Islomania part 4

From Milazzo you were able to see all of the Aeolian islands but you had to go right up to the cape to see Stromboli. Stromboli is the only volcano in Europe which errupts constantly. It's called the lighthouse of the Mediterranean because of this. People have lived here for centuries, at the beginning of the 20th century several thousand people called it home. Now, because of the emmigration that affected a lot of rural Italy, only 500 do. It quickly became my favourite island, the main settlement is tiny and as I walked to my dwelling with my couchsurfing host everyone called out in friendly greeting. There is another settlement on the other side, accessable only by boat but alas the wind made boat trips impossible that weekend (the hydrofoil journey back felt a bit like a fairground ride!). My host Monica is a wondefully bohemian soul who has done anthropological fieldwork in Mexico and on Sunday after the referenda (anti Berlusconi, nuclear power and privatising the water) took me toher friend's home where we drunk wine, played with kittens and wondered in a garden abandoned for a century. on Saturday evening I walked to the observation point up the mountain (any further and you need a guide) where I drank beer, ate pizza and watched the mountain. Alas there was an annoying cloud which just wouldn't shift from the peak (the same one as probably eclipsed the eclipse a week later!) but I did see some of nature's fireworks. The walk back was magical,there are no streetlights on the island but the moon was nearly full so I almost didn't need the torch I bought. I half wish there hadn't been a moon though, I wanted to see if the stars would be as vivid as they were in the outback. Never mind! It was beautifuland made me reflect how lovely shadows are. Street lighting is overrated! If I die I still want to go to Bucovina but I think I'd like to be reincarnated on Stromboli. When I'm rich I'll open a hostel! ( pics )

Till next time!

Woodbridge

Back at the beginning of November when Maisie the dog was pregnant my brother and my dad thought it would be terribly amusing to name the pups after the minor character actors who appeared in the Hammer horror films back in the 60s. They settled on Ripper (For Michael Ripper (who usually played coachmen or pirates), Woodbridge (for George Woodbridge who was generally the innkeeper in vampire and werewolf films), Maitland (For Marne Mailtland who played exotic villains from the far east) and Trubshaw (imo the best name, for Michael Trubshaw, a good friend of David Niven's, not really in hammer films more war ones as minor soldiers but we liked the name).

Poor things, they had no hope.

I should perhaps stress these were only intended to be temporary names, only until the pups gained new families.

on the 4th of November Mum had taken Maisie to see her breeder who pronounced her healthy but said she probably wouldn't drop for another week. she was off her food for the whole day. That evening we were watching telly. Maisie was on her favourite chair and at about 9pm Mum glanced over and "oh, there's a puppy"! This would be Ripper.
Woodbridge was born 2 hours later, she was almost pure white (save for the brown mark near her tail which they all had and a brown patch on her face). At 1am Maitland (with her y shaped blaze) and at 3 am Trubshaw, the smallest of them who for a while I thought wasn't going to make it because he couldn't latch on to his Mum to suckle.
It was a 2 man job, I had to hold Maisie in a half nelson to make sure she didn't lick them to death and Mum to make sure the babies latched on.

But they survived and grew and developed their own distinctive personalities.It was fascinating and wonderful and we were rather sad to say goodbye to Ripper, Trubshaw and Mailtland (now renamed!).
But we kept Woodbridge, Dudley had to be put to sleep after Xmas which I think clouded our judgement and we'd all grown so fond of her by that stage. After I went to Sicily someone asked about her. Logic said we should have sold her but I think the die was cast at that stage.
She's a naughty little bugger (with her parentage though it's nor surprising). She resembles her Mum more in body shape, with the wagging of the tail and in the way she grunts when you pick her up but she has her dad's face, colouring and tail. She's in full chew mode and likes to barge into my room to lick me when I am trying to get to sleep (for some reason I haven't been to bed much beyond 10 since I returned!). People laught when they hear our dog is called Woodbridge but really, how could we change it!