We did not win the giant chocolate egg in the Easter raffle down at the pub, which is actually a bit of a relief. It was instead won by Mirio's two grandchildren, further confirming my suspicion that the drawings are rigged -- but in the best possible way. The kids were very happy and excited and shared the chocolate around very sweetly with everyone. It was the best of all possible raffle outcomes.

We are going for our Easter lunch there tomorrow -- planning on having nothing but a nap for our dinner afterwards. Daniele will be gone for a week teaching a cooking class in Amsterdam next week. He says that if we can come up with a group of ten people, he will teach us how to cook traditional Tuscan food. I would love to do this. But where would I get ten people all at once here? I do not think that the old men in the pub who make up most of my social circle these days are interested in learning how to cook traditional Tuscan food. Eating it, of course, is a different matter.

After a spur-of-the-moment but nevertheless overwhelming urge that necessitated an unplanned immediate trip to the fish section of the grocery store, I painted my Egg Tempera Painting Number Two yesterday. The paintings never come out like the images I see in my head, but I am happy in the belief/delusion that someday they will.