at the outside.  With Epoxy we can keep them for perhaps 10.  Live and learn.

The other problem?  The floating cabinet is around 10 cm too low.  Every time I'm bent over and stand up, I bang my head.  It's a real pain.  One year I'll get used to it.  

The good news?  There are plenty of electrical outlets in the kitchen.  Albeit not in the position I want them in but there are plenty.  Sadly, the electrician didn't listen to me when I requested some usb-c outlets so I have to now have him return and install the original order.  Meh.  Living here has been a learning experience.

In other news, the pantry is now 90% finished.  I just have to frame out the refrigerator freezer and have Antonio install some floor level electrical outlets to run the floor cleaners and dehumidifier.  One more set of cabinets on top of the fridge, and I am completely finished.  

I wrote that 2 months ago and hadn't had time to finish.  So much has happened since then.  We have had guests come and go.  We have been to puzzle parties, we have hosted puzzle parties.  The world keeps moving and I don't have time to stop and enjoy it right now.

We attended IPP in Tokyo at the end of September.  DCD was the first Sunday in November.  AGPI was held in our home in October.  My months are as mixed up as my days.  

Once again I failed the Italian speaking test.  So I plug on at the University for 2 more months.  Today we are in Baden-Baden on our way home.  The drive from DCD to Panicale is 16 hours and I'm just not interested in taking it all in one day.

Sadly a friend who was visiting with us passed away. Thankfully the comune came to help and the process was much easier than I expected it would be. 

IPPXLIII planning is coming along smoothly and all invitations should be going out within the next week or so.  This too has taken up a great deal of my time these past few months. 

This morning I got terrible news. Our big beautiful home in Boca was destroyed this morning.  I'm not sure what will happen in that space now. Probably a large eyesore will go up but it's not my problem.  I don't live there.  It just makes me very sad to think that such a beautiful well built home has been destroyed.  I wish the new building nothing but happiness.  

As for that kitchen....I've contacted a new contractor to come fix the major problems.  Hopefully they will be able to have it done in the new year.  

Everyone cross their fingers for me.  I take the next speaking test on the 17th.  Third time's a charm?  Until then, send up a good word that I have time to blog a bit more frequently.