Merry Christmas from Italy

 Merry Christmas to all of you

 and all the joys of this wondrous season. . .

Thank you so much for reading and commenting throughout the year and for keeping me company on my travels. . . 

22 Comments

  1. A. in London
    25 December 2017 / 11:14 am

    Happy, Merry Christmas to you Frances and many, many thanks for so much thought-provoking inspiration in 2017. Your beautiful blog is a highlight in my life. A.jn London

    • materfamilias
      27 December 2017 / 8:27 am

      Thanks for the kind words. I hope you had a lovely Christmas

  2. Madame Là-bas
    25 December 2017 / 1:40 pm

    Merry Christmas, Frances. My cyclamen are under a blanket of snow! Enjoy your Italian days with your family and the sunny colours. I enjoy reading your blog a lot!

    • materfamilias
      27 December 2017 / 8:28 am

      Thanks Mme! It looks as if that blanket will last for a few days — I've been following the weather back home

  3. donnyb
    25 December 2017 / 3:23 pm

    Happy Christmas, Frances. Enjoy your Italian Christmas. I so enjoy reading your blog and look forward to reading more in 2018. Lyn J.

    • materfamilias
      27 December 2017 / 8:28 am

      Hope you had a Happy Christmas too, Lyn.

  4. K.Line
    25 December 2017 / 7:11 pm

    Whenever you travel, I'm along for the ride! Happy hols Frances. K

    • materfamilias
      27 December 2017 / 8:28 am

      Glad to have your company 😉 Happy Happy to you as well!

  5. Megs
    25 December 2017 / 11:25 pm

    Happy Christmas! (I’ve been watching The Crown). Enjoy your trip and loved ones!

    • materfamilias
      27 December 2017 / 8:29 am

      We've been watching Season 2 as well, although we've only managed a few episodes — so good, isn't it?!

  6. Anonymous
    26 December 2017 / 5:09 am

    Just keep on writing, and we all will keep on reading whatever you write….
    Enjoy your time away.
    Ali

    • materfamilias
      27 December 2017 / 8:29 am

      Thanks, Ali!

  7. Anonymous
    26 December 2017 / 12:13 pm

    Merry Christmas, Frances.

    I enjoy your blog immensely — specifically, your intelligent perspective on life, family, writing, art, and nature. Thank you for putting it out here. 🙂

    I wish for you and yours in 2018 more joy, beauty and humor. The other things we covet are unpredictable, but joy, beauty and humor are ours to discover again and again. 🙂

    Ann in Missouri

    • materfamilias
      27 December 2017 / 8:30 am

      Thank you for the very kind and thoughtful praise.
      I love this: Joy, beauty, and humour, yes!

  8. Anonymous
    26 December 2017 / 2:56 pm

    Merry Christmas – thank you for sharing your holiday feelings. Cyclamen – I seem to have lost the knack for keeping them alive. Maybe time to try again?

    ceci

    • materfamilias
      27 December 2017 / 8:31 am

      They're so delicious in the winter, cyclamen, aren't they? I'm wondering if I might try some on our deck.

  9. lagatta à montréal
    26 December 2017 / 6:59 pm

    Buone feste di fine d'anno; que bel tempo! Purtroppo fa molto freddo quest'anno a Montreal. Tuttavia sto in Italia, almeno in mente, con la traduzione in corso.

    Auguri alla nipotina e a tutta la famiglia romana!

    • materfamilias
      27 December 2017 / 8:33 am

      Pleased that I can translate what you've said fairly well, but I won't hazard my response in Italian. I've read that it's frightfully cold in Eastern Canada this winter — as you say, at least in your mind you can escape to Italy.
      Thank you for the word for grand-daughter. I've been dissatisfied with "nipote."

    • lagatta à montréal
      27 December 2017 / 2:10 pm

      Italian suffixes are a subject in their own right. Here is a VERY general overview: thoughtco.com/how-to-use-italian-suffixes-2011119 And oversimplified – ello is "poor" in an affectionate sense. Il Poverello is Saint Francis; il Bambinello is the Christ Child.

  10. Rosie
    26 December 2017 / 10:01 pm

    Merry Christmas Frances
    Rosie

    • materfamilias
      27 December 2017 / 8:33 am

      Thanks, Rosie. It was good.

  11. Eleonore
    27 December 2017 / 1:27 pm

    Glad to read that you had a happy Christmas. After Santa, is your "nipotina" expecting the Befana as well? (That would be what they call "the best of both worlds", wouldn't it?)
    After having prepared my very first tourtiere last year, I made one for the extended family gathering this Chrismas, where it was very well received. Now I wonder: is that a celebration of culinary diversity or a bad case of cultural appropriation?
    As you will know, I love reading your blog and am grateful for all the things I might never have known, seen, or thought of without it.

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