So that's how they do it. I was just watching some nature show on grizzly bears and they mentioned that during the summer the bears climb way up into the mountains above the tree line and find tons of moths to eat among the rocks. They said the moths fly up to the cooler altitudes to 'hang out' during the hot summer weather. They were some kind of corn moth from the plains of Kansas, Oklahoma, Dakotas etc. How'd they know to go up there (the moths AND the bears)

I feel you've done a great job. The parents obviously know the baby is still there. She's a day late hatching next to her siblings, so it may take her a few extra days to learn to fly (they were probably bigger and got fed better). I'm sure if she's not flying by the end of the day, she'll be flying by tomorrow. Hopefully one of the parent birds will coax her out and stay with her when she does. You would be amazed at how good the parents are at finding their young. I'm sure if she makes it out again, they will find her.

I despise dining rooms that are a good distance from the kitchen, they make zero sense. That said, they do seem popular so most people must not care. Many builders here seem to slap a formal dining room right off the foyer without any regard to the location of the kitchen. I also see this a lot in many stock plan sites, frank betz comes to mind. I don't mind so much if there is a butler's pantry connecting the kitchen to DR, but otherwise I'm always muttering WTF? Like you I tend to leave the dishes until after dinner, but I dislike looking at a messy kitchen while eating. I like open floor plans though, so a truly separate dining room wouldn't work for me. I can see two solutions to this. The first would be a taller island to block the view. If I were to go this route I would probably have two island in my kitchen. One larger one that is counter height, the main prep island. The second island would be the taller one and it would be smaller and at the perimeter of the kitchen. Not only would it serve to block the view, but it would allow guests (and family members) to congregate in the kitchen without actually getting in the way. The other option I'm considering is to have a custom made hutch serve as a partition between the kitchen and DR. I'm also considering placing a fireplace between the DR and LR since I dislike the tv being the main focus. Not sure if both the hutch and fireplace dividers would work IRL, but it is something I'm mulling over. HTH!

I think we'll just have to roam Pitigliano to find places to eat - the difficulty there is that not much seems to open early, but I think it will be an interesting experience whatever happens. Here's the web site for Narcisi & Bussi - doesn't look breakfast to me, and I was trying to find a bakery. Since they open at 8:30 AM, we'll probably go there anyway. There is Forno Del Ghetto Di Francesca in the Jewish neighborhood, but I do not know what hours it is open. It may be the only bakery in town, since it is a small town. That yacht is grossly huge - fortunately, I do not generally have to deal with that client - I only get called in when the production department cannot handle the designs sufficiently. I am lucky that I am insulated from clients - my only client is my boss. The furniture that is going into that yacht is huge and overscaled, but I suppose it will look okay once it is in place. In the warehouse, it just looks out of proportion. I'm mainly working on new designs for our New York and London showrooms, and we are putting in a lot of new furniture there, fortunately in stages so that I do not get swamped. Most of my work is somewhat on hold for now, while we finish the furniture for that yacht!