Getting to Italy

My georgeous daughter made pasta and turned it into ravioli - filled with pumpkin and sweet potato, with a delicate sauce of sage and butter - for me and my family for Mothers' Day. A wondeful relaxing lunch in their back garden before I left for Italy in the evening.

Yes, it's a long way from Melbourne to Rome. One just has to accept it'll take about 24hours, and make the best of it. Emirates did a very good limo pickup to get me to the airport, and they provide a pleasant lounge in Dubai with champagne and whatever else I wanted to eat. My way of passing the time en route is to watch movies: On the first leg I watched 3: When In Rome... probably the worst film I have ever seen, followed by Lovely Bones - where a 14 year old girl was killed by a creepy sociopath , then Invictus which was great: Mandela and the South African rugby coach. From Dubai to Rome I watched a film whose actual name I have already forgotten... a legal one based on a real situation where the husband was found guilty of attempting to murder his rich but painfully drug addicted wife, and a law professor got a group of friends and students together to make a case to overturn the judge's decision. The second film was September Issue: let's just say I'm pleased I didnt pay to see it at the cinema last year. The best part was oggling Ms Wintours elegant simple clothes... dresses and heels daily. The main information I was seeking wasn't forthcoming: With all those racks of beautiful clothes, what happens to them? Does anyone who works at Vogue USA have to buy clothes? Ever? And the most "real" person in the movie was Grace... loved her.

An international news item on the screen at one stage informed us that UK passengers had again been forced to stop flying due to more Iclandic volcano ash. At Dubai, all flights, including those to and from Frankfurt were operating. No worries there.

The olives

About 10 days ago my family picked our olives. Big fat black olives. They are now soaking in strongly salted water, changed every day or two. But will they be ready to put into store in olive oil before I leave for Italy?? The extra virgin olive oil, with rosemary from our garden, is ready and waiting. Seasons the exact opposite here in Australia compared to Italy of course: over there olives are harvested in October.