America's Finest

Wednesday, I had a chance to accompany two friends to the Naval Air Station here in Sigonella. It was fun to be around Americans. I took this photo of two Navy fellas at the check in gate. One said he was from Georgia and the other is from Alabama. They have a huge fan somehow hooked up to water keeping them cool. I didn't take many pictures on the base as I did not know if it was against regulations. I may have another opportunity this month to visit there so I will ask about pictures. My friend is retired military. I am really posting this for Carol..who is an expat like me! And for my Italian Blogger friends...I ate at Kentucky Fried Chicken! If I get to go another time it will be at Applebees.

Birthday....Birthday...Birthday

August is a busy birthday month in my family and today is my daughter's birthday. So everybody sing..

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday to Jillane..

Happy Birthday to You!!

Happy Birthday ...dear daughter!

...and the winner is!!!!!

The contest on guessing the amount of pasta that was in this house on July 17th closed midnight last night and we have a winner. We had 55 pounds of pasta stored on the pasta shelf. The question is why?? Why do we have all this pasta?? The answer is *you never know*! *You never know when you will need it*...*you never know when this brand will go on sale*...etc. There are lots more...you never knows...but someone here really likes pasta.

From day one sognatrice had the winning guess, but someone slipped in during the final days and cancelled out her win. GoodThomas gave the largest guess and Frank the lowest. I guess GoodThomas must be a pasta lover and Frank, who I happen to know personally.. hates pasta!!

Thank you for all the entries. Annika's family, la cubancgringa (who gave me a contest idea), Cindy-co (no pasta in the dog house), dm, Matthew, Muchachaistmo, Dot, Micheal (sorry no socks this time), Shelley (how about 10 reasons why we have so much pasta?), motherhoward, sonyaustralians, megan, jessica, rach, Cindy's friend, Marlene, HappyDays, Susan and Jillane.

The winner with a guess of 51 pounds is :

JAN

I congratulate you and will contact you soon on how to send the prize your way.

Clothes Line

I must have a clothesline fetish as I love to see the ingenuity of line drying clothes.

Birthday Today

I know it is Obama's birthday today, but more important to me is my grandson's birthday. He is 14 today. I have three grandkids who are 14 and he is the youngest of the three. He is also the youngest in his family having two older brothers. You older two look out 'cause he just might grow up to be bigger than both of you!

Happy Birthday Jake!

Friday Feature

Does this picture get your attention?? Not many comments about my Palermo trip and this will be the last. A little of the naughty and some of the nice. The above is a water fountain with a bit of art work. I had to maneuver a bit to get the photo.

While I was in one church we were in the middle of a wedding ceremony. It did not seem to matter to anyone that we were there. Later we were in the Garibaldi garden and two couples were being photographed with their wedding parties. It did seem strange to see three wedding couples on a Monday morning.

Later while on the bus we were shown a couple theaters including the Massimo Theater where scenes were filmed for The Godfather film. It is the third largest theater in Europe. Outside this theater was a guy dressed in Sicilian costume selling souvenirs.

I must have learned something snapping the theater picture as I don't see reflections in the second one. Both were taken from inside the bus.

I shall end with the naughty *Fontana delle Vergogne* (Fountain of the Shame). It stands between two churches and has sculptures of pagan statues, figures and animals evoking a suggestive atmosphere.

And finally here I am ....nothing suggestive here. I had a great time.

Quattro Canti

Quattro canti means four corners. This is a district situated at the crossroads of two of the main streets in Palermo. I knew we were going to see alot of churches and old buildings on a tour but this is one (four) of the more interesting. There are four palaces built on the corners of this area. On these buildings are statues of four female saints, Christine, Nymph, Oliva and Agatha. Also are fountains representing the four seasons and statues of Spanish kings. The tour guide mentioned that Agatha is no longer regarded as a protector saint and has been replaced by St Rosalia who is the matron and most important saint in Palermo.