Happy Thanksgiving

 

Wishing you and your loved Ones a very happy Thanksgiving

Gina

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

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

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

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

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