Once upon a time there were 3 old friends. They had know each other for more than 30 years and had matured together from bright young lasses to retired gals. Many jokes about aging were made along the way with the exchange of funny greeting cards at every birthday and silly videos on group chats. One evening the 3 gals got together to celebrate yet another birthday. There was much cheer and all went well until the hour of dessert. The hostess of this particular evening had made a lovely seasonal spice cake in honor of the occasion. She presented the cake, generously covered with a layer of white as snow powered sugar. Or so she thought. After the first mouthful all 3 gals stopped and 2 looked at the hostess with a question in their, now watering, eyes. WTF? An investigation was made and revealed that the cook had erroneously used powered yeast instead of powered sugar to ice her lovely cake. Much hilarity ensued. The 2 guests stepped out onto the terrace to have a smoke while the hostess picked up the pieces of her broken heart and tried unsuccessfully to remover the top layer of the cake for future consumption. An hour or so later, the evening came to an end and the guests prepared to leave. Guest #1 said, "where did I leave my cigarettes? ", Guest #2 said "where is my other tupperware?". All 3 wandered in and out and around for some time until the cigarettes were discovered on the terrace where #1 had checked and rechecked and the tupperware was found inside the bag that #2 had held in her hand the whole time. A sad but true story. The Italian government has just extended the "State of Emergency" that we have been under since Covid hit. They have now taken it past the constitutionally permitted 2 years. Many Italians, the hubby included, are up in arms and saying we are heading into a dictatorship. There are many elderly still alive who lived through Mussolini's realm. But those were other times when Italy was a country of impoverished and uneducated people. I think the likelihood of the folks I know putting up with too much enforcement on the goverment's part is slim to nil. They already forge fake test results, fake Green Passes, many don't wear masks. Who hasn't read about the guy with the fake arm trying to get his vaccine? Italians are not rule followers. But it's a scary thought none the less. It's almost Christmas and another lockdown is looming but at least we are all together here this year. On Christmas Eve we're taking the train up to Aosta at the base of Mont Blanc to visit it's famous Christmas market and to see some snow. (Our once a year snowfall is now a mere frozen lump conveniently right outside the terrace door, well places for slipping and sliding whilst trying to feed the GD birds). xxoo me