LA DOLFINA

A little boy goes to his Dad and asks, "What is Politics?" Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way: I am the head of the family, so call me The President Your mother is the administrator of the money, so we call her the Government. We are here to take care of your needs, so we will call you the People.   The nanny, we will consider the Working Class.   And your baby brother, we will call him the Future. Now think about that and see if it makes sense. So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said. Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him.   He finds that the baby has severely soiled his nappy. So the little boy goes to his parent's room and finds his mother asleep..   Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny.. He gives up and goes back to bed. The ne...

What caught my eye in this month's Elle Decor were these gorgeous dishes and the following advice... "If you find something beautiful that you can afford, don't hesitate. Buy it. You will only regret what you let slip away. The hassles of negotiating a price and arranging for shipping will soon be forgotten. Once the piece arrives home, you will always remember how and when you bought it. You will always have a story to tell."   I completely agree as I will never forget the experience of finding and purchasing my amazing fireplace in Paris which I posted about here .  A wonderful home is the sum of the choices we make, the stories we tell, and the memories we create.

Although it was not with hygiene in mind, the first records for the use of baths date back as far as 3000 B.C. At this time water had a strong religious value, being seen as a purifying element for both body and soul, and so it was not uncommon for people to be required to cleanse themselves before entering a sacred area.   Baths are recorded as part of a village or town life throughout this period, with a split between steam baths in Europe and America and cold baths in Asia. Communal baths were erected in a distinctly separate area to the living quarters of the village, with a view to preventing evil spirits from entering the domestic quarters of a commune.   The third millennium B.C. was the "Age of Cleanliness." Toilets and sewers were invented in several parts of the world, and Mohenio-Daro circa 2800 B.C. had some of the most advanced, with lavatories built into the outer walls of houses. These were "Western-style" toilets made from bricks with woode...