Proverbs

Italian Phrase of the Day: {These come from An Italian Phrase a Day desk calendar} Chi trova un amico trova un tesoro.  A true friend is a rare birds.  However, literally,this means "Who finds a friend, finds a treasure."

My comment on this: This got me interested in looking for Italian proverbs especially those which say something different from what they literally mean. If you are interested, you can find a lot more here.

• A ogni uccello il suo nido è bello. There’s no place like home. Literally, "To every bird, his own nest is beautiful."
• O mangiar questa minesta o saltar questa finestra. Take it or leave it. Literally this means "Eat this soup or jump out of this window." {This one is my favorite}
• Pane al pane e vino al vino. To call a spade a spade. Literally this means "To call bread bread and wine wine."
• Paesa che vai, unzanza che trovi. When in Rome, do as the Romans’ do. Literally translated this means "The country you visit, the customs you find."

Yesterday I went for a walk down hill to the library and uphill back home. The hill part is  important because somehow walking on the icey bits of the sidewalk, I messed up the muscles in the upper part of my left leg. By the time I was almost home, I was walking ten steps and waiting for the pain to subside, walking ten more steps and so on. I spent the rest of the day sitting around and reading {which, if you read my plan for yesterday was actually what I intended to do } and it seemed a little better by bedtime. This morning I feel much better but it is still not normal, so a few minutes ago, I called my walking buddy and told her *I* was crying off walking this morning. {She cried off yesterday because she felt queasy,} We do have plans to walk tomorrow.

Last night was one of those nights when I couldn’t sleep. At around 2:30 am, I tried out the yogurt. Unadorned, it was just a little too tart for me but with a spoonful of raspberry jelly stirred into it, it was delicious and I really enjoyed it. Right after I finished it, i went to bed and slept very well indeed. I have six more pots in the refrigerator and also a book of recipes to peruse. Yes, it takes a long time to become yogurt but I don’t have to fuss over it. Once the milk is room temperature, plug in the little warmer and let it sit and a few hours later it is yohurt. The recipe book said to leave it 8 hours but the freeze-dried yougurt stuff—ummm bacteria?–said 5 hours so, there will be some experimentation here. I have tried it with raspberry jelly. I still have to try blueberry jelly and we also have some sunflower seeds. I bet the other book I got with it has more ideas for additives.

Now, since somehow I didn’t do any Italian grammar yesterday, time to hit the books…. {Hmmm, wonder how the Italians say that?}

QUOTATION FOR THIS MONTH: If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment. — Marcus Aurelius

Until later….