The Painting ~

 Sitting in the orto on my old bench, naked feet gently pressed in Thyme, releasing the most divine scent.

Occasionally I glance at my dear Italian friend, Michelina as she paints on canvas........our house!

Birds singing, calling to one another, Ruby and Olive at her feet.

Bees dip into the vibrant blue Borage flowers, colourful butterflies flutter from flower to flower.

Bells chime the mid~day hour from the church along the lane....a gentle breeze in the air, sun warms our backs......love this place.............I am lost in time.

Allowing the breeze to carry away any stresses I have, gradually I relax more enjoying the presence, the energy of now.

Revelling the sweet moment connecting with nature, the smell the aroma of herbs and vegetables growing, surrounding us......my friend paints with all her heart and soul.

I am so very touched, it's for me, my special place, this tranquil haven......I want only to share with other creative souls and free spirits, and of course, my husband!

She lights a cigarette, like one of those actresses from an age gone by, elegant and glamorous.....full pink lips and broad smile, she laughs from within.

Painting with a palette knife one moment, then the special angled brush, it's looking so wonderful, I am filled with emotion.

Bee buzzed past with intention, another squooze of paint hits the palette and Michelina hunts through her box full of tubes of paint for......just the right shade.

I make us a tray of coffee carrying it down to the vegetable garden, it felt so special.

We chatted in more depth together, Italian and English, each trying to learn.........perfecting our language skills a little better.

A pic~nic lunch, fresh pear, in season, ruccola, walnuts, parmigiano a little olive oil, the one Karen and Al bought all the way from Australia....undeniably made from olives they had picked!

A small glass of wine....a little bread, here in the middle of the orto, water......what fun!

I clear our plates, my friend reaches back towards the canvas.....love the smell of the paint, lost in the gentle warmth of being and in the company of one who feels as I do, that this is Settimo Cielo!

I am so blessed thank you......so blessed X

Egg…...

 Have you ever experienced collecting an egg from a henhouse…………. still warm?

You haven't lived until you have!

LoVe peering in the box to see if one of our 'ladies' has left us a gift, such joy to find……even more of a thrill to hold the beautiful smooth, brown, sometimes speckly egg in hand so fresh and warm.

"If you have an egg, you have a meal"my Nana Beach used to say!

You must  write it on your 'bucket list'!

Ready ladies?!

To the right………….

And left………..!

Enjoy your day wherever you are in the World! 

Eggs for breakfast!

A Parcel From England…….

Barking dogs alerted me to the arrival of the post lady today, whilst I was busy in the kitchen preparing lunch.

That woman starts tooting before she even pulls into the drive, and continues to toot as I pull on my old boots trying to get out of the door…..desperate not to hear the sound of another ruddy toot.

 Almost falling over my untied laces, I lunge for the door handle…….why won't she ever get out of that van run some fresh air through her lungs?!

I wear a big smile take the parcel, sign for it barely looking up and bid her a buoyant "buongiorno"!

Turning on my heel in the direction of the door, firmly closing it behind me without looking back, relieved to get away from her!

I had such a to do with her when we moved in …. …she tried every possible excuse not to drive up here….we had to have a post box down on the main road…..we had to have a number on the house,(even though we are the only house in the woods and the Italian posties and everyone else all know where  everyone lives).

She was frightened of the little poodle…Charlie hasn't a bad bone in his little curly haired body…teeth are for eating with he thinks………..pity!

A tale of the van suffering a knock along the track….anything not to deliver….in fact I once took in mail she had been sitting on, (probably quite literally!), for several months!

All the other ladies are soooo lovely, why couldn't we have the one who always blows kisses to me?!

As I tore at the padded envelope, dated the 10th January all bad thoughts about Madam Postie went out of my head.

I gently held the contents in my hands, tears in my eyes for the parcel was from one of my lovely daughters, Lauren sent for my recent birthday.

Two beautiful, hand knitted face cloths by her fair hands…with hand written brown labels…."Hand knitted Fairtrade organic 100% cotton," the other, "94% cotton and 6% silk".

Knitted with loVe by my sweet darling daughter….tied with ivory ribbon, in a bow.

In addition she had trawled the junk shops to find treasure she knew I would love…..that came in the form of a little vintage folder containing four old black and white/sepia photographs.

The first a delightful carnival float with a group of young girls, " The Belles of St. Mary's" depicting a piano, sheets of music and those bell shaped paper lanterns swinging above their heads!

The second was a photograph of a couple on a beach, she with a big straw hat across her face, pic-nic bag, newspaper and towels ….. at the top of the photograph a line of beautiful old cars parked!

The third was taken at The Rialto Bridge in Venice… with May/Aug.'60  on the back.

But my very favourite, is the one taken looking down into a garden, of a delightful little greenhouse surrounded by tall flowers and canes for beans, trees, a tall galvanised dustbin, hedges and two stripy deck chairs facing each other on the pathway.

I can just make out a lady lazing back in one……she must have been full of contentment sitting there, I am going to get this one enlarged…reminds me of the potting shed here with the raised beds surrounding it and the intense happiness I feel whilst at play amongst the vegetables!

And as if those well thought/searched for photographs and face cloths weren't enough……Lauren had also enclosed a copy of "Mrs. Dalloway," by Virginia Woolf with the most lovely, colourful cover…..I have always been so fascinated with the Bloomsbury Set!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart my darling, the most wonderful thoughtful gift.XXX

Beckoning Light…….

25th January 2014

I awoke with the sun kissing my cheek this morning.

The beginning of a beautiful day.

Pulling on whatever I could lay my hands on, I hurridly

 made a hot fresh lemon determined to make the best of such glory.

I let the hens out to wander freely…….love to hear them clucking and watch them scratching around for grubs and any other tasty morsels……..and off I went for a walk through the woods.

Amazing what you see if you allow your eyes to wander freely at every level!

Ah…... there are my favourite Olive Trees……dancing in rays of sunlight!

Leaves sparkling..roots running through gentle mounds they perch upon terraces in the valley……such beautiful trees.  

Mountains partially screened by spindly trees, command my attention, I can never ignore such powerful splendour…..… I continue walking along the woodland path…..

A sudden blast from the sun draws my attention like a flash light, it highlights a smattering of  bronze leaves...

I momentarily  stop to say a prayer…….. 

Across the other side…..snow capped mountains peep above layers of hills and trees, embellished with colours associated with the time of year.

Light and colour greet me in my tracks…..

A tree lined hilltop interspersed with typical old stone Tuscan buildings…..  

Lush green moss stretches, rejoicing towards the light.

Smooth satin like chestnuts huddle within their prickly casing.

I return to find our cats languishing in the warmth of the sun!

Wahoo! I hope the sun is shining with you!

An Apology…...

If you are sitting somewhere in the world, (in one of the many countries I see listed in my statistics), reading this, then………... thank you!
I owe you an apology, I feel I have neglected you.
This posting has been a long time coming, the last, half written was holding me back I fear.
With such an interlude encompassing another season it made it so difficult deciding what should be noted and what should be omitted…so much has happened and I found other things pressing.
I promise you it won't happen again!

Life here, up a mountain in northern Tuscany continues to fill me with a deeper satisfaction than I have

ever experienced. Living this simple life replenishes my soul.

Whilst helping my neighbours pick olives recently, I found my head became full of thoughts concerning the important task at hand.

How important to collect all the fallen olives, for this was food, soon to become Olive Oil….. so intrinsically beneficial for our health.

Regular intake reduces the risk of heart disease, decreases blood pressure and helps to prevent certain cancers, acts as an anti-inflammatory amongst many other things……it's good stuff!

So lovely working in the fresh cool air with the banter and laughter exchanging between us. 

A man from the next village also helped, working up the ladder pruning as Laura and I picked and Luciano rattled his stick amongst the branches encouraging the olives to tumble.

Every so often, the man up the ladder  burst into song made us all smile.

Before I go……..looking back briefly over last year, I felt the most inspiring story I would like to share with you was that of Antoine, the lovely young Frenchman who arrived on his bicycle from Rome!

For those of you who don't already know the story.......Antoine was sleeping down by the church at the end of our lane when Genevieve, one of our lovely HelpX guests came across him.........our dogs disturbed Antoine so Genevieve invited him to meet us. I had just cleared a small table under the Wisteria ready to settle into some writing when I became aware of a bicycle being pushed into view and voices!

Offering Antoine coffee and refreshments we sat together exchanging stories about how we came to be at this place............he had recently had a holiday in Rome with his parents when he decided to return, buy a bicycle and ride back to France!

I was incredibly impressed that this bright young man should have the vision to set out on such a venture.

He cycled in the direction his fancy took him.......such a wonderful sense of freedom!

Rome is five hours from us, it took Antoine five days!

Soon after a funny coincidence occurred when I made an entry on my www.facebook.com/settimocieloretreat page (and do have a peep!).

Someone else had also met Antoine when he walked into a book shop in a town about half an hour from us a day earlier.

A lady who engaged in conversation as impressed as I, offered that he could stay with her and her husband over night!

Juliet wrote to me, we were not friends at the time, she had read my page entry.  

Another interesting liaison of which I am sure there will be more to discover very soon!

HaPPy New Year Everyone……..may it bring good health and much laughter……oh and a more open mind to embrace whatever next! X

Viewing Life in a Different Way..........

For a long time now, I have thought how lovely it would be to base the way we live our lives, in a more sharing way.
That is to say, on an exchange basis rather than monetary.
How wonderful if we could provide the environment, a comfortable bed, good fresh, home prepared food, an occasional glass of wine and laughter in return for help we need with various projects.
Materials provided by us of course!
However, my husband has always had his doubts!
"How could we expect people to work without being paid," he always argued!

A few years ago in fact someone informed me, during a similar conversation, that indeed such a scheme  already exists............ it is called HelpX.
I talked again with my husband, who still couldn't grasp the fact that there are people more than happy to offer their skills in return for a place to stay and eat, enabling them to see something more of the world!
So I shelved my thoughts until earlier this year.

If I am honest, our situation here is more than difficult at times, with Jim constantly away working long hours in different parts of the world, providing for our life here in this wonderful haven that we can only share fleetingly for a number of weeks in the year.
We have desperately needed to make improvements, finish outstanding work to the house and enhance the land with planting further, providing a vegetable garden............ a place for everyone to enjoy the serenity of this very special place ......constantly to a huge financial outlay and emotional cost.
Still encountering a fair amount of challenges on the way!

Our last project was to plaster the apartment in the lower part of the property to make it a habitable area.
Sealing against the elements during the very cold winter months.
This vital work was carried out last year but again, at a huge cost.

So, back I went to the HelpX website, this time reading very carefully through a great many profiles and reviews that had been written about Helpers.
This wasn't just for transient individuals looking for a place to stay for a night, happy to do a bit of weeding or cook a meal perhaps, all fine but,........... here was a wonderful melting pot of individuals, couples and friends offering terrific skills and trades, a colourful group of artisans of all ages and backgrounds from all around the world enthusiastically offering their time, in order to travel...........planning routes around the planet for longer periods of time!

Nothing, not even my lovely Jim could stop me now......this was far too exciting for words, we had to give it a go!!!

So, here we are.............. our first HelpXer arrived in May!
Benjamin came to us for a week, he painted a couple of rooms for us very well and rescued one of our hens when she managed to get stuck under the henhouse!
He even cooked supper one evening!

The exchange worked so well on both sides, encouraging me to trawl further through the thousands of Helpers finding some more.
Some directly approached me, offering their help and skills.

Since Benjamin, we have enjoyed the company of Helen and Rodney, an Australian couple who arrived in their motor home, stopping by to build a decking area,(which Jim also managed to get home for!),........followed by a lovely girl, Charlene, from an island called Reunion.
 Charlie came to weed the lavender garden, but also painted hens and ducks around the henhouse and cooked a tasty Creole dish for us!

..... A lady in her early sixty's from New Zealand, a little worried I might think her too old, to which she wrote,"I didn't get these grey hairs standing still"!!!!
 I wanted Morag to come and teach me how to take cuttings and carry plants over to the following year, build a compost heap and prune.
Morag was everything I imagined she would be and more! We immediately warmed to one another and, as it turned out, shared a great many interests.......as well as laughs!!!

Then off came the sheets, on with the fresh in time for our sweet Taiwanese girl, Fina who helped with work inside the house....ended up being the best window cleaner cleaning every window and mirror in sight!

Our last helper, Genevieve, 22 from New Zealand also came to help in the garden clearing the driveway of weeds.
Her help extended beyond, ever mindful of what was needed in the kitchen Genevieve always offered   help where it was needed most with a good heart.
We shared interesting conversation and Genevieve passed on some of the sustainable living ideas she had picked up in Spain.

In fair exchange we always gave our best, a warm welcome into our happy household jointly with our three dogs, 2 cats, and hens better known as the 'ladies'!
Everyone was offered a comfy bed with scrummy white cotton sheets, en suite shower room and delicious home cooked locally sourced food.
A seat at our table where stories are passed on, a glass of Prosseco or a cold beer and much laughter!
We genuinely are interested in where in the world these lovely people have sprung from, their ideals experiences and what has motivated them to travel.
We have strived to provide a true taste of the real Italy and life here and give them a memory or two to take away, as they indeed leave us with their own.

So enamoured have I felt that I have experienced an overwhelming sense of wishing them to leave a footprint of themselves.
This place, for me has always felt like it should be shared......a special place of tranquility I have wanted others to benefit from.............. this magical aura on Torre Di Monte Vignale.
With this in mind I have encouraged helpers to create something......painting, sculpture......whatever they feel they want to leave behind, something from their imagination.

As you will already know from previous postings, sharing of food is high on my list of priority for life.
I have also encouraged helpers to cook and enter their recipes in our kitchen journal!
Everyone seems to have loved this and we have certainly enjoyed tasting dishes from around the world!
Food is to be shared and good recipes passed on in my mind!

Beyond this, the HelpX experience has taken me along another route entirely, one I have always wished for, a sharing of skills and exchange route, I now feel has materialised.

In experiencing another journey for living, I am questioning so much more ever more mindful of paring life down to the minimum, going back to basics for a life far richer than money can ever offer.
Getting rid of unnecessary frills being more thoughtful of what we are doing to Mother Earth and indeed, each other!

It is possible to lead a life with the greatest simplicity, with an emphasis on sharing.
Simplicity in running our own lives, growing our own food, going back to some of the old fashioned ways, sharing what we have and spending more time with those we love who are important to us.