Homecoming

7th December 2007

Two little girls are glad to see me; brown eyes shining in squirrely faces, gappy smiles and vanilla flavoured sticky kisses. Marito, slightly weary but triumphant (smug even) after 10 days single parenting, is glad to see me. Tufo, wagging his entire doggy body, is glad to see me. Even the deaf cat manages a purr. I am back were I belong, back to fill the me-shaped space that has been waiting. Our house, standing on the hill, its lights glowing in the dusk, is glad to see me, and I am glad to be home.

Letter to Santa, just before it disappeared up the chimney

I have arrived to a house full of Advent calendars, letters to Santa and persistent requests to "Please get the crib out so that we can play with Baby Jesus".

There is always some debate about this as Marito feels it necessary to point out that baby Jesus should not strictly be in the crib until Christmas Day. However, as it is impossible to play the 'Baby Jesus and his Family' game without the main character, the small one and the tall one get their way. As usual.

The Three Kings - early and confused

The best thing I ate today;

Baked beans on toast.

If this was the best thing I ate today it must have been the best thing the girls had eaten for ages judging by the whoops of delight when I produced two tins of Heinz Baked Beans from my bag.

It's not immediately obvious, but there is an art to making the perfect beans on toast; the beans, Heinz of course, must not be too wet, they must be cooked on a high heat to reduce the syrupy tomato sauce to a beany sludge and then dolloped on to crisply toasted sliced white bread of the lowest possible quality which has been thickly smeared with enough butter to choke a horse. A few grinds of black pepper, maybe a dash of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce and there you have it. Delicious!

Comments

[Lucy]

Hi I'm Antonina's sister...she romanticizes too much...haha...I used to eat brown beans and toast almost everyday during my highschool years for lunch! I still love them with tons of butter.

[Antonina Cross[Nell}]

Welcome back to your little piece of paradise ,and how nice to have a comfort meal of beans and toast of course with a drop Worcestershire sauce! My husband whose father was born in England, claims its sacrilege to add that to beans,I say its essential! Let the fog envelope your home and feel the warmth of loved ones.

[Sylvia]

p.s. your nativity scene is gorgeous!

[Sylvia]

you said you produced the beans from your bag. did you know the lidl (po' bandino is the closest to you, i believe) carries canned baked beans -- but they're not heinz. i haven't tried them yet, although i quickly purchased a can as soon as i saw them.

[Judith in Umbria]

I continue to seek the answer to the eternal question: how can they eat that and even long for it?

Welcome home.