Saturday, December 31, 2022

Happy New Year

 May this coming year be the very Best 


Wishing you an abundance of health and happiness.

Happy New Year

Gina


Saturday, December 24, 2022

Christmas 2022

 

Merry Christmas to You and Yours.


May your days be merry and bright



And may all your Christmases be white

Gina


Sunday, December 18, 2022

The weather outside is frightful

It's 2 degrees Fahrenheit 


Ducks don't mind
I do.




I know how to fix it

Gina


Saturday, December 3, 2022

Snow and snow some more

 


More snow coming




Happy Snow Days,

Gina


Thursday, November 24, 2022

Happy Thanksgiving

 





Wishing you and your loved Ones a very happy Thanksgiving

Gina

Saturday, November 12, 2022

iIt's 14 degrees this morning


Fourteen Degrees Fahrenheit is minus Ten Degrees Celsius 


This is what I came home to. 




I left for Italy knowing that I had plenty of time to  put the Summer away.





It's only November. It's supposed to look like this.






Will the Papyrus survive?








First night home this happened.  It came crashing down  at 2 o'clock in the morning.  Miraculously,  it missed the house, windows and balustrades. When trees still hold their leaves,  and when it snows branches get very heavy.  Not a good recipe for hundred year old trees. 



Happy days to you.
    Gina



Monday, November 7, 2022

Sicily, the Beautiful

 So strange to come home to snow



I came from Blue Waters, Sun and Sand, the Island  of Sicily.





Sicily is about Ceramics, a very original type of ceramics.






Sicily is about great food.






Sicily is about Sunshine, the  Ocean and boats.




She stood watch by my villa door






Every building in Syracuse looks like it belongs on top of a wedding cake. 







And Sicily is about History.  


Giina

Thursday, November 3, 2022

It snowed

 It snowed during the night.



It surprised even the Canada Geese.




I wasn't ready  either.  My sun umbrella is still up.





More  snow coming from the mountains.

Gina



Monday, October 31, 2022

Will it work?



 It's just a little stick+

He showed me how to prepare a grape branch for grafting






It is an especially sweet grape 





growing in the fertile soil, under spewing  Mt Etna Volcano.








We walked through the vineyard, always aware of the smoke rising from Mt Etna






Every now and then flying rocks from Mt Etna volcano remind everyone who is  in charge. 




And what about that stick?
It came home with me to give to my neighbor who is going to graft it onto his grape stock. 

  What else do you give a neighbor who has taken such good care of my animals  and property while I was having a grand time in Italy. 

Salute
Gina



Friday, October 21, 2022

Life under the spewing Volcano


 No one seems to worry.



At the Palermo market
shopping with chef Alessandra



Learning "how"



Rolling small amount of dough with thumb down the wooden board. Makes perfect gnocchi and other round pasta. 




After lunch we were given a private tour of the Palazzo. 



My heart took a few little extra beats when I saw these beautiful and old ceramic vessels. 





Monmerale an Arab-Norman Cathedral built in 1200.
Palermo


Incredible artistry,  Monmerale Mosaics  





Mosaics which tell the story of the Bible.





Very small pieces of glass allow for every detail and every individual expression. 






Greek Architecture at the Valley of the Temples of 
Agrigento, Sicily, the largest  Island in the Mediterranean.





Agrigento, a Roman city , Sicily's southwest shore. 






Greek Columns 597 AD.





Does this structure look familiar?




Sunset at the Valley of the Temples. 

A perfect day in Sicily.

Gina



Monday, October 17, 2022

Caltagirone, Sicily





Staircase connects upper and lower hill town of Caltagirone.
142 Stteps were built in the 1600s and hand painted ceramic tiles were affixed in the 18th century.




I painted 200 tiles for a  new horse arena in Florida.

Wishing you a great week,
Gina 


Sunday, September 18, 2022

Summer, so fleeting

Where did the Summer go?


Colors have never been brighter






Long gone are the colors of Spring






Now is the time to gather seeds for next  year





  too bright?  What do you think?





Maybe add more blue, my favorite petunia, Sky Blue.





It's the blues and lavenders I usually plant.





Why not do both.

Hope you are enjoying the last days of Summer,
    
    Gina