Sunday 25 April 2010

The Constant Gardener

As I mentioned when we first moved into our new home, we have a huge garden for me to play in. Of course, having a big garden involves a lot of work trying to keep things spruce and tidy. Luckily, I’m a fantastic gardener. (Although, I must admit that I get a little help from Missus!)

Let me show you a few pictures of my gardening projects.

Here I am checking out my gladiolas.


And these are my freesias.


In this little patch, I’ve planted more gladiolas. Notice how the tulips are already blooming.


There are a couple of Irises in this pot…


…some lilies in this one...


… and begonias in these pots!


These two fellas are my prized peonies.


Here I have a mixture of basil (in the large pot) and sunflowers.


And this batch includes parsley, tomatoes, chilli, basil and more sunflowers.


As you can see above, I’m trying to grow a wide variety of flowers and herbs. I’ll keep you posted on their progress throughout the Italian summer.

As well as the horticulture, I also wanted to invite some wildlife into my garden. So, I enlisted the help of Missus to help me set-up a bird box.

Here I am supervising Missus’ work. She did a good job for someone who had never handled a screwdriver before!


The finished product - my booti-ful bird box!


Next, we had to find a suitable place to hang it.

Here it is waiting for the new tenants.


As I said earlier, I will keep you all involved with developments in ‘Homer’s Horticultural Heaven’. Ciao for now!

Thursday 15 April 2010

Last Weekend - Liguria, Genoa

As we all had such a wonderful time in Verona the week before, my humans and I decided to go travelling again last weekend. Our destination this time was Genova (Genoa in English) – the birthplace of Christopher Columbus.

Here’s some photos from our visit:


Me in my hotel room. It was booti-ful!


I even had my own chaise lounge...


...and a booti-ful view over the city.


Let me show you around Genoa.

Here I am with Dad in front of the statue of Christopher Columbus that I was looking at from my hotel window.


And here I am in front of my hotel.


We took a stroll down many of the streets of Genoa.


This is me admiring my reflection in the Bronze Fountain at the Piazza de Ferrari.


And here I am ‘walking on water’.


Missus and me in front of the booti-ful fountain.


The cathedral behind me is the Duomo of San Lorenzo.


Being the home of Christopher Columbus, Genoa has a long history as a naval port.

A view of the ‘bellisimo’ harbour.


Dad and me soaking up the atmosphere at Genoa’s harbour-front.


Look at the Spanish galleon behind us.


During our travels, I made so many new human friends...

... some of them very young...


...and some of them not so young.


I even became best friends with our charming chambermaid at the hotel.

All in all, another fantastic weekend!

Thursday 8 April 2010

Homeo! Homeo! Wherefore Art Thou Homeo?

Last weekend was the Easter holiday and my humans decided to get away for a couple of days. I was so excited when they agreed to take me along with them. I was even more excited when they told me the destination. We were going to Verona – the setting of the world famous romance, Romeo and Juliet!

Here I am eager to get on with the trip.


We set off on Friday evening and within a couple of hours, we reached our hotel in Verona.


I soon ‘marked my territory’ in the hotel room!


On Saturday morning, Dad took me for a stroll around the park next to our hotel.


There were booti-ful views of the old Roman walls.


While walking through the park, we ran into this little guy.


Isn’t he cute?



Mind you, he wasn’t the only doggie we bumped into during our trip. Here are a few of the other friends I made in Verona...

This is Max. We met him over and over again during our visit. It seemed like everywhere we went, Max was already there!


This big guy didn’t look too friendly – but appearances can be deceptive!


This young pup was so excited to meet me, he inadvertently ‘wet himself’!


Anyway, enough of the doggies. Let me show you around Verona.

Here’s a beautiful view down the Adige river...


...and this is me and Missus on the Ponte Scaligero.


Yours truly and Missus...


...and across the other side of the bridge with the Castlevecchio and the Ponte Scaligero behind us.



Next we moved into the town centre...

The houses were so distinctive.


Here we are in the ‘Erbe Market’.



There were some wonderful sights...

...like this fountain and...


...this statue: The lion of Saint Mark / Venetian Lion


We eventually ended up next to Verona’s ancient Roman amphitheatre. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go in...


...but here’s a photo which Missus took of the inside.


And here’s a view from inside the amphitheatre looking outside to Piazza Bra.



Verona’s sights were booti-ful, but what I really wanted to see was Romeo and Juliet’s houses. I asked Dad to take me there...

...Dad looked a bit lost but...


...we finally managed to find ‘Casa Giulietta’. Apparently, this is the true home of the Capulet family.


Dad reading the love letters on Juliet’s wall.


This is a statue of Juliet...


...and this is supposed to be Juliet’s balcony where she would ‘howl’ for her lover: “Homeo, Homeo, wherefore art thou Homeo?”


“Here I am Juliet! Wassup?”


Having seen Juliet’s house, we headed off to Romeo’s place.

This is me in front of ‘Casa Romeo’.



After a long day of sight-seeing, we were ready for some refreshments.

Dad and me enjoying a drink in Piazza Bra.


After such a cultural experience, I felt inspired to try out my own thespian skills...

“Food, food, wherefore art thou food?”