I used to like Fall. After living in a small Tuscany village, I learned to love fall. After the sun had done it’s work, the late summer showers provided the final dose of energy for the vineyards. Now that 80% of the garden has been either eaten or canned, the upcoming grape harvest (vendemmia) was on the mind of many. As Jill and I walked Montanare’s gravel one lane road …
Daniela was intrigued by an onion yesterday. We had all the ingredients to make a favorite salad mix, a recipe gifted to us by our very special British friends Bill and Tina more than a decade ago. Although they have simplified their lives by letting someone else care for Villa Donata in Ossaia (five miles from Montanare), what they left behind for us is a beautiful set of memories. Many …
Piero stood from 50 feet wondering who was passing the large gate in an unknown Renault. As we came to a rest, his simpatico smile met the one I was showing. He and I have done this exchange more than a dozen times and I love it more every time. We are home. Not because the area is familiar. Not because the 650 square foot, restored apartment hasn’t changed. Not …
One of the first questions Piero asked us when we surveyed the well cared for acre around Ca D Maestro in March of 2004 was if we liked to garden, as in growing Italian vegetables of nearly every variety. With our language skills as green as the lawn under our feet, we did what continued to come natural when we didn’t understand the proposal and said Si, Si! On April …
